Three
The instructor-assistant took his place at the podium
in the front of the classroom. His face also filled Rick's computer
screen, and his voice sounded from the speakers built into the headrest.
"My name is John Malone Mangrove. You may call me Mr. Mangrove. Who do
we have with us this afternoon? Becky Marple? Which one are you?"
Marla jerked her thumb behind her. Beck shot her
hand up, then stuffed it back into her lap.
"Mortimer Braggs?"
Mort muttered protest. Mort hated his own name.
Mort hated everything about himself. He hated the world he lived in.
Mr. Mangrove eyed the only blonde in the room. "By a
process of elimination, you must be Marla van Kirk."
"Duh," Marla murmured, and defiantly crossed her arms
against her breasts.
"And Rick Kaiser. Is Rick a nickname? I prefer not
to use nicknames."
"Just Rick."
"Do you know why you're here? Miss van Kirk? Will
you look at me and answer the question?"
Marla looked at him. "What does it matter? I've
taken psych evaluation before. I don't know why it was necessary to drag
us down here after school to do another one."
"Do you know what this test is about, Miss Van Kirk?"
"I know it's not mandatory, Mr. Mangrove. I've taken
all the mandatory tests. My mother demanded to know what this was all
about, and I don't think she got a straight answer. Both of my parents
were quite angry."
Mr. Mangrove stared at her.
"I wish you would leave them alone," Marla said in a
quieter tone of voice. "Bothering my parents is like poking sticks at zoo
animals. It gets them all riled up. They can really make my life
difficult when they get that way."
"Do you know what our meeting is about, Miss van
Kirk?"
"No," Marla said. "I don't know what any of this is
about."
"Mortimer Braggs?"
"Ah, man, what's wrong with a nickname?"
Mr. Mangrove stared him down.
"Okay, so my old man was drunk at the parent-teacher
conference," Mort said. "He made a fool of himself. He always does
that."
Mr. Mangrove waited for his answer in silence.
"He was a cop, you know," Mort said. "My mom was a
cop, too. She got herself shot dead, and my old man hasn't been the same
since. So what has any of that got to do with me? I ain't done nothing.
The blade was just a joke. I got all the warning I need to play it
straight."
"Do you know what our meeting is about, Mr. Braggs?"
Mort's voice got louder. "Some cheap excuse to weed
us out? Is that it, Mr. Mangrove? You already got it figured that I'm
going to mess up, so you're going to get rid of me before I get around to
it?"
"Do you know what our meeting is about, Mr. Braggs?"
Mort sighed, on the verge of tears. "No. I don't
know what I'm doing here."
"Thank you, Mr. Braggs. Miss Marple? How about
you?"
Becky shook her head without looking up.
Mr. Mangrove surprised them all by accepting Becky's
silent response without comment. He then eyed Rick.
Rick wondered if the meeting had anything to do with
problems they were each having with their parents. Marla's parents were
in Europe. They had conducted the conference earlier in the day by
close-circuit television. They were cold people who had once told Rick
what a precious daughter they had without once acknowledging Marla's
presence in the room. It had been the first and only time he had ever
seen tears in Marla's eyes. They had no use for a daughter, except as a possession that cast glory upon themselves.
As for Mort, Rick was surprised Social Services
allowed him to live with his father. His father had been kicked off the
force for excessive violence following his wife's death. Rick had never
had the courage to ask Mort for details. Mort seldom talked about his
parents and their sordid past.
Rick had heard stories about Becky Marple. She was a
genius and had attended private schools. Some kind of mental breakdown
had left her with failing grades and a fear of the crowds at Armstrong
High.
"I have an antique computer that can access
information quicker than you, Mr. Kaiser. As you may have noticed, a
simple yes or no answer will suffice."
"It's got something to do with our parents," Rick
said.
Mr. Mangrove gave him a cold smile. "Very good.
Yes, it has something to do with your parents. Tell me, Mr. Kaiser, are
your parents perfect human beings? Have you been raised to be a flawless
young adult?"
Hardly. Rick was proud of his parents. They were
generous and loving people. If only they were around to help more often.
On his own, he had done well. He played on the school's football and
soccer teams. He maintained a high point grade average.
But he felt like a rudderless ship adrift at sea. He
let Marla boss him around. He had been told that Mort would get him into
serious trouble sooner or later. Mort and Marla were both badly in need
of friends, but they were also friends who used and abused him. He didn't
know how to put a stop to it. He was a wimp, just like Mort said.
It all boiled down to decisions and choices. Rick
was a stranger to himself. He had no sense of direction. He didn't know
what was expected of him. He didn't know where he was headed in life. He
was adrift in life with plenty of potential and no idea of what to do with
it.
"Nobody's a perfect human being," Rick said in answer
to Mr. Mangrove's question.
"Exactly," Mr. Mangrove said. "We are each
responsible for our own behavior. Unless they've been shown to us, we
don't always know the full range of options available to us. We may
encounter influences that overpower us. A tree will bend in a high wind,
but a hurricane can uproot even the most flexible."
"Fine," Mort called out. "Then let my old man take
the test."
Mr. Mangrove eyed Mort with a solemn look. "Another
social agency will have to deal with your father, Mr. Braggs. We are here
this evening to see how well you will bear the pressures of your life.
You are not being accused of wrongdoing. You are being evaluated for
problems that may arise because of your special circumstance."
"Yeah, like being pegged delinquent?"
