by Dena Nicotra
It took me a moment to derive a conclusion. It had to be a simp. Hyperventilating now, I began backing up. I needed to alert the others, and fast. There was no way to get to our newcomers. That would mean going in the direction of that thing, and I wasn’t about to do that unarmed. I continued backing up as quietly and as quickly as I could, until I reached the elevator. It seemed like it took forever for the doors to open, and I was half out of my mind with terror, thinking that something would be in the car when the doors did finally open. Seeing the car empty, I got in and pushed the closed button repeatedly. I took it to Mic’s office floor and ran down the hall as fast as I could. When I reached the closed door, I pounded it frantically with my hand. “Mic, open the door please! It’s me, and we’ve got trouble!” My voice sounded a notch below hysteria.
The door whipped open and I went straight into Mic’s arms for a moment. It was a relief to feel that embrace. He held me for a second and then pulled me back to look into my eyes. His expression was a mixture of confusion and concern. “What is it, Lee? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know, I saw something, and it wasn’t right. It wasn’t natural and it wasn’t human. It was…”
“Okay, take a deep breath and calm down Lee. You’ve got to tell us what you saw.”
“It was naked and tall, and it was down on the first floor heading toward the rooms that Kyle and Sonya are in.” I gulped in air and looked around the room for a weapon of some sort. My eyes landed on Two and Deraline. They were inanimate and standing motionless. “Can you make them help us?” I asked.
“Giz, activate them both and let’s get the rest of our group assembled as quick as we can,” said Mic.
“I’m already doing it,” said Giz as he tapped away at the keys. The two artificial women came to life, blinking and looking around the room.
“Your heart-rate is accelerated, Lee. Are you well?” asked Two.
“No. I’m not fucking well at all, Two, and I don’t need you to tell me that my heart is pumping. I can feel it!”
“Two, we need you to go to the first floor. We have intruders,” said Mic, before turning to Deraline. “Deraline, I need you to go collect the others and bring them all back here.” The two of them went for the door.
“Wait, Mic, don’t let them leave yet. I don’t have a weapon. Can one of them go to our room and get my gun?”
“I’ll get it,” said Deraline. Her eyes met mine briefly, and then she joined Two closing the door behind her. Giz got up and locked it, and then Mic guided me to the bed to sit down.
“What were you doing on the first floor, Lee?” Mic asked.
“I was going to ask Kyle for a smoke,” I said.
“I’ve got a spare pack, I’ll get you one.” He crossed the room to his bag and pulled out a pack. I watched this absently. My mind was replaying what I had seen in the hallway. Mic lit two and came back to sit beside me on the bed. “Here,” he said, handing me one. I took a hit and exhaled slowly, while Mic and Giz hastily went over what needed to be quickly packed up in case we had to bug out. Giz coughed and waved his hand at the smoke disapprovingly as he moved around the room collecting things. I didn’t care that the smoke bugged him; fuck him. He hadn’t just seen what I had.
“Tell me again exactly what you saw,” said Mic.
“The lights went out so I was holding on to the wall, feeling my way. Then they came back on and I caught the back of a person going around that last corner in the hall. Its skin was really pale, it was naked, and it was really tall.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t Kyle?” I thought about this for a minute, because I really wanted it to be. I wanted it to be anything other than what I believed it was.
“It was just a split second, you know?” I said, flicking ashes into an empty orange soda can on the nightstand.
“Is it possible it was Kyle?” he asked again.
I shook my head slowly. “No. It wasn’t Kyle. It was…ducking.
“Ducking?”
“Yeah, like it was almost touching the ceiling, Mic. I know that sounds crazy, but I’m telling you, that’s what I saw. He placed his arm around my shoulder. “I’m not doubting you, Lee, just trying to understand what’s going on.” About that time, the door opened and our group filed in, wide-eyed. Deraline came in last, and closed the door at Mic’s instruction. A barrage of questions followed, and everyone was talking over each other. I did my best to explain what I had seen. Everyone looked terrified except for Deraline, who stood like a sentinel facing the door. If anything tried to get through, they’d have to get through her first. It was hard to imagine she’d be capable of protecting us. Her long dark hair was up in a ponytail, and she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that had to have come from Alice. They were both petite, so sharing clothes wasn’t a problem. Evidently, Alice had been playing dress up with her when she visited Giz. She looked like a typical sixteen-year-old kid.
“Two is coming,” Deraline said calmly. I was reminded in the tone of her voice that she was incapable of feeling fear. I resented her for that. Deraline opened the door and stepped aside. Two strolled in with the newcomers in tow. To my dismay, Sonya was still wearing the same clothes and smelling no better. Kyle looked anxious and very flushed. They took a seat on the double bed across from me. The group waited anxiously for Two to tell us what she’d found.
“What did you see, Two?” Mic asked.
“I did not locate any intruders. I found these two in the same room, and I immediately brought them here.”
“So you haven’t checked the other floors or the perimeter?” I asked.
“No, Lee, I wanted to ensure the safety of these two humans before I did that.”
