Monster of the Dark

by KT Belt

  She shook her head and tried not to think about it. First, she’d return the dress. Then she’d worry about the very real possibility of ending up homeless and alone under a bridge somewhere. Carmen found what she was looking for without too much trouble and left immediately. After all, someone else may want to use the map, and obviously it was unreadable if a Clairvoyant was there.

  Her destination was not down but up, to one of the shops on the upper floors. It was tempting, for a second or two, to just fly where she needed to go, but she decided against it. Kali never said anything about that, but Carmen learned that it’s often better to not attract undue attention to herself. So, like every other normal person, she took the stairs.

  At least the trip was a feast for the eyes. Most paths through the mall were designed to be serpentine, to get lost in, and the stairs were not a straight shot from floor to floor. The route wound and curved back on itself to give a quite impressive vantage point of the shops and Haven City itself. She looked over the side as she went and was able to see deep into the underground levels of the mall. At the bottom was a reflecting pool that gave her the impression of a kaleidoscope. Carmen was quite tempted to just stand and watch, much like she often did at the bluff, but she didn’t want to get in the way.

  Up and up she went. Advertisements were strategically placed to grab the eye, but so were holoprojectors, which won the battle for her attention. They were showing the news. She assumed she was deliberately shielded from everything that went on outside the small bubble that was her existence. Kali never mentioned anything outside of the facility—or even inside the facility if it didn’t directly affect her. Carmen guessed that what happened in the whole wide galaxy didn’t really matter for her day-to-day, but something new was something new.

  “Today we are pleased to present you with the great experiment,” the newscaster began. “Here with me are the Wiz Kids, as many are now calling them.”

  Seated in front of the newscaster was about half a dozen young men and women who looked not that much older than she was. Two of them were seated prominently side by side. All wore the black and silver of the Space Force Fleet Command uniform. They were in a studio with several other people seated all around them.

  “Can you please give your name and rank for the audience?”

  “I am Lieutenant Garvin Brook, and I’m very pleased to be here. Thank you for having us,” one of the two seated most prominently responded.

  He smiled for the camera and waved to the crowd, who gave applause. His manner was crisp and disciplined but warm. Carmen didn’t know much about the military and didn’t care to learn more; if she had a picture in her mind, however, of a young Space Force officer, she was looking at it. The newscaster returned the smile genuinely, and Carmen couldn’t help a small smile herself. Lt. Brook made her forget about Michael, if only for a second or two.

  “And you?” the newscaster said, gesturing to the other officer seated next to Lt. Brook.

  It was a woman with light brown skin. She was somewhat pretty—not a knockout who could turn heads, but pretty. Her hair, trimmed to just above her shoulders, cradled her cheeks. It wasn’t tied into a boring bun like her peers wore it. She looked slowly around the room with a wry smirk, commanding it as surely as any Clairvoyant. She was almost toying with them with her delayed response.

  “I am Lieutenant Renee Brown. Don’t take my colleague too seriously,” she said, gesturing to Lt. Brook. “We’re not all robots.”

  The newscaster spat out a laugh he couldn’t help but reined it in quickly. “No, no, obviously not,” he said. “And you?”

  As Carmen walked past yet another floor, she ignored the responses of the remaining officers and focused on Lt. Brook and Lt. Brown. It was obvious why they were seated prominently; they were utterly fascinating to watch.

  After her jibe, Renee looked at Garvin out the corner of her eye, on her face a smirk she failed miserably to hide, seemingly on purpose. It was like she had playfully kicked him in the shin and was daring him to kick her back. But he didn’t. Instead, he muttered something that obviously made her laugh, despite her modestly trying to hide it with a hand. She then said something that made him smile before both turned their attention back to the newscaster.

  “And, if I may ask, how old are all of you?”

  “Twenty-two,” Renee responded instantly.

  “Twenty-two,” Garvin said.

  None of the officers gave a response older than twenty-four, though Carmen wondered why that even mattered. They were obviously young.

  “So, most of you are twenty-two,” the newscaster said. “A twenty-two-year-old Lieutenant is already unusual, though it has occasionally happened in Space Force. But please tell the audience what rank you will have when the Wiz Kid Program ends in four years, assuming it is successful.”

  “O-6, Captain,” Garvin said.

  Renee gave him a quick glance. “Captain,” she said, though with far less confidence.

  “Commander,” the next one said.

  The rest gave their answers, which all sounded similarly impressive, though Carmen failed to understand the significance.

  “That sounds like a very big leap for all of you. So, what exactly is the Wiz Kid program? How is this possible?”

  “Well,” Garvin began, “it is, as you said, a great experiment. In my case, the average fleet captain has at least twenty years of experience. Or, to put it another way, they have been in the fleet the entire time I’ve been alive, bloodied of course in the Terran-Sorten War. Personal experience is, of course, invaluable, but the aim of the Wiz Kid program is to figure out and develop new ways and training methods to squeeze twenty years of experience into six.”

  “Amazing. How is that possible?” the newscaster asked, sounding just as astonished as Carmen was.

