"Five bucks says he's a no show." Barton said from the couch.

It had been a day since Tex had hired Junji. With five minutes left until eleven, Tex had been starting to get anxious.

"He'll show up." Tex replied.

"How would you know?"

Tex didn't answer, as he couldn't find a way to explain himself without oversharing. Luckily, a faint tapping on wood got Barton's attention off of him.

"Where's my five bucks?" asked Tex.

"Up your ass in about ten seconds if you don't answer the goddamn door."

The knock sounded again, just as quietly. Tex sprung up to his feet with the suspicion that Junji was knocking at the wrong door.

His suspicion was confirmed when he opened the door to see that Junji was knocking on the door opposite to the main office, where they'd met the day before.

"It's over here." Tex said. "Sorry, forgot to tell you yesterday."

Junji turned around to face him.

At first, Tex thought that Junji was wearing the same clothing he'd been wearing the day before. But after a moment, he realized that Junji was simply wearing new clothing of a very similar style.

Tex stepped out into the hall.

"It is alright." Junji replied.

"Good. Glad you made it."

Junji gave a questioning little glance at the door Tex was blocking.

"Before we go in." said Tex. "I gotta ask something of you."

"What's that?"

"What we do in here's kinda secret. Nothing I really want Uncle Sam picking up on, if you get what I'm saying."

"I don't."

"...Turn your phone off."

Junji let out a scoff. Tex winced in advance at the tin-foil hat wearing status he was about to get deemed with.

"You truly believe that the government is going to track us through my phone?" Junji replied.

"Uh--"

"My cell phone has been fitted with a black market audio scrambler so powerful that the Chinese empire could not decipher anything from it."

"...Oh."

"And trust me when I say that every camera has been well covered, including the one that Samsung did not inform me of upon my purchase."

For a short and anxious moment, Tex stared at Junji as he tried to think of a way to reply.

"So I guess you're real prepared to get 'snowed in', huh?" Tex asked with a tiny chuckle.

Junji didn't join him or even give a hum of amusement. In mild disappointment, Tex stopped laughing. He was beginning to suspect that Junji didn't have a sense of humor.

"We should go inside." Tex followed.

"Hmm."

"You, uh...You mind working with ladies?"

The question felt a bit rude, but Tex knew too little about the Japanese or Junji to take a risk.

"Of course." Junji replied. "As long as they stay at least five steps behind me."

"I--uh--"

Junji bent in half and burst into a fit of wild laughter. When Tex's heart rate had dialed back down to normal, he resisted the urge to shove Junji into the wall.

"Ha!" said Junji.

"Damn it, don't do that."

"I'm sorry to laugh. You just look very foolish."

Thankfully, Junji had gotten himself together by the time Tex had pulled him through the door. Tex gave his surroundings a quick scan.

Barton was at the table. Tala was on the couch with a laptop and a bowl of cherries.

"Hello." Junji greeted.

"This is Junji." Tex explained. "He's gonna be filling in for Marta now that she's--caught up. Y’all ready to meet him?"

Tala said nothing. Barton grunted.

"Fine." Tex followed, already annoyed. "We'll go over there."

Tex led Junji to the couch first. Thankfully, Tala stood up and waved upon their arrival.

"This is Tala." said Tex.

Tala Locklear was a young woman with a flat face and long, straight hair that fell halfway down her back. Tex was pretty sure she was twenty-five, although he'd never asked.

"Hello." Junji repeated.

"Tala knows more about computers than almost anyone in the world." Tex explained. "She could prolly work anywhere, but she chooses to work here."

"Hbragh." Tala greeted as about two dozen cherry pits rained from her mouth and onto the floor.

"That's nice. Barton, get the hell over here."

Barton groaned but got out of her seat. Thankfully, she'd managed to perk up a bit by the time she got to Junji.

"And this is Barton." Tex continued.

Barton extended her hand towards Junji's. Junji met her halfway and flinched at her grip.

"Lucy Barton." she greeted. "You might've heard of me."

Barton was a sixty-six year old woman with a shaved head and bad opinions. She had the darkest skin that Tex had ever seen, although she made it easy to forget about.

"Have I?" Junji replied.

"Yeah. I was in a lotta wars."

"Where have you served?"

"Name a country and I've been tortured in it."

Junji's face twisted to express an unreadable emotion.

"You wanna see a scar I got in Lebanon?" asked Barton.

"No." Junji answered.

Barton lifted her polo.

"This is where the bar came in." she explained as she pointed to her back. "I'd show you where it came out, but that was back when I still had breasts."

