Rubberwerks 2 - Part Two

As they sat on the couch, Jenny couldn't help but feel like they were being watched. She looked around the room, searching for any signs of something out of the ordinary. There was nothing, save for the feeling that all of this was too pristine. A doll's house they were sent to live in. And, like dolls, they were intended to be the playthings of much larger forces.

* * * * *

Ranae Rask hated the scanners and the lights and the feeling of being some hog led to its pen. After over fifty years of comfort, even this rather mild indignity had her on edge. They had taken her bags, probably pilfered through them like she was some kind of terrorist, and delivered them unceremoniously to some poorly-decorated holding area. The key card she was given dangled from a bony finger.

She had been beautiful once, and still could be called handsome. But time was cruel and robbed her of that beauty. her dark hair was spun with strands of gray now, and she refused the dishonesty of hiding her age. The one thing she hated more than aging was the look of someone who so clearly fought against it and, with stretched skin and crooked lips, lost the battle to remain naturally beautiful.

She didn't need the money. An inheritance from family and then a husband with a bad ticker had seen to that. The only reason she would agree to the rough treatment of this little getaway was that it was new. And new was something Ranae needed. The days spent in the penthouse apartment she once shared with Walter were starting to blend together. She knew at the other end of that blur was an urn with her name on it, placed on a marble shelf beside her husband's. Before that, she would find adventure. Within reason. She wasn't about to start bungee jumping or parachuting out of airplanes. But participating in some study in the jungle while still surrounded by creature comforts, that would be good. That would be something.

A pair of hazmat-suited technicians arrived with her bags. As they started outside, into the jungle, they appeared to wait for her to take the bags. When she turned and led them to the corridor leading outside, one looked at the other, shrugged, and rolled the luggae behind him.

The jungle was not what Renae had expected. The heat was oppressive, and the humidity made her clothes stick to her skin in an uncomfortable way. This would be a temporary discomfort, approaching the dome and seeing the climate-controlled promise of it. Inside, she would be the manager of the bank, the lynchpin of the local economy, invented as it was. Even here, she would wield power through money.

As they walked deeper into the jungle, Renae found herself more intrigued than scared. The beauty of the lush greenery, the sound of exotic birds, and the smell of blooming flowers, and then they were at the door, Ranae flanked by the pair of technicians carrying her bags.

When they came to the door of the dome, she swiped the keycard and it hissed open. It was noticeably cooler inside the dome.

This time, the technicians did not follow with the bags. She had to drag them across the threshold herself. Once done, the door slid shut, sealing her inside. She regarded the plastic-masked men a moment more, then turned her back, dragging the travel bags behind her.

The bank, suitably, was in the center of town. Renae made her way towards it, admiring the charm of the town, even as she felt a chill at the stillness of it all. The bank's building was the grandest of them all. It looked like something out of an old Western movie, with wide wooden double doors and a sign hanging above that read "First National Bank of Harmony." Renae couldn't help but smile at the sight of it. This was her new kingdom, and she was going to rule it with an iron fist.

As she walked through the door, Renae was greeted by a large open space with several teller stations lining the walls. Straight ahead was a large ornate desk, the whole building waiting for her. Soon, she would meet the others in town and she would make a game of learning what made them tick. Whatever power there was to be had in this town, she would have it. That would be her pleasure here.

Her penthouse was somewhere nearby, and she would explore that in time. For now, she would learn the layout, know every door and window. If one was to be the queen, one must know her kingdom.

* * * * * 

Janice looked up once they were inside the dome, trying to see how high it reached. The plexiglass was almost invisible, which made it feel less like a fishbowl. Sharon was dragging the big suitcase holding their belongings behind her. She was the strong one, Janice mused. Janice would be the cute one.

"At least it's cool in here," Sharon mused.

"It's weird, right? How quiet everything is? Do you think we're the first ones here?"

Sharon shrugged. "I doubt it. But it does feel a little eerie." She leaned in for a quick kiss. "Let's unpack and get settled, then we can go explore."

Janice smiled and nodded, grabbing the handle of the suitcase to help Sharon. They made their way to an apartment building at the center of town. Across the square diagonally was the bank, then a store that would be the site of their business, and a coffee shop in the bottom floor of a two-story building.

As they unpacked, they couldn't help but feel a sense of freedom. No one knew them here; they could be whoever they wanted to be. And they could be together with no judgment. They would be essential workers here, and no one could take away their value. Before they began their new lives as grocers, however, they needed to find home, at least for the next few months.

Despite the isolation of the town so far, they saw a sign of life in the lobby of the four-story apartment building. The lobby was lined on one side by mailboxes, brass faces with keyholes in the middle. One of those bore their names - HASKINS/CARTER. Another displayed a different name - RASK. That one appeared to be on the top floor.

