by Dena Nicotra
I went down to the lobby and helped myself to a keycard. Then I took a room on the third floor so that I didn’t have to run in to any of them. Clicking on the light I pulled my .38 from my waistband and swept the room. Finding it empty, I tried the window to let in some fresh air but it wouldn’t budge. Frustrated, I took a seat at the small round table and put my feet up on the chair on the opposite side. It was a depressing room, with brown walls dappled with some sort of white cherry blossom pattern, and a garish bronze bed covering that had a thick layer of dust on it. The wall opposite the bed was taken up entirely by a monitor. I grabbed the remote from the table and clicked it on. The words “select theme” appeared and I scrolled through the menu of choices. The view changed from a cityscape to the beach, and a selection of other scenic views including the desert. I settled on the cityscape and then went to the shower.
The water didn’t get hot, but the coolness felt refreshing. There was a small wafer of soap wrapped in paper with the hotel name on it, and I found a washcloth beneath the sink. The towels folded on the rack were dusty, so I decided to drip dry. I pulled on a pair of pale green scrubs I’d stuffed in my pack back at the hospital, and a fresh white tank and then set about pulling the covers from the bed. The closet revealed a stack of sheets and blankets, so I stripped the bed and remade it with those. They smelled musty but they were cleaner than what was on the bed before. Just as I got myself settled, I heard a knock at the door.
I pulled my pistol from the nightstand and moved to the door, taking care to move quietly. The knock came again, this time a little louder. I glanced around the room for an alternate escape route, and cursed myself for not picking a different room when I found that the window wouldn’t open. “Lee, I know you’re in there. I want to talk. Can you open the door, please?”
I lowered my gun and placed it back in my waistband. When I opened the door, Mic stretched his hands out to me. He held a bowl of chicken soup. “Take it. I’m sure you haven’t eaten. Can I come in?” I took the bowl from him and stood back so that he could enter the room.
“How’d you know what room I was in?”
“I’ve got an app for that.”
“I should have known.” He sat at the table with me and watched as I spooned the soup into my mouth. His eyes took on a drowsy look and then he cleared his throat. “Look, I know you don’t like me, Lee, and I’m not asking you to change your mind on that. What I came here to talk to you about is an alternative plan.”
“Talk,” I said, as I slurped another spoonful. The soup was actually not bad. She’d used some canned vegetables, and the combination of little bits of carrot and peas made it great comfort food.
“So that you know, the simp that we reprogrammed was searching for humans. She’d entered the side yard, and my aunt spotted her through the kitchen window. I used my app, and —”
“You say that like your application is a magic wand,” I interrupted, unable to hide my contempt.
He rolled his eyes and sighed impatiently. “Listen, in some ways it sort of is like a magic wand, if you think about it.”
“How’s that?”
“I was able to initiate the motion pause. It took me less than three minutes to shut her down, and absolutely no harm came to anyone in the process.”
“But—”
He cut me off before I could continue.
“Please, Lee, let me finish.”
“Fine. Go on, but it won’t change anything.”
“The code that Giz and I have been working on was successful, but it didn’t last. Annie reverted to her corrupted coding, and I had to put her down.”
“Well that’s just giving me all the confidence I need to back up your plans.”
“Hear me out.”
“I’m listening, but no promises.” I took another spoonful of soup.
“Because she became infected again, we know now that the virus is airborne.” I frowned at him, “What does that mean?”
“It means that even if Giz and I are successful with our code — which we are by the way — it doesn’t last, and that’s why I wanted to talk to you. I understand that you aren’t comfortable with us trying to get another simp to test…but what if I created a new one?”
“What are you talking about? How?”
“It would mean going back to the Bay area…to IDE headquarters. I have the means there.”
“So, let me get this straight. You’re telling me that you won’t hijack a simp to reprogram because I think it’s a bad idea, but you want to go back to the Bay area and make yourself some new ones to play with. I think that’s absolutely brilliant, Mic. I don’t understand why you didn’t think of that before.”
“You’re being sarcastic.”
“You think?”
“I want you to come with us.”
“Wow! You’re fucking nuts, you know that?” I stood up. Sensing he was about to be thrown out of my room, he began to speak quickly.
“We found a functioning segment of the Premrail. It’s a few hours or so away, and then it’s forty-five minutes back to the Bay.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I want you to come with us.”
“Not happening.”
“I need you to come with us, Lee.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to use the 3-D printer to make a copy…of you.”
“And now you can get the fuck out of my room.”
“Please Lee, I have a very good reason why I want to print you. Just listen.”
I slammed the bowl down on the table and glared at him.
“You are the most stubborn person I know, and if I pull that trait in, conditioned with my code, I believe I could create a simp that could resist the viral upload.”
“You mean because I’m a bitch, you could duplicate me and then program my cyber double to resist Yen’s code?”
“That’s blunt, but yes. It is exactly what I mean.”
“Find yourself another bitch.”
He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit two, handing me one. I took it from him, took a long hit, and then blew smoke directly in his face.
“Why would you think for a second that I’d agree to do this, Mic?”
“Because if you don’t, we’re all going to die.”
