#this was originally supposed to go differently n i.t. was meant to be here too but ah well... lets say that i.t. is in the rebellions base- | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

a65232-joshywoshy · 4 years

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Colorado Crybaby

Chapter 12

Penny carefully maneuvered the van out of the parking garage. Having lived in the Denver area all her life, she knew exactly where Buckley was from here. She had glanced at the paperwork in the folder she was given while walking out to the van. They would enter through the main gate on East Mississippi, but from there, she would have to ask. The only other clue from that point was:

Phoenix Project

Sunlight Tower

Nth Floor

Penny had no idea what that meant. She asked everyone else in the van about it, but no one had been on base to begin to theorize it. Rachael read the papers as they drove. Robert wanted to look at them but got carsick easily, so he decided it was best not to. Kim glanced over the information, but didn’t feel motivated enough to memorize anything.

“So… Kim. Welcome to Imagine Innovations. I promise you, this is not something that happens all the time around here. You’re very special to go on a trip like this. I’ve been with this company for years and I’ve only just now gone to a special project like this.” Penny seemed slightly in shock that they had gotten this opportunity. She had heard that only the best at the entire company had ever gotten a chance to assist on a special project.

“I see.” Kim said. “Well, this is definitely a first day of work that I’ll never forget.” She was smiling, happy to be a part of this adventure.

Rachael was in full detective mode. She studied the papers, trying her best to memorize them. The papers mostly detailed the project goals and staff involved. There was very little detail about this ‘Computer’ they would be working on. Occasionally she would glance up to see where they were, but she was already lost. She hadn’t lived in Denver long enough to memorize any major roads yet. For this particular day, she was relying very heavily on Penny. Even though Rachael was the second most experienced in her department, she felt as though she was least experienced with navigating this city. She wasn’t good at navigating any city, even her hometown, without some kind of assistance.

“Kim, he said you were good with computers, right?” Robert was curious about her abilities.

“I’m good at software, and only on certain operating systems. I’m not the best with hardware. Hopefully this is just some kind of server rack or something. I just don’t understand why their I.T. guys can’t figure this out. And if they can’t figure it out, what makes us special?” Kim didn’t really feel like she had anything of value to contribute to the group.

“And why ask a guy with medical experience for help?” Robert asked rhetorically. “I don’t know if the boss man is a genius or crazy. I’m really leaning towards crazy at this point.”

“We should talk to the project lead when we get there.” Rachael was still looking at the paperwork. “James, is his name. He should know how we can help.”

“That sounds like a plan.” Penny didn’t look away from the road. Most of her attention was on the road. She wasn’t driving recklessly, but she made sure not to sit behind slow traffic. There was an odd sort of pressure to do well for Mr. Pendleton that she felt. It was like she wanted to make a parent proud. He wasn’t her father, by any stretch of the imagination, but she felt it nonetheless.

There was some time where they all rode in silence. Everyone was thinking, trying to piece together as much as they could in an effort to solve a puzzle that wasn’t even in front of them. After a few more minutes, they arrived at the main gate.

“Good afternoon, Ma’am. What brings you here today?” Military Police in fatigues were stationed here, checking all vehicles coming and going.

“We’re here for the Phoenix project. We’re with Imagine Innovations.” She showed the man her I.D. that she pulled out of the manila folder, then the cover sheet of the documents. The man spoke into his radio, communicating their arrival to some official on the base.

“Unit three niner, party of 4 headed to sierra 1. How copy?”

The reply was louder than his voice, simply because the radio was loud. Penny and Rachael could clearly hear the voice on the other side.

“Copy. Standby for escort. We’re putting fresh eyes on sunlight.”

“Solid copy. Standing by for escort.” The man looked up at Penny. “Ma’am, If you could wait here, we’re gonna have you escorted in to where you need to go, okay?”

“Yes, sir.” Penny had never been around this kind of military presence before. Neither had Rachael. They both looked nervous. Kim was paying attention, but had seen too many military movies and knew this was all standard routine.

“I have a cousin that I visit at Fort Bragg all the time,” Robert said. “This is standard stuff.”

A military humvee pulled up on the other side of the gate and turned around to face into the base.

“If you’ll follow them. Have a good day, folks.” The officer backed away from the van and Penny drove forward. The humvee drove ahead with Penny keeping pace behind.

