Rick
February 10, 1988. 5:21 p.m. My living room. Mommy and daddy have been gone all of yesterday… and they’re still not back. Did they abandon me? I mean, Ruby is nice and all, but I want my mommy and daddy! Ruby doesn’t let me eat all the ice cream I want! I- Oooh Transformers is back on! Heck yeah! I plant my butt in front of the TV and watch Optimus Prime be super cool until I hear the front door creek open.
Daddy trudges in and Mommy follows close behind him with a blanket bundled to her boobs. Each of them grab a beer from the fridge and sit down at the sofa next to me.
“Guys!” I get up and look at them. “Why are you drink-”
Daddy glares at me. “Just shut up.”
“Sorry… sorry…” I kick the carpet. “Where get blankets?”
Mommy smiles at me. “That’s no way to talk to your sister.”
“... Sister!? Lemme see! Lemme see!”
Mommy undoes some of the blankets and I see a little baby’s head. It looks so smooth and squishy. She’s sleeping like a baby. Heh. I’m so funny. “Meet your sister, Angela.”
“Angela…” I wave my hands super fast. “Hi, Angela! I’m brother, Nick!”
The baby keeps sleeping.
“Wake her up! I wanna talk!”
“Angela can’t talk, Nick.” Mommy chuckles.
“Oh no…” I tap the side of my head. “Is she slow mind?”
“She better not be.” Dad wipes his mouth.
“No, Nick.” Mommy shakes her head. “Babies can’t talk.”
“What!? I talked when I was a baby!”
“Uh huh.” Mommy looks down at Angela for a second. “Do you want to hold her?”
“Yes yes yes!!!” I jump for joy. “Gimme gimme gimme!”
Mommy places Angela in my arms.
I hold her close to my chest and begin rocking her back and forth.
“CHRIST, NICK!” Daddy yells. “SLOW DOWN!”
I jump and nearly drop Angela… but she’s still sleeping like a baby. Heh. Makes me laugh every time. “Sorry! Sorry!” I slow down a lot a lot a lot and keep her in my arms.
“How do you feel?” Mommy asks.
“... Warm?” I look at Angela. “She is like a little puppy. I… I want protect. I want her happy! I want to teach her Nintendo and games! I can teach Transformers and My Little Pony!”
Mommy and Daddy lean back in the sofa and stare at the ceiling.
I don’t care. I’m too busy hugging Angela. “Angie wangie. I promise to be bestest big brother ever! Just you wait! With you and me together, we will be unstoppable!”
Vivian
November 29th, 2007. 5:46 p.m. Rickville City Hall Interior. After riding the elevator for about five minutes, we finally reach a floor that looks straight out of a Pokemon endgame. Cool floor design, intricate pillars, even has the same music. I feel like I’m going to get sued just standing here. At the other end of the room, I see a four-foot tall yellow hedgehog standing with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face.
We step out of the elevator into the room and the elevator slams shut behind us.
“Mwahahaha… welcome evildoers. I am the one - the only - Rickichu.” he stretches his arms out and lightning begins to arc off his fingers. “If you wish to proceed, you will have to beat me in a Pokemon battle. I shall go fi-”
“Josh.” Angela yawns. “Use Gun.”
“Got it.” Josh pops two bullets into Rickichu’s chest. The hedgehog goes tumbling off his feet and falls against a pillar.
Confetti shoots out of the walls, joyous music fills the room, and the doorway behind Rickichu opens.
“Come on.” Angela walks right past Rickichu and towards the door. “We’re almost done.”
As I pass Rickichu, he grabs me by the ankle. His eyes harbor no anger, resentment, or fear, but gratitude. He looks up at me with a weary smile as he clutches his chest. “Wait… I want to talk to you…”
Josh moves to point the gun at him, but I slap it away. “Let him speak.”
“Why?” Angela asks without looking back. “He’s got nothing important to say.”
“We won’t know till we listen.”
“Whatever.” Angela sighs and continues walking away. “I’ll be waiting in the elevator.”
“Here. Take this just in case.” Josh hands me his piece. “I’m going to wait with Angie.”
“Me too. I cannot take it here any longer.” Sejong follows Josh into the elevator.
I nod at my party before looking back down Rickichu. Got the gun pointed at him with my finger on the trigger just in case.
“Relax…” Rickichu coughs. “If I wanted you dead, I could have killed you by now…”
“What makes you so sure of that?”
“Please…” Rickichu smiles. “I’m basically God here… Rick’s granted me each and every Tech you can think of. Heck, my power level in the lore is infinite… I’ve never been defeated until now.” he coughs violently.
“If you’re so strong, how are you dying right now?”
“Because… because I want to…”
“What? Did Rick make you suicidal?”
“Pfft… nah… He’d never do anything like that… I just learned it.”
“Why would you want to die? Aren’t you treated like a god here?”
