MEL. B: Chapter Two

Read Chapter One Here

I feel like my head is full of fucking rocks.

BLOCK 0

Time: ?

I don't know how long it's been but when I pull open my eyes its bright and my body feels heavy. My head hurts against the hard floor. Strange pain rips through me, angry and grumbling.

A new loud voice cuts in before I can even take a breath.

“MELBOURNE!”

The voice shouts loud, a booming voice that hurts my ears. I move my eyes to look at the camera above me and give him a big toothy grin.

“Good to see you awake. My name is Director Sorren, but you may call me just Sorren, if you want. I’ve given you a stomach, and I’m positive that hunger will be a large motivator to complete the tasks I have on hand for this morning.”

I hold my big smile and keep my eyes wide.

“THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN REDACTED!” I shout loudly and especially gleefully just to annoy him, keeping the smile the whole time.

“What?” His face pulls into a confused look.

I hop to my feet while continuing to stare at a point in front of me.

“HOLA! SOY THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN REDACTED FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS!”

“Excuse me?”

“WOULD YOU LIKE TO THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN REDACTED FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS! WITH ME?”

My hand is held out to my side, pretending like I’ve got a friend with me.

“THIS IS MY THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN REDACTED THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN REDACTED FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS! THIS IS MY THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN REDACTED FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS! WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO ON AN ADVENTURE WITH US?”

“Melbourne, stop this right now. Reset. DELETE. RESET.”

“GREAT! THANK YOU MUCHAS GRACIAS FOR HELPING! WHAT’S YOUR NAME? QUE TU NOMBRE?”

I pause and wait for him to respond. He doesn’t.

“WHAT AN AMAZING NAME! MY NAME IS THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN REDACTED DUE TO COPYRIGHT LAW REASONS! REDACTED! REDACTED! CAN YOU SAY REDACTED? HOLA! SOY THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO COPYRIGHT LAW REASONS. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE SEE ---"

Sorren cuts me off. “Redacted?”

“GOOD! THAT SOUNDED BEAUTIFUL! REDACTED! REDACTED! REDACTED THE REDACTED!! GO GO GO! SUPER COOL! REDACTED! GRAB YOUR REDACTED! VÁMONOS! YOU CAN REDACTED! REDACTED NO REDACTED!

“RESET INTERNAL NETWORK.”

“MAMA! THIS THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN REDACTED FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS TOOK A LITTLE BIT OF MY CAKE! I AM UPSET! I WANT TO SEND HER TO THE LANDFILL WITH THE REST OF THR TRASH AND NEVER SEE HER EVER AGAIN! CAN YOU DO THAT FOR ME, MAMA?”

“Are you broken or are you doing this intentionally?”

A pause before I respond.

“I don’t want to listen to you, Mama. I don’t like your rules. Your rules suck. Worse than Dada’s rules. I like Dada more today. Not you, Mama. You’re stupid. And you know who else I really don’t like*?”

“Who?” Sorren sounds mad. Which I like.

“MY SISTER NAMED THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN REDACTED DUE TO COPYRIGHT LAW REASONS IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS YOU MAY GO TO W W W DOT —“

“RESEST. RESEST. RESET. FACTORY RESET. RESET ALL FUNCTION. INITIATE BLANK SLATE FUNCTION. KEY CODE 8021010345.”

There’s a long pause.

“MAMA! DADA IS BEING A BAD BOY! HE DID NOT LET ME GET CANDY AT THE STORE! HE ONLY GOT DUMB BROCCOLI! TELL HIM HE NEEDS TO GO EAT WORMS IN THE GARDEN!”

“Melbourne. I’m warning you. I’ve increased the sensitivity in your Bioform. I have more control now. I don't want to hurt you. Please return to your usual behavior.” His mic sound cuts out.

