The Troll (19 page)

“
If
you’re willing to prevent The Moderator from killing all those
people, I can help you do it. As for your friends and Rainbow and the
journey, I can’t help you. Anything beyond turning yourself in
would be suicide.”

The
Troll unlocked the cell door and both men walked outside. The Acrobat
closed his eyes, taking in the sunlight with relief. The Troll
watched him, enjoying a breeze on his face, his mind spinning as he
tried to decide just how far he wanted to go.

Chapter
3

Heritage
Square was a small town bordering the Mississippi River. It was built
to have the appearance of the olden days, when there still existed
blacksmiths and wagons that delivered the mail. In the center of the
town was a large fountain, surrounded by brick walkways and abandoned
souvenir and candy shops circling it.

As
the sun set, the fountain lit up and Iris took a moment to realize
just how beautiful it was. In the distance, from where she was bound
to the statue, she could see the large Sugar Creek Covered Bridge
which crossed into the next state, teasing her by being so close. The
Guide had wanted to make it to the river and here they were, but
unable to move another step.

Her
hands were bound to the statue in the center of the fountain and her
legs were submerged no farther than her knees, but as the night fell,
the water grew colder and she began to shiver. “We could die
overnight,” she said.

Behind
her, The Guide took a deep breath, contemplating how he could make
her feel better, but she was right. Their position was uncomfortable,
and they were exposed to the world. Any number of things could go
wrong. “It might be best if we do,” The Guide said. “They
don’t have anything better planned for us.”

“
This
can’t be it,” Iris said, grinding her teeth.

“
What
do we got? The Surfer and Wigeon are out of the fight, The Troll was
useless, there’s no revolution left, everyone’s got
Psi…We’ve never had an advantage Iris. I’m sorry,
but that’s the reality.”

“
We
still have our interrogation,” she said, with some hope. They
were awaiting their “trial” which was a watered down
version of justice held by The Moderator, who would be coming by to
talk to his prisoners.

“
I
hate to point this out, but maybe The Troll was right about you
appealing to your father. He’s going to kill millions of
people. I doubt The Troll will turn himself in. The only chance we
have at stopping this is you to confront him.”

Iris
laughed. “I don’t think so Guide. For one thing, I was a
fat little girl the last time he saw me. My hair’s different,
I’m twenty years older…he won’t recognize me.”

“
So
tell him…”

“
No.
I never intended on revealing myself and I never will.”

“
Not
even with millions of lives at stake?”

“
Even
if I did, he wouldn’t cave. You know how stubborn he is. In his
mind, he killed me along with everyone else, and it didn’t
bother him at all. He’s not going to listen to anyone. He’s
set his terms and that’s what he’s going to do, because
that’s how he is.”

“
Then
what’s your suggestion?” The Guide asked, at a loss.

“
I
know you don’t want to hear this, but it’s times like
these that I wish we did have Troll here. You saw him at the
bounty
hunter dinner, and he did that while he was still in love with Psi.”

“
All
he does is insult people.”

“
No
Guide, you still don’t get it. He exposes people, and that’s
what we need. The public will never know that you brought down a
helicopter because Circular Prime doesn’t want to be seen as
anything but perfect. Once you expose imperfections, you cast doubt.
I watched The Troll in so many exchanges on-line where the issue
stopped mattering the moment he discredited the user on the other
side of the debate.”

“
Well,
The Troll’s not here, and if he was, he wouldn’t go up
against The Moderator. He had his chance and passed.”

“
He
wasn’t angry enough.”

“
He’s
very likely dead or on his way there. I doubt he’ll ever be
angry enough.”

“
I’m
just saying: I admired The Surfer and Wigeon when they managed to
hack the airwaves, but I never agreed with the tactical approach. It
was all about recruiting, but no one’s going to join
you
when everyone thinks The
Moderator is invincible. They’ll join you when they realize he
can be defeated.”

“
So
how do we troll him? How do we expose him?”

“
You
force him to slip up. You corner him, baffle him, make him falter or
snap or lose his cool. All you have to do is take control out of his
hands for a second and he’ll be weakened, and if he’s
weakened, if only for a moment, people will see that and it will make
them wonder, even if just a little, if one day there will be a world
without Psi.”

“
That’s
not what I do,” The Guide said.

“
I
know. You’ll threaten him and lose your temper, but that won’t
get you anywhere. It will make you seem hostile.
You
know, everyone goes by labels now, as if they're all just one thing.
The Troll, The Moderator, The Guide...it's as if you all think you
can only play one part.”

“
If
you know so much about it, why don’t you do it?” The
Guide said.

“
I
intend on, but I need you with me, because like it or not, right now,
you’re the face of this, and you need to be smart. You said it
yourself: winning isn’t going to come from fighting. We need to
use our brains.”

“
Alright,”
The Guide said, suppressing all anger he would have upon seeing The
Moderator’s face. “How do we troll him?”

“
We
just don’t care,” Iris said. “We make him
understand that we can’t be beat because we have no interest in
anything he has to say…”

“
I
am letting them sweat while they wait,” The Moderator said,
sitting cross-legged on the parking garage cement across from The
Surfer.

