Though the cucumber turned to mash several chews ago, Emi continues chewing her food, too horrified at not being able to swallow to notice the pain in her leg has gone; too focused on the question of what is wrong to question how Queen Bee’s magic touch is blocking pain receptors in her brain without her consent.
Emi jumps when the shorter of the two amphibious humanoids from the water speaks, “I’m Aku.” He gestures up to his counterpart, water dripping from the bowl-shaped crown of his head with the movement, “This hunk of metal is Taga.”
Emi looks up—just barely—at them from her seat in the sand. She pauses her chewing to allow a look of concern to twist across her face.
Aku points an accusing green finger at her, “You too good to talk with your mouth full?” He does his best to impersonate the way he thinks royalty might sound: “Grow up a right proper lady or somethin’?”
Taga pulls Aku’s hand down, “Leave her alone, she must still be relearning how to eat food.”
“She’s been chewing forever.”
Taga lets his eyes scan up and down her seated body. “She’s also Assassin Class, so be careful…your highness.”
Aku chuckles, appreciating the ironic jest. “Ah, she’s a chameleon then….but what makes her think we’re the type who have manners.” What started out as low rumbles now erupts into full-blown laughter.
Taga catches his friends tongue…literally. “One of us, does have manners.”
“Le’ guh,” Aku demands when pulling away doesn’t successfully release him from the chokehold his friend has on his tongue.
Emi gags.
[WARNING: BLOCKAGE DETECTED]
Command: Swallow.
[UNABLE TO PROCESS COMMAND]
[WARNING: BLOCKAGE DETECTED]
Command: Swallow!
[UNABLE TO PROCESS COMMAND]
[WARNING: BLOCKAGE DETECTED]
Why can’t it process?
“Redundancy detected.”
[WARNING: BLOCKAGE DETECTED]
Clear blockage.
[CLEARING BLOCKAGE]
Queen Bee allows Emi to feel the pain in her neck, thereby reminding her of the fractured hyoid bone she was notified of only moments ago, when a rush of wind rides up her windpipe, pushing the cucumber lodged at the back of her throat straight out of her mouth and through the air where it just misses hitting Aku in the face.
“Watch it!” Aku moves out from behind Taga, who he just got done pulling in front of himself to be used as a shield.
Emi’s hands reach her neck.
“Fun Fact: Grabbing for a broken bone is a natural trauma response. Though it cannot block the pain, it is successful at reducing it by giving a false sense of control, thereby reducing the feelings of chaos.”
What was fun about that?
Taga laughs, sliding the cucumber Emi returned to him down his cheek and into his own mouth.
Emi gags again. That was disgusting.
“Don’t be rude, that was the only fuel we’re likely to get for a while. Didn’t your father teach you to be grateful?”
Grateful? They’re planning to sell me.
“Current balance: -￥100,917,836…consider it a kindness.”
That was a ￥10 cucumber? She points a finger at Taga. Tell him I want my money back.
Aku laughing behind him, Taga turns his own finger on himself. “What are you pointing at me for? I stopped my friend from pointing.”
“Do you see any speakers around?”
Emi looks around, knowing she will find none, but intent on making it clear she doesn’t trust a word the voice in her head speaks.
Queen Bee is hesitant to add, “But they do know sign language, remember?”
Yeah, but I don’t.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“I do. If you let me, I can use your arms to communicate with them.”
Wait, are you telling me you can take control of my arms?
Queen Bee stays silent, taking a while to process a response that is least likely to cause a rebellion. “Only if you grant me access to those systems.”
Emi curls her arms across herself as if that will protect her from what is already inside her. What other systems do you have access to!?
“None…until you grant me access.”
No chance. It’s bad enough to be stuck with you in my mind. She begins slamming her hand against her head as if that might shake Bee lose.
“What is she doing?” Taga asks out the side of his mouth so only Aku can hear, his green tinged synthetic skin peeling back at his abdomen to allow him to remove the spare cucumber he keeps stored there.
Aku steps beside him, content he is safe from flying foods for the time being. “Looks like she is trying to give herself a traumatic brain injury—must have a BCI in there.”
“Scanning.” Taga steps closer, his way of zooming in on an x-ray, whistling in disbelief, “It’s a T100.”
“Very funny.”
“I’m not joking.”
“Then you’re mistaken, there’s no such thing—the highest possible model is a T50.” But Aku’s actions tell a story different than his words; he believes his friend can’t make mistakes. He steps forward as he continues to rub his hands, not realizing he is also now licking the thin skin where his lips would be if he had them. “Hey, girl…you are a girl, yes?”
She doesn’t hear them; she’s too busy being deafened by the sound of her open palm slamming against her shaved scalp like she’s desperate to knock water from her ear that has been living there for far too long. Somewhere nearby, a metal snake is watching from its hole, mumbling something about, “Kamra,” appreciating what it deems to be just punishment.
“The girl’s name is Emi,” Taga informs his rude friend.
“Hey, Emi, we can help you. We can quiet the voices in your head.”
