Thetans
“Why don't you come inside my house here, I know how hot it can get this close to the volcano. Say, why don't I pour you a glass of ice tea?”
Sweat dripping from my head, we thanked the old woman and, wading through a carpet of cats littering the floor, sat down on two couches in her living room. One of the Hazmatters sat next to me and Brutus sat on the other, his impressive bulk bowing the supports in the middle. Several cats started rubbing against the our legs and Brutus grunted, looking at what he assumed would make an excellent hat. Another, hungrier, kitten jumped on his lap and sat down, purring.
*******
The thick panel of duraplasteel was starting to melt when we set our hover-buggy on a ledge inside of the cone. Three Dolls huddled together on the remaining steps, spiraling downwards in to the belching pit below them, trapped by a flow of lava. Running down the descending walkway, my movements constricted by the snugly fit Envie-suit, pointing and shouting, I barked orders to the three Dolls carrying various pieces of rescue equipment, spilling from the vehicle.
“You, set up that winch. You, help him. You, come with me. I'm going to need someone to tell me how much longer we have.”
********
“Meet Brutus,” John Wayne motioned to the large man standing next to him carrying a relative armory around his waist and on his back. Thick muscles protruding from his shoulders were decorated with intricate swirled tattoos, long braids crowning his shoulders. He grunted.
“Brutus, here, is a new arrival from a universe where the Vikings and the Monguls are the dominant cultures. He's not always bright but with arms like those you can bet your ass he's always right.”
A bald woman whose teeth had been replaced with what looked like candy corn said, “Great. We get new arrivals in here all the time, what the hell do we care?”
“Well, sugar, he's moving in. He'll be going on your next patrol of the corridors, and I want you all to welcome him in to our posse. You never know when you might need a big lug like this,” Duke slapped the man on his powerfully built back, “Ain't that right, pilgrim?”
Brutus grunted grunted and began sharpening one his more modest knives.
*********
“Master, it appears that the Dolls below us will not survive in the time it will take us to rescue them. Would you like me to put in a call to Central for orders to grow three new ones?”
“To hell with that, we're saving those people down there if it's the last thing we do.”
... ...
Peering over the edge, where the three Dolls were still huddled at the top of the stairs, clinging to each other and the railing. The stairs above them were impassable, remaining trails of the hot lava from the explosion earlier having mangled the steps leading up to the ledge we now occupied. It was wonder they hadn't been incinerated, but that's what they had been bred for.
*********
So far, everyone we talked to in the town had been less than helpful. Maybe it was the fact that we were three freakishly out of place individuals, but all the people we had talked to insisted there was no Doll living in town. When we came to a man peevish looking man wearing glasses and a conservative suit, I decided to take a new tactic.
“Excuse me, sir. We're here from a special branch of the government, Doll Inspection Agency. We're in charge of making sure that any rogue Dolls are taken care of, for good. We need to know if there are any Dolls living in your town, today.”
“Yes, I was wondering when someone would come for her. Absolutely dreadful the way she carries herself, acting as if she were human just like...” he paused, “just like you or, or me. You didn't hear it out of my mouth, but there you could see some pretty strange things up around Butte Way.”
**********
With the winch set up, I had returned to the buggy after my soles had begun melting to the porous rock of the ledge. Outside the Dolls were levering up the Dolls, one at a time, our view obstructed by the sheer cliff the rescue line was dangling from. The Dolls were doing their job perfectly, their actions co-ordinated with a preternatural ability bred in to them through advanced bio-engineering. Brutus grunted in the back sliding an Envie-suit over his bulky frame.
“You take care out there, huh? I know you're tough but even you will burn up if any of that boiling rock takes you.”
**********
Next door someone was practicing guitar, playing along with Elton John's Rocket Man.
“I can't wait to get out of this place. These people are seriously disturbed.”
This was the third block we'd been to, our fifteenth house. A sunporch let in the light of the volcano behind us, its flickering light a continuous reminder of the town's source of income and existence. Walking to the door, we were greeted by an old woman with smooth features and no eyebrows-- or any hair for that matter. Her nose was slim, unimposing, her chin seemed to meld in to her face and neck, ears tucked flat to her head and a forehead that stretched to the heavens. Reaching a hand out she said,
“Why don't you come inside my house here, I know how hot it can get this close to the volcano.”
**********
Brutus was grabbing on to the hand of the second Doll we had rescued. Picking up the body as if it were so many sacks of potatoes, he lifted the body up the few remaining feet to safety. I stared at the man, not quite believing this beast could withstand the fires of the interior.
