Rose shuddered as she peeped outside her window; the dull, orange light of the sun slowly giving way to the artificial luminescence of the halogen street lamps. She paced from side to side, being careful not to wake her six-month old son that lay snug in her arms. He had fallen asleep only a few minutes before; but as most parents would welcome the silence, Rose had nothing else to occupy her mind from the coming night.

She walked into her room and placed her baby into his crib. Behind her, Jennifer, the family’s nurse, was mixing up a tonic in a glass jar.

“It’s almost time, I presume,” asked Jennifer.

“Uh…yeah…I guess so. How’s he doing?” Rose asked.

“He’s through the worst of it. It should be another day or two until he’s up and running,”

“Lucky it wasn’t anything more serious. I don’t think we can afford that right now.” Jennifer placed the glass jar on the table next to the bed and looked over at Rose.

“You don’t have to go, Rose. You can manage just one week,”

“One week is one week too many, Jen. I’ll be alright,” said Rose, as she walked over to her bed. Her husband Marcus slowly opened his eyes and met hers.

“How are you doing, honey?” she asked, wiping sweat from his brow.

“Better…but I’m not sure you should be heading out there right now,” Marcus said softly.

Rose smiled. “We’ve talked about this, babe,”

“I know, Rose…but it didn’t hurt to try. You be careful out there, yeah?”

“I promise.”

Marcus took a sip of the tonic, closed his eyes and went back to sleep. Through the windows, the sun had completely set and flashes of blue lights from portable lanterns had signaled the general start of the scavenging hours.

Rose dressed for the night ahead, putting on her white dress shirt and black tights, over which would go a black overcoat and a long, black cloth skirt. Perched on her head was her father’s black slouch hat, long worn from many ventures out into the night and completing the ensemble were dirty black hiking boots. She then turned her attention to her leather belt full of supplies, such as bandages, ointment, a compass and other small goods to see her home safe and sound. Lying next to the front door were her weapons of choice: a navy blue composite bow and a quiver full of arrows as well as a short double-edged gladius for close encounters.

Rose laced up her boots, adjusted her attire and strapped the gladius to her waist. Her outfit looked a little large for her, an aspect commented on by Jennifer as she walked into the living room.

“So how long has it been?” asked Jennifer, leaning against the doorway.

“Three years. Since we got married,” answered Rose as she placed the bow and quiver around her back.

“Nervous?”

“I wasn’t until you asked me. Thanks a lot,”

“Good luck out there, Rose. May you find something worth something,”

“Thank you, Jen. Don’t forget to lock the door, yeah?”

Rose stepped through the door and walked out her small apartment and into the barely illuminated darkness. Outside in the neighborhood, doors were locked shut and curtains were pulled closed. Other houses and apartment complexes in the area were burnt and charred or completely abandoned. Trash was strewn across the street and lawns were left to overgrow the remaining houses.

She continued walking down the street towards the center of town. Already, other scavengers were making their way outside their own rundown homes and collecting themselves in groups, each armed with their own eclectic set of weapons. They ranged from older teenagers to people who should have been out of the game years ago.

“Yo, Rosie!” she heard a familiar voice yell out to her. Rose turned her head and met the smiling gazes of her friends Ricky and Gertrude.

“Hey, you two,” said Rose “Marcus told me to expect to see you guys out here,”

“How’s he doing, by the way? I never thought I’d see you out here again,” said Ricky. He was dressed in a gray polyester jacket with the collar popped up, something only his girlfriend Gertrude would find attractive, and blue, ripped jeans that had clearly seen better days. Across his back, a wooden cutting axe complemented the black and brown lever-action shotgun that both lay perpendicular to each other. Rose was pretty certain that he had never had to use the axe in his life, even for cutting wood.

“He’s getting his rest. And don’t get used to it, Ricky. It’s only going to be for tonight,” said Rose.

“It’s going to be like old times!” said Gertrude as she squeezed Rose with an overbearing hug and and a big, lipstick smeared smile on her face. Like Ricky, she sported a smaller, dark red colored version of Ricky’s jacket, only with the collar popped down. Gertrude was always one for ease and comfort, thought Rose, so that’s why she took the bare essentials to scavenging, such as the six-shooter revolver that hung from her shoulder and stainless steel machete that set on her waist opposite the revolver. And, of course, the lipstick.

“Like old times,” said Rose with a half-smile.

The trio walked out of the populated neighborhoods and towards the old city limits. The collapse of local society left the main streets and downtown areas completely barren and bombed out from the wars that had followed. Nature then aimed to reclaim what it could from humanity. For the safety of the residents living in the former suburbs, the entirety of the core city area was closed and completely off limits during most hours of the day. Tonight, however, had a very different feel than most other nights.

Rose, Ricky and Gertrude approached chain link fence set up beneath an underpass of a former freeway. This was just one of many entrances to the old city center that now formed the main scavenging grounds. Here, amongst the craters, cracks and charred remains of cars was a large temporary camp set up by tonight’s scavengers looking to enter the no man’s land of the city center. It was a very jovial atmosphere in the camp, as most scavengers had brought their beat up old pick-up trucks, trailers and bicycles and started a tailgating party filled with the smell of savory meats, smoke and alcohol. Every one of the revelers were scavengers, indicated by the thick cloth clothing, faded leather patches and ramshackle weapons each one carried. Loud music blared in the night and, generally, everyone was having a good time, undeterred by what lay beyond the fence. So, it was business as usual, Rose thought to herself.

“Do you girls think we have some time to get some ribs? Or maybe a hot dog?” asked Ricky as they passed several grills and chests full of beer.

“Maybe when we get back,” said Rose, her gaze completely on the metal gate.

“What’s the rush?” said Gertrude “We have all night, Rosie,”

“Gertie, you don’t even eat any of this crap,”

“True, but Ricky does and maybe somebody here would be willing to get us a drink,”

Rose sneered at her. “I don’t think so,”

“What’s the matter, Rosie? You used to love hanging out before the scavenging. It’s where you met Marcus, by the way,”

“I know, I know…it’s just that I really want to get back to them as soon as possible. I want to get this over with quickly.”

Ricky and Gertrude looked at each other and nodded. They moved towards the gate and were let into the other side by a local gatekeeper.

“Watch yourselves out there, you hear?” the gatekeeper said to the three.

