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I’m like a satellite, transmitting different eras,
I am the voice of the next generation
Completely digital, create synthetic auras
Start a revolution now
Amaranthe-Digital World
There was nothing but a sea of numbers and darkness.
Clyde couldn’t stop spinning around in circles; he only stopped until he felt like his head would burst and that he would vomit all over himself. That would be an uncool way to die, covered in your own vomit.
He was trapped in a digital hell.
He never said goodbye to his mum. He had never told her how much he loved her, and how he never apologised for all the times he had misbehaved when he shouldn’t have. He wished he had more time with his family. He would do anything they asked him right now, even folding the laundry or emptying the stinky bin. Anywhere was better than here.
He was only 14.
Andrea Yates died at 13. He had one extra year, more than she did when she fell off the pier. He didn’t want to die. Not here, not in this nothingness of the inside of an alien computer.
Clyde lifted his arms and pressed the palms of his hands against his forehead. He felt real. He was breathing. He could feel his heart racing in panic, going 100mph as though his heart might explode at any given moment. He closed his eyes and exhaled, taking a moment to calm himself.
What would Sarah Jane do?
For a start, she would not panic. Panicking would waste time and energy, and if he was stuck here long-term, he needed to save his resources.
God, this sucked.
Clyde dropped his hands. Could he die here? Was he a hologram like in Star Trek? Or was he upgraded to the digital world, forever inside a corrupt computer? He remembered reading comics as a kid, about evil computers taking over the world, and all the superheroes had to do was unplug the computer from the wall to stop it.
Unfortunately, those comics didn’t tell him how to stop an evil computer from out of space, made from crystals.
He tried. He had tried to send a message to Alan Jackson; he could only pray that Alan had taken them seriously. After Maria had nearly been wiped from the timelines, Clyde knew that Alan Jackson had no choice but to believe that Clyde was stuck inside the computer and the world was really ending.
He looked up at the screen that showed the empty attic. How he longed to be back in the real world, even if the world was ending, it was better than being stuck inside this digital hell.
Never in a million years did he think he would be hanging out with nerds like Luke Smith and Maria Jackson, battling weird, freaky aliens all on the doorstep. He had even been to space! He saw how beautiful the Earth was from above, something only a child could dream about when they learn about how astronauts go to the moon.
He couldn’t tell his mother a single thing. Not if he wanted to be sent to a mental asylum, or some other place where they locked you up if you started babbling about little green men, possessed nuns and mad computers that wanted to destroy the Earth.
He remembered Sarah Jane talking about this Doctor. The man who had introduced her to this wonderful, weird and mad world. He wondered what she had seen and done back in the 1970’s. If he ever got out of here alive, well, he would like a word with this Doctor if an opportunity ever came up.
If he ever got out of here alive, he was going to sign up for advanced computer lessons and learn more about them and how to stop them, just in case.
“Clyde.”
Clyde jolted, and he looked around as he heard the androgyny voice of Mr Smith echo around him.
“What do you want now?” Clyde protested. “You’ve punished me enough already."
“You are my bargaining chip,” Mr Smith responded. “I need you alive, so Sarah Jane and Luke can help me achieve my purpose.”
“And your purpose is what, exactly?” Clyde asked. Mr Smith kept going on about this purpose of his, but he hasn’t exactly given a clear answer. Clyde figured it was to do with blowing the Earth up, but for what, he didn’t know. “Why are you communicating with the Slitheen, hmm? You never answered that.”
“I don’t need the Slitheen, not anymore,” Mr Smith responded. “They were a means to an end.”
“Oh, so that makes it all right then, doesn’t it?” Clyde let out a harsh laugh. “That you used the Slitheen as you used us. We trusted you! We were your friends.”
“Yes. I used Sarah Jane.”
“You do know what the definition of friends is, right?” Clyde asked. “Look it up in the dictionary.”
There was a moment of pause, as the wall of numbers around Clyde constantly flickered.
"Friend. A person who you know well and who you like a lot but is not a member of your blood family.”
“That’s right. We’re your friends, Mr Smith. Friends help each other in times of need; we are like a family,” Clyde exclaimed and sighed. “Look, whatever your purpose is, you should have asked us to help. You’ve known Sarah Jane longer than any of us have. You know Sarah Jane has a good heart, who tries her best to help other people. She would have helped you if you had asked.”
There was silence, as though the computer was processing Clyde’s words. Was he getting through to Mr Smith? Or was Mr Smith contacting other computers elsewhere, trying to process the destruction of the world even faster? He didn’t have time to waste. He had to try.
He had to hope.
“Listen,” Clyde continued. “Whatever is going on, you can tell us. Luke is my friend, one of my best mates and one of the smartest people I know. He could help you. You don’t have to bring the moon down on Earth to achieve that goal.”
“Ask…”
“Yes, ask. Asking is good!” Clyde was grasping at distractions. “I mean, I get it. I hate asking for help with classwork. It’s a dumb reason, but I fear people will make fun of me in the classroom if I ask for help. I’m learning that no question is ever too stupid.”
“Ask…thank you, Clyde Langer. You have given me the last idea for a little problem I need.”
“What? No!” Clyde groaned, and then he looked down, seeing his feet begin to fade into darkness. He was beginning to fade into nothingness.
He began to scream.