One week passed in the blink of an eye for me. It was a blessing actually talking to people for the first time in years. The only downside is I don’t really have a filter on my thoughts right now. The software they were using became more refined as we worked together on it and Travis had an amazing idea of hooking up a text to talk program to it. Dude really became my best friend overnight. My voice was still a bit robotic, but hey I was talking now.

“Travis. We watch movie tonight? Tonight tonight. Grape Sweater.”

“Sorry bud we are still working on those bugs. But yeah we can. What do you feel like watching?”

“You even purple grape… Ask. God nil ah.”

“Try that word again,” he said typing on the computer.

“Godzilla. Right on bread,” I said.

“Did you do that on purpose?” He asked, looking over at me.

“Maybe.” Emma was beet red, laughing at us.

“Guys come on can we actually get some work done today?” she said snickering,

“Sure thing. Emmmmmma. Crap.” I tried to say, the system still had a major problem with names. Bugs aside, this was freaking amazing. Hearing my new robot voice come over the speakers made me smile, well if I could smile that is.

“Working on it Emma.” Travis said, pecking at the keyboard. “Steven care to sing us a song?”

“Yellow flower, yellow flower give my a correct yes.” I inwardly sighed. “near.” to be honest it was a miracle it happened right the first day, but then again my mind was hyper focused on the issue at hand.

“We’ll get there man. 2001 good reference man.” he laughed and went back to typing. Each day was like this just working on the system to help me talk. Dr. Rose would come in at the end to talk with Emma, Travis, and I at the same time. Turns out she is a nice person, just a bit uptight. “So what one did you want to watch? I brought Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla today.” I jumped up and ran over to give him a high five and by that I mean I lay there and looked blankly out at the room.

“Please.” my flat robot voice said. “Two hour warning until medical flower. Crap. Flower. Flower. Really. Travis.”

“Try it… Now.” He smiled at me as he pecked at the keyboard.

“Red flower. Red flower.”

“Sorry Now.”

“Rose. Thank. What was talking?”

“Two hours until Dr Rose comes in.” Emma replied,

“Thank you Emmmmmma. Thought fixed.” I said inwardly scowling at him.

“I’m only one really cool guy, dude.” Travis said.

“Need laugh talk.” A laugh track would help me let them know when I was joking.

“Try Emma’s name now and yes we should be able to give you a laugh track.” Travis said with a snicker.

“Hot book person. Joke. Emma Emma.”

“Very funny Steven.” Emma said as Travis doubled over his keyboard laughing.

“Best job ever, am I right Emma?” Travis asked in between bouts of laughter.

“Have to be honest,” She paused putting a finger on her forehead making a face that implied thinking hard. “Yeah. You guys are fairly fun. Beats the crap out of taking care of mice who have ears growing on their back.”

“Can hear when.” I had to say it.

“I think he means, Can you hear me now?” Travis said, looking at Emma with a goofy grin.

“I freaking hate you guys.” She said laughing. “I would say we could get more work done if you two weren’t always goofing off, but the progress says otherwise.”

“We try” Inwardly I was laughing with them. It turns out Travis is a HUGE movie buff with an insane movie collection. Mostly scifi, anime, and lots of other nerdy stuff. Emma would join us at times, but sadly she likes chick flicks more. Weird thing is, I was right and she has not just one cat, but two. Mr. Freckles and Ms. Mink. I keep trying to ask for pictures, but it will still take some time for us to get there by talking. When the system is this rough, asking to see a woman’s cat would more than likely come out wrong and might get me slapped.

Emma looked at one of the screens in her area and then over at me. “Steven, what are you thinking about?” she asked sweetly

“Friend happy.”

“Awwww we like you too man.” Travis said, smiling at me. I wouldn’t hide anything from them as I wanted to make sure everything they were doing worked. My ego isn’t worth messing up this blessing. Although Emma did decline to scratch my butt when it itched. “Okay dude, try an animal.”

“Red rat.” I inwardly huffed as I had meant to say fox.

“Did you really mean a red rat?” Emma asked with a slight smile.

“No F O X.” When things got difficult I had learned I could spell it out if I needed to.