"You never had breasts." Tex muttered.

"Suck my taint."

Junji stared.

"Barton's a real brave soul." Tex said fondly. "Lord knows I don't got the balls to wear a camo golf shirt in public like that."

"I agree." Barton replied. "If he had balls, he wouldn't also have a woman's sense of humor."

"Sorry. Either way, I didn't expect you to get it."

While Tex's eyelid continued to twitch, Junji darted his gaze between the both of them.

"How long have you two known each other?" Junji asked.

"Too long." Barton replied.

"Twenty years." answered Tex.

"And, um." Junji continued. "Where did you meet?"

Tex exchanged a quick glance with Barton.

"I teamed up with the yokels to fight the commies back in Civil War II." said Barton.

"That ain't what happened!" Tex yelped.

"Yeah it was. Thought it almost didn't happen. Can't believe you sons of bitches really called that a military."

"We didn't. We called it an 'armed militia'."

Barton's face twisted with disgust.

"I know little of this war." Junji said. "I am interested in learning more, although I suspect that such a request may be difficult."

Tala cleared her throat. Tex looked over to see that her phone was out.

"The civil war of 2049 started when the South tried to secede for the second time tensions that arose during the 2044 election." Tala read. "From that formed both the New Union, or 'Newnion', who stood for good things, and the Anti-federacy, or 'Antederacy', who stood for racism, homelessness, and smelling like dirt."

"That ain't what happened, neither." Tex replied.

"Is that really what Wikipedia says?" Barton mumbled.

"Uhuh." Tala hummed.

"You don't really believe that, do you Tala?" asked Tex.

Tala chuckled to herself for a moment.

"Of course not. This is clearly pretty biased, especially the stuff about racism." she answered. "There was a reason Newnion troops were called 'the cloud'."

Tala's words caused Tex to laugh and cough at the same time, which only seemed to further Junji's confusion.

"What was your favorite part of the war?" Burton asked. "Mine was when Texas got bombed by Los Angeles."

"I don't wanna talk about the war." Tex groaned into his hand.

"Oh, come on. What's the point of going to war and getting tortured if you can't talk about it fifteen years later?"

"It's making Tala uncomfortable. She didn't support the Antederacy."

"No I'm fine." Tala replied.

Tex felt a quick burst of shame about having gotten so worked up in front of a newcomer. So desperately, he reminded himself of what he was supposed to be doing.

"None of this matters." said Tex. "Junji, do you got any other questions?"

"I have many questions." Junji replied. "But I doubt we will have the time today to answer them all."

"Well, what's your first question?"

"How do you know who's tetragramming?"

With a short hum, Tex pointed to Tala. Tala opened her bag and pulled out a familiar device.

"We use this." Tala answered.

"What is it?" asked Junji.

"It's a radar."

The radar itself was a red box about half the size of a brick. The cross streets outside their building were mapped out perfectly on the screen, and when Tala pinched it and zoomed out, the cities surrounding them began to show up. Several pink patches of varying saturation and size also littered the screen, and the radar had been fitted with a wrist strap.

It was always on, no matter what. They'd never messed with it too much with it out of fear of breaking it, but it had managed to easily survive the time that Tala had accidentally dropped it into a swimming pool from a seventh story window.

"The little dots are marks of discomfort." Tala explained. "When we find one that's really big--"

Tala zoomed out until she could see the entire country. Smack dab at the bottom of New York was a large circle, so dark that it was almost red. It stuck out substantially from the other dots.

"--then that's where we know to look." she finished. "Red dot that big is either someone tetragramming or a CIA experiment."

"Or the house of a child star." Tex added.

"Ah." Junji replied.

"We call it the Pain Finder Thing." said Barton.

"Elegant."

Tex gestured for the Pain Finder Thing. After Tala handed it to him, he zoomed in on the large red dot until he could see the cross streets.

"Guess we're going to New York." he noted.

"I have a question." Junji stated.

"What's that?"

"This device can locate discomfort in our universe to an impressive level of precision. Have you made sure it does not also pick up on hypothetical pain?"

"Huh?"

"Apologies for my sudden burst of skepticism, but have you made sure it either fails to pick up on hypothetical pain or differentiates it in some way? I've no interest in ending hypothetical pain."

With a sudden start, Tex's brain stopped lagging. He wasn't sure why it had taken him so long to process what Junji was asking.

"Oh--uh, no." answered Tex. "We tested for that first thing."

"Really."

"You wanna see how?"

"Very much so."

Tex nodded and pointed to the table.

"Tala." he started. "Do you got a character sheet?"

