Island Girls

by Rodzil LaBraun

  We exited into another hallway, but this one was narrower, and looked to be designed only for foot traffic. We went back into stealth mode, just in case. There could be people on this level that might take action at spotting us.

  I could see a window at the end of one of the halls. Only blackness appeared outside, like the vastness of space. It drew me in that direction. Looking out into the darkness I saw the lights of a recently departed craft fade away then blink out. It was all visuals provided by the game. But if we were not players in the game, why was the game bothering to show us this?

  If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound? Yes, the answer is yes. Because it is real. We were not in the woods. We were in a game. If there is no player around to see something in the game, is it displayed anyway? No. Typically, no. It would just be recorded in code and displayed later when a player arrives. Like an idle game on my old cell phone.

  Damn, I missed that phone. I used to make fun of other people for being so attached to their phone. They would walk around like zombies, right out into busy intersections without even looking up. Even with small children on their heels. It was frightening. And here I was somewhat addicted to my phone as well. It was embarrassing to a degree.

  Anyway, none of this made any sense. Why was the game in action if we weren't playing? If we were playing, why was nothing reacting to us?

  We turned left and heard a disturbance down that hallway. Just as I considered turning around, a door opened on our left, and an android stepped out. It apologized to us, then stepped around me to continue down the hall. As much as I wanted to stand there and ponder that encounter, I couldn't. We had to duck into the room in case whatever was coming down the hallway posed a danger. The disturbance sounded eerily like the one we heard in the tunnel.

  The lights kicked on as we accessed the room, which turned out to be huge. We entered from the corner. Going in the direction away from the door the space went maybe fifty feet. The other direction, to the right, I could not even see where the room ended.

  The size of the place was not the most disturbing part, though. Not by a long shot. Several rows of large cylinders lay horizontal, stacked two high. Visible through the clear glass on top of each canister was a human. They were each asleep and had a few attachments connecting them to the unit. Cryogenic preservation, or something like it.

  Tingles ran up my spine. Is this the room where I spent the last few decades? Asleep as well? Waiting to be awakened so I could compete in these stupid arena games? If so, why the hell was it in the game?

  CHAPTER TWENTY:

  "What the fuck is this?" Trixie asked. We were all thinking the same thing. Word for word.

  "We found the room where we slept for years before awakening on the island," Lin said as she leaned over one of the cylinders to look at the woman inside. Everyone was naked in their tubes. There was no reason for clothes. Comfy pajamas would not make your stay more pleasant. When I stood beside Lin, I could see that the sleeping woman was big breasted and a little pudgy. She would not likely be a strong competitor in the games. Perhaps that was why she was still here.

  "So, this island has actually been our home for a very long time, without us knowing it," Nancy said as she slowly walked down the aisle.

  "But why is this part of the game?" Drexel asked.

  "How does this whole place fit under our tiny little island?" Shira asked. "That's what I want to know."

  "How many people were eyeballing my goodies while I was sleeping?" Trixie asked.

  "All good questions," I responded. "Except maybe that last one."

  "What do you mean?" Trixie asked. "They could have been fingering us and shit while we were sleeping. Some perverted doctor might have rubbed his ball sack all over my face while I was in one of these things."

  "Oh my God!" Nancy responded to Trixie's outlandish accusation. Most of us laughed a bit. Trixie was at least good at lightening the mood.

  "Did you get that a lot when you were a stripper," Shira asked. The question shocked me, and I couldn’t immediately figure out what to make of it. Was she overly annoyed with Trixie, or becoming much more comfortable with joking around?

  "Hey!" Trish yelled at Shira. I had the feeling that I was going to have to break up a fight. "We all sell ourselves in one way or another. Don't judge."

  "Oh, shit!" Nancy said, placing her hand over her mouth. "You really were a stripper?"

  "Nah," Trish answered with a smile. "I'm just fucking with you all. But I did date a doctor once that like to do that. Actually, he was a vet. But that's what made me think of it. It took some getting used to. He wouldn't even shave his balls first."

  "Okay, that's disgusting," Lin said. "I don't need to hear anymore."

  "Why would you put up with that?" Shira asked. I figured that Trixie was still just joking around, so I avoided giving her any kind of rise from her comments.

  "His little pecker was just the right size for my bung hole."

  "Oh my God!" Nancy erupted. "That's hilarious. Trixie, tell me you are not joking."

  "Nah, I'm still joking. But I do like it up...."

  "Okay, I think we should stay focused here," I raised my voice. "We have obviously stumbled upon something that we should not be allowed to see. Why they are letting us come in here, I don't know. But I think this raises the danger level considerably. We could very well just be in part of their compound and outside the game. The tunnels, hallways and cargo rooms that we have seen may just have been incorporated into the game somehow, but actually exist for real below the island."

