Leafgirl
Meteorite
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2017
I sat with my crew in the club. Ed was taking Grove's announcement pretty hard. "Come on, Bai! Talk the fool out of his damn thoughts. There ain't nothing outside the cities. Nothing worth saving. Etherium Corp owns it all, for fuck's sake." Ed thrust his legs up angrily on the table, looking at me. He nearly tossed a bottle of JackD's finest at Grove's head, but decided to take a swig of the drink instead. "Fucking hell, eh, you wanna go that's fine by me, just don't expect to last for long, you bloody idjit." Ed spat, but cast me another pleading glance.
I laugh. "Hah! Don't look at me, Ed, old chum. This is a golden opportunity. Now I won't have those security goons giving me dirty looks. Always asking me about hanging out with you boobs on my weekends. Not gonna fuck my security clearance for you either, Grove, and give me that flask." I lean over and pull Ed's beer from his lips, exchanging it with a sloppy kiss on his bad breath mouth. "Hey! No fair, Miss. Lee! Did you earn that alcohol?" he says, drawing out the syllables on the word 'earn' playfully, as I scramble to squirm away from him, giggling as we tussle in the booth. But someone interrupts.
It was a new kid. I think Rouney brought him this time, probably had to lie about his age to get in here. Short little pipsqueak, full of bright eyes and undashed hopes, that opens his mouth and askes, "Wait, no way. You've got security clearance? You work for Etherium? Woah, that means--!"
But I put my finger to the kid's lips to shut him up. "Uh uh. No way, kiddo. Name's Bai Lee, Etherium scientist extraordinare. The hours suck, and the company sucks more, but the benefits and pay are worth it. I'm not giving that up for none of you bozos." The boy looks up at me with a sort of awe as I climb on top of his lap. I can feel his boner through his jeans as his mind reels at this gorgeous girl on top of him. Maybe if he was a little older, I'd be in to him, but right now, I'm just enjoying having the power of his full attention. After a moment, I climb off and walk over to the dance floor. "Well, I'll see you fools later, always sitting about and fooling around in the booth. A girl's gotta dance, don't she?"
And I do dance. I dance, and I hope grove is watching me, because I don't have the strength to tell him that I'll miss him, and that I don't want him to go out to the rural districts, where the people live lives of filth and no hope, and even if it is for a good cause I don't want him to go, and I hate them for taking my Grove away from me.
The music pulses through me. With every beat, every bounce, every punch of the bassline, my mind swims. Dizzy, I lose myself within the flashing lights of the club. Here, I can forget about work. No enlaced polymers, no genomic transmutations or DNA swabs. I check all that at the door, toss back a few shots, and lose myself in the crowd of bodies. There is only rhythym, the heat of the masses writhing, grinding, breathing, together.
But I should have kept my mouth shut. Later, I swipe my identification card over the card reader and enter my apartment, only to see someone else inside. A girl, maybe a few years younger than me, eighteen or 19 years old, lies curled up on my sofa. Shutting the door behind me, I immediately let out a scream, and within seconds the girl gets up, bounds over to the other side of the room, and pins me against the wall. Desperation lies behind her eyes as she whispers, "Please! Please don't let anyone know I'm here! I'll be gone in the morning, I swear, just please, let me stay the night!"
I don't know why I let her. Maybe it was something in her eyes. But it doesn't matter. The next day, I'm already shaking my head when, over the intercom, comes my supervisor's voice. "Worker Bai Lee. You are requested in the security hall for debriefing. Five minutes." And with that, I let out a low, frustrated groan, knowing exactly what this is all about. I don't have much time, either, and so as I run out of my room and into the empty halls I have to juggle my thoughts.
