SNAP! and the Alter Ego Dimension (11 page)

“Don’t feel bad, Tammy,” he tried to comfort her. “You are just as much a victim as that poor girl. Have some popcorn. There was more than I initially thought. The bowl was lying on top of most of it. Here is enough for a good snack for all four of us.”

Tammy took a handful of popcorn and tried to smile. The popcorn smelled good and it looked clean. She put them in her mouth and chewed, surprised that she would be enjoying the popcorn only seconds after witnessing another tragedy. It really was good.

Ulrich came down from the cabinet to get some popcorn. It seemed as if he didn’t have a problem anymore with the thought that the popcorn might be dirty. The other two also ate handfuls of the lightly salted popcorn.

Tammy went to fetch the t-shirt that they had been using for cleaning the plastic trays and wiped the microwave-safe corn bowl clean.

“Now for the water pipes,” Ulrich said. “Hiroshi, go and check the fire, please, it may need more wood by now, then come back and help us. Stay sharp. I can’t wait to see if there is water in these pipes.”

“I’ll keep a lookout for the alter egos,” Nick proposed and took the pistol from his pocket.

All of them stood close to the cabinet, awaiting Hiroshi’s return. He was soon back. Then he climbed up with the drawers until he could touch the aluminum. He pierced it with his sword and cut it open. The soft aluminum gave easily before the steel sword, but still left burrs on the blade.

“My poor sword,” he sighed softly, but everybody could hear him. “It will never be the same again.” Then louder: “This is a real Tiger Katana Samurai sword.”

“If it wasn’t for your sword, my friend,” Ulrich consoled him, “we would all be stored by now.”

“Except Nick,” said Tammy. “He brought his own weapon.”

“That’s true. Even Etsu and I would’ve been stored,” Hiroshi agreed.

Hiroshi laid the sword down on top of the cabinet and tried to force the aluminum open with his hands. It required all his strength, because the aluminum was reinforced with a thick spiral wire. He grunted, tensed his muscles, grinded his teeth and pulled two wires apart. Soon two red copper-pipes were visible in the opening he’d made.

It was a total anti-climax.

Everybody stared at the copper-pipes.

“What now?” Tammy asked, holding the bowl ready.

“Maybe I should shoot a hole in each pipe?” Nick said.

“No,” Ulrich answered quickly. “Save your bullets. We need them for the alter egos. It’s too dangerous in any case. The bullet could ricochet and hit somebody.”

“Copper is softer than steel,” Nick said. “I reckon that the sword would be able to cut a hole in it.”

Hiroshi frowned at him. “Again my sword.” He sounded agitated.

Tammy could see that there were already scratches on the tip of the blade and the middle was blackened by the fire while Hiroshi and Ulrich had cooked the food.

The sword didn’t look quite as magnificent now as it had before.

“
Ach nein
, Hiroshi, it’s all that we have. When I’m back in Frankfurt I’ll send you enough money to buy yourself a new sword. Another Tiger Katana. I’ve got your email-address,” Ulrich said.

“It’s not that,” Hiroshi said, sounding sad. “It was my grandfather’s sword. He was in the army. He received this sword as a mark of honor. He died when I was still a baby,” as he spoke Hiroshi caressed the sword with his fingers.

This was the first bit of personal information that Hiroshi had shared with them, Tammy realized. They were so busy fighting for survival that they hadn’t even sat down to talk. She knew he was eighteen, but didn’t even know if he was still in school.

“Which grade are you in, Hiroshi?” she asked, knowing that it wasn’t really the right time. They needed to get the water.

“I’m in my last year at school,” he answered.

“Your grandfather would be very proud of you, knowing how you are fighting in this dimension. We owe you our lives,” Tammy said. “When we get water, you are getting the first share.”

“Thanks,” Hiroshi said and looked up to the pipes above his head. “Keep the bowl ready, Tammy and Ulrich. Nick, I think you should hold me steady so that I don’t lose my balance.”

Then Hiroshi reached up to the pipe with his free hand. “First I’m going to hang onto one of the pipes. It may come loose from the invisible thing that’s holding it.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Hiroshi,” Tammy stopped him. “If the pipe falls down, we’ll lose a lot of water. Hit a hole in it. We’ll have more control over a hole.”

