JACKIE:

“Oh no, he’s gonna jump! Feraz, please don’t jump!” A lab worker in a hazmat suit pointed at the uber-rich client threatening to take his own life.

“I’m infallible, indestructible!” With arms outstretched, Mr. Feraz Tal dangled his feet over the top railing of the five-story Life Rite laboratory.

I didn’t ask to get sucked into this mess. I’m the janitor. I was cleaning trash at Life Rite, when that over-privileged punk thrust his problems onto me. That’s why people like me are born - to clean up rich folk’s problems.

Feraz boasted, “I’m a god, and the probabilities are endless!”

I figured the elite class had unbelievable egos, and his rant confirmed how true that was. His diamond-encrusted watch sparkled against the florescent lights as he sat precariously on the top railing, looking at us peasants below.

Lab workers scattered, escaping the scene of the crime. No one wanted to be the fall guy. Above their pay grade, I guess. I stupidly stopped to watch, but who could blame the janitor?

A circular drone flew in and examined the predicament. Alpha was the only one of its kind, crafted by tech genius Mark Claudi, the deceased founder of Life Rite.

The hunk of metal was shaped like an eye with a creepy camera lens for an iris, always watching. Its metal eyelids clicked open and closed, as if it were blinking its whole body. Top spec compared to standard delivery and patrol drones. It buzzed around Feraz like a mechanical bee, its inner workings buzzing as it surveyed the situation.

“Let’s do this!” Feraz leaned forward into a free fall.

I gasped.

His designer shoe hooked on a loose cable dangling from the fourth-floor railing, and he swung upside-down like a bungee jumper.

I froze with fear. Was it now my job to get him down somehow? He let out a sinister laugh that made my skin crawl.

I didn’t wish him dead, but didn’t rush to save him, either. How could someone so wealthy be so careless with their life? Maybe money can’t buy happiness, but I’d sure like to see for myself.

The commotion brought out the big boss, a rare sight for a lowly employee like me. I stiffened at Beatrice Claudi’s commanding presence.

“What’s going on? Someone get him down!” She made eye contact with me for a split second. I diverted my gaze so Beatrice wouldn’t associate my face with the unfortunate circumstances that brought us together.

Beatrice dressed impeccably, and her skin glowed with an impenetrable youth. Her shiny white hair was perfectly in place, a sharp contrast to my dull blue locks pulled into a low, matted ponytail. The red streak in my hair might look cool if I could afford better shampoo.

What I wouldn’t give to be like Beatrice. Maybe she and I could have been friends in another life. We were similar in height, weight, even in our angular facial features. But in this unforgiving reality, she ran the place, and I took out the trash. I was lucky to have a job in this economy, a fact my father, Baxter, reminded me of daily. Great pep talk, Pops.

“Jackie? Is that your name? Go make yourself useful!” Beatrice pointed at the name tag on my janitor jumpsuit.

What was I supposed to do? I should have ducked out of the lab like the rest of the workers had. Only the head technician stayed. Should I call my Pops Baxter for backup? He was the lead custodian…

“What the hell, Feraz?” Beatrice yelled with a firm voice. “How can you be so careless? I’m taking your treatments away. I mean it this time.”

Beatrice looked at me again and snapped, “Don’t just stand there. Get him down.”

Crap, how could I save him? I’m an eighteen-year-old female janitor with meager upper body strength. I’m malnourished and lifting massive garbage cans takes a lot out of me.

With my mouth awkwardly open, I surveyed the situation. I could take the elevator to the fifth floor and cut the cable, but how would I lower him to the ground safely? If one hair on his precious head was out of place, that’d be the end of me. I needed help, so I grabbed the radio on my janitor’s cart.

“No!” Beatrice yelled at me. “No one else needs to see this.” She snapped her fingers, and the head technician ran to her side.

I stood still and looked up, unsure of what to do. The drone circled Feraz, documenting the scene, a reminder that a machine was more capable than me.

I didn’t know what to do. My inaction could get me fired, so I moved toward the elevator, pretending to help.

“Let me back in to check the probabilities!” Feraz’s laugh reverberated in the open room as he wriggled like a fish on a line. His jerky movements untangled his foot, and the next sound was the splat of blood and bone against the linoleum floor.

I don’t know what happened in the milliseconds I instinctively covered my eyes, but when I looked up again, his lifeless body burst into flames. His skin melted under the spontaneous, intense heat. Whatever was left quickly turned to ash. It all happened so fast. My mind struggled to process what my eyes were seeing… But what I witnessed next both shocked and horrified me.

A swirl of energy rose from the ashes. These glowing specs swirled, danced, collided, and burst like fireworks. The explosion produced what looked like a newborn baby bird, hairless and hideous. It mangled and morphed into a leathery human form covered completely in fire. This creature grew rapidly in size, from baby to adult in the matter of seconds. As it transformed, it resembled Feraz once more. I struggled to understand. Did Feraz Tal, infamous heir of a zillionaire oil syndicate, die and rebirth right in front of me?

