Unipsi, lovely entity

chapter 62: awake

Pushed to her limit, exhaustion rapidly took over Scilla and she collapsed in the cold elevator shaft. Probably half an hour later she was woken up by a violent shake. As her eyes opened she saw Idra. She had put her hair back inside one of the many layer of clothes, yet she was Idra and instinctively Scilla hugged her. Idra however pulled back as hard as she could.

“the fuck is wrong with you?” said Idra. Her voice was almost the same, she had an almost disruptive accent but her manners were as cold and hostile as the first day they met.

“Iris are you…”

“there is no time for your bullshit! Get moving if you don’t want to freeze to death.”

Scilla promptly looked around. It was almost total darkness. The emergency lights were mostly off and the few that still worked were emitting even less light than before.

“I can’t see shit”

“what do you mean you can’t see?”

“that I can’t see. Those red light are not enough. Plus how do you intend to get out? The shaft has no elevator. I fall into this hole.”

Like a switch Idra’s hair started glowing. Those copper filaments emitted a dim yellow light that was more than enough to see up to 3 meters around. Still she didn’t have much of a choice and followed Idra into a small passage that was revealed behind a removed panel. Idra took her inside an emergency stair and started climbing.

“do you have food?” asked Idra.

“no”

“water?”

“neither”

“do you have something useful?”

“… no”

“do you remember how you got here?”

“through a library and…”

“the fuck is a library?” replied Idra seriously. Scilla took a second to reply.

“where you store books”

“no. you store them in hard drives.”

“sure whatever. To put it bluntly it’s a room full of bookshelves and books”

“still no clue… here we are...”

Scilla heard metal being pushed away. It was probably a door that was being forced open by Idra. Once she got up she could barely recognized the place. They popped out few meters on the side of the elevator shaft yet now it was all devoured by darkness. There was also an additional minor problem. Now there were 3 corridors, not just the one she came in.

“so where to next?” asked Idra.

“I don’t know.”

“what do you mean you don’t know?”

“that when I came here there was just 1 corridor. The one in front of us. There was also light and electricity”

“building don’t change like that, what kind of drugs are you on?”

“I know that building don’t shape shift. But I can swear there was just one corridor.”

“whatever I’ll find a way”

Does she not remember me? I saw her grabbing her head, was it not because she received Iris’s memories? What the fuck do I do now?

Lost in her mind Scilla followed Idra mindlessly. They were both silent and in such silence Scilla started to degenerate. That creature she was walking after was not her Iris, but for sure was not after her life. Otherwise her nap in the elevator shaft would have been her last. She looked like Iris but behaved more like the first time they met. By looking at Idra she could see that she was exhausted just like her. Idra’s exhaustion was probably not totally related to the new situation. Scilla never saw such dark circles under Iris’s eyes. It looked as if she hadn’t slept at all in days. Maybe just like hers, this Idra had recurring nightmares too. They stopped for a moment. Idra operated with an info totem on a corner. It was partially working, yet it was clear that it had power issues. Only then Scilla noticed that the place had changed a lot. The corridors were wider and didn’t fit inside Idra’s glowing light. There was a pavement difference, like in a street with sidewalk. Idra was taking her time with that strange thing in the corner that was barely keeping itself together. She couldn’t read a word but she knew just by look and by Idra’s reactions ,that things weren’t looking good.

How come that this place seems like a mess even if Iris used to live her just weeks before. Did I cause this?

Done with the totem Idra resumed her walking and Scilla followed. Each step echoed around and was reciprocated by metallic laments. Those underground tunnel felt oppressive, especially now that they were filled with absolute darkness. Before she knew they were entering a garage of some sort. There was just one vehicle inside even if there was space for at least 3 more. The military truck in front of her was as big as a Lean truck so she knew she could fit just at a first glance. It was also an old machine, at least it looked old even in Scilla’s eyes. It looked out of context almost as if it belonged to a past that no longer existed. It had 6 wheels. 2 for the steering axis in the front and 4 for the 2 back axes. It had 4 doors that lead into the main compartment with seats and a long covered boot. On the roof there was a remote turret with the feeding belt going into the back. The commands were behind the passengers seat. The exterior had a winter camouflage paint and layers of composite armor. The size of the machine became even more clear went Idra opened the door and hopped inside. She was basically half the side of the seat and barely reached the pedals. It was meant for a different era. The era where Idra’s were almost the same size as a Lean.