“Of course we are. It’s just a waiting game. We’re all dead already, Mic. We just don’t know it.”
“No, time is running out, Lee. They’ve learned how to replicate themselves and they are using my equipment, and my inventions, to do it!” He slammed his fist down on the table for emphasis.
“I don’t understand. What can I possibly do to help with that?”
“I know you don’t understand, but you need to trust me when I say this: you are our only hope.” His eyes searched my face. “How long have you known this?” I asked.
“Two days ago they broke in to the cortex at IDE. It is where we house the master printers. They’ve been offline since the war. They went back online early yesterday morning. Every simp has a serial number, and that catalog is something I closely monitor. It’s remained unchanged since the collapse. That changed last night.”
“What are you saying?” I noticed my hand was shaking as I leaned over the table to ash my cigarette in the soup bowl.
“They’ve printed eighteen million new simps at my last check two hours ago. That’s two thirds the population of San Francisco.”
“How could printing a simp of me do anything against that?”
“It’s a long shot, I know, but Giz and I believe that we can model your defiant behavior and then we can mirror that in our code.”
Without a second thought, or even the slightest hesitation, my hand came up and I slapped him hard across his chiseled face. He squinted at me as if he was trying to digest what I’d just done, and then his mouth curved into that cunning smile that I’d seen splashed across magazine covers.
I raised my hand to wipe that smirk off his face, but this t
ime he caught my wrist and pulled me close. His other hand found my lower back and the warmth that shot through my body caught me off-guard.
“Let go of me, Mic. I’m warning you,” I said through gritted teeth.
His gray eyes locked on me. We stayed like that, silently challenging each other for what seemed like an eternity. I felt as if he was debating saying something, but he remained silent, gently inhaling, as if he were trying to breathe me in. I glanced away, unable to meet his eyes. There was definitely something shifting between us. He raised one eyebrow, and I knew he felt my walls slipping down. His lips met mine with so much force, we both slammed in to the wall behind me. His mouth was as hungry as mine was accepting. Before I could digest what had just happened, my leg wrapped around his thigh and my hands curled in his hair. His hot tongue traveled down my neck. Electric currents sang through my veins, and as much as I wanted to resist this, my body vehemently demanded the opposite. He lifted me up, and I eagerly locked my legs around his hips as he carried me to the bed.
“Do you want me to stop?” he whispered, hovering over me. Breathing raggedly, I pulled him down, directing him with an arch of my hips.
“Don’t you dare,” I replied. This was all the encouragement he needed, and he smiled broadly before pulling back and gently tugging my scrubs down. While he did this, I yanked my tank top over my head, and threw it to the floor. There was certain desperation in our actions, as if at any moment something might break this magical spell. Mic made short work of removing his own clothes and when he did, I smiled in appreciation of the view. He was far from the perfectly chiseled paperback romance stereotype. His skin was pale, but everything about him was beautifully proportioned and toned. Eventually the intensity of our lovemaking slowed to a gentle tempo that only the lonely can appreciate. I traced my fingers up and down his back and whispered his name while he melted the walls I’d painstakingly built around me. The digital cityscape twinkled in the background as Mic Keenan became mine.
When we finished, he pulled me over to rest my head on his shoulder. I couldn’t speak, because I was afraid I might say something to break the spell. I was rough around the edges, and I knew that. I’d prided myself on my ability to be less than feminine, or even charming. Those traits had never been my nature…there was a time when I wasn’t quite as coarse. I traced tiny circles in the small patch of hair on his chest and lingered in the moment. A part of me was already regretting what I’d just done. Still another part of me wanted to stay in this man’s arms forever. The Mic Keenan I’d hated was not this man. This was a man who knew how to make love to a woman, and knew how to make me feel like I was alive again.
“Penny for your thoughts?” he said softly.
“I’d kill for a cigarette and a cold beer,” I said with a laugh. He tousled my hair and I could tell he was laughing by the way his chest heaved up and down.
“Is that all you have to say, Lee?”
“No. That was amazing…but I would love a cigarette and a cold beer.”
“Smokes are in the pocket of my t-shirt. As for the beer, I think we’re out of luck.”
“One out of two isn’t bad,” I said, climbing out of the bed to collect two cigarettes from his pocket. I lit them both and came back to the bed, handing him one.
“You are breathtakingly beautiful.”
“You only say that because I’m naked.”
“That’s not true. I’ve thought that since I first laid eyes on you.”
“What? You mean you didn’t think I was a raving bitch? Now you’re hurting my feelings, Mic.”
“Okay, you are a raving bitch…but I like a challenge.”
I blew smoke at the ceiling and glared at him. “Is that all I am to you? A challenge?”
“Now you are insulting me. No. I’ve wanted you to be much more than that for a while now.” His voice became serious. “When you left, I blamed myself. I was sure that you were dead.”
“Did you cry for me, Mic?”
“Would you think me less of a man for saying ‘yes’?”
It felt good to be cared for. I tried not to think about how easily I could lose him and pushed back my rational thoughts. I bent over and kissed the top of his nose.
“No. Quite the opposite, actually.”
