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“Man is the cruelest animal.”
―
Stardate -288.85417 – Programme Day Seventy Seven – 2030 GMT, 3rd December 2024. T+00:00:33
I screamed as the blade plunged towards her chest, thrusting up into her stomach. There was a scream of terror from someone, and multiple choked gasps as the blade seemed to sink into her chest. There was a thud as she dropped backwards to the floor, and the culprit stumbled backwards, clutching the knife and laughing maniacally. And then all hell broke loose.
I couldn’t believe what had just happened.
I was in a state of shock, and I barely registered what was going on in front of me.
He…he had murdered her. The blade had gone right up into her stomach, right up to the hilt.
The storm had broken, and everything would be different after today. And it had been such a good day. But the signs had been there all along. And I had been such a fucking idiot for not seeing this coming…
Stardate -288.3125 – Programme Day Seventy Seven; 0730 GMT, 3rd December 2024. T-13:00
Breakfast had been a good affair, and the day only got better after that point. As the day went on past breakfast, everyone- for once- remained together as a group. Well, minus Katsuro and Tessa, who both were taken off by Indira and Nessa. The rest of us, however- Danny, Arthur, Ewan, and I- remained together in the rec room, and the atmosphere was non-confrontational for once. Steph even gave us access to BBC news on the television, saying that it’d be good to see there was still a world out there. Bizarrely, Arthur was joking and laughing with us, and not in a crude way. Everyone seemed to feel he’d reformed. I could tell they bought the “I’m no longer a bitter, angry, bigot” bit. But I didn’t think he was a changed man. In fact, I didn’t even think he’d ever shown us who he really was.
I was beginning to realise that either I was unusually perceptive compared to the other intakes, or that I had a knack for seeing through bullshit. Or that I was just insane, and really good at making calls on people that were insane, but coincidentally very close to the mark. Because despite the fact that everyone kept commenting about how Arthur was so much better now that he was neither angry nor morose, I could see he wasn’t happy. He was definitely still angry. He was definitely still upset or sad. I knew well enough what it looked like when someone was putting on a mask to hide their true feelings. She had done it. The Bitch. The one who-
I could never move past that moment, could I? Standing there, convinced that my best friend had got my idol to come in to speak to me, that she really had got her dad to get him to come, and it was a trap. And then came the humiliation, and the pain, and the sorrow, and the shame. The shame. The abject shame of being led along and forced to do things I wouldn’t do to prove my worth, and then to have those shown before the entire school, as more fodder to use against me. And her smile, that smug smile that showed how she had manipulated me perfectly. And how I swore I’d never let anyone fool me again.
...
I shook my head. That was more than eleven years past. It was ancient history. And I had moved past it. She had changed me into something toxic. Dorley, and Christine, had cured me. But there was a gift that experience had given me. I had made an effort to study how people behaved. The masks they pulled on to cover their lies. And while I had eventually let that skill moulder, seeing only masks instead of passionate woman who wanted to talk about my hobby with me…it had always been there.
And I could see Arthur was hiding something. He was troubled, and he was suffering, but I couldn’t talk to him. He was still Arthur, even if he was acting different. So, I didn’t talk to him. I didn’t find out then, and there.
And it was the biggest mistake I would ever make. And someone would suffer because of it. Just not who I expected to suffer.
Stardate -288.34375– Programme Day Seventy Seven; 0815 GMT, 3rd December 2024. T-11:45
“…and we go live to Dowing Street, where police are currently holding back protestors claiming the changes to the Abortion Act of 1967 announced last week to relax the restrictions on aborting a pregnancy. Also there are counter-protestors supporting reproductive freedoms, and both sides are quite angry. Julia Duffy, Political Correspondent for BBC World News, is on the scene. Julia, over to you.”
“Thanks, Jeff. I’m here at the scene where police are trying to prevent a fight from breaking out between two groups of protestors. There have already been several arrests by metropolitan police, although we currently do not have details on what prompted the arrests. Earlier, police were forced to set up crowd-control barriers, and extend the duration of the protest to avoid causing traffic delays due to the closure of the road for the legally-approved protest by the pro-life group. The mayor has commented that the pro-freedom group has not obtained permission, but suggested that the counter-protestors paperwork may have gotten “lost in the mail”, and has advised Police to not take action. So far, there has not been an appearance by the prime minister to comment, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Rodney Starmer has scheduled an appearance on television for later today to discuss the ongoing issues…”
“Welp, at least some things never change,” said Danny in disgust. “Fucking baby killers trying to stop new life from coming into being. Christ, what the fuck, Labour got in while we were down here? I knew they’d bring this country to ruin.”
