Chapter Text
POV: BITSY MURPHY
My fingers quickly danced across the keyboard as I stood on top of the two-inch tall wooden block that was directly in front of the standing desk.
~🎶 Heading into the fall, for once and for all
And face to face with exactly who you are at the core
No rescue, no one to save you this time 🎶~
The humming of the huge server next me, and all other sounds for that matter, was drowned out by the metalcore-industrial metal music that was blaring in my ears through my Logitech Z906 speaker, which was sitting next to me on the standing desk.
~🎶 Destroy, create
Life, death, love, hate 🎶~
The speaker's casing had a rounded-rectangular shape and an even coat of silver paint. The original woofer had long been stripped away in exchange for a custom backlit burgundy woofer with a matching protective mesh screen and dust cap.
~🎶 A guiding light or manipulate
Subversive force or regenerate (Water. fire. truth. or. liar.) 🎶~
Behind the dust cap, which had a surface similar to the one-way windows used for observing interrogations, there was a tiny nigh-invisible security camera with a protective filter built into it. All of which I had installed in my spare time.
~🎶 Who are you? Malignant or benign? 🎶~
I lightly tapped my black-colored loafer-clad foot to the rhythm. My flared silver slacks, long-sleeved burgundy, mid-thigh-length dress, and long, knee-length, white lab coat swayed along. A pair of burgundy wireless headphones sat on my head, not doing much of anything at the moment. The bagginess of my lab coat obscured the broad-shouldered hourglass shape of my 5'3'' frame.
~🎶 Would you sell out your brother to save your own life? 🎶~
My name tag bounced around on the edge of my lab coat's right half of its collar. Occasionally it would flip to the reverse side to reveal three pictures that I hid in there. Family photos to be exact.
~🎶 Or neglect your own safety to save him from his plight? 🎶~
The first one was of me with my five-year-old son, Jakko, and my younger sister Babs. The second was of me with my late husband on our last anniversary date. The third picture, which was poking out from behind the first two, was of Jakko, Babs, and I visiting my husband in the hospital the night before he passed.
~🎶 Who will you be when your life starts to spin into the void? 🎶~
My golden brown, wavy lob bounced as I quickly alternated my focus between what I was typing and what appeared on the screen in front of me.
Boredom, one of mankind's greatest foes.
~🎶 (Spin into the) Voooooooooooiddddd! 🎶~
“Shouldn't have left me alone with nothing to d-doooo,” I sang to myself.
Their security is child's play. It was always child's play. Even in the literal sense of the phrase. One would think the government would learn to practice better cyber security after a few teenagers hacked into the Department of Defense to prove how shitty their defenses truly were.
I shook my head and sighed, “Arrogant fuckers.”
I grinned as I poked around the classified file systems. My hazel eyes glimmered at the data on the screen before me.
“Ooooohh… What do we have here?”
Were these the blueprints for Davidson National Laboratory's wormhole technology? And the associated simulation programs?
“Don’t mind if I do.”
I began saving all of that juicy information to my flash drive. This information will be one of my greatest trophies. It will be for my eyes only.
“Thank you.”
~🎶 Traces of cyanide in your cigarette
Gun full of bullets for your russian roulette
(We all feel sorry for you now) 🎶~
My defiance tastes delicious. Sweet, dear anarchy.
I wonder what programs are on here. Perhaps some were hidden.
“I have to know.”
~🎶 Your luck is flying like a bat out of hell
You're empty-handed at your life's show-and-tell
(You have no idea what's coming down) 🎶~
In the terminal window, I typed a command.
>ls -a .?*
>█
The terminal scrolled before my hazel eyes as each line was filled up by the hidden goodies stored on the computer. If my face was not already, it was undoubtedly split ear to ear now by my grin.
~🎶 (A million voices call from the other side)
(If you could hear them you would be terrified!) 🎶~
“Hmmm… Which program to prod at?”
>PGJBIGRIGINI-Release2003.11
>PGJCONKERINI-Release2001.3
>PGJGARRYINI-Alpha2006.11
>PGJKATADAMAINI-Release2004.3
>PGJJIMWORMINI-Release1994.10
>PGJPOSTALDUDEINI-Release2016.5
>PGJSEAMANINI-Release1999.7
>█
“These are some odd names for simulation programs.”
Choosing at random, I typed the run command for one of the programs into the terminal.
>./PGJGARRYINI-Alpha2006.11
>█
Once the last character appeared in the terminal, I pressed and released the enter key.
>INITIALIZING...
>PLEASE WAIT...
>...█
~🎶 Good luck, you're fucked!
And we hate to see you go, man
But everyone knows you're screwed 🎶~
…
Thirty seconds.