The genetic sequencing the company has paid for is coming along nicely. The research and theory behind it is flawless, and will ensure a completely subservient chattel race in the provinces for generations to come. My mind flashes to Grove, and his mission trip, and suddenly there is a weakness in my stomach. I guess I sort of bite my lip. He's not going to be able to save those people... but how I wish I could save him. And finally, I think of what I'm going to say to Mr. Kendall about the girl. Ugh... I hate talking to him. He's always so creepy and awkward to be around, but hopefully it'll be just a quick security debriefing, right? The usual company corporate platitudes, strictures of protocol, blah blah blah...
All this goes through my mind as I approach the security wing. Mr. Kendall is waiting for me outside the debriefing room, a wry smile on his face. Something is wrong. He points in my direction, "That's her. Take her." and a security team is instantly around me. Boy. These guys always move fast. Highly trained soldiers of war. I actually helped work on their genetic Greenprints during my internship with the company.
"Wait, what?" I say, confused. That's all I remember, before blacking out. I'm now awake, but I'm not in the security wing. I'm on my back. There is a soft, squishy material underneath me. It's bright. And there's... something around... my neck? Slowly, I pull myself together and sit up. I'm in a room. The walls are padded and white. There's only me, a bed, a faucet... a toilet. And a camera on the wall. "Where am I?" I ask. The sound of my voice clashes strangely against the quietness of the room. It is extremely quiet in here. In a sort of half panic, I shout, "What's going on here?!" and stand up from the bed.
I stand still in a sort of nervous panic, my mind trying to piece together what happened. I was going to the security debriefing... no, there was a girl in my room... no! There was that kid that asked me the... question... what... what... what happened?! I whip my gaze around the room, searching for anything, any sort of detail... but the room is completely absent of features. Just white padded walls... white padded ceiling... white padded floor... white sink, white shitter... and a blue security camera in the corner, just above the door.
The door. "Hey!" I scream, throwing myself against the door, pounding on it with all my might. "Hey! What's going on here?! Help! Help!"
I need to escape. Only, no sooner than I think that very thought, does a thousand jolts of electricity suddenly flood through my body. I fall to the floor, writhing and jerking back and forth for what seems like an eternity, where I'm subjected to a white hot hell. Every inch of my body is pierced and torn and burned and raked by white hot hooks and daggers and spears and... then suddenly I'm back in the room. I'm hyperventilating. There's a bit of foam on the side of my mouth. No, I'm drooling.
"What..." I barely have the breath to rasp... my chest heaving heavily up and down in ragged gasps, "What... the... fuck!?"
I laugh. "Hah! Don't look at me, Ed, old chum. This is a golden opportunity. Now I won't have those security goons giving me dirty looks. Always asking me about hanging out with you boobs on my weekends. Not gonna fuck my security clearance for you either, Grove, and give me that flask." I lean over and pull Ed's beer from his lips, exchanging it with a sloppy kiss on his bad breath mouth. "Hey! No fair, Miss. Lee! Did you earn that alcohol?" he says, drawing out the syllables on the word 'earn' playfully, as I scramble to squirm away from him, giggling as we tussle in the booth. But someone interrupts.
It was a new kid. I think Rouney brought him this time, probably had to lie about his age to get in here. Short little pipsqueak, full of bright eyes and undashed hopes, that opens his mouth and askes, "Wait, no way. You've got security clearance? You work for Etherium? Woah, that means--!"
But I put my finger to the kid's lips to shut him up. "Uh uh. No way, kiddo. Name's Bai Lee, Etherium scientist extraordinare. The hours suck, and the company sucks more, but the benefits and pay are worth it. I'm not giving that up for none of you bozos." The boy looks up at me with a sort of awe as I climb on top of his lap. I can feel his boner through his jeans as his mind reels at this gorgeous girl on top of him. Maybe if he was a little older, I'd be in to him, but right now, I'm just enjoying having the power of his full attention. After a moment, I climb off and walk over to the dance floor. "Well, I'll see you fools later, always sitting about and fooling around in the booth. A girl's gotta dance, don't she?"
And I do dance. I dance, and I hope grove is watching me, because I don't have the strength to tell him that I'll miss him, and that I don't want him to go out to the rural districts, where the people live lives of filth and no hope, and even if it is for a good cause I don't want him to go, and I hate them for taking my Grove away from me.
