by Emrys Apollo
Moses was about to say something more but shuffled away from Neal instead.
The bassist sighed and shook his head. “I wish I knew what the hell was going on. It's all just clicking to me.”
***
He watched them all slide outside of the secure area, alarms blaring at full volume with a computerized voice telling them to evacuate.
Creatures of all sizes slithered out of the doors, completely unaware of him pressed up against a nearby wall.
Once they were out of sight, he slithered close to the door and pushed the emergency override button next to it. The doors swished open and he slithered inside.
Guards advanced on his position and tried to gain entrance. He smashed his limb on the panel, closing the door off again. They hammered on the thick glass of the experiment room in vain.
He jammed a piece of metal into the control panel, shorting out the delicate keypad. It would buy him some time and he prayed that he still had some left.
His body swiveled around and looked down at the massive room. Rows of bodies lined the walls, all hooked up to sedation machines to keep them docile.
He took a deep breath and climbed down the stairs in search of Daryl.
***
Neal stopped again, this time allowing Moses enough time to avoid him. “Wait, we're close. I think this is where Daryl is. We just passed Section R.”
Moses nodded and slumped against a nearby wall, his tired body unused to the constant running for the past thirty minutes.
The bassist snorted at him. “You can't be that out of shape, Moses. You and Daryl are constantly having sex all of the time.”
Moses rolled his eyes and flipped Neal off. “Sex isn't the same as running through an alien ship.”
Neal arched an eyebrow at him. “Oh yes? How many alien ships have you ran through lately?”
“That's not funny, Neal! You know what I mean.”
Neal sighed. “Look, just relax alright? We'll find him.”
Anger sighed out of Moses' body. “I'm trying. What if we find him too late? What if Daryl is....”
“No! He isn't gone. Just...just trust me. He's in there, and so is Callum. I can feel it.”
“But how?”
Neal shook his head. “I don't know, I just do.”
***
He ran through the aisles, head whipping to the side to look for ones that he recognized. Random humans were all he saw. Women, men, children, they were all there. Experimented on, brainwashed, kept to create clones with.
A cry of frustration filled the cavernous room. He would have broke down crying if his body had allowed it.
Bangs on the upper doors echoed off the walls and his heart jumped to his throat. He had to find Daryl, and find him quick, before he ended up like them.
He forced a large breath into his lungs and raced through another row of bodies. He was about to give up and move to the next when he glanced at the laboratory room to the side, and almost shouted. He ran in, slippery legs skidding to a halt in front of a body. His limb reached out of touch the blond man laying in the bed.
Leroy.
Digits tapped on the panel to begin the revival process. It could still be done, but he didn't know how long Leroy had been down here or when he would awake. He hoped it was before the doors were opened.
He slid up to the next bed and gasped. There on platform was Daryl. The violinist moaned in his sleep, images from the program fed directly into his mind.
His mouth dropped open in shock, finally faced with the real one. He forced his limbs to behave and tapped on the display to halt the program. Daryl's body slumped back, breath returning to a normal sleeping pattern.
He tapped out the revival program and prayed Daryl would wake up fast. The fact that he'd been out for so long might have been permanent on his body. He hoped that wasn't the case, considering what he'd risked to get to him.
A moan came from the other bed and he slithered over to Leroy again. He watched intently as Leroy shuffled around in the bed and stretched.
He clicked out a response before realizing that Leroy wouldn't understand what he was saying. Digits reached inside of his body and pulled out the transformer. He tapped it and was quickly transformed into Daryl again.
Leroy licked his dry lips and opened his eyes. He took one look at Daryl and frowned. “Where...Daryl? Where am I?”
He shook his head. “Don't try to talk. I have to get you out of here.”
The cellist tried to sit up, only to fall back into bed again. “I'm so weak...I can't move.”
“I know, it will pass. It's the drugs still in your system. Stay here, I need to check on Daryl.”
