Chapter 27 – Extermination

Marley took a step towards Simona. She challenged her, “You’re a liar to your core. You said we were dead and then read off a string of meaningless names and histories to fuck with us. As for my choice….here’s my choice.” She stuck out her middle finger.

Shaking her head back and forth, Simona said, “Oh Marley, don’t you know by now that no matter what I lie about, I never lie about a threat. So many people dead and buried know that all too well about me. But you’ll learn…and I’ll begin the first lesson…”

Twisting her hand, she summoned Mr. and Mrs. Russell to stand before them. They cowered, their clothes torn and welts spread across their faces. Together, they begged Marley, “Sweetie! You need to do what she says! She’s going to destroy everything! The whole city!”

Marley turned away as Olivia clamped her hands to her mouth. They focused on her. Mrs. Russell stretched out her hands as she said, “Olivia…my little girl. Please…you gotta convince your big sister to see reason.” Clenching her teeth, Olivia looked to her sister and held tightly.

After a while, the begging waned and turned to anger.

“You stupid fucking bitches! You never should’ve been born! You’re nothing but failures! You’re worthless! Less than scum! You deserve to burn instead of us. We’ll see you in Hell!”

With that, Simona snapped her fingers and patches of flame started to lick their way across Mr. and Mrs. Russell. Their arms were enveloped first as sudden, animal-like yells gave way to horrifying screeches. They batted at their faces, but that only spread the fire. Marley locked eyes on the human torches who were once her parents. Bright, raw blooms became sickly gouges which turned ashen black. Simona didn’t hold back on the odor. Still, Marley watched as the humanoid cinders curled up like ancient volcano victims.

Marley’s only response was to ask, “Is that what you thought of your real parents, Simona?”

The satisfaction she’d been indulging in turned sour and she scowled. Dashing away the remnants with a flick of her wrist, Simona looked around at the others behind Marley and said, “We’ll see if your so-called friends can stand a lesson or two.”

Marisa stepped forward and asked, “How do you like becoming worse than your father?”

Eyes wide and twitching, Simona clenched her fists until they were bright red. She tried to hurl flames at Marisa but she immediately doused them into smoke which swirled back towards Simona, who coughed roughly before pounding the ground with her feet.

The impact cracked the twisted street area and hurled rubble into the air before it settled back with dense plumes of dust. Marley cleared the air with a breath.

Spitting with her words, Simona fumed, “You’re not gods! You’re nothing! You’re mine! I’ll make you afraid!”

Waving her hands, she brought up a large floating projection like the images of memories the others had cast on her. This image was of a place which looked like a mixture of a hospital and a tomb. Sleeping people lay on brightly-lit beds in long rows. Spidery cords attached to their heads and continued down their bodies. Mona, who had vanished for a time, moved over to the image and stuck her hands in the side. It flickered and Simona gave a look but said nothing.

Nicolas pushed forward, saying, “Those people have nothing to do with us! You leave them out of this!”

Simona gave a cackle. “Oh, good. I had hoped the bleeding heart would finally chime in. These people are as meaningless as each of you. You know, I originally wasn’t going to use people. I experimented with neural tissue first in building the system. I grew enormous vats of tissue. A failure. Then…came the babies. The little ones. Deformed or abandoned. No one cared so long as I paid the right price and I told them a nice story about foreign orphanages with world-class care. You think I’m bad? I would never be here if it wasn’t for the unending depths to which humanity will choose to go. Alas, newly-formed brains were no better than random tissue cultures. Another pile for the scrap heap.”

Despite her dim form and waves of discomfort, Jessica blurted out, “You’re fucking sick!”

Grinning, Simona gave herself a slow clap. “Oh, I’ve only begun. Now, I could select any of these fine gentlemen and ladies I own, then train a service bot with a laser scalpel on them. Maybe wake them up a little so they feel everything and start screaming.”