“I did collect your gun for you, though,” said Deraline. Turning from her post at the door, she pulled my pistol from the back of her jeans and presented it in her outstretched hand. I took it from her and checked to ensure it was still loaded. It wasn’t. Of course, she didn’t grab my ammo. “Fucking useless!” I spat.
“I fired warning shots through the halls,” she stated matter-of-factly.
“Why the fuck would you do that, Deraline? If you didn’t see any hostiles, why would you fire fucking warning shots through the halls? That’s not only a waste of valuable ammo, it’s a homing beacon for the simps!” Her eyes blinked in rapid succession, as if my words were physically painful to her. The others were shifting uncomfortably and looking at one another like I’d completely lost my mind.
“Your sister was kind to think of our safety first,” said Sonya, changing the subject and breaking the awkward silence.
“She’s not—”
“Lee doesn’t like to think of her sister as kind,” said Giz, effectively cutting me off before I said too much.
“In fact, she doesn’t think of anyone as kind,” he added with a laugh.
“Why do you think there’s a problem here? We didn’t see or hear anything odd,” said Sonya.
“I saw something strange in the hallway,” I said.
“What did it look like mija?” she asked.
“Like a tall naked guy,” I said, crossing my arms. The others exchanged glances, and I watched as Kyle shift uneasily.
“I don’t mean to embarrass anyone, but Two, didn’t you say you found them in the same room?” Ben’s question caused a wave of uncomfortable shifts around the room.
“Yes, I found them together in the same room,” said Two.
“Are you calling your sister the number two?” asked Sonya.
“Yeah…it’s a nickname,” I said. “I was here first,” I added.
“What’s your real name?” Sonya asked raising one of her thin, greasy, penciled brows. Two looked directly at me, as did the rest of my group. “My sister’s real name is BayLee,” I said. I thought Giz was going to spit orange soda on Alice, who was doing her best to keep her composure. She turned away to put her hand over her mouth. I didn’t make eye contact with anyone else.
“Well, I know that this is not our place, bu
t as your guests, we do appreciate our privacy.” She looked around the room to dispel any doubts. “You saw Kyle,” she said, raising her chin proudly. Kyle looked positively miserable, but he didn’t dispute her claim.
I stared at him, daring him to say something to dispute me. He refused to meet my eyes. “I know that’s not what I saw,” I said flatly.
“Have you been drinking, Lee?” Ben’s question made me immediately defensive. “What the fuck does that matter, Ben?” I responded. This didn’t help my case, but I couldn’t help it.
“Have you, Lee?” asked Barb.
“I’ve had a couple of nips off a bottle of gin.” Opinions formed instantly, and everyone began to talk at once, discrediting my story and validating one another’s perspectives. “Look you guys, I had a couple shots and I admit that, but nothing excessive enough to make me hallucinate, if that’s what you’re implying.”
“Can we go back to bed?” Maude’s question was directed at her nephew. Mic waved his hand and nodded. The rest of the group followed, with the exception of our useless simps and Alice, who stayed with Giz. I bit my lip and said nothing further. No one was going to believe me. Hell, even I doubted myself at this point. Kyle paused just long enough to lock eyes with me as he was leaving the room. I could swear that the look on his face was one of desperation. He couldn’t have been more than thirty-five, and Sonya had to be nearing fifty. I just couldn’t fathom the hold she had over him.
I ran my hands through my hair and sat down on the edge of the bed as Mic went about the work of powering down Two and Deraline. In spite of what I thought that I saw, it was late. My nerves were fried, and I was running out of steam. I felt extremely confused, and that bothered me. Maybe I was finally going insane. The world was turned completely upside down. I’d survived by allowing my heart to freeze over, and now here I was mixed up with a group of people I couldn’t stand the thought of losing. I’d allowed myself to let my walls down, and that alone should have been a clue to me that I wasn’t thinking straight. I didn’t know what to make of my feelings, but I wasn’t ready to go back to my room alone. Mic had left me to my thoughts as he reviewed his precious data, which was a good thing, because I didn’t think I could say anything intelligent at that point. Alice and Giz had the decency to leave me alone as well. I noticed them standing in the bathroom, quietly discussing what they were going to do for the night, and decided I would see where I stood.
“Can I ask you something?” said Mic.
“You don’t believe me now, do you?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You don’t have to, I can see it in your face.” He lowered his head and sighed before looking back up at me. “That’s not the case at all, Lee. I think that you’re just tired.” He said this while taking his tablet from the table and showing it to me. I glanced down at the screen and saw a series of numbers.
“What is this?” I asked.
“I think this is us having our first argument,” he said. He raised a finger to his lips and pointed at the screen. I looked at it and then back at him. I didn’t understand. “Simps,” he mouthed.
“They are here?” I mouthed back. He nodded.
“How many?” I mouthed.
“You see, Lee, I think that you are just tired of me being away from you and spending all of my time with Giz working. You have countless reasons to be upset, and I’m not denying that.” I felt my eyes widening at the realization of what he was trying to tell me. There were simps all around us. He’d obviously picked up more IP addresses than he could count.