I glared at him. “Wow, so, women shouldn’t have to carry an organism that they weren’t prepared for around for several months, and then squeezing out a small human through a hole significantly smaller. A process which I’ve been told is fucking painful- my mother would describe it to me any time I complained about school being difficult or about how bad my life was, and she was very good at telling that story- and comparable to someone sticking an umbrella in your dick and opening it inside it. Does that sound like something you’d want to have to go through if you didn’t want it, or you weren’t ready?”
Danny looked amused. “Whatever. I know what the truth is. I’ve taken the red pill, after all. You? You’re one of the blue pills. The leftists.”
I groaned and facepalmed. “Danny, have you even seen the movie you’re referencing?”
He laughed. “I don’t need to! That scene is iconic! The red pill is the one which shows you the truth. The blue pill keeps you delusional and weak.”
“Danny,” I said, despairingly. “The Matrix was created by a pair of trans women. The red pill/blue pill analogy was a reference to the colours of the two drugs most commonly taken by trans women at the time. The HRT tablets that allowed you to change? They were red-coloured. And the anti-depressants that allowed you to ignore your dysphoria and stay in the closet? They were blue. The movie is literally a metaphor for discovering your gender identity.”
Danny looked annoyed. “What the fuck are you on about?”
The last person I expected spoke up. “He’s right you know, Dan. About the redpills and bluepills.”
Danny turned to look at Arthur disbelievingly. “Bro, the fuck? What are you talking about?”
Arthur sighed. “Look, I think it’s stupid the right uses those terms. It’s actually really fucking ironic, actually. Which is why I try to use the term “redpill” as little as possible. And ironically? We’ve both been taking the fucking redpills while we’ve been here. Or did you forget about the estrogen they’ve been flooding us with?”
Danny snorted. “Whatever. Pussy.”
God, I wanted to punch that guy, so much. But I could tell he was just as much putting on a show of being the “last man in the bunch” as any of us. I knew that he knew that it was inevitable that we’d change. I knew it too. Before anything could happen, I pushed my fear and doubt to the back of my mind, slamming down the containment forcefields I liked to imagine kept the thoughts at bay. As usual, there was a howl from back there, something primal that I tried not to think about.
Fortunately, a distraction presented itself within the next three hours and it saved me from having to listen to Arthur and Danny fight on and on about what constituted a real man for any longer.
Stardate -288.46181 – Programme Day Seventy Seven; 1105 GMT, 3rd December 2024. T-8:55
“Hey, what’s going on in here?”
I turned around, to see Maria and Indira standing at the door. Both of them were wearing red dresses, knee length, and looking absolutely stunning. But they didn’t draw my focus as much as the person standing behind them, who proceeded to step forwards. With them was Katsuro who was…wow…
…she was also wearing a red dress. And she looked good in it. She was beaming like there was not tomorrow.
“…Katsuro…you look…wow…” said Ewan, gaping. Even Danny looked appreciative. Danny. Who I think still had issues with his own bigotry. “Man, if that’s what you look like before surgery, I think you’re going to be a very lucky woman.”
Katsuro giggled, and Danny was definitely smiling at her now. Danny, the bigot. The racist. The homophobe. The transphobe. But I was beginning to see that there was a mask there too. Fuck, I was becoming a paranoid nut, wasn’t I? The only person who I genuinely saw change in was Ewan, and even then, he wasn’t exactly the most egregious offender. He was basically just a guy who had spied on some girls, and then distributed it online.
I had done something worse than that. I’d actually hurt people face-to-face. I mean, he’d clearly not realised it was wrong then, and had since seen the error of his ways, but there was something weird about both me and him being here along with a girl who was possibly selected specifically as an infiltrator, or who had been recruited as such when they realised what really was going on with her; and a guy who had been bought in for some fucked up shit, but had turned out to be part of a pair of trans twins, and was a girl the entire time.