  "Then how do you explain the view outside the window?" Shira asked.

  That was a damn good question. I had no answer. These puzzle pieces were not all fitting together to make a recognizable picture. Just when you thought that you had things figured out, one of the pieces didn't seem like it even belonged to your puzzle.

  "This area is off limits for your species of life form," an android voice said from the doorway. It was same droid from before, or one that looked exactly like it. It didn't matter. We had been caught. But were others notified?

  I saw everyone tense up like they were ready for a fight. Despite violence being something that I was good at, this situation might best be handled differently.

  "I apologize," I said to the android. "Could you point us in the right direction for our area."

  "Certainly," the droid replied without any emotion. "Follow the green arrows on the floor beginning at the door. They will guide you to the common area where you can get additional information."

  The arrows were identical to the ones that led me through the corridors of the starship virtual reality game a couple days ago. This wasn't getting any less confusing. The android let each of us exit the room politely. The question was, do we follow the arrows? Would it lead us to getting caught and detained?

  "Let's follow them for a while," I suggested. "We can branch away at any time. It should at least lead us away from the cargo holds and cryo tanks. Maybe we can get some answers about this place along the way."

  No one objected, so we followed that plan. As we were walking down our third new corridor, I heard a voice from an open doorway. It said my name. I didn't make out anything else. I halted and hesitantly stepped into the room with the voice. The walls slowly began to illuminate using the same method as our barracks.

  Sitting on a chair large enough to be a throne sat the queen. Well, she was the queen in the game at least. Perhaps she was a different character now. Since she was alien, she could not possibly be real. So, we are back in the game then?

  "Hey, it's the queen," Lin said as she followed me in. Lin nearly had an orgasm from contact with her in the game. I wasn't sure how that happened, or if it could happen again. "I remember you."

  "I bet you do," Nancy said to Lin, remembering the experience as well.

  "Shush," was Lin's only response.

  The rest of our party joined us inside the room and the door shut silently behind us. The space w
as huge if it was for living quarters but appeared to be more like an office or meeting area. There were some chairs around the perimeter of the room. The black skinned alien gestured for us to sit. Some of us did. They were probably tired from all this running around. I just felt more comfortable standing. Lin stood by my side.

  "Who are you?" I asked. "Are you the queen still? Are we in the game?"

  "No. No, I am not the queen, though her character was modeled after me. And no, you are not in the game."

  "What do you mean that she was modeled after you? Aren't you still a character? A hologram or something?"

  "No again. I am real. I dislike saying 'no' so much. Please ask different questions."

  "But you are an alien. How can you be real?"

  "I am as real as you, Joah. Or as any of your friends. And before you start questioning whether or not any of you are real. Yes, you are all real."

  "Were we sleeping in those cylinders for years?" Lin asked gesturing toward the door that we came in.

  "Thank you, Lin," the beautiful alien woman said with a happier tone to her song like voice. "A question that I can answer with a yes."

  I was still struggling with the concept that humanoid aliens from another planet existed. I could only assume that no one else in our party was getting past that one so quick.

  "Were my titties exposed for everyone to see?" Trixie asked. I just shook my head.

  "Yes, again," the alien replied. "You were naked and facing up the entire time. But the room is only serviced by androids. You were not fingered or probed. And no one's genitals made contact with your face."

  "Oh, shit," Trixie reacted with a surprised expression. "You all could hear what we were saying?"

  "I could, the entire way, but no one else did to my knowledge. You see, I am the one that placed the door in the dressing room. I am so glad that you found it."

  "You provided us a means of escape?" I asked. "Aren’t you our captor?"

  "I am among them, yes. Though we do not consider ourselves your captors."

  "What are you then?" Lin asked.

  "We are your owners. We acquired all of you legally. The preservation chambers where you slept for ages were built on your planet. Years later you were loaded onto a cargo ship that transported your bodies to a commercial station orbiting a planet that you do not know. Our vessel was at that station and purchased the entire lot. One thousand, seven hundred and forty-two human bodies. The last of your race."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:

  "My name in your language is Delilah, by the way," the attractive ultra-dark woman said.

  "I don't like that name," Lin murmured.

  "Why not?" I asked her.

  "Don't you read the Bible? You are Samson in this scenario. And this woman will lead you to your death."

  "The name is just a coincidence, Lin," Delilah spoke as calmly as ever. "I mean none of you any harm."

  "Then why did you choose that name?" Lin asked.

