Waiting for the Machines to Fall Asleep

by Waiting for the Machines to Fall Asleep- The Best New Science Fiction from Sweden (retail) (epub)

  This time, however, sex wasn't Christina's top priority. When Emilia wrapped her bronzed arms around Christina's neck and began to kiss her, Christina gently pulled her away.

  "We need to talk about something," she said.

  "Can't we do that later?" Emilia whispered, pressing her body against Christina's. "I want you. Here, come."

  She tried to guide Christina's hand towards her breast, but Christina resisted (with some reluctance).

  "No, we'll talk first," she said. "Have a seat."

  Emilia sighed and flung herself down on an old couch that looked like it was overdue for a one-way trip to the city dump.

  The apartment they met in belonged to one of Emilia's friends, who currently was abroad and probably had no idea Emilia used it as a love nest. Christina had never met Emilia's friend, but judging from the interior of the apartment, the friend had little money and horrible taste. A bad combination. However, the apartment did have a bed. And a couch. And a kitchen table. And a bath tub. And a rather soft carpet on the floor.

  It sufficed.

  "Someone stole something from my office," Christina began.

  "What?" Emilia's eyes grew wide. "Today?"

  "No, Wednesday."

  "Really? No! How could I not have noticed? Why hasn't the police been there?"

  "The thief knew exactly what she was after."

  "Sounds like you know who it is." Emilia got a little wrinkle between her perfectly angled brows, a wrinkle that soon would be gone again, without the help of Botox.

  "I do. One of the cleaning goblins. The surveillance cameras got her."

  "So I suppose the police is onto her. Why are you telling me this?"

  Christina thought about telling her about Marilla, but decided that she might just as well let Emilia believe that the police was involved. The police would probably frighten her more than a goblin, even a goblin gangster boss.

  "She must have had help," Christina said. "She broke into the safe in my office. You know that I'm the only one who can open it. But this goblin somehow got it open, something that should be impossible as far as I can tell. You have any ideas?"

  Emilia shook her head, still with that little wrinkle between her brows. She chewed her lip, twisted a strain of dark brown hair around her finger.

  "There was this guy asking about the security last week," she said. "He called from some security company, said he wanted to know more about our surveillance solutions since he might have something better to offer us. I didn't tell him anything of course, I transferred him back to the switchboard and told them to direct him to the security manager instead. You did check with him, right?"

  "Of course I did," Christina said. "I told you about the surveillance cameras, didn't I?"

  "Oh, right."

  Her security manager hadn't mentioned anything about someone calling about surveillance solutions. On the other hand, it was possible he didn't think it was important. Maybe he was familiar with whatever company the man had called from and found nothing strange about it. Emilia, on the other, wouldn't normally receive such calls. Of course she had found it unusual.

  Unless she was making it all up to avoid suspicion. If anyone at work had plenty of opportunities to get a sample of her DNA, it was Emilia.

  "So, will you find this thief?" Emilia said and got up from the couch. "What did she take?"

  "A watch I was intending to give my husband as a birthday gift," Christina said. "A very expensive watch."

  She watched Emilia as she said it, but Emilia only shrugged and came closer.

  "Too bad," she said. "Are we done talking now?"

  This time, Christina didn't pull Emilia's arms away.

  "Yes, we are," she whispered as Emilia began to kiss her neck again.

  Marcus woke up and pulled away the sweaty bedcover from his chest. He ran his fingers through his hair. More sweat. He sighed, tossed and turned, warm and freezing at the same time.

  He sat up in his bed and looked at his phone. 02.36 a.m. Marcus sighed again and tried to get back to sleep, unsuccessfully. He wasn't sure what he had been dreaming, but the dream had definitely had goblins in it. And rats. Rats the size of horses. Was it even a dream? He recalled a talking watch – no wait, that was in his dreams. In reality, it had only been glowing. The rat had been big, but not that big. And the hot part about her had definitely not happened.