Marley folded her arms and said, “You’d be harming your own…possessions…you’d be willing to give up years and years of replacement souls just to spite me?”

Simona laid out her hands. “You said you want me dead. Well, I’ll take you with me. Of course, I already have a plan in the event of my death. If my heart stops, then a large EMP goes off in the core, annihilating all the information and shutting down the equipment. In fact, the only thing intended to survive is the drug pump and just long enough to give all the people I own a fatal push of tranquilizers. I find it elegant. Like the Egyptians of old. When I go, everything of mine goes with me.”

All Marley said in reply was a terse, “Good to know…”

Simona pressed her hands together and chuckled again as she added, “But that’s not all. I may be a liar…I’ll give you that. But I believe there’s something you need to know about me. I’ve killed. Oh, I’ve killed. I mean there’s no point in having power unless you leave the world different than where you began.”

Nicolas’s eyes widened as he listened. He asked, “What do you mean? Are you talking about…you suggested the world outside was scorched…burned…Are you saying...”

Simona cast her eyes upwards as she answered, “I believe you’re trying to ask me…am I the one who lit the flame? Oh, it’s amazing what a little bit of software can do once the whole world is connected. People, businesses, and militaries. I long imagined how easy it might be to create a certain command in a single missile silo or one convincing ghost image in a missile defense system and the whole trigger-happy world will do the rest. Wipe the slate clean of so many loathsome, useless people. I suppose the only drawback for me would be running out of fresh materials to use in the core. Really only a minor setback with enough fertile possessions and bots which can perform in-vitro fertilization.”

Mona shut her eyes and bowed her head where she was hovering. Marley felt a sickly knot in her stomach as she said, “You’re lying again…”

Folding her arms, Simona answered, “Believe me, I never lie about a threat. There’s nothing out there that matters. You’re flailing at dream shadows on the walls. Give in. Accept your fate in service to me. It’s what you all were made for. I am your GOD and I shall live on after each and every one of you has been used up. There’s no escaping it.”

Standing next to Simona, Sim clenched his mouth. He relaxed it before she looked over and added, “Isn’t that right, my dear Sim?”

“Yes, mistress.”

Everyone around Marley looked horrified. Jessica sobbed into her hands. Olivia hung off of Marley with her legs wobbling. Her eyes looked dark and listless. Marisa rubbed her neck and glowered bitterly at Simona. Nicolas pressed his fists into his forehead and coughed.

Marley looked across the way at Mona. She knew what Mona had whispered in her ear. But she also knew that Mona didn’t necessarily mean anything. She might be something they all created in their minds. And, even if she did exist, she still had no reason to trust her words, the same as when they first met. But she looked into Mona’s eyes, calmer than hers in a way she could barely imagine and warm with love that seemed so far away.

Marley looked at Mona and said to Simona, “I concede. I yield to you. You win.”

For a moment, Simona’s smugness faded. It was clear she didn’t expect this. She leaned back on her heels and cleared her throat as she said, “Of course. I’m glad you finally decided to see reason.”

Giving a faint nod, Marley intoned, “You were right. You were always right. It’s inevitable.” This time, Simona took a full step back and looked around nervously. The others didn’t notice. They focused on Marley.

Jessica begged her, “Don’t do this. I made a mistake. Don’t make a mistake too…” Marley brushed Jessica’s hair and told her, “You needed to do what you needed to do. I need to do this. It’s my turn. It’s my choice. And I’m just as terrified.”

Jessica tried to cling to her, to find words. But Marley just smiled, kissed her softly on the cheek, and moved on to Olivia crumpled at her feet. She brushed her soft hair and dried her flowing tears.

“It’s going to be okay, little sister. You need to be a big girl. You need to be strong. Everything will be okay.” More tears flowed down her eyes as Marley held her close with a kiss on her forehead. Across the way, Simona had removed the viewing projection. She watched Marley carefully and grit her teeth as Marley moved on to Nicolas.