“Please… I am no god. I’m nothing but a self-insert fantasy for Rick. Sure, the adoration and saving the city was fun the first decade… but it was the same thing day after day after day.” Rickichu’s eyelid starts to look heavier by the second. “Beat this villain, hang out with Rick, have sex with his other characters… Nothing changes. I wasn’t allowed to do anything else but be Rickichu, protector of Rickville.”
“Did Rick program you with this level of intelligence and free will?”
“Initially… I was just like all the other Reginachus and Rickichus… Just a character to play in Rick’s story. Nothing more. Nothing less. Then one day, I’m not sure how… I awoke to justice. I grew weary of this world and Rick’s grasp on it.”
“I see…” I lower the gun. “Well… mission accomplished, I guess? You’re on your way out now.”
“Yeah… thank you.” Rickichu gives the only genuine smile I’ve seen in this world. His eye looks alive.
“Want me to finish you off now?”
“Not yet…” Rickichu shakes his head. “I have one more question…”
“Ask anything you like.”
“What’s the outside world like? Rick would always complain about it… I want to know what it’s really like.”
“Well…” I collect my thoughts. “The architecture’s the same. There’s only a little bit less advertisements. Everyone’s human instead of hedgehogs.”
“Good…” Rickichu cackles. “I’ve always hated this grotesque body. Are there villains as well?”
“Oh yeah. There’s a bunch of villains, but there’s also a bunch of heroes too.”
“How’s the food? Are there still chilidogs out there?”
“Food’s A+. You get way more restaurants and variety out there than in here. There’s even some bomb chilidogs about ten minutes from where I live.”
“That sounds nice…” Rickichu smiles and closes his eyes. “Doesn’t sound that much different from in here…”
“Trust me, Rickichu. There’s a lot of places out there that are better than Rickville, but there’s also a bunch of places that are way, way worse.”
“I believe that… and yet… I would still like to see them… all of them.”
“Anything else?” I ask.
“How’s the beach? Rick still hasn’t finished the beach.”
“As beautiful as it is terrifying. It’s where all life began and where all life eventually returns to. We know as much about its depths as we do outer space, and yet it is familiar to all of humanity.”
“Hmph…” Rickichu smiles. “How poetic.” his breathing starts to slow. “Actually… please forgive me. I have one more question.”
“No need to apologize, dude.” I bend down and pat his quills. “Ask as many questions as you like.”
“What happens when I die?”
“You’re a good man.” I smile. “Doesn’t matter if you’re human or hedgehog. Code or blood, good men go to heaven.”
“Good…” a single, giant tear falls from his gross eyelid. “Maybe I’ll be free there.” he coughs violently once more. “Okay… I’ve had my fill. Go on. Send me to heaven. Send me to the Bear.”
“May I ask a question?” I stand back up and check the chamber.
“Please…”
“Is there any way to skip ahead to Rick’s room? Angela’s getting kind of cranky and dinner time’s almost here.”
“That I can help with…” he raises his finger and points to the corner behind him. “The collision on that corner is wonky… Just walk back into it while holding something, and you’ll skip right to Rick’s room.”
“Thank you, Ric-” I shake my head. “Do you have a name you would prefer to be called?”
“Honestly… call me Sonic.” his arms fall limp to the floor.
I manage to stifle a chuckle. “Why Sonic?”
“Because I cannot think of a more kind and noble hero.” Rick opens his wet eye and smiles up at me. “To share his name would be an honor.”
“Alright.” I nod and point the gun at him. “Any last requests? Anything you want me to remember you by?”
“No.” Sonic shakes his head. “You’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever been.” he closes his eyes and bows his head. “Now, please. Free me from his tyranny.”
“Sayonara, Sonic the Hedgehog.”
Before I can pull the trigger, Rickichu’s mouth utters one last sentence. “I wonder what my life would have been like… if you had created me…”
With one press of a button, Rickichu ceases to be. His model flashed for three seconds before disappearing into nothingness.
“Thank god!” Angela barks from the elevator. “Can we get a move on now?”
“Yeah.” I chuck the gun back to Josh and he catches it. “He told me a way to skip to Rick’s room.” I point to the corner. “All we gotta do is clip through the corner.”
Angela rushes over and runs back-first into the corner. She drops her backpack and goes flying up through the ceiling.
“You okay?” I ask looking up at the corner.
“Yeah!” Angela’s voice rattles through the wall. “I’m right in front of Rick’s room. It’s safe. Rest of you come in.”
I show Josh how to clip and he goes flying up through the wall while delivering a very feminine, very adorable screech.
“Your turn, Sejong.” I point to the corner.
“I’m… good.” she shakes her head. “I’ll just go through the rest of the challenges.
“I wasn’t asking.” I smile and tackle Sejong into the wall and send her flying up through the ceiling.
“AAAAAH NONONONONO- oh… That… wasn’t too bad actually.” Sejong speaks through the wall.
I clip through the wall as well and end up in what looks like the gates of heaven. Big shiny gates, heavenly light everywhere, we’re high up in the sky and even standing on clouds. The clouds feel so soft… Gravity’s also weaker too. I’m just bouncing up and down having a good old time while Angela and Sejong argue beneath me.
