by Brad Knight
The station wagon finally gave up. It stopped in the middle of the road in the desert. They both got out.
“Another car bites the dust,” said Mack as he looked over his and Amber’s defunct chariot.
“So will we if we don’t find some cover.” Amber had recovered somewhat from her concussion.
We’re in the desert. There is no cover. Mack surveyed his surroundings. All he could see was almost pitch black desert and the vague outlines of rock, sand and dust covered mountains.
“The mountains!” Amber also saw them. She pointed towards the nearest peak.
“The mountains it is,” agreed Mack. He started walking towards the nearest one. Not three steps in, his legs got wobbly. All the adrenaline had left his body. His myriad of injuries were only dulled by it, not healed. Without that boost, he was weak.
Amber ducked under one of Mack’s arms and helped him up, bracing his weight the best she could. “I got ya, big guy.”
Chapter 4
: Home Base
From the air, Ted watched Las Vegas burn. The Hellfire jets made several more passes since he’d been picked up. Their terrible payloads dispersed the inferno across every section of the city.
Even from high above, Ted could hear the screeching of burning meat puppets. It made him happy. Out of all of his clean up team, he was the only one who was enjoying it.
Remarkable. Ted shifted his gaze from the fire to his own arms. They were almost completely healed. All the burnt skin had flaked off, replaced with new nanite produced layers.
“Sir, the last of the blockbusters were dropped. Do you want to set a course back to LA HQ?” asked one of the helicopter crew.
Ted didn’t even hear his employee. He was too busy looking at the great work his little machines had done on him.
“Sir?”
Is someone talking to me? “What was that?”
“Are we clear to return home?”
“Sure. We can do that.” Ted didn’t seem to care. His thoughts were elsewhere. He wondered if Mack and Amber were somewhere out there in the burning city. He hoped not. Their deaths or salvation will come by his hands. And no one else’s.
“You happy? You satisfied? You sad little boy. What does this achieve? A whole city destroyed. For what?” Ted’s dead father whispered in his ear, then faded away into the noise of the rotors.
In the helicopter behind Ted's, Sebastian watched the city burn and was filled with remorse. Though certainly no angel, the wanton destruction ordered by Ted bothered him. It was just the latest in a series of atrocities, started with the release of the nanite virus.
Sebastian didn’t expect to find his boss alive. When he heard that Ted was traveling to the Las Vegas lab to work on a way to counteract the nanites, he thought Galatea Systems was as good as his. Vegas was rumored to be completely overrun with meat puppets. No one heard from the lab there since the outbreak.
When Sebastian was informed that Ted was alive and needed a ride from Las Vegas, he considered stopping the rescue party. Galatea, the new rulers of the United States, was split into two parties. One followed and believed in him. The other long time loyal employees followed Ted.
Those loyal to the Galatea CEO outnumbered those loyal to his second in command. Sebastian knew if he didn’t save Ted, more than half the company would revolt. That was unacceptable. When he took over it would be unopposed. His boss would need to die in a manner that wouldn’t shed any suspicion on him.
Sebastian looked at Ted’s helicopter. He prayed for it to crash. Nothing would have made him happier than seeing his mentally ill superior plummet into the flames of Las Vegas. Those prayers weren’t answered.
Jeez, I’m hungry. I really want a cheeseburger. When we get to Los Angeles I’m going to have the cook prepare a big juicy hamburger, with bacon. Ted completely disconnected from the events of the last night. His thoughts turned to food.
“How long till we get back to LA?” asked Ted.
“About an hour and a half, sir,” answered one of Ted’s staff in his helicopter.
“Hmm. Anyone have anything to eat? Maybe a granola bar or even some candy, anything?”
One of the men handed Ted a half-eaten bag of chocolate candies. He gobbled it up, then rested his head against one of the chopper walls, and slept.
