The Mirrored Soul #6
(Channel VI- Brand New Interactive Features On Your Favourite Programming)
Sat on the train back to Flagstaff, Adam rubbed his eyes. The darkness in his dreams was stronger now, almost tangible. Adam thought the Canyon had something to do with it. Perhaps it was just a recap of his accident playing again and again and again, but he thought it unlikely. After all, it was pretty clear in his conscious mind what had happened that day, and there was nothing he recognised. The whole situation seemed unfamiliar other than the Canyon.
Adam dismissed it. He couldn’t do anything about his subconscious or about his past. It was his present day situation that was causing him trouble. He’d spent a few days courting the media and exploiting his situation largely for the sake of it. He’d appeared on crappy shows like that DeMontfort hag’s because the credible media were wary of it, believing it to be either a hoax or some sort of David Blaine stunt. Even the DeMontfort show, he supposed, could have been a forgery, recording it a few days ago and acting it out line-by-line for the Mirrored Soul version. Jesus, he was in the show and he could see through it. He supposed the sceptical would always remain sceptical; there lay the problem of the media, that nothing can be presented as truth and believed, because the press and television were so consistently full of crap that even something genuine could be decried as false.
He was at a loose end, unsure whether to stick around in Flagstaff and make some use of his fame, see if he could find some work here which would have the benefit of free publicity for wherever he ended up working and spend the rest of the time doing…what? The same stuff he always did, he supposed. If they got enough material to fill the highlights package every day for an hour, then he’d be fine doing whatever he wanted.
On the other hand, he was tempted to move away, go somewhere that nobody would recognise him and there was no danger of bumping into someone who knew the show and no danger of anyone having ulterior motives because of it. Like that Tequila girl, he realised now, who’d seen him on TV and who was probably in the offices of the LA Times right now selling her story about “my wild night with reality TV star Dark!” but who was actually hurtling down the freeway to Flagstaff to tell Adam what she thought she knew. Ridiculous name notwithstanding, Tequila was possibly genuine herself; but who knows? Who would ever know? Maybe everyone he’d ever meet would just want the novelty of a ‘celebrity’ notch on their bedpost, or want something from him anyway. He couldn’t read their minds, but they could read his.
Adam continued to Flagstaff by train musing on this unfairness and the probability of Tequila selling her story when the whole episode was televised anyway; Tequila cursed the mid-morning traffic leaving Los Angeles and, lighting another cigarette, dreamt of the open road of Arizona. Dr Gregory carried on fielding calls about the Mirrored Soul project, seeing dollar signs as the interviews kept coming and he imagined the advances for a book detailing his experiment and how he carried it off; Marcus Goldman looked at the viewing figures for the last two days and told the advertising executives on the other end of the line to double their offer; while in Flagstaff itself, Cory Moulton stood at the train station, surrounded by friends who’d suddenly ‘just got into’ channel 740 now that it was the underground cult hit, waiting for Adam Dark. But it was more than a glimpse of a hero that he was hoping for. Cory was looking for a new flatmate. Sun glaring down at him, Cory pulled his cap low and surveyed the train arrival times in this one-horse town again.
Darknight (07.58am)
So what do people make of the new developments in Adam’s life? Is it better now that he knows, or worse?
Mandingo (08.01am)
It’s better in some ways. He’s more conscious about giving us quality television, it seems. And the DeMontfort stuff was a riot. I just hope it doesn’t become a show about being a television show, because what made it so interesting was that he carried on oblivious and we loved him all the same.
AdamsFamily (08.15am)
Hi, I watched last night for the first time and thought it was great! It’s a really creative way of sending up the media. One thing though- Tequila Nixon?
Mandingo (08.17am)
Sad thing is, that’s her real name. You know it’s *real* and not just a story, right?
Cheekylilbabe08101987 (08.45am)
Omg adam is sooooo hot!!!!!!
For his own entertainment and to give the afternoon viewers something to do, Adam had been thinking of/broadcasting a story of his own, about a man who witnesses his doppelganger commit murder, then is framed for it because all evidence points to his doing it, which was crudely interrupted by the announcement that Flagstaff was near. He’d managed to pass the journey without being recognised, which made him hopeful that he hadn’t crossed the line into celebrity just yet. He made art, not hosted stuff. He didn’t want to be on The Real World in five years time.
The train pulled into the station with the platform empty, but upon disembarking Adam was surprised to see a throng of people. Sure there were the usual hacks that Adam had seen after the DeMontfort show and several times since, but the majority seemed to be well-wishers or voyeurs, one of the two anyway, and few were holding cameras.
A man apparently drawn straight out of the Book Of Southern Clichés stepped forward and shook Adam’s hand.
“Adam, I’m Ron Layfield, mayor of this town. I know you’ve got yourself a place in Chicago and I know you’re thinking of leaving us. But as you’re one of this town’s favourite visitors and a celebrity to boot, we’re here to extend the hand of friendship and say: won’t you stay with us? I’m telling you, you won’t regret it- it’s not for nothing that we’re voted one of the best places to live in the US.
“This young man”, he pointed to a short guy in a cap carrying a skateboard, who raised a hand, “is Cory Moulton. He’s offering you a place to crash for the time being. Probably be a bit cheaper than the Chalmers place. A bit more comfortable too, I’d wager. And our man here Lenny Atkinson”, he indicated one of the hacks, looking smarter and more sober than his colleagues, “took one look at your show and said man, I’ve found a new reviewer. Just try not to review your own show too much, eh?”
Adam was dazed. These people knew his entire life, or at least, his every waking thought in the last few days. How many of them had been watching before that, here in the epicentre of the whole shebang? Were any of them watching in the Carolyn days? Did they know who he was and knew he was coming in the days before he arrived, did they know he’d be stuck here? It was like being the only non-telepathic kid in Village of the Damned or something, except with Arizonian hicks rather than Nazi English kids.
On the other hand, what was waiting for him in Chicago other than mundanity and failure? Here he could be treated as a star. He could always work on getting people to stop watching The Mirrored Soul in time, assuming the novelty hadn’t worn off by then.
“Alright Mayor, Cory, Atkinson”, he said, “I’ll give it a shot.” Man, the travel and the trip had made him thirsty. He opened a refreshing can of soft drink.
And at that point Tequila Nixon came through the crowd and starting shouting to Adam that “they’re putting adverts in your head Adam, for this, for everything. They can transmit as well as receive! Adam, they are controlling you.”
And Timothy Gregory held his head in his hands and Marcus Goldman watched as the lights on the switchboard started to flash.
That's the end of Chapter 2: Chapter 3 begins NEXT WEEK!