"Sure." Tala answered as a completed character sheet fell out of her shirt sleeve.

"What's a character sheet?" asked Junji.

"We're gonna do a role playing game." said Tex. "Barton, DM for Tala."

After shooting Tex a look to let him know he was going to regret ordering her around, Barton reluctantly sat down at the table. Tex found their location on the Pain Finder Thing and zoomed in until it only displayed their location

"Here, you hold it." Tex said as he passed the radar to Junji. "See any pink?"

Junji squinted at the screen.

"No." he replied.

"I'm ready." Tala announced.

Barton grunted. Tala passed her the finished character sheet.

"Alright." Barton started. "Mrs--"

Barton lifted the paper and squinted at the name section.

"--Omylia 'OJ' Jhaerithe." she finished.

"Uhuh?" Tala replied, her eyes wide with excitement.

"What do you do?"

"I--"

"Turns out it doesn't matter what you want to do, because the DM says that you're being tortured for all eternity."

Tala sucked in a loud breath of air.

"Not OJ!" she gasped.

"Anything?" Barton asked Junji.

"Actually, yes." he replied. "I'm picking up a small signal--"

Junji cut himself off as he caught a look at Tex's face.

"Nevermind." Junji followed with a gesture in Tex's direction. "It's coming from him."

"Why'dja have to torture her for eternity?" Tex asked Barton through his teeth.

They cleaned up shortly after Junji put the Pain Finder Thing down. Thankfully, he seemed content with the demonstration.

"Is everyone ready to see what we're up against today?" Tala asked as she set her laptop down at the table.

Tex positioned himself so that he could see. He urged Junji to do the same.

"You are accessing the dark web." Junji noted.

"Yes I am." Tala replied.

"Are we hiring a hitman?"

"We are the hitman. I just don't want my IP tracked."

Tex nodded in the hopes that it would make it look like he knew what was going on.

"I'm in." Tala said as she opened a browser and searched for Google Earth.

With the help of the intersections provided by the Pain Finder Thing, it didn't take Tala long to find a condo that fit the location exactly.

"Looks like his house is pretty nice." said Tala. "And I can see him through the window."

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Tex examined the screen to see a man eating lunch next to his window. The man was rather plain-looking, but Tex did his best to memorize his features.

"His name's David Burrows." Tala followed. "He's thirty-five years old, and he works at the gym."

"How do you know his name?" Junji asked.

"I read it off his mailbox."

"What about his age?"

"I made the other stuff up."

Tex exhaled with amusement.

"How will you deal with the cameras?" Junji pushed.

"We can pay to freeze the footage." Tala replied.

"What about the cameras on his computer and phone?"

"We can pay to freeze the footage."

"Really."

"Thaaat's capitalism."

"Yeah." Tex quickly replied. "Beneficial to our lives."

"Who does the money go to?" asked Junji.

"Google." Tala answered.

"...I don't know where else I would have expected."

Junji seemed ready to get to work, so they set out for the train station after packing up. Thanks to modern high speed rails, they managed to arrive in New York in less than fifteen minutes after passing through the four hours of security clearance. Tex traveled under a fake name to avoid his lifelong ban from both the rail system and the East Coast.

Junji also chose to use a fake identity.

It was late when they left the train, almost three thirty in the morning, but Barton thought it best they wait around for another half hour in the Zipcar they'd borrowed.

"The later the better." she said as she shoved half a sandwich into her mouth.

"Where'd you get that sandwich?" Tex asked.

"From the fridge."

"That was my sandwich."

"Was. Past tense."

Tex narrowed his eyes in thought.

"Taking handouts, huh?" he asked slowly.

"What?"

"Nothing. You're perfectly entitled to my sandwich. Just cause I made myself food and you couldn't be bothered to yourself don't mean there's nothing wrong with you stealing my shit, long as the government says it's ok, right?"

Tex’s sandwich was thrown at his head.

“Thanks.” he said as he peeled it from his face, taking it as a win.

After finishing the remaining half of his sandwich, Tex made his way over to Junji with Tala's backpack of stuff for the trip.

"Here." Tex said to Junji as he pulled a pair of gloves from the bag. "Put these on."

As Junji slid on the gloves, Tex put on his own pair. They were simple, thin gloves, just enough to cover his fingerprints.

"Is there anything else I must do?" asked Junji.

"Nah. Just try not to get your DNA everywhere."

"I will do my best."

"Is your phone off?"

"What do you think?"

Tex hummed in amusement. He could only hope that Junji didn't watch Ancient Aliens.

"You ready?" Tex pushed.