***
Ted found himself at his childhood home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was in his bedroom. Scattered across the floor were toys of every conceivable kind. There was no mistaking the awful wallpaper that lined all four walls. Pink and purple bunny rabbits hopped across them. It was meant for a girl. That was yet another way that Ted was a disappointment.
In the middle of the room sat a little boy. His legs were crossed and had is back to Ted. Immediately Gorman recognized the child. It was him as a youngster.
Ted slowly approached his child self. The younger version didn’t seem to realize he was there or pay him any notice. Instead, he just kept playing with his toys.
As he got closer, Ted noticed that a couple of things about the scene were just wrong. The open windows with blowing curtains opened up to a blood red tinted outdoors. There was a bookcase full of things to read, but he couldn’t make out any of the writing on the spines. And there was no ceiling, just blackness above.
Not wanting to spook or scare his child self, Ted tried to speak but found himself robbed of voice. Even if he could talk, he didn’t really know what to say. Any thoughts were jumbled and confused.
Ted grabbed his younger self by the shoulder. He tried to turn him around. But each time the child’s head started to turn, it snapped back forward. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get a look at his own face.
Compelled by an unknown force, he gave up and started to back away. Without Ted noticing the change, the room transformed from his childhood bedroom to the Las Vegas lab. That freaked him out. Fear was not a feeling he was acquainted with. He didn’t know how to handle it.
Ted’s back hit a back wall of the Las Vegas lab. His child self, who was still in the middle of the room, stood up. Slowly young Ted turned around. There were no eyes, only black holes, no mouth, only a black hole.
The younger version of Ted let out a loud screech and sprinted towards his adult self. There was nowhere for the latter to go. Suddenly the wall behind him started to move.
Behind Ted, the Las Vegas lab wall turned into his countless victims. They all had black eyes and mouths like his child self. They grabbed the CEO of Galatea Systems and started pulling him apart, piece by piece. He could feel every rip and tear.
***
“Sir? Sir? Are you awake? We’ve arrived,” said one of Ted’s helicopter crew.
Ted awoke a little groggy. He noticed that the helicopter was on the ground. In front of him was a member of the crew. Gone were the black eyed and black mouthed horrors that tore him apart in his slumber.
Well that was unsettling. “Good.” Ted got out of his helicopter. It was nice to feel terra firma under his feet again. “Good.”
“Sir, would you like some clothes before going inside?” asked the member of the helicopter crew.
“Not really.”
“For the rest of the staff? Seeing you walk around nude might be a little… distracting for everyone.” The member of the helicopter crew was clearly uncomfortable. That was exactly the reaction Ted was after.
“Alright, I guess.”
The Galatea Systems lab just outside Los Angeles was one of their biggest and most advanced sites. Fifteen foot high walls surrounded the partially submerged facility. Armed guards stood at towers behind the fence every fifty yards. It looked more like a military base than a place for science. That level of security is required though when the science is dirty and cruel.
Denise Kilgore stood near the sliding garage door sized entrance of the Los Angeles lab. The twenty-three year old former intern held a full suit zipped up in a bag hanging on a hook. In her other hand she carried a pair of shoes, sneakers with no socks, just a
s Ted liked it.
The helicopter crew member who suggested that Ted wear some clothes motioned for Denise to come over. As she ran, wind produced by the rotors blew her hair in her face making her weave a bit. Once the vehicle’s engine was shut down, the wild haired young woman handed her boss his clothes.
“Thank you, Denise,” said Ted as he took his suit from her. She looked away embarrassed. Seeing her squeamish gave him some semblance of joy. Or at least as close as he could get to it.
It’s important that you look your best. The men and women stationed here can’t see you as anything less than together and competent. Ted hummed commercial jingles as he got dressed.
“Looks like you found some clothes,” observed Sebastian. His chopper landed shortly after Ted’s. “Are you ready? They’re waiting for you inside.”