“Try it again.” Travis prompted,

“Ferret. Crap. Again?” I asked.

“And now.” Travis said typing at his keyboard.

“Fox. Fox. Yes little steps.” It went on like this for a while and it was hard to keep track of time. Emma would even set alarms on the really fun days so her babies wouldn’t get mad at her for being late.

“I know baby steps. It will get easier as we go.” Both Emma and Travis turned to the door as a knock came to us. The boss lady was right on time like normal. She walked in without waiting on any of the three of us to get up.

“I get door.” I said inwardly, laughing. Travis smiled as this was a common joke for us.

“Steven, Emma and Travis, how are we doing today?”

“Dr. Rose, no real change from yesterday. Travis and Steven are working on phase one and I’m continuing to map out Steven’s brain patterns.” Emma said with a cheerful smile at Dr. Rose.

“Good, good. Now Travis. I have some bad news.” Dr. Rose said with a sigh. “The President has found out about your Movie Nights with Steven.” she actually put quote fingers in the air when she said movie nights. “He is very displeased by this.”

“No no, movie good.” I said with a deep feeling of despair seeping into my soul. I love our movie nights. It was like a beer after a hard day’s work and let me spend time with my friends. A slight smile tugged at Dr. Rose’s mouth as she looked at Travis.

“Oh he isn’t upset about you watching movies with Steven. He’s upset that you clock out first.” She couldn’t hold back and actually gave a full laugh after saying that. I joined in with the others in my own way. Safe to say, I held my virtual tongue for now. “Your time card has been updated and I was told to do this for you.” She snapped her fingers and one of the lab assistants walked in with a large bowl in her hands. If my memory was correct or I had given her a silly name, I think she was named Tabitha. She was a mouse of a woman maybe five foot tall with long black hair held in a ponytail. Thick glasses covered an almost cute face. She looked like every background movie lab scientist you’d expect to see.

Then the smell hit me. Gods, it had been so long since I’d been near it. That bowl could only hold a golden treasure that had haunted my dreams in the dark hours of my trapped life.

“Yellow plant hot.” Popcorn you dumb computer. Mother, loving, popcorn. The smell alone was filling me with longing as I focused on the bowl. The smells of things was something I had grown to miss. Hospitals normally smelled like cleaning products or things I’d rather not think about. There would be rare nights when I would catch the smell of perfume or someone leaving flowers in my room, but this was food.

“Closer, I can see you are getting there. Yes, Steven popcorn and one more thing for your team,” She reached into her lab coat and pulled out a small vial with a dropper screwed on. “Emma, would you like to do the honors? Just one drop on his tongue.” Emma looked worried as she took it from Dr. Rose before making her way over to me. She looked at the label, sniffed it and placed a single drop on her own finger testing it. Her eyes lit up and she leaned over me with a huge smile on her face. I could smell the perfume she would wear and delighted in the scent.

“Steven get ready to have your mind blown.” She said, Was it LSD? Could I have other things blown instead? Like my nose you dirty minded perverts. I felt the dropper slide between my lips and the feeding tube to my tongue and then everything went blank. The moment the liquid hit my tongue I inwardly screamed and started jumping up and down.

“Thank thank thank thank thank Rose thank.” I studdered inwardly as the liquid lit up my mind and spirit. For the past three years all I could taste is the occasional bits that would waft up with a burp. This wasn’t that. This was MOTHER, LOVING, POPCORN! I could actually taste popcorn. I’d be lying if I said another tear hadn’t fallen that day.

“You are very welcome Steven. Travis I’ll leave it with you so you two can enjoy your movie time a bit better. Also, I will be busy for the next week so you three will be on your own. Try not to burn the place down. This goes double for you Steven.” Dr. Rose said, turning away and heading out with Tabitha. I couldn’t help but notice that the younger woman’s face was down, but  I could see a smile. Why did she look away like that? New possible love interest? Hey, a man can dream.

“No faithful deal.” I tried to say… well you know. Can’t focus on anything other than that bottle in Emma’s hand right now. Freaking popcorn. I wonder if this means I can taste other things.

