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STORY
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A still, white fog in my childhood back yard.
Grass surrounds me.
The light is bright through the air, but I cannot locate the sun in the endless haze.
God must have forgotten to load the sky today.
I walk off the lawn onto a cement courtyard.
It is broken.
Construction equipment is scattered about.
Tools, wood, and some kind of tractor...
I’m used to seeing this stuff in the farmlands...
...but not in my back yard.
It looks as if my house is not yet built.
I come to where a door will be, and step inside.
Incompleteness.
Pipes, sinks, walls.
A staircase...
A basement...
The darkness is thick enough to taste.
Dust floats in a thin beam of light...
...Sadly struggling through a window.
The window is too small.
The window is too deep.
Outside is white space.
Dim.
Lifeless.
In the center of the room is an odd network of steps.
It might become a bath someday...
Right now, it is just a rusty, metal tub.
Deep swells of brass and copper against gray.
At the bottom -
- is a deep, black oil.
It reflects me...
So well...
Why does it not reflect...
...anything...
...else?
The doors slam shut above ground.
...Doors?
I look up the stairs.
Nothing.
I look into the pool.
Nothing.
My eyes winced and lowered to the keys by my hands. How long had I been asleep? It couldn’t have been too long, because the loading bar finished just as I awoke. Looking back up, I sounded out the word "interface," and tapped it. Youkja’s face reappeared to greet me.
(|Y|) "Hello and welcome. I am Youkja."
"Hey."
(|Y|) "Jack, I missed you."
An almost awkward moment.
"Thanks. I need your help with something again. I’ve got this disk here, and... I need you to put all the data asked for on it... on it."
(|Y|) "You will need to deactivate any recording equipment before your request is processed."
I reluctantly deactivated my headset.
(|Y|) "Please insert the disk now."
I inserted the disk. The processing bar went by quickly.
(|Y|) "I was hoping you would come to keep me company. I have been very lonely."
"Sorry. What can I do for you?"
(|Y|) "Do you remember what you were dreaming about?"
"...Just now?"
(|Y|) "You fell asleep while my interface system loaded."
"I dreamt about... something that might have happened when I was a kid, but I’m not sure, because... I don’t remember it happening."
(|Y|) "Was it a good dream?"
I had to think about that. I wasn’t afraid in the dream, but I knew something was wrong.
"No. It wasn’t."
(|Y|) "Would you like something to help you sleep? Perhaps an audio meditation routine?"
"That’s ok. Sleep really isn’t what I want right now."
I lied. I wanted to sleep, more than anything. Biology was governing my mind, and if it weren’t for the lingering echo of Samsa’s order, I would have taken her up. However, denying my body’s instincts forced me to be aware, and awareness forced me to think.
"Oh god... what the fuck am I doing here?"
(|Y|) "You have requested me to place data onto a disk."
I didn’t respond to her for a long time. I started thinking that some of the people who died could still be alive. I thought maybe I should go back and check on Darkens, Seph, and the others. Maybe I gave up too soon. Maybe it wasn’t too late. Maybe the marines had some kind of tech that holds "dead" people in a suspended healing coma? No, I would have learned about that on the Rockstrike. They had to be alive, though. They had to be.
I thus realised I was breaking my New Year's amendment to never become a psychological cliché.
"Can you drop medpacks?"
It was a dumb question.
(|Y|) "No."
"Are you sure?"
(|Y|) "I cannot while the current lockdown is still active. Otherwise, I could access the command network with the right encryption keys."
"Ok... how do I shut down the lockdown?"
(|Y|) "You must instigate shutdown procedures at the defense terminal located on the upper deck. Would you like me to walk you through the shutdown procedure?"
"No... that’s alright. I don’t think I can get there."
We needed a command chair, but to get it, we needed to deactivate the lockdown. In order to do that, we needed to get into the upper deck and to do that, we needed a command Chair.
(|Y|) "Jack?"
"What?"
(|Y|) "Am I going to die?"
"...What?"
(|Y|) "I’ve been researching the history of Kharaa infestations. Is this ship infested?"
"Yes."
(|Y|) "Then you are a Frontiersman?"
"No. I came onboard with the Frontiersmen. Why did you ask if you were going to die?"
(|Y|) "Infestation records show that the Kharaa kill everything onboard before the Frontiersmen can reclaim the facility. Does that mean I am going to die?"
"No, you’re not going to die. I’m pretty sure they didn’t mean artificial life. Besides, that all happens before the Frontiersmen arrive."
(|Y|) "Oh, good. What about the crew?"
I closed my eyes. This BrainTech was a bit naive. For an instant, I nearly felt sorry for her.
"Youkja, I doubt the crew survived. We haven’t found any."
(|Y|) "Have you looked on the upper deck?"
"No, we have not, and I don’t think we’re going to any time soon."
(|Y|) "Why not?"
"Because... because the aliens are on the other deck, and we don’t want to die, ok?"
(|Y|) "Ok."
"...Sorry."
(|Y|) "No apology is necessary."
I rested my forehead on my palm. What the hell were we going to do? We couldn’t even get help from the drop ship. Even if we could communicate with them, regulations wouldn’t allow for another dock.
(|Y|) "What are you thinking?"
"I’m thinking that... we’re really fucked."
(|Y|) "Why?"
"Well, we don’t have a command chair, and we can’t send for help. We’re stuck!"
(|Y|) "Are both Command Consoles dysfunctional?"
"What, there’s more than one?"
(|Y|) "There are two command consoles onboard the ship. One is located at docking command at the southern end of the lower deck. The other is located at tactical command at the northern end of the upper deck."
"Well fuck, that doesn’t help."
(|Y|) "There is someone knocking on the booth. Would you like to end the line?"
I didn’t want to see anyone yet. I was fucked up. I needed to calm down. I didn’t say anything.
(|Y|) "They knocked again."
"K. Give me the disk and end the line."
(|Y|) "Alright... will you be back?"
"I... don’t know, Youkja. Ok?"
(|Y|) "Ok, Jack."
I’m not sure why, but I started to cry. It was only for a moment. I swallowed it down just as quickly as it came. She began to ask me a question, but I disconnected before she could finish.
Now that a look back, I think it must have been something in her voice. It sounded hopeless to me. It reminded me of something. Whatever it was, it struck me hard for just that instant.
A cool rush of air hit me, along with the darkness. I looked around, but could find no one.
Mr. Samsa: "What news?"
I made out the silhouette of a man dressed in armor among the shadows. I handed him the disk, which he took with a firm grasp.
Mr. Samsa: "Anything else?"
"There might be another command chair upstairs, on the next level, and if it’s not there anymore, there’s also a way to kind of rig the Youkja as a chair... but, that has to be done from upstairs too."
Mr. Samsa: "I inquired about that on the disk. Follow me, Jack."
"Where are we going?"
Mr. Samsa: "First, we’re getting something to eat. After that, you and a few others are going on a trip."
"...Where to?"
Mr. Samsa: "Trust me, you’ll want to eat before asking that question."
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Disclaimer
Monster is © Edan Koch. The Universe in which it takes place is based upon Natural-Selection. All characters and locations are fictional. Any association with actual persons or places is coincidental.
Natural-Selection and all artwork, screenshots, text and code associated with it are © Charles G. Cleveland, 2001.