A brown box on a bed

“You’re an idiot.” Miguel said.

Susan didn’t respond. She just kept staring into her steaming cup of hot chocolate. These days, this was a luxury item of the highest order. She did not know how Miguel got his hands on some, and she didn’t want her irritation to make her sound ungrateful. Instead, she took a slow sip and savored the exquisite taste.

Once Miguel saw he would not get a response, he got up and started pacing again. “Lucy was my friend too. I want nothing more than to have her back, but what you want to do is madness.”

He was right on all counts, especially about her being mad. They say if you question your insanity that it’s a good sign you're still sane. She didn’t question it, not one bit. She had just watched her team, her friends in this hell, get eradicated by a monster wearing the face of the woman she loved.

Or used to love. Susan was no longer sure what Lucy was anymore. Lucy had rescued her and many others from those alien bastards, the Crishat. They had taken over the world intending to eat humanity. That’s right, all those years wondering if there was life out there, and we discovered that not only was there life out there, that life really really liked us…….with tabasco sauce.

“Are you even listening to me, Susan?” she heard Miguel ask loudly.

She winced, caught. “No.” she replied, taking another sip of that lovely hot chocolate.

He plopped down in his chair with a sigh. “you’re made of bitch, you know that?”

“I should after listening to you say it five hundred times.” She replied, this had become a common exchange for them.

“Yeah, and you didn’t listen to that EITHER” Miguel wrapped up with some choice spanish curses she pretended not to understand.

Susan smiled despite her mood “True, but you still love me.”

“Ha! I love pain, you mean, which you give me, in my ass!” he complained. Susan smiled again. He was trying to prod her to life, and she was grateful he cared enough to try.

“Lucy saved my life, Miguel. My life and a lot of others. And what was her reward? Being left behind so the Shats could turn her into a monster!” Susan realized she was almost shouting at the end and had to struggle to regain control of herself. She needed little prodding, after all.

Miguel ran his fingers through his black hair and started scratching the back of his head, an irritating habit that meant he was choosing his words. “You can’t blame yourself, Susan. A fireball swallowed her, there was no reason to even hope she survived. I’m sorry to say it, but I was there. I saw what you saw. She was done for.”

“Dammit Miguel! I know you were there! We should have known they’d have better medical technology than us! We should have known they’d use it! I should’ve gone back!”

“No!” Miguel leaned forward, no longer scratching his head. “You should not have gone back! Even if we knew they could save her, why would they go to the bother? Why would we even think it was a possibility?”

“We can find out when I rescue her!” she exclaimed, slamming her hand on the table. The cup with the hot chocolate shook, and the remaining brown liquid almost spilled over. The thought of losing her treat because of her own recklessness reigned her emotions in. She sighed, “Sorry”

Miguel looked at her for a moment, then finally said, “The Council has refused. They want to enact a plan to capture her, and study what the aliens have done to her.”

“The Council be damned,” Susan growled. “They want to take her apart like the Shats did. Lucy is still in there, Miguel! When she caught us in the barn, she was going to kill me! I know it! But as soon as she saw our locket,” I paused as my hand instinctively touched that heart-shaped locket under my shirt, “as soon as she saw it, something happened. She lost control and ran! She remembered! She’s still in there! Why else would I have found the shats taking her again?”

“And we’re back to you’re an idiot.” Miguel grumbled.

“Yeah, I can’t argue that one.” When Susan gave chase, she didn’t expect to catch Lucy. Lucy was so damned fast after whatever they did to her. The party girl turned warrior was shocked to find Lucy unconscious, and being loaded onto a hovercraft by a Crishat. Even worse, there was a human working with them!

“Here’s the real question, why did they leave you?” Miguel wondered. He was hoping she would make herself see reason, but deep down he knew it was a futile attempt.

Susan ducked her head, attempting to cover it by picking up the cup and sipping the hot chocolate. It was getting cold; she finished it.

She closed her eyes and enjoyed the last of the delicious hot chocolate, then opened them and said, “I don’t have an answer for that, yet.” but she was worried. Her body still ached from whatever they hit her with, she had been shocked to wake up back at their base. Not with the aliens. She should have been taken with them.

“So, you see why you can’t go running half-cocked after her, right?” Miguel asked.

“Yes, but I’m doing it anyway.”

“Gah! You’re stubborn. That means WE’RE doing it anyway. I said she’s my friend, and I hope I don’t have to remind you that you’re my friend too.”

Reaching out, she took Miguel’s hand in hers and squeezed it. “You don’t have to remind me.” and managed a smile for him.