(Dr Florence Rose)

Dr. Rose and Ruth left Steven’s room and headed to 02’s room. Ruth {aka Tabitha} looked up at Dr. Rose and asked,

“Madam permission to ask questions about 01 and 02.” Dr. Rose nodded and smiled at her assistant.

“Never feel like you can’t ask questions here. That is the only way you’ll learn anything.” Ruth nodded and took a breath.

“01, Steven he seems to be more there than 02. Why is that?” Ruth asked.

“Steven uses humor to cope with his issues. 02,” She sighed “She may not have had that chance, choice or even ability to do so. As we reach later stages we can get help for her.” Ruth seemed to think Dr. Rose’s words over.

“Why don’t we use a name for 02?”

“For now I want her to choose how far things go.  It is important for her to feel like she has some level of control in her life. She needs time and careful treatment before we push anything on her.” Dr. Rose knocked on a door and walked in. Another robotic voice, this one slightly higher pitched, greeted them.

“Rose, wait  right Rose. Yes Rose. Happy.” Dr. Rose took a breath before fully entering the room. A slightly strained smile was on her face as she looked around.

 

(Steven Edwards)

The week flew by. Every day showed improvement by leaps and bounds. I was lucky enough to be able to request food… well drops that tasted like food anyway. Having a roast beef for lunch or even a bit of ice-cream at the end of a long day was a blessing beyond words. Monday rolled around and there was a knock at the door.

“I know that knock.” I said with an inward smirk.

“I think you’re right Steven. It is about that time.” Emma replied. Dr. Rose and a new man walked in as he looked around amused at everything. He looked like everyone’s kind grandfather. A gray pressed suit hugged his frame and his eyes showed him as a man who smiled often and who laughed more.

“Hi Dr. Rose and who is this with you?” I asked. She stopped and stood there, a look of shock on her face. She shook quickly and composed herself as she smiled at me.

“Good evening Steven, allow me to introduce President Martin. He is here to check on you.”

“Popcorn dude. Nice to meet you.” He leaned back a little and laughed hard. Dr. Rose tried to scowl, but broke quickly as she tried to hold back her own laugh.

“That’s a first. I don’t think anyone has ever called me that.” Maybe I should have called him Santa as he had the laugh down. He turned to the other two in the room. “Dr. Walker and Dr. Winters, how are you two doing today?”

“We have a bit of a surprise for everyone.” Emma said, with a smug look on her face.

“This is going to be something.” Travis said with his own smile as he pushed a button. “Steven if you would kindly say something.” Everyone looked at me, waiting for the surprise.

“Not sure… Holy crap, holy crap. My voice. That is my freaking voice.” I couldn’t help but be amazed as my own real voice came through the speakers. “How the hell did you mad scientists even do this? Are you two working on your evil laughs too? How the hell does this work?” Everyone looked at Emma as she held her hands up.

“Well I’ve been working on the programs that read his brain waves and realized that I could shave a few weeks off by tapping into other parts like hearing, taste, and so on. Once I started combining the data from him and the other test subject, I figured out that there was a voice hidden in the speech portion of the scans. I tested it on myself and some of the cleaning staff and found it to be mostly accurate. You know the whole thing about your voice sounding wrong in recordings. Side note this only affects the speech portion of the brain, nothing below that. It can’t be used to read your mind.” As she talked, she became bashful and started blushing. By the end, she was looking at the floor and ringing her hands.

“Dude, can I do impressions or sounds? Now Batting for St. Lewis, Travis Walker.” Sadly no echo, I was hoping for an echo, the only thing that changed was the pitch. “Thanks for the new toy.” Martin was laughing and smiling more than should be healthy for a man his age as he took everything in. Dr. Rose seemed to be the only one not laughing, but a large sweet smile lit her face as she enjoyed the energy of the room. After a while Martin calmed down and looked around the room.

“So how far ahead of schedule are we?” Martin asked Dr. Rose.

“If I had to guess I’d say about five to seven months.” Emma said with a sheepish grin. Martin grinned and smiled as he looked at everyone.

“I’ll do my best to stay out of everyone’s way then. Steven, Travis, and Emma please keep up the good work. Also, ask for anything you may need.” He said turning away.

