Chapter 1
A plain cardboard box. Marked by rain before Electa had found it, the box now sat on the floor of her apartment. It had been left on her doorstep, “Electa” just legible in rain streaked ink. There was no address or postage, no return address, just her name written in block lettering upon its top. Curious, she removed the tape and opened it. Inside sat a cube of black metal, perfectly smooth with no marking save the outline of a handprint on its surface. Electa reached out and ran her fingers across its edge, the absolute black of the metal a sharp contrast to her alabaster skin. It was smooth to the touch and cold as ice. When she lifted it from the box, Electa was surprised by how light it was. Setting it back on the floor next to the now forgotten cardboard, she tilted her head.
What is it?
Reaching forward again she placed her hand over the outline. There was a soft chime from the cube and then a sharp prick on her finger tip. Jerking away, Electa looked down to see a drop of blood welling on the tip of her finger. A light caused her to look back to the cube where the outline now glowed white, a small red light pulsing at the tip of a finger on the outline.
The cube was obviously some advanced piece of technology, developed by one of the corporations? Although which one she had no idea.
Why was this delivered to me?
Electa looked around her apartment. The cube and the box it came in lay on the matted carpet. The walls were a mix of bare wood and paint, while clean, their weathered appearance matched the rest of her apartment. A faded but comfortable couch had long since sunk to the floor, with a permanent depression where she liked to sit. The light above flickered and the mattress in the corner had a torn blanket neatly folded at its foot. On the other side of her one room apartment was a shelf next to a sink. The water ran cold and only on a lucky day. The shelf had chips out of it, but her few belongings were neatly stored and clean. The closet hadn’t had a door since before she moved in and contained only a handful of clothes. Her apartment didn’t even have a bathroom in it, a communal bath was located down the street, one of the few places in her part of the city that still had consistent water to run showers and a toilet.
Why was a piece of obviously expensive technology left on my doorstep and with my name on it. What does it do?
Looking back at her finger where the drop of blood welled and then back to the cube with the outline of a hand and a red light where the drop of blood was on her hand, curiosity overcame her hesitation. Electa reached forward and placed her hand over the outline once more. Another soft chime could be heard. The outline dipped into the cube slightly, as if on a hinge, her fingertips dipping lower than her palm. Pressing her fingers down, Electa pushed her hand into the box, tipping the outline in until her hand was straight down in the box. With a sharp beep, the opening suddenly closed.
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The metal slid in from around the hole and before she could pull her hand out it encircled her wrist. She only had a moment to panic at the sight of her hand, seemingly sealed in a solid block of black metal, before what felt like a dozen needles stabbed into it. Electa screamed as something was injected into her, pain burning through her veins as whatever it was flowed with her blood, up her arm and into her chest. The pain radiated out from there, pulsing through her with every beat of her heart. Her voice broke as she screamed and her entire world was pain. She sat frozen with no room to think through the agony. Sitting rigid on the floor, her eyes wide and a silent scream on her lips, Electa’s vision went dark. As her body toppled over and she lay limp on the ground, the cube let out another soft chime. The top of the cube opened once more, releasing her hand to lie limply in its opening. The glowing outline turned off and the cube lay dark on the floor.
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Electa awoke to the light still flickering above her. With a quick intake of breath hissing through her teeth she pulled her hand away from the box and to her chest, cradling it with her other hand. The pain was gone, but the memory of the box's needles was still fresh in her mind. Electa laid there for a moment waiting for the pain to return, but when it didn’t she slowly sat up.
Glancing at her hand she saw no signs anything had happened. With her other hand, she swept long white strands of hair out of her face and hooked them over her ear. She leaned forward inspecting her hand more closely.
Nothing?
Not a single mark mared her skin. When she glanced up, wondering if it had been a dream, she found the cube still sitting there. Carefully she reached out to it, a quick prod moved it not but an inch across the carpet before she pulled away. Nothing happened. Grabbing the cube she turned it in her hands, no sign of the outline was evident upon its surface. The hand print is gone?
Electa spun the cube in her hands a few more times, finding no signs of the outline that had glowed earlier.
Electa stood, taking the cube with her as she walked over to the sink and setting it on the shelf, she turned the knob on the sink with a silent prayer. Please, let there be water.
Ice cold water poured out of the faucet and she quickly filled cupped hands before splashing it on her face. After filling a cup and turning off the faucet, she stared at the cube. Electa was about to take a sip when there was a loud electric pop outside her apartment, static, and then the crackling voice of the city clock system rang out. “O Six Hundred, O Six Hundred."
“What? Six in the morning, I was out all night? I’m late!” Draining the cup of water in an instant, she placed it back on the shelf and rushed to the closet. Electa changed clothes in a frenzy. Leaving her dirty clothes in a pile at the closet entrance, she turned to leave before cursing and sweeping the clothes off the floor. With quick practiced movements she folded the clothes and stashed them back on the floor in her closet with another set of folded clothes she had worn previously. Grabbing the now mostly dry cardboard the cube had arrived in and glancing around her apartment, everything was set to rights, she ran out the door. Turning the lock and double checking the door was safely sealed she slipped the key back into her pocket and took off down the pothole filled street at a run. The cardboard was tossed into a pile at the corner as she passed without stopping.