After Dr. Elizabeth Roach caught the elevator, scanned her badge, and set foot back into Project Swallowtail, she felt an eariness about the place.
No scientists or engineers were bustling about and no commotions could be heard.
Maybe they all went out with the royal guest, she thought as she cautiously swam around the corners of the hall.
When she reached the double doors, she snuck through and entered an equally abandoned birdcage. Weary of its dark outer edges, she creeped to the center and stepped onto the command platform. None of the monitors had a clue about where everybody went.
Maybe Urban would tell me--
Pop!
Flash!
BOOOOM!!!
The sensory overload put Roach on her back, shrieking as her nightmares came to life.
"CONGRATULATIONS, DR. ROACH!!!" a hoard of voices shouted down at her.
Roach ran out of breath as her eyes adjusted and saw multicolored streams of confetti raining down around her.
Clapping and cheering ensued.
"Why?" the brilliant doctor asked the universe.
Suddenly, a familiar pair of strong hands held her from behind and assisted her to stand.
The crowd, their faces now visible around the second floor of the birdcage, cheered even louder to encourage her.
The Boss took her side and put a hand on her upper back to guide her. In his other hand was a microphone.
"Alright, alright!" he spoke into the mic, steering Roach off the command platform so she could be seen by all.
The Swallowtail crew hushed.
"I think we've scared her enough."
Laughter.
Once the Boss was satisfied with Roach's position, he let her be.
"We are gathered here today to recognize one of the greatest--and most beautiful--minds to ever embark with us on Edax HQ; and on a three month journey, no less."
Whistles.
Roach's face flushed red.
One thing she had never learned to get used to was being the focus of an audience.
It's exactly why she picked a profession she would never be awarded for.
"Now," the Boss continued, "many of us have known Roach for years, reading and learning from her journals and books. Due to her contributions, we were able to drop our production failure rate from 75% to 3%, meaning less wasted clones, less Human-Edax incompatibilities, less discriminatory criteria for applicants; All instrumental in realizing Edax Corp's one true goal: immortality for everyone!"
Roars.
"But," he reclaimed the floor, "first, let's address some of the rumors going around."
Hisses.
Oh, God, Roach worried. Our affair?
"Indeed, we picked Roach up from prison--a life sentence."
Oh. That.
"Charged with first degree murder for every victim of that tragedy--some of whom were our associates. Accused of releasing the contagion on purpose, can you believe it?" the Boss asked quietly, then again, louder, "Did you believe it?!"
"NO!" they answered.
What kind of show is this? Roach wondered.
"Nor. Did. I," the Boss impugned the injustice. "Just look at her, how could she! So, with a great deal of help from our friends in the Sordy House, we struck a deal with the President for her freedom; to prove her innocence! And she has! When Dr. Crocker picked her up, even then she maintained she did what she had to do for 'God and country'--to save life, not to destroy it!"
Hurrahs.
"Prison," he scoffed. "What a waste of talent. And look what she's done for us in her short time here! When we first met, I gave her the task which purchased this opportunity for us all: to discover and repair the rogue glitch that plagues and seeks to ruin all we've built. But no. No, no, no, Dr. Roach here went above and beyond any of our expectations..."
He paused for suspense.
"She has found a way to turn an Edax back into a Human."
Oohs and aahs.
"Think of it!" the Boss tapped his skull. "An implant responsive to spikes in temperature that can administer a dose of Dr. Roach's compound to prevent rogue symptoms. A way to return to mortality if you wish... A humane weapon against those who abuse our research to commit evil! Dr. Roach has given us the very tool we can use to build our own heavens... to become the masters of our own destinies! TO ACHIEVE AND EXCEED THE POWERS OF GOD!!!"
Stomping.
Frothing.
Madness, Roach thought.
However, she caught a glimpse of Dr. Crocker, who kept his distance and was obviously disgusted by the display.
"SILENCE!!!" the Boss bellowed.
They stared down upon their savior, hanging on his every blessed word.
"But only the brave--those of us ready to shed our filthy human prisons--shall attain this blessing. If any of you be nonbelievers, come down at once. You will be assured safe travels aboard The USS Connecticut, but you are no longer welcome here."
Sounds like my cue, Roach wanted to express, but didn't know how to show it.