Susan ducked behind a car on the dark street as a hovercraft drifted by about a quarter mile away. The chances of the hovercraft seeing her were slim, but it was always the slim chance that walks up and gives you a fat lip. Even so, once the hovercraft passed, she stood up and continued down the street calmly. Patrols were few with most of the population gone.

It wasn’t long before Lucy’s house came into view. Like the rest of the houses on the street, it was dark and empty. The house wasn’t always empty, though. Ever since Susan joined the war against the Crishat Imperium, she made a point of staying here occasionally. She knew full well why she did it. Susan could not let Lucy go. She still wasn’t, especially now that she knew her oldest and closest was still alive.

“I won’t abandon you again, Lucy. I swear it.” Talking to yourself was another bad sign, but somehow it felt like the sanest thing she’d done in days.

The front door was hanging open slightly. As usual, she opened the door a little more, stepped through, then pulled it back to where it was. Slowly, she turned around, even though it was dark, she knew this house like the back of her hand, and she could see everything through the lens of her memories.

There were a lot of wonderful memories here. She walked through each room, letting memories of laughter with Lucy and her family, or other friends, fill her mind. This was a slightly less melancholy stroll down memory lane now that she knew Lucy lived. Somehow, the memories filled her with inspiration. She would find a way! Lucy wasn’t responsible for what happened to her, or what she had done after the Shats changed her. She deserved a chance at justice, no, to hell with that, she deserved a chance for revenge. They both did.

Up the stairs she went to the narrow hallway lined with bedroom doors. She wasn’t interested in Lucy’s parent’s or sister’s rooms. Sadly, there was every chance they were gone forever. The stairs came up to one end of the hall, right where Lucy’s room

Stepping to the doorframe, she looked through. There, on the bed, was a box wrapped in brown paper. The mysterious package reminded her of a shoebox, like you would find in a retail outlet.

“That’s for you.” Came a voice from the other end of the hall.

Immediately Susan drew her gun and whirled in the voice's direction. A woman was standing there, arms raised to show she had no weapons.

“Forgive me, I didn’t mean to startle you,” the woman said. Susan couldn’t make out her features in the dark hallway. “I’ve been waiting for you. Please, step in so we can talk. I mean you no harm, I promise.” She gestured towards Lucy’s room.

Not taking her eyes or her gun off of the woman, Susan backed into the room. The woman followed her. Susan’s eyes widened in recognition as the woman stepped into the streetlight shining through the window. It was the woman who had been with Lucy and the Shats!

“Who are you?” Susan demanded.

“Well, I wouldn’t say I was a friend, let’s say my interests align with yours, and I can help you.”

“Explain.” Susan demanded, raising the gun for emphasis.

The woman smiled, apparently at ease. She wore a professional outfit, like she had come from a day at the office. She gestured at the brown box “Your friend has been programmed. You could call it brainwashed if you like, and what’s inside this box might give you the means of breaking that programming.”

Susan looked at the box, questions swirling through her mind. “How do you know she’s been programmed?”

“Because I’m the one who programmed her.” the woman replied calmly. She didn’t flinch as Susan stuck the gun against her head.

“You did this? You’re working with THEM? Why? WHY?”

“There is no time. If they discover I am missing, it could go badly for both of us. Lucy is the first, the prototype. If we cause the experiment to fail, we might put a stop to it completely!”

It was Susan’s turn to shake her head. “Experiment? Wait, wait. How do you even know me?”

The woman pursed her lips, then raised her hand up and moved the gun aside. Susan let her arm fall to her side. “I’ve seen most of Lucy’s memories as I…..manipulated her mind. I saw your face, a lot. You’re the most important person in her mind. The programming fools her into thinking the Crishat are Gods, and for the programming to become permanent, she must destroy that which she loves as a sacrifice to them.”

“Good God! That’s, I don’t even have a word for it.” Susan said, hand pressed on her suddenly queasy stomach.

The woman took Susan by the shoulder, her firm grip bordering on painful. “They’ve eaten most of the main course, Lucy, and those who come after are meant to clear the crumbs off of the plate! They have to be stopped!”

A red light flashed on her wrist, drawing their eyes to it. The strange woman stepped back. “Time’s up, I have to go. What you need is in that box if you choose to take it. Either way, if you haven’t figured it out yet, the Crishat have a good idea of your whereabouts. That’s how I knew you’d be here again at some point.”

“Wait!” Susan called to the retreating figure. Before she could stop herself, she asked, “why is this happening?”

The woman stopped but didn’t look back. “I think we pissed someone off up there.”

Susan blinked at the empty doorway. She shouldn’t stay any longer, either. Picking up the box, she patted it twice and said, “alright box, let’s go.”