Limbo (The Last Humans Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

becomes subconscious again, I subvocalize, “Okay, Phoe. I officially forgive you. That was really cool.”
    She looks back at me with a strange mix of pity and worry. “You can be such a kid sometimes.” She pauses, then adds softly, “I regret I got you involved in all this.”
    Her seriousness reminds me of the things I put out of my mind for the last few minutes. “I’m glad you got me involved,” I subvocalize and realize I actually mean it. “I’m glad I know you. I’d always rather know the truth.”
    I look at the stars again, thinking of what lies out there.
    “I so desperately want to figure out where we are,” Phoe says, moving to stand next to me. She looks at the stars with such longing that I feel an odd ache in my chest.
    “You couldn’t locate us even with your new resources?” I ask quietly.
    “Right, I couldn’t. But I did have a plan as to how to acquire the necessary resources.” Phoe’s gaze is distant, and her voice sounds wistful.
    “You did?”
    “Yes, but it’s not important now.” She forces a smile to her lips.
    “I’d like to hear about it anyway,” I think. Then I can’t help but add, “Along with anything else you might have done to the technology in my body.”
    “I didn’t do anything else to you, I swear,” she says, turning to look at me. “Regarding my plan, do you remember the Test Jeremiah mentioned at the very beginning of his conversation with the Envoy?”
    “Vaguely.” I sit down on the grass.
    “Well, when I intercepted their conversation, it wasn’t the first time I’d heard of this Test.” She sits next to me, and thanks to the tactile Augmented Reality, her leg brushes against mine. “This Test was on my radar soon after you fell asleep last night.”
    “He said something about the new generation of the Elderly and Birth Day,” I subvocalize, pulling my feet toward me. “It sounds like those rumors you hear about the exit exam that Youths take on our fortieth Birth Day. They say it’s so the Adults can see what our jobs will be once we join them.”
    “Yes, and they’re not rumors.” She scoots sideways so she’s closer to me. “Youths take an aptitude-and-interests Test. It’s nothing sinister, just a way to figure out what you want to do with yourself as an Adult. The Elderly Test is a little more mysterious. I don’t know what its actual purpose is—probably also to test aptitude for something—but the interesting thing about it is that it uses technology similar to the IRES game, which is how it got on my to-deal-with list.”
    “How similar?” My pulse accelerates. “You don’t want me to beat something like thatcursed game again, do you?” The memories of falling from the tower and fighting cyborg-Jeremiah flit through my mind.
    “You know I do, or else I wouldn’t have brought it up, but I don’t think the Test will be as disturbing as the game was,” Phoe says. “The only thing they have in common is the ultra-realistic immersion you’ll experience and that it’s tailored to each user’s brain. Whatever the Test’s purpose is, given that it’s something the Adults take as a prelude to becoming a member of the Elderly, we can be sure it will not beentertaining.”
    I shake my head at her reminder that the game, with all its unpleasantness, was designed with entertainment in mind. But then, what else would you expect from the ancients? They were insane enough to jump out of airplanes, handing their lives over to contraptions made out of fabric. I have a very hard time seeing anyone in Oasis wanting to put Adults through a game like that to initiate them as the Elderly.
    A new realization takes my anxiety in a different direction, and I subvocalize, “If it’s a Test only Adults are supposed to take, how can I take it? Wouldn’t they notice something like that?” I turn my whole body toward Phoe. “Also, if I’m supposed to bring this Test down the way I did with the IRES game, wouldn’t the Elderly