  “With a lot of sleepless nights,” one of the officers remarked.

  Everyone in the room laughed, none louder than the Wiz Kids, though each, in their own way, adopted a knowing pained expression beneath their grins.

  “It has to be remembered,” Renee smoothly picked up where Garvin left off, “that the United Terran Empire and Space Force are still very new. Earth and each Great Colony’s Self-Defense Forces keep their own local security, but Space Force is responsible for policing the vast uncontrolled territory between the Great Colonies, as well as the smaller colonies that have no local defense. It is also the first line against xenomorphic threats, like the sortens. We are all very thankful for the service of the veterans of the Terran-Sorten War, but there are only so many of them, and only so many continue to serve. It’s not just down to building the ships to take on this burden; they need crews as well. The Wiz Kid Program is an attempt to address the problem.”

  “So, you’re tell me that, on the eve of your twenty-sixth birthday, you could be commanding from the bridge of a starship?”

  “If we don’t screw up,” Renee muttered under her breath, which brought a few smiles from the audience. “But if all goes according to plan…yes, essentially.”

  The newscaster nodded, and Garvin began speaking.

  “There is, for now, only one slot available as the commanding officer of a starship. There are other slots as senior positions of military spaceports and as executive officers aboard starships,” he added.

  “So, who is getting the slot as captain of a starship?”

  Upon that question, Garvin and Renee looked at each other. Their gazes were friendly, respectful, and even had hints of admiration, but they were also challenging. Neither yielded to the other, and it seemed like it was but a small skirmish in an ongoing war. When they mutually broke eye contact by some unseen and unheard signal, both looked at the newscaster.

  “Whoever is the best,” Renee answered simply.

  Carmen watched them, utterly transfixed. They fly around in starships, and I get stuck in a hole for twelve years, she thought, wondering if she could trade.

  She had long since reached her floor and stood b
y, waiting for audience questions. She had a few of her own and silently hoped someone else would think to ask them. But then she noticed that, while she watched, all traffic had stopped on the stairs. A queue was even forming at the bottom as people waited for her to leave.

  Kali would want her to be polite and go on her way, freeing the path for everyone else. Carmen, however, found it hard to see how she was being impolite to anyone. She wasn’t in the way; she was just there. A couple of young toddlers unaware of the apparent danger walked right by her, their parents hesitant to retrieve them. The scene made her let out an exasperated sigh and start walking. She was half-curious whether people would actually be surprised if she up and started murdering people for no reason. A test for a different day, she thought, smiling darkly. She put the idea fully to rest as she entered her store.

  “Hello, may I….” the receptionist said before her voice trailed off.

  Carmen tried to think nothing of it but couldn’t help clenching her jaw. She could mostly ignore the thoughts or feelings of those around her now, but still, even without telepathy, she was well aware of what most people were thinking.

  “Returns, please?” she asked.

  The receptionist pointed to a large sign that said “customer service” in the back of the store. Carmen thanked her and headed toward it. She gave the other dresses and suits on display quick glances, but she was no student of fashion. The only thing she could think of was what had possessed her to pick the monstrosity she was currently holding. She should have gone with a potato sack. But she’d be rid of it soon enough. She got in line behind two girls around her age who didn’t notice her whatsoever.

  “Ava, hurry up. Cody is waiting,” one of them said.

  “If the stupid guy behind the desk would hurry up, we’d already be done, Taylor.”

  When the stupid guy behind the desk looked at them and then at Carmen, it seemed like he’d prefer to deal with the Clairvoyant. There was a first time for everything. The girls continued their inane prattle about some trip they were planning to take to the countryside. Carmen didn’t really listen, but they did have her attention.

  All three of the girls wore short sleeves. Carmen’s arms were toned and athletic; theirs were skinny, flabby, and weak. Their hair, while not exactly pretty to her reckoning, was styled and colorful. It fell over their faces and was twisted in playful curls, while Carmen wore hers in a ponytail. Her clothes were the plain dull attire all assets wore. Their clothes were almost uncomfortably short in some places and plunged very low in others. Indeed, they constantly adjusted their outfits seemingly just to fit in them properly. Carmen didn’t understand it.

  “All done. Thank you for your patience,” the stupid guy behind the desk said.

  Both girls shot him a distasteful look but said nothing. They turned away without looking and almost walked right into Carmen.

  “Ahh! What the fu—” Taylor started, but she stopped short.

  They were about the same height, and Carmen looked her right in the eye. Taylor wilted under the stare. Ava wilted too, though the Clairvoyant didn’t even look at her.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Ava said under her breath, and the girls left the store at a fast walk, cackling at how close they came to almost getting killed.

  “May I help you?” the stupid guy behind the desk asked.

  Carmen watched the two girls over her shoulder. She pondered over and over again what made them so appealing while everyone ran from her in terror. One of the girls even had a boyfriend or something. Carmen had tried for years. She’d acted polite, unassuming, and even meek, but it never made any difference. There was only her night with Michael, an impossibly foolish dream of a night.