“Good work everyone. Phase one is now one hundred percent complete. Phase two starts tomorrow so get some good rest tonight.” Dr. Rose said as she turned to join President Martin as they left us. Travis gave Emma a high five.

“Hey, I want one too.” I said with a slight laugh. Gods, it felt so good to laugh. Travis ran up to me and held my hand in the air. He slapped my palm and I inwardly smiled at the feeling. Gods, friends were the best thing ever. “What is Phase two? Will you guys ever let me in on anything?” I made my voice sound like an old cartoon announcer, “Stay tuned to find out.” This was a new toy I was going to get a lot of use out of.

 

(Dr Florence Rose)

Dr. Rose and President Martin walked to 02’s room. The good mood seemed to somber a bit as she led him to a room with a one way mirror made so men could view 02. Subject 02 still had a problem when she saw a man in the room with her. “Are we ready to see what she does with an actual voice?” Dr. Rose asked as she left him and entered the room proper. Martin nodded and took a deep breath, clearly nervous about this meeting. “Hello, I’m sorry I had to be away for a while. How are we today?” She nodded over at one of the female techs who pushed a button.

“Rose. Ahhh.” The voice of a young girl came out of the speakers followed by a childish scream that hurt everyone’s ears. One of the techs moved her hand over a button just in case she needed to turn down the volume or mute the program. “Rose. My voice. I can speak with my own voice. Lu-Shi is very happy.” judging just from the voice one would think they were talking to a child between the ages of four to six.

“Is that what you wish to be called?” Rose asked.

“Lu-Shi is a happy elf princess.” Subject 02 said in a proud tone.

“And a pretty elf princess.” Rose said, with a smile that didn’t fully reach her eyes.

“I have someone who wants to speak with you. He is a man, but he will not be entering the room. You won’t have to see him and he has made it clear that he doesn’t plan to hurt you. All he wants to do is talk. Are you okay with this?” Rose asked fearing what Lu-Shi would do.

“Okay.” there was a slight twinge of fear in her voice. Martin came over a different speaker and his voice was low, calming and was almost on the edge of a chuckle. It was like a grandparent trying to soothe a child who had a nightmare.

“Hello Lu-Shi. You can call me Grandpa. How are you doing?” He said calmly.

“People here are good to Lu-Shi. They brush my hair and let me watch cartoons and they give me tasty sweets.”

“Careful you don’t eat too many. It might give you a tummy ache.”

“Silly Grandpa Lu-Shi can’t get tummy aches.” Lu-Shi said with a girly giggle.

“Is there anything grandpa can get you?” Martin asked sweetly. The way he handled children made Dr. Rose Blink in surprise. She was certain he didn’t have kids of his own.

“Can I get a pretty bow for my hair?” Lu-Shi asked with a tone of worry in her voice.

“I don’t see why we can’t do that. I have something you may like. I found some more Happy Elf Princess seasons for you.” Another quickly muted scream filled the room for a fraction of a second. Dr. Rose pulled one of the techs out into the hallway to visit with President Martan.

“How is she?” he asked Ruth, who seemed nervous about meeting him.

“She is in good health and in fairly good spirits. We are working with her, but it has been slow going. Sorry to say we aren’t as skilled as group one, but we like to add our support when we can.” Martan reached out and touched the young woman’s arm. She looked up into his kind eyes.

“This isn’t a race. We are all on the same team. You offer just as much as they do. We still need both your group and to make this happen and rest assured we are making things happen and far quicker than anyone could realize.” He said in a voice that melted Ruth’s heart. She smiled back at him and nodded.

“I’ll try to keep that in mind sir.” She said, as she looked at the ground.

“Is there anything your team needs?” Martin asked.

“No sir.” Ruth said, shaking her head.

“I can think of one thing,” Dr. Rose said with a slight smile. “A remote for that mute button or a program to mute screams.” Ruth just nodded with a slight twitch to her left eye.

