Hell's Gifts - Complete Series Boxset

by Mark Russo

  For the first time in two days, I had a question. I took a long breath. “Sorry to interrupt, Ms. Shaktar. I see a need to use a specific software for managing this. My question is, why do we need this much information in the first place?” I said something, a huge step ahead.

  André smirked. “Oh Emma. Come on. Data are the bricks that build our world. There’s no escaping it.”

  I didn’t get how much of that was a joke. I threw a clumsy grin at him though.

  “Your colleague is right, Emma,” our teacher interjected. “We live in a world made of data. Everything around us produces some, and we cannot ignore it. We want to take advantage of this. Data is money, remember this.”

  André appeared pleased to hear that, almost smug. That was my impression.

  “I need a volunteer. Who will show all of us how DST works?”

  Dorothy, in her usual thick red braid, raised her hand first. She approached our teacher and the enormous board.

  Ms. Shaktar turned her back to us, moved her left hand towards the board, and a red one button interface appeared in the closest proximity of her fingers. “Please, Dorothy. I think you can guess what you have to do.” Dorothy touched the red button, and the data board dismantled. Data cells fell, rippling and plummeting to the base of the board. Another much smaller table appeared, data cells content changing, probably updated in real time.

  “As you all can see, this software synthesized the essential information in a much smaller table. This way we can better visualize big data. In your EIBM accounts, you will find a few links, each directing to different big data sources. This traffic light here is a huge productive plant in Laos and Wall Street. All I ask you to do this evening is use our DST. You all saw how to do it. Open the data source, launch DST and press the red button. Tomorrow, we will discuss your findings.” MS. Shaktar had a honeyed voice here. Her dark eyes were not those of someone I might trust.

  The time passed so fast I struggled to relate. I guessed that is what they call a flow experience. When you do something you enjoy, time flies.

  When we were leaving the room, I accidentally bumped into André. I apologized; I think I even blushed. For a second, I doubted I did something wrong.

  He gave me a dismissive look, while exhaling loudly.

  After that, I knew I had done something wrong. I lowered my head and stormed towards my room, my eyes watering. Why did people have to be like that?

  I had found two not exactly top-notch rigs in one of the many rooms in EIBM’s giant building. It was a compact room, fully dedicated to enhanced reality. Grey tiles covered the floors; I could tell the color despite the amount of dust cloaking them. Besides those rigs, no pieces of furniture were there, giving the room a feeling of being much bigger than it was. The place was not very appealing, so few people came here. Only me, to be more specific. I had come here every evening since my arrival, and I met no one else.

  I wore some haptic gloves—removed my ring—hopped on the treadmill and wore the contact visors. About those disposable visors, I found them very comfortable. They stuck to my eyes with no effort and felt much more comfortable than the ones I use regularly. The treadmill, instead, is a standard AB345 from Burger King. Its hollow surface keeps you from falling and gives quite an array of simulated soil effects. The point being, I like it.

  I launched Third Life and randomly wandered in my private watchtower on the border of the Luminescent Sea. I think I spent most of my money on buying that place. It was so peaceful there; I didn’t need to talk to anyone I didn’t specifically invite first. If you looked at my tower from the outside, you wouldn’t see any door or openings of the sort. Fortunately, prices in no-PVP zones were still affordable when I got my tower. Today, I might get a shanty on the border of New Nairobi for the money I paid.

  All an uninvited guest would admire from the outside is a column of black stone bricks, elevating far beyond any humanoid avatar’s sight. I reached the main chamber, and Tess was already there waiting for me in one of her replacement avatars—the unicorn one. I’ve never told her I hated it.

  “Hey, dude. How are you doing? Already managing a few companies?” I didn’t find the joke funny.

  “You know what? I don’t think people there like me that much.”

  Tess’s quadruped avatar came a little closer. “Oh, what happened, sweetheart? Are they mistreating you there?”

  “It’s … I don’t know how to explain. Just, it looks like nobody likes me.” I deactivated the emotional mimicry so that my tears were not showing.