"I think so."

With the four of them, the car felt a bit cramped. Tala passed the time by asking them all which anime dad they'd most like to have sex with.

"Dojima Ryotaro." Junji replied.

"Hank Hill." said Barton.

"Y’all need Jesus." Tex answered.

By the time they got outside, the street was dark and empty. They were far away from the heart of the city for the roads to be residential. After only a few blocks that reeked of the upper middle class, they found the intersecting streets.

Tex just hoped breaking in wouldn't be too much of a problem.

"Hang on." Tala said as she unlocked her phone. "Pausing the neighborhood security cameras...now."

After slipping her phone into her pocket, Tala waved them all forward.

Tex was close enough to David's house to spot it from memory. But before he could open his mouth to say anything, Barton threw out a hand.

"Someone's coming." said Barton.

It was barely light enough for Tex to make out a figure of a man as it stepped out of the very house he'd had his eyes on. Thankfully, the figure paid them no mind and simply climbed into his car without a glance.

"Where the hell would he be going at this time of night?" Tex asked as the car engine hummed to life.

"Taco Bell." Tala replied.

The car was long gone by the time that they'd walked up to the front door. Tex reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny metal box the size of a dollar coin.

"What is that?" asked Junji.

"I'll show you." Tex answered as he tossed the box on the doormat.

The box slid under the door. Just a few seconds later, Tex heard the door unlock.

"Slides under doors and grows a little arm to pull or push the handle." Tex followed. "Got it in a Korean gadget store."

"Cameras in the house are taken care of too." said Tala. "And his phone, too, even though it's not exactly inside."

"Look at you. Supporting Google."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Not sure."

After sharing a glance with Barton, Tex opened the door. Tala stepped inside first.

There was a short hallway, and then the condo opened up into a large, well-lit living room. Tex's eyes were drawn to a photo on the wall.

It was a wedding photo of a man and a woman. The man was the same one they'd seen in the driveway, as well as on Tala's computer. Tex didn't recognize the woman.

The photo was covered in slash marks.

"Sign of a stable man." Tex said as he turned his attention away from the picture.

The condo was of an impressive size, especially considering its location. However, any luxury the place might have had was ruined by the disheveled nature of the inside, as well as the webs of black wires that ran along the floor and walls to support the car-sized computer sitting in the center of the living room.

"That is quite a large set up." Junji remarked.

"This is nothing." Tex replied. "When I first started doing this, folks needed computers the size of a house."

Tala took a seat in the throne of a black squishy chair in front of the massive monitor and put her bag next to her feet.

"We ready?" Tala asked as she grabbed her laptop from her bag.

"Not exactly, but why don't we go ahead anyway?" answered Tex.

"Sounds good."

With a little shake of her wrist, Tala wiggled the mouse. The screen hummed to life with the request of a password, fingerprint, and iris scan.

"It was worth a shot." Tala followed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tex caught Junji staring at Tala's hands as she plugged her laptop into one of the many Ethernet ports.

"What is she doing?" Junji asked Tex.

"Computer security is usually too powerful for us to fully break through." Tex explained. "But Tala's figured out a way to find files and edit them on her laptop."

Tala selected a file from David's computer on her screen and opened it in Notepad.

"Looks like it's just a basic universe with a single target." said Tala.

"You do not just delete the code?" Junji asked.

"Well that's kinda like...destroying a whole universe, ain't it?" Tex replied. "We reckon it's better to just add some bunnies and--give everyone mortality."

"Ah. I understand."

"Step one is figuring out how to ease the suffering of whatever poor soul's being tormented so that we can ask them what they want."

"Hmm..."

Tex looked over at Junji to see that his face was shrouded in confusion.

"What is it?" asked Tex.

"How would you ask such a thing?" Junji replied. "I could hardly believe--"

Junji pointed to Tala's laptop.

"--this computer is powerful enough to observe the program." he finished.

"You're right that my laptop isn't powerful enough." Tala replied. "But I do have a couple of computers that are. Two, in specific."

"Where are they?"

Tala answered with a short chuckle.

"We're the computers." Tex explained. "You and me."

"Huh." Junji hummed.

Tex looked over to see that Junji had the start of a small smile growing from the corner of his mouth.

"What?" Tex asked.

"I found what you said to be tasteful." answered Junji.

"There's a time fluctuation in this universe." Tala announced. "Every second out here is a thousand in there. Let me change it to one to one."

"Mmh." Tex replied.

"And...got it."

As Barton paced the ground anxiously, Tala pulled another familiar object from her bag. This one was a small box with three long cords that each stretched out to about thirty feet. Two of the cords were blue, while the third was green.