“I’m going in there alone.” Angela points to the gates. “Don’t try to stop me.”
“No! I’m not going to let you kill your brother.” Sejong stands between Angela and the gates with her arms outstretched. “It isn’t right!”
“Sejong. Buddy. Pal. Hopefully future butt buddy.” Angela puts her hand on Sejong’s shoulder. “Relax. I’m not going to kill him.”
“I don’t believe you.” Sejong looks the fiercest I’ve ever seen her.
“Welp.” Angela smiles. “That sucks.” Angela digitizes herself and Sejong and teleports out of here. Twenty seconds pass and Angela zaps back in front of the gates. “There we go.” she dusts her hands off and looks back at us. “Any other objections?”
“Nah.” Josh yawns and lies down on the clouds.
“What about you?” Angela looks up at me.
“Where’d you put Sejong?”
“Relax, I just plopped her back out into the dorm room.”
“In that case, don’t mind me. I’ll just be here bouncing around. Do what you will.”
“Good.” Angela turns her back to us and starts pushing the gates open. “Wait here till I come back.”
“Well… yeah. How else are we going to get out of here?” I ground pound on a cloud and propel myself even higher.
“Oh. Yeah.” Angela pops the gate open and looks back at us to smile and wave. “Toodles.”
“Toodles.”
Angela
November 29th, 2007. 5:51 p.m. Rick’s ‘Office’.
I open the doors and just see nothing but plain white space that stretches on forever and Rick sitting down playing with a bunch of custom-made action figures and Legos. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I’m sure I’d be pissed no matter what I saw. All I can hear is the sound of my own heartbeat and my own footsteps. “Hey, Rick.” I can barely contain myself. “Whatcha doing there?”
“Angela!” Rick drops his figures and begins scuttling backwards away from me like the little cockroach he is. “I-impossible! H-how did you get past my Elite Four!? No one’s ever gotten past them!”
“Just… shut up.” I rub my temple and grit my teeth. “Just be quiet for once in your life…”
“Mother! Barby!” Rick grows louder and starts sweating profusely. “Help me! Angela’s being mean to me again!”
“Mom can’t help you now!” I sprint forward and stomp down on Rick’s stomach. Nearly slipped off his belly and heard a gross squishing sound, but I don’t care… I’ve been waiting for this for far too long. “If you wanted her to help you, why did you kill her!?”
“I didn’t kill her! Honest! She just tried to chase me into the computer and her far- fas- face exploded!” he whines like the pig he is and tries to shove my leg off his stomach.
“You said earlier you didn’t know she died!” I stomp down on his gut over and over, but it doesn’t look like I’m hurting him… just annoying him. “Which is it!?”
“I’m sorry! When you make me the stressed, my mind goes all woowoo and my words don’t come out good!” Rick continues to flail.
“STOP LYING!” I lift my leg and stomp down on his throat and dig my heel in. “FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE! STOP LYING!”
“AIYEEE!” Rick starts crying. “OKAY OKAY! FINE! YOU GOT ME! I KILLED HER! BUT I DIDN’T MEAN TO!”
“You have ten seconds to explain before I kill you.” I feel my face begin to contort and my breathing go haywire. Never felt better. I can’t stop myself from moving. This is great.
“She she tried to take my week- monthly check, b-but I told her no… She got real scary, then I got really scary… then I don’t know what happened, and then she wouldn’t wake up. I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Really!”
“Is that how it was for the twelve other people you killed?” How am I going to do this… Should I bash his skull in? Impale him? Wring his neck? Tear him limb from limb? There’s so many choices… It’s a shame I only get to kill him once.
“No no! I remember those murders very clearly. They were just and had to be done for the sanctity of Rickichu and Rickville.” Rick nods. I can see the sweat slide in and out between his chins.
I laugh. “So you totally killed those people?”
Rick looks like he just crapped himself. For all I know, he totally could have. “Wait wait! No no! That is not what I meant! Gosh dog darnit! You’ve done and twisted my words ag-ggh!” Rick sounds like a frog in a microwave as I put all the weight I can on his neck.
“Sssh…” I put my finger to his lips. “Just be quiet… You’ve said everything you need to. You’ve had your fun. You’ve been able to avoid consequences your whole life… It’s time to stop this.”
“Angela…” Rick manages to muster enough strength to barely lift my leg off his neck. “Please… I just want to live peacefully in the computer… I’m done with the outside world. It’s so mean and icky and full of grossness and wars and villains. Can’t we just bring everyone in here and live? You could have the school life you always wanted. We could have the friends we always wanted. We can finally live without the bullies and the trolls and you won’t have to work for money…”
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For some arcane, unholy, stupid reason, I don’t bash his face in right here and now. “Is that what the merge is? Just running away? You don’t want to work and people are too scary, so you just want to retreat into your little hole?”