“
Why?”
The Surfer asked, his voice raspy and weak. He’d lost
definition in his face and his eyes were sunken and hidden by strands
of hair which hung over his face.

“
Power
move,” The Moderator said. “Always leave them waiting,
especially in moments of anxiety.”

“
You’re
evil.”

“
This
is just business,” The Moderator said. “So tell me about
this Guide. Was he your first lieutenant?”

“
He's
a friend.”

“
Then,
surely you will be distraught when he dies.”

“
Take
me instead.”

The
Moderator laughed so hard that his neck jerked almost painfully. He
recovered quickly. “I find it interesting that you’re
bargaining, as if you have something to bargain with. As if you have
anything I even partially want.”

“
I’m
asking you as a human being.”

“
That’s
too bad, because I’m slightly above human Surfer. I’ve
turned a billion people into puppets, so I’m going to go ahead
and operate under the assumption that I’m not just one of you.”
His words came out as almost disgusted when he said ‘you’
but he couldn’t contain it. The Surfer knew he really did see
himself as a god—as a puppet master of the people. He would
have given anything just to have the chance to take him down a peg,
but it seemed The Moderator’s power had no limit and it was
impossible to reason with him.

“
Do
you need me to beg?” The Surfer asked. “Is that what
you’d like?”

“
I’ll
decide after I talk to The Guide. How’s that sound?”

The
Surfer closed his eyes. The last thing he wanted was The Guide
talking to Moderator. Though he thought highly of his friend, The
Guide would likely lose his temper and threaten him. Then, it would
be over. He watched The Moderator set up a screen, his eyelids
fluttering as he navigated on-line. Then, he set a transmitter down,
repositioned the screen so it was directed on his face, and hit
‘transmit’.

The
world watched the broadcast.

“
Good
evening,” The Moderator said, addressing the cameras instead of
his captives. “Tonight we will be discussing and determining
the punishments that the terrorists known as Iris and The Guide
deserve. As you all know, The Magician is heading the hunt to capture
the terrorist known as The Troll, so I will be conducting tonight's
interrogation. We will now begin.”

The
Moderator turned to the screen and took a long look at Iris first.
Her hair hung in front of her face as if to conceal her identity.
“This is the infamous Iris. Tell me Iris: How do you feel about
how your challenge played out?”

Iris
wanted to scream, to give him a piece of mind, but she resisted and
instead played the game they’d agreed they would play. “We
did much better than I expected,” she said.

The
Moderator was taken aback. He laughed to himself cleverly and leaned
toward the screen. “Is getting caught so soon better than
expected?”

“
My
candidate is still out there,” she said.

“
But
we have Rainbow,” he shot back.

“
We
didn’t have all our eggs in that basket,” Iris said,
bluffing carelessly. To her side, The Guide’s eyes shifted
toward her, slightly amused at what she was trying to do. “I
think your downfall will be your confidence and belief that you've
thought of everything,” Iris added.

“
And
what haven't I thought of?” he asked, calling her bluff.

She
forcefully laughed. “I'd be stupid if I told you,” she
said. “I may not live to see it, but you're downfall is
coming.”

The
Moderator paused, carefully controlling his movements and facial
expressions. He turned to The Guide instead.

The
Surfer leaned forward, searching his friend’s eyes for any hope
that this wasn’t over. It made him sad to see The Guide so
helpless.

“
Guide,”
The Moderator said. “Where did you come from?”

“
I
was chosen to watch over The Troll,” he said.

“
Chosen
by who?”

“
The
leader of the resistance,” he said.

“
How
big is the resistance?”

“
I
couldn’t speak for other chapters, but we’re a few
thousand strong in the Midwest.”

“
Oh,
please,” The Moderator said. “Give me a break. You speak
as if you have organization and numbers, but there’s no
evidence of this other than your words. With thousands in number, we
surely would have seen an attack by now.”

“
I
don’t really need you to believe me,” The Guide said,
maintaining all self control. “You’re asking questions
and I’m answering.”

“
This
is also an interrogation in which your answers could mean the
difference between life and death.”

The
Guide laughed. The Moderator waited silently, but at his side, The
Surfer watched in fascination, shocked that his friend was so calm
and collected and clearly trying to scare the man.

“
You
shouldn’t insult me or the viewers,” The Guide said. “The
world isn’t actually as dumb as you assume. I think we all know
I’m going to die tomorrow. This is just foreplay for you.”

“
I
don’t enjoy this any more than you do.”

“
Again…you’re
insulting your audience. Of course you’re going to kill me.
Iris and I have done far too much damage to this game. I understand
it was supposed to be simple: You pretend Iris propose a game that
you staged at Surfer’s trial. You pick a guy who loves Psi and
offer him a spot in Chicago if he transmits and betrays the mission,
but he never does. Instead, he joins the resistance and kidnaps The
Acrobat and brings down a helicopter operated by The Pilot. We spared
his life because we’re not killers, but I don’t blame you
for being embarrassed about how things turned out. From your vantage
point, killing us before this goes any further makes sense. I’m
not even going to try to make a case for myself. But most
importantly, when you kill us, and
when
you killed everyone else, you enjoyed it immensely. You can't even
fake sadness well when you talk about how you murdered your daughter
and wife.”