All three cords ended with a suction cup.

"What is that?" asked Junji.

Junji was asking far more questions than people usually did, although Tex didn't mind in the slightest. Tala stuck the green suction cup to the side of the computer.

"This is an adapter." Tala answered. "It's what's going to let you and Tex take a look at the torture file."

"Do you really gotta call it that?" Tex muttered.

"Grow up."

Along with Junji, Tex was handed a blue wire. Tex took a stand in the center of the room and motioned for Junji to follow.

"Stick the cup to your forehead." Tex instructed Junji after he'd situated himself.

"It will not--it won't--" Junji stammered. "Will it recreate my person inside the computerverse?"

"Computerverse. That's good." Tex mused.

"No." Tala said to Junji. "If you went in, you wouldn't be able to communicate with us. And we'd have to leave your perfectly sentient recreated self in the computer, and that would just be silly."

Junji's nodded with relief. After just a short moment, he opened his mouth back up.

"I'm quite surprised you own an adapter powerful enough to connect to humans." said Junji. "How did you come across it?"

"We found it with the Pain Finder Thing." Tala answered.

"Where did you find the Pain Finder Thing?"

"My friend Sean and I found them both in a dumpster behind McDonald's."

Junji blinked.

"We didn't know what they were." Tala continued. "I only took them because I wanted to see if I could get them to run Doom."

"...I understand."

"First time we booted it up, the screen was covered in a bunch of weird writing. Nothing from any language that's been documented. And it's way more advanced than anything I've ever seen."

"Aliens or time travelers." Barton said. "Only two explanations."

"I believe there could be another explanation." Junji replied.

"Nah. Those are the two that make the most sense."

Junji's eyes squinted in concern.

"I agree that those two explanations currently hold the most weight." he started. "But that does not mean that no other--hnnng nnnnng."

Tex only removed his hand from Junji's mouth when he stopped trying to talk.

"Are you two ready?" Tala asked.

"Ready when he is." answered Tex.

"What should I expect?" Junji questioned.

"A fever dream."

Barton came over and grabbed the blue cord from Junji’s hand.

"You just need stick this in your forehead." she explained.

"In?" Junji replied.

"On. You won't feel a thing."

Before Junji could say anything else, Barton stuck the suction cup to his forehead. Tex did the same to his own forehead with the wire in his hands.

The living room vanished from Tex's vision and was replaced with the familiar inside of a train car.

It was a small train car, only about twenty feet long. The inside was a lavish yellow velvet, and a bowl of mystery snacks not suitable for humans sat on a gilded table off to the side. The outside of the car was pure black, which peeked through the floor to ceiling windows.

A note on the windows read Tala was here.

"I don't understand." said Junji.

Tex looked to his left to see Junji's body, now semi-transparent to indicate his role as only a spectator.

"You aren't in the program yet." Tala's disembodied voice replied. "I haven't hooked you up to David's computer, so this is just what the adapter shows you when it isn't hooked up to anything."

"When it is, you'll be able to see what's going on through the windows." Tex explained as he pointed. "It's a lot easier to swallow than just being...dumped in the program."

"Is this your code, Tala?" Junji asked.

"No." Tala replied. "But I can make changes to it. Like this."

The sound of Tala clicking her mouse a few times was quickly followed by the appearance of a new throw rug. Tex examined the throw rug to find that it displayed the image of Kim Possible engaged in a passionate embrace with Benito Mussolini.

Tex stopped examining the throw rug.

"This adapter is very impressive." said Junji. "I was initially surprised it was powerful enough to connect to us, but I'm now more impressed that humans are able to connect to it."

"Yeah." Tala replied. "They actually weren't until I enabled backwards compatibility."

Tex jumped when he felt Barton's invisible hands on his shoulders.

"Give me your gun." Barton said as she shoved her hand into his pocket.

Tex sighed but let Barton take his gun. He didn't like to be without it, but it was probably for the best.

"Am I physical?" Junji asked as he poked Tex in the cheek.

"Kinda." Tex replied. "Though the reason I felt that is cause you just did that in real life."

"Ah!" Junji exclaimed as an invisible force shoved him forward a few feet.

"You're welcome." Barton's voice said from behind the two of them. "Tutorial over. Can we start now?"

"I want to make sure Junji understands how the train works," Tala told Tex, "so I'm going to put you two in my own file before we start. Is that alright?"

"Sure." Tex replied.

As Tala clicked her mouse a few more times, Tex took off his gloves and encouraged Junji to do the same.