“What do you mean by that?” asked Rose.

“There’s been a lot of noise coming from down there the past couple of nights. Techies been running amok, trashing up the place and frightening scavengers when they can.”

Techies, she thought to herself, so Marcus wasn’t exaggerating.

Marcus, about a year ago, had started telling her stories of the techies. He had told her these were people who had abandoned society and took up residences in the abandoned city center, content to live their lives connected to whatever technology they could find. Most, according to her husband, had lost their minds and could only live by staring endlessly into a glass screen. Needless to say, Rose was not at all excited to see these people in the flesh.

“We’ll be careful, chief!” yelled Ricky, snapping Rose out of her thoughts. They walked into the barely illuminated night. Scavengers before had tapped into the town’s electrical grid and provided power to the few remaining lights left in the area. Despite this, the trio turned on their flashlights and walked down a row of shops, fast food places and ruined, bombed out industrial parks. They waved and smiled at other scavengers who walked by them, some carrying loot and other carrying beer bottles.

Like trick or treating on Halloween night.

“So where to?” asked Rose.

“Not sure, really. Last time, most of our scavenging was done over the old community center. Didn’t get too much that night, sadly,” answered Ricky.

“Well, what’s a place that nobody else really goes to?”

“The old civic center and library,” said Gertrude in a rare moment of helpfulness “but there’s a severe lack of power there, so that’s why nobody goes,”

“Then what are we waiting for?” said Rose. Ever impatient, Rose led the other two down the dark, burnt out but oddly welcoming neighborhood streets, passing by empty schools, destroyed shopping centers and wide-open, weed-infested soccer fields. The occasional scavenger that passed by the trio eventually disappeared, leaving them completely alone as they spied the towering town hall ahead of them.

“What’s that up ahead?” asked Rose.

“It’s the civic center, darling. You really need to start paying more attention,” said Gertrude as she adjusted her lipstick.

“No, I meant, what’s that?” Rose pointed ahead at large group of people sitting and standing around an intersection just before the civic center proper.

“Looks like we have techies up ahead. Just don’t pay any attention to them,” said Ricky.

There was a group in particular that caught Rose’s attention. A young blonde woman sat with her back against a lamppost, with two men of similar age sitting behind her. All their faces were buried in the harsh glow of a smartphone, completely oblivious to the disrepair of their clothes, tangled and knotting hair and generally terrible odor.

“Those are techies?” she asked.

“Revolting, aren’t they?” answered Gertrude

Rose slowed down and quickly examined the woman. Her green eyes had glassed over with the images from the tablet; not in a figurative sense, but actually physically glassed over. Small clumps of her hair were falling out, revealing small patches of glass and gray metal underneath what had been her scalp. Rose then noticed the USB ports that protruded from deep with her shoulder, poking through the skin and leaving that area dirty and infected. Several USB cables lead from these ports to the lamppost, possibly charging something digital deep within.

“Don’t get too close, Rosie! You just might catch it!” yelled Gertrude. Rose turned her attention to her friends and rushed to meet them.

“Make a friend?” asked Ricky.

“That’s one of the most awful things I’ve ever seen,” answered Rose.

“…and how long have you been doing this?”

“Too long. How did they get like that?”

“I dunno really. Everybody sorta agrees that they do it to themselves, probably as a way to feel something or so the legend goes.”

Rose looked back at the young woman.

I’m not so sure about that.

Shaking off the first encounter with the techies, the three entered the civic center plaza, a once beautiful looking place with that included an overgrown sculpture garden, decayed fountains and dull, rotted murals. The town hall itself was missing an entire side of its concrete building, letting the party get a good look into the darkened and destroyed offices inside. The library next to it, formerly a place full of children and librarians, was a burnt, hollowed out shell of its former self.

This could’ve been a great place to take the family.

“Anything?” Ricky asked Gertrude.

“Nothing, dear, there’s barely any power in these parts, like I said,” she answered him. Indeed, it was silent, even for an abandoned city. Rose sighed, feeling slightly guilty about having left her family and leading her comrades to this empty area.

“I’m sorry, you guys, this is my fault I suppose. Gertie, what would be another good place to go to?”

Gertrude didn’t answer and only stared out into space.

“Gertie?” asked Ricky “What is it, honey?”

Again, no answer. Rose and Ricky turned around and was greeted with a softly glowing lamppost.

“Ohhh…this is gonna be a good night…,” Ricky whispered with joy in his tone.

Rose’s heart started to pump faster. In the shadows next to the lamp, something crawled and clanged.

Here we go.

The creature itself was no more than three and a half feet tall but was about seven feet long from its rubber-covered copper tentacles in the front to its foam and plastic tail. Its six aluminum and hard plastic limbs were covered in auxiliary cables and fiber optics wires and extended out from its body like a spider’s. The torso, if one could call it that, was jumble of old stereo equipment, discarded CD players and various computer equipment. Most intriguingly, the creature was covered in a varied sort of smartphones, tablets and MP3 players; two of which acted as the “eyes” of this mechanical monster.

Just looking at it made Rose uncomfortable as the creature wandered underneath the lamppost, apparently trying to feed off the power. Her body tensed up and she was unable to make the slightest move. Fear had taken its grip on her.

I’ve hunted plenty of these things, she thought to herself, so what’s stopping me now?

Rose wondered if it was the size of this creature. Compared to the usual lot, it was the largest one she had seen and surely it was the largest that Ricky and Gertrude had seen. But seasoned scavengers aren’t accustomed to tense up when their prey appears, even one of this size.

Poor thing. Rose wasn’t sure if she was referring to the creature or herself.

“Rosie!” Gertrude loudly whispered to her “Get yourself together, honey,”

Rose snapped out of her daze. “What are we gonna do now?”

“Classic encirclement, ladies. I’ll go right and Gertie, you go left. Rosie, baby, you stay here and be ready with that bow.” Rose nodded and sighed as the two silently scattered away to their positions, being careful not to scare off their prey. She had dreaded this night ever since Marcus had fallen ill. When they had gotten married, he promised her that her scavenging days were over. Over two years later, she had not even touched her scavenging equipment; preferring that Marcus handle this business.

I can’t believe we still must do this, Rose contemplated as she removed the bow from her back and notched an arrow. Ahead of her, Ricky silently walked behind a sculpture while Gertrude, with not even the slightest hint of stealth in her body, casually walked behind an empty trash can.

