Out of Bounds

They thought they weren’t in Kidneyland anymore, like they’d popped up someplace else in all the confusion. The park’s usual standard of aesthetic quality was nowhere to be found. As far as the eye could see, there were no exciting colors, rides, attractions- or much of anything at all. What guests they could see were pretty far away, likely coming in from elsewhere. They realized the reason they couldn’t see any signs or anything was almost certainly due to them dropping in at some random spot around the back of the area, though that still didn’t explain the boring design. The only buildings in sight were giant featureless warehouses, and the place didn’t seem anywhere near as big as the other areas. If Katie got on her toes, she could even see over into those very locations, something she thought Kidney would never allow, even in a flat desert area, like Eagle Frontier. The whole layout seemed like garbage nonsense, and she wasn’t having it.

“What the hell is this place?” The older sister was actually pretty annoyed, after having hyped herself up for stepping out into the light of a new zone. Frankie tried calming her down as they got their bearings back.

“I don’t know what it is. But… isn’t that kinda exciting in its own right?” She shrugged with her eyes, self-admittedly reaching. She only wanted Katie to have her head on straight in case of an emergency. At the end of the day they were still trying to win this stupid token game.

Still covered in dust, the long-haired tourist squinted.

“I guess I’ll just have to give it a chance…”

They walked around until they could see a line at the entrance of one of the giant warehouses. Even though all they could see inside was darkness, everyone else there looked like they couldn’t wait to go in. Frankie was happy to just wait and let it be a surprise, but Katie, still unsatisfied, elected to tug on the man in front of her’s shoulder.

“Excuse me! Do you know what this line is for?”

“It’s… for the theme park, isn’t it?” He blinked at her, trying to keep track of his kids in his peripheral vision.

“Uh… aren’t we in the theme park?”

He guffawed.

“Not yet we ain't. Does this look like a theme park to you?”

Uneasy, the explorers continued to wait within the lengthy line…

“What do you think’s going on, Frankie?”

“I hope it’s not another haunted house. Please don’t let it be another haunted house.”

“I hope it’s bumper cars.”

“Bumper cars would be fine.” Frankie agreed, her standards lowered by nights of paranoid terror.

Despite the length, it wasn’t the slowest line they’d ever been on. In time, they entered the dark abyss with peeled eyes and somewhat open minds.

Inside it looked like something out of a horror sci-fi movie. Other than the darkness, green accents were the only color you got, oozing in with LED fog machines and dotting the seating. Not only were there no rides or attractions, but nobody there was doing anything in the first place. Hundreds of people all sat inside what looked like barbershop chairs with giant domes over their faces, staring into them in an unmoving, slack-jawed daze.

“Katie.” Frankie stated, horrified. “We’re leaving.”

But the other sister wasn’t paying attention.

“Katie?” She pulled her towards her face. The poor girl was almost panting like a dog.

“You know… this is actually pretty interesting, come to think of it. I wanna see what they’re doing here first!”

Frankie buried her face in her hands, and groaned.

As they were the only new entries not moving, an employee came to approach them, eager to help.

“Can I help you? This is your first time, am I right?”

“Sure is!” Katie exclaimed. Frankie just turned away, trying not to draw attention…

“Wait a minute. Are you two by any chance sisters?”

Frankie’s heart stung. She almost forgot. They knew her face now.

“Sure are!” Katie answered with slightly misplaced pride.

“Yes, perfect- we’ve been looking for you. Are you two the ones named… Frankie and Katie Pop?”

Katie nodded slowly, but began to worry as she did. Uh oh. Should she have just lied? She didn’t know what was going on. Frankie prepared for the worst.

“Oh, great to hear! The whole staff got a message about you. I can’t believe I was the one who found you. We’re just here to let you know that you’ll be getting a message from Kidney himself soon. Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad- you’re not in trouble. Just… make sure to check your phone.”

At this point Frankie didn’t understand what was going on either, but hell, she’d take it.

“T-Thank… thank you, ma’am.” She stuttered to the woman, sweating through her clothes.

“Aw, what’re you thanking me for? Just doing my job! Thanks for coming to our park.”

Before she could leave, Frankie stopped her.

“Um… ma’am? One more thing, if you don’t mind me asking… where… are we, exactly? Which area?”

Her smile stayed perfectly adjusted on her face.

“Why, Kidneyland’s largest zone, of course! The one and only Virtual Fantasy!”