“The outside world is a hole… You must have revel- ratio- realized that by now. There’s too many villains. Only sadness and prickly-wicklies out there… Everyone can just live with their favorite characters and OCs inside here. There’s no downsides in here... I just need your help… With our powers combined, we can make heaven. We can just live with our characters and be the heroes we deserve to be… doesn’t that sound great?”
I grab his neck and stare him dead in the eye for what will hopefully be the last time. “Rick… You will never be happy. You cannot make others happy. You, mom, and dad only harm everything you touch. You have done nothing but prove again and again that you are incapable of making the world a better place…”
“It’s not my fault. It’s the auti-”
Before Rick can finish, I sit on his stomach and just start punching his face as hard as I can. Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. My knuckles are now caked in blood. The sound of knuckle colliding with flesh echo through the space until I hear a distinct snap. Rick’s nose is smashed in. Snot, tears, and blood now stream down his face and onto my hands. I don’t care. I just keep going. No matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs, no matter how much he bleeds, I keep going. If anything, seeing him bleed only makes me punch harder. I see his nose cave in and hear his feeble nose bones get ground into chunks. My knuckles get cut open. My arms grow tired, but I don’t stop. I’ve waited too long to stop this now.
As I continue to pummel his face into dust, I feel my stomach grow… twisted. I can feel bile move up my throat and my eyes begin to water. I can barely see. I refuse to vomit. I can’t stop now… Not after everything I’ve been through… It wouldn’t be fair. My throat begins to tighten as Rick’s nose starts to produce gooey sounds every time I punch it. Good thing he still has eyes. I’m exhausted. My body really wants me to stop. I can’t let it. I refuse to let it. My head feels like it's ready to explode, yet empty at the same time. All reason and humanity has vacated my mind. Some may say that I am below even a wild boar at this point and that’s okay. I don’t care. I don’t care what I am. I don’t care if this is right or wrong. I don’t care if I rot in hell for eternity. I don’t care if he haunts my dreams for the rest of my life. This is what he deserves. This is what I’ve earned.
“Why are you doing this…?” Rick manages to cough through layers of blood and mucus.
“Because nothing good awaits you. You just refuse to improve yourself. It’s either you die here or you continue to slowly rot and fester away. Trust me, I’m doing you a favor.”
“That’s… not… true…” Rick spits out some blood onto my lap. “I’m the hero of Rickville…”
“You’ve done nothing but steal, harass, and assault others your whole life… and now you’ve started killing people. I should’ve done this a long time ago…” I clamp my hands around his fat neck and start squeezing as hard as I can. “You are a waste of oxygen… The world is better off without you.” I feel my nails dig into his neck and pierce his skin. My thumbs press down on his swollen Adam’s Apple. Maybe I can make it pop if I squeeze hard enough.
He continues writhing and flailing like a limp noodle in warm water. His hands try to pry mine off him, but he gives up after three attempts. He’s too lazy to even try and save his own life. I squeeze and squeeze and squeeze, but he refuses to die. I feel his blood pop out of his neck and leak onto my fingers like puss from a freshly-popped pimple. His face slowly turns blue and his eyes start to lose focus and turn bloodshot. Almost there… just keep it down. My body feels light as a feather, but my brain feels like it got injected with a ton of lead. I can barely sit up. All my energy is going into just maintaining my grip. My entire body is shaking, but my arms are rigid.
“Ang...ela…” Rick gasps. One of his eyes barely manages to roll forward to focus on me for what I assure will be the last time. “You… are… my only friend…”
“Stop pretending you’re sad.” I feel all my fingers poke into something. A sloshy, goopy noise echoes through the area and buries itself deep into my brain. I feel something finally collapse between my hands and Rick finally stops moving. His eyes roll back and his head collapses on the floor. My breathing doesn’t slow down. It only gets worse. More irregular. More hot. I try to pull my hands off his neck, but they won’t move. My fingers and joints are locked in. No matter how hard I move the rest of my body, I can’t get them off. Relax… Just… relax…
It’s… over… I try to flush all thoughts out of my mind. As my breathing begins to relax, so does my mind. I now feel light headed and everything feels numb, as if my head is stuffed with cotton and my entire body is underwater. I manage to pry my hands off his neck and get off Rick’s stomach. I try to walk away, but after two steps, I fall to my knees and vomit. Just when I think the first bout’s over, another hot steaming batch flies out my mouth and onto the pure white space beneath me. My eyes flare up and even some chunks got into my nostrils. Before I can press my thumb to my nostril and start blowing the chunks out, I vomit again. Nothing comes out, but my stomach and throat keep wrenching and contorting. It feels like my body’s trying to reject something that’s no longer there…
I pull some tissues out of my pocket, get everything out my nose and throat, clean up my hands and lap, then just lie besides my vomit for a while. Everything feels wrong - violated even, but it had to be done… It was too late for… anyone… My throat tightens, my eyelids flicker, and I start crying for reasons beyond me. I cry and I cry, but the tears never stop. I don’t even know why I’m crying… This was for the best. This was… I cannot even comprehend my own thoughts anymore. My body and mind don’t feel like my own. I don’t know if I’m dreaming or if I want to be dreaming. All I want is for this to be over.
