Solipsis: Escape from the Comatorium by Jeff Pollard Page B

disconn-”
    Medved
stops cold as he spots a behemoth trudging by. It crushes a house and
walks past, on its way to the city.
    “ What
the hell is going on?” Renee asks.
    “ I
don't know,” Medved says quietly. “Let's get out of
here,” he says, running for the house. Renee follows. Medved
jumps into the televator, discovering what Renee already knows. “It's
not on.”
    “ What
does that mean?” Renee asks.
    “ I
think somebody has taken over Solipsis.”
    “ Who?”
    “ I
don't know,” Medved says.
    “ Yes
you do,” Gwen says from the top of the stairs.
    “ Mom!”
Renee runs and hugs her. “Mom, what's happening?” Gwen
and Medved exchange a look. “What aren't you telling me?”
Medved doesn't want Renee to know the truth. “Where's dad, he'd
know what to do,” Renee says, not willing to give up already.
    “ He
was in surgery,” Medved says.
    “ Maybe
he's fighting them in the real world,” Renee says hopefully.
    “ With
the televators off, maybe he's just in limbo,” Medved replies,
“by the looks of it, they've got everything under control.”
    “ So
we're completely screwed, that's what you're telling me?” Renee
asks. Gwen and Medved look to each other for any ideas. Nothing. The
house starts to shutter, as if from an earthquake. Renee stumbles to
a window and sees a behemoth coming their way. It's stomping down an
entire row of houses, moving through them like they aren't even
there. They rush down the stairs in an attempt to get out of the
house before it is inevitably crushed. Medved practically carries
Renee down the stairs, going very fast. Gwen follows behind. The
giant's feet tear through the house, turning everything into
shrapnel.
    Renee
comes to her senses, sitting in a pile of debris. Medved sits up next
to her, seemingly okay. “Where's Mom?” Renee asks. They
clear the debris and stand up in the footprint of their house,
apparently unharmed. They search frantically through the debris.
    A
gurgling sound coming from a pile of concrete gets their attention.
They approach it slowly. Medved carefully clears a large chunk of
tile floor and finds Gwen. Her body is crushed, nearly flattened in
some places. Her skin clings to shattered bones. She coughs up blood.
Medved lays down next to Gwen, trying to comfort her. Renee stares in
horror. Gwen is in extreme pain. If this were earth, she would have
been killed instantly. But here...she has to endure the pain, to know
what it's like to be crushed.
    Renee
falls to her knees on her flattened mother's side. “Why is she
in so much pain?” Renee is in shock.
    “ They
turned the pain sensors up,” Medved replies quietly, looking
away from the grotesque scene.
    “ We
have to fix her right now” Renee says, “Medved!”
    “ Yeah,”
is all Medved can say, overwhelmed by the sight.
    “ Come
on, help me,” Renee says, trying to pick up her flattened
mother. Gwen screams in agony.
    “ Stop,”
Medved says. “The televators are off.”
    “ Are
you telling me we can't defrag her? She's stuck like this?”
Renee demands.
    “ Wait,
wait.” Medved has an idea, “some televators are not
changeable. It's a fail-safe in case something gets screwed up in an
update. Some of them should still be on.”
    “ So
we can get back to Earth!?”
    “ Probably
not, if they cut the line, then we can't get out. But they can't turn
off defragging. It's not editable.”
    “ So
where are those televators?” Renee asks.
    “ Downtown.
It won't be easy to get there,” Medved admits.
    “ We
have to,” Renee says. “She's going to go mad from the
pain if we don't. Help me.” Renee sets to removing the shards
of glass and debris from her mother's flattened body. Gwen clenches
her eyes and tries to comfort herself by repeating some inaudible
phrase. Renee delicately pulls out a shard of glass. Gwen screams in
pain.
    “ This
is no use,” Medved says.
    “ We
just have to get her head to a televator, right?” Renee asks. Medved's eyes