~🎶 (We all feel sorry for you now)
The grim reaper's grading your show-and-tell
That bat is taking your life back into hell 🎶~
…
Another thirty seconds. I tilted my head to the side and raised an eyebrow.
~🎶 Good luck, you're fucked
And your life's about to blow, man
And everyone knows but you 🎶~
…
And another.
~🎶 (Good luck)
(You're fucked)
(Good luck) 🎶~
…
“Well that was worth my time,” I scoffed as I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. “I should probably start fixing the DNS blocklist. Some people just can’t take a joke. They need to light-”
A jarring explosion then rocked the area. I jumped. My hands and shoulders raised. A red light bathed the server room. The arrant shriek of alarms and subsequent explosions made my ghostly-pale skin crawl as I covered the muffs of my headphones.
That was not a simulation program…
“Shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT!” I exclaimed to myself.
I grabbed my speaker and rugged smartphone. In one, clean swipe, I ripped my phone's charger and charging cable from the wall. I shoved the speaker into my backpack and the rest into my right pocket. I then snatched my flash drive from the server tower. I slipped that into the hidden interior pocket near my right sleeve.
“Maybe I can fix this,” I gulped.
I slung my black, heavy-duty tech backpack onto my right shoulder and dashed towards the white metal door with a dull thud.
“Owww… That is going to hurt like a bitch tomorrow.”
After rubbing my nose a bit, I pulled open the door. I carefully stepped through the doorway. Once I was out of the server room, I was a pigeon-toed cheetah sprinting down the hallway. Knees hyperextending with every stride.
The monotonous light gray brick walls of the hallway blurred together. My vision tunneled around me. My heart was in my ears. Oxygen burned my throat. The entrance to the wormhole observation room was dead ahead. Not much—
Another explosion.
And another.
Something thunderously crashed through a wall barely five feet behind me.
Giving into my curiosity, I paused and looked back.
Behind me was nothing but smoke and destruction bathed in deep red light.
That was way too close.
A strange wind engulfed the hallways. I could feel something pull on me from behind.
I quickly turned towards the door—
And another explosion. This time, it was accompanied by the sound of something large whizzing through the air.
Suddenly, my head exploded with pain. A warm liquid ran down my left temple.
My ears were overpowered by the shrill rings of tinnitus.
Everything was too bright. The world around me doubled.
I began to fall to the ground. Then my feet were not on the ground. There was no ground. It ceased to exist.
Everything spun and blurred together into a visual soup.
I am going to vomit.
Everything went black.
.
My world rang as I slowly regained consciousness.
How am I still alive? Why am I still alive? The pressure wave from that last explosion should have killed me.
I tried to move my arms but found resistance. The sound of metal grinding and sliding against metal grated my ears.
Something very heavy was pinning me down.
Yet, somehow attempting to move did not hurt. No sensation of skin being cleaved into like butter. No sensation of bones being agonizingly grounded into dust.
At the very least I can still tell my body to move. Something that probably should not be possible. Circulation to my limbs should be completely cut off right now.
Everything around me was dark. So dark. I was not even sure if my eyes were open.
I could really use some sort of light right about now.
Suddenly, a light turned on and I could see. Near my face were chunks of gray bricks, mangled steel pipes, pieces of ceiling tiles, large chunks of insulation, and long broken wooden beams. If any of it were a couple of inches closer, the sharp corners of the surrounding wreckage would lacerate my cheeks and temples.
I then examined the light. There was a burgundy tint to it. Also peculiar… I began to reach for the source of it— and the metal around me groaned as I met resistance once more.
Right, I am still pinned down…
Well this sucks…
I wonder if the others made it out in better shape than me. I hope they are okay.
How long will it take until the emergency responders find me? I cannot be buried too deeply, can I?
Now that I think of it, I should probably try screaming. Maybe that will get me out of here faster. Or at the very least let the emergency responders know where I am in the rubble.
BWWWOOOOOOOOMMM!
I jumped. Well… As much as I could while still being buried.
What the hell was that noise anyways?
WHOOOAAA!
The debris all around me gave way and I was sent tumbling down the pile of rubble. Clouds of dust formed as the debris shifted and collided with each other. The sound of metal harshly hitting and scraping against concrete and more metal sounded with every bounce and bump I made on my way down the pile.
Eventually, I skidded to a halt on the ground, chin-first with my arms spread out like an airplane and my ass in the air.
Ooowww… That — should have hurt..?
I crawled onto my hands and knees.
Everything seemed really weird. Very different. I could not feel the temperature of the blowing breeze against my face despite being able to hear it. The smell of fresh air, and even dust from the debris, eluded me. My limbs seemed heavier than I remembered.
Scratch that last one.
My whole body seemed heavier than I remembered.
What is going on?