“I’ve never been escorted into a military base before.” Penny said. She was still slightly nervous, but she also had an excited energy about her now.

“It’s just like the movies.” Kim said, smiling.

They drove only a few minutes before arriving at a tall building where the humvee parked. Penny parked the van and everyone got out. A man stepped out of the humvee who wasn’t wearing fatigues.

“Good morning, folks. I’m James Howard, the project lead here. Come on in.”

Everyone exchanged good morning’s and handshakes, then they followed him inside the building.

“We’re going to need you to leave all your belongings here. You won’t be needing them.” He motioned to a folding table set up in the lobby as a makeshift staging area. “This includes cell phones, wallets, everything. It’s all in the interest of preserving intellectual property, of course. Okay. With everything here, we’ll head on down.”

After placing all of their stuff on the table, they followed him down a short hallway to a single elevator with very wide doors. The wood grain in the elevator and the architectural design of the building seemed to suggest that the building had been built in the 1950’s. It seemed to have not been well past that date either, as a few cobwebs lined the ceiling corners. As the elevator doors shut, James put in a key above the buttons and turned it. He then pushed the button for floor “N”.

“Finally, some privacy.” James turned to face everyone as the elevator went down, no doubt towards a basement of some sort. “Welcome to project Phoenix, a joint collaboration between Imagine Innovations and the 566th Intelligence Squadron of the United States Air Force. This is the brainchild of Howard Pendleton and Doctor Javier Vasquez. You’ll probably understand this better as a holodeck type device. Basically, the thing on Star Trek where you can tell a computer to put you in any time or space and boom, you’re there. The only problem is... “ James chuckled “it’s kind of embarrassing, but the most brilliant mechanical and I.T. minds in the state can’t figure out how to make it work. So we needed a different approach. Completely off the wall, out of the box ideas. That’s where you 4 come in. You think differently than we do…”

Behind him, the elevator doors opened to a room with pipes, wires and cables and panels lining every wall. Buzzing and humming could be heard everywhere. LED panels and laptop screens were everywhere. Six technicians were all busy with their tasks, none of whom looked at the visitors. They were all too focused.

“So… think differently.” James gestured to the room. “I suppose we could start in here, though.”

In the middle of the room was a smaller room with a single, heavy door on it. Inside the room, the walls, floor and ceiling were featureless save for their dark green color.

“This is the room where a user will experience the holodeck type environment. Simplex 1000 can give you a brief overview.” James ushered them in the small room.

A computer generated voice sounded from speakers buried within a maze of wires and cables nearby. “Welcome to the Phoenix: Post Holographic Optical Enhancement of Neurologically Imaged Xerography. Original designation, Simplex 1000. Programmed to manage the hologram and monitor conditions of human occupants such to allow their continued safety and enjoyment.”

“Whoa. This is Star Trek stuff.” Rachael said.

“Yep. That’s what we do.” James explaining things as if this complicated machinery was his toaster; a simple machine that everyone should know and understand. “Could you all just hang out in there for a sec? We’re going to start one of the support machines. You’ll hear some humming. Nothing to worry about. I need to get something behind the door, too. So I’m going to move it real quick. It doesn’t lock, if you’re worried about that.”

They stepped inside the large, dark green colored room. It had featureless metal walls, interrupted only by the entry door. James closed the door behind them. It was pitch black.

"It's so dark in here." Robert said quietly. His voice boomed in the enclosed space. "Why did we agree to this again?"

"Because money pays the bills and the CEO thinks we’re talented," Penny said. She started to sound a little stressed. She didn't like the dark. She wasn't afraid of it, but this kind of dark was beyond nighttime darkness. There was no light to see at all.

A humming began and it started to grow in loudness and intensity.

"I guess that’s the machine James mentioned?" Kim said.

Everything went white.

To Rachael's horror, the room was now bright white and everyone was gone. The humming had stopped. There was no sound at all. The metallic smell was gone, too. There was… nothing. Rachael didn't feel anything touching her feet anymore, either.

