Chapter 10 - AwakeningThe air smelled of ozone, damp pine needles, and crisp mountain wind.
I groaned, my eyelids fluttering open against the harsh glare of midday sunlight. My back ached, pressed against rough, cold rock.
"Mommy?"
A small voice broke through the ringing in my ears.
I gasped, sitting up instantly. Emma was sitting right beside me, rubbing her eyes and looking around with wide, healthy blue eyes—her real eyes, warm and completely normal.
We weren't in the suburban kitchen. We weren't in the panic room.
We were lying on a rocky ridge in the middle of a dense, towering pine forest. Above us, a clear blue Earth sky stretched out, filled with real, fluffy white clouds. No violet atmosphere. No geometric ships. Just nature.
In the distance, search and rescue helicopters chopped through the air, their loudspeakers echoing across the valley:
"Search party active! Looking for survivors of the 2023 Cascade expedition!"
I looked down at my left wrist. The expensive anniversary watch was gone. In its place was my old silver charm bracelet, rusted and caked with mountain dirt.
Footsteps crunched on the pine needles nearby, and a team of park rangers burst through the brush, shouting in relief.
"Over here! We found them!"
As medics rushed toward us with blankets and warm water, I pulled Emma into my arms and held her tighter than I had ever held anything in my life.
We were home. The simulation was dead.
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And as I looked up at the real sun shining through the real trees, I knew one thing for certain:
We were never, ever answering the front door again.
