The Other Nelly

by McLaughlin, S. J.

  The Other Nelly

  By S. J. McLaughlin

  www.sjmclaughlin.com

  © 2014 S. J. McLaughlin

  All Rights Reserved.

  My name is Nelly, and so was hers.

  Many things had to happen before I met her, though. It could have started when I decided that whoring myself out as a lab experiment to this sketchy local science place was a good idea. Or it could have been when I was rejected for student loans because my parents made too much goddamn money for me to be approved, which is why I had to get that lousy job in the first place. On the other hand, maybe if I hadn’t of pissed my dad off so much he might have just paid my way through university like he was supposed to. I know I shouldn’t have pissed him off like that, but the man needs to keep the promises he makes to his daughter, right?

  Eh, who cares, my relationship with my dad doesn’t mean a goddamn thing for this story, and neither does the student loan bureau.

  The point I’m trying to get at with all of this is that I was broke, and I figured that making a few grand off some lousy lab experiments was a good way to go. They'll measure some brainwaves, check my vitals, and all that crap. I mean, honestly, my parents shouldn’t have a goddamn say in my student loan! Just because he makes more than 80 grand a year and my mom an extra 40 doesn’t mean I can’t have some help. The whole system is rigged, I tell you. Rigged. Is my boyfriend supposed to provide for me? Because his minimum wage job sure as hell isn’t going to get me through university, I’ll tell you that much.

  Besides, I don’t want to take any of his hard-earned cash away. I hated it whenever he’d try to give me some money when I was broke. I never took it, never. Okay, maybe there was that one time, but I was really hungry, okay?

  My boyfriend was very skeptical about me working at the lab. I mean, the place didn’t really seem safe. Or legal. And it was in the rough part of town. And deep underground. I had only met with them once before I actually started working there. The only condition they stuck me with was that I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about it. I mean, I told a few people about it but they’d never know about that.

  They were testing a short-range teleportation machine designed to dematerialize in one place and rematerialize in another, or something like that. I didn’t care. I really didn’t. I only cared that they were able to pay my first semester in full and that they would keep funding my studies while I showed up and did those little experiments.

  I’m majoring in psychology. Fun, right? Being a psychologist sounds like pretty easy money. Just sit around and let people rant about their problems. They say the best psychologists are the ones who ask more questions than they give answers. I’ll be the best damn psychologist in the province if that's the case. I am only kidding though. I know it’s hard work. It’s only been a few months since I started my course and it’s already taking a few tolls on me. I could have sworn I saw a gray hair the other day, no joke. There’s just so many classes and assignments. Finals are coming up shortly too.

  Elliot would always tell me I needed to calm down, but that never helped. Never tell someone who’s mad to calm down while they’re still mad. It just doesn’t work that way. I loved him, but he wasn't exactly the most supportive boyfriend in the world. Tensed up at the sight of any mood swings I had. To be fair though, I’m sure he was going through a lot on his own. He rarely talked about work, but whenever he did, it sounded terrible. It was a call center job. If you know anything about those, you’re basically just hired as a punching bag for any complaints the customers have against the company. I’m not sure how he never snapped, I sure as hell would have.

  The lab was a once a week thing. They asked me what time would be best, and I told them that Friday afternoons fit my schedule the best. I’m a big on scheduling and time management. I have to know when everyone works and when they have class and at what time. Helps me plan my week better. Elliot always said I was weird because I knew his work schedule better than he did.

  It was Friday and I had a class in the morning. Standard routine was I’d wake up and go straight to the lecture hall. That class sucked. The professor was going on about how removing individuality can cause aggression and violent tendencies. It was interesting enough, but hearing him ramble on in his drab, monotone voice really sucked any kind of fun out of it. He was this old guy with a hideous comb-over and a plaid suit. He even had these thick 80’s glasses that I’m sure he had custom made just to look that ugly. There’s no way anyone would actually sell something that looked like that unless they were special ordered. And his laugh, oh God. That nasally, snorting laugh he always did when he thought he being funny.

  I always sat in the back row. That way there wasn’t some creep behind me staring at my phone while I texted. Not that I was ever really texting anything that bad, they were just stupid texts to Kim. She’s a friend, in case you’re wondering. If I’m texting someone it’s probably her. Elliot never texts me unless it’s an emergency. He’s lame like that.

  After class, I went to the cafeteria to eat. I got some kind of pasta dish for lunch. It wasn’t very good, but my student card covered it so meh. I found Kim eating there and sat down next to her. She was usually there around noon on weekdays. We hang out a lot at school. Hell, I’ve even been to her place a couple of times. It’s messed up there, lots of conspiracy stuff. She’s a total loon. Thinks the government’s out to get us all. Kim’s this short girl with short hair to match. It’s that new look I see girls with where it’s shaven up one side and really poofy. You know the one? She’s always wearing flannel and jeans and kind of looks like a lesbian. I was pretty sure she was. Don’t think I’ve ever seen her show any interest in guys.

  “Hey Kim,” I said as I took a seat.

  “Hi,” she responded. Her lunch was a bag of chips and a pop. No wonder she’s heavier than I am. Then again, I am pretty much a twig. Elliot used to tease that I’m like cuddling a skeleton. He’s such a charmer, don’t you think?