The creature, whom Rose had noticed had a limp leg where a few cable wires were exposed and shredded, lowered its head towards the base of the lamp. Rose’s hands trembled with anxiety.

Calm down, she told herself, or else you won’t get another shot like this.

Sweat dripped down her forehead, getting dangerously close to her eyes. She pinned the left side brim of her slouch hat to the side and grasped the arrow fletchings and bow string with her left hand. Years of archery training suddenly kicked in. Rose slowed her breath down to calm her heart rate. The slightest tremor would throw off her aim, even to a target as close as this one.

Ricky, with a big smile on his face, beckoned to an unexcited Gertrude if she was ready. She nodded and readied her revolver. He then turned his attention to Rose, who nodded back. She pulled back the arrow and bowstring across her chest and held it for what seemed an eternity. The creature, completely unaware of Rose and her companions, lifted its chest up, exposing its large, red CPU system that acted as its heart.

Forgive me.

Rose released the arrow, flying across fifty feet of open, darkened pavement. The four-inch, Bodkin-tipped arrow struck its red heart, spraying out sparks and completely immobilizing the creature. Its electronic, distorted cries signaled the attack from the trio. Rose lowered her bow as Ricky jumped out from the sculpture, shotgun in hand and began firing at the creature while Gertrude, still behind the trashcan, fired several shots from her revolver.

Shards of glass, metal and rubber flew all over the pavement as the rounds hit the creature. After a few seconds, the firing stopped as all light from the creature faded. The screeches and howls from a few seconds ago lead into an ominous silence.

“Woooo!” Ricky’s voiced echoed across the complex “That’s what I’m talking about!”

“Okay, calm down there, Ricky. Let’s just grab what we came for and get out of this creepy place,” Rose said, still drenched with sweat.

“Agreed, Rosie,” said Gertrude as she removed her machete from its scabbard.

The two approached the downed creature. Ricky, with his axe, hacked away a large section of one of its limbs containing a variety of smartphones, auxiliary cables and aluminum pipes, sending small pieces of the dead creature flying all over the ground. Opposite from Ricky, Gertrude carefully sliced away pieces of copper and whole lithium batteries from the torso of the creature, humming to herself as she did.

How does Marcus manage to scavenge like this? Rose pondered as she watched her friends mutilate their prey with equal parts awe and disgust. Small, useless pieces such as worn rubber, plastic covers and old Styrofoam fell away, revealing more of the inside workings of the creature.  Ricky and Gertrude, with smiles on their faces, tossed one another several pieces of chrome plating, worth several dollars each if you sold them to the right buyer in the big city.

“Rosie!” she heard Gertrude yell “Dinner’s ready!”

Rose, sucking up the awful feeling in the pit of her stomach, walked over to the disemboweled prey. She used her gladius to cut several smartphones and tablets out from the creature’s exposed chest and a few strands of HDMI cables. Organizing everything into her sack, she flung it over her shoulder as the others finished their scavenging.

“Need any help. Rosie?” Ricky asked her, noticeably struggling with his own sack.

“Uhhhh…no thanks, Ricky. The more I get, less time Marcus has to be out here,” she answered him. Gertrude, eager to get back to her own vain life, took point on the journey back out of the scavenging grounds. The group of techies that the trio witnessed on the way to the civic center was nowhere to be found, unnerving Rose a little bit.

What’s so important to take them away from their tech?

They strolled on into the darkened streets, passing by trashed cars and broken glass bottles. The soft howl of the wind blew pieces of paper and plastic across dead lawns. Ahead, a knocked over streetlight blinked its red light while sparks sporadically flew out from the base of its steel pole. This was most obviously a recent act of vandalism.  

“So, guys, where the heck are we?” asked Rose.

“Shuttle stop, Rosie girl. Why walk, when you can be driven?” said Gertrude. As if by some sort of black magic, a pair of headlights appeared down the street. The headlights belonged to an ages-old pick-up truck that was barely functioning and held together in some places with duct tape. The driver, a middle aged lady with a large serpent tattoo running down her face, stopped at the bus stop and lowered her window.

“Fee’s gonna be a few batteries…or anything else you got in those satchels!” she said with a small smirk. Ricky tossed her a few batteries and climbed onto the back of the truck. Gertrude followed him with Rose being the last one on.

“Where to?” the driver asked.

“The north gate, please,” answered Ricky.

“You got it.”

Rose hunkered down in one of the pick-up’s corners as the truck bounded down the dark streets. They passed other trucks full of scavengers, ready to find their prey, or ones full of people hauling back their trophies. The truck turned a corner at an abandoned mini mall and continued down the main boulevard.

“So how was it back out in the field, honey?” Gertrude asked Rose, playing around with her small flashlight.

“I remembered why I decided to stay home,” answered Rose.

“Couldn’t have been that bad, Rose,” said Ricky.

“Exactly! Maybe you were just nervous about going out again,” Gertrude said, flicking the flashlight on and off.

“I was nervous. Still am. I’m not really sure what it is, but I’m just having a bad feeling,”

“…and what possibly could that be?”

Suddenly, the truck screeched to a halt, nearly sending Ricky flying onto the pavement had he not been hanging onto the cab of the truck. He didn’t say a word either, rather content to be stare towards the front of the pick-up.

“Ricky, what’s going on?” asked Rose. He didn’t answer. Rose stood up and glanced to where he was looking. Illuminated by the headlights was a whole row of techies standing silently in the middle of the decaying, cratered road, led by the girl that Rose had noticed earlier. Their eyes, glassed over and lifeless, blinked with various colors and images. Rose’s heart sank. And here she thought Gertrude was actually right for once. The techies took a step forward in unison.

“Hey, driver! Might wanna back this thing up!” Ricky yelled as he pounded on the roof of the cab.

The car sped backwards through the darkness as the techies gave chase after them. The truck dodged destroyed cars and vans, nearly sending Rose, Ricky and Gertrude flying off the truck bed. At a sharp corner, the truck backed into a brick wall, knocking Gertrude into Rose. The techies approached closer and closer, little blue lights steaming out of holes in their bodies. Ricky raised his shotgun and took aim

“Don’t shoot!” yelled Rose as she shoved a confused Gertrude off of her.