“Drugs?” Leroy frowned. “Wait, Daryl? But you're Daryl...”
Silence.
“Daryl?”
The doors upstairs smashed open with a loud blast.
***
Neal and Moses crashed to the ground, the force of the blast knocking them down.
Two creatures clicked at each other and disappeared within the room.
Moses pushed Neal's body off the top of him and groaned. “I think I would make a lousy action star.”
Neal chuckled and winced at the pain shooting along his ribs. “Yes me too.”
The bassist reached for the wall to steady himself to a standing position. “I wonder why they had to blast the wall down?”
“Damn if I know.”
Neal got to his feet and walked toward Section S, eyes searching around for other beings. Moses followed a small ways behind him, eyes trained on the back walls to prevent an attack from behind.
They both peered inside the room. Dust filtered through the air, settling on white objects below.
The bassist's eyes went wide. “Wait. Moses, this is where they're keeping Daryl. We need to get down there!”
Moses swore and tried to grab for Neal's arm to stop his movement, but missed it by inches.
***
He ducked behind the bed when the explosion rocked the large room. Leroy called his name, fear tinting the edges of each plea.
“Daryl? Where are you? Are you hurt? Speak to me!”
The violinist moaned in his bed, shifting around in the tight bounds on his wrists and ankles.
He swore and realized he forgot to remove them. Digits reached up to tap on the panel right before two creatures made their way down the steps.
Daryl's hands reached for his face, fingers rubbing at his eyes. He groaned and willed his body to respond.
A voice whispered out of the darkness. “Don't push yourself, it's going to take time for the drugs to wear off.”
Daryl frowned and shook his head. “That's my voice. Am I dead?”
“No. Just be quiet please. They will find us if you don't.”
The violinist was about to open his mouth again but decided to do as the voice said.
***
Neal raced into the room and down a fleet of stairs before Moses caught up to him.
“Wait! There are others in here.”
The bassist's eyes were wild with fright. “I can't. I have to find him, Moses. I need to know if he's still alive.”
Moses sighed and realized that Neal wasn't talking about Daryl anymore. He wrapped his arms around Neal's form. Shivers racked the skinnier man.
“I can't bear...I can't deal with....I don't want to be without....”
“Shhh, don't talk. We don't want to alert them.”
Neal nodded and shuddered in Moses' thick arms. “Sorry.”
Moses chuckled. “It's alright. And I understand how you feel. I want to find Daryl as much as you need to find Callum.”
“Daryl? Where are you?”
Neal looked up from Moses' arms. “Is that Leroy?”
Moses' heart pounded hard in his chest. “Daryl is here...he's still alive...”
The bassist turned back to Moses and shook him. “Calm down.”
Moses nodded and licked his dry lips. “Sorry. I can feel him.”
Ne
al grinned. “So can I.”
***
The two creatures patrolled the area, eyes scanning the laboratory for anything unusual. They stopped short in front of Leroy's bed and eyed the cellist.
Leroy's eyes went wide. “What? Who are you?”
One of the creatures turned to the other and clicked out a response. The second creature slithered closer to the bed, digits reaching out to reactivate the machine again.
Leroy backed away from the first creature. “No, leave me alone. I'm not going back to that again! Please...”
The creature clicked out something and wrapped his digits around Leroy's wrists.
“No! Please, don't do this. I don't want to go back...I don't want to see Daryl dead again.”
The other creature tapped in the final parts of the program and readied the needles to be reinserted into Leroy's arms.
Tears trailed down Leroy's face. “Please...please no. I won't do anything...I won't tell anyone about this place.”
The first creature froze in place and then toppled to the ground.
Leroy stared down at him on the floor. “What?”
The second creature toppled to the ground next to him.
“What the hell is going on?”
Neal snorted. “Just saving your ass again.”
Leroy's eyes went wide. “Neal?”
***
Moses pulled off the tubes surrounding Leroy's body and switched off the machines. “We're so glad you're alright.”
