Lair by Carl Stubblefield (recommended reading TXT) 📕

ever your fault. Lay it on thick, I can take it. It’s all my fault. Everybody’s out to get you, even your father.” Tempest said in a sardonic sing-song that made Gus’ blood boil. He could never argue with his father. He had a talent for twisting words and Gus never knew how to respond. Well, maybe a couple days later as he stewed on it, he would think of the perfect comeback that he would never get to use.

Gus looked down at his feet and mumbled, “Just forget it.” And Gus did just that. That is, he let the opportunity pass and crammed the emotions into the pressure-cooker that was his heart. He knew it wasn’t healthy, or mature, but who could he really talk to about it? He had to admit that he didn’t have any close friends. The fact that his father was partly correct in his assessment of Gus made him even more frustrated and angry. He was trying something new to try to change things. To feel like he mattered for once.

Gus went to his room and started up a video game. It was one of the few things that allowed him to detach and feel just a little control of his world. He could let go and be the hero. Making a difference for some virtual people in trouble. It was dumb, but it worked. He always felt better. Plus, he had met some guys online who were into all the same things he was.

He didn’t have to try to be someone else, they were legitimately into sci-fi and fantasy. They got all his jokes and pop culture references. When they did a raid together, or some other co-op game, he felt a sense of brotherhood that he never felt in his own family. It was nice to just be accepted. He knew he probably wouldn’t ever meet them in real life, but he often imagined hanging out with them as friends. Life would be better, that was for sure.

###!###

Things were different now, Gus thought. And he did meet those guys. He felt a pang of homesickness thinking about them. He hoped they were doing ok, wherever they were. He would do anything for them. If he ever got off this island, he would reconnect with them as soon as he could.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I Keep on Rising Up

45 years ago…

The tech stepped away and Methiochos pried the two bulky doors apart. The room inside was totally dark. Reaching inside, he turned on the room’s illumination and was startled at the disarray that assaulted his eyes. The room was in shambles, which was more shocking having seen it before in its pristine condition. Dara, who had no doubt seen disharmony and chaos in many of the minds she had to deal with using her power, chose to keep her own life rigidly structured and orderly.

Everything had a place, a label, and a specific use. It was impressive to behold. The room before Methiochos was anything but orderly. Drawers had been unceremoniously dumped of their contents. The bed upended and the frame bent. The mattress filling torn and pulled out through the underside of the frame. The glass portholes were cracked and damaged; the existing light was muted by debris blocking many of the lamps and wall sconces.

Methiochos’ eyes stopped on the air duct in the far corner. Claw marks scored the edges, but what alarmed him, even more, was that the pattern of the damage indicated something trying to get into the air ducts, not something trying to come out into Dara’s chambers. Whatever had been in here was now free, and it had taken her along with it. The display from earlier haunted him. ‘No personnel found…’ He doubted that Dara was even alive. Methiochos balled his fists and got on the comms to give some orders.

###!###

Day 7 10:44 AM

7:01:52 remaining

A new tinkling tone surprised Gus, and he checked his display to investigate. The cafeteria had been open less than an hour and already had prepared something to eat. Letting the display guide him, Gus found the mess hall. The room was immense, with long tables arranged in orderly rows, with smaller circular and rectangular two-tops around the periphery. A drink dispensary looked like it had recently been cleaned and activated. One side of the unit dispensed hot drinks and the other, larger one had a variety of cold ones. The labels for the drinks looked vintage but he recognized most of the sodas he could try. There was an obvious bias for Mountain Dew, and Gus smiled, seeing that at least one corner of the universe was as it should be.

He saw some bots working in the kitchen through a rectangular window, where food orders were passed from the kitchen to the serving staff. As he approached, a robot that resembled a large exclamation point, with a trapezoidal body, wide at the top and tapering down to a single fat wheel, must have sensed his presence. It made its way to the window and waited. A large bowl was delivered to the window and the serving bot unfolded thin telescoping arms from its sides and grabbed it.

Delivering the bowl to the table next to where Gus was standing, the server-bot opened a receptacle on its chest and removed some utensils and placed them on the table. It then sped away toward the kitchen, disappearing behind two swinging double doors.

Gus sat and surveyed his meal. It was a fruit salad made of multiple fruits that Gus had no idea were even available at the manor. There were fresh blueberries in it too, so there must be other areas where food had been growing that Gus didn’t know about.

The taste was phenomenal. He soon finished and the same server bot returned as Gus stood and collected everything and returned back to the kitchen.

Gus saw a pulsing tab on his display with a yellow symbol of a hammer and screwdriver crossed in an X. Mentally