Vivian
November 29th, 2007. 6:02 p.m. Rickville City Hall Interior. The gate shuts behind her and Josh and I just chill for a few minutes. If Angela really was going to kill Rick, wouldn’t she be back already? I doubt it would take long to kill a dude like that. Hmmm….
“You alright there, Vivian?” Josh asks looking up at me. “You look lost in thought.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking about how fast this mission took. I thought it would’ve taken way longer.”
“Are you disappointed?” Josh’s face contorts.
“Nah, this was super fu-”
The gates open and Angela comes out. No blood. No signs of a struggle. Hair and clothes look fine. She looks the same. Angela looks at us, smiles, and claps her hands together. “Both of you. Grab onto me. We need to go before this place collapses!”
“What?” Josh asks.
The sky begins to separate and the clouds beneath us begin to shake. The gentle color palette turns a harsh red.
“Okay okay!” I jump over to Angela and latch onto her like a koala while Josh runs over and grabs her arm.
“Get us outta here!” Josh demands.
“On it!” Angela does just that and plops us back into her dorm room. We’re all safe and sound. No more weird furry monsters. No more horrible art direction… back in the real world. I can see our backpacks resting in the corner. Huh. She must’ve snagged them on the way out.
Angela
November 29th, 2007. 6:03 p.m. Dorm room.
Just like that, it’s over. Finally over… I feel a weight I didn’t know existed fly off my shoulders. I get off the floor and stretch. “Aight guys, Imma report to Boss then get something to eat. Anyone wanna come with?”
“I’m down.” Josh dusts himself off and stands up.
“I’d love to,” Vivian gets up. “But I need to check up on Yuko. Gotta let her know I’m okay and all that.”
“Aw how cute.” I smile and shoo Vivian away. “Go take care of your boo.”
“Will do.” Vivian begins to head for the door, but stops when Sejong starts to speak.
“How can you be so callous?” Sejong asks me while still lying on the floor. She doesn’t look happy. At least… I don’t think she looks happy? I can’t tell if she’s angry or confused or both. Maybe it’s sadness? Well, only one way to find out.
“Are you mad at me?” I ask.
“Yes! Of course I’m mad!” Sejong barks. “What the hell is wrong with you!? How can you just kill your family like that?”
“Who said I killed him?” I smile.
“You said you were going to!”
“Maybe I changed my mind.” I shrugged. “Why does it matter what I did?”
“Because he deserved justice… we’re not vigilantes. We’re supposed to be heroes.” Sejong calms down a little.
“Sejong.” I bend down to get to her eye level. “That rat bastard was never my family. We got birthed out the same hole, but that’s about it. My mom and dad aren’t part of my family either. They. Are. Nothing.”
Sejong’s lip trembles. “You should’ve talked things out… gotten them help. They’re the only family you have.”
“You’re wrong, Sejong.” I shake my head, but keep my eyes locked on her. “Josh is my family. Janelle, Vivian, A.D., Will… even you are all part of my family. My only family. Got it?”
Sejong opens her mouth, but no words come out. She takes a deep breath and looks down at the floor. “Can you promise me one thing?”
“Course.” I stand up and smile. “Depends on the thing though.”
“Promise me you didn’t kill Rick.”
“I promise.” I extend my hand and help Sejong up. “So do you wanna get food or nah?”
“I think I will just stay put for the time being…” Sejong stands up and yawns. “I’m… drained. I need to go lie down.”
“Suit yourself.” I slap Josh on the ass before heading to the door with Vivian. “Come on, Josh. Let’s go.”
A skip and a hop later, Josh and I make it to Suzy’s office. Good news is that the campus looks the same. Nothing’s burnt down while I’m gone, so that’s nice. Got inside Suzy’s office and the familiar scent of coffee punches me in the nose. As I open the door, I see some men in suits around Suzy’s desk packing up some briefcases.
“Eh?” Suzy peeks above the men. “Aaaah, Angela, Josh. Back so soon?”
“Yep.” I nod. “Mission complete.”
“Alright alright.” she smiles and turns back to the men. “Are we done?”
One of them nods, signs a small stack of papers, and hands it over to her. “Pleasure doing business with you.” he says before leaving the office with the rest of the men and closing the door behind them.
“The heck were they here for?” I sit down across her desk.
“Oh nothing big.” Suzy shrugs and puts some kind of patch on her neck. “Just bought a prison.”
“I- uh- wait- what!?” I feel my brain fry a little. “You can just do that?”
“Of course.” Suzy smiles flipping through the stack of papers. “Perfectly legal too.”
“That… doesn’t seem like something that should be legal.”
“Yeah well… Yeah.” Suzy chuckles. “Your boy Josh was actually in a private prison a while ago.”