“thankfully they made this things to last. It still has a lot of battery so few adjustments and we get on moving.” said Idra mostly speaking to herself.

“sure… do you know how to drive?”

“I learned”

“I can drive”

“NO… don’t worry. It may be older than both of us combined but it is still a safe car”

Then Idra dismounted and started to looked around in some boxes closeby for supply of some sort. That’s when Scilla noticed that Idra took a rope out of one of those boxes.

“come on, get into the passenger seat”

Idra was walking closer and by her trajectory she was going to the passenger seat too.

For once Scilla’s brain cells worked and perceived danger correctly.

Wait. If she doesn’t remember me or she does only partially… what would she do… with a rope… holy shit she wants to kidnap me…

In that moment Scilla’s dark thought also prevailed. She could reverse the roles. She could kidnap Idra and… somehow convert her into what she fell in love with… surely a fool proof plan.

As expected Scilla walked to the passenger seat, opened the door but instead of being ambushed spun around to interrupt Idra. It didn’t took much to changed Idra from predator to prey. It was clear that she was barely functioning so Scilla, even in her state, easily won the fight and tied up Idra that started screaming and struggling to break free. Scilla made sure to block her hands behind her back and also to tie Idra’s legs. Then to make sure and with the extra rope she wrapped up Idra at the best of her capabilities to limit her movements.

“what the fuck are you doing cunt! Free me immediately!”

“I don’t think so. I know that you wanted to do the same to me.”

“you fucking moron. I should have let you to die…”

“but you didn’t.”

Scilla picked Idra up and instead of putting her in the front passenger seat she put her in the back seats horizontally. She then used the 3 different seat belts to lock Idra in place. Her head was on the right side so Scilla could just turn from the driver seat and look at her. Even if the military truck had 6 wheels in the end it was a glorified armored car. So it worked just like a car.

“we are going to die. And you are going to kill both of us”

“I’m not going to die nor are you. But… but I need time to think and so do you”

“I need no fucking time. It’s not time to think it’s time to act.”

“Iris… please”

“you called me by my name before. How do you know it?. How are you even inside my home and more importantly, what kind of ugly mother fucker are you?”

Scilla started the car, she could still read numbers and apparently she had at least 1600km of range so they could drive around for a while. With the garage door open she started to move slowly to get used to the controls. The headlights fend off the oppressive dark yet they were far from enough.

“you don’t remember me?”

“why should I remember a fucking alien?”

“because you remember everything”

“not your ugly face. You should drive into a pole to put an end to such horrific show”

“I see that your tongue is as sharp as ever”

“I’ll show you the true meaning of sharp while carving your bones”

she is super pissed… do I try to calm her down… no maybe I can try to scare her, but not too much.

“I also know your surname. Fermi.”

Scilla looked back to see Idra with her mouth open in surprise.

“who are you?”

“… I used to be a friend...”

“hey cunt don’t make me pull out the words from your sewer of a mouth. Speak.”

yeah fear doesn’t work, and she is exactly as I remembered her. As bitchy as ever.

“I am Scilla Lis. I used to be a ship commander…”

“used to?”

“I don’t know what happened to them. I just remember screams.”

Idra let our a moan of pain.

“my fucking head”

Scilla stopped immediately.

“are you ok?”

“mind your own business. No even better why don’t you try to keep us alive”

“I don’t have a map…”

“well me neither.”

“you don’t know your home?”

“no I don’t. Have a problem?”

“sort of, I’m hungry and I need to sleep so…”

“the fuck it means that you are angry. The only one who should be angry is me”

“I said hungry”

“that’s what I said slut. Angry. I can still fucking hear”

“no, you are fucking not. Hungry is not angry”

“you are saying the same fucking word! How could it be my fault if your language suck cocks”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“fuck it, now I’m both”

“both of what?”

It was clear that Idra had some issues that were deeper than just her marked accent. Words that for her sounded almost the same and were pronounced similarly were identical. It was strange how those issues were more relevant in what was supposed to be the definitive Idra, yet more mitigated in a failed model.