Thankfully, Dr. Crocker was the first to descend the steps.
The crowd threw spittle at him as he went, but he remained reserved and found a spot away from their range.
Roach, after seeing no danger in doing the same, took Crocker's side.
Booing.
The Boss, however, had no such bitterness.
"Even the best of us have little faith! Be not afraid! Step down, worshippers of death!"
A new woman wearing a frilly dress and holding a briefcase, perhaps Jasmine Sordy, and a couple other researchers found Roach's side under the chants of "Death Worshippers!"
"Any more?!" the Boss challenged his congregation.
All chanting ceased when the Dog made her way down. Although small, her furry body stuffed a piece of every heart. The vacuum left in her wake depressed the room.
Roach petted her when she was near.
"We all must make sacrifices," the Boss said, mournful but devout to his cause. "I blame none who are unwilling to do so. Anyone else?"
None followed after the Dog.
"Good," the Boss nodded. "I just had to make sure."
He turned to the group of defectors, letting his righteous anger flare.
"Get in that fucking containment chamber, cowards."
Roach wanted to argue, but Crocker willfully went inside and sat against the wall. So did they all.
"Edax HQ, put Project Swallowtail on lockdown," the Boss instructed.
"Yes, Captain," Rain obliged.
Then, he pulled out his remote and, with a press of a button, unleashed Bob the Blob.
*****
Impressively fast, the Boss managed to squeeze through the containment door before it shut. He nodded absently as he counted, "What, ten of you? Out of thirty-two?"
Screaming.
"You mean six," Dr. Crocker corrected him, lazily holding up his fingers.
Behind the Boss, an amorphous, glowing blob with tentacles was feasting and growing bigger with each consumption.
"You count as four, you old, fat--"
"Fuck you," Crocker retorted dryly.
"Your mom," the Boss said, taking his seat against the wall like the rest of them.
A bewildered Roach looked around and studied her neighbors. The other researchers had wide eyes and were rocking back and forth, speechless. Or, perhaps, too terrified of the Boss to dare speak. Eventually, she found the eyes of the Dog.
"What is it, Roach?" the Dog asked as if communicating with a pestering toddler.
The absurdity and perceived terror of the past few days, combined with an analytic mind that could no longer make sense of itself or its environment, finally gave up and broke.
"Oh, nothing. Killing everyone is great; really takes me back."
"See?!" the woman with her briefcase said as she punched the Boss's leg. "She gets it!"
"Jasmine Sordy, I assume?" Roach asked drunkenly.
"That's me!" she squealed happily. "And you're Elizabeth Roach?"
The young doctor nodded, incapable of reciprocating such enthusiasm.
"Well, what a pleasure," Jasmine said, looking around the room for mutual excitement.
Nobody had the patience for it.
"Well," Master Sordy's daughter sang, "while we're all here, I have some goodies for each of you!"
She then noticed the six terrified researchers staring out the glass door watching their colleagues' blood splash around the birdcage as if they had magically appeared before her, so felt the need to clarify, "Not any of you though, sorry. And if you mention any of this to anyone, I'll show you something really scary."
She got no reaction, but giggled anyway and opened her briefcase.
"Ooh," the Commodore pursed her lips, "who do I even start with? I don't know... Who's been on their best behavior?Hmm? Hehe--"
"Me," the Boss volunteered.
"Greedy," Jasmine flirted with him, but something in his stare made her get on with it.
"Okay then... Let's see... Per delivering the terrorist and his confession in excellent condition, you have been awarded with..." she rummaged until she found "...the master key salvaged from Earth's Rain Gate, and..." she handed him the small, digital storage device "...the new and official identity you requested, your presidential pardon for your crimes against humanity--you will not be getting another one--and, finally..." she rummaged some more "...the deed for Edax HQ. Anything I missed?"
"Money," was all he said.
"Your shares of EDAX Corp. were liquidated this morning and sit in your brand new, shiny bank account," she gushed.
"Thank you, Jazz," the Boss smiled as he collected his goodies, but he didn't share in them alone. He called the Dog over to sit between his legs, after which he handed her one of the envelopes.
"What's this, Boss?" the Dog enquired, holding it in her paws.