***********
“They say I'm a bit of an anomaly, you know. The only Doll who ever became sentient.”
Rattling the glass in my cup, I replied, “Yes, we heard something to that nature. Would you mind filling us in on some of the details?”
“Absolutely, dearie. Anything for a little one.”
I fidgeted in my seat. This was the reaction I had come to expect in the Multiverse, but not the one I was happy with.
Stroking one of the cats on her lap, she continued, “Us Dolls were created to do the work in the volcanoes all over the planet. They were doing some genetic testing to see if they could create people who could withstand the heat inside, when they built our brains boil-resistant they had no idea the kind of shuffling that would happen to our minds. Your average Doll loves to take orders, they're completely subservient and absolutely literal. They care only for the work at hand and nothing for themselves. It's sad really, but that's our lot in life.”
The cat jumped from her lap and she picked up another, “Well, something must have happened when I was baking, because as you can see, I am a very independent woman. I enjoyed my work in the Sauna, but I always felt like there was something more to be had. After years of toiling away like the others, a special rights group got involved and I was allowed to live out my life as freely as you like. Of course, I couldn't go anywhere. I would be a freak anywhere else, but I'm comfortable. I do so enjoy myself this close to the Sauna and I've found that I absolutely adore the little things. For some reason I share this special connection with cats, the dear things. Whenever I find a stray I simply must take them home with me.”
She sobbed, her eyes blinking quickly in an approximation of crying, “I guess I see a little of myself in them all. We need each other, you know?”
An alarm bell started whooping somewhere outside. “Oh dear, something must have happened at the Sauna. Those alarms only start when there's some trouble down there.”
**********
With one last Doll to rescue, Brutus and the others began lowering the winch. With support from the stairs waning, the magma continued its steady rise, engulfing more and more of the stairs below. Swinging down, the last Doll climbed in to the harness and secured itself. Throwing the last lever, the winch began the slow rise up, up, up, until Brutus was able to grab on to the rope and bring the Doll up himself. I watched from the cabin of the hover-buggy, as the the Dolls, reunited, swirled around Brutus. Their plain faces and neutral expressions belied a feeling of gratitude, and (don't tell him) I even saw a smile curl on the face of the man who had been pet his first cat, one hour earlier.
...
Sweat dripping from my head, we thanked the old woman and, wading through a carpet of cats littering the floor, sat down on two couches in her living room. One of the Hazmatters sat next to me and Brutus sat on the other, his impressive bulk bowing the supports in the middle. Several cats started rubbing against the our legs and Brutus grunted, looking at what he assumed would make an excellent hat. Another, hungrier, kitten jumped on his lap and sat down, purring.
*******
The thick panel of duraplasteel was starting to melt when we set our hover-buggy on a ledge inside of the cone. Three Dolls huddled together on the remaining steps, spiraling downwards in to the belching pit below them, trapped by a flow of lava. Running down the descending walkway, my movements constricted by the snugly fit Envie-suit, pointing and shouting, I barked orders to the three Dolls carrying various pieces of rescue equipment, spilling from the vehicle.
“You, set up that winch. You, help him. You, come with me. I'm going to need someone to tell me how much longer we have.”
********
“Meet Brutus,” John Wayne motioned to the large man standing next to him carrying a relative armory around his waist and on his back. Thick muscles protruding from his shoulders were decorated with intricate swirled tattoos, long braids crowning his shoulders. He grunted.
“Brutus, here, is a new arrival from a universe where the Vikings and the Monguls are the dominant cultures. He's not always bright but with arms like those you can bet your ass he's always right.”
A bald woman whose teeth had been replaced with what looked like candy corn said, “Great. We get new arrivals in here all the time, what the hell do we care?”
“Well, sugar, he's moving in. He'll be going on your next patrol of the corridors, and I want you all to welcome him in to our posse. You never know when you might need a big lug like this,” Duke slapped the man on his powerfully built back, “Ain't that right, pilgrim?”
Brutus grunted grunted and began sharpening one his more modest knives.
*********
“Master, it appears that the Dolls below us will not survive in the time it will take us to rescue them. Would you like me to put in a call to Central for orders to grow three new ones?”
“To hell with that, we're saving those people down there if it's the last thing we do.”
... ...
Peering over the edge, where the three Dolls were still huddled at the top of the stairs, clinging to each other and the railing. The stairs above them were impassable, remaining trails of the hot lava from the explosion earlier having mangled the steps leading up to the ledge we now occupied. It was wonder they hadn't been incinerated, but that's what they had been bred for.
