Hell's Gifts - Complete Series Boxset

by Mark Russo

  I grabbed my pad, opened the DPT software and reviewed those questions. The more I reflected on them, a peculiar thought lingered in the back of my head, but I could still not put it into words. These days were becoming more and more of a challenge, from all points of view.

  I woke in what I assumed to be a cave. I wore pajamas, so I had left my bed and somehow got here; I had no recollection of waking up or leaving my room. It was not as cold as I would expect. My pajamas were thin material, but I didn’t feel uncomfortable. To be honest, I could not feel my body at all.

  I stood and tried to navigate, to process the right thought first. It took me a moment to realize I had never been here before. I reflected upon the fact I had never sleep walked before. I noticed despite not having any openings to the outside, the cave was almost as bright as though it had. Everything around me—rock walls, ground, and scattered boulders—gleamed. Something cloaked them in an incandescent dark green.

  I thought I was dreaming. Maybe I was, but I couldn’t tell for sure; I had never been good at that. I staggered forward in a narrow stone corridor, irregular walls surrounding me. I really had to watch each step. The deeper I ventured, the less familiar and alien the cave felt. On top of all that, I realized I could not hear any sounds. I never experienced such a deafening silence.

  I focused on a peculiar crack in one of the stone walls. I knew I had to look there—don’t know how, but I was sure about it. A slimy substance trickled from it, like oil mixed with gravel. It rippled as it spilled onto the floor a few meters from me. I instinctively stepped back.

  The black substance created a puddle, getting closer to me as it streamed, like it knew where I was. I moved another step back and breathed faster.

  From the center of the black mass, something rose, an undefined shape growing taller. Rapidly that substance stood, like no other liquid would do. I don’t know how I could tell, but I realized that thing was looking at me.

  I think I turned and ran; I had no idea where I was going. I just tried to leave that creature far behind me. I didn’t turn to check if it had followed me.

  I opened my eyes and found myself in my bed. It took me a moment for my heart to stop pounding at full speed. I was as sweaty as if I had run for kilometers. I reached for Mr. Sweet and hugged him.

  “That was just a nightmare, and no monsters were around me.” I repeated that sentence a few more times.

  I sat on my bed with a cup of tea, and my bear was talking about something I didn’t understand, so I asked him to repeat. “What I’m saying is we have to find a strategy to tackle this issue. We can’t let them keep harassing you.”

  “This part I understood. I agree with all of it. What I don't get is how you want to do it.”

  He came closer, looking me in the eye. “We step up a little. First thing we need is to be sure you have an advantage over them.”

  That was the part I didn’t get.

  “What kind of advantage may I need? Why would you think I should hide?”

  “Because what they’re doing has to stop. I don’t see them quitting their game for any reason,” the bear suggested in a serious tone I’d never heard him use before.

  “You're scaring me. I think this will be over soon. They are not all bad.” I raised my voice a tad.

  “I won’t force this idea on you. Let me just do one thing. All I ask is for you to follow me in a little walk. I want to show you something.” Mr. Sweet approached the door then turned around, studying me.

  I hesitated, but tagged along.

  We used the elevator to reach the main hall, not uttering a single word.

  “Where are we going exactly?” I asked the stuffed animal while a few people I didn’t know passed us.

  “The main door. From there, we’ll return to your room. I’m sure you didn’t notice what I’m about to show you.”

  I hummed casually.

  With the front door in front of us, we turned and headed back to where we’d come.

  “Do you see those four alcoves with those ugly statues?” He pointed at them.

  “Sure, I’ve been here many times before.”

  “Did you look at them closely?”

  I shook my head.

  “If you had, you would’ve noticed enough space behind each one for a human being your size.”

  “Why do I need to know this?”

  “You never know, Emma. It might come in handy to know these details.”

  I didn’t exactly understand his sentiment.

  “I don’t think it’s something crucial, but thanks for sharing,” I mumbled, uninterested.

  He didn’t reply and kept walking towards the stairs, stopping his relentless march on the side of the first flight. “What do you see here?”

  “Stairs,” I said while checking the live feed in my contacts.

  “Yes, that is true. What else do you see?”

  I didn’t reply.

  “The hidden door is on the side. Cleaning robots use it to reach the outside. Now you have another way out of the building. Do you see it?”

  I nodded and chortled. I liked a secret tunnel to walk outside.

  “Let’s go back now. I’m expecting a long cuddling session after this boring walk.”

  I smiled at that bear. He was weird but too cute not to hug him.

  I grabbed my pad and scrolled through the material they provided us. It was like ten A4 pages. I don’t think I ever read that much at once. I find focusing on a book way too boring for my taste, a total waste of time. It lacks the interactivity I need. Reading is something I would never do unless something forced me. That evening, I decided I wanted to try it. If that bookworm Dorothy can manage, I’ll own this. I wanted to be the best student this year; I knew I could be.

  I launched the presentations in the holographic projector. I walked to the data board, launched DST and moved my hand to scroll through the data cells. I spotted my ring. I rarely remember how powerful that thing is. It is a part of my and everyone else’s body nowadays.

