19. Loop

3.19 – Loop

NOTE: Jack actually never experienced anything weird, himself, until 1999, when we started to watch the Phillip's story. Before then(for their first year of touring), Fi only pestered Jack about it. Also, the e-mail address near the end of the story is NOT misspelled. It is "earthsent.net" on purpose.

Teaser:

Fi: Remember the chain reaction idea? I've told you about it, but ever wonder that, when it DOES happen, it seems to fit right in order, as if planned perfectly?

Like this machine, for example, watch the dominoes land on the spoon, which flips up to drop the marble in the scale, which tips the cup, which...well, you get the picture. But think about it...I'm sure when it happens to you, you think for a second, "That was weird...it was like that was planned."

"So it was a lie?" Fi yells at Jack, standing in her doorway on the tour bus, as it 'zooms' down the highway. "Yeah, it was a lie!" Jack yells back, and storms out. "I don't believe he didn't mean it," Fi mutters, closing her door, "He didn't mean it." Carey knocks on the door, and walks in, "Everything OK between you two?" he asks. "Yeah, I guess," Fi says. "What was it now," Carey asks. "Remember at my birthday party, where he said he was sorry for teasing me about all the weird stuff I find?" Fi asks. Carey smiles, "I...guess." "Well...somehow...he said he didn't mean it." Fi says, trying not to cry, "I thought...I thought...that things...would be OK for once...me and Jack...would have found some common ground...but I guess not." "Hey, it's OK," Carey says, hugging her, "It's OK."

"Here we are!" Ned says, climbing off the bus. "Ned, it's beautiful!" Molly yells, running off the bus. She looks around, and sees a beautiful beach, empty, and on her other side, a large building with a glass see-through wall on the front. "Wow," Fi says. "It's...big," Carey says. "Irene booked this place, and she can't even be here for it! She doesn't know what she missed!" Molly says, running ahead of everyone, inside. "Let's go," Ned laughs, and they all head for the door.

They walk inside, but see Molly just standing there, in a daze, eyes wide open. "Mom?" Jack asks. "Mrs. P?" Carey asks. "Do you hear that?" Molly asks. "What?" Ned asks. "The music playing..." Molly says. They look around, and hear speakers playing playing the radio, and someone in an ad is singing, "You want some time away from home? How about, for your dog, a little bone? Then come to the Cozy Coastal Condos, where you'll get away from all your lows! <spoken> Cozy Coastal Condos! Located in..." "Isn't that one of your ads, mom?" Fi asks. "Yeah. It's another...another one...that's on the radio," Molly says. "You took all of them off, didn't you?" Ned asks. "Yeah...but lately, I've been hearing more and more of them," Molly says. "Weird," Carey says. "Well, let's get checked in," Molly says, walking away, looking for an office. As they walk on, Fi and Jack give each other rotten looks.

That night, Fi is on the bus on her laptop. She opens an icon named '*.* Universal Gateway Internet Browser' and it takes her to her webpage. Then, after it loads, it says "You have new e-mail." Fi clicks on the envelope icon, and it opens her inbox. "tech@star.star.com," Fi reads the "From:" box. The subject is "Your 9-21-01 Message," and Fi opens it. She reads it out loud, "Dear Ms. Phillips, our records indicate that you e-mailed Star-Dot-Star Tech Support on 21 September 2001 . Tad Raxall has been working night and day on a solution, and he finally came up with one. Please download this file: sdsuvg.exe . Thank you for using *.* Products, Star-Dot-Star Tech Support. This has been an automated e-mail." She moves her mouse to the link for the file, and clicks on it. A message box comes up, "You will be redirected to Star.dot.star.com." She clicks "OK" and it takes her to the Star-Dot-Star homepage. "Download sdsuvg.exe?" it asks Fi, and she clicks "Yes." The same message box pops up again, and she clicks "Yes" again. It pops up again, and she clicks yes. It does this several more times, each time Fi clicking harder and harder. Finally, another one comes up reading, "Universal Gateway 5.44 is being downloaded. Please be patient. 1%" and a status bar is under the %. "Good..." Fi mutters. Jack walks by Fi's room, and looks in. He sees Fi sitting at her desk. He bites his lip, and walks in. "Hey," he says. "What do you want?" Fi asks, but not in a mean tone. "Fi...I'm...sorry, again, that I blew up on you today...it's just..." Jack begins, having some trouble. "What?" Fi asks. "The reason I've been in such a bad mood...is that I'm...really trying! Trying to understand...your little world...and everything that's going on," he says. "How can I believe that?" Fi asks, "You've said you're sorry so many times lately. How do I know when you really mean it, when the next thing I know, you're yelling at me again?" "I am, Fi! It's just...so hard to understand. I'm just...really trying," Jack says. "Yeah, OK," Fi says. "Well...just so you know," he says calmly, and walks out. Fi, holding back tears, shakes her head and turns back to her laptop. "8%," Fi mumbles.