Emi stops smacking her palm against her temple, leaving her ears ringing. Still in her seated position, she spins in the sand like a poorly spun top, her hands catching her from falling as she turns to match them eye-for-eye.
“Don’t trust them,” Queen Bee advises without emotion after analysis of their facial expressions.
Emi ignores her, nods as if bowing and granting them permission to continue their pitch.
Aku rubs his hands together like he’s trying to start a fire, which sends the water pooled atop his head splashing into Emi’s face. “Sorry, that never happens, I swear.” His excitement increases the speed of his speech to unintelligible levels: “Ifyoujustfollowuswehaveaplacebelowthe…”
Taga places a hand on his shoulder, reminding him to slow down as if this does in fact happen all the time.
Emi holds up her hands in a shrug, her sign she didn’t understand. They’re actually kind of cute.
“Fine, if you want their help instead of mine, have at it, princess.”
Her raised hands drop to her broken shinbones the moment Queen Bee releases the pain receptors she has been taking the liberty of blocking on behalf of her hostess. Emi writhes in the sand, looking as far below royalty as a person can.
Queen Bee mocks her by turning the filter that adds concern to her voice to one hundred. “On a scale of 1-10, how bad is your pain?”
The pain is too much…which is to say, Emi just passed out on the beach…again.
Aku freezes, then stutters, “I…I saw her nod…Didn’t you see her nod?”
“Uh…I think she just passed out,” Taga stammers back.
“Nonsense, she nodded then shut herself off.” Aku moves above her, taking her by the armpits and standing on just his legs—making himself less than a centimeter taller—for the first time since coming ashore. “Well, don’t just squat there, help me drag her.”
Taga moves to where her pant legs are dragging in the sand and lifts them. The lack of weight surprises him. He stands back up, rushing now that all the water has spilled from the top of his head. He compensates for the missing leg by grabbing for the limp one with both hands—even so, he struggles to hold on, the thing moving like it’s liquid because of it having lost all structural integrity.
As they reach the water, the pant leg that drags on the ground is no filthier than the rest of her. A large wave gives them all a bath. Queen Bee let’s Emi sleep through it, seizing the opportunity to assert control without interference. From where it floats seemingly lifeless at the surface of the water, she moves her middle finger in a come here motion.
Futakuchi-onna does as commanded, keeping its mouth closed until it has slithered into the water as if it fully understands the plan.
A few seconds later, Emi is shocked awake for the second time since winning her freedom from the slaughterhouse.
[POWER SURGE DETECTED]
“Power Level: 98%. Go!”
The girl panics—which is a normal response for anyone who awakens underwater. Her arms flail, eyes bulge, and heart sounds like it’s jumping rope in an echo chamber. Queen Bee locks herself in Emi’s head once again, Emi left unaware Bee even left her room at all. “Swim. They’ll be awake soon.”
Emi sinks in the water, her arms looking like they are trying to cling to a ladder that isn’t there; this is her first time swimming without working legs after all…not to mention her first time discovering just how much less buoyant nonhuman parts tend to be.
[WARNING: WATER BREACH DETECTED]
“EMI, SWIM!”
What do you think I’m trying to do? Emi looks around for something to grab onto. She finds Taga’s rebooting head, grabbing it in her open palm and pulling hard. She launches a solid meter off the ocean floor, just to immediately bounce back down on it.
Taga’s eyes snap on. He holds out his cucumber, frowning when he finds all color has been burnt from its now crumbling form. He turns on Emi, moving easily…as if he is right at home in the water.
“Give me control, Emi…now.”
No chance.
Queen Bee attempts to retake control, but with Emi awake, doing so proves to be much more difficult. “Please!”
[WARNING: PRESSURE SURGE]
Queen Bee curses herself as Taga takes Emi in his arms and swims away from the light. As Emi begins to fade, Queen Bee tries to comfort her. “Good news is you got your first performance review from a viewer; it was actually better than I’d have given you: ‘4.5 Stars—Brutal, grim, compelling’.”
What was her name?
“Appears to have been a Mister, actually.”
Emi repeats the phrase like it’s the only concrete thing she has left to hold onto: Butal, grim, compelling. Brutal…grim…compelling.
Knowing Emi can no longer hear her, Bee doesn’t bother explaining she has also lost a follower because of her inability to perform—followers who find you sitting on a beach strangling yourself aren’t usually the kind of people who stick around for long…mental health troubles make people uncomfortable.
[HEALTH ALERT: BAROTRAUMA DETECTED. HEALTH STATUS: 2%]
Bee curses herself: “Fucking dumb…never should have given up control. Command: Engage hibernation mode.”
[HYBERNATION MODE ENGAGED. FULL SHUTDOWN IN 5…4…3…2…]
Queen Bee uses the final breath in Emi’s body to let out an annoyed—and obnoxiously long— sigh.
Not far behind, Futakuchi-onna follows the trail left by the air bubbles rising in the water, doing it’s very best to ignore the long strands of seaweed waving up from the ocean floor.
Should Emi allow Queen Bee to take over her body to escape?