  "In my dreams," Marcus said to himself, sounding more bitter than he ever would want anyone to know.

  Your dreams could come true.

  What was that? Just his wishful thinking, probably. Some dreams just didn't come true, that was a fact.

  Wishful thinking, wishful wishes, wish upon a star my darling, wish what you want and it shall be yours.

  He actually heard the voice, faint, female, seductive.

  Okay, Marcus told himself, now I know that I'm not awake. Or I'm losing it completely.

  He shook his head and got up, had a glass of water, went to the bathroom, went back to bed. His efforts to go back to sleep were severely disturbed by thoughts of her, innocent fantasies about casual conversations with her, mixed with still fairly innocent thoughts of romancing her, mixed with far from innocent thoughts of other things he could do with her.

  She could be yours. You want her in your bed? You want her hands touching you, her lips kissing you, you want her to beg you to ...

  "Stop it!" Marcus sat up again, holding his head. The fantasies were one thing, but this voice or whatever it was didn't even feel like it came from his own mind. Yet it had to. He was one hundred percent sure that he was alone in his apartment, and that his neighbors weren't talking to him through the walls.

  Think about it. I can offer all you want, and you don't have to do a thing in return. Just make a wish.

  And the voice was gone. He knew it.

  With a sigh, Marcus lay down in his bed again.

  The memories would be there for eternity. There was nothing she could do about that. She embraced them instead, let them linger in her mind, even though they made her feel like she was suffocating again and again. She sometimes wondered if they had been right after all, when they captured her and imprisoned her, accused her of defying gods and angels, of being a danger to everyone, herself included.

  Back then, she had known that it was all just a game, a way to get rid of her, the rebellious one, the one who they thought threatened their power and position with her fire and joy of living.

  Ages later, she wasn't so sure.

  Fire.

  Fire needs air to burn. Put a blanket over fire, and you will kill it. But pull it away just before the fire dies, and you make the pain last longer. Do it again, and again.

  She went through her memories again until she could not breathe anymore. Then, she simply floated in her cage, feeling empty. She had no idea for how long. Time didn't matter much to her. She knew she had been imprisoned for a very, very long time. This cage was only the latest in a row.

  Sometimes, she tried to grow, even though she knew it was futile. None of her cages had ever broken to her attempts. She had tried until every part of her body made her want to scream with pain, but trapped she was and trapped she would be, unless she could find a way.

  He made the coffee stronger than usual, especially for a Saturday morning, when he normally would sleep long and wake up reasonably rested.

  Being haunted by mysterious voices might have had something to do with it.

  After the first cup of coffee, Marcus rose from his chair and went back to the bedroom. A thought had hit him, and when he saw the Patek Philippe watch there on his bedside table, he began to suspect that he might be on to something.

  The thing was, the more he thought about it, the more certain he was that the voice had come from somewhere next to his bed. Like his bedside table, for example.

  Marcus took a close look at the watch. That tiny shape he had seen last night ... He was sure it wasn't an imagination. And the way the watch had – well, moved. It had in f
act moved. He shook it gently, tapping the glass on the dial.

  "Hello?" he whispered, feeling like an idiot.

  Hello.

  He dropped the watch on the floor.

  Okay, he said to himself. So I've got myself a talking watch. Maybe that's completely normal. It is one of the world's most expensive brands, after all.

  He picked it up again. There was the shape again, tiny, female, the color of glowing ember.

  "You're in the watch," he breathed.

  Stating the obvious, the voice answered. The shape made a gesture with what probably was one of her hands. Trapped. Will you free me?

  "And you will grant me a wish? What are you? A genie?"

  The voice chuckled.

  Maybe that is what you call it. A jiniri I am, of the jinn. And you can have a wish. In fact, I need you to make a wish. If you agree to my offer, make your wish, and get the thing you desire most in the whole world, no matter the cost. And I will be free. What say you?

