16 – Forbidden Knowledge (2)

Luke wandered the department store with its bothersome lights. He turned the brim of his hat forward for relief. He only needed a couple things. A few children’s books to read to Skye, and a couple boxes of Cheez-Its. The grocery store only carried Cheese-Nips, which didn’t taste the same at all, and anyone who insisted they did were kidding themselves.

There were boxes of fruit snacks near the Cheez-Its. Did Skye like fruit snacks? Luke grabbed a box anyway. He’d eat them if she didn’t.

He walked past a woman who scowled at him for seemingly no reason. Maybe she thought he bumped into her. Luke mumbled an apology and continued on towards the books.

On the way there, he wandered past a couple whispering to each other. A woman headed his way crossed the walkway. Did she want to get away from him? Luke shrugged it off. Some women were paranoid around strange men.

Luke arrived at the book section, and thumbed through children’s books.

“Where’s your daughter?” a young man asked, smirking. “Lose her again?”

Luke looked up, but the man had already walked off. That must be why everyone was suddenly acting weird around him. Skye’s escapade had made the news, along with Luke’s face. People who knew him by sight already treated him poorly. But thanks to being on the news, everyone recognized him now.

Being ostracized was nothing new. Luke picked up a couple of books he hoped Skye would like, and headed for the checkout.

There was only one register open, and a long line of customers. Luke gazed at the cluster of self-checkout registers longingly. They were covered in “out of order” signs.

He waited in line only to have a man with a full cart cut in front of him, a teenage girl hovering nearby. Luke cleared his throat. The man barely glanced at him. Wait. Was that officer McNeil?

Should Luke tell him off? There were four people ahead of them, two who also had carts of things. He was not in the mood to wait any longer than necessary.

“Excuse me,” Luke said hesitantly. “The line starts behind me.”

McNeil ignored him, but the girl looked at Luke, then back to McNeil. “We accidentally cut in front of someone.”

McNeil ignored her too. Luke gritted his teeth. With an eye roll, the girl pulled the cart to the side. “Sorry about that,” she said to Luke, gesturing for him to go ahead of him.

“What the hell are you doing?” McNeil hissed at the girl.

“He was here first.”

“So?”

The girl raised her chin. “He’s only got a few things. You’re buying half the store.”

The people in front of McNeil turned to watch the argument. As much as Luke didn’t want to wait any longer than necessary, he wanted to be part of a scene less. “It’s not a big deal,” he whispered to the girl.

“See,” McNeil said to the girl. “He doesn’t care, so shut that mouth of yours. People are staring.”

The girl folded her arms. “Whatever.”