Sebastian referred to the Galatea board of directors. They came from all over the world. With countries in disarray and governments rendered useless, the small collection of executives were the most powerful people in the world. And Ted led them.
“Waiting for me? I like the sound of that. Okay, let’s go.” Ted walked towards the doors to the facility with a pep in his step.
Ted led a small procession into the facility. Ten people followed him, including his second in command, Sebastian, and his assistant, Denise. The rest were armed guards. Ted pressed his index finger against a biometric scanner on the door. After a few seconds it beeped and the entrance opened up.
The lobby was a long concrete hallway slanted downwards. It was about a quarter mile long. Back before the outbreak, when resources were plenty, staff would use golf carts. Like so much else, the carts were cannibalized for the greater good of the facility.
“Every member of the board is here. Even Mr. Yamahada got here last night,” informed Denise as she quickened her pace to keep up with Ted.
“Why? They should be back in their own countries, watching over my labs.”
“I called them in for a meeting,” explained Sebastian, who was just behind his boss. “We thought you were lost. I called them in to vote for a new CEO.”
Vote for a new CEO? What a joke. You really mean that you called them in so they’d bend the knee and pledge their loyalty to their new leader. You. “I’m happy to disappoint you. Well, as long as they’re here I guess I should take the opportunity to inform them of the next phase of our plans. I’ll tell them the future.”
“Whatever you say, boss. But I should warn you, they aren’t happy,” said Sebastian.
“That so? Are they angry? Do they want to give me a good talking to?” Ted feigned a look of fear in a fashion that clearly wasn’t serious. “I’m shaking in my loafers.”
“With all due respect, sir, you should be. They’re threatening to go independent. That would mean their staff and security teams would go with them. Some are even talking about ousting you as CEO. This is serious.”
Near the end of the long concrete hallway there were crates of supplies on both sides. In them were everything from canned food to ammunition. Past them were another set of biometrically locked doors. They led to the facility proper. Outside of them were two guards.
With all due respect? You’re a fucking riot Monticello. “Relax Seb, once they hear what I have to say, they’re not going to go anywhere. Nor will I. That I promise you.”
Ted opened the second set of doors and entered the bustling facility beyond. Galatea Systems employees dressed in black uniforms and white lab coats were scurrying around like busy ants. All of them had work to do.
“I sure missed this place. And I missed all my minions.” Ted held out his arms. “Hello minions!” A couple of employees stopped and looked. Others did so while speed walking. Most just ignored him. “They’re just as warm and fuzzy as I remembered.”
Sebastian looked at Ted embarrassed. How could such an ass run the company, the country? What he wouldn’t give to stand over his corpse.
“Wait sir, you’re going the wrong way. They’re waiting for you in the conference room. That’s this way,” said Denise as she tried to gently pull Ted in the right direction. It didn’t work.
“Nonsense, I got some work to do. The board can wait. I’m going to the lab.” Ted strayed from the path his assistant and second in command wanted him to take.
***
The labs at the Los Angeles facility were eight times the size of the one in the basement of The Golden Pony. They included pens for all the monsters created by Galatea. They also included tanks with a variety of chemical weapons. There was even an area for patients, prisoners and test subjects.
“Mr. Ted?” A tall lanky man with a bad mustache and thick glasses met Ted and his entourage shortly after they entered the labs.
“Dr. Michaels!” greeted Ted without taking his attention away from the thick glass in which he watched his scientists through.
“I’m so glad to see you here, sir. I have so much to show you.” Dr. Michaels’s enthusiasm was dampened a bit by the angry stare from Sebastian.
“Really?” Ted took his attention away from the glass and looked at Dr. Michaels. “Please, go on.”
“Follow me,” said Dr. Michaels, careful not to use a tone that sounded like an order.
Ted held up his hand in order to stop his security escort. “You guys stay here. We’ll be fine.” The only people who had the security clearance to go with Ted and Dr. Michaels were Sebastian and Denise.