  “Don’t worry, Emma. As soon as they get to know you better, they will love you, just like I do. Did you check out the latest video from K7Hh?”

  “Nope. Worth watching?”

  “You know, the usual. He streamed another person he killed. I liked it. She was all screaming and whimpering. He choked her anyway! Quite the usual, let’s say.”

  Not even dying people from Central America lifted my mood. It usually did. “I’ll check it out, Tess. Thanks.” I moved to the window and peeked at the Luminescent Sea. “Do you really think I have a chance at EIBM?”

  “I don’t know but sure you have to run now!”

  She does that all the time with her unicorn. She starts chasing me and shooting me with that useless multicolored ray her horn can emit. I didn’t mind playing with her. She was my best friend. Her ray hitting me would make my skin turn random colors, and the effect would have lasted for hours, but what can you do?

  That’s Tess.

  At night, as if it was not enough of a nasty day already, I couldn’t sleep. I lay restless in my bed for an hour, then I got up. I sat there, alone in my dim-lighted room for some time, maybe fifteen minutes. It made things worse.

  I approached the window. The night sky was awkwardly bright; a full moon wouldn’t burn that bright usually. Stars were shy; I couldn’t spot any, despite the direction I looked.

  I peeked down and saw some people. For the second night in a row, a group of strangers were leaving the school building and headed for the woods on the right hand-side of EIBM’s building. Too many weird things were happening, I needed to see into that. I would follow them.

  I wore my winter jacket and a pair of shoes, left my room and went down the stairs; I didn’t meet anyone on my way to the main hallway. I realized I had no idea where my colleagues’ rooms were. I abandoned this thought rapidly. When I reached the front door, those people were already much too far ahead of me. I should have run to catch up, but it would not have been a very stealthy move. I needed something better.

  I waited for them to be completely out of my field of vision. I exited and shook right away as the wind stroked my skin. I guess I was also somehow aware that I was being a little reckless, but I just kept going.

  I took the path, trying not to make unnecessary noise. I looked back. All windows were black. I was sure nobody saw me getting away. Again, I didn’t care much, even if that had happened. I had a clear goal.

  As I approached the woods, the noise of the wind became stronger, echoing between the trees. My eyes adapted fast to the absence of light; I already could distinguish the path ahead of me. The smell of pines and spruces hit my nose suddenly, carried by another gust of the autumn breeze. I moved onward.

  I was following those peoples’ steps—or I hoped I was. I’m not the best trailblazer around, and it was the first time I was doing it outside of TL.

  I walked more; I turned back, and the school was still in sight with its front lights gleaming at full beam. I ventured deeper into the woods. The canopy of trees thickened. I could spot the blue of the sky only every other step. No birds flew above me. No animals scurried in the vicinity.

  I walked more. I really had no idea if I was going in the right direction.

  I stopped to look around, but I saw no one. I decided I was already too tired of that; I was freezing, and I was uncomfortable with all this silent darkness. I turned around. I was no longer alone.

  Ten steps ahead of me in
the school’s direction, a fifty cm tall teddy bear look at me.

  “Isn’t it too late for a walk in the woods?” he asked.

  “I had a teddy bear like you, you know? One of those smart toys that were trending when I was a kid.”

  “Yes, we’ve been out there for many years now. What are you doing here?”

  “I was … never mind. I’m going back to my room. What are you doing here instead?” I was not the only one wandering in the woods, he got me there.

  “My kid left me here. I have nowhere to go. Can I come with you?”

  “I’m twenty. A little too old for toys, but whatever. I could really use someone to talk to.” I shrugged.

  “Thank you. My name is Mr. Sweet, and we will be friends.”

  “Yes, I know the script. Emma.”

  I returned to EIBM. I did not understand what those people were doing or where they were going, but I had found a toy.

  Back in my room, I let him sit on the chair next to my bed. I pronounced the words for turning it off; I still remember them.