(Steven Edwords)

Turns out Phase two was sending things into my brain. A few days later, I was able to enjoy a fairly good egg and coffee breakfast. They had put a fridge in my room full of labeled droppers making it easy although Travis liked to complain about having to make my breakfast every morning. The man in question was pecking over his keyboard and bobbing his head like normal. Emma was testing everything and I was waiting for things to start. Step one wiggle your big toe. Kidding. The real step one, close your eyes. Safe to say it was a bit of a struggle.

“Ready Bud? Travis asked. I gave a nod and by that I mean I said

“Shoot for the moon.” He laughed and everything went black. I woke up a little while later. If I had to guess I was out for a few minutes. That was strange, going from being awake to asleep in the blink of an eye. Even coming out of it was slow, but not uncomfortable. “What the hell?”

“My bad sorry bud. Let's try that again.” Travis said with a sheepish smile.

“Yeah nap time.” sadly no my eyes just closed on their own. “Boo, I’m still awake. You got it right this time. Side note might be good for a sleep aid.” I said, as I laughed.

“Yeah, making a note of that one.” Travis said. I could hear the smile in his voice. “I’m going to try something new. Hold on. You should see a red dot… now.” He said.

“Sorry all I’m seeing is Emma nude. How did you even get a picture of that? Kidding red dot in the lower right.” I asked with a chuckle.

“Come on guys, at least put me in a bathing suit.” Emma said with her own cute giggle.

“Playboy bunny costume or nothing.” I laughed. Gods it was so nice to be able to laugh with them.

“Should have never given you that upgrade. You have a very contagious laugh.” She laughed along with Travis and I. “I am flattered, but let's not make this an HR issue.”

“Fair enough. I’ll play nice.” I said. “Wait, can I even be in an HR conference if I was sold as medical waste?” The room was quiet for a minute and I knew the two were looking at each other uncomfortably.

“No clue, but if you keep this up, I’ll switch the labels on your food and we are watching The Notebook tonight.” she said and I could hear the twisted smile in her voice.

“Never saw that one. Worth a try, at least I’ll enjoy the company. Wink.” I replied

“Did you just say wink?” Travis asked.

“Well my eyes are closed and I can't wink anyway.” I laughed. We went on like this for the rest of the day. Colors and shapes were being sent into my mind. If I didn’t have to sit through this mind numbing activity with my friends making jokes, I’d think all this was real magic. After work, Travis left to meet up with his friends as Emma looked over at me and smiled.

“Ready for the Notebook?” She asked sweetly.

“Do I get popcorn and maybe a kiss good night?” I asked, my heart in my throat. I was happy that my heart didn’t show that this wasn’t just a joke.

“Yes on the popcorn, we’ll see on the kiss.” She said, a sweet smile and slight blush on her face. I lightly chuckled as she set everything up. The movie was horrible, but Emma actually held my hand half way through the movie. Sadly I have no memory of how the movie ended as I fell asleep.

(Dr. Emma Winters)

Emma noticed the strange noise coming through the speakers that happened when Steven had passed out. It was something akin to talking in one’s sleep. She loved the movie, but something about sharing with someone she was getting attached to made it all the more special. She muted the speaker and watched the rest while holding his warm hand. The ending always made her cry and she couldn’t help but squeeze his hand even though she knew he was asleep. She didn’t fault him, but the fact that he didn’t give her hell on the movie meant a lot to her. Emma blushed slightly as she looked over at the brain scan making sure he was out before leaning over and laying the softest of kisses on his cheek. He didn’t smell bad, but what type of cologne would he wear given the choice? “Thank you Steven and I hope you get a good night’s sleep.” She said as she left the room after turning everything off. She looked back at him from the doorway as her heart raced at the feeling of the kiss. Something about the way he tried hard to make everyone laugh and happy touched her heart. It was like he was a large dog that was always happy to see you. What would it have been like if he was normal? Could the two of them have had a life together?

 

(Steven Edwords)

Three days later we had moved to moving images and had started the next step. Travis spoke to me as I lay in bed, eyes closed “Ready for the next part.”

“Travis I’m sorry but I only see you as a friend.” he chuckled and said,

“Ready for some audio feed?” I could almost hear him shaking his head.