"Penthouse," Sharon mused. "Fancy."

"Even in an egalitarian paradise," Janice added, "someone has to be on top, I guess."

"Welcome to the world, my love."

They took a quick elevator ride to the second floor, foregoing the trouble of lugging their suitcase up the flight of stairs. The apartment there was quaint bordering on the beautiful. It was lined on two sides by windows that overlooked the square. There were wide-fronded plants in the corners of the sunny living area, and a couch that invited cuddling at night. The bedroom and the attached bath were spacious and Sharon gave Janice a wink when the latter commented on the size of the bed.

Once they finished unpacking, they decided to go explore the nearby grocery store. As they walked through the deserted streets, they held hands and admired the unique architecture of the buildings. It was like nothing they had ever seen before. It was an odd blend of the modern and the traditional, but somehow it worked in this manufactured space. If there had been people to fill out the impression of a small town, Janice believed she might almost feel normal.

When they arrived at the grocery store, they were surprised to find it fully stocked with fresh produce and meats. They quickly filled their cart, stocking the pantry for their own apartment while investigating all the goods they would have to offer. Sharon checked the storeroom and freezers where they found enough food to restock the shelves for weeks.

"It's kind of perfect," she admitted, a rare moment of praise from the tough-minded woman. She ran her hand over her dyed-gray head, the hair cut short against her scalp. "I think this might be a lot of fun."

Janice squealed, abandoning her cart to leap into her lover's arms. They shared another kiss, and this one lingered, Sharon's arms wrapped around her pixie-ish girlfriend. They held each other, both feeling the life ahead of them spread before them like a tangible thing, almost close enough to touch.

* * * * * 

Others trickled in over the remainder of the day. Linda Fordham watched them come, watched them find their new homes and jobs, the new lives that awaited them. Cameras positioned in every nook and cranny of the manufactured town, most of them hidden to keep the residents' minds at ease, captured everything. Fordham felt like a voyeur, watching glimpses of the lives of the new population of her town. She saw couples, and those who were alone, the dreams and plans obvious in the way they explored and embraced this new chance at a life, even one lived only temporarily in this idyllic setting.

Fordham also knew what sat below. Something waited beneath the town, a sentience. She wondered if it was aware of the people moving above it. If it knew that it would soon be freed, allowed to move among this population.

Before, in the jungle, the response team used fire to destroy the creatures created by the merging of the latex and humans. This time, it would be more controlled. There would be a chance to try to communicate with it. To understand it. And, if need be, to destroy it again. This would be safe. This would be a chance at immortality. To discover a new life, a new consciousness, and to hold it within the plexiglass zoo to find out how it moves, how it changed the hosts, and what could be done to control it.

With the press of a button, the door sealed, allowing no more humans in or out. The experiment had begun.

* * * * *

The town had come alive. What had seemed deserted and more than a little eerie had become something picturesque. There were people milling about the town square by the rime Janice woke. Sharon liked to sleep in and was still breathing heavily, her back turned to Janice. She slipped from the sheets and padded into the kitchen adjoining the living room, where the morning sunlight lit the room.

She started coffee, and as soon as the aroma of the brew hit her nose, she closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and smiled. She moved to the windows where she could look down on the street and watch all the strangers exploring this new simulated world of theirs.

Sharon woke forty-five minutes and two cups of coffee later. She slipped behind her shorter lover and rested her hea don Janice's shoulder.

"Pretty," she said.

One-word sentences were not uncommon for Sharon Haskins, who had practically cornered the market on stoic. Except not with Janice, not completely. Somehow, Janice slipped inside Sharon's guards, and had found her heart. When Sharon held Janice, she felt safe and protected and that all would be right with the world so long as she could live in that embrace.

"We have to go to work," Sharon said, kissing Janice's neck.

Janice groaned and reached up to her shoulder, taking Sharon's hand and holding it there.

"I love you, you know?"

"I do," Sharon answered. "But we still have to go to work."

The store was already stocked, so there was little preparation. They unlocked the door, lit the OPEN sign, and prepared for business. There was no actual currency, at least nothing from the outside world. They were given cards and a fictional currency called lancets. The buying power of these lancets was equivalent to the American dollar by what Janice could tell, and each of the residents was given ten thousand lancets to start. It should be more than enough for the three months, but there was the bank, too.W hat purpose that might serve, Janice did not know and wasn't sure she cared to. She had seen the prim older womn entering the bank earlier, her face in a perpetual scowl. The less she interacted with that old broad, Janice decided, the better off she would be.

There was a steady stream of customers, and Janice worked the register while Sharon restocked and helped customers find what they needed. They received a few second looks when customers pieced together that Janice and Sharon were "together," but she felt little judgment. Perhaps this was a utopia after all.