by Nelly Asher
***
After a moment of darkness, the rectangle of the memory screen appeared before Selena. It was so transparent that it felt like one could just step out onto an alley behind it. It was probably one of the remote corners in Blue Stone park. Couples like spending time there at night, but now, in broad daylight, there was only one man sitting here. Silver easily recognized Pervert, though he looked noticeably younger. Lower hairline, somewhat slimmer, face looks fresher... But overall, he didn't give much better impression than now. The guy was holding a worn plastic bag and looked at the alley. He was obviously waiting for somebody, for a while now, but didn't show any signs of discontent or anxiety. The viewer didn't have to wait long, though – a girl in her young teens appeared in the frame.
“Hi, Finkey,” she ran up to the bench and sat at arm's length from the young man. So he does have a name after all...
“Hello. I have a present for you,” Pervert reached into his bag. He spoke and moved a bit sluggishly.
“I also have a surprise for you...” she began, but Finkey already took out a cute stuffed puppy.
“Here,” he handed the puppy to a girl.
She took it and put on the bench. Nervously biting her lip, teenager glanced somewhere behind Finkey's back. In a few moments, she summoned up her courage, grabbed the panties from her purse, pulled them onto the guy's head and jumped away. He didn't do anything, just looked at her with incomprehension. Giggling and camera clicking sounded from outside the frame. Memory Screen's camera turned, showing two girls of the same age as the first. One of them was taking pictures with an old model of Flashphoto. When Pervert turned to them, shutter went off for the last time, and the pair darted away. The girl on the bench also laughed, but it was more of a laugh of relief. She got up and ran after her friends.
“...They're just sick,” Silver muttered.
Another part of the park appeared on the screen. The girls stopped to catch their breath. The one with the camera looked at the pictures and laughed out loud.
“Holy crap, I can't believe it! I didn't think you'll have the guts to even ask him out!”
“Piece of cake,” her friend raised her head proudly. “Now you must slap the math teacher's ass!”
“No problem,” she shrugged, “An old fart won't even realize what happened. There's nothing to worry about, he's not such a pervert as Finkey.”
“A pervert? Why? What did he do?” the third girl nervously asked.
“Didn't you hear about Mila? No? Oh come on, I thought everyone knows about that by now! Anyway, she had a big fight with her boyfriend, was feeling like a total mess and decided to relax with some beer. So, she was just sitting right in this park, when suddenly Finkey shows up like some jack out of the box. He sat next to her, but Mila was like – ok, who cares. But then, out of nowhere, he started on some bullshit about how he likes her, how he would give her gifts and care about her, and so on! Mila was real pissed at her boyfriend, and that couple of beers also did their thing, so she didn't shut him up. Finkey went on about how great it will be together, and came to the point when they are in bed! And then he started to talk such a rubbish that Mila even sobered up and barely kept herself from breaking the bottle on his head!”
“A-and what did he say?” the third girl asked, almost scared and yet curious.
“How do I know, and does it matter?” she snorted. “Could you imagine that mug in a bed beside you? Isn't that enough? What other details do you need?”
“I've pulled my oldest and ugliest panties onto him! That serves him right,” the girl said vindictively.
“Yeah, serves, that's the word!” her friend bursted. “Are you nuts?! Don't you know that for perverts, used panties are a hundred times better than new!”
“What, are you saying I should've bought new ones for him?! And how do you know that, anyway?”
“Umm, I've read about it somewhere... And you've even left your panties to that creep!”
“Was I supposed to get into his reach and take them off? Who knows what he could've done? Maybe he's crazy? Maybe he'll want to get back at us?..” a realization of the possible consequences of their joke began reflecting on her face. Judging by the looks of two others, it also dawned on them just now.
“Well... He's dumb... And seemed harmless...” the third girl said. “Maybe he won't do anything...”
“How do you know?!” the girl with the camera replied harshly. “It's not like it's always written over some maniac's face that he's a pervert and a nutjob! Though with this one, it's actually pretty obvious! We should stay away from him, and warn everyone else...”
“Yeah, everyone's better keep him away, because who knows... What a perv,” the girl who talked to Finkey shuddered.
Camera switched to the guy on the bench. He sat still for some time, staring blankly into the distance, then pulled the panties off his head, put them on the bench near the puppy and slowly walked away. For a moment, deep sadness and anguish reflected on his face, but then it turned vacant again.
Memory Screen started flashing short scenes of Finkey with different women. Their age and appearance varied, but all of them were yelling at him, slapping his face, or just looked askew and walked away. Finkey was getting older with every frame. It stopped just as suddenly as it started, and a corridor appeared. Selena immediately recognized the building where Orlando Kinsley's office was. Judging by the view from the window, it was one of the top floors. A woman almost ran up to the elevator, pushed the button a few times and stared at the floor indicator, nervously tapping her foot.