“Sure, feed me Seymour.” A video filled my vision of a thin red head man dancing and singing and much to my surprise his voice came to my ears.

“Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you let you down.” He sang and I inwardly rolled my eyes.

“Dude did you really just rick roll me?” I asked with a playful groan.

“Maybe.” Travis said before bursting into laughter. “Would you rather have another old meme?”

“Jokes on you, I like that song.” I said with a slight smile in my voice. “I wonder if anyone has thought of other ways this can be used. Porn would be epic.” I said with a laugh. I was still getting used to talking to people and had not gained a filter to my thoughts. Maybe I would have to work on learning to keep my thoughts to myself somehow.

“I hope so, but I have been making notes.” Travis said with a chuckle. “Now try this one.”

“Sounds like a city gathering with some music under it and maybe a kitten mewing?” 

“Good, layering seems to be working nicely. Combining tests should make work go faster.”

“That’s the hope at least.” Emma said with a bit of wonder in her voice.

“What are we doing after work?” I asked with a bit of fear in my voice. Travis shrugged and looked over at Emma.

“No clue bud it's up to her. Sadly I have plans for tonight.” He said, I could hear the regret in his voice.

“Care to watch or rather sleep through another chick flick?” She asked, looking over at me. Travis had let me open my eyes and I could see the room once more. Someone had brought in flowers and they seemed to light the room up with a small bit of joy.

“Sure so long as I get my kiss this time.” I said with an inward smile. She just blushed and looked away.

“I think I’ll be nice to you today and watch something fun.” She was true to her word that night. It was some mild action chick flick ,something I quickly forgot the name of after seeing. It was fun though, but sadly no kiss after it, But hey she did hold my hand again and I did stay awake through this one. She even let me have some popcorn as we watched the movie.

The weeks passed and the tests became more interesting as we went on. What started as shapes and sounds quickly became videos, movies and even sending me tastes and feelings into my body. It was a tad shocking the first time I felt someone tickling my foot or the feeling of moving my hand without it moving at all. Even with the harder tests, joking with the two and light flirting with Emma, my life had become a living blessing. I had woken up early before everyone was in and was able to turn on the lights and TV only using my mind… well indirect verbal commands. Still freaking cool as hell. I’m even able to start the coffee for Emma and Travis assuming they filled the water and pods the night before. Yes we could use timers, but this made me feel like I was helping and a part of the team, not just the lab rat. I waited and watched some old cartoons on the screen. Hey, don’t judge me, cartoons are great. After a time they came in and I noticed that they were a bit dressed up. A chime came in on the speaker. What was going on today? Was it actually my birthday this time?

“Please be aware that we will be running a Phase 2 test in one hour.” Dr. Rose had a slight nervous wobble in her voice. She coughed and it stopped. “This is a full Phase 2 so please monitor all conditions and ensure all safety protocols are in place.” the speaker stopped and my heart rate went up slightly and by that I mean it went from sixty four to sixty seven. It was enough for Travis and Emma to notice. We had formed that tight of a bond that they could tell how I was feeling from the equipment feeding them information.

“Calm down buddy, Phase 2 isn’t as bad as it seems. we’ll run all the normal tests first.” Travis said with a nervous smile. He sat in his seat and looked back. “Test one bed time, bud.” He typed a few keys and everything went dark.

I woke up sitting in a theater seat. I turned my head quickly, afraid of falling. I froze and slowly looked around. My head moved, my freaking eyes moved. I looked down and saw my body. It was a generic looking mannequin body dressed in plain clothes. The screen was dark, but soon started showing some ads although the ads were clearly fake. One showed an ad for an all nighter coffee for the coder who really should be sleeping. Another was for a mommy maid service because you should really be cleaning up your own area. I heard a slight chime and looked over to see a man’s face on a mannequin’s body. It was Popcorn Dude.
“Hey, Popcorn Dude.” I said reflexively. My voice worked and he smiled at my words.

“Good morning Mr. Edwards. Good to see you this early.”

“Holy hell.” I gasped and he smiled at me.