I looked around myself. The sky overhead was cloudy with shades of dull grays. There were barren streets littered with garbage and debris. Individual sheets of newspaper and plastic bags traveled by me like tumbleweeds. Empty cars with varying amounts of damage were parked on the side or in the middle of those streets. Buildings loomed overhead with vines climbing up to the first story windows. Many of those windows were dirty, cracked, shattered, or missing entirely.
This is nowhere near Davidson National Laboratory.
How did I wind up here again? Why here to begin with?
I lightly brushed my hands across the fabric of the lower half of my lab coat. The dust and tiny bits of debris clinging to me fell onto the ground.
Wait a minute…
I stopped what I was doing and looked down at my hands. A pair of smooth, thick black leather gloves adorned them. There were no visible creases or excess space. It was as if they perfectly fit my dainty hands — a rare sight.
I do not remember owning any black leather gloves. How did these get on my hands in the first place? Why am I wearing them? Why can I not feel anything? Do I have some sort of nerve damage? Is it a symptom of radiation sickness from whatever happened?
I began reaching for the cuff of my left glove. A thunderous explosion rocked the ground. I flinched.
On second thought, I can probably figure out what is going on later. I should probably get out of here. Now.
I got up off of the ground and onto my feet. The unfamiliar, deserted surroundings intrigued me.
I shook my head.
No, I cannot get distracted now.
With no idea of where I currently am, I aimlessly jogged down a random street. A street that had torn up asphalt and a few cars that seemed to be somewhat okay. The worst damage to those few cars appeared to be some window damage, minor dents in the metal, and one or both of the back turn signal lights being busted. I could probably hotwire one of these cars if I got too tired or needed a faster way of getting the hell out of here.
Eventually I came across an intersection. I turned left and continued running. Only to then come to a stumbling halt. My arms rotated in opposite directions as I regained my balance.
“BRRR SKIBIDI DOP DOP YES YES YES!”
I darted into the closest alleyway. My back, arms, and hands pressed against the concrete exterior wall behind me.
What. The. FUCK!?
I slowly poked my head around the corner. Toilets, of all things. In the middle of the street were toilets surrounded by smoke and fire. Toilets with human heads sticking out of them. They ranged from the size of normal, non-human headed toilets to the height of street lamps.
They also had an assortment of equipment attached to them. Some had jetpacks — lucky bastards — and some had long, spider-like legs. A few had buzzsaws attached to them, either around their bowls or as a set of menacing limbs. There was one with missile launchers attached to its water tank and bowl! Fucking missiles! There were at least two, as far as I could see, but there could be others that had grenade launchers soldered to their water tanks. Or something else entirely. Such as flamethrowers. Or machine guns.
Again. What the absolute fuck?!
The strange toilet beings seemed to be engaged in some sort of battle. I could not get a good look at who or what these monstrosities were up against due to the oppressive dust and smoke surrounding them. Strangely enthralled, I slowly leaned in closer, shifting my center of gravity onto my toes.
And then a blue beam of some sort went sailing past me, missing me by about two feet. I jumped back, diving into the safety of the alleyway. Then an explosion rocked the ground. Crumbs and dust clouds of concrete rained down from overhead.
Nope. Nope. Nope. NOPE!
I am out of here. I am not dealing with this. This is not my problem. I have way more important things to deal with.
I sprinted out of the alleyway and began heading back the way I came.
Only to hug the ground once more.
I lifted my face up from the asphalt. The rest of my body followed suit until I was sitting on my knees. For a moment, I could hear something akin to static from a poor connection, but it quickly passed. There had been what seemed to be a metallic clang to my impact with the ground.
Huh?!
Behind me, a huge fireball of light and a thunderous boom. An invisible force pounced on me, knocking me to the ground. Not even fifty feet away. I curled up into a loose, semi-fetal position. Huge chunks of asphalt, concrete, dirt, and debris rained all around me. As soon as the pressure wave passed, I shot up from the ground and continued running as fast as my legs would carry me away from the battleground. I probably looked like a fucking Looney Tunes character with how I ran.
.
I kept running. It did not matter which direction I took. All that mattered to me was that I got my ass to safety. My mind was running without any way to brake, becoming incoherent as it sunk into the mire of thoughts. I had no idea for how long I had been running, much less how far I had actually ran so far. My surroundings were something that I deemed irrelevant.
Then my face once more met the asphalt. There was that dull, metallic clang ringing upon my impact once again.
Seriously, why does falling onto asphalt not hurt? The fact that I just ran for who fucking knows how long like I just did pretty much rules out the possibility of radiation sickness. Did I hit my head so hard in the lab that I cannot feel pain anymore? Or did I fall into a bizarre coma? What if I have a brain tumor that I did not know about before today?
And what was with the weirdly convenient light back in the rubble? The gloves? The lack of pain?
I slowly sat up on my knees. My right hand clenched into a fist.
What is even going on?!
