The Suggestion Box, Vol. 4: A to Z Challenge

Letter O: "The Octogram of Obligation"

*This excerpt is from an unfinished draft of a future-dystopian-cyberpunk retelling of the story of Esther

Tricia had just found a quiet corner of the main floor to sit, when the silver-suited female android, Nerissa, approached her from some hidden door in the oddly-shaped walls.

"Please follow me to the Oculus," she said. "It is time for your first Occupational Therapy session with OPHELIA."

OPHELIA—Tricia felt the pit of her stomach tighten and twist just a little. All she had ever known of the woman was the interactive talking face on a screen from her orientation tutorial. How different would she actually be in real life? Was OPHELIA an android like Nerissa? Or some new tech that Tricia hadn't encountered yet?

Nerissa waited a full minute before prompting, "You have not started walking. Do you wish to override the prescription?"

The young woman sighed. "No," she replied, pushing herself up to stand, "I'm coming."

She nearly fell over several times as the tall, stilted heels slipped and wobbled over the sleek obelisque floors. Nerissa immediately slackened her pace and matched Tricia's wobbling stride, sticking close to her in case of overbalance. The android's reaction speed was such that Tricia would barely falter before she felt the warm, artificial touch pressing on key points around her sides, keeping her upright with a controlled frenzy of precise movements. It occurred to the young woman that this could very well be the case for the women she saw drifting around the oasis with ostentatious grace—the reason they had the silver-suited entourage wherever they went. Even their sense of balance, like so many other aspects of the Peres life that she had secretly envied for so long, was a carefully-orchestrated farce.

Nerissa led her into a large foyer-type room, oblong with a long white couch in the middle. The walls swirled with digital displays of swirling abstract colors. The android waited until Tricia seated herself on the couch, and then departed.

Tricia waited, forcing herself not to pick at that one random orange spot on the side of her skirt. When would OPHELIA appear?

At precisely one o'clock, the swirling colors abruptly halted, and a soothing chime resounded through the room.

"Welcome, Tricia Carson."

Tricia felt a small thrill run through her at the sound of such a gentle voice saying her name.

The voice continued, "I am OPHELIA. Thank you for joining me."

Tricia looked around her as the colors shifted into another pattern; walls began to form around her. "Where are you?" she asked.

"One moment, please."

The image in front of her solidified, and Tricia gasped when a gigantic eyeball covered the space directly in front of her, spanning the screen from top to bottom.

"This is my original form; does it trouble you?"

Tricia could feel her heart ready to pound right out of her chest at the horrifying sight. "Yes," she huffed. "I think it does."

"One moment please," OPHELIA said again, and after a brief screen jump, the "eyeball" slowly rotated, as if it had only been a decoration on the back of a round chair. Seated in the orange-cushioned interior was a familiar-looking woman who stood and walked toward her. Tricia immediately kicked off her painful shoes and rose to greet OPHELIA barefooted. She made it all the way to the point just before reaching out to take her hand—when her sense of reality clashed with the optical illusion and her fingers collided with the smooth screen.