“Shit!” she hissed, looking around frantically again. She shoved the access chip in one pocket and the large shard of data pane glass in the other and began searching through all the drawers for the base stock of costumes Erica had mentioned. Eventually she found a single long dark wig in a drawer. She snatched it out and put it on, crying in pain as she pulled it over her neural devices, which tugged and snagged at her skin, sending a wave of tears down her face.
She moved back to the mirror and checked her reflection. She saw fresh blood smeared near her ears and quickly wiped it and her bloodied hands on her discarded robe, then turned back to the door. She took two deep breaths trying to steady her mind and her body, she had to appear calm, then swiped Erica’s chip over the console with shaky hands.
The door slid back, and Salvi carefully glanced out. She was sweating from the fight with Erica, trying to control her breathing. The corridor was empty, so she slid out and moved swiftly toward the double doors that lead to the back of house rooms she’d awoken in.
She walked with her face tilted down, trying to look cool, calm and collected, in case there were security cameras watching her. As she reached the doors, she took Erica’s chip and swiped it over the console, and they opened. Salvi stepped through, and as she did she saw two figures enter the corridor at the intersection ahead, heading her way. One was dressed in the black uniform of security personnel, the other in civilian clothing. She paused briefly in panic, then swiftly moved to the nearest doorway, swiping Erica’s chip on the panel. As she did, she glanced back at the men, saw the guard looking at his cell phone, but the one in civilian clothing looked right at her.
She saw the gamer tattoo on the side of his face and realized who it was.
Dancell Marks, a.k.a. Dancer.
He had some kind of electronic device around his neck, and another around his ankle and she wondered what they were for, but as the door before her slid open, she quickly stepped inside the darkened room. As the door slid closed, she glanced once more at the approaching men. She saw Dancer staring at her with a furrow in his brow. He’d seen the recognition in her eyes and was trying to place who she was.
The door closed and Salvi’s heart hammered in her chest as she waited a moment to give them time to pass, hoping they would not soon be knocking on her door.
When no knock came, she carefully swiped and opened the door again, to peer out.
She saw Dancer and the guard moving down the corridor. The guard still appeared oblivious, eyes fixed on his cell phone, but Dancer glanced over his shoulder and saw her peering out. Salvi’s breath caught, wondering if he would raise an alarm. He turned to look at the guard, paused briefly, then turned to face the front again and kept on walking like nothing had happened. Salvi’s eyes fell to the device around his neck, then his ankle, and she knew then that Dancer was just as much a prisoner here as she was. If he thought she was up to something, he wasn’t going to stop her. At least, not yet.
“Who are you?” a strange voice behind her said, as white glowing lights blinked on in the darkened room. Salvi spun around.
A woman stood there staring at her, beside a bed with turned back sheets.
At least, it used to be a woman.
It took Salvi a moment to realize the figure in front of her was in fact human, but she’d had a number of modifications made to her body. Not only did she have the neural implant devices on her shaved head, but the rest of her body was covered in various kinds of hardware and shell casing so she looked like what Salvi could only describe as some kind android.
Salvi suddenly turned her eyes to another bed in the corner of the room, surrounded by various machines where lights danced across the consoles. It took her another moment before Salvi realized a second woman lay there hooked up to the machinery. Or was she part of those machines herself? This woman was even more modified than the other, covered almost head to toe in hardware and connected with various cables to a machine beside her bed that seemed to be keeping her alive.
“Who are you?” the android woman asked again. Salvi couldn’t help but stare at her robotic movements – the way she tilted her head. Even her voice sounded stilted, electronic. They had done something to her vocal cords. Salvi couldn’t hide the horror that washed over her.
“W-what did they do to you?” Salvi’s voice came out in a whisper.
The woman straightened her head, but seemed confused by her statement. “I am improved,” she explained, staring at her with a vacant expression. “I am special.”
“You’re a slave,” Salvi blurted.
“No…” the woman clasped her hands in front of her waist. “I am desired.”
Salvi glanced to the woman in the bed, more machine than human, who stared at her equally vacant.
“We are … special,” the machine woman said with her altered voice, between ventilated breaths. Salvi felt awful to think it, but the word ‘monster’ appeared in her mind. These women were no longer human.
Salvi felt more tears prick her eyes as she stared at the machine-meshed woman. She looked back to the standing android woman again, at her neural devices, and Salvi’s head throbbed in empathy. “I’m going to get you out of here. All of you.”
“Why?” the other woman said from the machine-encapsulated bed.
More tears stung Salvi’s eyes, as she wondered just how long these women had been here, how