*********
So far, everyone we talked to in the town had been less than helpful. Maybe it was the fact that we were three freakishly out of place individuals, but all the people we had talked to insisted there was no Doll living in town. When we came to a man peevish looking man wearing glasses and a conservative suit, I decided to take a new tactic.
“Excuse me, sir. We're here from a special branch of the government, Doll Inspection Agency. We're in charge of making sure that any rogue Dolls are taken care of, for good. We need to know if there are any Dolls living in your town, today.”
“Yes, I was wondering when someone would come for her. Absolutely dreadful the way she carries herself, acting as if she were human just like...” he paused, “just like you or, or me. You didn't hear it out of my mouth, but there you could see some pretty strange things up around Butte Way.”
**********
With the winch set up, I had returned to the buggy after my soles had begun melting to the porous rock of the ledge. Outside the Dolls were levering up the Dolls, one at a time, our view obstructed by the sheer cliff the rescue line was dangling from. The Dolls were doing their job perfectly, their actions co-ordinated with a preternatural ability bred in to them through advanced bio-engineering. Brutus grunted in the back sliding an Envie-suit over his bulky frame.
“You take care out there, huh? I know you're tough but even you will burn up if any of that boiling rock takes you.”
**********
Next door someone was practicing guitar, playing along with Elton John's Rocket Man.
“I can't wait to get out of this place. These people are seriously disturbed.”
This was the third block we'd been to, our fifteenth house. A sunporch let in the light of the volcano behind us, its flickering light a continuous reminder of the town's source of income and existence. Walking to the door, we were greeted by an old woman with smooth features and no eyebrows-- or any hair for that matter. Her nose was slim, unimposing, her chin seemed to meld in to her face and neck, ears tucked flat to her head and a forehead that stretched to the heavens. Reaching a hand out she said,
“Why don't you come inside my house here, I know how hot it can get this close to the volcano.”
**********
Brutus was grabbing on to the hand of the second Doll we had rescued. Picking up the body as if it were so many sacks of potatoes, he lifted the body up the few remaining feet to safety. I stared at the man, not quite believing this beast could withstand the fires of the interior.
***********
“They say I'm a bit of an anomaly, you know. The only Doll who ever became sentient.”
Rattling the glass in my cup, I replied, “Yes, we heard something to that nature. Would you mind filling us in on some of the details?”
“Absolutely, dearie. Anything for a little one.”
I fidgeted in my seat. This was the reaction I had come to expect in the Multiverse, but not the one I was happy with.
Stroking one of the cats on her lap, she continued, “Us Dolls were created to do the work in the volcanoes all over the planet. They were doing some genetic testing to see if they could create people who could withstand the heat inside, when they built our brains boil-resistant they had no idea the kind of shuffling that would happen to our minds. Your average Doll loves to take orders, they're completely subservient and absolutely literal. They care only for the work at hand and nothing for themselves. It's sad really, but that's our lot in life.”
The cat jumped from her lap and she picked up another, “Well, something must have happened when I was baking, because as you can see, I am a very independent woman. I enjoyed my work in the Sauna, but I always felt like there was something more to be had. After years of toiling away like the others, a special rights group got involved and I was allowed to live out my life as freely as you like. Of course, I couldn't go anywhere. I would be a freak anywhere else, but I'm comfortable. I do so enjoy myself this close to the Sauna and I've found that I absolutely adore the little things. For some reason I share this special connection with cats, the dear things. Whenever I find a stray I simply must take them home with me.”
She sobbed, her eyes blinking quickly in an approximation of crying, “I guess I see a little of myself in them all. We need each other, you know?”
An alarm bell started whooping somewhere outside. “Oh dear, something must have happened at the Sauna. Those alarms only start when there's some trouble down there.”
**********
With one last Doll to rescue, Brutus and the others began lowering the winch. With support from the stairs waning, the magma continued its steady rise, engulfing more and more of the stairs below. Swinging down, the last Doll climbed in to the harness and secured itself. Throwing the last lever, the winch began the slow rise up, up, up, until Brutus was able to grab on to the rope and bring the Doll up himself. I watched from the cabin of the hover-buggy, as the the Dolls, reunited, swirled around Brutus. Their plain faces and neutral expressions belied a feeling of gratitude, and (don't tell him) I even saw a smile curl on the face of the man who had been pet his first cat, one hour earlier.
...