  “Yes, sorry,” she said, approaching the desk. “I just have to return this.”

  “Is there any damage or stains?” he asked as he took the dress from her.

  “I didn’t kill anyone in it,” she replied dryly. His eyes grew wide. “No, it’s fine,” she added, wishing she hadn’t made the quip.

  “Oh, all right,” he muttered. “Do you want me to send you a receipt?”

  “Yes, please,” she answered, though the receipt would be going to the facility, since she had no money.

  “Okay, all done. Anything else?”

  “No.”

  “All right, have a nice day.” Then he leaned a little closer to her, which made her look at him curiously. “But if you could kill those two, I don’t think anyone would mind.”

  Carmen smiled, failing horribly to conceal it. It was all that needed to be said, and she left after giving him a nod, which he returned. Maybe not an impossible dream after all, she thought as she walked out of the store.

  With her task complete, she considered what to do next and came up with nothing. So, she sat on a nearby banister and people-watched. Her attention was focused on the lower levels of the mall. She didn’t look at any particular person or thing; her gaze merely drifted as her thoughts turned to Michael. Then her eyes found Ava and Taylor.

  Presumably, Cody was one of the boys with them. The group was a level below her and in easy view. The boys loomed over the girls, playfully grabbing or caressing their shoulders, backs, and for the bolder, waists. Ava and Taylor made a mighty show of hating the attention, but mysteriously they never moved out of reach. Although they were around Carmen’s age, they seemed much older…but also much younger in other ways.

  She thought of last night. Michael touched her hand by mistake and got a painful shock from her bioelectric field. He made very sure not to get too close after that. She remembered being disappointed and feeling weird that she felt that way.

  “What are you looking at?” someone asked.

  Carmen turned, and it was Kali. She looked back at the group and motioned toward them with her head. “Those kids,” she answered.

  Kali stood next to her and watched as well. She gave an amused knowing smirk before she instantly became more serious.

  “After the deed, those boys will forget about them in a month…if that,” she remarked.

  Carmen looked at her handler for a moment. “Maybe,” she said. “Maybe not,” she added, thinking of Michael again.

  Kali stared at her with narrowing eyes, but Carmen just watched the young girls playfully toy with the boys. She wondered what it would be like to be them. To have people run toward her instead of away. To be able to have someone touch her without having to consciously make sure she didn’t injure them. To have someone love her, if even for just one night and even if they didn’t remember her a month after. She wondered all those things and more, but above all else, she wondered if such simple pleasures were completely out of her reach and whether she’d be a fool to try.

  “Tell me about last night.”

  Carmen looked at her handler with a start but said nothing. Kali’s eyes narrowed again.

  “Edge, tell me about last night,” she commanded. “Tell me what happened between you and Michael.”

  Carmen’s blood turned to ice when she heard her say his name.

  “You told me you couldn’t read me.”

  “I can’t, and I didn’t,” Kali replied. “A suppression team observed the two of you together.”

  “I didn’t sense them,” Carmen pointed out, but she also noted that she never sensed suppression teams, even when they were standing right in front of her.

  “They wouldn’t be very good at their job if you could sense them. Now, tell me what happened,” Kali said firmly. “I gave you last night and all morning. You’re starting to disappoint me.”

  Carmen swallowed hard and finally noticed she was trembling. She wished Kali wouldn’t make her go through this. She obviously knew everything already.

  “Nothing happened. He was just a boy from the party that followed me to the bluff. We just talked,” she said quickly.

  “Why didn’t you tell me this when I first asked?”

  “I, um…” Carmen stammered.

  Kali took a deep breath and l
ooked at the sky while rolling her eyes. At the moment, at least, she seemed to have more patience for gum stuck to her shoe.

  “To answer your earlier question, Edge, I don’t know when the next party will be, but unfortunately I had to order that poor boy’s parents to be removed from the facility. They no longer work there, and you will not see him again.”

  Carmen’s mouth fell open. “We didn’t do anything!”

  “No, you didn’t,” Kali agreed. “Yet your mind is obviously stuck in the clouds you’ve been watching all day. Now I find you here, watching a pair of idiot girls laughing and flirting like whores with idiot boys.” She took another deep breath. “Tell me why.”

  Carmen grinded her teeth. She really didn’t want to say, but a small spark lit a flame inside her that had plenty of fuel.

  “Because I wake up when you tell me to. I eat what you tell me to. I go and do what you tell me to,” she said in a rush. “You always watch everything I do all the time. Then it’s ‘Try harder. Don’t do it that way. Be more polite,’” she said, trying to imitate her handler’s tone. “I just wanted something you couldn’t touch—something that was mine,” she said softly, knowing that wish was now dead and could never be fulfilled.

  Kali’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t appear to be angry. “Edge, I’m your handler. Your wellbeing is my chief concern and always has been. Do you know what the difference is between this Michael and the boys down there?” she asked, motioning to them.

  “No.”

  “Nothing,” Kali said simply. “And you can’t do what I need you to do—what you need to do for yourself—if you’re worrying about him. Do you understand?”