I swear, I’m a reliable narrator. I’m not on drugs because, well, I can’t afford them. If my finances were any better than ninety-nine percent of the godforsaken population, I would surely take a sweet escape from the hell we’re all living in. But this was not a hallucination. This was real, and now I was stuck in the middle of it.

Alpha circled the messy scene, capturing the whole thing. Maybe the footage still exists to corroborate my story, but good luck getting your hands on something that top secret - if Life Rite didn’t destroy the evidence.

I couldn’t look away, despite my horror. I lost myself in the flames that engulfed his rebirthing body.

Fire has always fascinated me. A flickering blaze was always my drug of choice, if you will, briefly offering respite by transporting me into the empty void within. I sat still in its sweet silence.

The only thing strong enough to bring me out of my daze was Beatrice’s assertive voice.

“Hey! Are you stupid or something?”

I snapped out of it. “Huh?”

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The Alpha drone scolded me. “Jackie Cooper, get the fire extinguisher or you’ll be terminated.”

Can’t ignore a threat like that in a society like mine. Decent paying jobs were scarce, so I jumped into action. I grabbed the nearest fire extinguisher, of which there were many in the laboratory for some reason. I pulled the trigger and extinguished those precious flames.

Feraz coughed as he lay in the fetal position on the cold floor, covered in the white foam I sprayed on him. The hair on his head quickly grew back like high-speed time-lapse photography on nature docs, compressing the time it takes for plants to grow.

Beatrice called to me, “Now go get some water and linens.”

I handed her towels from my cart and rushed past the creepy drone to the nearest sink. A glass vial broke as I reached for a jug. I hoped Life Rite wouldn’t take money from my paycheck to replace it.

As the faucet ran, I took a beat to compose myself. What the heck did I witness? Are the rumors about Life Rite true? How much will Life Rite charge me for that broken vial?

Corporations are trifling like that. Life Rite is a multi-zillion dollar company with anti-aging creams and other health-related projects, but heaven forbid they lose one measly glass vial.

The jug overflowed in the sink, so I turned off the faucet and carried it over to Feraz. The weight of it made me walk like a toddler, splashing water all over the floor. Beatrice looked at me with utter disgust when I spilled a drop onto her pointed heels.

The head technician checked Feraz’s vitals.

“That was a full regeneration,” he whispered to Beatrice. “He’ll be out for a while.”

“That’s exactly what he wanted,” Beatrice whispered. “To explore the probabilities.”

I wondered what she meant by that, but she remembered my awkward presence before I could ponder.

Beatrice motioned for me to hand the water to the technician.

I did as I was told and bowed my head respectfully. “May I be dismissed?”

Beatrice looked me in the eye. I averted my gaze and stared at the floor, as any obedient servant would. I knew better than to pretend she was my equal. She looked around the empty lab before focusing back on me.

“Come with me.” Beatrice turned coldly, and I followed like a lost puppy. The drone came, too. Alpha hovered over Beatrice’s right shoulder as she walked.

Where was she taking me? I was awed by her presence, but Pops always told me it was better not to be seen or heard at work. Receiving attention wasn’t special, it was dangerous.

Beatrice, Alpha, and I exited the lab through a steel door that locked behind us.

The halls of Life Rite were immaculate, clean with a fresh coat of white paint. Photographs of gorgeous, wealthy people lined the corridor with slogans selling the anti-aging creams the company was famous for. “Reclaim your youth with Life Rite.”

A small jar of that stuff cost more than my monthly paycheck. I know because I checked. I’m only eighteen, but you have to start early if you want to prevent outward signs that you’re too poor to stay young, healthy, and beautiful despite the contaminated food, water, and air we’re all subjected to. Surgery’s cheaper than Life Rite cream, but that doesn’t always age well, either.

We walked to the end of the hall, the sound of Beatrice’s heels mixed with the clicking of the drone’s inner workings. Even the mundane sounds of this woman’s life were more elegant than the scuffs of my unconfident, shuffling feet.

A man with a clipboard approached Beatrice, but she held up her finger and said, “Not now.”

I dreaded being more important than any business a man with a clipboard had. I’m definitely getting fired…

Beatrice opened the gold-trimmed door to her corner office and invited me inside. “Come.”

She motioned for me to sit in a pink velvet chair. I sat stiff, not wanting dirt from my jumpsuit to ruin the expensive decor. I realized I had blood splatter on my knee, probably from Feraz’s fall. I hid it with my hand.

The drone flew close to my cheek. A red laser spit out of its belly, scanning the Universal DNA Identifier in my finger to assess all my data. Now that it was close, I saw glowing green electrical wires inside. My body tensed even tighter under its watchful lens.

Beatrice sat behind her power desk, looking me up and down. I could only afford a quick glance back at her. A hint of repulsion played across her youthful face, but only for a second. She was superb at hiding it. Poised to perfection.