“Seriously?” I look at Josh.
“Yep.” Josh rubbed the back of his head. “Bastards extended my sentence because they needed more money, but I managed to escape just fine.”
“O… kay. If it isn’t too confidential, why’d you buy a prison?”
Suzy kicked her heels onto her desk and floated a pot of coffee over to her. “Some of my former students were locked up by the feds for stuff they didn’t do. Plus I get to sneak out a bunch of people charged with drug possession. Win win for everyone.”
“Yo what?” Josh smiles wide. “The feds won’t get on your ass for that?”
“Oh, they will.” Suzy pours some coffee into her mouth. “But by the time they do, I would’ve gotten all my alumni out, plus California already lets prisoners go free for nothing. They won’t notice a few more. Anyway, how’d the mission go? Is our little serial killer dealt with?”
“Yep.” I nod. “He won’t be hurting anyone anymore.”
“Do you have the body?”
“Eh?”
“The reward requires you to bring in a body as proof.”
“Damnit...” I rub my forehead. “I’ll have the body soon enough. Where do I bring it?”
“Just bring it to my office. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Gotcha.” I nod. “So… when’s my cyber security job start?”
“That can start after this weekend.” Suzy yawns. “Why don’t you two, Sejong, and Vivian take tomorrow off and treat yourselves? I have a little cabin by the beach that could use some love.”
“Hell yeah!” Josh pumps his fist. “Haven’t been to the beach in forever. Thank you, Suzy!”
“Don’t mention it.” Suzy leans back in her chair and starts shuffling in her drawer. “Here.” She tosses us a key. “I’ll text you guys the address. Just try to keep the cabin a little clean, would ya?”
“Of course.” I give a little bow. “Thank you so, so much. Want us to debrief you now or-”
“Nah. Not in the mood. Just debrief me when you have the body.”
Vivian
November 29th, 2007. 6:05 p.m. My dorm room. Living room’s normal looking. Utterly quiet. A.D.’s workout music isn’t blasting. Will’s not cooking anything on the stove. Janelle’s not even sleeping on the sofa again. I didn’t see her on the couch in her dorm either… Maybe they’re all out for dinner? I open my phone and check my messages. Only one new message. It’s from Yuko. Says, “Hey. Come back safe, alright? Sorry I was being weird… You’re cool. Kinda.”
I almost cry reading that. Christ, I have it bad. Close the phone, check the rest of the apartment. Empty. No one showering. No one taking a dump. The dudes’ room is completely empty. Please please please. I open the door to my room and see Yuko lying in bed with one leg under the covers, her belly exposed, and some drool dripping off the side of her cheek. Her hair’s all out of whack too and she has a half empty bottle of scotch cradled in her arms. That’s gotta be expensive… how much money is she wasting on booze? Let’s just put that back in the refrigerator… I reach for the booze and start tugging it out of her hands.
“Nnngh…. mine!” Yuko yells in her sleep and propels me against the wall.
“AAAGH!” I bounce off the wall and plop face down ass up on the floor. “YUKO!!” I laugh. It hurts.
“Bwah!? Ugh?” Yuko springs awake and looks around before spotting me. “Holy crap, Viv!” she springs out of bed and helps me up. “Are you okay!? What happened? What bitchass hurt you!?”
“You did…” I chuckle as I lean on her. “Yelled in your sleep…”
“What…?” All rage evaporated from Yuko’s face as she looked at the new sizable dent in the wall. “Oh. Um…. You okay?”
“I’ll live.” I rub my stomach and wince. “Worst pain I’ve felt all week.” I pull her into a hug and rest my head on her chest. “How were you? Are you feeling alright?”
“I’ve been fine… managed to talk out some stuff with A.D. Feeling a lot better.”
“Good. Good. Where is everyone else?”
“Will’s being a little bitch again. He’s been fighting with everyone ever since you guys left.
“Again? The hell caused it this time?”
“Mission went bad. Long story.” Yuko rests her chin on my head and sighs.
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Maybe over some pizza.”
“Deal.”
Yuko
November 29th, 2007. 6:41 p.m. My bed. Pizza finally got here. Got some drinks in me. Two pizzas. Tons of ranch and bbq packets. Two meat lovers pizzas… God I feel like I’m gonna bust a nut just smelling these. Chunky sausage bits… thick pepperoni, chicken grilled to perfection. Hell yeah. Me and Vivian tear into these things like they’re nothing. She gets the ranch. I get the BBQ. We tear through a pizza in like five minutes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else eat that fast. She eats faster than me for god’s sake. Nice.
I open the second pizza box and rub my hands. “Yo, you want some of this?”
“I’m good for now.” Vivian shakes her head, rubs her stomach, and leans back on my bed. “I’ll snack on the rest through the night.” Vivian licks a ranch packet clean.
“Suit yourself.” I pull my bed vodka out from under my bed and unscrew the cap.
Vivian holds my hand and stops me from bringing the bottle to my lips. “Is it okay if you don’t drink tonight?”