My feet? I was wearing shoes. She looked down to see her bare feet. She had been wearing shoes when she walked in. Her pants were gone as well, but around her hips was a diaper. Her shirt was replaced with a yellow crop top with a rubber duck on it. I certainly wasn't wearing that! Her thighs were odd, too. They were much fatter than normal. She looked at her hands and arms, too. Her hands were more bony and knobby than before. Her arms were fatter. What happened? Why did I change? Where's Penny?

She frantically looked around at everything. There were no shadows, no features, just white. There wasn't even a floor. Rachael wasn't falling, but she felt… suspended, as if in water.

Where's Penny?

Rachael called out. "Penny? Kim? Anybody?"

Only silence. She looked down again. She was still in a diaper. She slowly reached her odd hand toward the diaper to touch it. Her hand went inside of it.

A hologram. Her hand had gone inside of it, as if it wasn't there. But what about her hands? Her thighs now seemed much larger as well. She slowly reached down to her thigh. Instead of the skin she expected to feel, she felt the fabric of her suit pants. So I AM still wearing my clothes. I just… look different. Where is Penny?

She called out to Penny again, louder. She listened carefully for banging or some other kind of noise that might mean someone was here. Still silent. The thought of Penny dying crossed Rachael's mind. It was a terrible thought. I miss her, Rachael thought. I want her back. I need to see her again.

With that, Penny popped into existence to Rachael's left.

"PENNY!!! Are you okay?"

"Rachael!" Penny looked over at Rachael. "Yeah. I'm fine. Whoa. You look, different. That's a cute diaper. Where did you… what happened to your hands and legs?!?!"

Rachael now knew that whatever she felt, Penny could see what Rachael was seeing. "Nothing, actually. Your diaper's pretty cute too."

A similar situation had happened to Penny as well. Her breasts got bigger and her legs now had cellulite all over them. Her feet had become much larger. She was wearing a slightly too short baby blue t-shirt.

"Ah!" Penny blushed as she tried to cover her diaper. "What do you mean, 'Nothing happened'? Look at you!"

"It's a hologram or something. Watch." Rachael slowly lowered her flattened palm over the front of her diaper. When her hand should have stopped on top of the diaper, it kept going, eventually disappearing completely behind it.

Penny did the same with herself. "Mine too. This is weird."

"It's some kind of holographic projection, I guess. The diapers make sense if someone's messing with us, but I don't understand my weird hands and your cottage cheese legs."

"No way." Penny looked over their bodies again. "I've never told anyone, but I always thought my legs looked fat, and that my boobs were too big for my body. But that means that either someone knows more about us than we realize, or they've got a direct feed into our brains. Where's Kim?" Penny called out to her "Kim! Where are you?"

"Did you hear me when I was calling you a few minutes ago?" Rachael stopped to think about it. Maybe she's right in front of us. Penny was to my left when we walked in. That should mean that Kim is right in front of us. Rachael tried walking. It was as if something was holding her in place. She could move freely, but there was nothing for her to move on or against.

"No, I didn't." Penny was trying to move around now, "Why can't we move?!"

"So Kim probably can't hear us. How long was it before you saw me?"

"A few minutes?"

"Did you do anything in particular to get to me?"

"I tried swimming to you, but that didn't work."

"What about mentally? Did you do anything special mentally or emotionally?"

"Not really. I don't think."

"Hmmm… You showed up right when I thought about missing you. I wonder if I do the same for Kim…"

Rachael closed her eyes and focused. She hadn't known Kim for very long, but it would still be sad to lose someone to a corporate project like this. She wanted Kim back.

Penny screamed. Rachael opened her eyes then she screamed. Before them was a black, dragon shaped creature. It had 2 arms like a person, but they were covered in black metallic spines. It stood on 2 legs, with a thick, long black tail behind it. Two horns on its head also looked like they were black metal. It's belly was smooth, with a scar diagonally across it. Below that was…

A diaper? No way. Rachael studied the dragon creature more carefully. The creature didn't seem to be charging at them or even make any sound to suggest aggressive intentions. The dragon seemed passive, even though it stood twice their height.

Kim's hair. It has Kim's hair.

The creature had similar hands, though gray, that looked like Kim’s. The mouth was the same, as well.

Rachael cautiously spoke. "Kim? Is that… you?"

The large black eyes looked up at her. Then the face smiled. "Hey, Rachael. Penny." The voice was still Kim's regular voice.

