“ I never slept with a girl named Ashley , but —” “ Bullshit .”
Fairfax looked stunned . David wondered what he looked like to Fairfax at that moment .
“ Fine , don ’ t believe me , but Diane does an excellent impersonation of Rattrap , and I loved Beast Wars as a kid .” The list was returned to its rightful owner ; the door closed , and David was alone with what his careless comments had done .
It ’ s the middle of the day , so nobody else is on the creaking city bus David is taking to the pharmacy . There are trees and children and honking horns outside the window , but they are just lies of no immediate importance , so David ignores them to check his Facebook on his phone . As the bus bounces around he sees that Fairfax is engaged . From the woman ’ s pictures it doesn ’ t seem like she has a prime number of pets . David doesn ’ t know whether it ’ s okay to comment on this . They don ’ t have that kind of relationship anymore . They remained friends after graduation until David started telling him about the holodecks . That was weeks before his accident . He thought about that conversation and wondered if he could have done anything differently .
They had been sitting in a Starbucks when David , for reasons he now regrets , had told Fairfax the secret about the universe being crafted with holograms , actors , and lies .
“ Holodecks ? Like in Star Trek ?” Fairfax looked at him with more concern than disbelief .
“ Kind of . Crappier . Some things are real . Illusions fill in the rest , and I think we can walk into other people ’ s holodecks . So maybe it ’ s not crappier , but different . I don ’ t know for sure . I don ’ t know if I can know for sure .”
Fairfax gave David a hug , “ Look . I ’ m real . No one is conspiring against you . Nobody likes you that much .” David didn ’ t buy it . “ You ’ ll never be happy if you keep thinking like this .” David hugged Fairfax in return . He understood his old roommate ’ s veiled threat about the conspirators to come from a place of love .
33