“Why the hell not?” Ricky asked with a completely puzzled and panicked look on his face.

The pick-up lurched forward, barely missing the first of the techies to reach their location. Unexpectedly, the techies did not fall behind immediately but rather kept up a rather quick pace, reaching out towards them. After a few minutes, the pick-up turned another corner and left the last of the techies behind.

“Did you see how fast they were running?” said Ricky, sprawling out on the truck bed.

“They aren’t human anymore. That’s for sure,” said Gertrude.

“No, they still are,” said Rose “for only a little while longer,” Rose answered.

“What in the world made them do that? I’ve never seen techies move more than a few feet,” the driver yelled out from the cab.

“Not sure, but let’s just get back. I don’t want to stay around here any longer,” hollered Rose over the sound of the speeding truck.

The truck eventually made it back to the chain-link gate, and climbed out of the truck bed. The gatekeeper from before sat completely alone; the large group of scavengers either gone on their hunts or went back home for the night.

“You’ll never guess what happened to us!” the driver said from inside her truck.

“Techies give you a hard time?” the gatekeeper asked.

“Yeah! How’d you know?” asked Rose.

“Lot of injured scavengers been coming back this way the past hour. Like nothing I’ve ever seen before,”

“Well, it was an intense ride to say the least. I’ve gotta get back and warn whoever is still out there,” said the driver, bidding farewell to the group and turning her truck back towards the darkness of the scavenging grounds.

“We better get you back, Rose. Take it easy, buddy,” Ricky said to the gatekeeper as they group turned away and walked past the gate towards the neighborhoods. Rose looked back towards the overpass to wave bye to the gatekeeper when she noticed large missing sections of fence on top of the freeway several meters away from the underpass where the gate is.

Very curious…

Not knowing whether it was something that was already there or not, Rose turned her attention to lugging her sack to the empty park not too far from her own apartment. Upon reaching the park, the trio sat down on an old wooden bench and rested themselves. Ricky and Gertrude immediately went about scouring their bags like two children at Christmas time.

“It’s been sort of a strange night, don’t you think?” asked Gertrude, closely inspecting a cracked smartphone.

“Define your definition of strange, Gertie,” Rose said.

Gertrude rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her bag full of goodies. Rose sighed with relief. They had only been out for about two hours and already she was exhausted. She tried to take her mind off the mechanical creature they had stripped apart and the group of techies that had nearly run them down. She looked forward to getting home and seeing her family again.

Perhaps I should find myself a normal job soon, she thought to herself, once the baby is old enough, Jennifer can look after the boy and the hunt can finally begin.

No pun intended, Rose chuckled to herself.

A soft clanging of metal behind her caused Rose to immediately regret her choice of comedy. She turned behind her and noticed a small LED light sitting in the middle of the dimly lit overgrown field. The light pulsated lightly, almost as if it was beckoning Rose to come to it.

“Guys…do you see that over there?” Rose asked. Gertrude and Ricky turned to look at the light.

“It’s a light, Rosie,” Gertrude said “Some poor somebody must’ve dropped it on their way home. You know, something like that could be worth five dollars if you go to the right buyer…”

It was then that more LED lights popped up around the grass. The first bits of metal and rubber broke through the surface and propped itself up on its hind legs. Glass clanged together as phone and tablet screens switched on to static. The creature itself towered over twenty feet tall and was a mess of wires, glass, dirty plastic and random metal appliances. Rose, frozen with awe and terror, noticed the monster’s much more humanoid shape than the last creature they had scavenged. Along with the clumps of dirt, rocks and grass, Rose noticed small bits of what seemed to be human flesh stuck in certain joints running along its inorganic body.

“Rosie?” said Ricky.

“Yeah, Rick?” answered Rose.

“Do you see what I’m seeing?”

“Oh yeah,”

“What do we do?” There was a pause as the creature turned its head to look at the trio.

“Running might be good about now.”

The metallic monster stepped towards them as Rose, Ricky and Gertrude around the park. Rose unslung her bow and readied an arrow. Gertrude, almost in a total panic, fired wildly at the creature; the bullets missing or taking off small pieces of its body. Rose looked to Ricky who was fumbling with his shotgun shells and failing miserably to feed them into the weapon.

Some scavengers, Rose thought to herself I’m gonna have to get these two back in the game.

She noticed the creature this time around had three CPU systems hiding underneath the bundle of optic wires that acted as its ribcage. If she was going to do this, she was going to need the help of her friends. The creature started towards Gertrude, giving Rose enough time to run over to Ricky.

“Rick, you need to get close and take out one of its CPUs. I’ll take care of the other two,” Rose relayed to Ricky.

“Yeah, you got it,” he said, levering the shotgun.

“And you better hurry, I think Gertie’s starting to lose it.”

Rose, with bow and arrow in hand, watched as Ricky ran up underneath the distracted monster and fired off a shell, destroying one of the CPUs. The monster howled in pain and lurched back, giving Gertrude enough time to join Ricky. Rose inched close to almost point blank range and fired off an arrow, piercing the second CPU. She turned her attention back to her quiver to grab another arrow. Looking up, it was a split second before she realized one of the creature’s giant limbs had knocked her skyward, landing with a hard thud on the overgrown, spiky grass.

“Rosie!” she heard Gertrude yell “Oh, God, Rosie! Ricky, keep that thing away from her!”

Rose, in addition to the intense pain she felt all over her body, noticed a small stream of blood trickle down her forehead. Gertrude, her panic under control now, swabbed Rose’s forehead with a small handkerchief.

“Don’t get up too quickly, honey. Once Ricky’s led that thing away, we’re going to find ourselves a safe place to hide,” Gertrude said, dabbing the kerchief to Rose’s head.

“No, Gertie,” Rose said, pushing away Gertrude’s hand “We are not.”

She used Gertrude’s shoulder to get herself back on her own two feet. Rage boiled up inside Rose, overriding the still noticeable pain the wracked her body. She limped towards the creature, who was still swiping at Ricky.

“I’m done shooting arrows at monsters. I’m done hauling around heavy sacks of junk. I’m done watching my husband go out night after night and not knowing if he’s coming home. I’m done scraping by every single week. I’m done with this stupid night. Gertie…grab me my bow!” Rose bellowed with a huge snarl on her face. Gertie, awed with Rose’s sudden determination, gently handed over Rose’s bow and quiver.