"Kim?!" Penny was in shock. "You're a… dragon… type thing."

"Kim, quick question." Rachael started making connections in her head. "How do you view your inner self? Have you ever done or said something that made you feel like a monster?"

"It's…" the large black eyes looked away. "It's complicated."

"No details necessary. I figured it out. Girls, we're looking at our own internal view of ourselves. Like, a digital representation of our mental self... which is why I look the way I do." Rachael looked down at her diaper again. “Penny, Kim popped into here when I thought about missing her. So I need to do the same for Robert now."

Rachael thought about mourning for Robert, then he appeared.

All three girls gasped. Robert’s body was transparent. At least, they assumed it was his body. At first, they saw Robert as himself, the man they met at the office. A shorter woman his same age with red hair on her head then appeared in his place. She wore a long green dress and had a look of disgust on her face. The next person to appear was a male teenager wearing black clothes, short black hair and eye liner. His face looked agitated. Another person was a short Hispanic female who wore cargo pants and a bandana over her hair. She was smiling. Lastly, there was a small male child, dressed only in underwear who looked terrified. After the child, the cycle restarted with Robert’s original self. All of the people were somewhat transparent, as if they weren’t fully there.

“Robert… you…” Rachael didn’t understand how this could align with anyone’s mental imagery of themselves. “We think we’re looking at our own mental image of ourselves… but you…”

Robert looked despairingly at each of them, then at his chest to watch the changes happen. Every person that took his place seemed to move exactly as the original Robert did.

“D.I.D.” Robert said softly.

“What?” Rachael and Penny were even more confused.

“Dissociative Identity Disorder.” Kim answered for him, with a nod of understanding.

“Most people call it split personality disorder. Now everyone gets a front row seat to the freak show I really am.” Robert looked at the ground, as did the other people that he seemed to be. “These are my alters. The fractions of my personality.” He said their names as they popped into existence. “This red haired girl is Sarah. She is my focus. Teenage boy here is Luke. He just kinda acts out. Imelda, for when I need to get stuff done. And Robert, and... me.”

He said his name when the boy had appeared.

“The kid has your name?” Penny asked.

Robert sighed. “The kid is me. 5 year old me that’s about to have his world shattered into a million pieces.”

Everyone went silent. They understood what he was implying.

“I’m so sorry,” Rachael said softly.

“It’s okay. Life sucks. So I guess we got this stupid holodeck going. Now what?”

Rachael felt a bump from something. It felt like a physical bump, but nothing had touched her. She felt an emotional presence pull on her attention.

“What was that?” Rachael asked.

The room went black and the loud humming returned. It started to get quieter and softer as the Phoenix seemed to power down. The door opened and technicians walked in to begin checking everyone’s condition.

No one was injured or even uncomfortable. With the light coming in from the doorway, Rachael could see that everyone was back to normal. Everyone was wearing business suits again. Everyone was a normal human being and there were no strange sensations surrounding Rachael anymore.

“That was our first successful test.” James had walked in. “Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah. We’re fine. Right guys?” Rachael waited for everyone to confirm. “We’re fine.”

“Congratulations. That’s a huge step forward for all of us. Thank you. If you’re all good to go, then you’re done for the day. We have a ton of data to crunch now. I’ll let Mr. Pendleton know how things went. Given your success, he may want you back here tomorrow. I have all of your numbers, so I’ll be in touch tonight if we need you again tomorrow or not. Elevator will take you right back outside. Don’t forget your stuff on the way out.”

James turned to stare at a laptop screen just like the other technicians were. They seemed transfixed by whatever data they were looking at.

The four of them got back into the elevator silently and rode it back to the lobby floor. They had just seen each other in an extremely intimate light and the moment was too fragile for talking. 2 friends and 2 near-strangers had a look into each other's minds that is usually reserved for lovers in a romantic relationship. At the very least, those were details reserved for an intimate conversation between the closest of friends. Now that information was on full display. They had been ushered away too fast to ask if what they saw was also seen by the technicians. Such an outpouring of information was even more exposing. Even more compromising. They could ask tomorrow.

A ding sounded as they reached the ground floor again. Still silently, they gathered their stuff from the table and walked outside. No one wanted to talk yet. Penny unlocked the van and they climbed inside.

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