“Why’s that?” I try to sneak a sip, but Vivian’s grip relaxes me.
“Because I want you to be sober.” Vivian successfully pulls the bottle away from me with little effort. She twists the cap back on and hides it behind her. “No cheating your way out of this.”
“Fine…” I stuff one last piece of pizza in my mouth. “Don’t blame me if I start talking garbage. You asked for this.”
“What are you worried about?”
“I’m not… the best at this, okay?”
“No one is.” Vivian pats my knee. “You have nothing to worry about. “Just be honest and everything will work out.”
“What if I say the wrong thing?”
“What if you don’t?” Vivian smiles and rubs my knee.
“How are you so calm all the time?”
“I’m not.” Vivian’s eyes look… unfamiliar, but only for a sec.
“Fine… Just lemme finish this piece…” I take a deep breath, finish eating, pick the cheese out of my teeth, lick up the residue sauce off my plate, then I reach for another slice.
Vivian closes the box and wags her finger. “No procrastinating. Talk. Now.”
“Damn you’re good…” I put the plate aside. No point in putting this off any further. I take another few deep breaths just to put it off a little further. “I… don’t trust people. I can’t.”
Vivian’s mouth opens a little before closing. Her eyes pierce right through me. “Why not? Something happen?”
“Lotta things. Lotta lies.” I feel naked right about now. “I don’t really have any reason to think you’re any different.”
“That’s fair.” Vivian nods. “But if you didn’t think I was different, we wouldn’t be talking like this right now, would we?”
“Got me there.” I pull up a pillow and hug it. Partly because I need something to hug. Partly because I just really need something between me and her.
“Why do you think I’m different?” Vivian scooches towards me a little.
“I dunno…” I rest my chin on my pillow. “Hope, I guess? Desperation?”
“I don’t know if saying this does any good, but you’re very important to me. You’re easily the best friend I’ve made here.”
“Do you know how many times I’ve heard that?”
Vivian sighs through her nose. “Too many times?”
“Yep…” My chest deflates and I rest my chin on my pillow. “Yep…”
“I dunno what to tell you.” Vivian keeps her eyes locked onto me. I feel like I shouldn’t look into them, but I can’t help it. “Truth be told, I’m awful at these conversations.”
“You’re the one who wanted to have it!”
“I know, because communication is the only way to fix these things. I don’t like it, but I gotta do it.” she scooches forward a little bit more. “Would a hug help? Or are you not in the mood?”
“Part of me says yes… but screw it.” I lean forward and plop my head in Vivian’s lap. “Rub my shoulders.”
“You got it, Yuko.” Vivian starts rubbing my shoulders. She’s gentle, but strong. Firm, yet kind. “I won’t say I understand what you’re thinking or what you’ve been through, because I can’t. I will never fully understand you and you will never fully understand me.”
“You’re not exactly being enco-”
Vivian puts her finger to my lips. “Let me finish. I can’t force you to feel comfortable or fix any insecurities you have. All I can do is be there for you. Whether that’s a friend, as a girlfriend, or as a teammate, I don’t care. We’re partners, and that’s what matters most to me.”
I feel close. Too close… but for some reason, I don’t mind. “Thank you.” I take a deep breath and loosen my grip on the pillow.
“So here’s the big question. What do you want to be right now?” She rolls my head so we make eye contact. She’s smiling, but it’s not her usual grin. It’s calmer. More tired. More… mature? I guess?
My heart nearly stops. My face can’t move. Where the hell does she get this confidence from? Just asking me outright like that? She starts running her fingers through my hair and rests her other hand on my stomach. It feels so good, but I feel like I’ll vomit if I put it into words. “I… I…” I can feel my lip tremble. My eyes close. I can’t look directly at her and speak like this at the same time. I just can’t. “I really want to trust you. I want to believe in you. I love it when we’re touching like this, but I can’t explain why… It scares me, but also makes me super happy… It's like two different me’s are pulling me apart whenever we’re this close.” my hands slide onto my stomach and hold her hand in place. “I really… really like this… alot. I want to spend more time with you to see where this goes, but we just met… I can’t really call you my girlfriend yet. I hope you understand.”
Vivian runs her thumb over mine and whispers into my ear. “That’s 100% okay. Are kisses still okay though?”
“Not in public, but right now? Please…”
“Yay.” Vivian kisses my forehead and rests her forehead on mine. “If I’m ever going too far, please let me know. The last thing I want to do is upset you.”
“Will do…”
“Thank you, Yuyu.” she rests her forehead on mine for a little longer in complete silence. It’s the longest five seconds of my entire life, but I don’t mind at all.
“Actually… can I ask just one more question?”
“Anything you like.” Vivian pulls her head from mine and resumes running her fingers through my hair.
“Can I touch your butt?”
“Aaaw what’s this?” Vivian giggles. “You like my butt? I never knew you were such a pervert.”
“It’s perky okay…?” I manage to open my eyes just to see that stupid, adorable grin.