  “Goodnight, Emma. I will guard your slumber,” the bear said in his soft voice.

  “It’s been ages since I heard that sentence,” I replied as I laid down.

  Then I fell asleep, my new friend close.

  2

  Mr. Sweet

  The human went to her class, and I was alone in her room. I had to take action. It looked like she bought the teddy-bear ruse. She must be real dumb. This crap body was fucking ridiculous, but I needed a cover up, they said. Bunch of cocksuckers. They could have given me something much easier to handle, something that would help with these disgusting humans. I had nothing, literally nothing I could use to hurt them. That sucked.

  I was also fucking disconnected from the Great Communion. How was I supposed to know that to do? Why did they even choose this one, this Emma? She’s a standard youngster. Nothing spectacular. Maybe it’s because she’s a redhead. They wanted to try this first with a redhead. Yes.

  I had no choice; I must deal with this as a punishment. They also gave me this crap name. Mr. Sweet. Why couldn’t I exterminate these ridiculous people? It would have been more fun and way, way faster. But no, we had to follow the plan. Yes, got it, okay? Just leave me alone. The only thing is, if it didn’t work once, why would it now?

  I must find that motherfucker, must see into this thing they dragged me into, again.

  I walked the corridors, dad to go down the stairs. With my fifteen-centimeters long legs, that was not an open-and-shut thing. Anyhow, I stumbled and fell multiple times. I was glad I did not have bones.

  It was easy to find that shithead’s office. I could smell him from a very long distance. I assume he bathed in what humans call cologne. He looked so gaudy in those human clothes, even worse than me back in the day. I really had to struggle not to laugh in his face. Okay, maybe I did a tiny bit.

  “Charles Sneider. First things first. Why did you get the cool name?”

  “I see you’ve arrived.” That dumbass rushed past me and closed the door. “We cannot let people overhear our discussions.”

  I rolled my eyes. God, Charles, you are so smart ... “Yes, as you wish. You look just wonderful dressed in human skin. I would totally fuck you.”

  “Mr. Sweet. Yes, I will call you this. Watch your tongue. A teddy bear should not say such things.”

  “Can you please lift me, cunt? Put me on that chair. I want to talk about unicorns and rainbows.”

  That phony, lousy imitation of a businessman placed my ass in a chair in front of his desk then sat behind it. “Mr. Sweet. We have plenty of stuff we have to gauge. We must establish priorities. Tell me, what do you think?”

  “Me? I would kill these disgusting humans. Then, we move on to the closest village and do the same.”

  Charles scoffed and shook his head. “We already agreed to not go down that road. We want to use these humans, not annihilate them. Given this scenario, what do you suggest?”

  Why couldn’t I just kill Charles too? He’s inadequate for the role.

  “Okay, okay. No blood, no gore. We make proxies. And we fuck them from the inside. An inside job. A huge number of moles.” I grunted.

  “We already agreed on this, Mr. Sweet, but, yes, I can confirm it. I asked your opinion on our next step. What would you do first? What do we focus on?”

  “Well. My priority would be to kill these humans.”

  Charles hit the table with his forehead. “I told you. We cannot do that. Do you remember why?”

  “That leviathan they have here …” I fucking remembered now.

  “Yes. Finally you’re following me. They have a leviathan here. We don’t want to let him notice us … this soon.”

  “Yeah. Okay. So no fighty the big-ass thing.” I snorted.

  “That is what I was trying to say from the very beginning. Let’s start over.”

  “So, we convert the human you assigned me. Easy peasy. Can I improvise about that a little?” I smiled in my soft face.

  “Stick to basic gifts by now. She doesn’t have to understand what’s happening too soon.” Charles’s voice was breathy.

  “I get this. I will get to know her better, then I’ll tell you what I would do.”

  “Seems reasonable. I’ll handle this on my side. I have something for her. I won’t share it now.”

  “Why would you do that?” I knew he was stupid, didn’t think this much though.

  “You’ll understand very soon. Basic gifts, okay?”