Number 22 appeared on the indicator, and the doors opened. Woman entered the empty elevator and sent it down with an impatient button push. But after a few floors the elevator stopped, letting in a man in blue overalls with a badge on his chest saying: “B. Finkerl”. He glanced at the woman and slowly turned away. She looked askew at him and looked back at the floor indicator. In a few seconds the elevator shook and stopped. After a moment of darkness, emergency lights turned on.
“What the hell!” irritated, the woman kicked the door.
“Elevators are old, it happens sometimes,” Finkey spoke. The lady looked at him and recoiled, pressing her back against the wall. It seemed somewhat weird to Selena – even though Pervert's face in dim red light looked even more sinister than usual, he acted peacefully. Why looking at him like he's some hungry bear.
“You should do your job better,” the woman hissed. “Everything breaks because idiots like you are in charge!”
“I only fix printers, copy machines...” Finkerl started to explain, stepping towards her.
“Don't come any closer!” she squealed. “Stay back, you bag of fat!”
Finkey obediently stopped, looking at her in confusion. But apparently the woman couldn't even stand his look.
“Why are you bothering me?!” she yelled. “Help! Somebody, help!”
“What's going on there?” a muffled voice from the outside said. The lights went on again, and the doors slided open. The woman jumped out of the elevator, pointing at Finkey with a shaking hand:
“You'll get arrested! And fired! And arrested again!”
“Come with me,” said the guard that happened to be around and watching that scene. He called out to a woman that was about to walk away: “I'm talking to you too. Come with me, both of you.”
Images started flashing again. There was a nervous woman, people in white coats, Finkerl, filling some tests... Selena heard scraps of conversation:
Yes, traces of drugs were found in her blood... He? There were no complaints before... The doll was found in his utility room... Mr.Finkerl, what do you see on this picture? We have to test some more... Send to the nearest Center...
Voices and images faded. Memory Screen disappeared, and the spotlight turned on again. Gelia spoke:
“So, Pervert, you're accused of imposing your ugly self on people. Nobody wants to listen to you! Nobody wants to be with you! Even touching you is a crime against the aesthet
ics, but you went as far as describing some poses and such!”
“What the hell are you talking about?!” Selena shouted. “Yes, he's not handsome, and he's weird, but he's still a human like everyone else! He also wants love!” with the last words, her voice trembled. Silver swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat. She began sympathizing with this miserable guy after all. “I don't know what he was telling, but if some hunky boy said the same, that would've made many of those women horny! At least he can appreciate a person he loves, something that many can never do!”
“So, you've decided to play his attorney,” Gold grinned. “We'll see if attorney who is herself behind the bars will be of much use,” she walked up to Finkey. “Did you see yourself in the mirror? Why did you ever approach those people, what were you hoping for? Everything that happened is your fault! Do you admit it?”
“Whatever you say, sunny,” the man quietly replied, looking at her with eyes full of sadness. Gelia turned to Shwuggering Shmug:
“He confessed! The sentence may be announced!”
Shwuggering slightly turned his shoulders towards the accused, still looking at himself in the mirror, and spoke:
“Your perverted impulses were bothering everyone, including yourself. And you're sentenced not even to a punishment, but to a treatment! You'll be spared from the root of your troubles...”
Selena was darting her eyes from Shmug to Pervert, unsure what to say. Suddenly a sound of something clanking and creaking shook the air. Startled, the girl turned around and saw something that resembled an old dumpster. And indeed, on its front there was an opening for garbage – or god knows what else. Above it, there was a metal manipulator about a meter long, with a few joints and a gripping device on its end. That reminded Selena a hand in a toy-grabbing machine, but instead of three weak clinging thingies there were twice more sharply clenching claws. It would not only grab a toy, but immediately tear it into pieces. Manipulator was wriggling like a metal snake in convulsions, its grabbing device spinning on its axis so loosely that it felt like it will break away any second. Deafened by the loud sounds, Selena was watching with rounded eyes as the dumpster was moving to Pervert. When the distance between them shortened, metal hand stretched out and began clenching its claws even more vigorously, as if sensing a prey. A couple of times it made a movement like it was throwing something into the opening below. Finkerl stood up, his groin now being on the same level as the metal claws. Only at this point Selena fully understood what they ment by the “root”.
“What are you doing!!! Stop it! Finkey! Just move the hell away! Do you hear me?!” she banged on the bars again, then hit against them with her whole body. Gelia painfully smirked, twitching her shoulder, but didn't say anything.
Finkerl paid no attention to her cries. Though nothing was holding him, Pervert stood still, arms hanging flaccid at his sides. With a giggle, Gelia kissed him on the cheek and jumped away.
