Death Shop: With Hope, Anything is Possible — Or Not

by George Donnelly

  The red button clicked and Ailsa felt herself plunged into a warm pool of pure joy.

  Why did I ever worry about any of this? She sensed Texa next to her. She turned.

  That’s when the pain began.

  16

  Aiko carried the bodies of Ailsa and Texa out of the death chamber, through the rear hallway and into the alley out back. She dropped the corpses into a shiny green dumpster and returned inside.

  She locked the door behind her and pressed a button.

  A man approached the dumpster. It was Milton. He raised up the dumpster lid and looked inside. He smiled without showing his teeth.

  He turned and pounded on the blue door of the Death Shop. Aiko opened the door. She smiled at him.

  “Do you love me, Milton?” she asked.

  “You are my beautiful Japanese princess.”

  “Do you want me?” She cocked her head to the side and let her top fall off of one shoulder.

  “I want you. But right now—”

  She straightened her head. “I know what you want. Here are the coupons.”

  Milton grabbed them and turned toward the dumpster. “I’ll call—”

  “Baby, I need you now!” the android yelled. The sounds of women moaning came from its speakers. It leaned forward and opened its mouth.

  Milton let out a long breath. “Look, Aiko, you’re a machine. Your urges are all in your programming. Or something. You can wait a few hours. I’ve got to take care of this.”

  She tilted her head to one side. “I will pout for you. Just imagine that I am pouting.” She bowed slightly and closed the door behind her. Milton was left alone in the alley.

  17

  Milton pulled the two-wheeled cart up to the back door of grid 115, street 9, entry 36. He dropped the huge wooden handles to the ground and the long plastic bags in the cargo area shifted.

  He entered 1–9–8–3–4–7 on a keypad next to the door and a screen revealed itself in the wall.

  He tapped the screen twice and selected Dr. Vernor Xemura. It’s my only chance to have her again. He might hide her but if I don’t do this, she’ll be gone forever. He clicked ‘Call.’

  A harried man with bushy brown hair and a black beard answered. He squinted at the screen. “I’m not buying right now. Thank you.” He hung up.

  Milton growled. Too distracted for his own good.

  He dialed again. “Now just hold on, Dr. Xemura, how are you today and I hope you are well, by the way, wherever you are right—”

  “Get to it, Milton. I’m very busy here,” said Dr. Xemura.

  “I have a special one,” said Milton.

  “I’m not buying!” He hung up.

  Milton dialed him again. Oh, yes you are. “Look, these two are special. Young females. Healthy. They just fell on hard times. I don’t need much, just—”

  “Time elapsed?” asked Dr. Xemura.

  “Not more than twenty-five minutes.”

  “Price?”

  “Same as last—” started Milton.

  Dr. Xemura hung up. Milton redialed. Always the cheapskate.

  “It’s two for one, Doctor! Two-for-one. You get the lady in the prime of her life, plus, you can take title of a child.”

  Dr. Xemura moved his face closer to the camera. “Details.”

  “No more than eight. In good health. A slight leg deformity. Very fond of audio subscriptions!” Milton added in a sing-song voice.

  Dr. Xemura brought his hand to his chin. “Pre-pubescent,” he muttered to himself. “And the two of them for the usual price?”

  “That’s a special deal, just for you, Doctor. Because you’re my favorite,” said Milton with a smile.

  Dr. Xemura grimaced. “I’ll send someone immediately.”

  18

  Ailsa opened her eyes. Everything was white. She stood up and looked around. Where am I?

  She reached for the ceiling. It was hard and she couldn’t completely extend her arm when touching it.

  She turned right and put both hands out in front of her. There was the wall. She turned around and walked three steps in the other direction. There was the wall again.

  She found the corner, and another wall. There were no seams.

  Her pulse accelerated. She felt hot. What is this? There was a buzzing in her head and she struggled to think.

  “Do not move,” said a computer voice.