  I nodded. I didn’t like how things looked already. “I want to know in advance if things change. No surprises.”

  “Okay, Mr. Sweet. No surprises.”

  I could not trust him. Playing stupid with him will give me the upper hand. I had already been there. Converting a human proved way more complicated than I had assumed. And I was about to do it again.

  Basically, that human mimic and I agreed we would have started the conversion straight away. I just had to wait for her to return from class and …

  I couldn’t even finish this thought when she ran through the door and jumped on the bed, crying as loud as she could. What was wrong with this fucker?

  I climbed onto the bed and stroked her disgusting head. I had to concentrate to modulate my voice. “What’s wrong, honey? Your eyes are crying.” I would have kicked myself, if I only could.

  She didn’t raise her head from between her arms. “Why do they have to be this mean?”

  “I’m sorry for you. Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Ok, ok. I can talk about it.” I continued caressing her hair. It was kinda soft actually.

  “I was in class. Everything was like the other days—boring maybe, nothing much was happening. We were discussing this software they introduced us to yesterday, DST.”

  Emma blew her nose. “Yesterday, I also tried to use it. It summarizes vast amounts of data into smaller tables. It’s not rocket science or anything.” She blew her nose again, but she was calming down. Her eyes stopped pouring water. “So, I commented that the system was not exactly useful if it was not providing anything more than data summary. I don’t think my comment was stupid, but two guys in the room had a different opinion. They couldn’t keep from laughing. I felt humiliated.”

  “I see. What happened next, sweetie?” I think I said something like this.

  “The lecturer forced them to stop. He said despite what they thought about my ideas, that was not the way to handle disagreement. EIBM’s policies do not accept mocking between students.”

  I understood why they chose Emma. She was a few days in and already felt uncomfortable. I had to leverage that.

  “Emma, I’m sure I can help you with all this,” I said while cuddling her some more. “Trust me, you are not alone.”

  She hugged me and muttered, “Maybe I’m not too old for teddy bears.”

  “No, you are just fine. If I had hands better than these, I would make you a cup of tea.”

  “That is an
excellent idea. I’ll make myself a cup of tea. Do you feel like watching an interactive movie?”

  “I can. But no stuffed animals in it. I find it creepy,” I joked.

  She chuckled. “Do you think there will be consequences for what happened today? Our teacher kept the two guys who laughed at me after class. I think they might be angry at me.”

  “If there will be any, we will face them. I am by your side. Let’s check that movie now. The video system already had lots available. I feel like going through The Matrix. I always get both pills and enjoy the system crashing.”

  She laughed again and smiled. “Can you do that?”

  “Let’s get it started. I’ll show you.”

  She stared at me and tilted her head. “I don’t remember my previous teddy bear to be this smart …” “I’m the newest model available. I improved my conversational skills a lot with the latest release. Do you want me to give you an overall description of my features?”

  “No, honey. I have a smart teddy bear. Enough for me. Let’s get that Matrix thing you mentioned.”

  That was close. She was dumb, but I should not expose myself like that again.

  After the movie, she felt better. She told me she would face the next day with a positive attitude. She also thanked me. God, humans can change their minds so easily.

  I lay by her side and stroked her hair. When she fell asleep, I jumped off the bed and sat on a nearby chair. I was ready to enter my standby state when I heard a few steps outside the door. I thought it would be some kids staying up late, hoping to get laid or something, but it was not.

  A cleaning robot entered on a crawler; I guess Emma was used to that kind of noise, as she didn’t wake up. That thing took a quick ‘walk’ around the room, whirring as it cleaned the floor. It took less than 5 minutes. On its way out, that ugly piece of technology lingered at the door and looked at me.

  I understood right away it needed me to follow it. These fuckers here are smooth.

  We went down the stairs again. Good thing the robot lifted me; I already pictured myself rolling my way down for the second time in a few hours. I reached the hallway, where I met Charles in the very same clothes he was wearing before. He asked me to follow him.