Ty, a shift manager with an alcoholic wife, creates a female replicant in a dystopia veering toward full mechanization. For Ty, the surreal drudgery of working in a retail environment is interrupted when robotic interfaces are installed at his job...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A black car sat in Ty's driveway.
The Prominent Agents didn't have the decency to park on the side of the road. Ty had to park on the side of the road of his own home. Paranoia mixed with elation mixed with nostalgia and complemented by anger. The car was a small issue, but with Jenn's disappearance, his job, and Sam's disappearance, it was one more thing piled on top of a large list.
Walking past the black car, he couldn't stop himself from kicking it. The kick was harder than he'd meant, and it dented the side door. Ty winced at the damage done, but after a second look, he was glad for it.
The first thing he heard in the house was Helia's quiet babbling. Damon had her on his lap, flashcards spread out before them on the kitchen table.
Damon met Ty's eyes, and Ty saw his little brother was trying (but not succeeding in) to cover up the terror he felt.
Ty glanced around the empty living room, and mostly empty kitchen.
"Where are they?"
He didn't need to elaborate on the context of "they".
Damon shook his head. "Vamanos. Y no vuelvas nunca." Let's go, and not come back.
Damon might as well have spoken Dutch for all the sense he made.
"What? Where the hell are they, Damon?"
Again, his brother shook his head. From his demeanor, Ty could tell Damon wasn't going to help Ty find the Agents. Though, his eyes gave him away when they flickered towards the hallway bedroom.
"They're in your room."
It wasn't a question. Ty said the words aloud more to confirm their validity. When Damon's terror shifted to panic, he knew he was on the right track. Helia sensed her uncle's discomfort, and she began to whimper in his arms.
"Come here, baby." Ty plucked his daughter from Damon's lap.
Her cries subsided, but didn't let up completely. She nuzzled her small face in Ty's shoulder. He smoothed the shirt on her back.
"Let's go to Uncle Damon's room."
"No!" Damon rushed to block Ty's path. "We can leave, right now. Don't go in there, please."
The level of desperation Damon exuded should have worried Ty, but worry wasn't in his nature. It was curiosity which prevailed in him, always, and it was curiosity which allowed him to override his sense of what was right at present.
A nag of sanity pressed him to ask, "Why? What's in that room?"
Damon swallowed a ball of spit before answering. "Something you don't need to see." He tilted his head toward Helia. "Something she doesn't need to see."
More abstract answers. If Damon had only been specific, Ty might have chosen differently.
With his free hand, he shoved his brother aside. He had to see what was in the room, even if he would regret it more than printing his double.