The Boss shut his eyes to hold his tears and kissed the back of her fuzzy head, whispering, "You're all grown up..."
Feeling the weight of whatever was written in the letter, the Dog carefully tore open the envelope and unfolded it.
"Holy shit!" she gasped.
"I hope... you still like the name... I remember--"
The Dog turned and cut him off with kisses. Deeper kisses. Longer kisses.
They eventually melted in the corner--in the human way.
"Oh, to be in love," Jazz blushed, then turned to Roach, who returned only confusion.
The bringer of gifts explained, "Once an illegal hybridized animal child without any human rights whatsoever, now a surgically altered adult human cosmetic enthusiast protected by law who happens to have a pituitary disorder. Neat, huh?"
"Quite creative," Roach commended her.
"Thank you," Jazz said smugly, before turning to Crocker and handing him a singular envelope. "Per helping us. Wasn't much trouble, but I can't imagine what you want it for."
The old man didn't bother opening it. He just shrugged and tucked it away in his coat.
Blood creeped along the floor outside in patterns reflecting the inconsistencies of Edax HQ's gravity generators.
"Last but not least, this is for you, Roach, per creating an effective method to subdue the rogues," she said, offering her three envelopes.
"I must be special," the young doctor speculated as she took them.
"I'd say so."
Roach tore open the letter and began reading down the lines.
"An offer of One Hundred Billion dollars from the government to purchase the rights to my patented Edax cure," she summarized. "Wait, I have a patent?"
Crocker answered, "I compiled your research and made one for you."
"Oh. Well, thanks."
"And," Jazz egged her on.
Another envelope opened, this time revealing, "My... death certificate..."
"Elizabeth Roach died here today due to Edax Corp's negligence," Miss. Sordy told her. "Body couldn't be recovered due to the gruesome nature of her death."
Roach gestured outside to the mostly dead, "Is that what this is--"
"No," Jazz scoffed at her with a smile, "and don't worry your cute perky tits about it! Now, open that last one."
The way she said it sent a flash of heat through Roach's nerves. Although a shy antisocial emotionally distant wretch she herself believed undeserving of real love, her type--all of whom possessing the mysterious power to compel her obedience--were socially fluent, secure, rebellious, unmarriable, selfish women who perceived her intellectually independent lonerism as simultaneously worthy of respect and ravishment.
Please say I'm going to leave with you on your pretty boat and demand I try on some of your girly dresses and tease me when I'm embarrassed every time you watch me undress--
"O-okay," Roach said aloud instead.
The last envelope contained a birth certificate for an, "Isabelle Roach?"
"Your sister," the hottie confirmed.
"I don't have--"
"Your identical twin sister," she reiterated. "Who is the sole person you've ever listed as a benefactor incase of your premature and unfortunate death. Who..."
Jazz scooted closer to Roach, face to face, eyes full of serious intent.
Hey! Stop right there! StaaaAAAAHHHPP--
"...knows nothing about chemistry, biology, or science. Never went to university, never worked for the government, never killed anybody, never has even heard the word 'Edax.'"
The fire inside the young doctor condensed into a plasma when Miss. Sordy got on her knees, held her face in her unnaturally warm hands, and tried to pierce through her silly, licentious head. Neither blinked.
Roach believed her intent was to intimidate, but...
Such a tempting way to die.
"A dumb,"
Yep.
"straw-for-brains,"
Sounds good.
"horse-loving,"
Absolutely.
"boot-wearing,"
That's me.
"country-ass girl."
Anything you want.
Jasmine didn't understand why the fragile human wasn't quaking and pissing herself before her. Something in Roach's eyes begged for death--or maybe punishment.
Guilt, Miss. Sordy determined. Indeed, a twisted guilt that fermented into a death wish.
"Kiss her already," the Boss encouraged the Commodore, the Dog finished with him and now watching the scene just as captivated as he.
Jasmine looked askance at him.
"What did you just propose?"
He shrugged, "You'll never be free of her, she's a terrible liar, and you can't tell me anyone else has ever looked at you like... that."
"What's that?" she asked him, then turned back to Roach to see that again.
Jazz's brain quickly ran through the dictionary she had for a mind.
