The Virus

Chapter 4

  Shayne didn't get sleep from the time she left BlackJack's to her next shift. She tried to delve deeper into the dark mystery WyldCard had made her aware of. She found no source of it anywhere on the internet,  or in previous years'  news stories, or anywhere. It gave her an overwhelming sense of curiosity. 

  Silvester called as soon as Shayne entered the security office. "Hey! Okay, let me fill you in on something.  You know about that incident that happened here, did you?"

   "No. I can't say that I do, but..." Shayne's voice trailed off. She couldn't call out WyldCard, for he held a dark secret.

  "Well, the thing is, a virus was released a couple of years ago. A-a computer virus. Um, it was a perfectly normal day, other than the fact that a customer had been killed and mangled, and another had been set into a coma. I can't reveal the victim's names. But anyway, um, this incident became local news. For real. Everyone within a fifteen-mile radius of this county knew about it. Actually, I should say the whole country knew about it. But the location sued the news broadcasting centers. They were afraid that their sales would go kaput. By then, it was too late. Any evidence concerning the incident was gone, no longer visible to the public. And BlackJack's had already shut down...forever. Uh, yeah..it was pretty serious. As far as I-or anybody- knows, the surviving victim is still in that coma."

  "I hope he's okay," Shayne said softly.

  "She. She was in a coma."

  "Oh."

  Both were quiet, then Shayne asked, "How come I didn't know of the incident?"

  "I'm not sure. You must've been...disconnected from the world around you. In your hidey-hole or something." Silvester chuckled.

  Shayne wasn't amused. In fact, she was a little unsettled by her Twilight Zone-like situation.

  "So, uh...stay in there. I'll fill you in more later. I'll leave you to your work, alright?"

  Shayne checked her wristwatch. The time said 1:27. Shayne needed to focus on her job.

  "Alright."

  Silvester said his goodbyes and hung up the phone, leaving Shayne in the chilling silence of the office. She missed the company of a friendly voice already.

  The disturbing nothingness was stirred when banging was heard on the security office door. Shayne turned around in her swivel chair to face it, and almost jumped.

  Through the window in the wall beside the door, Shayne could see WyldCard peering in on her. "Come on out," he said.

  The young night guard seemed relieved at the robot's presence. She left her seat to talk to him.

  "I know about the-the incident now," she smiled sheepishly.

  "So I heard."  WyldCard didn't look pleased.

  "Why are you concerned?" Shayne knew it was a stupid question as soon as she said it. It didn't even sound good in her head.

   WyldCard snarled and grabbed Shayne's shoulders. "Because it was I  who committed that crime!  I  killed that customer! I  ripped his body to shreds! And I  am the one who's responsible for the fall of my company! I caused all of this!!! "

   Dumbfounded and shocked, Shayne had no clue what to say. She ended up with, "It wasn't you. It was the virus."

  The animatronic scoffed and turned away. "A virus I had the power to resist."

  Shayne was now scared. "So are you now resistant to it?"  Stupid, she thought,  I am so stupid.

  "No. It's in my systems, and it's there to stay. I just have to keep calm and collective. Lose my cool and I'll become a death machine."

  Now Shayne was curious about something. "If you're just a robot, how do you have feelings? Emotions and such."

  "They're not mine."

   WyldCard left, and Shayne returned to the office. The time was 2:42, so she grabbed the book she had brought along with her. She couldn't focus on the characters in the novel, or their problems or mysteries, because she was so caught up in her own thoughts. She dog-eared the corner of her page and put the book down, with WyldCard's words playing in her head.

  "They're not mine."

  Then whose were they?