"There you go." said Tala. "Select the file called 'testing'."

"The windows are still dark." Junji noted.

"Oh yeah." Tex replied with a chuckle. "We gotta turn them on first."

Tex walked over to the windows and placed his hand on the glass. He could feel it under his fingers, cold and almost slick.

"The window needs at least two hands with different fingerprints to activate." he explained. "Try touching the window."

Junji nodded and stepped forward. As soon as he'd added one of his hands, the window sprung to life with the image of Tala's laptop home screen.

"Touch the file icon with your free hand." Tex told Junji.

Junji complied. He quickly found the file labeled 'testing' and tapped on it with his finger.

Immediately, an even larger image of Kim Possible and Mussolini appeared on the screen from floor to ceiling.

"Goddamn it, Tala." Tex muttered.

Junji removed his hand, and the image disappeared. He put his hand back, and the image reappeared.

"Why does the window require two people to turn it on?" asked Junji.

"We don't really know." Tala admitted.

"Maybe it's a protocol measure." Tex said. "To make sure that whatever's going on is at the consent of more than one person."

"Maybe it doesn't matter to us at all." Barton replied. "I wanna be home for dinner."

"Barton's cocaine dependency makes her real impatient." Tex said to Junji. "It's sad, really. Don't do drugs."

"The only drugs I take are hard work and ketamine."

"Alright." said Tala. "I'm attaching you to the computer right now. Any last questions?"

"What's the file name?" Tex wondered.

"Ex-wife."

"What will you be doing?" Junji asked Tex as he selected the file.

"I'm gonna be figuring out how to fix what's going on." Tex replied.

"And what will I be doing?"

"You're gonna be making sure I keep at least one hand glued to the window."

Junji looked a bit confused but didn't ask any more questions. With all four of their hands on the window, the scene before them changed.

The inner-workings of man-made universes were often a bit hard to interpret, although the train windows usually did a good job of presenting information to Tex in a way that was digestible to him. This particular universe was nothing more than a small, stained room made of cracked grey stone. In the center of it, a screaming woman laid tied down in a cot while an orangutan ripped her face off.

Tex took his hands off the window. The scene disappeared.

"Huh?" asked Junji.

"Nothing." Tex answered as he put his hands back on.

The image sprung back into life, as well as the piercing scream. Tex immediately felt himself start to sweat.

"Can you find anything about a young lady?" Tex asked Tala through grit teeth.

"Let me check." Tala replied.

Tex gulped as his heart began to pick up with hatred. The scene before him was so awful that he wasn't sure how much longer he could stand to watch. As provided by the speaker on the train, the messy, tortured thoughts of the woman filled the air.

"Her name is Sarah." he said. "She's his ex-wife."

"Yeah, I found her asset." Tala replied.

"I believe the first thing we should do is get rid of the orangutan." said Junji.

"No." Tex quickly cut in. "Tala, find the monkey and check to see if it's conscious."

After a moment, Tala clicked her tongue.

"It is." Tala said. "She also has an asset."

"It's his mother." Tex realized in horror. "Or it was. He locked her in there."

"I can see that. I'll see if I can get her out."

Knowing that he was being counted on to fix the situation, Tex suppressed his urge to vomit and continued to look through the window.

He managed one glance over at Junji to see if he was doing alright. He found that Junji looked fine, if not a bit bored.

"I believe the scene may have looped." Junji said calmly. "Her face just restored itself."

Tex took a short moment to listen to the thoughts swirling around the room.

"You're right." he replied. "But she knows it's looping, and that she's stuck there."

As Tex spoke, he squeezed his eyes shut.

"She's been there for a real long time." Tex followed.

"Are you alright?" asked Junji.

"Uh."

Tex was not alright.

"I think I know how to get the mother out." Tala said.

In an instant, the orangutan phased away and was replaced by a sobbing older woman.

"Did it work?" Tala followed.

"Yes." Junji replied.

The wife continued to scream. It took Tex a moment to figure out what the source of her pain was, but when he did, he took his hands off the window.

"Are you alright?" Junji repeated.

"I don't wanna do this." Tex coughed as he sunk to the floor.

Quietly, Tex cried out as Junji grabbed one of his hands and placed it on the window. Junji then maneuvered his own hand so that both their palms touched the glass.

"What is still hurting her?" Junji asked.

Tex didn't know where to begin. Any explanation he could think of felt too horrible to say.

"She's getting cut up from the inside." he explained. "She's got--razors running around inside her."