  She ran forward and slammed into an invisible wall. She fell to the floor, her nose bloodied.

  She reached out for the wall. It was transparent. What the…?

  “Do not move!” said the computer voice. “You have injured yourself. Self-inflicted injury will be dealt with most severely.”

  She looked up. “What is this place? Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here?”

  There was only silence and a bright white light that came from everywhere at once. She looked out through the transparent front wall. There was only more white.

  She sat down cross-legged in front of the transparent wall. How did I get here? She remembered the uplift, that disgusting but somehow comforting man… and then what?

  Something metallic clacked on the hard plastic floor behind her. She turned around.

  It was a metal tray of food.

  19

  “I need to know what’s going on!” Ailsa yelled. She went to the back wall and pounded on it with her fists.

  “The tray must have come in here, somewhere,” she muttered. She felt the back wall, starting from the floor and working up, then over and down again.

  There was an indent. She ran her finger over it again. It moved. She got her finger in the space and pushed up. A hole opened up.

  She shoved her fingers in and moved them around. The surface was rough, waxy and wet.

  She pulled her fingers back out and smelled them. They stank of raw meat and rotten blood. Her stomach turned and she felt bile in her throat.

  She laid her head on the floor and looked out the slit. Metal shelves sat beyond a white table. The shelves held nondescript brown boxes. Behind glass doors sat transparent jars with varying color tints.

  She shifted to the left. There was a door, a big door. Shiny and metallic, it had a bulbous, circular glass window in the middle of it surrounded by a black circle.

  There has to be a way out of here.

  She stood up. She pushed the wall, here, there and everywhere. Nothing gave way.

  She sat down in a corner and began to cry. “I’m never going to—” she started.

  Texa. The thought electrified her. My little girl! How could I forget you?

  She stood up. She grabbed the metal tray, dumped its contents in a corner and rammed it into the slot.

  She pulled up on it. Nothing.

  She pushed down on it. Nothing. She stepped on the tray. The wall slid up, then fell back down into place.

  She levered it up again. She pushed on the wall and a thin panel fell onto her.

  She knocked it to one side and stepped out onto the waxy, white table. The big door was only meters away.

  20

  The big door with the bulbous, glass window swung open with ease. Ailsa stepped through. It was cold and dark on the other side. Her bare, wet feet touched smooth, icy metal. She shivered.

  Ailsa stopped and listened.

  She turned a corner and went though a set of double doors. A panel of small lights lay ahead. She raced forward and slammed into a transparent wall. She fell onto her back. A screeching, whirring noise came from her right.

  She looked. A hooded figure in a formless white lab suit ran towards her. It leaned down and grabbed her shoulders. Ailsa looked into the visor and saw a female face frozen in terror. It was her own.

  She screamed. The figure seized her by the ankle and dragged her back towards her cage.

  Ailsa slammed her head on the white table. The figure threw her into the cage and secured the panel. Her eyelids closed and she fell into a troubled sleep.

  21

  “Momm
y? Mommy! Wake up!” It was Texa’s voice.

  Ailsa opened her eyes. She was reclined on a thin bed. In front of her, two hooded figures with reflective viewplates moved around a spacious white room.

  Around the edges of this new room lay deep, white tables with curious, reflective machines that Ailsa didn’t recognize.

  “Who are you?” Ailsa mouthed the words but she didn’t hear herself say them.

  She felt an itch on her nose and moved a hand to scratch it but it would not come. Her legs were immobilized as well.

  She looked down. There were no straps over her limbs. Panic rose within her. What are they going to do to me?

  “Mom!”

  She whipped her head to the left. There was Texa. The skin around the girl’s eyes was pink and soft now. Her eyes sparkled. Her face was smooth and relaxed. Her beauty was rendered all the more fragile by the expression of panic on her face.

  Ailsa smiled. “My baby girl. Are you okay?” she whispered.