“True. Let me hit it. You’re going to send me money for a new sword, right, Ulrich?”

“I’ll also send you money,” Nick promised. “That is if I get out of here and don’t go to jail.”

Everyone went quiet for a second, absorbing what Nick said. He was staring a jail sentence in the face. For murder. Tammy knew that in South Africa it can be for twenty-five years.

Hiroshi worked out where he should strike one of the pipes. He had to drop down a drawer in order to wield his sword properly. Nick’s hands held Hiroshi’s waist.

Ulrich joined Tammy in raising the bowl. She felt his fingertips against hers.

Hiroshi hit the pipe. A loud “ping” noise pounded against the grayness. Instantly a slit appeared in the copper-pipe. A clear fluid started to drip from the pipe.

“It looks like water,” Ulrich said excitedly. “I’ll taste it.”

He took his cigarette-lighter from one of the pockets in his trousers, dipped it in the fluid and put it in his mouth. A broad smile spread over his lips.

“It’s water, you guys! Thanks, Nick, for telling us about the pipes,” Ulrich said. “What kind of factory was this, anyway?”

“It wasn’t a factory. Just a storeroom in a hardware store. The bags with the cement and other stuff were packed in front of Chris’s desk, but they didn’t come through with us. Chris was the boss, he handled all the stock,” Nick explained and gestured with his hands. “There’s a bathroom to the side. That’s where the pipes were leading.”

Hiroshi pressed the tip of the sword into the slit and prized it a fraction wider open. Immediately a thin stream of water trickled out of the pipe into the bowl. A few drops spattered onto Tammy’s face.

“We must get the bowl higher so that the water doesn’t splatter out,” Tammy said. “Hiroshi, fetch the lids of the CD-holders and the coffee mug, while I climb up higher. We don’t want to lose a drop.”

Hiroshi jumped from the drawer, landed slowly on the grayness next to the filing-cabinet and sprinted towards the tree.

Tammy carefully climbed up the drawers, holding the bowl under the thin stream of water. Nick and Ulrich eased the cabinet forward so she could put the bowl down directly beneath the stream.

“Here.” Hiroshi was back with the coffee mug and the flat, round lids of the CD-holders and held them out towards Tammy.

Tammy took everything and placed them next to the bowl. She selected the coffee-mug that Etsu had cleaned and held it carefully under the stream of water. As soon as it was full, she passed it to Hiroshi.

“There, enjoy.”

Hiroshi took a little sip.

“Delicious!” he exclaimed and drank greedily until the mug was empty.

Tammy scooped up some water in two lids of the CD-holders and gave those to Ulrich and Nick. Then she took her turn to drink some of the cool water.

Her hands were appallingly dirty and her face needed a wash, but she’d never waste precious water on cleaning.

“Give me the mug, Hiroshi. The bowl is getting full. I don’t want it to overflow.”

Tammy quickly filled everyone’s drinking-things.

Too soon the pipe was empty, but the bowl was almost full. If they drank sparingly, the water would keep them going for two or three days. And there was another pipe. Food, in the form of tree-roots and water from the pipes and in the plastic drawers, was no longer an immediate problem. Now they could focus all their energy onto escaping from this desolated place.

He then slung the heavy rucksack onto his back, fastened the belt around his waist and went to perch on the edge of his seat in front of his computer. The overfull rucksack almost pushed him from the chair.

He switched on the Internet.

Then all he had to do was make himself feel really bad and hope that the game will appear on his screen.

He thought about Tammy. He felt bad about her, because he knew that he had been indirectly responsible for her disappearance. He didn’t know why he had laughed at her. It was a cruel and stupid thing to do. Anybody can get a pimple. It wasn’t as if he never had one. The spot marred her beauty, but it was no reason to laugh at her. Yet spots are always temporary. Had something affected her permanently he felt sure he wouldn’t have laughed. He’d been stupid, but not truly evil.

Was he feeling bad enough? Obviously not, because there wasn’t a “
Snap
” message on the monitor. He had to keep on trying.