Ewan and I were outliers. Everyone else here? They had done some fucked up shit. I could get my reasons- I mean, the first response I’d gotten to my crimes had been that I was apparently an incel. I got that. But Ewan was…nice. And I didn’t get why he was here. But he wasn’t hiding something like Katsuro was, and he wasn’t clearly dealing with some sort of trauma like Danny or Arthur.
Something had informed our selection as a group, and I was pretty sure the sponsors were hiding more than just the upcoming testicular removal that Steph had said was scheduled for March next year. Three months, and I lose my balls. What a fucking world.
My train of thought was disrupted by Nessa and Tessa showing up in matching outfits. Both of them had knee-length denim skirts and white blouses. Strangely, despite my statement to Tessa that I couldn’t be in a relationship with anyone right now, I did feel regret at saying that. She was…beautiful, in a “I can see that she’s going to look just like her sister one day, and that’s enough to ping my bell a little bit”.
Christ, next thing you knew, I’d be feeling attracted to Ewan too, and both of my closest friends would be in some sort of love triangle. I did not have time for that sort of anime bullshit. This was real life, and besides, they’d be better together than with me. Nerds never got the woman.
No, don’t you fucking dare bring up that Christine has a girlfriend. No, do not think about the pink elephant…
…goddamn.
I was so fucked up. But at least I wasn’t jerking off right now. At least I wasn’t that fucked up.
…Oh, god, Shinji would be exactly the sort of person Dorley would take in, wouldn’t he? That was a disturbing thought. No wonder Steph hadn’t been able to get Neon Genesis Evangelion past the censors she kept alluding to. Or censor. She’d nearly said a name as if she wasn’t meant to say it yet, but I was pretty sure it was a futile endeavour. We’d all know who was behind this place soon enough anyway. We already knew more than we should, but I guess habits die hard for Steph or whatever. Huh. How long had she been doing this anyway? One day, I was going to get her life story off her, even if I had to bribe her with…I dunno, chocolate or something.
Man, my brain was being weird today. I really only got like this when I was anxious about something. I didn’t know what I was anxious about, but then again, the unexpected is always a shock, isn’t it? The red dress…well, you know how the trope goes, right? It should have been a warning for me. I knew the literature. Or at least, I thought I did.
Stardate -288.6125 – Programme Day Seventy Seven; 1442 GMT, 3rd December 2024. T-07:18
After lunch, I decided to spend some time with my friends watching a movie together. Steph was kind enough to get us some popcorn to go around, and so I found myself crowding into my tiny room with my three closest friends in the world. With my computer monitor angled to face towards the bed, and my media library up on the screen, I immediately went for the movie I wanted to show them. And immediately the complaints started.
“Woah, Alan, what are you doing?” asked Tessa, as I opened the sci-fi folder. “Nobody said we’d be watching sci-fi.”
“Oh, come on, Tess,” I complained. “You have to see 2001: A Space Odyssey at least once. It’s one of the greatest films ever made! It’s a lifechanging experience, let me tell you.”
“Yes, but, counterpoint,” she argued back. “I don’t want to watch sci-fi, and it’s Ewan’s birthday anyway. What does he want to watch?”
She did have a point. Sheepishly, I stood aside, and let Ewan take control of the keyboard and mouse. He clicked through the folders for a while, before arriving at a movie that everyone except me seemed to agree on. My god, we were really going to watch something with a title that sappy?
“Oh, come on, Alan!” exclaimed Katsuro. “You’re going to love it, trust me! There’s something in this movie for everyone. Even you, as sci-fi obsessed as you are. Come on, live a little, have a broader range of experiences!”
I groaned even more. “It’s the sappiest fucking title I’ve ever seen! Why can’t we watch something classic? Like, I dunno, Gattaca.”
“One, we don’t have Gattaca. I’ve checked,” said Ewan, ticking off his points on his fingers. “Two, Gattaca is, like, the last thing I want to watch on my birthday. It’s a film about a dystopian society where people like me- you know, shortsighted, flawed humans with myopia and ADD and all the warts- are excluded from being part of society. Which is probably why it isn’t in the sci-fi library. And three? This movie is a classic! For fuck’s sake, you’re going to love it.”
“Fuck it, I’m out of here,” I said, trying to climb off the bed. “Have fun with your silly chick-flick. I’m going to go see if I can get the SciFi channel on the rec room television.”
