Chapter 1: The Grand Attraction
Three years had passed since the government shutdown. The economy was steadily crashing while large businesses filed for bankruptcy, and only a select few small businessmen were rooted well enough to take the landslide and momentarily carry the slack. The world was bluffing over some illusionary period of repose from the declining market. Jobs were constantly opening as people scurried about their lives doing as they wished, where they wished, while it was an option to them.
Carls K. Locke was only in his early thirties. He’d managed to land a secure job at ATR, an auto tech repair company stationed in Noonbrick. Since all the big-name brands of cars and the like had gone out of business, people were desperate to keep what wheels they had still running. ATR was one of the few still left in business for repairing them. Carls was married to a beautiful young nurse by the name of Elairah. Together, they enjoyed the laughter of their three-year-old little angel, Joanna.
It was only last week that Bill had been picked up on his shift. Bill was a queer fellow and not quite gifted in the area of engineering. The brunt of the load, as always, fell upon Carls as he had to yet again train an employee from scratch. But even from day one, Bill seemed different. He was learning. Fast. He had said it was with the help of what he called e-Links—Carls would find the empty vials all over the shop. Bill claimed that they helped him learn faster and perform better.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
It had taken Carls four years to reach where he was now, and Bill seemed to be catching on even by his third week. It was about that time that Carls’ curiosity got the best of him. He had found another e-Link lying around and decided it best to address Bill on the matter of littering.
“Bill,” he said, pulling the young fellow aside, “this is the fifth one I’ve found this week just lying on the open floor. Thought we talked about picking these up?”
Bill expression declined. He knew it was to the point where half the time he didn’t even know he was still using them, nonetheless leaving them around. “Ya, sorry man,” Bill answered him, running a hand through his greased hair. He had a peculiar nerd look to him—his contacts always needing adjusting.
Carls thought to inquire. “You said you got these from some attraction, right? How do you keep getting these? I’ve never heard of e-Links.”
Bill perked up. “Not just any attraction, Carls, but the Grand Attraction. It’s a spectacular place, man. You should definitely check it out!”
The Grand Attraction? He’d heard of it before. Rumor had it there was a place that was actually defying the economic collapse—a place where entrepreneurs were in business “heaven”.
But Bill seemed to answer his next few questions before he even had time to ask them.
“It’s a mall. A huge one. Like, I’m talking larger than a city! Even Noonbrick! Truly an extravagant shopping and entertainment center of irrefutable standing. People are flocking its gates like the flood, man. It’s where all the big-wigs are putting in their last-ditch efforts to make it.”
It had caught Carls’ attention. A place for businesses to still make it, eh? Like that would ever work. The economy is too broken for entrepreneurs... yet, it could still be possible…. “How come I don’t hear much of it? Only rumors?”
Bill smiled, his hand reeling in Carls shoulder as he whispered, “Only those with tickets can get in.”
Tickets? How did that answer his question?
“What good are tickets if there’s no advertising?”
Bill laughed, pulling out another e-Link from one of his jeans’ pockets. “That’s what I do,” he said. He had the same weird, nerd look that he’d given Carls after his first full day working with him. Carls was hesitant, however, to take the e-Link that Bill held out before him.
“Oh,” Bill remarked, quickly reaching into a different pocket, “wrong thing! I meant to hand you this.” He was holding out a silver ticket lined in violet blue. “Take it man, it’s for you. And I reckon you can have this e-Link too. I’ve got enough stock to last me three lifetimes!”
He could tell Carls didn’t like the idea of e-Links. Just the thought of injecting himself with a clear liquid of unknown compounds was… strange. “No worries, man. The e-Links only affect minor functions and neural brainwaves and so far have no side effects. Much like the classic ‘caffeine dumps’, they only momentarily boost you. There’s no hangover—just getting used to not having it circulate the veins anymore!”
“I think I’ll pass on the e-Link, thanks Bill. And I don’t need to take your ticket from you. I don’t have time to vacate and besides, who knows what you’d be like without it.”
Bill chuckled, placing the ticket within Carls’ palm and closing his fingers. “You take it, and you take your family there for a little vacay—I know you’ll need it before your promotion doubles the load.”
He was right. Carls was due for a promotion within the next month and would be packed tight with hours. He needed the work though. His wife, Elairah, wanted to put aside her job and take up raising Joan full-time if she could. But right now they were in a tight spot.
“Thanks Bill, but I can’t.”
“Yes, you can, Carls. I’ll look after the shop. I’m not here to steal it from you; I’m here to tell you that you need a break. Talk it over with the boss if need be. I was actually going to surprise you with it this weekend—I’d already gotten you cleared and everything—but oh well, you beat me to it.”
At first he was unsure, but Bill kept reassuring him it was the best place for a vacation and that it was real. Carls had his own reasons for wanting to go, though. If, indeed, it was an entrepreneur’s heaven, then he might just have the opportunity to pursue his dream business—one that the present economy refuted. Bill had somehow had connections to Elairah’s workplace too—after all, he claimed his family had connections everywhere—and had worked out enough leave time for them to pack up and head out with little Joanna as excited as any child would be on a surprise trip. The ticket Bill had given them was to a hotel supposedly within the mall itself: Paradise Suites. If it was truly as big as Bill had claimed it was, then even a week’s leave wouldn’t be enough to explore the place. So long as they could make it memorable for their daughter, that would be enough for Carls and his wife.
And for the first time in four years, Carls got in his car, punched in the coordinates, and set off for a much anticipated break.
They were finally off to the Grand Attraction.
He was undoubtedly astounded at the grandeur scale of the place. It was massive, towering high over the landscape. Large marble pillars arose, marking the front entrance with enormous panes of plexiglass. The parking lot was crammed with venturers. They ended up having to walk two minutes in before they could reach the main doors. Security guards held their grounds, only allowing those with tickets through. Carls had to weasel his way through to get to them but was let pass at the quick glance of his ticket. Clearly, the Grand Attraction was man’s proudest show of artistic design and architectural perfection. Even the floor upon which they walked was of colorful river rocks and marble. The whole interior of the structure was outlined in obsidian—the cost of which was unfathomable. Carls could but stare at the entrance for a minute or two. The feeling was sublime, the atmosphere all the same. He shot a glance at his wife who smiled back at him.
“It’s beautiful,” she said to him, grabbing his hand and pressing forward.
Joanna was overflowing with curiosity to touch everything but managed to stay close and under her father’s guiding hand. The first task on his mind was to find the apartments. Sure enough, before them was a pillar of black marble, holding an etching of the place. They were able to find the apartments not but a hall and a turn away from them. The Paradise Suites took up the whole length of the eastern hall—however small it might have been in consideration of the many others they had yet to discover. The suites rose to all three floors of the stone wall. The black plaque onto which the name was carved extended the width of the massive entrance. Locke quickly acknowledged that there was nothing short of magnificence in such an attraction. Any doubts he had of the place were quickly fading, if not already gone. It had to be real.
The lady at the desk kindly told them to not worry about fetching their own luggage as they would do it for them as a part of their free service. He simply handed her the ticket and his keys and turned to his wife, saying with a smile, “What would you like to eat?” Maybe this trip was the perfect vacation for their family after all. Maybe Billy had been right: it was worth their while.
Taking out his camera, he asked a passing couple to take their picture. Surely, this was what he needed. What she needed. What Joanna needed. There was no mistake this was, without a doubt, the grandest attraction.