  “What is this, Mom? Where are we? Who are these people?” she asked. The look in her eyes made Ailsa’s gut feel empty.

  Ailsa swallowed hard. “I don’t know.” Her voice rasped and she struggled to pull enough air into her lungs. The room began to spin.

  One of the figures turned around. It stood absolutely still in its white lab suit and reflective helmet. It held a long, thin tube in its hand. It looked at Ailsa, then approached Texa.

  “Don’t you touch her! Don’t you do anything to her!” yelled Ailsa. This is my fault. How could I let this happen to us? She willed her body to respond. Her left hand came up and she grabbed the figure.

  It whipped around and smacked her hard across the face.

  Ailsa struggled to recover. Her cheek burned. She sat up.

  The figure jammed the tube into Texa’s abdomen. It pulled it back out with a jerk.

  “No!” whispered Ailsa. “What are you—”

  She felt a hand on her leg. The other figure jammed a similar tube into her thigh.

  “Mommy!” Texa’s scream activated every maternal alarm in her brain.

  A burning rose up through her leg and into her gut. Her heart seized. Ailsa struggled for breath.

  “Mommy!”

  She reached out her only good arm towards the figure, then collapsed.

  22

  I demand to know. I demand to know!

  Ailsa jolted awake and stood up. Her stomach ached. It was empty and dry. Her leg gave way and she fell back to the chilly, plastic floor.

  “I demand—” Her throat seized up. “I demand to know!” she yelled. “Where am I?”

  She was back in the original cage, or one like it. She crawled to the transparent window and pounded on it with both fists. She strained to look out the edges. All white. Nothing.

  I am going to get a reaction from them, no matter what.

  She pulled her head back and slammed it into the transparent wall. Then again. And again.

  Thick, warm blood ran down her face. She smeared some on the wall. She outlined a heart with her finger, then drew jagged vertical lines down the middle of it.

  She pulled her head back again. A man with bushy brown hair and a black beard appeared in front of her.

  “You may call me Dr. X. You are now a member of my laboratory here in Surrey.” He pulled a pipe from his mouth and continued, “There are very strict rules in this laboratory. You must not harm yourself.”

  Ailsa felt a weakness in her chest. “Why am I here? I don’t belong here.” She gathered her strength and prepared to yell. “I demand to see my daughter, now!”

  He took a step towards her and his image shimmered. Their noses were mere centimeters apart. “Let me be very clear with you. You are now my property. You will follow the rules. There will be no self-harm! You are a valuable piece of research equipment in my laboratory. In fact, you are the foundation. The girl depends on you. There will be no more—”

  “Call me Ailsa,” she whispered.

  “Your name now is 1176892 and you have no daughter.” His nostrils flared and his image dissolved for a moment before reappearing.

  “I am a full citizen with enhanced rights of the Republic Trust!” Ailsa whispered. “You can’t do this to me!”

  “Your rights,” said Dr. X in an even tone of voice, “were extinguished at death.” The image looked to its right and a whoosh of air hit Ailsa.

  A light chill ran down her arm. She laid her head on the hard floor. Extinguished… at… death? The words ran through her mind as she lost consciousness.

  23

  “She’s had a reaction to the initial injection.” Dr. Zora Collins wore sky blue scrubs and her platinum blond hair was tightly wrapped in a bun on the back of her head.

  Her hands shook but she looked straight into the viewscreen.

  Dr. Xemura looked up at her. “Surely, Erik can deal with this?”

  “He’s not here. What should I do?” Zora looked around at the tiny office. It made her feel compressed and cloistered. It was all wrong.

  Dr. Xemura leaned back in his chair and smiled at her. “Relax. I know this is all new for you, Zora, but I can assure you that such reactions are entirely within the normal range.” He turned back to his tablet.

  “I’ll give her a dose of anti-inflams and something for the pain, then. Collins out.” Zora turned to leave. Maybe then the little girl can get some sleep.