“Yeppers. I am here in your dream as you are in mine. We will be having one more person joining us today. Lu-Shi or Subject 02 if you feel like being an ass.” He said scowling at me making it clear I shouldn’t be an ass to her. All I could do was nod at him slowly, my eyes wide. This was crazy as hell. I mean like an ex wife with a flamethrower crazy. 

“Sir. I can move my head and actually talk in here.” my brain wasn’t processing everything.

“Yes you can.” he smiled at me. “Please be nice to Lu-Shi when she shows up. Also, I hope you can sit through a cartoon for young girls.” He winced slightly at that and looked apologetic.

“If it means I can talk and look around, I’d sit through hell itself.” He smiled and looked up at the roof.

“Ladies and gentlemen, if things are going well we can start.” Another slight chime sounded on the other side of Popcorn Dude and my already stunned mind watched another person, albeit a young one, appear in the seat next to him. “Hello Lu-Shi.” He said sweetly to her. She looked over at him and let out a slight squeak on seeing me.

“Grandpa there is a man on the other side of you.” Then she froze and slowly looked around. “My dream is strange.” She said as she looked around at the room.

“Lu-Shi this is a dream the three of us can share. We will be watching a movie together. Are you okay with this?” she slowly nodded. “This is a good friend of mine, Mr. Edwards, he is like you.” she peeked over at me and hid her face behind Popcorn Dude's arm.

“Morning Lu-Shi. I hope you picked us a good movie.” Popcorn Dude looked over at me with his eyebrows raised and a slight smile on his face. This was just too weird.

“How did you know she picked the movie?” He asked, a growing smirk threatening to turn into a laugh.

“It’s always a good idea to let the youngest and prettiest pick the movie.” she giggled at my words, but didn’t stop hiding behind Popcorn Dude. The lights dimmed as the screen went black. A title was projected over a forest of brightly colored trees. This was going to be a chore. 

The Happy Elf Princess and the Lost Gnome

By Steve Conner and Grace Tolance.

The movie was trash meant for small children as Popcorn Dude had said, but being able to look around more than made up for it. I was looking over at Lu-Shi and then it hit me. He had said I was like her. Holy crap baskets. She was a young girl locked in like me. What hell would this be for a kid? It was hell on me, but a freaking child. This world was one hundred ways of wrong. She looked happy watching the movie and I just thought about everything. I took a deep breath as I nodded to myself knowing that given the chance, I’d do everything in my power to keep that little girl smiling. This world needed that kid to be happy and healthy.

Turns out the lost gnome was hiding as the young man had broken his mom’s favorite clay pot. Don’t know why a princess and a bird was needed to find him, but this was a simple kids movie. When it ended Popcorn Dude looked at the two of us with a bright smile on his face.

“Thank you both for joining me today. This was a lot of fun.” He faded from the room and we were left alone.

“Thank you Lu-Shi for picking a good movie,” I said with an honest smile. She beamed back and I woke up. “You guys are freaking gods.” I looked over at the clock stunned. “Wait a minute, that clock is wrong.” Travis and Emma were beaming as they leaned over me.

“It worked, Phase 2 worked like a freaking charm.” Travis said, jumping up and down.

“Do you remember everything, Steven?” Emma asked, as she looked into my eyes.

“Yes we watched a movie. It was nice, but that clock is way off. We were in there for like 3 hours, but only thirty-ish minutes have passed.” The speaker chimed and Dr. Rose’s voice came in.

“Everyone, I'm letting you all join in a conference call I’m having with President Martin. Sir when you are ready.”

“Great job everyone. Today was a huge success, but I can't help but notice that my memory of the time that passed and what time it is now seems a bit off. Can someone explain?” He asked with joy in his voice.

“Dr. Emma Winters here. While running our tests, I noticed that the human mind can process information faster than expected. We ran a number of tests with the help of Mr. Edwards and others and found that it is by a factor of seven to one. This means you may have experienced a little over two and a half hours in the dream system, but out here only thirty minutes have passed. We had to guess when you wanted things to happen and even run programs that could make your commands work in real time to you.”

“A factor of seven to one.” Martin said, as the line was silent for a while.