  I'm having a fairy tale conversation with a watch, Marcus thought. For a moment, he almost said "sure, why not" to the genie, then he stopped himself.

  "What's the catch?" he said.

  The genie was silent for a second.

  No catch, she said. Only the woman you desire by your side, forever, loving you. If that is what you wish. Maybe you want fame instead? Fortune? A different appearance? Eternal youth and health? Say what you will, and it shall be done.

  "I'll think about it," Marcus said and put the watch down. No doubt about it, there was definitely a catch. "No matter the cost," the genie had said. Being loved by her surely sounded like the perfect dream, but what if it meant manipulating her into loving him when she wouldn't have otherwise? Could they really be happy then? And what if the cost was that one of them became crippled, or died young, or something like that? "Eternal youth and health," did the genie mean that literally? Live forever, long after all his friends and family were dead and buried?

  On the other hand, maybe he was overthinking it. Maybe he could word the wish in a way that wouldn't hurt anyone. Add that it had to be for the best of everyone involved, and no one was allowed to get hurt. Maybe that would work. He still needed to think about it, though.

  Seemed like the tales were wrong, he thought. Didn't Aladdin have to rub the lamp and the let the genie out first, before he could get his wishes?

  She smiled. Her experience with lovestruck humans was that they were easily manipulated. Desire seemed to do that to them, make them forget about consequences, as long as they could mate with the object of their desire. She shuddered, having had the misfortune to see that happen on a couple of occasions. Creatures of flesh and blood were so disgusting.

  This one might seem a bit reluctant, but it would come around. Better than the last one, who had had a strong mind and a plan, tricking her into that agreement, locking her cage away in darkness.

  In her mind, she toyed with ideas how to get back at that human. She had had plenty of time to figure out fun and creative ways to torture it. Take away everything she had granted it, and then take away all that was left. Keep it captive somewhere. Cause pain to its mind and body.

  It would be fun.

  And when she was done with that human, she would find the other ones. The ones who had captured her in the first place, who had decided that it was best if she was kept away from the world, their precious plants and animals and humans. It would be harder to take revenge on them. They were of her own kind, after all.

  But she had a few ideas. She had had plenty of time to plan that as well.

  Marilla shook her head. She pulled a strand of black hair away from her face and looked Ella in the eye. Ella did her best to keep her back straight and not look away.

  "What were you thinking, girl?" Marilla said, and so it started. She didn't raise her voice, but she made it very clear that Ella had been a stupid, stupid girl.

  She went on for quite a while. Ella nodded every now and then, looked regretful, even lowered her glance. Finally Marilla stopped and asked the girl what she had to say to her defense.

  "Nothing, really," Ella admitted. "But I think I can explain."

  "Well, explain, then." Marilla crossed her arms.

  "I was in the office building," Ella said. "I was cleaning the fifth floor, where the top management has their offices. So I was in the VP's office, about to vacuum the floor ..."

  "You don't need to bore me with all the details." Marilla waved her hand. "The VP, you mean that woman? Lorentz?"

  "Yeah, that's her. Anyway, she usually has this large framed photo on the wall, but someone had taken it down and leaned it against the wall instead, and I noticed there was a safe behind it."

  "Sweet demons, humans are so predictable, aren't they?" Marilla rolled her eyes.

  "I know!" Ella exclaimed, feeling more confident thinking she was getting Marilla on her side. "And the safe was open. So I went over there to look. I mean, who wouldn't? I wasn't planning on taking anything. But then I heard this voice. It was such a strange voice, it didn't sound like a human or a goblin, and it sort of whispered inside my head and told me that if I took it out of its prison it would grant me a wish."

  She looked at Marilla and realized that she had lost.

  "Okay, that was about the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Marilla said. "Next you're telling me that the voice came from the watch and that the watch ordered you to take it, right? Seriously, girl, I'm not that daft. Now tell me: who paid you to get the watch?"