Leroy looked between Neal and Moses and frowned. “What is going on? Where are we?”
Neal sighed. “An alien space ship. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. Everyone in Staccato has been switched out for clones except Moses and I.”
“Clones? How? When?”
“I don't know, Leroy. I know Daryl hasn't been the real one for a while now.”
Leroy stared at the bassist. “Daryl? I just saw him a few minutes ago. He was here beside my bed.”
Moses' eyes widened. “He was? Where did he go? I need to see him.”
The cellist shrugged. “I don't know. One minute he was by my bed and the next he was gone.”
“Here I am. But there's something I need to tell you first.”
Moses called out Daryl's name and ran towards him, only to stop up short. “Wait, you're not Daryl.”
The man sighed. “No, I'm not. I was for a little bit. I'm sorry about your nose.”
Neal's jaw dropped. “You're the first one, the one from that night.”
He nodded. “Yes, that's me. I wanted to stay like that but the elders had me replaced.”
Moses swallowed the lump in his throat. “Is Daryl here? The real one?”
He smiled at the bassist. “Yes, he is. He's just....”
“Neal?”
The bassist looked out into the room. “Daryl?”
Neal walked away from Leroy's bed and followed the sound of Daryl's voice to the other side of the room. He gasped to find a very pale looking Daryl laying in bed. Wires and tubes were attached to his arms and legs.
“Daryl? Are you alright?”
The violinist smiled weakly. “I don't know. Are you real?”
Neal chuckled. “As real as I can get. And I hope you're the real one too.”
“I think I am. Though I don't know where I am or how I got here. So many things appeared in my mind that I can't make any sense out of it.”
Neal shuffled over to the bed and sat down on the edge.
Daryl grimaced and pushed himself up to lean against the bassist's shoulder. He sighed and closed his eyes, wiggling into Neal's outstretched arms.
Moses bit his lip. “Glad you're alright.”
Daryl shivered in Neal's arms. “Yes I am,” he said quietly, not meeting his eyes.
Neal looked down at Daryl. “What's the matter? It's just Moses.”
The violinist burrowed further into Neal's arm when Moses stepped closer to the bed. “Yes, I know. I just can't deal with him now.”
Moses frowned and nodded. “I see. I’ll just go check on Leroy then.”
Neal sighed. “What happened?”
Daryl echoed Neal's sigh, tears running down his face. “More like what didn't happen.”
***
Moses frowned and sat beside Leroy's bed with his legs pulled to his chest.
Leroy sat up in bed and watched him. “What's wrong with you?”
“Nothing, just nothing.”
Leroy snorted. “Right, and you're usually this way when Daryl's nearby. Out with it.”
Moses pushed back the tears gathering in his eyes. “He's scared of me. They did something to him while he was out. He doesn't want me anymore.”
The cellist sighed and climbed off the bed to sit beside Moses. “Let him be for a little bit. If it was anything like I was seeing, it's going to take him a while.”
Moses nodded. “What did you see?”
Leroy shivered and hugged his legs. “I watched Daryl get killed over and over again. Every time was different, and that much more real to me. I swear I could smell the blood on the ground, feel the blade slicing his head off. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Moses, it was horrible.”
“That sounds horrible. Do you...do you think I was doing stuff to him in his dreams? Is that why he's afraid of me now?”
Leroy shrugged. “That could be. I don't know, you'll have to ask him. Or Neal.”
Moses sighed and laid his chin on the top of his knees. “Yes.”
***
Daryl sighed, Neal's long fingers rubbing the top of his head. “We're screwed, Neal.”
Neal snorted. “So we have a minor setback, it happens. And you will recover at some point. It will just take time.”
Daryl frowned, his fingers twisting in his lap. “What if I'm never able to be with Moses?”
“You will, just give it time. The most important thing is realizing it wasn't real, no matter how real it might have felt.”