  This DST shrinks big data to something another tool can use. Why they didn’t put both those tools together? Why not make big data intelligible in one go? I might ask about this. Was this really a smart question?

  Next step is DPT. It turns data into words; it generates questions. They said there is one more piece of this puzzle. I don’t know yet what to expect.

  Maybe they also have something that decides for you? I don’t know if I would like that. I mean, we have to do something, right? As human beings. Machines can replace us completely. I mean, for complicated things, like deciding stuff.

  I realized I remembered everything they had taught me so far. It never happened before. I always tried so hard to achieve this, and it was happening at that moment, just like that. Something was changing in me. EIBM was really teaching me shit.

  After twenty minutes of studying and learning, I had to take a break. I couldn’t find my bear; for sure, he was out on one of his walks—never got to understand where he goes or why he even does that. I asked him multiple times, but he just ignored me.

  I wanted to see if I could find him. It was late, so my nicer colleagues should not cause me any trouble. At least, I hoped so. I heard they spend their evenings in some TL’s permanent war worlds. I’ve never visited those places.

  I wore my jacket; I don’t know why. I was not planning to leave the building at night again, but I felt cold. I went in the direction opposite to the main canteen. I expected to see my friend in the near vicinity, but it didn’t happen. I moved farther ahead. I descended the other flight of stairs—the one nobody ever uses. As I expected, nobody was in that part of the building.

  I looked outside; the wind blew strong enough to move the trees. I had no clue where those stairs would lead me. Finding myself in the hall did not surprise me much. Those four statues were still there and now looked different after what Mr. Sweet had revealed. I still didn’t understand what to hide from. I moved closer. It was a statue of something they cal
led a gargoyle; Mr. Sweet had told me about that. I looked closer into the statue’s eyes.

  I don’t know how, but I realized someone had followed me. I faked I didn’t realize it and walked normal, heading to a corridor on my right. I glanced at another statue, but I didn’t get what kind of mythological beast it was.

  As soon as I turned the corner, I ran. I can’t tell for how long, but my knees were hurting. I passed several open rooms which I ignored and moved onward. My right knee was screaming by then. Soon, I was somewhere I’d never seen before—the greenhouses area. Three separate small buildings rose in front of me—four meters tall and much longer. Transparent walls defined each of them. The ceiling, far above my head, was very tall. The EIBM building enclosed the greenhouse area.

  After glancing around, I saw no one. I didn’t know who I was escaping from or if I even needed to. I approached one building; I grabbed the glass-door handle and dashed inside. The greenhouse’s internal temperature was much higher than the outer one, so I removed my coat.

  I had no clue what vegetables or fruits were lined in front of me; I had never seen similar plants before. I walked ahead and started sweating. The room’s humidity filled my lungs. I turned left, where large-leafy plants lined up. It was more difficult to walk there with all those twigs hitting my face. Who was I running from? I turned right again at the end of the tree line, and he was there.

  “You should not be here unaccompanied.”

  “I’m sorry.” I shuffled backward. “Who are you?”

  “The greenhouse guardian,” the guy replied in a super flat tone.

  “I thought robots only handled this place. Am I wrong?”

  “No, you are not. It’s robots and me. I handle maintenance on them and some other stuff.”

  He would not look at me while answering my questions. It appeared like he wasn’t looking anywhere.

  “I’ll just go. Okay? Again, sorry for bothering your plants.”

  He didn’t reply, not a word, not a gesture. Only his blank eyes staring straight in front of him.

  I rushed back. I ran when I was far enough. He hadn’t followed me that time.

  I sat at one table close to the automated food line. A big portion of macaroni steamed before me as I rapidly reached for my fork. That inviting dish was still catching all my attention when Maria sat across from me. I spotted her but didn’t talk first. I just wanted to eat.

  “We might have something in common,” she said.

  What kind of opening line was that? I lifted my gaze from the plate but kept my mouth shut, chewing that yummy thing.

  “What?” I mumbled, having another bite.

  Maria shrugged. “We don’t fit among these people.”

  I kept chewing and looked at her. “I’m listening.”

  Maria leaned her elbows on the table. “I think we should hang out together.”

  “Aren’t we already?”

  She giggled. I’ve never seen her do that before. Two perfectly symmetrical dimples appeared on her face. “Do you want to see my mansion in TL?”

  “I found a good spot for diving in augmented reality. Let me show you,” I replied.

  A few minutes later, Maria and I were exploring the massive stone walls of her 18th-century-inspired mansion. It had been a long time since I had hung out in TL with someone other than Tess. I didn’t know what to say.

  “This place has a fireplace—actually, I have many. I like how TL renders the fire effect. It doesn’t’ feel warm though.”

  I really had trouble knowing when she was joking. “This place is huge, much bigger than my tower.” My gaze wandered here and there.

  “This was a present from my parents. They knew I wanted a place in here. They chose it for me.”

  I approached the fireplace. “Do you like it here?”