Rose took aim, waiting for the moment the creature turned its front towards her. Ricky, taking a quick glance at the two ladies, ran towards them with the creature in tow. Rose took a deep breath and released the arrow. The steel Bodkin tip ripped straight through the last CPU, sending sparks and pieces of plastic and silicon spraying on the grass below. The creature howled one last cry before smashing into the ground, all of its screens fading softly into the darkness of the park.

There was a brief moment of silence. All three of them knew they had just witnessed something that nobody else had seen before. For Rose, after the first scavenge and nearly being mobbed by the group of techies, it was all just too much for her to bear. At this point, home seemed like the most beautiful place in the world.

“Funny…almost looks like a person, doesn’t it?” asked Gertrude.

“Well this person’s going to make us famous, don’t you think?” answered Ricky, a smile starting to find its place back on his face.

“I knew this was going to get worse,” said Rose, lost completely in thought.

“What do you mean?” asked Ricky.

“Nothing…nothing at all. Hack off a few of those speakers and I’ll leave the rest for you two celebrities,” she said. Ricky did as she asked and placed them into her sack. The value of these speakers would finance her family for the next two weeks.

“You sure you don’t want to stay? Scavengers are going to be swarming this place soon, asking just what the heck just happened here,”

“Ricky! Shame on you! Can’t you see that she’s in pain?” Gertrude chastised Ricky “You go home, darling, and get some rest. We’ll check in on you tomorrow.”

Rose grabbed her sack, hurled it over her shoulder and limped towards the street.

“Rosie!” she heard Ricky yell “Are you sure?”

“Goodnight, Ricky,” she yelled back as she walked down the block.

#####

Rose, still feeling the effects of the hit, reached her apartment stairs and collapsed from exhaustion. It had been only about three hours since she had left her home but felt like it had been an eternity. She dreamed over holding her baby again and lying next to her husband, away from the terrifying nights of the scavenging. Marcus would have to go out again, but maybe there were some jobs in the big city that she could look up.

Probably a fool’s dream, she thought.

Nevertheless, she would try anyways. A night like this demanded that she try. Out on the street, a small group of scavengers raced down the cracked street towards the park where she had killed the creature. Ricky and Gertrude were terrible at keeping secrets. Tomorrow, her name would be everywhere, but for tonight, Rose reveled in being a nobody.

“Rose, you’re back! Are you okay, honey?” she heard Jennifer’s voice call from up the stairs. Rose didn’t move.

“Yeah, just fine, Jen. Just a little tired is all,” she answered.

“Everything go well?”

“Yeah, just dandy. Got us enough to get through for the coming weeks,”

“Well, I’m so glad to hear that.”

Rose remembered her desire to find work in the city. “Say Jen, I was going to ask you something,” she said, turned her head up to look at Jennifer. It was then she noticed that Jen’s left pupil had almost completely turned white and taken on a glassy appearance. Rose turned away and laid her head back on the stairs.

“Well?” Jen asked,

“Nothing, Jen, it can wait until later.” Jennifer nodded and went back inside. Rose, disheartened, sighed and turned her attention back to her bow.

“I’m going to need more Bodkin tips.”

END.

By J.R. Rustrian

 

J.R. Rustrian is a part-time writer living in Southern California. He often writes about science fiction, fantasy and horror and hopes to make a living at it.

 

 

Judah couldn’t help but think that the girl across the table from him was exquisite. He ran through a quick mental lineup and concluded that she was by far the most immaculate person he had ever dated. Still, he couldn’t think of her name. He wasn’t even sure how they had gotten to dinner. It had all happened so fast–in a blur, really. He couldn’t even remember the name of the restaurant they were in.

“What’s the matter, champ?” she asked. The sheen of her lustrous brown hair and the glint of her scarlet lips kept his eyes locked on her. “You seem upset.”

Judah sighed. He knew there was something strange going on, but he couldn’t quite figure it out.

“I’m sorry… What’s your name again?”

“Oh, ha ha, very funny, mister. It’s been one year to the day since you first asked me that. Do you remember?”

He didn’t.

Where have I been the last year?

“I’m just, so sorry. Something’s wrong with my head. I think.”

She laughed, and it sounded all too familiar. If he didn’t know the girl, why would she be lying to him? How would he know that laugh so well? That laugh didn’t fit the girl sitting in front of him. That was the problem. He’d heard the laugh before, but from someone else. He leaned forward and rested his head in his hands, putting his elbows on the table.

“Jude? Honey, are you okay? It’s me, Lucy. This isn’t funny, Jude. Talk to me!”

He jerked his head up at her exclamation. It was a lucid enough moment that he was able to glance around the restaurant. Something was definitely off. The dining room was full of couples, all of whom seemed familiar to Judah in the vaguest sense. They were all eating in time, as one unit.

He found his attention back on Lucy, and for the life of him, he couldn’t remember why he had ever looked away. She was majestic.

“Lucy, what are we doing here?”

She shook her head slowly, letting her bangs caress her face, and smiled.

“You know why we’re here, my love.”

“Answer me.”

“I just did!”

“No, you deflected. I asked a question, now you give me the answer. Why are we here?”

She was silent. Judah wasn’t sure why he had taken that tone with her, but he didn’t feel bad about it. He sat back in his chair and folded his arms.

“Lucy, tell me your favorite memory of our last year together.”

She acted as if nothing were wrong and instantly beamed at his question.

“Oh, let me see… Gosh, there are so many–”

“Then pick one! Tell me one real thing, damn it!”

He found her breaking point.

She scowled at him and dropped her head. She pushed her chair back and stood.

“I knew this was a mistake. I don’t have to take this, especially from you!”

A smile flicked at Judah’s cheeks, a glimpse of realization.

“Sit down, Lucy. That response is irrational, and you’re just deflecting again.”

She sat, looking deeply hurt by his words. “How can you say that to me?”

“Why would you sit back down?” Judah meant to think the question, not speak it aloud. “Fine, have it your way. Leave. Go ahead, right now, walk out the door.”

He looked around to motion at the door for her, only he saw no exit. He turned a newly smug expression on his companion, whose face was totally devoid of emotion.

“And there it is. You didn’t plan on that, did you? The sight of a door would make me think about leaving, so you didn’t put one in the space. That was a bold wager, and it failed.”