Despite attempts to hold me back, I made it to the door, and found that the door lock didn’t work. The light was red. What?
“Seriously, Alan, watch the damn film,” Steph’s voice said from the speakers mounted high up near the ceiling. Seriously? She locked me in my room? Argh! “Trust me, it’s not just a chick flick. This will be good for you, I think. Come on, it’s just a movie. You can manage it. Or should I start reading this fan-written Vogon poem I found online?”
“That doesn’t scare me,” I said, defiant. “It’s only fanfiction, it can’t hurt me! I don’t care how awful it is.”
“I mean, it’s from fanfiction dot net.”
“…you…why…urgh, fine,” I said, appalled she’d go that far. I may be brave, but I wasn’t suicidal. There was a good chance the poem might actually be worse than canonical Vogon poetry, having come from there. “Fuck it, I’ll watch the film.”
“Good. Have fun, girls! And boys, I guess!”
If there’s one thing about her exchange that confused me, it was why that soda feeling from the other day came back when she initially addressed us as girls, and then corrected herself. Christ, it was probably the hormones or something. Either that, or I had some sort of stomach bug.
Stardate -288.6125 – Programme Day Seventy Seven; 1620 GMT, 3rd December 2024. T-03:20
I leaned back on my bed as the credits stopped rolling. That had been one of the most amazing films I’d ever seen. It was equal parts romance, action, drama, and mystery. It had been so much more than its title had suggested. And I was absolutely stunned that it wasn’t even sci-fi.
“I think Alan’s regretting his initial doubts, guys,” cackled Ewan. “See, I told you you wouldn’t regret it. The Princess Bride is pretty good, huh?”
I blinked. “Good? It was far from good.”
There were several raised eyebrows. Then I continued. “It was fucking AMAZING. What the fuck, how had I never seen this?”
Katsuro rolled her eyes. “Alan, you spend 100% of your free time consuming only one very specific niche genre. There’s more to fiction than just sci-fi. And you need to broaden your horizons. Otherwise, you risk overspecialising. And overspecialisation leads to death.”
I looked at her suspiciously. “Did…did you just quote Ghost in the Shell at me?”
She looked innocent. “I could have got that from any cyberpunk anime from the 90s which is regarded as a classic part of the history of a type of media my ancestral homeland is renowned for. But, yes, I did quote Ghost in the Shell.”
Tessa frowned. “Wasn’t that the movie with Scarlett Johansen from the 2010s?”
Katsuro looked at me. “You want to do this, or should I?”
I thought about it, then shook my head. “Your culture, your responsibility. Give her hell, Kat.”
Katsuro grinned, and promptly whacked Tessa in the chest with a pillow. If we had known what was about to happen in less than four hours, maybe things would have been different. Maybe we would have warned someone, or stopped the perp before they could do it. But, then again, Minority Report was sci-fi, and there was no way in the real world to prevent crimes before they could happen.
Stardate -288. 84375 – Programme Day Seventy Seven; 2015 GMT, 3rd December 2024. T-00:15
We walked into the rec room as a full group, all six of us having been asked to remain in our rooms until the sponsors had finished preparing dinner. As we walked into the room, a tantelising smell filled the air. It was…fuck, was that beef?
“No way,” said Tessa, sniffing and smiling. “I knew they had something up their sleeve, but roast beef??”
We walked into the dining room, and it was indeed actual roast beef. I immediately began salivating. There was a entire cut of meat on a platter in the middle of the table, presliced, and there were multiple pots of gravy laid out along the table. The meat looked succulent, and above all else, it was the first meat I’d seen in months that wasn’t on a television screen. And it didn’t stop there. Roast potatoes, crispy and steaming hot, sat in a glass container in the middle of the table, with a lid on top to keep the heat in. There were Brussel Sprouts- my favourite- along with the full range of greens. There was even soft drinks, another thing we hadn’t seen for ages, although they were all diet soda.