"Baby!" Molly yells, much later that night, standing in the bus doorway, "Fi!" She walks on the bus, back to her room. "Fi!" Molly says, shaking her. Fi wakes up, who fell asleep at her desk waiting for the download. "Wha...what time is it?" Fi asks. "Almost midnight, honey. Come into the hotel," Molly says. "OK," Fi says, yawning, "I'll be right up." "OK," Molly smiles, kissing her on the forehead, and walking out. Fi rubs her eyes, and looks at the screen. "Download of file sdsuvg.exe has completed. Close Windows or Find File?" Fi reads. She blinks. "Yes!" she yells, throwing her arms up in the air. She clicks on "Find File," and it takes her to the folder where she downloaded it. "I'll install it tomorrow," Fi says, closing the lid, and leaving her room on the bus.

That night, Jack lays awake in bed in his hotel room. He thinks of all of the weird things he, himself, has come across. He closes his eyes, and envisions all of them...Fi pestering him, the missing room in Chicago, Fi's laptop predicting the future, the clock tower piece in Tulsa, losing Fi in the woods, Claire and her inexplainable 'sleep', everything about Simplicity, Gabe's sickness, whatever he fought in Washington while dressed as a knight, the girl that was Rebecca's daughter, how Fi survived almost getting hit by a car, Fi being extra nice to him in St. Louis, his mom sending him on a strange trip to find random landmarks, and missing time in Marfa. Then he remembered the song Fi played once they were home again, his drivers test, Carey's girlfriend Callie and their relationship, his nightmare that was 'real', when Ned acted weird while along the beach, that strange Halloween "party" they had in Rhiannon, whatever was in the woods in Iowa, Fi so determined to help Ryan with his problem, the round piece of art that Fi wanted so bad, Fi diappearing while visiting grandpa and grandma, the big round thing in the attic of the Patterson building, his mom acting weird in Boise, "Last Night Blues" which his mom came up with suddenly, Carey's strange addiction and the way he broke it, the 2 guys in the hospital when Carey had his tonsils out, missing some more time in Hedwig, his mom's strange boyfriend in Canada, Andrew from Roswell, the OSSN headquarters, John Kane having strange after-effects of his surgery, and Fi's roof experience in New York, which he still never found out what was going on. Then, he remembered more recent events, especially the visions in and out of the castle, his mom and the photo album, Fi and the strange rock, Ned and Irene's fight, mom's fake sister, more lost time during the amusement park stop, Carey's second addiction, mom's friend's barn, the subway in Washington D.C., Clu's girlfriend that coincidentally turned out to be Evelyn's daughter, the depression and Fi's strange 'cure', mom's search for a muse and the feeling when he touched the guitar, appearing from some beach to mom's club, the card from 'Thee Knights Tabel', then Fi and other things being able to trigger his vision, and the strange events a couple of weeks ago where Fi seemed way too calm. He opens his eyes and sits up in bed. He rubs his eyes and thinks, "What if there is to what Fi says?" He turns to his alarm clock and thinks he sees "50%." "What??" he mutters, rubbing his eyes again. He then sees "5:00," and says, "Great...I was up all night thinking about this." He lays back down and closes his eyes.

The next morning, Fi, Jack, Molly, Ned, and Carey are eating in the hotel dining restaurant. "So how were your guys sleep last night?" Molly asks. "Good," Carey says, "The beds were really soft." "Great to know that you analyze beds, son," Ned says, patting him on the back, and everyone tries to keep from laughing. "Jack...you look a little tired, honey. You have trouble sleeping?" Molly asks him. "What? Oh, no...just...thought about stuff," he says. "Like what?" Fi asks. Jack just stares at her. After everyone is silent for a moment, everyone just staring at each other, Jack smiles a smile that only Fi notices. She smiles back, and continues the conversation, "Never mind." "So Mrs. P told me that you fell asleep on the bus last night, Fi," Carey says. "Yeah...I finally got my browser upgraded," Fi says, pauses, then talks again, "Actually, I just downloaded the file. I got to install it still." "I think I heard your yell the whole way up in my room baby," Molly jokes. "Yeah...well," Fi says, "I've been trying forever." Jack is playing with his cereal, swirling his spoon around in it, all this time. He stops for a second, when Fi says, "I've been trying forever," and the cereal starts moving by itself. Mesmerized by it, he watches it as it forms a "79%." He blinks, and it is gone. He looks up and sees everyone staring at him. "What?" he asks.