“Thank you everyone. You once again have ensured that we are changing this world.” Dr. Rose said and cut the line. I was speechless just looking at everyone. What the hell did I get into? Am I really dead or is this heaven?

(Dr. Emma Winters)

Emma opened the door to her apartment and was greeted by her two needy cats. Freckles was standing up pawing at her bag demanding attention and Mink was sliding up the hallway to her pretending she was waking up from a nap. She knew both cats liked to wait by the door when it was near the time Emma came home. Mink was solid white a normal house cat with a calm personality where Freckles was mostly black with white spots on his face. Both were very happy to see her and demanding affection and food. “Sorry kittens, Mommy had to work late again. Lots of data to play with tonight too.” She locked up, showered and made dinner for all three of them. The cats had canned cat food and she was able to enjoy a frozen pizza and beer, today called for a beer. She set up the laptop and began to run both Steven’s brain scan and the video from the movie theater. 

Someone from the other team had a great idea to put in a bystander camera program so they could analyze not only their own subjects but the others. After shooing away Freckles from her pizza and taking a swig she pressed play and watched Steven on one screen as the brain wave readout on another. She saw a strange spike part way and had to pause it. He was looking at the young girl and something had changed in his brain. She didn’t know right off hand what it was and had to call Tessa, her counterpart in the other group.

“Hello, Tessa?” She asked once the line picked up.

“Emma what’s up? Are you going over the test today too?” The short bubbly woman asked through the phone.

“Yeah. Can I send you a screenshot of a strange readout I have?” Emma felt a strange feeling in her heart and had to gulp down another swig to help her nerves. Was Steven into kids? Was she helping a monster?

“Not even a, how are you or how are the kids?” Tessa said with a childish laugh.

“You have kids?” Emma asked. Tessa giggled and snorted before taking a breath.

“No, I just wanted to tease you. Go ahead. Did you also want to share readouts?” She said and Emma could hear the smile in her voice.

“Yes please and you and I have to get together for a movie night sometime.” She pushed a few keys and waited.

“Emma Winters, how the hell did you get President Martin's brain scan? Have you been hacking the system?” She said, outrage clear in her voice.

“That isn’t his, it’s Steven’s scan.” The line went silent for a while. Emma felt her heart tick up a few strokes as she waited. Her perfect man was into children. She knew it.

“Does this guy have a wife?” Her voice was a bit strange and Emma had to blink a few times trying to process what was happening.

“No, why?” Emma asked.

“Does he want one? This part of the brain only lights up as a part of a parental instinct. Dude has major daddy vibes. Kinda makes me want to work on your team.” Emma felt a mixture of relief and jealousy wash over her. Steven wasn’t into kids. He loved them. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

“Sorry I call dibs.” Emma said as she started to laugh and smile at the phone. She was laughing to cover up her doubt she had about Steven. She felt bad for thinking about him that way. She knew he was a good guy, but this was like finding out the cake you were eating had icing in the middle. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she thought about everything.

“No fair. Well you did see him first.” Tessa said, a teasing note in her voice. “I am being honest though. He is her daddy and not in the fun way, but the mess with my kid and you won’t see tomorrow way. Crap, Chinese is here, see you tomorrow. Bye” the line went dead and Emma sat back and then noticed that the two cats were happily eating the pizza they had stolen from her plate.

“Well Crap. No can food tomorrow guys.” she said, cleaning up the mess. Her eyes lifted to the screen and she couldn’t help but focus on that spike. She would have to make a report on this, but she started wondering what type of dad Steven would be. She somehow knew he would be the bedtime story type. She let her mind wander over the fantasy of him sitting on the floor next to the bed telling a small child a story. She would stand behind him watching his back before pulling him to bed. Maybe drinking on an empty stomach was a bad idea. It was making her head spin and heart ache. She thought about her mother and the last time she had seen her at the hospital. 

 

{ZeroGiven40}

For those of you new to this series, welcome. I hope you are able to sit back and have a good laugh as things unfold. Feel free to add advice or jokes that you think will work better. I have this crazy idea for a book that makes you feel like you had a warm hug after a bad day. Also, if anyone wants to make a game out of this, can I get a copy?