“Does Giz know?” I mouthed. He nodded. I gathered that the conversation those two were having a few feet away in the bathroom was mirroring ours. Yet I didn’t understand why he was being so secretive about it. He’d sent the others back to their rooms unaware, and he’d powered down Two and Deraline. I shook my head trying to comprehend the direness of our situation and the decisions he was making.
“Well, how do we resolve our issues, Mic?” I said, my voice sounding slightly hysterical. Mic was standing now, with his back to me. Giz and Alice came into the room, and I could see that Alice’s face was red and streaked with tears. She looked like she was falling apart. Giz gave me a don’t you say a word look, and I nodded my understanding.
“I’m not sure, Lee. I need some time to think, but there is a chance that this may be the end of the road for us,” said Mic. I felt my blood rush through my body. It was as if it did a quick rush from my toes to my brain, leaving me light-headed. He was saying this was it, that we were as good as dead. No wonder he’d let everyone go back to their rooms! He was giving up! True to my nature, I became instantly enraged.
“NO!” I shouted. Mic turned to face me, his jaw tight. “I’ve done all that I can, but I’m not sure if I can fix this! Lee, you don’t understand what I’m trying to tell you.”
“Yeah, Mic, I do understand. I understand that you are giving up. That you think there’s nothing that can be done. Well, let me tell you something. I’m not wired that way and I will NOT give up. Do you hear me?” He heard me, and so did Giz and Alice. Their blank faces said it all. They had already surrendered, given up, and were as good as dead. Well fuck that. I had an overwhelming determination to live, and I would go out fighting, if that’s what it was going to take. There was no way in hell I was going to just sit on the edge of the bed and sniffle until a simp came to rip my head off my neck. I headed for the door. Turning to them one last time, I said, “Are you with me or not?” Mic opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it. Giz pulled Alice to his lap. She tucked her head down on his shoulder and cried softly.
“Please wait, Lee. I’m begging you, don’t go.”
“I have to.” Mic shook his head, then tossed me his pack of cigarettes. His eyes glistened in the dim lighting. “Good luck, Lee.”
“Nice knowing you,” I said. I heard the door lock click behind me, and a resounding sense of finality ran through me. I was angrier with myself for expecting more from them, and even more pissed that I had again, allowed myself to end up in a situation where I was less than fully prepared for a fight. The lights were flickering again and the rain was now coming down so hard that it blocked my ability to hear anything sneaking up on me. I decided to make a run for my room and try to collect what I could of my belongings. I needed ammo, plus I was still barefoot and that wasn’t going to work for long. I took a mental inventory as I moved. Aside from ammo, I needed my boots, my pack, and my slingshot if I could manage it. The long eerie hallway with its peeling wallpaper and scraggly carpeting seemed to stretch for miles. All of the moisture had left my mouth and my breath came in ragged bursts.
When I got close to my room, I could see that the door was standing wide open. I paused a short distance away, ducking inside of an alcove that housed a broken ice machine and a couple of empty vending machines. The glass was smashed out of both of them, and I prayed I wouldn’t cut my feet on the glass. I could hear voices. They were speaking in that same rapid fashion that I had observed on the bridge, so I knew they were simps. Crouching down in the corner, I did all that I could to will my body silent, and then I strained to listen. The rain was still pouring down, which made it difficult, but I was close enough to make out what they were saying. Then to my surprise, I recognized one of the voices.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t talk like that if you want me to understand you,” she said, with that distinctive replacement of Js for Ys. What the hell was she doing in my room?
“Weeeeeee expect yoooooou to deliver Keeeeeeenan,” said the first voice. “And the 9035 Alpha Composite called Deraline Faith Roberts,” said the second voice, with a reverberating hiss. It sounded as though they were both male.
“I told you it would take time but that you could count on me. You can always count on me!”
“Weeee brought you here to do a job, Sonyaaaaaa. Instead, we find you here collecting supplies from this roooooom.”
“Yes, well, I am a human and I have to survive b
ut that does not mean that I haven’t been working!” That bitch was in my room to steal my supplies! “I was just doing a quick inventory, as you can see, but I am a good person and you can count on me!” A good person? I don’t think I’ve ever hated another human being as much as I hated Sonya in that moment. “Have I let you down on any of the jobs you have given me?” There was a long silence that followed, and I began to wonder if the simps had snapped her traitorous neck. It would have served her right. It never occurred to me that there could be simp sympathizers, or that the simps would even entertain the concept of employing humans to assist them in any way. I struggled to wrap my mind around this realization and the horrors it entailed.
“Well, have I?” She asked a bit more boldly. I vowed in that moment to snap her neck myself if I got out of this alive.
“Do not presume you have more value to us because you have completed jobs in the past, Sonya. You are no more to us than a rat is to you. You are merely a parasite that minds well. You are even offensive among your own kind. Never forget that you are valuable to us only when you deliver on your assignments, and your deadline was up two hours ago.”
“I know I was late, but I sent you the notification! Go look in room 614 and see for yourself. The only reason I hadn’t done it sooner was because I was waiting until I found the girl, which just happened a little while ago.”