The music pulses through me. With every beat, every bounce, every punch of the bassline, my mind swims. Dizzy, I lose myself within the flashing lights of the club. Here, I can forget about work. No enlaced polymers, no genomic transmutations or DNA swabs. I check all that at the door, toss back a few shots, and lose myself in the crowd of bodies. There is only rhythym, the heat of the masses writhing, grinding, breathing, together.
But I should have kept my mouth shut. Later, I swipe my identification card over the card reader and enter my apartment, only to see someone else inside. A girl, maybe a few years younger than me, eighteen or 19 years old, lies curled up on my sofa. Shutting the door behind me, I immediately let out a scream, and within seconds the girl gets up, bounds over to the other side of the room, and pins me against the wall. Desperation lies behind her eyes as she whispers, "Please! Please don't let anyone know I'm here! I'll be gone in the morning, I swear, just please, let me stay the night!"
I don't know why I let her. Maybe it was something in her eyes. But it doesn't matter. The next day, I'm already shaking my head when, over the intercom, comes my supervisor's voice. "Worker Bai Lee. You are requested in the security hall for debriefing. Five minutes." And with that, I let out a low, frustrated groan, knowing exactly what this is all about. I don't have much time, either, and so as I run out of my room and into the empty halls I have to juggle my thoughts.
The genetic sequencing the company has paid for is coming along nicely. The research and theory behind it is flawless, and will ensure a completely subservient chattel race in the provinces for generations to come. My mind flashes to Grove, and his mission trip, and suddenly there is a weakness in my stomach. I guess I sort of bite my lip. He's not going to be able to save those people... but how I wish I could save him. And finally, I think of what I'm going to say to Mr. Kendall about the girl. Ugh... I hate talking to him. He's always so creepy and awkward to be around, but hopefully it'll be just a quick security debriefing, right? The usual company corporate platitudes, strictures of protocol, blah blah blah...
All this goes through my mind as I approach the security wing. Mr. Kendall is waiting for me outside the debriefing room, a wry smile on his face. Something is wrong. He points in my direction, "That's her. Take her." and a security team is instantly around me. Boy. These guys always move fast. Highly trained soldiers of war. I actually helped work on their genetic Greenprints during my internship with the company.
"Wait, what?" I say, confused. That's all I remember, before blacking out. I'm now awake, but I'm not in the security wing. I'm on my back. There is a soft, squishy material underneath me. It's bright. And there's... something around... my neck? Slowly, I pull myself together and sit up. I'm in a room. The walls are padded and white. There's only me, a bed, a faucet... a toilet. And a camera on the wall. "Where am I?" I ask. The sound of my voice clashes strangely against the quietness of the room. It is extremely quiet in here. In a sort of half panic, I shout, "What's going on here?!" and stand up from the bed.
I stand still in a sort of nervous panic, my mind trying to piece together what happened. I was going to the security debriefing... no, there was a girl in my room... no! There was that kid that asked me the... question... what... what... what happened?! I whip my gaze around the room, searching for anything, any sort of detail... but the room is completely absent of features. Just white padded walls... white padded ceiling... white padded floor... white sink, white shitter... and a blue security camera in the corner, just above the door.
The door. "Hey!" I scream, throwing myself against the door, pounding on it with all my might. "Hey! What's going on here?! Help! Help!"
I need to escape. Only, no sooner than I think that very thought, does a thousand jolts of electricity suddenly flood through my body. I fall to the floor, writhing and jerking back and forth for what seems like an eternity, where I'm subjected to a white hot hell. Every inch of my body is pierced and torn and burned and raked by white hot hooks and daggers and spears and... then suddenly I'm back in the room. I'm hyperventilating. There's a bit of foam on the side of my mouth. No, I'm drooling.
"What..." I barely have the breath to rasp... my chest heaving heavily up and down in ragged gasps, "What... the... fuck!?"