It took Tala a long time to fix the problem, and it took a lot of polite but firm physical persuasion from Junji to keep at least one of Tex's hands on the window. By the time they'd finished, Tex had managed to sweat through his shirt.

"Take me out." Tex pleaded. "I don't want to remember."

Reality returned as the suction cup was pulled from Tex's forehead.

"I can't do this anymore." Tex muttered to Barton as she reached into her pocket. "Don't make me go back in. Please don't--"

Barton removed the thin silver pen from her pocket and pressed it into the tiny metal plate on the back of Tex's neck.

"When it is, you'll be able to see what's going on through the windows." Tex explained as he pointed. "It's a lot easier to swallow than--why am I on the floor?"

Barton waved the pen in front of Tex's face.

"Oh." Tex happily followed. "So's the job done, or do I gotta go back in?"

"It's almost done." Tala answered. "We just have to find out what they want to do."

"What is going on?" asked Junji.

"I just wiped the last twenty minutes of his memory." Barton explained.

"...You can do that?"

"Yeah, I swiped a memory whatever from Major Anderson after he ate my microwave burrito."

Tex restuck the suction cup to his forehead. The train reappeared before him, as well as two very shaken women.

"How'd it go?" Tex asked Junji.

"I've little to compare it to." Junji replied. "So I'm unsure how to answer."

"Hello?" the younger woman asked.

Junji waved. Neither of the women noticed.

"You and Tex can't actually communicate with them." Tala explained. "I'll send in a pre-programmed guide to spell out the situation to them and ask them what they want."

With a flash of white smoke, Jesus Christ appeared in the room with the two women.

"Why is Jesus the pre-programmed guide?" asked Junji.

"...Why not?" Tex answered.

Jesus began to explain the situation to the women, who listened with expressions of disbelief. Whenever they asked a question, Tex cited it to Tala who then typed in Jesus's response.

It took the women about twenty minutes to understand the entire situation. Upon understanding, Sarah asked that her ex-husband be killed.

"I'm not usually in support of murder, but we will make sure of it." Jesus replied.

David's mother chose to be deleted, which Tala was able to do with ease. Sarah, however, chose to continue her existence on the grounds that she'd be able to die anytime, and that they'd return if her world became corrupted again. To keep her company, Tala added a planet with some bunnies, seventeen new elements to play with, and an assortment of bachelors.

"Can she orgasm?" Junji questioned.

Although Tex wasn't drinking anything, he still managed to spit something out.

"...What?" Tex asked once he'd finished sputtering.

"What?" Junji replied.

After they'd finished, Tala sped time back up on Sarah's end as much as the computer would allow it. The scene before Tex began to shift into a blur too rapid for him to make much out. After just a few minutes, Tex notified Tala that there was no longer any signs of life.

"Well," Tala said slowly, "she made it about five-hundred years before peacefully yeeting herself."

"Longer than usual." Tex replied. "You must've done a good job with the world."

"Yep, we can shut down the program now."

The windows of the train car turned dark for a moment before it returned to the file select screen. Tex put his gloves back on. Although Junji looked like he had a few more questions, he was interrupted by Barton clearing her throat.

"We're about to get some company." she said. "Everybody, shut it."

Tex pulled the cord from his head. After helping Junji take off his, he fell silent along with everyone else.

There was a click as the front door opened and closed.

David was on his phone as he turned the corner. Had Barton not cleared her throat again, Tex wouldn't have been surprised if he'd tried to sit down on top of Tala.

"What the fuck?" David yelped as he looked up from his phone.

David's face matched the picture from the wedding photo perfectly. Had it not, Tex might have had a harder time pulling the gun out of his pocket and turning off the safety.

Tex's handgun was a lightweight semi-automatic pistol with a built-in silencer and eight shots if properly topped off. With its body of clear, hard plastic and its unique ability to fold into a neat little box that could hold a handful of dice perfectly, it proved itself able to get through any metal detector. In a single double action shot, Tex landed a bullet right through David's eyes.

The gun had cost him a fortune.

"Famous last words." Tex said as David's body crumpled to the ground.

David had been carrying a brown paper bag, which fell to the floor alongside him. Tex immediately began to wonder what was inside.

"Welp." Barton said as she knelt down next to David. "Time to make it look like he shot himself."

"What's in the bag?" asked Tala.

"...Taco Bell."

"Good. That'll help."

Something felt like it was missing. Tex snapped his fingers when he realized what it was.

"Feels weird to do this without a sermon." Tex noted.

Barton and Tala muttered in agreement. Junji raised an eyebrow.

"Sermon?" he asked.

"Marta was big into those." Tex replied.

