Eight

Dale was standing on his hoverboard. Not nearly as cool as it sounds. Hoverboards were banned in his world as they were deemed unsafe by almost all political unions. Plus, no company made them because they were obsolete. So, this was more of Dale's pet project that he occasionally tested and used.

Presently, he looked directly below him at the muscular frame of Leeper as he stared transfixed at the projected wall. "This is going to be easy", thought Dale. "That savage won't be able to tell the difference even with back to back university lectures on the issue."

Dale projected a new road behind the gang to lead to a restaurant that was presently getting renovated. Once there, he modelled the entrance of the restaurant to look exactly like that of the house in which Edmond lived. The gang obliged by entering the restaurant. Now, Dale threw in one of his reality projectors that conveniently took Tom's form.

"The best projector there is", mused Dale. "The A.I infused projector will walk and talk exactly like Tom. The new age polymer at the bottom could even assume Tom's physical form in case handshakes and hugs are required."

Dale believed that nothing could go wrong with his plan, and like all the great ironies life presents us with, Dale couldn't have been more wrong. The second the gang stepped inside, all of Dale's drones went dark. Worse still, the projectors outside suddenly desynchronised and started projecting images in different directions. This split second of confusion was all that Leeper needed and before Dale could know it, he had been pinned to the ground.

"Caught in my own trap", thought Dale.