  “I got that lab thing tonight,” I told her. She was always so excited to hear about that, so I was sure to bring it up every time. She’s convinced it’s some big government operation to control the world and that I’m right in the middle of it all.

  “That’s so cool. Can you take me?” She was only partially joking.

  “You know I can’t bring guests. We don’t even use our last names there, just to make sure we’re untraceable if something were to happen,” I said.

  “That’s epic,” she finished off her pop. “You’re like a secret agent.”

  “Yeah, a secret agent that gets her vitals taken every week,” I said. “The greatest.”

  “Better than what I do,” she got up and tossed her ‘lunch’ in the trash.

  Kim was a decent friend, even if she was little crazy. I finished my lunch with her and went home. I always liked to see Elliot before I went to the lab. I’m not really sure why, but I always felt like I needed see him before I went, just in case I didn’t come back or something bad happened. Just silly irrational fears, you know?

  My place was this tall and narrow house with wood paneling that was practically peeling off the sides. The whole thing was a bit wobbly looking and the windows didn’t really work as windows anymore. But the rent was cheap and it was close to the university, so it was totally worth it. The owner of the place only renovated the second floor, so that was the only one we could use. The bottom floor pretty much belonged to the spiders by that point.

  After I went upstairs, I saw Elliot sitting on the couch and watching TV. He’s very short for a boy. I stand almost a head taller than him. He always had to stand on his toes to kiss me, which was kind of cute in its own way. Sadly, he wasn’t too great looking, if I’m being completely honest here. Awkwar
d looking would probably be the best way to describe him. I shouldn’t be badmouthing him for how he looks though, I’m not the greatest catch either. I’m this scrawny white girl with small hips and shoulder length hair that’s a tangled mess. I should comb it, but I don’t. Elliot even offered to comb it for me, but I kind of like my crappy hair. Fits my personality.

  He sure knew how to dress and groom though. Even on his day off he was shaved and combed and wearing an ironed shirt. It almost made me feel guilty for wearing a baggy purple sweater that was wrinkled all to hell.

  “What are you watching?” I asked him and walked behind the couch. I rested my chin on his shoulder and watched with him.

  “Television,” he said. What a snarky brat.

  “Never heard of it,” I jumped over the back of the couch and landed on the cushion beside him. “I’m going to the lab.”

  “Just don’t be too late, okay?” He was such a sweetheart.

  I gave him a quick kiss before getting off the couch. “Text me if you need anything,”

  “Will do,” he said as I went down the stairs and out the door.

  As I said earlier, the lab was in the rough part of town. Like, literally on the wrong side of the tracks. I had to hop over three different train cars to get there. I’m not exactly the best when it comes to upper arm strength, so climbing over the cars left me sore and tired. I was always scared the train was going to start up while I was on it. If I wasn’t gripping the handles tight or my feet were in the wrong place when it started, I’d be lying under a moving car. One time a train did start up while I was there, but I was lucky enough that I was standing on the one next to it.

  It’s shocking just how run down everything is when as you’re on the other side of the tracks. All the buildings look like they’re about to fall over and the roads haven’t been repaired in decades. More often than not, you could hear cars screeching or bottles smashing in the distance. I felt so unsafe walking there that I’d actually carry a knife with me. It was a cute little switchblade I got for 20 bucks.

  The lab was in this tall and boarded up building that might have been a hotel at one point. It was now the kind of place you wouldn’t even find homeless people sleeping to keep dry from the rain. The lab wasn’t actually inside the building though, it was under it. Probably under the entire block, it was that stupidly big. The only part of the lab actually connected to the ex-hotel were the elevators needed to go down to the place.

  What I’d normally do when I walked in was hold my breath while I made my way through the lobby to the elevators. Even though you hold your breath, you can still smell the mold and dust thick in the air. That time was a bit different though. There was this girl standing by the elevators, waiting for the door to open. I made it about half way across the lobby before I caught her eye.

  “Hey,” she said and stopped the door for me. “Not often you bump into somebody on the way down, eh?”

  I stepped into the elevator and watched her type an access code. It was different one from mine. “Hasn’t happened until now,” I leaned against the wall as the elevator started moving. She was wearing a long white lab coat that was a size too big for her and she had long, black hair that went all the way down to her butt.

  “Heading to robotics too?” the girl asked.

  She was disappointed when I told her I wasn’t.

  The elevator stopped and the doors opened. The bright white walls and florescent lights hit me instantly. It was so bright down there, you’d swear they were trying to replicate the feeling of looking at the sun. We stepped out together and headed down the long, winding hallways. Robotics was next to my department and it was a long walk.

  “Are you new here too?” I asked her.

  “Yep!” She replied just a bit too cheerful. That girl was such a dork. Even had the thick framed glasses that every dork has to wear. “I’ve just started here. They liked my resume and the work I’ve done so they gave me a big fat check and now I’m here.”

  “I’m just here as a lab rat,” I chuckled. “Getting experimented on and such.”

  “Ouch,” she said.