His smile was genuine, and I felt relaxed for the first time in longer than I could remember. If this was the worst I had done, I could live with it. We doused our cigarettes in my soup bowl and snuggled back in the bed. His skin felt deliciously warm and reassuring. When his breathing evened out and I knew he’d fallen asleep, I took comfort in knowing his arms were around me and that I was, for the moment, content.
I was awakened by the morning light streaming through the yellowed curtains, and I instinctively reached across the bed for Mic. When I realized he wasn’t there, I sat up abruptly.
“Did you sleep well?” His voice was velvety smooth, and seeing him at the table in his boxers made me smile.
“Better than I have in years,” I said.
“Me too.”
“So now what?” I asked, reaching my arms over my head in a deep stretch.
“We go to the Bay.”
I nodded and pulled the sheets back. The room was already warm and it felt good to be free of the sheets.
“Or…we pause to linger in the moment,” he said with a grin.
“You’re incorrigible.”
“No, I’m actually very rigid — in more ways than one.” He laughed. “You just bring out the worst in me.”
“I’ve got to pee,” I said with a laugh, and climbed out of the bed.
“Hurry, I’ll be waiting right here.” He’d already stripped his boxers and crossed the room to the bed.
“Do me a favor, find us some coffee first?” I shut the bathroom door behind me, but not before I caught his impish grin.
“I can do that. I’ll be back,” he said to the closed door. I washed my face and took a few moments to get myself together. Despite my best efforts, Mic Keenan had wormed his way into my heart. I didn’t know how I felt about that, but I did know that I had feelings for him. I wanted to hate him as the inventor of mass destruction, but there was something undeniably gentle and genuine about him. As much as I wanted to distrust him, I couldn’t. I crawled back in the bed and closed my eyes. Mic returned a short while later with two steaming cups of hot coffee. I sat up in the bed anxiously and took my cup from his outstretched hand.
“I didn’t really expect a hot cup of coffee, how did you manage this?”
“We had some instant, and Alice had it heated up. I can’t take full credit for it, but I do like making you smile.” I took a deep sip and then set the cup on the nightstand. Sensing my intentions, he did the same. I laced my hands behind my head and crossed my ankles. I could tell his eyes were drinking me in appreciatively. I was wearing only my underwear and a tank top. He brushed his hand down my thigh and then traveled back up slowly to the edge of my underwear. I took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, allowing the feeling of his warm hands on my skin to give me a sense of peace. It’s unbelievable how incredible it feels to be touched when you’ve gone so long without the feeling of another person’s hands on your body. It isn’t just about sex. It is incredibly soothing just to know someone in the universe cares about you.
I reached down to his hand and gently directed it to my mouth. I kissed the tips of his fingers, softly and then he bent his head to find my lips. In that moment, I didn’t care that the world had fallen around me. It didn’t matter that I was in the middle of the desert in a dingy hotel that was getting hotter by the minute. It mattered only that his body was melding with my own, and that his flesh was warm and strong beneath my fingers. We took our time exploring each other in the shadowy light of the early morning. Each position was a new opportunity for me to feel alive again. We were only interrupted by the soft tapping on the door.
“Yeah?” Mic called out.
“Hey guys, Giz wanted me to come and see if you two were read
y to go. He says if you two aren’t going…he is.”
“Jesus, tell him we’ll be there in ten minutes!”
“Okay, I’ll tell him. Sorry to interrupt!” Alice’s voice trailed off, and we could hear her footsteps and her giggling as she headed away. Mic ran his hand through his hair and I shook my head. “I guess they know now, huh?”
“Guess so,” he said. “Is that okay with you?”
“I don’t care what anyone thinks,” I said, rising from the bed.
“And you have no reason to,” Mic said seriously. We took a cool shower together and then joined the others. Giz was pacing the worn carpet, and looked up with huge eyes when he saw us come in together hand in hand.
“I never would have seen that coming,” he said. The others just tried to act busy. I cleared my throat and leaned against the wall.
“So what’s the game plan?” I asked.
“You and Mic are going to go to the Bay on the Premrail,” Giz said matter-of-factly. I could tell he was irritated.
“I thought you were coming too,” I said.
“We thought it best if I stayed behind with the women.”
“When he says ‘we’ he means me,” said Alice. Giz crossed his arms and sat on the edge of the bed. Alice immediately snuggled next to him.
“He’s going to keep us safe until you guys get back,” she said. Giz tensed as she began to stroke his back in little circles. What little I knew about Giz O’Malley told me that he was not the least bit happy about this decision. I could also tell he was agreeing out of concern for Alice’s well-being. Mic stared at Giz for a moment and then shook his head. “Okay, okay. That’s probably best.”
There was an awkward silence that followed, until Maude stood up and crossed the room to hug Mic. “You two had better get going if you’re going to be back by nightfall. I hope that by then we’ve scavenged up some more food for us and we can all sit down for a nice dinner.” She smiled and patted Mic’s cheek. I could tell she was exhausted and concerned for her nephew, but she wouldn’t admit it to him or any of the rest of us. Barbara was curled up on her side, facing the wall away from us. How she could sleep with Giz in the room was beyond me.