Selena's throat already went sore from all the pointless screaming. The girl felt acutely aware of how helpless she is. Her heart wrung like it was squeezed by the manipulator's claws. Something terrible is about to happen to this innocent man, and all she can do is watch! Even if she wasn't trapped in a cage, it's not like she could stop the machine with her bare hands... Selena glanced at the revolver – the gun was sitting so naturally in her hand that she almost forgot about it at this point.
There were just a few meters left between Pervert and the machine. As it was moving, the angle became more and more inconvenient, so every second counted. Selena aimed, suddenly realizing that the barrel is pointed at Finkey's head. A single shot to relieve him from pain of unrequited love and all other torments? No, what on Earth is she thinking?.. Silver chased away the stray idea, drew a bead on the metal arm and pulled the trigger.
She turned out to be an accurate shooter, and real-world bullets were much more powerful. Manipulator snapped in half and dropped under the wheels. Dumpster rode onto the broken parts, started clanking at almost unbearable volume, shook a couple of times, stopped and fell silent.
For a few moments, nobody moved. Silver was not daring to breath, still unable to believe that it worked. Finkerl was just standing there, humbly waiting for his fate and not paying attention to anything any more. Shwuggering Shmug and his secretaries didn't give a damn, just like before. It was only Gelia who looked around, smiled and walked to the middle of the stage, slowly clapping.
“You got it right in time, congrats! In the Pocket, death is not the end, it's just the launch of another Endless Cycle, even worse than the previous one. But there's a problem: though you might intervene with the cycle, there's no way you could break it!” Gold fixed her eyes on Selenas' and uttered distinctly: “There's nothing. You. Can do. About it!” she turned to Shwuggering: “Your honor, the sentence must be enforced! Right?” the girl looked at Pervert strictly.
Shwuggering Shmug pulled an impressive knife from under the table and began examining his reflection in the blade. Finkey gave Gelia the last sorrowful look and slowly dragged himself to Shmug's desk. Selena's eyes widened:
“Hey! What, are you going to?... Yourself?! Don't do that! Don't listen to them! Run!”
“He was always running to me, not away from me. And he has nowhere to run even if he wanted to,” Gelia said mockingly.
“Sh... Sure,” Silver spoke through her teeth. There was no use talking to Pervert, so she decided to speak to Shwuggering Shmug: “Dear judge! You're so beautiful, smart, sexy and fair! Take the knife away!”
Shmug didn't bat an eye, but the girl noticed with surprise that his chest, arms and cheeks inflated a bit. Now Selena was sure that it's not just her eyes playing tricks on her – Shwuggering does literally inflate by flattery. An idea flashed in her head, and Silver quickly spoke:
“Shwuggering Shmug, you're the strongest of them all, you can tear a hundred people apart with your bare hands! You have a godlike physique!” she omitted saying that he has a figure of some beer-making god at best. “You're the smartest and most talented! Everyone adores you, head over heels with love!” her words worked – Shwuggering was gradually inflating like a balloon. Meanwhile, the First Secretary never looked away from his phone, and the Main Secretary was scribbling something on paper, probably recording the girl's words.
“Shut up!” Gold hissed, giving her double a dirty look. With a vindictive grin, Silver went on:
“Worthless people must be grateful for your every word, for your every spit! Each of your nails is worth five hundred kilos of gold!”
Finkey came up to Shmug's desk. Shwuggering admired his reflection for a few more seconds, barely holding the knife in his swollen hands, and threw it on the floor. Pervert picked the knife and headed back to the chair, unfastening his belt. Gelia jumped up to Shmug, yelling:
“You're a self-absorbed pig! You didn't do jack, but you're showing off like you've invented the cure for death!” her words didn't have any effect – Shwuggering only kept getting bigger. His eyes almost disappeared behind his cheeks; buttons were popping off the overstretched shirt. Grinding her teeth, Gold ran to the cage and started screaming obscenities at her twin, demanding her shut the pie hole. Selena stepped back to the center of the cage, shouting:
“You're a lord, you're a king, you're a god!” she was already running out of ideas, but Shmug didn't seem to mind straight and repetitive praises. Seams of his shirt bursted. He looked like a greasy skin balloon with hand appendices, and kept growing. Finkerl walked up to his chair, put his belt and the knife on it and, with his usual sluggishness, started unzipping his fly. Selena tried not to look at him. She didn't know what she wanted any more – to help Finkey or to vex Gelia. Doesn't matter, this can't end well either way... Silver sank to her knees, speaking without a pause:
“You're a master of the world, ruler of the universe, master of the universe, master of the universe...” she curled up into a ball, pressing herself to the worn parquet, her hands over her head. “Master of the univ
erse, master of the universe...” her tongue was getting numb, speech turned into mumbling.
Suddenly, Gelia stopped yelling and looked back. Her black eyes reflected a monstrous, three-meter-wide ball that Shmug has turned into. His skin was so strained that it looked almost transparent.
“Oh shit,” Gold exhaled.
Shwuggering Shmug blew up.