  “Well, I don’t mind it. It’s peaceful and cozy … somehow.”

  I sat on the foam couch in front of the fireplace and waited for something to happen, but it did not.

  “I think it sucks, Emma. What those guys are doing to you,” Maria stated from behind me.

  “I don’t want to talk about that.”

  She muttered something I didn’t get then asked, “Did you ever get to see a real glitch?”

  I faced her.

  “They never noticed it. One of my rooms glitches all the time,” she added.

  “It’s dangerous, Maria. It may affect this place, your avatar, and everything else you have here.”

  “What’s life without a little risk?” She smiled. “I guess you want to see it, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I never saw a glitch unhandled by the system.” I inspected the surroundings, looking for any sign of the bug.

  “Come, follow me.” Maria climbed up a flight of stairs I hadn’t noticed until that very moment. She opened the door to an empty room devoid of windows. “You can see I had to remove all the furniture from this room. The glitch kept destroying them. The same with the windows. It does not affect the walls though.” Maria grabbed my left elbow. “See that line on the floor?”

  I nodded, halting my foot from moving.

  “That is where the glitch’s limit stops. If your avatar moves in there, well … I don’t know what happens then.”

  “How do you keep it confined to this place only?”

  “I have a friend who’s a big nerd. I don’t know what he did. All I know is I do not walk past this line.”

  “This is interesting,” I said while looking straight in front of me, “but I don’t see it.”

  “I don’t either. I just know it is there. Somewhere.”

  After our little augmented reality session, Maria and I returned to EIBM’s main building. We walked side by side, and I contemplated inviting her over.

  “I still did not get if the glitch thing in your place was something I could see.”

  “Me neither, Emma.”

  We both laughed and kept walking close together. I made eye contact with a cleaning robot, and he nodded at me.

  “Would you take a walk outside? It’s cold, but I still like it.”

  “I’m from Spain. Here is much, much colder than I can bear. Would you mind if we walk inside the building instead? I heard they have very interesting things to see in the research center, like human clones.” Her eyes widened. “And those trees on the outside scare me.”

  “God, Maria. How long can you talk without taking a breath?”

  She laughed. I noticed she blushes when she does.

  We wandered in a direction I’d never taken before, opposite where our rooms were. A long corridor with massive ribbon windows guided us towards the research center’s entrance. We scanned our retinas on the door-opening device, and it granted us limited access passes. No issues up to that point.

  “Where would those human clones of yours be?” I asked while looking around.

  “I don’t know, Emma, but I think they have them somewhere here. We should look around.”

  “So, you believe they are doing some illegal, genetic sick shit in here.”

  She nodded.

  The research center looked like a futuristic hospital—almost every wall was embedded glass, allowing a view on robots and humans operating unfamiliar machinery. The building had a blunt square shape, with a big opening above the reception area, an infinite column of light coming from both above and below piercing each floor.

  “I overheard a guy talking in the canteen—”

  “You did it, right?”

  “Yes.” She blushed, “but that’s not the point. They were talking about something weird, Emma.” She came closer and whispered in my ear. “It looks like the transition is running smoothly. Soon, everyone in here will be like us.”

  I tilted my head. “That made you think they’re cloning humans?”

  “Nope. But they said more, and I couldn’t help but keep listening. One of them added, ‘We had to shut down a proxy.’ Do you remember what that guy told Sneider on the first day?”

  I did
. Why was that coming back again? Did I really have to prepare to transform into someone else? Nothing was making sense.

  “Emma? I’m here. You can talk instead of wandering in your thoughts alone.”

  “Yes, Maria. I don’t think being here is a smart move. We have to think about a strategy.”

  “You mean, like a plan?”

  “Let’s go to my room. I might have one.”

  “Okay! Let’s go.” Her enthusiasm was palpable.

  We were almost at my door when we bumped into André. He must have been jogging or something, given his attire. Sweat covered his forehead, and he smelled not exactly fresh. I ignored him, but something hinted he wouldn’t do the same.

  “Maria, what are you doing with this one?” He got between us, laying his arms on our shoulders.

  I cringed but didn’t force to move his fucking limb away from my body.

  “We had a nice walk in the research center. Lots of interesting stuff happening there.”

  André nodded. “You know, consider hanging out with someone a little cooler than Emma.”

  “I like spending time with her. She’s nice.” Maria smiled.

  “From here, I see she has big boobs.” His hand slide down and grabbed my right breast.

  His hand slid down and grabbed my right breast.

  I immediately gave him an elbow right to his stomach, putting all my strength in it. I yelled random swear words at him. My clenched fist approached his dumb face to hit him once more, but he ran.

  His face appeared scared or very surprised for the first time I could ever remember.

  “The guy’s a creep. Are you okay?” Maria asked as she stroked my head.

  “Yes, I’m fine. We have a plan to work on, remember?”

  She cracked an uncertain smile and followed me into my room.

  When we stepped into my room, Mr. Sweet was sitting in his chair.

  “Hey, teddy bear. This is Maria.”

  She wore a more than puzzled expression; I could not blame her.