“Sir, we really need to go to the conference room. The board is waiting for…” Sebastian tried to sway Ted. But it was too late. Dr. Michaels had his boss’s full attention.
What do you got for me you beautiful, strange, awkward looking man. As Ted followed Dr. Michaels into the labs and towards the area reserved for experiments on living things, he was almost giddy with excitement. His imagination ran wild with the possibilities of what his favorite scientist concocted. When they reached the pens, he wasn’t disappointed.
Pacing back and forth in their small cages were a half a dozen infected chimpanzees. They were at an advanced stage. And they barely had enough flesh between them left on their metallic bones to cover one chimp. All six of them stared back at Ted through the glass with glowing blue eyes.
“So what’s so special about these? We’ve infected animals before,” Ted tried to hide his boyish excitement of seeing monster chimps with a good and relevant point. They had infected all manner of animals in the years leading up to the release of the nanite virus.
“Notice their eyes, sir?” asked Dr. Michaels.
“Yeah, they’re blue. So?”
“That’s an indicator that they’ve been infected with what we’re calling the ’marionette’ strain of the nanite virus.”
Marionette? I like the sound of that.
“This is what you’ve been waiting and working for, for years. We’ve achieved the goal of controllable bioweapons. Come with me to the testing floor and I can show you what I mean.”
Dr. Michaels led Ted, Sebastian and Denise to another room where two infected chimps were behind one way glass. On the observation side of the glass were chairs, a desk and a laptop.
“I got this set up as soon as we heard you were coming.” Dr. Michaels sat down in front of the laptop.
“What did you set up? Furthermore, what the hell are we doing here?” asked Sebastian, annoyed.
“Do you see those two chimpanzees, Mr. Monticello, Mr. Gorman?” Dr. Michaels referred to the two docile apes just beyond the two way glass.
“Of course,” answered Ted. He smelled cigar smoke.
“You belong on the other side of that glass. You know that right? You’re nothing but a vicious chimp, an animal.” Thomas, Ted's dead father, stood next to Ted and busted his balls.
“At this moment they are docile and calm. But with nothing more than a simple command entered into an even simpler application,” Dr. Michaels started typing into the laptop, “that all changes. Observe. I’ve commanded them to beat each other to death.”
Ted laughed. Sebastian scowled. And Denise looked away.
The meat puppet chimpanzees instantly started fighting. They displayed a ferocity that was frightening even to the man pulling their strings. Using their teeth, hands and legs, the two apes tore each other to pieces. It was the definition of brutality. Their battle didn’t end till one of them managed to pull the head off the other. Black blood covered the walls and floor of the room beyond the one way glass. Once the victorious chimp was done, Dr. Michaels typed in commands for it and once again it become docile.
“That was… amazing.” Ted was the only one in the room who was ecstatic. He caught Dr. Michaels off guard by hugging him. “Truly great work, doc. You never disappoint.”
“There’s more,” said Dr. Michaels.
More? If I were a gay man I’d marry you, you wonderful son of a bitch. “More?”
“In case things get out of control or you need to get rid of evidence,” Dr. Michaels typed in some more commands.
The remaining meat puppet chimp started to convulse. Smoke started to seep out of the ape’s orifices. Under what little skin it had left, Michaels, Ted, Denise and Sebastian could see an orange glow. It was the creature’s metallic bones melting. Without warning it burst into flames and fell apart.
“How, what just happened?” asked Sebastian. Even he was amazed by what he saw.
“A failsafe. Each individual nanite in the marionette virus has a small amount of thermite explosives packed in. Individually they don’t do much, but joined with millions of others? They make for a hell of a show and the complete destruction of the infected.” Dr. Michaels was clearly happy with his work. Plastered across his face was a big smile as he explained what he and the other scientists did. The man was pleased with himself. As was his boss.
“That’s fantastic. Have we started with human trials yet?” asked Ted as he watched the remains of the meat puppet chimp burn away.