  "No one did!" Ella clenched her fists. "I swear, gran, I wasn't planning on taking it! And I have no idea why someone would leave the safe open! I just couldn't resist it, it asked me to help it!"

  "A watch asked you to help it?"

  Ella sighed.

  "I give up," she said. "Believe me or not, but that's what happened. No one paid me, no one helped me. And I know I did a stupid thing, but I'll set things straight, I promise. Please just don't let her get to me."

  "Christina Lorentz? Don't worry, she won't get her hands on my flesh and blood, even though you have proven more foolish than I would have imagined. Just give back the watch."

  "I can't."

  "You can't?"

  "No, I've ... I got rid of it."

  "Oh? And how do you plan on settings things straight if you don't have the watch anymore?"

  "I have help."

  Marilla sighed.

  "Let me guess – that human? Marcus Jensen? Did you know he's Lorentz' employee?"

  "I know. I asked him to give it back. He's not in trouble, is he?"

  "He shouldn't be since she knows you're the one who stole it. She might wonder how it ended up in his possession, though. She might even threaten to frame him if he doesn't help her find you. Am I scaring you, child? I'm just pointing out possibilities. Besides, does he know that Christina Lorentz knows you took it? Maybe he's not in trouble, but he might think he is – and then Mrs. Lorentz might never get her watch back."

  "You think so? Yeah, I suppose." Ella chewed her lip, staring at her feet.

  "Maybe we should make him an offer," Marilla said. She rose. "Come, Ella. Let's go see him."

  Marcus was visibly nervous. Ella watched him with interest as he rubbed his hands, offered Marilla coffee (which she declined) and then a beer (which she accepted). Marilla sat at the kitchen table, beer bottle in hand while Ella checked the cupboard and helped herself to some cookies before sitting down as well. Marcus didn't protest. He stood by the kitchen sink, arms wrapped around himself, watching Marilla like a bird in a cage might watch a cat, wondering how long it would take before the cat figured out how to open the cage.

  "So," Marilla said after swallowing a mouthful of beer, "I have good reason to believe you have a certain watch in your possession. And I also have good reason to believe you want to get rid of it. Am I right?"

  Marcus sighed.

  "I never intended to be involved in this," he said.

  "I know, I know, dear." Marilla seemed
to have decided to go for the "understanding-old-granny" approach, Ella noticed. "I can help you with that, see. If you just hand over the watch to me, I'll make sure it gets back to its rightful owner. No questions asked, no accusations – no police."

  Marcus's eyes narrowed slightly.

  "Can I trust you?" he said. "No offense, but ..."

  "But everyone knows you can't trust a goblin, eh?" Marilla laughed.

  "No, no, I mean, I just – don't know you."

  "Well, Ella didn't know you either, still she trusted you to help her." Marilla's voice grew serious.

  "That's true," Marcus admitted. He was silent for a few moments, looking down while thinking. Then he told them to wait and left the room. When he came back, he put the Patek Philippe wrist-watch on the table in front of Marilla. She whistled.

  "Well, well, look at this little baby!" She began to examine it closely. "Now, I'm no expert, but I have some knowledge, and it certainly looks like the real thing to me. Not that it matters to me. As long as the owner thinks it real and is willing to pay me the agreed fee to get it back, I'm happy."

  She emptied the last of the beer and rose from the chair.

  "Gran? Can I see?" Ella said.

  Marilla handed her the watch. The moment Ella felt it in her hand, she knew something was wrong. Something was missing.

  She looked at Marcus, but he wouldn't look back.

  This time, Christina Lorentz had chosen an outfit straight out of a Harris Tweed ad, complete with rubber boots. She wouldn't risk ruin another pair of Jimmy Choos. She was greeted by a young goblin in leather jacket, who showed her to Marilla. The goblin woman was sitting in her armchair, smoking her pipe and petting her mutant rat. The young goblin placed himself by the door, arms crossed. Two other male goblins were in the room as well, both grim-looking, both carrying guns.