“did your brain broke?” asked Idra.

“nope, I’m totally fine. Just thought to end the conversation”

“where the fuck are you driving me?”

“to the nearest trashcan where you belong”

“someone garbage is someone else treasure. Can’t say the same for you. Your only good thing is that you are biodegradable”

“you have a filthy mouth”

“not as filthy as yours from all the cocks you sucked”

“you don’t even know what a cock is”

Scilla swiftly looked back to see Idra both confused, amazed and panicked.

“I don’t want to speak with you anymore”

“you just have to keep your mouth closed. It’s not that hard cock sucker” replied Scilla with a smirk.

In contrast to what she expected all she heard was movement and than nothing. In the back Idra was able to move few centimeters away and had closed her eyes. By her expression she was probably not trying to sleep but think. Her enemy knew far more that what she believed and she needed to make a new plan.

Silence filled the car. Without many directions and lost inside the strange architecture Scilla drove for 1 hour before stopping. Her eyes spotted something that was out of the usual. The tunnels she drove in were all alike and distinguishable only for some markings. Few emergency doors popped from time to time, but now, a parking space. There were several spots to park a car and a big double door with writing she couldn’t read. Intrigued she stopped but before doing anything she looked back at her hostage. She stared at Idra way to many times in the past, so she knew that Idra was sleeping deeply.

Strange, I never thought she would fall asleep while being kidnapped. I guess I’m not the only one who was pushing her limit.

With caution Scilla approached the doors. She grabbed the emergency levers and started pulling overcoming the mechanism inertia and resistance. She used a flashlight that Idra had put inside the car to see and explore. In front of her a new world, an old world, left untouched for who knows how many years. The doors lead into a compartment of the immense structure. The new area was akin to a living quarter or more precisely it looked like a fairly small fully underground commercial center with houses. Considering her floor, the place was only 2 levels tall yet it extended for 200 x 80 meters. The place was built around hollow cuboids 80x80 and about 20 meters tall, 10 meters per floor. The aperture in the middle was about 20x20 and contained a small park where plants had withered long ago. 2 of those cuboids were separated by the remaindering 40 meters of shops. Basically the structure looked like an 8 made on a digital clock. Shops at the lower floor and apartments in the upper floor.

It was a strange jump into the past of Esterians.

“what is this place” said Scilla to herself.

She started to looked around, walking carefully to avoid triggering something. Yet all remained silent. Only her steps and the metal cracking filled the place. It was surreal. Not a single grain of dust yet it had no electricity, no water, nothing. It was perfectly clean as if she was the first to ever walk into it. The place was furnished and packed with things almost as if tens of people were suppose to be there. Living their life underground. She saw clothing stores, hardware and camping stores, pubs with glasses on the counters and bottles of alcohol beside them. Pool table with their ball placed for a fresh match that never stared. Fortunately for her, there was also a mini market stocked with food. She couldn’t read but numbers were the same. Everything was old, some sealed food was over two centuries old, yet other was just few years old.

I hope some of this stuff is still edible… now were do I put Iris. She will be aggressive and I can’t keep her tied up… it’s unfortunate that there is no prison cell here…

While thinking she noticed that shops had shutters in a diamond pattern that could work as cell’s bars. So she started looking for a small shop she could empty that also had a toilet. With luck on her side Scilla spotted the perfect place. A small shop that was just a big cuboid with 2 doors in the back. One for a small storage and one to a bathroom. It had a big glass window and a glass door both protected by a shutter that had an analog lock only on the outside and away from the door. The shop was some kind of hair saloon. It also had a fairly sized couch instead of chairs in the waiting zone so it was perfect.

I just hope that the collar will protect me. From what I saw I think she can only make minimal non harmful changes while the collar is on. I wonder… I wonder how it works. She looked surprised at the collar activation. Was it off in her universe? Or time line or whatever the shit it was? She also seemed confused and if it make sense more stupid. Less like a computer and more like a living creature. Does she not have a machine in her brain?

Fair doubts that were going to remain answered for a while.

With her strength Scilla removed what Idra could have turned into weapons. No throw-able objects, no mirrors to break. She basically pulled out everything except soap, a hygiene kit and the couch. It was by far not the safest prison cell she saw, yet it was as good as she could have.