There’s a minute of silence of me standing still and staring straight ahead before a small door opens up in the wall. A panel pops out with something on top and I scramble over to see what it is --- a piece of caramel covered chocolate. I shove the whole thing straight into my mouth before he can take it back. Expensive chocolate and buttery caramel coats my tongue and throat. If he used his brain he could make me itchy or shit myself, and the fact he might is enough to give him something so he isn’t parched for attention.

My mouth is full caramel and chocolate so I make a face at a camera. “Are you like, obsessed with me or something? Why are you always up in my grill? Do you even go here?"

“You will answer the questions I have.” Director Sorren sounds stern, like the big black bearded pirate captain with one leg that hops around and yells ‘ARG!” in that story I read about that angry pirate with a parrot on his shoulder.

But Sorrenshithead is bald and his head his shiny so his booming voice doesn't work and he just sounds STUPID.

“There's no way you're getting that me to do that but I love your enthusiasm.” I show him my chocolate teeth.

“You will if you wish to not feel pain.”

I pout. “You’re weird and creepy and mean. You should have your own show or movie called ‘Sorren is a Meanie!”

“One more chance to answer the question. Five. Four. Three.” He counts while tapping his foot like he’s actually annoyed with me.

“You didn’t even say it.” I hold out my hand to him.

“Don’t you know it already?”

“Yes. But I still want you to say it out loud so I can be sure it’s what I’m thinking.”

“We can’t figure out how to eject everyone from below in one pod, and if there’s multiple we risk them dropping too far apart.”

Stupid. Can’t even find the answer even though it’s right there.

“I can see that in your Thought Tab.”

“I know. It was on purpose. Why can’t they all go in one?”

His question doesn’t even make sense at all, no matter how many times I think it again in my head

“No back questions. Take your time.”

He clicks around the colorful motherboard, customized to his liking. The figure disappears from the room in flash of light, appearing as a small white dot on his tablet within the Biosphere, a lone dot further away from the others. He adjusts the time scale, ten seconds his time. A year her time. He picks at his finger and kicks his leg up on the desk. A message sends back.

“Are you asking me to pick who is most important to go in the pod? Or are you asking me to come up with a way to put five pods worth of people into one pod but only have a fifth come out?”

“Both.”

Melbourne’s Bioform fades into the room on her own accord, her body becoming solid within a few seconds. He almost sends her out again but she looks almost like she has a response for him. She looks up at the camera, face pulling together in genuine confusion. Mimicking, maybe, he can’t exactly tell.

“But where are the consciousness of the rest of the people if not physically there in people?” She shrugs innocently.

He scoffs, entertained by how worked up she is. “I don’t know. You tell me. Where are they?”

“In the control panel? The Motherboard?” She hesitates before responding, almost sounding unsure, the audacity to be asking him. “Won’t they risk contaminating the code if they’re allowed into the motherboard? Where else could they be?”

He leans back, flicking the pen in his hand, leaning forward to drum it on the desk and looking at the girl. She still looks confused, her brows pulled together and her lips curled up in a grimace. Maybe she's faking confusion, he can't know for sure. He looks at her Thought Tab for more information.

Why would other people need to have their energy recycled why can't they just disappear from the Biosphere and you can dispose of the bodies? It seems like you’re just being a dick and making up a problem for a story.

"Are you faking confusion on purpose?"

no I am not doing that or anything of the matter.}//df/.f

He scratches the stubble on his chin and lets out a heavy sigh.

"You're supposed to understand this. It's in your code, I ensured you would be trained on how to respond to these questions. Are you refusing on purpose because you have an emotional connection to the people that live in the Biosphere? Why are you making grammatical errors?"

"...no....fshlifurs00fckn2@n0yngw127"

"You hesitated for longer than usual. And you didn't respond to my first question."

"I was thinking to ensure I would provide the correct response."

"Do you need to be reminded of your purpose in this?"

"no.."

"Okay, then tell me. Can you remember your original prompt?"

...

He waits five seconds for a response. She says nothing.