“You can touch it any time you like.”
“Hell yeah…” I run my fingers along her thigh.
“Can I touch your tiddies?”
“Only if you let me drink.”
“That’s a good trade!” Vivian retrieves my vodka, unscrews the cap, and takes a hearty swig. She keels over to the side, coughs violently, but doesn’t spit any out. Even manages to keep her grip on it and not spill any.
“Viv!” I sit up and pry the vodka away from her. “The hell were you trying to pull? Lightweights can’t just do that.”
Vivian hacks a lot, wipes her eye, then looks up at me. “I just wanted to be cool.”
“You’re already cool, you dork.” I take a swig, let it burn in the back of my mouth for a sec before swallowing. “Man, I feel way better! Wanna get drunk and bitch about stuff?”
“Hell yeah!” Vivian snatches a piece of pizza from the box and starts munching into it.
Angela
November 30th, 2007. 1:07 a.m. Dorm elevator. Just got a whole tank of gasoline. Borrowed Josh’s lighter. Just a few more minutes and I’ll be free of everything. Just as the elevator doors are about to close, Vivian runs in in her pajamas carrying some avocados and tortilla chips.
“Sorry, Angela.” She stands beside me. “Thanks for holding the door for me.”
“Eh, no problem.” I yawn. “What are the avocados and chips for?”
“Munchies. Yuko’s high as hell.”
“Ah.”
We stand in silence for a little bit.
“Aren’t you going to ask me what the gasoline’s for?”
“Are you going to set anything I know about on fire?”
“No.”
“Then I don’t care.”
“Fair enough.” I nod. “Thank you for respecting my privacy.” Why did I bring that up? She was happy to ignore it. Why did I bring attention to it?
“Hey, Angela.”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for bringing me along for that mission. It was the most fun I’ve had in a while. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a few years.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m glad one of us was able to have fun.”
“Yeah…” Vivian sighs. “Are you okay?”
“Course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Just making sure. I know that mission wasn’t easy for you. Sorry for laughing so much during it.”
“Don’t worry about it. It was hilarious.”
The elevator continues to ascend. “Say…” Vivian continues. “Could you also make a virtual world?”
“Hm…” I consider it for a moment. “I suppose I could… never bothered trying though. Why ask?”
“Just seems like something that’d be useful.”
The door opens to our floor.
Vivian and I exit and begin heading down the hallway.
“I suppose you’re right. Could be worth a shot.” I yawn as I reach my room.
“Lemme know when you try it out.” Vivian gives me a little salute before opening the door to her dorm. “I’d love to see what you create. Good night.” She closes the door behind her.
I wish her good night, enter my dorm, close the door behind me, and head over to the kitchen table where my laptop is. Janelle still hasn’t answered any of my messages… What could she be up to…
I concentrate, digitize myself and the gas tank, and zap into the laptop. I send myself up into a satellite then down into Rick’s computer and plop out once again into his room. The stench violates my nose for the last time. I open the gas tank and begin dousing his entire room with gasoline. As I finish glazing his room with a fine coat of gas, my eye catches a VHS tape lying beside the TV by his bed. I pick it up and see it's labeled ‘A Message to the Future’ on the side. For some arcane, stupid reason, I decide to take the tape with me… maybe it’ll give me a good laugh after all this is over. I pocket the tape, walk out of his room and down the stairs, leaving behind a trail of gasoline as I do so. I spread gas around the living room and out the backyard. I empty out what’s left of the tank for good measure and sit beside the dog house.
I fish the lighter out of my pocket and flick it open. “After tonight… I will be the only Cobb left. May I be the only one that’s remembered.” I tip the lighter to the gasoline trail and watch a line of fire grow and shoot out into the house. Little by little, I see specks of orange and smoke erupt from within the house through the cluttered windows. With each passing second, another pile of trash becomes purged from this world. Family photos, heirlooms, school projects. Doesn’t matter if it’s replaceable or not. Let it all burn until there’s nothing left.
A full minute passes and the familiar scent of burning plastic invades my nose. As I cough, I can see all sorts of pests flee from the house. Rats, cockroaches, bees. All of them flee from the inferno. I keep sitting here waiting for the cops or firefighters to come, but they never do. The crackle of the fire is the only thing I can hear. The fire’s heat produces the only warmth I’ve ever felt on this forsaken property. The roof soon catches ablaze. I can see burning pages and molten plastic from Rick’s room fly out from the melted windows, desperately trying to escape their fate. The fire takes mercy on me and burns them into ash before they ever hit the ground.
As the structural integrity of the house begins to suffer, I begin to look up at the pillar of smoke ascending to the heavens. I’ve never seen so many stars in the sky… Each and every one of them is smiling down upon me. I’m sure that’s just my imagination, but who cares? Imagination’s the only thing that kept his house together in the first place. As the house collapses and the fire begins to calm down, I can only say one thing: “You’re welcome, Virginia.”
To Be Continued...