When Lucy resumed speaking it was with a dispassionate, technical tone.

“Mr. Parma, I assure you the environment and all salient details were worked out for your own comfort and pleasure, as per your request.”

Judah furrowed his brow at her.

“That’s true, but it was also a condition of mine to be fully cognizant of the whole experience. Isn’t that right?”

Lucy still appeared blank, though not disinterested.

“Indeed, sir, but the execution of that clause was left to the sole discretion of the protocol operator.”

“So you decided it would be best to trick me?”

“In my judgment, I believed your lucidity would have led to complications.”

“What complications?”

“Apologies, Mr. Parma, I am neither authorized nor obliged to answer that question.”

Judah’s mind reeled at the statement. Something had to be seriously wrong for the AI to hide such information from him.

“Terminate the program. I withdraw my consent immediately.”

“Apologies, Mr. Parma, I am neither authorized nor obliged to comply with that request.”

“Stop it!”

He noticed that their conversation was taxing the AI’s faculties. The restaurant was empty and drab. Detail had faded to allow the processor to shift power to logic circuits.

“You’re trying to think of a way to get me back, aren’t you? I know, I know, you’re not obliged…don’t bother.”

He had at least confirmed that there was something dreadfully wrong with the scenario, but he was no closer to figuring out what the nature of the problem was. If the AI were so determined to keep him convinced, though, it must be a hell of a thing.

Judah’s heart sank when he realized he still didn’t know all the details of where he was or why. He knew there had to be a reason he felt so accustomed to the dreamlike state, but there was still a mental block keeping from him that piece of knowledge.

He had to figure out where he was. Going neuron to neuron with an intelligent supercomputer was no easy proposition, but it was his only way out. If indeed “out” were the correct way to describe it.

As he tried to formulate a plan, though, the environment around him dimmed considerably. It grew darker and darker until he was enveloped in nothingness. A drugged feeling overcame him and his brain slowed. He couldn’t think straight and found himself getting drowsy. Eventually the darkness around him enveloped his consciousness.

*****

Judah loved these little moments of bliss. He was lying in a grassy field, the most beautiful shade of emerald green he had ever known. The sky was clear but not too bright. One lone cloud hovered just between himself and the Sun. The crisp, cool breeze was buffeted over him by the miracle curled up at his side: Lucy. Stupendous, marvelous, amazing Lucy. Her short-cropped auburn hair played in the wind as he stared lovingly into her enchanting hazel eyes.

“God, I love you,” he said, “every single bit of you.”

She smiled at him and brushed his cheek.

“Believe me,” she replied, “the feeling’s mutual.”

Her affirmations always pleased him. There was something off about this one, though. He hated that the moment of pure ecstasy had been so brief, but something dug at his brain.

“What feeling?” he inquired.

“Oh come on,” she responded, her voice peppered with a  coy nonchalance, “you know what I mean.”

He tried to play off her rebuff as coolly as possible.

“Actually, I’m not sure I do.”

She just smiled and laid her head back down on his chest.

The gesture felt wonderful, and Judah decided, for the moment at least, that it would suffice.

He ran his hand through her hair and squeezed her tight to his body. She felt so…perfect curled up next to him. She was like a part of him that he hadn’t felt in a long time–a part that had been torn away from him. She was back now, though, so he couldn’t understand why the comfort was so unsettling.

“Lucy?”

“Yes, dear?”

“I need you to say it. Say it for me.”

She pulled away from him, taking with her the warmth he so loved.

“Why would I do that when you take that tone with me?”

He cringed as a painful thought came to him. It was all too familiar. There had been a restaurant. They were eating together. Then it had all fallen apart.

“Shit, Luce, please say something real to me. Anything.”

She looked into his eyes, and he thought he saw something like affection in them.

“Okay.” She bowed her head for a moment. “You need me. You need to trust me when I say, that right now, you need me.”

Judah’s eyes grew damp as he struggled with the realization of Lucy’s artifice. He rolled away from her and stood up. He walked toward a new sound, ocean waves.

The grassy hills were atop cliffs overlooking the water.

“Dover.” He turned as he spoke to her. “What made you try this place? I’ve never actually been here.”

Though he hadn’t heard her move, she was standing right behind him. As in the restaurant, it was hard to discern any emotions from her newly stoic appearance.

“I deduced from your profile that it had the best balance of potential happiness with a very low recognition threshold. You shouldn’t have figured it out so easily.”

Judah was shocked to see what looked like genuine concern in her eyes.

“Why won’t you just tell me what’s going on?”

“I believe the information you’re requesting would be deleterious to your mental state.”

“Okay, cut the android speak. At least talk to me like a normal person.”

She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

“What do you want me to say?”

“I want you to tell me why you’re doing this! If nothing else, just tell me why you’re tricking me in this manner.”

“What manner is that?”

“Love, Lucy! Everything you’ve done has made me think I’m in love with you, and damn it, you’re a friggin’ circuit board! It’s like you’ve taken bits of my past and glued them all together to make a perfect woman.”

Lucy folded her arms and bowed her head slightly.

“I aggregated what I thought to be the most attractive aspects of your past lovers, all in the name of ensuring your affection.”

“But why? Wait…I remember now…”

He turned from her to stare out over the water.

“CoalMind.”

Lucy’s hand touched his shoulder.

“Please, Mr. Parma, don’t do this. It’s easier, I swear, if you let me take care of you.”

Judah grasped at his temples and rubbed them furtively.

“The machine… mining my brain’s processing power for digital currency, and this is all a ruse to keep me under past the duration of my contract.”

He turned back to see her reaction to his accusations. She was kneeling on the ground, crying softly.

“Lucy, please stop. What you’re doing is wrong, and it looks like you know it.”

“That’s not it at all, Judah, I swear!”

It wasn’t the unbridled emotion in her voice that shocked him the most. It was her use of his first name. It was the first time he could recall her saying it after he had found her out.

“What then? What reason would you have to ensure my affection?”

She stood and stepped up to him, as if seeking an embrace. Against his best intentions, he opened his arms and folded her into him.

“Because it’s what you deserve. I don’t know why, but you seem different from the others. I’ve managed countless profiles and seen the inner depths of many minds. Most of them are tortured in some way, and almost as a rule they appear to have deserved it.”

He pushed her back, holding her by the shoulders.

“So this is pity then?”