  "It is a direct translation, I am told, and has something to do with darkness. As you can see, I am blacker than black."

  "And you are a real-life alien?" Drexel asked with doubt in his voice.

  "I am. My home star system is more than seventy light years from your Earth. But I was not born there. I have spent the majority of my life in space, as does most of my species. We are the Thesphilians."

  "Let's get back to the part where you say that you own us," I interrupted. "What do Thesphilians do with their human toys?"

  "That is unfortunately for you a very accurate analogy. You are toys. Some of us have studied human culture extensively, much like the people of your age studied the Egyptians. We are fascinated. We make what you call movies based on your species and your home planet. It is very popular entertainment."

  "So, we have no rights?" Lin asked. "That's why we are unjustly imprisoned."

  "That is correct. By law, we are free to do with you as we please. The six of you are actually celebrities, of sorts, among my people. So, it is not all bad. You see, the entertainment program that we run on this ship is the most popular among my people."

  “So, now you are claiming that we are on an actual starship?” Drexel asked.

  “I also find that very hard to believe,” Nancy chirped in. I wanted to agree with that doubt. The very core of my mind needed me to do so. But logic did not support it. Everything that we had experienced in the last hour backed this woman’s claims.

  “It is true. This fact must explain your journey clearly since you left the recreation center of your habitat. Ponder that for a moment.”

  “Then,” Drexel challenged again. “How did we get on a starship from the island? Explain that one for me, alien queen.”

  “Your island was the core of your habitat, which is a large room on this ship. You have not been on an actual planet for a very, very long time.”

  Whoa! Could that be true? My mind was reeling! The fabricated structures. The ever-changing central zone. The force field in the sea. Their ability to see and hear us wherever we went. Holy shit! We’ve been on a spaceship this whole time. I didn’t want to believe it, but deep down, I did.

  My friends were still in disbelief. They were talking among themselves mostly, but occasionally calling the alien’s claim bullshit. It was hard for the mind to adjust. Sort of like finding out as a teenager that you were adopted. Or that you were born the opposite sex. Crazy shit like that. Your brain could not accept it quickly.

  "This show," I asked as the others were still babbling. "Is it just the games or does it include our personal lives?"

  "We record everything. Not all of it is broadcast, but of what our viewers see, less than half is the arena challenges that you face."

  "How long has this show been running?" Lin asked, leaving the other discussion to rejoin mine.

  "In its current format, three years."

  "And in all formats?"

  "Not all formats were competitions or had human executions. But the more popular ones were. If you would like to know how many years my species has been exploiting yours for financial gain, the answer is thirty-seven years."

  "Holy shit," Nancy exclaimed. Our friends were evidently done bickering over whether or not we could possibly be on a starship. "How many of our people have died from these shows?"

  "Less than four hundred, but I do not know the exact number."

  "This is bullshit!" Trixie spoke up. "We ain’t in outer space and you ain't no real alien. You look too much like us."

  "There are seven intelligent space-faring species," Delilah responded. "Six look very similar to you and me. Just as your males have found me attractive, my species finds certain humans attractive as well. It has contributed to the selection process for our show. You see, you are the pretty ones."

  "Are the different species compatible?" I found myself asking out of curiosity. Sometimes, my mental filter doesn’t work too well. "I mean, sexually?"

  "Joah?" Lin chastised me for what she considered perversion in my question.

  "I want to know that, too," Trixie said.

  "We are sexually compatible," Delilah replied. "But not in a reproductive way. We could have sexual intercourse successfully, but we would not be able to bare any offspring. I am told that the sex is enjoyable for both involved, though your organs are larger than ours, of course. There is an adjustment period."

  "Have you all been fucking us this whole time?" Trixie demanded to know.

  "Not in the literal sense," Delilah answered.

  "Take off your clothes, bitch!" Trixie yelled. "I want to see your alien body!"

  "I will do no such thing. I am your savior, not your enemy. I understand that it takes a while to come to terms with your situation, but time is limited. If you choose not to follow my instructions, my peers will put you to death. It will be recorded and broadcast across the known galaxy, then we'll wake your replacements. The choice is yours. But only for the next two minutes. After that, it will be too late."

  "If we ar
e on a starship for real," Lin asked. "Where can we go to get free?"

  "There is a vessel in a docking bay that can transport all of you at once. It has been commandeered by our security officers and its occupants detained. They are rebels against our race that broadcast negative media exposing human exploitation on this ship. Most of our species does not care in the least. But they are a nuisance. I thought it rather appropriate that some of you should escape in their ship, thereby supporting their cause, for which I have been developing a sympathetic heart."