After breakfast, Fi walks on the bus and turns her laptop on. It boots to her webpage, and Fi clicks on the "*.*" icon at the top. It takes her to a menu, and she clicks the first option, "Open 'Downloaded Files' Folder." She sees the file "sdsuvg.exe," and double clicks on it. A window pops up, "Welcome to setup for Star.Dot.Star's Universal Gateway Internet Browser, version 5.44!" Fi clicks her way through several more windows, until it says "Installing Browser." Fi smiles. A status bar fills up slowly, and finally, it reaches 100%. "Yes!" Fi yells, again. "What it is?" Jack asks, running in. "My browser upgrade is finished!" Fi says, exiting the installation program. "Oh," Jack says, walking in slowly. "Did you need something?" Fi asks nicely. "Uh, no..." Jack says, and turns around, but turns around again, "Yeah, there was something I needed. I needed to talk to you." "About what?" Fi asks, turning around to face Jack. "Um, well, this is kinda hard, but...I think...I'm...starting to believe," he says, stuttering. "What?" Fi asks, almost jokingly. "I mean, when I think about it...it's not that crazy. Well, yeah, some of it is, but...some of it isn't," he says. "New e-mail is waiting, Fiona.Phillips," the computer says. "It knows your name?" Jack asks. "I think it's a new feature of the new browser...like it pronouces your username or something," Fi says. "Oh," Jack says, "So..." "So..." Fi hurriedly thinks of something to say, "Thank you." "Thank you?" Jack asks, "For what? I didn't say I DID believe..." "No...I don't know what for...yet," Fi says. "Oh. Well, see ya," Jack says. "Bye," Fi says, as Jack walks out, awkwardly. Fi turns back to her comptuer and smiles for a second. She moves her mouse to open her e-mail.

Meanwhile, downstairs, at the same time Fi yelled "Yes!" and her computer reached "100%," Molly was walking to the kitchen, but stops dead in her tracks when she sees another flash, and is in the black space again. This time, a giant screen appears in front of her, like Fi saw when she was in the Nexus. On it, different screens of Fi's posting on her message board appear. She reads all of them carefully, wondering why she is reading them at all. Then, one appears and stays. Molly reads it aloud, "Help! I think I am trapped in the spirit world! What should I do?? I..." A cursor just blinks over and over again. Molly blinks, and finds herself back in the doorway of the kitchen. She takes a deep breath, and goes to get a drink of water.

Back upstairs, Fi reads the address and subject of her e-mail, "From: dubiosque@earthsent.net. Subject: i see..." Fi opens it, and reads it aloud, "i see...that you have upgraded your browser. i also see...that you are headed for an important, but dangerous, part in your mission. beware and use caution, patience, and intelligence. e-mail me back saying you have recieved this. dubiosque." Fi takes a deep breath...and slowly moves her mouse up to the "Reply" button. She clicks it, and types, "Yes. I got your e-mail. What is going to be dangerous? Why am I in danger? Fi." She clicks "Send," but an error message pops up. It flashes "Cannot Send E-mail" several times, then another window pops up, and it says "Please trace error." Fi clicks the "OK" button, and yet another window comes up:

C:/>tracert earthsent.net

Loop only 30 times before fail:

1 30ms 25ms 30ms

2 15ms 18ms 19ms

3 <10ms <10ms 13ms

4 28ms 0ms -----

>>Loop failed. Cannot find earthsent.net server. Reconnecting to earthsend.net.

After a second, that windows closes, leaving Fi bewildered. She sees that her e-mail to the alien is still on the screen, so she goes to the "File" menu. On it, she chooses "Save e-mail for later transfer." "Name file?" it asks. Fi thinks for a second, then types in, "Looped." She closes it, and closes the lid to her laptop, and walks out to head down to watch her mother practice.

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