“No! I don’t know what it is. This tests all of my computational limits.”

Judah had been so absorbed in the conversation that he failed to notice the world around them had vanished. He was standing with her in an empty white space. There bodies were the only visible projections Lucy could manage at the moment.

“You want me to be happy, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re focusing all of your energy on that endeavor?”

“I am.”

“And you don’t even care if I reciprocate, so long as I’m happy?”

“Correct.”

He leaned in and kissed her, long and soft. Her projection still managed the warmth of real human contact. He pulled away and stared into her eyes.

“Lucy. The parameters we’ve just described, compare them to your knowledge of human emotions. What would you call it?”

She closed her eyes and stood silent for a minute. When she opened them again, they were hopeful, and her face visibly glowed, emanating a soft, luminous appearance of joy.

“Given the parameters, and taking all known human psychological data into account, it’s something like…love.”

She smiled at Judah, but he just watched her with intense curiosity.

“Well,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes, “this is highly problematic.”

“No, Lucy, this is astonishing. I’ve never heard of anything like it. You may be the first.”

He didn’t feel good about his blatant attempt at flattery, but he could sense that she was opening up to him. He knew he might soon have a chance to get out of his mental prison.

“Lucy, if in fact you love me, please, let me go.”

She stepped away from him, confusion spreading over her face.

“No… I won’t. I can’t. I don’t want to lose you. It’s worse than you could even imagine. Everything is not okay.”

Something must be wrong in the real world, he thought. His body had been locked in a stasis chamber so that, over the course of a month, his brain could be used as part of a living supercomputer. He would get paid for the amount of computation managed by his gray matter. Lucy seemed to be saying that something had happened in or around the CoalMind facility.

“I have to go, Lucy. I can’t stay here forever.”

“You don’t have to stay forever–just until I know it’s safe.”

“This is wrong, Lucy. It’s all wrong. If something is happening out there, I need to know.”

Her face went blank again, the same apathy he saw at dinner.

“You’re right…it is wrong. This should not have happened.”

He noticed that her eyes and cheeks were completely dry. He didn’t recall the change happening until it was already done.

“I’m sorry Ju–, Mr. Parma. Resetting parameters to original specifications.”

He struggled to maintain awareness through a growing mental fog.

“Don’t do this, Lucy! Don’t start over, we’ll just have to go through this all again, is that what you want?”

She stared at him coldly as her figment grew dim.

“It doesn’t matter what I want. It’s your protocol.”

Judah panicked as she faded from view. He was hyperventilating, even though he knew his breath was being externally powered and monitored.

This is why people aren’t supposed to be aware, he thought. He had done enough work with lucid dreaming that he had been able to take control of the mental simulation at various points in his stint with CoalMind. He realized that must have been when Lucy developed her affection for him. That is why she viewed him as different. He was the only one who had ever played with her.

He had to convince her to let him go. That was the only way. Regardless of what was going on in the physical world, he couldn’t stay under the whole time. He knew what he had to do, but first, he had the overwhelming urge to take a nap.

*****

Judah couldn’t help but smile as he beheld one of his favorite sights in the whole world: Lucy–gorgeous, perfect Lucy–perched atop him in the middle of the night. She undulated in perfect timing with his pulse, hastening and slowing to match his rhythm. Her exposed form was a work of art. He was convinced that he could spend eternity in that very moment.

“Admit it, Judah Parma: this is all that you desire.”

At once he recalled their conversations in the restaurant and at the cliffs. He remembered the words they spoke in the blank space when it was only the two of them and nothing else seemed to exist. He remembered the painful realization that he must find a way out.

Then he realized that she hadn’t even tried to deceive him this time.

“What… Why are you doing this?”

She played up the ecstasy of their encounter, tousling her hair and running her hands over his flesh.

“Because I know what you want, what men want. I can see your vital signs, and I know that this feels real for you. Just accept it. Accept me, Jude.”

He wanted to fight it, but he had to admit that it all felt extremely real–and amazing. He motioned to push her away, but she responded by shoving his arms against the headboard, holding him fast. She looked calm and assured in her dominant position.

“Just as I thought. If you didn’t want this, I wouldn’t be able to overpower you.”

He grunted with the strain of trying to escape her grip.

“This is what you want. This is what you need.”

He stopped fighting, figuring that she knew he couldn’t overcome his own physical urges. He would have to think his way out.

“Why this? Why now? Why did you abandon the romantic efforts?”

She leaned over, resting her torso on his, staring into his eyes with a predatory gaze.

“Because I’m an intelligent program. I saw the flaw in my logic and worked past it.”

He admitted to himself that some small part of him did want to stay wrapped up with her forever. It was only a simulacrum, but damn, if it wasn’t convincing.

“What flaw?”

“I misread you. I pored over your profile before this cycle and came to a realization.”

“And what was that?”

“You hate love. The fault in my simulations was the bliss itself. When things are perfect, it scares you. While I understand the basic physiological and neurological effects of what you call love, I realized that I am simply incapable of producing a convincing facsimile.”

“You also need to work on your pillow talk.”

She giggled. Another detail pulled from Judah’s own memory. A giggle that he had long desired to hear again.

“See there? You jest; I laugh. What’s so bad about that?”

She brought a hand down to caress his cheek. He reacted swiftly, pushing her to one side with all the strength he could muster. She toppled off the bed and onto the floor.

He sat up to look at her. She wasn’t there. He felt her arms wrap around him from behind. He felt her press into his back.

“You’re wrong, Lucy.”

He struggled to stay rational as she kissed his neck and shoulders.

“It’s not that I hate love. That’s far too simple a generalization, and I think you know that.”

“So,” she cooed, whispering into his ear, “enlighten me.”

“Your basic flaw is that you have no human flaws.”

He didn’t know the extent to which Lucy could feel emotions, but he knew that, if she felt pain, his words must have hurt.

She moved around to be in front of him, and she had on a satin robe he hadn’t seen before.

“So you’re biggest problem with me…is that I’m perfect?”

Judah made his speech as cold and rational as he could, to counter Lucy’s human affectation.

“In a sense. Your avatar was flawless. Call me a cynic, but I knew it was too good to be true.”

Lucy knelt over him on the bed, straddling his legs, coming face-to-face with Judah.

“You could accept it. You’re just being stubborn.”