"Ah."

While Tala spread Diablo sauce on David's corpse in an artistic fashion, Barton planted a cheap handgun they'd gotten from the pawn shop that also fired .380 rounds in his right hand.

"You take a bullet out?" Tex asked Barton.

"Did you take a bullet out?" Barton mocked. "Fuck off."

"Is this what you always do?" asked Junji.

"Pretty much." Tex replied.

Once Tala had finished with the Taco Bell, Barton fished David's phone from his pocket.

"His phone's unlocked." Barton said as she checked the screen. "If you were gonna kill yourself, what music would you play?"

"All Naruto opening theme songs compilation." Tala answered immediately.

Tex couldn't help but feel a little guilty until he remembered that he didn't actually feel guilty at all.

"How did he manage to recreate his ex-wife inside of a program?" Junji asked.

"Black market DNA converters." Tala replied.

"So that's what they are used for..."

"Well, originally they were made to help Dick Cheney try to download himself into a robot body."

"Did he--did it work?"

"Yeah, but not like he hoped. He was dumb enough to think that it would somehow transfer his consciousness, but all it did was create a second Dick Cheney."

Tex narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"I thought Dick Cheney was dead." said Tex.

"He is." Tala replied. "And his robot copy, too."

"How'd they die?"

"That's a funny story, actually. They both shot each other in the head at the same time in separate hunting accidents."

Not wanting to spend too much time in David's house, they quickly retreated after Barton had finished laying David's body out in a positioned that fit with the location and angle of the bullet in the wall.

"Aaaand, the cameras in the house are back on." Tala said once they'd gotten out of the block.

"Will the police not wonder why the footage was frozen during the time of David's death?" Junji asked.

"They prolly won't even look." Tex replied. "We just did that to make sure we don't get caught if they figure something's up."

"Why wouldn't they look?"

"No one ever really puts up a fuss about the guys we kill."

Junji didn't reply. As Tex ran his own words back through his head, he felt a quick twinge of guilt.

Although he wasn't sure why.

Every camera that they'd turned off had been turned back on by the time they'd gotten back to the car. Tex folded up his gun and put it back in his pocket.

"Why did you learn to shoot?" Junji asked.

"Somebody had to put horses down." answered Tex.

Tala drove them to the train station with her bag of tech shit in the passenger seat. Tex sat with Barton in the middle row, while Junji sat in the back.

"I'm tired." Barton announced.

"I have a question for you." Junji said to Barton.

"What is it?"

"Might I ask you how your memory eraser works?"

"Yeah, sure."

Without Tex's permission, Barton yanked him over and made him tilt his head so that Junji could see the back of his neck.

"You gotta have the receptor in your neck for it to work." she said as she pointed to the small metal plate. "Now that I think about it, I was supposed to give you one before we shipped out today."

Junji said nothing.

"So, uh, sorry if you got scarred for life." Barton followed.

"That's alright." Junji replied.

Barton took a tiny plastic bag out of her pocket. After opening it and pulling out another tiny metal plate, she climbed halfway over her seat.

"Here." she said as she brought her hand around to the back of Junji's neck. "I can do it now."

"I do not want--"

Barton stuck the plate into Junji's neck before he could protest. A moment after she pulled her finger away, his face contorted with pain.

"Oh, yeah, it's really painful." Barton noted.

"Hhhaah..."

"I thought it would be better if you didn't know."

"You alright?" Tex asked Junji as he fell sideways in his seat and curled up in a little ball.

"He's fine." Barton answered as she gave Junji a poke with her finger. "Stop being a little girl."

Tex waited for Barton to put her headphones on and immediately start snoring before unhooking his seat belt and climbing into the backseat. Junji was still curled into himself, his face soaked with sweat.

"How long will this last?" Junji muttered.

"About ten minutes." Tex replied. "You want some morphine?"

"No, I will make do."

Tex stayed in the backseat with Junji even after his breathing started to regulate. He couldn't help but feel like he should have prepped Junji better.

"Sorry for not giving you more details before I hired you." said Tex.

"It's fine."

"I just...I don't want too many people knowing what we're doing, and how we're doing it. Things could get real messy real quick."

"Trust me when I say I understand."

Junji was doing a lot better once they got back to the train station. Still, Tex felt bad.

"You alright?" Tex muttered to Junji as the train departed.

"I am fine." Junji replied. "You worry too much."

"Good. You up for doing this again?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright. We got a meeting at noon tomorrow."

"Same place?"

"Yeah."

Junji nodded. Tex supposed that Junji's first day could have gone worse.