"You mean..." she suspected, leaning in closer and closer to Roach. The human's heart quickened and confirmed her theory, causing her to roll her eyes in dismissal.
"Father, help me," Jazz said to herself, then dealt with the Boss's perverse request. "No! You... pervert! I can't do that! What would Mother think of me? She's been so helpful in bringing eligible men before me to interview... I'm down to the top ten of my candidates list!"
Damnit... Oh well... Roach deflated.
Crocker made a wheezing sound and his face flushed red.
"You--" the old doctor struggled to keep his composure. "You have Jen--"
"Jennifer Sordy," the Boss, biting his own tongue, helped him out.
"Bring you--" Crocker coughed as his diaphragm spasmed.
"Eligible men," the Boss squeaked.
"To interview?!" Crocker cracked.
Tears of a different kind ran down the Boss's face.
"What?" Jasmine asked innocently.
"Can you believe this shit?" the Boss cried silently to his comrade.
The old man, no longer restrained, laughed like it hurt him, "No-ho-ho."
"What?" Jazz asked again, frustrated.
"Mi-chael w--" the Boss tried to speak.
"Do-on't," Crocker advised him, already knowing what he was trying to say.
"Michael!" the Boss yelled through his giggles.
"Don't yo-ou--dare," he dared him.
"WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT MY DAD?!" Master Sordy's daughter shouted at the pair.
The Boss whimpered, "I... I can't. Get me o-out of here. Ed-dax HQ, dec-decontamin-nate Swallow... Tail."
"Yes, Captain."
"No!" Jazz protested. "Tell me! Please, Boss, tell me!"
"I shouldn't," the Boss maintained coherently as he watched Roach's cure rain down from the ceiling.
Something big thrashed and screeched out of view.
"Pretty, pretty please?" she begged.
"Oh no," Crocker, now free from his convulsions, prepared for their return.
The Edax CEO gave no warning and said it quickly.
"He was the gayest, most attractive, LITTLE--"
Jasmine's horror broke him.
"Femboy slut," his old friend finished for him with a groan, holding his stomach.
Roach smiled.
"You're lying!" Jazz pleaded.
"We fucked--SO much on that ship!" the Boss pointed behind him, nodding to Crocker.
Roach asked, "The Connecticut?"
"Yes!" the Boss cried.
The old doctor added with deep breaths, "We were her original crew, sailing under Captain Kratzer, what, seventy years ago?"
"Oh, God," the Boss shook it off. "We were so young. Jen, Mike, you, me."
"Good times," the old doctor nodded.
Jasmine refused. "That's not like him!"
"Decontamination complete," Rain Gate notified them.
The Boss responded with, "Any survivors?"
"No," she answered.
"Open the containment chamber," he instructed as he stood with the remarkably absent Dog in his arms, then spoke to the group, "Come on, let's get you out of here."
As the door opened, he noticed Jazz was still discontent and needed the advice a parent would give to a teenager--a period of life she had skipped over.
"Jasmine, look," he began softly, "your father is a great man. A selfless, goodhearted, smart man whose moral compass always pointed true north... even when the rest of ours were backwards or broken. That's how he got to where he is, with the family he has, and why I trust his plan will succeed. I wish I would have listened to him sixty years ago."
"But," the Boss went on, "he wasn't always so formidable, so certain, or so wise. He wouldn't have been in the Navy if his parents hadn't disowned him. However, eventually, after he and your mother defeated me the first time and fell in love, he understood what his purpose in life was: saving humanity from people like me."
"So, don't grow up too fast, kiddo. Don't get bitter and rigid like I did. Now go," he pointed away towards the bridge, "and take that young doctor with you. Sail the Connecticut far, far away from here and never look back. I'll see you both again someday."
Jazz's lips quivered, "I can't just leave--"
"You can!" he assured her. "And you will, Commodore. Time's ticking. Your father will understand when I speak with him. This is our mess to fix. Go make your own mistakes."
The girl wept, but agreed, "Okay, I'll go. Godspeed, Boss."
She stepped back and waited for the confused Roach.
"I still don't understand anything," she told him with a twinge of sadness.
"And I pray you never do," he choked, clutching the Dog. "Leave your past at the door, Roach. Let Elizabeth die here with me. I wish you a beautiful, happy life, Isabelle."