"You will not be punished for crimes you have not
committed, Mr. Braggs. But it would be in our best interest if we can
help you avoid committing crimes, if they are indeed in your future."
"We could have taken the test during the day," Marla
told Mr. Mangrove. "We take tests all the time."
"Miss van Kirk, you are not a stupid girl. You have
a keen insight into the workings of the human mind despite your age. You
are what, sixteen years old?"
"Seventeen. I've been seventeen for a whole month
now. We are all seventeen."
"You have taken psych evaluations in the past," Mr.
Mangrove said.
"Lots of them," Marla admitted.
"None have shown evidence of serious problems."
Marla gave the man one of her icy smiles.
"Because in a written test, you can tell us what you
think we want to hear. A young woman as smart as yourself, Miss van Kirk,
can fool us."
Some of Marla's smile faded away.
"We've found a way to keep from being fooled. We
have a new kind of test to give you. Surely you have all heard of virtual
reality."
Marla smirked.
Virtual reality was old hat. Rick had one at home.
He donned his headset and gloves, fired up his computer and modem, and
played baseball in Yankee Stadium with Kim Chung of Seoul, Korea. Or any
of a hundred other friends worldwide. The visual illusion of the playing
field was close to perfect. He could see the ball coming and dive for
it. He could feel the ball impact with his glove, but if he stepped past
the red lines, the illusion was shattered by the four walls of his
basement playroom.
Virtual reality was virtual, almost, but not quite,
the real thing.
Mr. Mangrove began pacing. Rick relaxed when the
gray eyes set in the dark face moved off the face of his computer screen.
"You are all familiar with virtual reality and its
applications," Mr. Mangrove said. "You are entertained by virtual reality
programs. You are educated by them. But existing technology does not
completely fool you. Virtual reality cannot absorb you, mind and body,
one hundred percent."
Marla drummed her fingers on the screen. Mort looked
agitated. Becky had her hands over her head, as if trying to retreat into
a virtual reality inside her own head.
"Until tonight," Mr. Mangrove said.
Everyone looked up in surprise.
"We have a new technique," Mr. Mangrove said. "We
disconnect the body and its physical senses. We tap directly into the
brain. Think of it as a waking dream that you will not be able to
distinguish from reality."
"I don't remember volunteering for this," Marla
said. "I'm no guinea pig."
Mort waved his hand. "I'll have a go at it. Sounds
like a trip."
"The test is strictly voluntary," Mr. Mangrove said
quietly. "You may leave this classroom any time you wish, if you dare."
Marla slid out the side of her desk and stood. She
held out her hand. "Rick. Let's go. Now."
"The evaluation is physically harmless," Mr. Mangrove
added. "You have no more reason to fear it than you have reason to fear
yourselves."
Mr. Mangrove was throwing loaded statements at them.
For the first time in his three month relationship with Marla, Rick
balked. An opportunity was being offered. If he left with Marla and Mort
now, there would be trouble down the line. If this was a chance to deal
with it now, he had to take it. "I think we should go along with this,"
he told Marla. "It may be important."
"We're all screw-ups!" Mort yelled at him. "We're
about to have our heads chopped off! We're dog meat, Kaiser!"
Mr. Mangrove waited to see which way Rick would
turn. The others waited for his decision. If he followed Marla out, Mort
and Becky would be gone like a shot as well. Becky looked close to
panic. Mort was terrified.
And Rick was faced with his most important decision
ever.
"Don't cross me, Rick Kaiser," Marla said in a biting
tone of voice. "I want out of here, and I want you to come with me."
Rick made his choice. "Don't let your parents off
the hook so easy," he said, trying to sound cool. "Let's poke a few
sticks through the bars at the zoo animals. What harm can it do?"
Marla stared at him in surprise, shaken by his
betrayal. Rick didn't know if she was capable of any real depth of
feeling. Even her anger was an emotion as cold as a block of ice.
Ice Queen, Mort called her.
She looked around at Mort. For a moment, Rick
thought she would leave with Mort. Mort was a temptation for her. Mort
would do anything she asked. Anything. He had no conscience at all.
They would make a dangerous pair. In the end, Rick
knew they would destroy one another.
Mort half rose to his feet with an expression of
astonishment.
"Marla, use your head," Rick said softly. "It might
even be fun."
"Doubt it."
But she sat back down.
Devastated by Marla's change of heart, Mort glared in
anger at the girl, and then at Rick.
"I have waited for your cooperation before I stated
the fact," Mr. Mangrove said. "The fact is, the four of you have a
problem, and you know it. You need this. We are not here to hurt you."
"Told you so," Mort muttered unhappily.
Mr. Mangrove eyed Mort and continued. "The
psychological evaluation will provide us with information we can use to
help both you and your parents. Before a problem can be resolved, it must
be brought into the light of reality, even the light of virtual reality. How you react to our scenario will tell us the exact nature of your
individual problems. After that, the process of healing can begin…
"…if you have the courage to face yourselves. If you
are strong enough to deal with what you find. You may have the sense of
being on the horns of a dilemma, damned if you do and damned if you don't,
but I promise you will not be harmed. So, what's it to be?"
It was far more than they had expected. Mort gawked
at Mr. Mangrove. Marla looked stunned. Becky's lovely eyes were wide
with astonishment. Mr. Mangrove broke the moment of silence before Rick
could work up the courage to leave. "Then we shall begin," Mr. Mangrove
said.
By that time, it was too late to back down.