Scilla than returned to the car and as expected Idra was still sleeping like a log. She picked her up and carried her inside their new home or prison in her case. She put Idra down into the couch, untied her and closed the place leaving Idra in her improvised cell.

Feeling the exhaustion taking over her body, Scilla crushed at the cafe in the corner that allowed her to always watch into the cell as long as she slept in the front area. The cafe was something out of a different era as well. A long corner counter with liquors behind. A pool table and table both with just chairs and with more comfortable seats on the side like a diner. Those seats were small for her, but they were better than the cold floor. It took only instants before she was asleep too.

For someone who activated the HBE and was pulled into it’s madness, Scilla’s sleep was mostly unperturbed. No, it was even improved. Instead of being torn apart by nightmare of overlapping realities she slept peacefully. She dreamed of a future built with Idra. Her peace that she desired. Yet that peace was interrupted by some loud noises and shouts. Idra had woken up and she was not happy.

“SVEGLIATI TROIA! (wake up whore!)”

She kept slamming her hands on the glass door to make as much noise as she could. As Scilla looked over Idra was the only source of light, yet it was a lot dimmer than before. In fact it made no sense to her that Idra somehow knew were she was, unless she could see in the darkness.

“AM SPEAKING TO YOU SLUT! GET YOUR ASS MOVING AM THIRST AND STARVING!”

“what if I don’t?”

“you have already invested to much energy in me. So now, what is your plan big genius? We don’t have power, no water and for sure no gas nor wood to cook…”

“I’m working on that”

“sure, you don’t even know where we are”

“neither you do”

“I know more than you red one” Idra was less agitated but still on the war path. Red one was an insult used by Droxi against Leans before their war yet Idra, this Idra was unaware of it. She just wanted to insult Scilla had in her mind she used cunt or slut too many times so she had to change something. Scilla’s red skin was just the perfect target.

“I’m Scilla”

“do I look as someone who cares?”

“you don’t, like all the other faceless”

“the hell are you talking about?”

“never mind I guess your kind never venture away from your planets”

minutes of awkward silent passed before Idra replied with unthinkable coldness.

“what kind?”

“yours”

“I want their name”

“is the prison time already getting to your sanity?”

“THEIR NAME!” shouted Idra slamming her fist on the glass window.

Wait… something is missing here. Something is wrong with her. Why is she so desperate for knowledge that she should have? Maybe I can use it to may advantage.

Scilla was right. It was the perfect leverage against Idra. And in general it worked on all Idras that were always thirsty for new knowledge. Scilla walked in front of the metal shutter that divided her and Idra. Looking at Idra’s face she was surely angry.

“how about a deal” said Scilla with confidence.

“speak” replied Idra crudely.

“you give me your aid willingly to restore basic functionality of this place and I give you the knowledge that you desire”

Without a second of delay Idra spat at Scilla hitting her in the face.

Still mentally unstable Scilla pushed her arm between the metallic diamonds that made the shutter, grabbed Idra by her clothes and pulled her to the metal grid. Idra slammed violently against it. Scilla’s mind was split between her love for Iris, that made her fundamentally incapable of hurting Idra, and her rational side that knew way too well that she was not the same Iris. It was the rational side that prevail and forced her to act. After all she was well aware that Esterians may look civil but they understood violence extremely well.

“try that again and I’ll use your mouth as my personal toilet”

Not now. I still have to fix this fucking collar.

Idra gulped loudly in the now silent underground mall.

“I want… I want guarantees”

“you think you are in a position to ask for any”

“sort of. A token of minimal mutual thrust would be appreciated” replied Idra while Scilla slowly let her go.

“what do you want”

“to survive. So let’s test your proposal. This place looked like some old shops. What have you discovered so far?”

“I didn’t explore much. Beyond that corner...” said Scilla pointing on her left with the flashlight.

“I have no idea. On the right however I saw a mini market and a camping and hardware shop”

“try with the camping thing. Do you know how to read Estir?”

“no”

“fair enough. No arm in asking. Then go look for cubic boxes. 30x30x30 cm. They should be hard with a lot of writing on the top. However they are blu and bright orange. On the back you should be able to see images… like instructions.”