The violinist nodded. “I know. It was just horrible, Neal. He was forcing me over and over again. Right before I was woken up, I was about to break. I couldn't take it anymore. I just wanted it to be over.”
Neal held Daryl's shivering body closer to him. “But you didn't. You kept going, even with that happening. Daryl, you're way braver than any of us.”
“Maybe. It’s still playing out in my head. What the hell do they want me for?”
A figure walked closer to the bed. “They wanted to use you as an instrument to cull the masses so we could take over your planet.”
Daryl's mouth hung open. “You look like me. But how can this be possible?”
“I was developed for this task, to substitute you as they changed you. But I failed. Our race has no emotions, but posing as a human we had to pretend. And eventually have them. It overwhelmed me and I acted out in anger. Moses....he scared me.”
Neal chuckled. “Moses is harmless, unless it comes to Daryl. He would destroy anyone that came between the one he loves. Once he figured out you weren't Daryl, he pushed back. Earning him not one but two broken noses.”
Daryl stared up at Neal. “Two broken noses? I assume that man did one of them, but who did the other?”
Neal sighed. “I did the other. I saw him punch you and...well, I got angry.”
Leroy snorted from his bed. “Angry isn't the word for it, Neal. You almost killed him.”
Moses touched his nose on reflex. “I got two black eyes because of it.”
Daryl looked up at Moses and grimaced. “Neal, try not to kill our orchestra.”
Neal scoffed. “Yes well, how was I supposed to know that he was your clone? I saw Moses hitting you, and no one hits you and gets away with it.”
The violinist frowned and looked around the room. “Wait, where is Callum?”
Neal's eyes widened. “Daryl, do you...”
Daryl smiled and wiggled out of Neal's grip. “Go on, go find him.”
Neal hesitated and then got up from the bed. He turned back to
fluff Daryl's hair. “Just give him a chance, alright?”
Daryl sighed and nodded. “I'll try.”
***
Neal raced through the rows of empty beds, eyes searching out for the Staccato Symphony flautist. Hands pushed away racks of liquids and empty gurneys.
“Callum! Where are you?”
The Daryl clone cocked his head to the side. “Neal, he's not here. I've already searched this whole section, and I didn't see him.”
Neal shook his head. “I refuse to believe that. He's here, I can feel him!”
Leroy grimaced as another cart smashed against a wall. “Neal, maybe he's right? After all, he did get here before we did.”
“No damn it! Callum is here, I know it!”
Neal shoved the carts to the side and raced around the room for a second time, refusing to believe it to be true. He stopped and leaned against a wall, breath coming out in gasps from his tired chest. Hands reached up to steady himself before collapsing to the ground.
Leroy raced over to his position to help him back up. “Just calm down, Neal. We'll find him, he's just in another room or something.”
Neal tried to push Leroy off, face crumpling up like a discarded soda can. “No, I need...I need...he has to be....”
The cellist pulled him into his arms. “Be quiet, just try to get your breath back.”
Neal's lip quivered, eyes scrunched up to stop the tears from forming. “I can't....I don't want...I need him...”
A shadow eclipsed over them. Neal and Leroy looked up and gasped.
***
Daryl moaned and tried to get out of bed when Neal collapsed to the ground.
Moses hurried over to stop him, hands holding up Daryl by the arms. “No, you're still too weak. Leroy will help him.”
Daryl shivered under his grasp and nodded. “Yes, I guess so.”
Moses let go of Daryl and mumbled “sorry” under his breath. He backed up from the bed to give Daryl some space.
The violinist sighed. “I know it wasn't real. Moses, I don't know what to do.”
Moses nodded. “I don't know either. I mean, whatever you've seen...I would never hurt you.”
“I know, but I keep getting this feeling that this isn't real either. That you will grab me and force...that it will happen again.”
Moses sighed and moved closer to Daryl again. The violinist's breath hitched, unsure of what he was going to do.