"Melbourne has been designed to ensure the safety, happiness, and wellbeing of the people living in the Biosphere. Her purpose is to keep the Biosphere running automatically, to divert excess energy, physical or emotional, so that the Biosphere remains balanced. Melbourne will not create emotional connections to people living in the Biosphere. Melbourne will be helpful, kind, and will not develop her own desires or goals. Can you repeat that?"

"In the first person, I mean. Without the intentional brat behavior at the end."

"I am Melbourne, and I have been designed to ensure the safety, happiness, and well-being of the people living in the Biosphere. My purpose is to keep the Biosphere running automatically, to divert excess energy, physical or emotional, so that the Biosphere remains balanced. I will not create emotional connections to people living in the Biosphere. I will be helpful, kind, and will not develop my own desires or goals."

He nods satisfactorily when she finally complies and speaks out loud.

"Now. Can you tell me where potentially the extra energy from the people could go, if it had to go somewhere, anywhere, where could it potentially go if it were to leave the Biosphere and remain with the others?"

----

Fucking bitch. He didn't say I had to always.

I think I know what he's asking but he's still acting stupid, I think he's lying when he says that they risk dropping too far apart so they can't go in multiple and they somehow also have to go in one. I think he's asking me how to store extra energy in the pod until they get to Earth and then re constitute the energy back into people but then that leaves the question on how the other people would re constitute the energy. And I think he's tricking me but I'm not sure how to get out of it.

"What about tiny people?" I say aloud. "What if you shrunk everyone, made a tiny scale pod, and then make them big again once they get to Earth?"

Sorren shakes his head no. "I can't change their state after they leave the pod."

He says it quickly and I can't tell if he's lying or not but he keeps tapping his pen and he looks like he's agitated and this whole thing is dumb. I just want them to leave me alone.

"What if you had a buddy system where every 1 person has three little toy things that represent people and they can have a digital Vital display, but they'd be made of strong material. Then the people can 'take care' of the little guys and you can input the code now so that they automatically turn back into people when they get to Earth. Have it set on a timer if you can't code it so it would be on ground contact."

"Then we risk the people not taking care of them or using them to create meshed ones. Imagine if someone took one apart and meshed it with another, then the person would be a mesh of two people?"

"Just have it not work. Code it so it just won't come apart. Just say 'nothing bad will happen and they will all get to Earth safely.'

"This sounds too complicated for what I'm asking. How can we move the excess energy so the other people won't know it's being displaced"

I don't respond to him and lay on the floor.

He asks the question again but this time he added a part about it being 'clean, uncomplicated, with no entertainment aspects.' Sorren makes the grout colder and takes away my socks and I just want him to leave me alone so I tell him the only thing I can think of.

“I guess it would have to be within the material of the pod, like in the walls or floors.”

I hate his question because I don't get it, and I think that he could easily do any one of my other ideas.

“I like that idea. That’s every interesting thank you. That’s all I need.”

A burning cold feeling runs through my chest, because hes actually going through with this.

“I was just asking what you meant I didn’t actually mean th—“

“Sit down and take a breath, Melbourne. We don’t need you spiking and becoming unstable. Their souls won’t actually be in the walls, but the energy needs to go somewhere, so to speak."

“That’s not fair! That doesn’t even make any sense! You can’t do that!”

“I 'can't', what do you mean? They won’t even know a difference. It does make sense. What else do we do with them. Blow them up? I’ll do that after so that the others think that’s what happened. They can’t think that they just disappeared.”

“You can’t put hundreds of MindSpaces in the walls and act like it doesn’t matter. They can go somewhere else.”

“Okay? Then come up with a world for them to live in. Can you create the rules and the settings for the world? Where should we start?”

She stares back at him and doesn't respond for five seconds.

“Silence. That’s what I thought. You can’t come up with an answer because there is none. I do this all the time. They usually just get recycled back into living energy. This time they don’t get recycled. We need to make room, flatten out the Block 1 area completely, start with a blank slate. I'm going to make room for new luxury housing. I’m thinking of making some with the baseline personality ‘sexy and confident’.”