I slammed it against my right thigh.
Another dull, metallic clang.
I slowly uncurled my hand and slowly tilted my head down. The former began to tremble. My mind was now fully submerged in the swampy waters of panic. I can feel my hear—
I then quickly patted my chest with both hands. I cannot feel my heart quickly pounding in my chest at all. All I can hear are hollow, metallic thuds rather than the sound of flesh patting flesh. Dread and panic tighten their grips around my mind further as I tried to focus harder. Eventually, I do notice something inside of me, not changing with my inner turmoil.
With my shaking right hand, I reached for the left sleeve of my dress and lab coat. I slowly roll them up. Light reflected into my face. I closed my eyes and flinched away, anticipating a migraine that never came.
Wait, how can I still see?
I then slowly looked down at my left arm again. My hands were shaking like small leaves hanging onto their branch in a violent derecho. I rolled up the sleeve further. The gray metallic sheen continued to greet me opposed to ghostly-pale flesh. I yanked the left glove off its respective hand to only fall backwards at what I saw.
My mind froze as the metallic digits twitched and trembled before me.
No…
I ripped off my right glove.
These are not my hands. They are not mine.
I try to slowly close my right hand into a loose fist. Before me, the dainty robotic joints and actuators committed that very action instead. I repeated the same with what should be my left hand.
They are mine… Sadly…
I slipped the gloves back onto my hands. I then reached into my pocket and carefully pulled out my smartphone. The lack of hyperventilation and a racing heart unnerved me on a spiritual level. I shook my phone side-to-side, activating the camera. I then slowly brought it to my face and tapped the selfie button with my shaking right index finger.
I then dropped my phone. It fell touchscreen-side up onto the asphalt. I scooted away from my phone as if it could explode at any moment.
What I had been greeted with was not me. Not even a humanoid face had been visible for that matter.
I shakingly crawled back towards my phone. Slowly I inched my head closer and closer until it fully appeared on screen.
I brought the fingertips of my trembling right hand up to the lower edge of the round protective mesh screen. Behind that mesh, I could see a large, slightly glowing burgundy woofer. Surrounding all of that was a rounded, rectangular silver case. It looked exactly like the speaker I had in my backpack down to the tiny, nigh-invisible security camera. The only other familiar thing that I could see was my pair of wireless burgundy headphones that I had been wearing.
A fucking speaker instead of a human head was the bloody cherry on top.
My hands fell limp onto the ground. I continued to sit in the middle of the road, staring at what I saw on my phone's screen. A blue screen of death clouded my mind, so to speak.
Everything was silent.
Five minutes later, I hugged my torso.
I want to go home. Is it possible for me to go home? Would it be a good idea to go home? Especially like this? Made of metal — a machine with a speaker for a head?
Would anyone be able to recognize me? What if my own family does not even recognize me? What if they scream “TERMINATOR!” and run away from me? What if they attack me instead?
The image of my mom's disgusted scowl penetrated my mind. As did the image of my father's fury right next to her as he aimed his hunting rifle at me.
My sister was far away from our parents. She crossed her arms and turned her nose up at me. My hands trembled.
However, the one that pierced my heart was near the manifestation of Babs. It was the image of the scared look on my little baby boy’s face as he hid behind the tombstone of my husband. He was all alone.
“WHERE’S MY MOMMY, MEANIE?!” Jakko bawled out, fat tears and snot streaming down his cheeks and chin.
Something began to bubble to the surface. I tried to hold it back. I am not going to.
Sobs escaped my li- woofer.
My crying did not even seem remotely human anymore. It sounded more among the lines of someone trying to replicate human crying with only technological whines and radio static.
Would I be whisked away to a government black site the moment I get spotted? What would they do to me? What kind of experiments would they put me through? Would they be able to realize that there is a human being buried in all of the metal and circuitry? What if they dismantle me? Would that kill me?
Can I even die for that matter? Or am I already dead somehow?
I shake my head. This is not overwhelming. I have no reason to cry. I would take some deep breaths, but with how I could not close my now-nonexistent eyelids I do not think I even can anymore.
Heh, no wonder why I was not winded after all of that running. Good to know that I am not a waste of oxygen anymore.
With a few mechanical sniffles, I looked up at the sky. It and the clouds were bathed in oranges, pinks, and indigos. The sun was setting.
I should probably try to find some supplies and some form of shelter. Chances are slim that I will be able to find anyone who can help me. For all I know, the ones capable of helping me would probably be more likely to keep me as a novel, one-of-a-kind lab rat.
I shakingly picked up my rugged smartphone, exited the camera app, and lightly pressed the power button — turning off the screen — before sliding it into my slacks's right pocket. Once I got off the ground, I shoved my hands into the pockets of my lab coat. I somberly walked down the road as the dead wind blew around me.