Luke checked his watch, with the feeling that this was going to be a long wait.

~~~~~

The next day, after school, Maple hurried over to Pieway, to catch Jake at work. Hopefully he had her new phone ready.

And he did. Jake handed over her new phone. Her new phone with no locks or controls on it.

“I even hooked you up with a VPN,” Jake had said. She didn’t know what that was, so he showed her how he had it set up so that it looked like she was searching from California. Even more information would be accessible to her.

Most importantly, she could text Jake whenever she wanted.

As always, Maple went straight to her room when she got home. She closed her door behind her, tossed her backpack in the corner, and got out her new phone. She sat cross-legged on her bed, staring at the search screen. She could ask anything. Anything at all. No restrictions. The possibilities were overwhelming. What should she search for first?

Given this phone had a VPN set to California, perhaps she should check what she was learning in history class.

“The 2064 Riots.”

The 2064 Riots happened when congress passed the “Keep the Left Silent” Act that forbid people from discussing anything related to leftist movements such as Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ rights.

That wasn’t at all what her teacher and textbooks said. The 2064 Riots happened when congress passed the “Keep the Right Silent” Act. It forbid people from stating facts about how there were only two genders, and talking about christian values. Strange.

Which was the correct answer?

She opened the VPN settings and changed the location to Houston, Texas. Their answer was similar to Maple’s. She smiled, but decided to check New York. Their answer was similar to California’s. She frowned. Maybe she should try somewhere outside of The American Union. So she switched over to Quebec.

The 2064 Riots happened when founder of Telzon, Pete Germain (R) won the 2064 Presidential Election against Artemis Kalinsky (D).

That was a completely different answer. Maple read on.

Rapid misinformation about the election spread. Posts in left-wing social media spaces stated evidence that Germain bribed members of congress for billions of dollars to rig the election. There is much debate on if the evidence was real or doctored, but it led to mass protests. Right-wing social media spaces were flooded with videos created and posted by AI bots depicting left-wing protesters burning down government buildings and lynching Republican politicians. As a result, counter-protests were organized to fight back. This led to The White House Massacre, followed by the collapse of the United States, and the eventual formation of four new countries; The Equal States, The Free States, The Patriot States, and the Colonial States.

Was this the correct answer? It didn’t sound as biased as the other answers. It had to be correct. Why would Canada lie about American history?

She decided from then on to keep her VPN set to Quebec. Canada was less likely to push a narrative.

Luke waited outside of Skye’s classroom, trying to ignore the judgmental stares and whispers of all the mothers around him. Like they’d never had a child go missing.

The teacher propped the door open. Several children ran out to greet their mothers. A few lingered behind, eyes searching for their own. Skye wasn’t in sight.

Luke walked into the room, and spotted her sitting at a table, alone. Nothing new there. He smiled at her. “Hey, kiddo.”

She stood up, grabbed her backpack, and followed him towards the door.

Ms. Garland called Luke’s name.

Now what? Luke walked over to the teacher, who sat at her desk. “Yeah?”

“Skye was being rather disruptive today.”

“Really?” Luke looked down at Skye, who stared at the wall behind the teacher. “What did she do?”

“I brought out snacks for everyone. And out of nowhere, she started screaming. I don’t know what her problem was.”

“Was there anything different about the lights?”

“No. What would that have to do with anything?”

“Nothing,” Luke said. “I’ll try talking to her.”

“See that you do.”

Luke led Skye to his truck. Once inside, he confronted her. “Why were you screaming in class?”

Skye shrugged.

“That doesn’t help me.”

“I don’t know.”

“You were screaming and you don’t know why? Were you hurt?”

“No. I wanted everyone gone.”

Luke understood the feeling. “Sometimes we have to stay quiet and put up with other people being around.”

“I couldn’t help it, It just… happened!”

“Try not to let it happen.”

“I didn’t want to.”

Luke rubbed his forehead. “Well, if you want people to like you, you have to start controlling yourself.”

“I don’t care.”

“You don’t care if people like you?” Luke wondered if he should worry. “Don’t you want friends?”

Skye shrugged again.

“Well, if not that, then you should care because…” What would be an appropriate punishment for a 5 year old? Time out? Grounding? Taking away toys? And for how long? An hour? A day? A week? “I’m telling Grandpa, and we’re going to figure out a punishment.”

Skye folded her arms, and stared out the window as Luke started up the car.

There was a familiar car parked in front of the house, when Luke pulled up. Why was that social worker here? He turned off his car, and turned to Skye. “If you’re on your best behavior for Allison, I won’t punish you this time.”

“Okay.”

They both got out of the truck, and went inside. Clay, Allison, and officer Gish sat in the family room, talking. Everyone looked up when Luke opened the front door, and closed it.

He flashed Allison what he hoped was a friendly smile. “Hey. What brings you here?”

“I think you know why,” she said, eyes on Skye. Skye twisted her body back and forth while staring at the wall. “Skye, how have you been?”

“Good,” she said to the wall.

Allison’s hand went to her chest. “You talked?” Her eyes darted to Luke, who’s chest swelled with pride. “I’ve never heard her talk before.”

“She talks plenty around me,” Luke said. “It’s extending to other people.”

“That’s… that’s great.” Allison turned to Skye. “Can I ask you a few questions then?”

Skye looked at Luke. Luke smiled. “Go ahead.”

“We have to be alone,” Allison said.

“Of course.” Luke and Clay left for the kitchen, and sat down at the table.

“What were you talking about, before I showed up?” Luke asked.

“Just questions about the night she went missing. I told her the whole story. She asked me about Skye’s behavior and our daily routine. I bet she’s gonna ask to see the rest of the house next. And I know she’s not gonna be happy about you two sharing a room. I would’ve moved the air mattress, but I never got the chance.”

Not that it would have mattered, since the entire police force knew by now. “It’s probably good you didn’t. We’d look worse if they caught us in a lie.”

“Either way, they’re not gonna take Skye. There’s no reason to. This is just one of those surprise visits they warned us about, to make sure we’re not abusing her or anything like that.”

“Yeah.” Luke didn’t think they would. Kids ran away for dumb reasons all the time.

Allison walked into the kitchen with officer Gish. “We’d like to take a quick look around the house before we leave.”

“That’s fine.” Luke stood up, and led the way.