  “You will do no such thing!” yelled Dr. Xemura. He stood up and dropped his tablet onto a pile of metal folders on his desk. The camera followed his face.

  Zora jumped and closed her eyes. Relax. He doesn’t know.

  “Have you understood nothing that I have taught you here, Dr. Collins?”

  She turned to face him, her head held low and to the side.

  “This is a research institution. We perform Republic-sanctioned research on validated—”

  Zora looked up at the viewscreen and squared her face. “An adult is one thing, but a child… And to cause her unnecessary pain…”

  “That will be quite enough! This is not a hospital. This is a research facility and unless you have been named its executive director, then I suggest you watch your words.”

  He sat down then looked back at Zora. He leered and raised an eyebrow. “After all, you would make a fine research subject yourself.” His laugh echoed in her ear.

  24

  “I need your attention, Texa,” said Ailsa. She found herself in a white room again. This one had a viewscreen.

  “Right after this show. Just five minutes,” said Texa.

  “Now!” said Ailsa.

  Texa flashed angry eyes at her mother. “We finally get the audio subscription and you can’t let me watch?” She groaned. “What? What? What do you want?”

  Ailsa’s eyes unfocused. Texa’s face glowed with health. I’ve never seen her like this before. She’s positively radiant. A pang of regret and frustration gripped her. “We have to get out of here, baby,” Ailsa said with some reluctance. “I need your help. How do you feel?”

  Texa shrugged. “I’m happy, Mommy. The food is better and I have the audio subscription now. Thank you so much. I’m sorry. I’m mean. I’m a dummy.”

  “You’re my beautiful little girl.” Ailsa caressed Texa’s cheek. “But don’t you see? They have us in a cage.”

  “Can I watch now?”

  “We’re getting out of here,” Ailsa whispered. “When I call you, you come with me immediately, no matter what is on the viewscreen.”

  Texa nodded. She pointed to the viewscreen behind her.

  “Just be ready.”

  Ailsa examined her thigh. The wound was tender and swollen. Texa’s abdomen was enlarged and firm. She tapped it hard.

  “Can you feel that, baby?”

  Texa did not answer.

  “Texa! Did you feel that just now?”

  “What?” Texa replied.

  Ailsa rapped the swollen flesh again.

  Texa shrugged.

  Two food
trays popped into their plastic cage, one after the other. Ailsa pushed them out of the way. She laid down, raised up the flap and looked out. A small, blond woman worked with a lime green knife.

  She dumped the contents of one of the trays in a corner.

  “Mommy! What are you doing? Don’t mess it up! They don’t like that,” said Texa.

  Ailsa jammed the tray into the slot and stepped on it but the wall would not move. She tried it again and again. She kicked the wall.

  “I’m getting out of here,” she yelled, “whatever it takes!” She threw the tray against the wall. “With hope, Texa! With hope, anything is possible!”

  “Mommy! Please, I can’t hear!” said Texa.

  Texa’s obliviousness enraged her. Humans are to be free, not caged. They can starve me. They can fuck me. They can make me live like a dog. But they can not cage my girl. No. No more.

  Ailsa grabbed the tray anew. She shoved it into the slot. She jumped on it. The tray bent. “Damnit!” she muttered. She threw herself against the wall. The wall bounced her back. She grabbed the other tray and slammed its edge into the section of wall she knew should give way. She hit it again and again. Runny green and brown food splattered everywhere. A crack opened.

  “Mom!” Texa yelled.

  Ailsa felt the current but it was sluggish and uncertain. She took three long steps back, then ran and threw herself against the cracked wall.

  Something snapped. She burst through and fell out onto the waxy table.

  Dr. Zora Collins stared back at her, her eyes wide.

  25

  “You’re going to help us get out of here,” Ailsa said. She grabbed the green knife, jumped off the table and pointed it at Zora.

  Zora opened her mouth but nothing came out.