Mind Games

Where are you?

There’s no blur of a story this time. I know what I’m walking into. It’s a game; some warped, extreme level of the Hide and Seek.

“Hello, gamers!” Announcer-guy yells. “As you can see, you’re all locked in a little steel pod. This is so I can give you the lowdown before something comes and rips your face off.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” a voice in my ear mutters.

“There you are, Mark!” I sigh in relief.

“As you may have noticed, you have some eighties-stylized, yet high-tech gear and mechanic-type jumpsuits.” Announcer-guy explains. “You may, by now, have some idea of where you are. But I’ll tell you what’s going on anyway. You’re on a space station, and it’s full of nasties. Animatronics, CPU’s, a big ole’ alien munchinator, the usual in a deep-space-horror-survival game. Your objective is to find your partner and get the hell off the space station, using whatever you can find to survive! There are eight escape pods, two of which are busted, but you won’t know which two until you’re extremely disappointed by the lack of results.”

“Ya couldn’t make this easy on us.” I mutter.

“Nope.” Announcer-guy says with an obvious grin in his voice. “Also, one more thing. A few of you are a little, tiny, smidgen of a whole lotta completely unstable. So be wary of hallucinations for some of you. Okay, gotta go, good luck!”

“Hey, wait, get back here!” Mark yells. “You douche-bitch! You douchy-Mc-Doucherton!”

“Open the pods!”

One of the metal walls around me smoothly slides out of place. I gnaw on my lower lip, slowly walking into the hallway. A little way to my right is a tawny-haired man. The hallway on my left is empty.

“Hey!”

I glance at the man on my left as he jogs over.

“Work with me,” he demands. “We can find our partners and all get out of here faster.”

I raise my hand to the earpiece I can feel tucked into the shell of my right ear. I touch it, feeling a toggle-switch.

“Mark?” I ask softly. No reply. I slide the toggle switch and try again.

“Mark?”

“Hey, Marlene.”

“There’s a guy here; he’s asked me to work with him so you, me, him and his partner can get out faster.”

“Jeez, you’re actually asking?”

“I’m not just fighting for me, you dolt.”

“… Work with him; make him trust you and think you’re a valuable teammate, but don’t get attached. If you need to ditch him or he betrays you, make sure you can cut all the bonds.”

“So play a bubblegum bitch.”

“I’m gonna assume that’s some pop-culture reference that I don’t get, but means you and I are on the same page.”

“It’s a song reference.” I state, glancing at the tawny-haired man. “I sang it on MarlyGeek Tech once.”

The man is on his own comms unit, turned away from me. I lower my voice and cup my mouth so he won’t hear.

“It means I’m gonna use everything I have to my advantage; gear, wits, huge tits and all.”

Mark lets a laugh slip out at my crass, unladylike words.

“Alright. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“You’re probably more likely to do that than I am.” I snicker.