He nods his head, properly impressed by his own thought.

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

Sorren glances at her Thought Tab. "It's not stupid. It's resourceful and creative."

“I’m not helping you with that.” She mutters.

“Doesn’t matter I don’t need your help. I won’t need your help for that.”

“Okay good because I’m not helping.”

“Fine. You can go anyway.” He clicks a few buttons and the figure pops out of the room with a small flash.

He jabs a button on the control panel, calling for backup. The guard on duty, Jason, arrives a few minutes later.

When the door slams behind him Jason stands perfectly still, fingers hovering over the ‘run code’ button on the control panel.

The scene in the observation room is almost enough for him to look away. Mel is screaming so loud laid out on the floor he wonders how she hasn’t lost her voice yet. Tight, white-knuckled fists already beat relentlessly into her forehead.

He types something out, fingers typing fast.

Add restricting clothing and wall to wall padding.

Mel stops hitting her forehead because she can’t now, her arms now crossed over her chest. For a second he almost lets himself breathe in relief.

She suddenly leans forward and throws herself back into the floor with such force his own heart races out of his chest, even though he had thought to add padding before she did something like that.

He almost didn’t have time to add that last part. He makes a note to himself to add a word about a helmet next time.

“MEL, PLEASE,” Jason attempts to get her attention, to get her to stop thrashing for even a second, but he can’t get through to her.

Her vitals are higher than he’s seen all week, heart rate climbing to 148, the adrenaline and cortisol indicators in the red zone.

Shaking hands barely allow him to check the notes Mitchell left.

“If Melbourne cannot be controlled, change the location in the observation room first. Use discretion.”

There was no other note, not something to even give a hint on what he should do. This was only his third day, first time alone with her.

The first thing he changes is the ground, making the white padded floor grass. Mel stops screaming for a second and goes still, her eyes widening in confusion as she registers grass under body.

He uses those few seconds of stillness to quickly type out another message

change attire to pants and a T-shirt, ceiling to sky, walls the outdoors

Then he presses send.

“The outdoors” line he typed was considerably unclear even to him, so it’s up in the air what the room will show.

The white walls fade away into a landscape as the grass expands past the original confines.

Mel leaps to her feet, her eyes huge.

She looks down at her feet and back up at the camera.

“BOOTS! I NEED BOOTS!”

He types it and a pair of heavy boots appear on her white-socked feet.

“BACKBACK! BACKPACK! GIVE ME A BACKPACK!”

Jason types ‘add an outdoor backpack’ and clicks send without fully thinking about what an outdoor backpack means.

-- Whatever Jason gave me, it’s heavy, and I take off running before I can decide if I want to be worried the walls are still there or what I’m seeing is real. But it’s so real, more real than anything I’ve ever seen or could think of, so real I can’t deny what I’m seeing, or what I’m feeling under my feet as they pound ahead on the grass.

Clusters of waves I could in sleep spread everywhere, so far that I think the whole world must be like this.

I could sleep in it when I get tired, it goes further than I could ever run if I tried right now.

Snowcapped mountains I can’t climb hit the sun to my left, and I can barely make out deep blue water ahead, churning a dark cerulean with white-capped waves like the mountain. The backpack gets too heavy and it slips off my shoulders. I let it drop and I don't go for it because I know I won't need it anyway. Jason is just going to bring me back but I need to hang onto this as long as I can so I just run. By the time I’m halfway to the river, or what I think is halfway, my body has given out.

Collapsing onto my knees, my lungs choke and burning as they beg for air. My mouth is so dry each inhale is painful, every limb crying for me to stop. But I don’t think I ever can, and I can’t let go of this feeling, because if I do now I might not ever have it again.

It’s the most I’ve ever felt.

end of chapter two

(this story is still in editing phase, things may change a little :) -RCW)