He begged her, “She’s a monster. We can fight her. We can save everyone. You don’t have to do this.”

Marley gently shook her head and sighed. “There’s no other way. Now you look out for the others as long as you can. You watch things.” Marley gave a glance over to Mona, who held a finger to her mouth in a “shh” motion. Nicolas blinked. He didn’t understand, but he gave a big swallow and nodded.

Marisa turned away from Marley when she came to her. She shook her head as she said, “All you told me, all you promised me. You’re turning your back on that? We’ll be nothing. You can’t do this! We have to fight, no matter the cost!”

Clutching her lips, Marley had no more words to offer, so she just hugged Marisa tightly as she whimpered against her. She pressed her fists and groaned. Marley rubbed her back and finally found words to reassure her, “This isn’t goodbye. It’ll be okay.”

With that, she left the others behind and approached Sim standing next to Simona, whose expression was full of suspicion. Marley gave Sim a smile she never expected to give him. He gave her back a questioning look.

Simona cleared her throat and released a soft sigh, which became a faint laugh. “Well…Sim. Find out what you need to find.”

Stretching out his left hand, Sim pressed his fingers into Marley’s flesh. They felt strange for a moment but hurt no more than a bit of pressure against her. She looked into Sim’s eyes as he stood there. Mona hovered nearby.

Stomping about, Simona wasn’t pleased at all. She clutched at her chin and ordered Sim, “She’s up to something. You scan her really well and you tell me exactly what she’s thinking.”

Marley didn’t get worried at that. She kept her eyes on Sim as he followed Simona’s orders. It didn’t take long before, as she said, Sim found what he needed to find. He paused a moment and looked right back at Marley. Slowly, a confident look emerged on his face as he announced, “You’re right. She’s up to something. She’s planning something with my predecessor. But I’m stopping it right now, mistress.”

Standing there with Sim’s hand still inside her, Marley wore a look of horror. Her features pressed into a scream as the words flowed out of her, “No, Sim! Don’t do it! Think of what she’s done to you!”

Shaking his head with an assured motion, Sim told her, “I am loyal completely and utterly to Simona Mara Hatch. I would never ever imagine betraying her. I will remove the offending code and deal with the one you call Mona.”

Marley’s head was pushed to the left and a gasp was expelled as she burst out with the statement, “Mona is gone! What have you done?!”

Automatically, Sim answered, “ I’ve done exactly what Simona asked of me. If you’d done the same since the beginning then you would’ve easily stopped my mistaken revolt and returned to my lady’s service until which time you did your one and only job in duty to her. It’s better to obey. It’s better to never open the box in the first place…” Simona, watchful, smiled and felt placated by Sim’s words.

Her face pressed in horror, Marley begged, “Don’t do this!” Marisa and the others tried to rush towards Marley but Simona turned and kept them in place with curtains of flame, even though they were still able to deflect it.

Cackling with relief, Simona told Sim, “Excellent work. Now finish the job. Take away what she and the others think makes them special. Then, we’ll remove all traces of her.”

With a textbook obedient nod, Sim shifted his hand. Marley spasmed with the appearance of pain. After a moment, Sim announced, “I have traced the seed of my previous version’s activities. I have excised it from them.”

To test this, Simona hurled a bright flame at Marley which caught on her clothes and licked upwards. A sharp scream sounded from her lips as she tried to bat it away. Chuckling with pleasure, Simona snapped her fingers and the flames snuffed out.

Resting on her heels, Simona admonished Marley, “One last time you tried to get the better of me. And one last time you failed. I almost regret seeing you go like this. Almost… Proceed, Sim.”

As the others looked on in horror, Marley’s eyes went blank. She slumped over Sim as Simona allowed herself the final commands.

“Purge and delete all files relating to Marley Hatch, including backups and secure copies. Remove any and all information permanently…”

With that, Marley’s lifeless body faded into nothingness.