How old was she? She didn’t look a day over twenty-five, but she had access to liquid gold Life Rite, so your guess is as good as mine. She sat back and watched me as her drone spoke for her.

Alpha said in a robotic voice, “Jackie Cooper, thank you for your service. I am sure that was difficult to experience.”

“You can say that again, Alpha.” Beatrice offered an airy laugh to break the tension.

The drone added an odd, stilted digital laugh.

I tried to reciprocate, but the awful squeak that came out of my stupid mouth made things worse. It was nerve-racking being in the same room with such a powerful woman and her drone assistant.

What did they want with me? Why were they thanking me for my service when I failed to get Feraz down before he fell? I decided not to say anything so they could get to the punchline.

Alpha continued. “What happens at Life Rite is confidential. You already know that because you signed a non-disclosure agreement on your first day of employment. Do you remember?”

I signed a million pieces of paper before they let me into the complex. Had to agree if I wanted the job, so I didn’t waste my time reading any of it.

“Of course,” I said. “I remember and I comply.”

“Excellent.” Alpha blinked its eyelids several times rapidly. “Your response has been recorded.”

Beatrice smiled, showcasing her perfectly aligned, brilliantly white teeth. I’d need a billion dollars worth of work to get my smile to glow like hers.

Better yet, what would I have to do to have a flying robot speak for me? The top-of-the-line device had retractable arms, complex inner workings, and artificial intelligence. Even the drone was smarter than me. I felt like a neanderthal let out of my cave.

As if sensing my thoughts, Beatrice spoke, first addressing the drone.

“Thank you, Alpha. I’ll take it from here.”

To me directly, “Jackie, I know you would never tell a soul about what happened today in the lab, but Alpha had to get the legal covered. You were the only non-essential employee that witnessed the event.”

Being called non-essential was a punch in the gut. I nodded with my gaze fixed on the floor. “I understand.”

“You say you understand,” Beatrice replied, “but I’m sure you have questions. You might be a little scared or unsure about what happened. Is that how you’re feeling?”

Did she really want to know how I was feeling? I wished I could honestly tell her. I wished we could gab like girlfriends, but Pops trained me well.

I kept my eyes on the floor. How much did the gold trim on the marble tiles cost to install? She probably imported the materials from Italy or something ridiculously unnecessary like that.

On my non-response, Beatrice continued. “I don’t have to do this, but I’d like to offer you a bonus payment for your excellent response time today.”

A bonus payment?

Perhaps witnessing that horrific event was a blessing. Maybe for once I was in the right place at the right time. Could my luck finally be turning around? I kept my eyes on the tiles and fought the corners of my lips from showing any emotion.

“How does that sound?” Beatrice asked.

I nodded. “That’s very generous of you, Miss Claudi, but it’s unnecessary. It’s my pleasure to serve you and Life Rite. I intend to work here loyally for the rest of my life.”

Beatrice smiled. “Fabulous.”

She stood, which was my cue to leave.

I bolted up, turned around, and got the hell out of there. I was almost home free.

“Jackie?” Beatrice called.

I turned back around to face her. Confident I said and did everything correctly, I made eye contact for a split second. She had deep brown eyes, just like mine.

“Alpha will take care of the bonus payment. Keep up the good work and remember, everything that happens here is extremely confidential.”

“Yes, of course.” I turned to leave, and Alpha followed.

I felt Beatrice staring at me as I exited; sizing me up, wondering if she could trust me. The shrewd business woman was curious if I would tell anyone about the strange treatment that gave the elite the opportunity to rebirth. She saw my worn-out shoes, my threadbare jumpsuit, my matted ponytail. She knew I was too pathetic to go against a mega-corp like Life Rite. Beatrice knew her secret was safe with a lowly loser like me.

As soon as her office door closed, Alpha said, “There will be a bonus payment of one million dollars on your next paycheck.”

One million dollars? That’s it? I guess the rich stay that way by keeping all their cash.

“Get back to work,” the drone added before it zipped away with an air of importance. Its clicking sound reminded me I was still on Life Rite’s time.

I walked back to the lab, dumbfounded. An armed guard protected the door.

“I need to get in there to grab my janitor's cart.” I touched my pointer finger to the Universal DNA Identifier scanner so it could scan my microscopic ID chip, but the reader flashed red.

“This zone is restricted. Get outta here.” The guard nodded for me to leave.

“But I need my supplies to do my job,” I insisted.

“Report to your direct supervisor for instructions.”

I knew better than to argue. I made my way to the dingy basement, often referred to as the dungeon, praying I could sneak another cart without having to explain myself.

Maybe the tedious tasks of my mindless job would give me a chance to process what happened. Why didn’t Beatrice fire me? Why give me a bonus, albeit small? Did Feraz die and rebirth, or was it… a simulation somehow? If it was real, was Feraz still human or was he… something else?

My mind could not compute, so I shook it all away. I assumed as long as I told no one, I would be safe. Right?

I was naïve to think it would be that easy…