She wanted to say something, but Jazz grabbed her arm and pulled her along.
Neither spoke as they put one foot over the other, loss pouring out of their faces, but once aboard the Connecticut, a sense of new freedom lifted their chins.
For Jasmine, it was the acknowledgement the solar system would keep spinning without her--only, this time around, she wouldn't have her father to tell her where the planets would go.
For Roach, it was a return to a fork in her youth and the decision to believe she had gone left instead of right--discovering in her imagination a girl deserving of love.
Jazz led Roach to the cockpit and gestured for her to take the copilot chair next to her.
Then, the Commodore fired the engines, disengaged the bridge, and accelerated towards the outer solar system.
Roach tucked her knees into her chest and stared into the starry cosmos before her without a care to ask where they were headed.
Truthfully, Jazz had no destination in mind. All she cared for was to keep the sun behind Saturn so the light of day would never come. Once their velocity alone was sufficient to escape his gravity, she calculated the seawolf's trajectory to guarantee twelve hours of night. Then, she disengaged the engines, shut off life support along with every other noisy thing aboard, and flipped the main power breaker.
It was a rare and blissful experience in the modern day to be so sensory deprived.
After starlight was enough to cast shadow and the echoes of their beating hearts could be heard, Jazz turned to Roach and shyly asked:
"Would... would you like to come with me to my room and find something comfy to wear?"
"I'd love that."
More sure of herself, she added, "Then we can go to the crow's nest."
"The crow's nest?"
"Yeah..." Jasmine confirmed, a little embarrassed. "It's the only place I feel comfortable sleeping. I've stuffed it full of pillows and--"
Roach giggled and pulled herself forward by the armrests of her chair.
"Don't you have a crew?"
"Not much of a Commodore, am I?"
"You mean, we have the whole ship to ourselves?"
"Yep."
"Well, let's do it!"
Jazz shot up, excited.
"Alright! This way!"
Roach chased her through the halls until she found herself in the same room as that gruesome video where the first Edax ate Alexis Kratzer.
Where it all began.
"Something wrong?" Jazz noticed.
"No, just getting a bit cold," Roach shook off the feeling, but not enough to enjoy any part of changing.
In slippers, pajamas, and big hoodies, the pair trekked up four floors.
"Here we are," Jazz announced, opened the door, and revealed a glass dome. Without angular panels and support beams, the edges of the dome were only detectable by the various appliances lining its interior. Originally, the perimeter was meant to be a circular bench for people to sit, creating a pit at its center, which Jazz had filled with her beloved pillows. It was obvious she didn't sleep in them though, for there was enough room on the bench for her bed.
The view was dangerously gorgeous.
Roach waded to the middle cautiously, while, after shutting the door, Jazz jumped into the pit spreadeagle.
"Goofball," Roach giggled.
"Oh yeah?" she taunted, dove beneath the surface, and pulled Roach's legs out from under her.
Tickling, screaming, kicking, pillow battery, and vicious, empty threats ensued.
Despite Jasmine's Edax strength advantage, she soon regretted picking this battle and retreated to the opposing side, panting and holding her sides.
Roach stood, pillow in hand, fingers clawed and at the ready.
"What did you do to me?!" Jazz whined.
In all seriousness and badassery, Roach replied, "I was trained in the sacred arts of tickle torture by Harvard neurologists who learned how to feel for Schwannomas in nations so impoverished they couldn't afford MRI machines. My fingers can detect in seconds what scalpels would take hours to find."
"Well," she huffed sarcastically, "aren't you just so talented."
"I am," the doctor prided herself just to annoy her more.
Recovered and thirsty, Jazz reminded herself the mini-fridge was behind her.
"Ever had a bottle of cane sugar Coke?"
Flabbergasted, Roach blinked and made a face Jasmine couldn't help but adore.
"Have I? You mean... my favorite beverage of all time and space?"
The Commodore opened the still cool fridge and revealed her rows of loot. She took two and held one out for her new crewmate.
Roach tread pillows in leaps and bounds for her sweet nectar.
But when she reached for it, Jazz pulled it back.
It was all too reflexive for second thought until it was too late. She was right where she wanted her.
And that first kiss was the kind Isabelle knew she truly deserved.