Okay. What can he do on the Internet to feel even worse? It had been some time since he’d looked at Facebook, because of the trouble he was having with the home Internet connection. His dad had sorted everything out while he was at the office, so it was okay now.

His cell phone started to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket.

“Hallo, Wayne. Mrs. Delport here.” The voice wasn’t quite how Wayne had expected it to sound.

“You sound excited, or happy. Has something happened?” he asked without greeting her properly. “Has Tammy shown up?”

“No, but there’s an email in her mailbox. I want you to read it and show it to your dad. What’s your email-address? I’ll forward it to you.”

“What’s it about, Mrs. Delport?”

“It’s very peculiar, Wayne. The email is addressed to me, Tammy’s mother. It’s from a Japanese girl who says that she knows where Tammy is. They were together in another dimension. She wrote that Tammy is in the ‘Alter Ego Dimension’. Do you know where that is, Wayne?”

“Yes, well, sort of, perhaps,” Wayne fumbled his answer, his mind racing. “A Japanese girl? Is the girl’s name Etsu Tanaka from Tokyo?”

“Yes, do you know her?” Mrs. Delport sounded surprised, and very hopeful.

“Not personally, but there was something about her on the Afrikaans evening news.”

“Really? What did they say?”

“Four days ago she went missing and after three days suddenly showed up again in her parents’ home. Interpol is investigating the case. Mrs. Delport, please send me that email immediately. Perhaps you can write to the girl and ask her about Tammy. And ask her where this dimension is. Tell her to write everything down that she knows about the place.” Wayne paused for breath and then continued: “What time is it in Tokyo now? Do you know, Mrs. Delport?”

“Tokyo? That’s east so they’re ahead,” Mrs. Delport thought aloud. “About seven hours ahead of us.”

“Oh no, she’ll be sleeping now.”

“But, Wayne, what else did they say over the news? Where was she?”

“They didn’t say, Mrs. Delport. But they warned people not to play a “
Snap
” game on the Internet. The international police, Interpol, are investigating the case and have urged people to contact their local police station with information regarding this. It was a very short report.”

“Dear oh dear. Wayne, where do you think this Alter Ego Dimension is? Can we get there? Alter ego . . . but that is our other self, isn’t it? Surely a place like that doesn’t really exist. It’s something that . . . psychologists thought out. It’s all in the mind. Your other self is still yourself. It’s an inseparable part of you. How can anybody get to such a place? Sounds impossible.”

“Mrs. Delport, I don’t know what’s going on here, but one of my friends has also disappeared and reappeared again. Not for long, ten minutes. Now he’s got a totally different personality. As if an . . . other self had taken over.”

“What are you talking about, Wayne. Who is this boy? Did he say where he was?”

“No, Mrs. Delport. It’s Ben. He’s in grade twelve with me and Tammy. He was a nice guy, but now he’s such a pain in the . . . backside, that I don’t think he’s going to tell us anything. According to him, he didn’t disappear anywhere, yet everybody that knew him, knows he is different now. He’s not the old Ben anymore.

“That’s why I’m afraid for Tammy’s sake . . . and my own. I don’t want her to be different when she comes back. I want to go and look for her, Mrs. Delport.”

“Better not, Wayne, it may be dangerous. I’ll try and contact Interpol. Let them send professionals to look for Tammy. What’s your email address?”

Wayne spelled out his address slowly so that Mrs. Delport could take it down accurately. Then they rang off.

Wayne stared at the screen of his monitor. Damn it! Why must Etsu Tanaka be in Japan? It’s four o’clock in the morning in Tokyo. She’ll be sleeping for another two hours or more. He didn’t want to wait two hours. If that place was dangerous, two hours could see him arriving too late. He wanted to go to Tammy now and rescue her. Tell her how sorry he was for laughing at her spot. Promise that he would never, ever do it again. Darn! He would learn from his mistakes.

He quickly read his emails. Maybe Etsu Tanaka’s email had already arrived.

With shaking fingers he logged on and typed in his email password. Luckily Tammy and her mother have a close relationship, or else her mother wouldn’t have known her password and couldn’t have read Tammy’s messages.

Wait a minute . . . Tammy and Etsu must have had exchanged their email-addresses. How else could Etsu have sent an email? She really was with Tammy. They had talked . . .