  I shrugged in response. “The money’s great though.”

  “I think money’s the reason we’re all here,” she said. That girl seemed so happy that I was talking to her. Did people not talk to her often? I mean, she was kind of weird and droopy looking but she was nice enough.

  We reached the robotics lab after a few minutes. “Will I see you later?” She asked with a sort of desperation in her voice.

  “Sure,” I said and kept walking. I did mean it. If I ever met up with her again I’d have been glad to strike up a conversation. Hell, if it happened often we could have been friends. I know she’s in the same city so it could have worked out. That’s how Kim and I became friends. You add enough random bump ins and pleasant conversations together and soon enough you have a friend.

  My department was called ‘space-time translocation’. I guess calling it ‘teleportation’ wasn’t sciencey enough for them. They made me swiped a keycard to get in. A keycard that had a ‘lovely’ picture of me on it, by the way.

  “Welcome, Nelly,” one of the two scientists said as I walked in. He was a short stocky guy and the other one was this red headed girl who looked more like a prostitute than a scientist. They were both looking at me like I was supposed to say something.

  “More vitals today?” I asked them. That was all we ever did. Vitals. They’d take samples of my blood. Do heart rate readings, reflex readings, body fat indexing and all that stuff. They promised me that it was necessary to calibrate the machine properly. Safety and all that. I doubt Elliot would have appreciated me sitting in a room practically naked every week with a group of scientists, mostly men, examining me. I never told him about that part because he gets jealous easy. And not the angry kind of jealous where he’d beat a guy’s face in for looking at my butt, but more of a depressed and self-conscious kind of jealous where he’d just lay around and feel sorry for himself if I did anything sexy behind his back. Not that vital readings are sexy, but you know what I’m getting at.

  The redheaded scientist walked over to these large dual pods against the wall. They were about seven feet in height but only a few feet wide. Large, bulky cables connected the two of them and pipes stuck out at each end.

  “Today, you will step into one of these pods and be transported to the other without having to take a single step,” she said.

  I was shocked. Months of nothing but vitals, and now we’re actually going to do the experiment. No warning, no run through. We’re doing it NOW.

  “I will need you to remove your clothing and step into the pod on the right,” she told me. The boy kept his mouth shut and tweaked a few settings on the pod.

  “What exactly happens if I don’t strip for you?” I asked them, genuinely curious.

  The redhead rolled her eyes. “If you don’t then your clothing will not transport with you, and you will be nude regardless.”

  I thought of Elliot when I stepped into the pod, still wearing my baggy purple sweater and loose-fit gray jeans.

  “Doing it this way saves you a show,” I replied.

  She ignored my comment and proceeded with the talking.

  “We have spent years developing this technology and have calibrated it to match your physique perfectly. There should be no issues with the teleportation process,” she said.

  I bet she used all those big words just to impress me.

  “Gotcha. As soon as you fire this thing up I’ll be over there,” I said, more nervous than I’d like to admit. I stepped into the first pod and looked out at the two of them as they fumbled with the dials and typed into the computer.

  Almost ten minutes passed and I was starting to get impatient.

  “Hey, how long is this supposed to take?” I asked.

  “Just keep quiet,” the redhead told me.

  Fine.

  There was a sudden and violent flash of light followed by a high-pitche
d droning sound. The sound grew louder and louder and my vision turned to nothing but white. For a split second, I felt nothingness. There were no thoughts, no emotions. Just cold, dark emptiness before I reappeared and collapsed to the ground.

  I was huddled against the back corner of the pod, panting and covered in sweat. I was indeed missing my clothes. It worked.

  I rested for a moment against the back of the pod. My body was weak and my thoughts a mess. I could hear voices outside. There was the redhead and the stocky one, but I could make out another. I didn’t recognize it. When I stepped out, I could see three people next to the original pod. The redhead, the guy and a taller girl with poofy brown hair and a baggy purple sweater. Where did she come from? She had the same clothes I had, and the same haircut and the same skeletal body as me. Where did she come from?

  The girl who looked like me spoke up. “Why the hell is there another me over there?”

  I didn’t know what to say. My throat choked up. What did she mean by another me?

  She backed away, “Why the hell is there another me!”

  The scientists looked just as shocked as she did. Was there really another me? Another Nelly? If she looked like me, and talked like me then it must me another me, right?

  “It’s okay, Nelly,” the redhead told the other girl and grabbed onto my arm to hold me in place. “The transporter must have malfunctioned.”

  “Malfunctioned! What the hell do you mean by that?” The other Nelly said. I tried pulling my arm away from the redhead, but she was much stronger than she looked.

  “The machine must have copied your biometrics and replicated them in the second pod.” The redhead told the other Nelly. Didn’t that mean that I was the copy? I gave the redhead a sharp punch in the ribs. She grunted in pain but didn’t let go. My wrist was starting to hurt.

  “What the hell does that mean? The machine just failed to kill me? Is that what it is?” The other Nelly said. Her face was turning red and she looked just about ready to punch the redhead in the face. I kind of wanted to see her do it. “That’s what this machine does? It kills someone then creates a perfect clone over there? Perfect goddamn idea. Perfect!”