“what are them?”

“emergency survival kits. They should have been made to survive for decades or maybe even centuries. Grab at least 10”

“why so many?”

“2 for today, the rest for later”

“I can just get 2 each day”

“are you stupid? Are we not suppose to go look for the generator? It will take us days to find it. Then what if it’s not… if it’s partially broken? No even better. Grab all you can and put them inside the armored car”

“one thing at a time. I’ll go look for those boxes”

Do I warn her?… fuck

“hey!”

“what Idra?”

Idra was visibly concerned about something.

“do… did… did you… dreamed of an organic sack... pulsing and screaming?”

“no. is it important?”

“it’s ok. Just… if you see one don’t touch it”

“sure”

Scilla walked away confused and left wondering about an organic sack pulsing and shouting. What could it ever be? Why asking your enemy about it?

About 40 minutes later Scilla returned pulling a shopping cart filled with the colorful cubes.

“are this the correct one?”

“YES! Give me, give me!”

they of course didn’t fit through the grating.

“hold your horses. Get back and on the ground.”

“the fuck? I brought you to food and you don’t thrust me?”

“I thrust you just enough to collaborate. Nothing more. You tried to kidnap me.”

“and you kidnapped me. The one untrustworthy is you”

“fair enough, then no food for Idra”

“what the fuck! I helped you”

“shish it was a joke. Yet this won’t change what I said. If you don’t want to get on the ground then go inside the bathroom and close the door”

“you think I can outrun you?”

“no. just that you will assault me”

Idra stared at Scilla with disappointment.

“what makes you think that I can’t do that right now?”

“your collar”

Idra smiled back, her displeasure was obvious.

“I’ll get into the storage room.”

without more discussion Idra walked away from the shutters and into one of the doors in the back. Scilla placed one of the boxes inside and once back to safety she called Idra that rushed back. She grabbed the box and her first words upon a fast inspection were

“oh, this will be fun”

“what do you mean?”

“you will find out” Idra had a huge evil smile on her face.

Then she opened the box. Inside there were smaller box perfectly packed. 5 of them were 10x10x30 cm while one was 20x20x30 cm. Idra pulled out 2 of the small boxes. One contained a mix of miscellaneous things while the other was a metallic box. Idra twisted the bottom and gradually the box started heating and the newly made gap at the twisting intersection let inside gasses flow out. Scilla looked and copied Idra’s actions. Some minutes later Idra fully removed the cap and Scilla did the same. Inside suspended in a dense dark red liquid she found a mix of long yellowish strings and small pieces of what looked like meat.

“what are we eating?” asked Scilla.

No response.

“silence treatment, what a childish behavior.”

“you know, if you didn’t like being put in a different room you certainly won’t like being restrained again as we search for the reactor”

Idra snapped. She was angry.

“what the fuck! You intend to tie me up again?”

“yes”

“I believed in you! I give you food! What else do you want?”

“listen Iris, I can’t help it. The first thing you tried to do was kill me. I thrust you enough to guide me around to turn on a generator. But I can’t let you free. Not now”

“you just want to use me…”

Scilla interrupted Idra. Her tone was sad.

“yes. You are correct. But you don’t have any other option do you?”

Idra looked back furious but also curious and intrigued. Maybe not having a computer in her brain made her less cold and strict.

“you can cut your shitting excuses. Don’t know what you are trying to do, but it won’t work on me bitch. Try pull some shit and I’ll make you regret ever being born”

“if you behave well maybe I’ll free you”

“this is my house!”

“and you are my prisoner. So what?”

“you should be the one getting tied up”

“and then what? You would kill me”

“I won’t. I would trap you until desperation makes you friendly”

Scilla didn’t reply instead she focused on the food. Idra was swallowing it as if she had been starving for days. With some courage Scilla dug in and was met with strangeness. The red liquid that she believed was going to be spice was instead sweet akin to a jam but with the consistency of a dense paste. The yellow strings were crunchy, spicy and salty. The unknown meat was soft but lacking any form of fat. It was a peculiar combination that could became disgusting even if eaten in the wrong proportions. Still she had nothing else to eat and at least compared to everything else around her, it was a warm meal.