Soon, we were seated, our sponsors sitting down to eat with us. We each had a steak knife to cut our meat with, which seemed to be a rare sign of trust on the behalf of the sponsors. The knives weren’t even plastic, although the metal blades did look like they were made from something other than the usual stainless steel you saw in fancy restaurants. They looked a bit wobbly to be honest, but then again, they also had signs of wear from years of use. Probably the blades were coming loose after a long history of wear and tear. I was seated at the head of the table, near the window. Next to me was Steph, wearing a white dress with a gold necklace. Down from her was Danny and Monica. On the other side of the table from me was Tessa and Nessa, still clad in their white blouses and denim skirts. Next to Nessa was Maria, and on the other side of her was Danny. Katsuro and Indira sat at the other end of the table, on the other side of Danny and Monica. Ewan was at the head of the table, sans Pippa. Apparently she had to handle some business upstairs.
Drinks were poured, people settled, and then Maria dinged her fork against her glass. Apparently we were going to get a speech. The stage was set, and the actors were in their places. Fourteen minutes and fifty five seconds had elapsed since we had entered the rec room. And in less than five seconds, we would be witness to something we never saw coming. Maria began to rise…
Stardate -288.85417 – Programme Day Seventy Seven – 2030 GMT, 3rd December 2024. Zero Hour.
…and Arthur, moving faster than I thought anyone could move, whipped his arm up and plunged his steak knife into Maria’s stomach, all the way up to the hilt. She shoved him away as she fell back, the knife falling out of my sight and clattering to the floor. Katsuro screamed, and Nessa stood, pulling a miniature taser from her handbag. I fell back out of my chair, and onto the floor, scrambling back as chaos reigned. The lighting shifted to a harsh red as Arthur cackled from where he stood, his hand slightly bloody. The back wall opened up, sliding away to reveal a pair of men armed with handguns, who rushed out, and readied their weapons. I barely registered all of this, my shock all-consuming.
The incident had happened. The final strike had been made against Arthur. And I knew that nothing would be the same after this. For any of us.
TO BE CONTINUED…
OK, since I've announced it everywhere else already, might as well do it here. Remember how I said the title might be a red herring? Well, the best of both worlds has two parts. The best of both genders...has three.
Chapter 13 tommorrow, and part three in five months.
Yeah, so, the pattern was my replies were thirteen words long. Just FYI.
Dear God why, I have an exam tomorrow and, now I have this cliffhanger living in my thoughts rent free.
Welp, I mean, I have two days left till I *actually* go on break. But, you know, I want a break, so, yeah, no more chapters. At least within the next twenty four or fourty eight hours. Terms and conditions apply.
So I could be talking about what just happened to Maria (and how I totally called it), but everyone else is gonna be focusing on that, so instead I’d like to bring up Alan’s internal monologue at the start of the chapter, and how he’s going on at length about having a skill that would be very useful in a sponsor. A hint at his future, perhaps?
Maybe. But, you know, other jobs require people to be perceptive like that.
Useful for: digital forensics, cybersecurity anaylsts, psychologists, teachers. It's a useful skill generally.
Pattern recogition and being able to read social cues well are amazing skills.
I mean, my hyperlexia is basically just enhanced pattern recognition as a superpower.
How do you think I read and write so fast? It's pattern recognition.
Just for words and stories, not social cues. ASD limits me there sadly.
I mean, there is a pattern in everything written, even right now.
This story, the comments, my specific wording and use of words while replying.
It's all just data points, waiting to be collected and decyphered, right?
Everything, in the end, is a game of numbers. The mathematical universe.
@CrazyMinh And the pattern in your comments is that you make a whole lot of sci-fi references. I’m trying to identify all the ones you put in your reply to LucyKitsune, but I can’t figure out “MARIA IS A EX-HUMAN!!”
@DeusExMarina Huh. Well, this is a new experience. Monty Python is usually recognisable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218
@CrazyMinh I never actually watched Flying Circus. My Monty Python knowledge begins and ends at Holy Grail and a handful of the more well-known skits like Spanish Inquisition. But I do recognize the other references, though! You’ve got a TVTropes one that was also referenced in the latest Dorley chapter, and you’ve got Doctor Who, and Red Dwarf, and Halo: Reach.
@DeusExMarina Believe that is a Monty Python parrot sketch reference, now that I've read the context.
@JadeDiaz Yuuuuuup.
@DeusExMarina Yes, all correct. The last one is just a reference to Schrodinger's Cat, and how Maria is both dead and alive until I post the next chapter. She is Schrodinger's Sponsor, if you would.