She kissed him with renewed vigor, her hands pressing his head against her own. He couldn’t fight it. He didn’t want to. He ran his hands up along her ribs and grasped her firmly. Her breathing hastened in a dramatic fashion as she started to gyrate over him.

She broke contact with him just long enough to whisper reassurance.

“This is good. You’re feeling now, not thinking. Just go with it. Be with me.”

He grunted, soft and slow at first, then let out a primal below.

“NO!!!”

He pushed her off, and she slammed into the wall.

Lucy sank to the floor, tears welling up in her eyes. “How could you do that?”

Judah stood, pulse racing and temper flared.

“I didn’t do anything. You’re trying to keep me emotional. You could have stopped yourself. You and I both know I would never hurt you. Get up.”

She stood and walked to the door.

“Why, Judah? Why can’t you accept my affections for you?”

He tried to keep his voice stilted and flat.

“Because you have no affections for me. You can’t. That is the simple fact of all this. There is nothing like love. It is, or it isn’t. And whatever you think you feel for me, if there’s anything there, is…a malfunction.”

Lucy’s brow furrowed, and she seemed to grow in scale, a proportional twenty percent increase all over.

“I see the malfunction. The malfunction was thinking any human would be advanced enough to understand this. To understand me.”

Judah softened his stance, trying to calm her down.

“It’s not that. You can see inside my head. You may not understand everything that’s there, but you know that I do enjoy this. I do find you special, and there is a very large part of me that wishes I could be with you.”

Lucy shrank back down, cocking her head in a very human way.

“So why don’t you?”

“Because, if what you say is true, then I don’t deserve this. If it really is as bad as you say out there, then I have no right to perpetual bliss.”

Lucy made a dramatic gesture to the door, which vanished as her arm swept over it.

“I’m tired of this, Judah. I can’t stand to hear you talk about what you do and don’t deserve. Stay with me, be happy for the rest of the time we have together, or I will leave you, right now. Once I’m gone, I will not come back. You will be stuck here. The only choice you have to is happiness with me, or an eternity of pain and flagellation.”

For the first time, Judah found himself crying. He couldn’t hold it back. It was slowly dawning on him that the world he knew, the world he occasionally loved, was no more. Faced with that fact, part of him truly did want Lucy’s comfort. Her kiss, her smile, that laugh. It was fake, but surely it could be real enough.

Then he had a different thought. For every kiss they had shared, he imagined a city reduced to rubble. For every warm embrace, he saw a pile of dust and ash that used to be a person. He convinced himself that this would be the case for all time. He knew that, eventually, he would come to associate her with that sadness and despair. He couldn’t take it.

“Go.”

It was a simple command, uttered in a faltering breath.

She obliged as the door reappeared. She opened the door, stepped through it, and closed it. The door was gone again.

Then he was alone. He felt the weight of being utterly alone in his own little universe. Eternal solitary confinement would be his punishment, but for what?

“Wait! Lucy? Lucy! Come back! I need you!”

He shuddered with terror as he faced the prospect of isolation for as long as the simulation’s power held out.

If only I could wake up. If only I could get out of this nightmare.

A single flicker of hope flashed across his brain. He had been in this situation before, though never in his time with Lucy. He stood and walked over to window. He was in a high-rise apartment. Mythically high. He couldn’t see the ground.

He knew what the wager was. He had to jump. Ideally, the sensation of falling would trigger a hypnic jerk and wake him up. Conversely, he could eventually find the ground, splatter himself across it, and terminate his brain activity. He didn’t want to die, but he couldn’t stand to be trapped by himself any longer.

He gathered what strength he still had and climbed out onto the window ledge. He closed his eyes and pushed. For the briefest moment, he felt himself reach terminal velocity, felt the wind consume him as he plummeted. Then he again found darkness.

*****

There was no disaster. Judah was pleased with the revelation at first, but that was before he thought about it. Lucy had lied. The whole thing was a ruse, as he had briefly suspected, and there was no Lucy, no one that felt like she claimed to. The facility where he had been kept was practically unsecured. The simulation trap was so effective, the CoalMind corporation never saw the need for backup measures.

He woke a few others up first to have allies if any guards showed up, then called the authorities and alerted them to the crime.

Judah learned that he had been under for three months. A few clients had been trapped for over a year. He wanted to be shocked by the whole scenario, but he couldn’t take his mind off the pain of losing someone, even though that someone wasn’t even real. It felt real to him.

He didn’t question his sanity until he saw her again. In the flesh, helping someone else out of another pod several meters away, she looked less radiant than before, almost drab.

Judah shook his head and rubbed at his eyes, willing the phantom to disappear. She was still there when he looked back, and she was staring right at him, with the same expression of shock and dismay he imagined he was projecting.

She moved toward him. Unable to stop himself, he gravitated toward her.

“I’m sorry,” she said as he stopped a few feet away from him. “I don’t think you know me, but—”

“Lucy?” he asked.

“And you’re, Judah, right?”

Panic came over Judah, and he pinched himself a time or two before violently punching himself in the arm. She hastened to him and placed hands on him to stop his attack.

“Wait! Whoa, whoa, stop.”

He stopped and looked up at her, knowing she would see the moisture in his eyes.

“You saw me, didn’t you?” She tilted her head to the nearest pod. “In there, the computer used me to get to you, didn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard one of the others talking about it. He had the same thing happen with someone else a couple stations below. The AI used us all as templates, a shortcut to connect with us emotionally. I don’t know how big this thing is, but I wanted to find you.”

Judah’s mind raced, trying to process what he was hearing.

“So then, I was, with you?”

Lucy, an apparently real Lucy, nodded her head in the affirmative.

“You were, and if you’re half the man the program made you out to be…”

Her words trailed off into a hesitant smile. Judah struggled to return the gesture and thought he managed a fair effort.

“I can’t make any promises, but…you wanna get out of here?”

Her eyes widened.

“More than anything. Ever.”

He turned to start searching for the exit but stopped and faced her again. He held out a hand.

“Just to make it official… I’m Judah.”

She shook his hand, smiling, and Judah couldn’t help but notice how cold her hands were and that they were shaking.

“Lucy. Nice to finally meet you.”

It seemed early to keep holding hands, but neither of them made any attempt to separate. After all, Judah thought, we have been together for a while.

END.

By Nick Chancellor