If only Etsu was awake . . .

He would send her a message. Maybe she was awake. Maybe she would answer immediately.

Ah, the email was there!

He read the message quickly, then again: 

Hallo Tammy’s mother,

Your daughter Tammy is trapped in the Alter Ego Dimension. She cannot escape. My brother killed my alter ego which freed me. Now I’m back at home. My brother is still with Tammy, she’s also made friends with a German boy named Ulrich and maybe an Australian named Nick. There is no food and water. Everybody is very hungry and thirsty. Alter egos want to overpower them and keep them there. Then they will come to earth, taking their place. We played Snap on the Internet, that game took us to the Alter Ego Dimension. Once there, the alter egos try to quickly overpower and capture us, then they are free to occupy our minds and bodies on earth.

Tell people not to play Snap on the Internet. Many people and children came there and unfortunately we couldn’t save them. They vanished into grayness. There is nothing in that dimension. Only things brought through with you, things reflected in computer monitors. My brother was sitting behind me when I was captured, that was why we went there together.

My brother will look after Tammy with our grandfather’s sword which he has with him. I’m sure he will get her home.

Be strong.

Etsu Tanaka from Tokyo, Japan

Over and over again Wayne read the message.

No food and water? They vanished into grayness? Things behind you that came with? What does this all mean? Her brother is looking after Tammy with an old man’s sword? She has a German friend? What’s going on there? Was there a war raging, or what? What was the grayness into which they vanished? Were “they” the people they couldn’t save?

He must find out more from this Etsu. The more questions he asked, the more answers she’d give, the more he’ll know and the better prepared he can be.

Darn! Look at what a mess he pushed Tammy into. And all because of his stupid, arrogant behavior. There were three men or boys with Tammy. One of them was protecting her with a sword. What a mess. That all happened because he made fun of a spot.

Why was he not like his big brother? Everybody was always saying Yuri was so gentle and friendly. Everybody liked Yuri, because he was kind-hearted.

He wished he could be like Yuri. 

Do you want to play
Snap
?

He stared open mouthed at the message on the screen.

Fear came throbbing in Wayne’s chest. His heartbeat sounded like drumbeats in his ears.

Yes, No, Help

What now? Was he going or staying?

What did Etsu say about
Snap
?

Wayne wanted to read her email again, but couldn’t. The message was in front of it.

Should he rush off and call his dad, or will the message disappear after a few minutes? Could he call his dad on his phone and ask him to come to his room?

NO!

Wayne stared at Etsu’s email. The
Snap
-message had disappeared.

Stupefied, Wayne stared at the screen. Damn it! Now he’d lost the chance to play.

Wayne didn’t know what to think or do. He stared at the screen.
What now? Why did this happen? Ken said that the message wouldn’t go away. Ken said that Ben had to play
. So why then, did his message disappear?

Because he wanted to call his dad? Can this game read minds?

But this is not a game, Wayne realized. This
Snap
has something to do with alter egos. The other self. His other self was himself—only a little different. Did his other self know he wanted to call his dad, and so made the message disappear? Was his other self a clever and cunning Wayne?

Damn it. This other self knows what he thinks and what he intends to do. If he wanted to let this game show up on his screen again, he had to be very, very careful.

He has to control his thoughts.

What did he do to make the message appear?

What were his last thoughts?

He had wished he was like his brother, Yuri.

Okay, he could do it again. It should be easy, because deep inside he really did want to be like his brother. If he had been like Yuri, Tammy would still be with her mother. Yuri would never laugh at anybody’s natural face. Never. He’d pretend not to notice. Yuri had been head boy in twelfth grade. At university he was elected to something important in the Students Union. Yuri has a really cute girlfriend that’s totally besotted with him. Like he’s made of gold or something.

If he was like Yuri, Tammy would have thought he was made of gold, too. He wished, he really wished he was more like Yuri. He was very jealous of his big brother. Yuri was so absolutely perfect. He wasn’t worth the soles of Yuri’s feet.

He so much wanted to be like Yuri . . . Yuri was perfect in every way . . .

Do you want to play
Snap
?

His hand was on the mouse.

Without hesitating he clicked on: Yes.