CHAPTER 12
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Once we were all assigned our puppets, the briefing began. We would be sent to Zone 0 to begin exterminating the Spectres in our own homes.
I stared down at the paper in my hand. It was really a playing card covered over with white, but I could see the red spades through the thin layer of paint. The writing said, 'Welcome, Vader. You have been assigned to the being known as "The Batter". You will begin your purifying mission in Zone 0.'
The Batter was standing next to me. I handed him the card. "Can...can you read?" I choked out.
He nodded. "I can." He read over the card and handed it back.
We were sent to what had become known as The Nothingness. It was an endless area of black, yet we could see perfectly. I pointed to a glowing white sphere set in the near distance. That was where we would be heading.
The Batter followed me toward the glowing area, bat slung over his shoulder. We were whisked away in a frenzy of white to be dropped in a yellow and orange tinted land.
Zone 0.
My home.
I was home at last.
There was a long platform that extended from our mini island to the mainland. Zone 0 was basically one large apartment block...everyone lived under one roof, just different rooms. We were sorters, back before the Spectres. We sorted and labeled items from different Zones before shipping them back to where they needed to be. With no one in the Zone anymore, obtaining items like the smoke we breathe and the metal we walk on became a challenge.
My delicate feet tapped against the metal bridge. The Batter followed behind me without saying a word. I allowed myself to stare into the plastic that lapped at the bridge's side. For the first time in a long time, I felt relaxed. I knelt at the side of the plastic and trailed my hand along it, collecting the thickened liquid on my fingers.
My white hair cascaded around my shoulders and down my back. It curled around my face like a group of vines. My plain, professional white shirt and black tie went perfectly with it. Even my eyes were light; white blue eyes... Like frozen plastic. My lips were pale and thin, like the rest of my figure.
I saw The Batter reflected on the glossy surface. He was staring at his own face, mimicking me. I doubted he knew why I was doing this.
"There are no reflective surfaces in Zone 2," I choked out. "I haven't seen my own face in years."
He just nodded and continued staring. He was just a puppet after all...he wouldn't know why I enjoyed this Zone so much.
"Is that me... In the plastic?"
My eyes widened on the reflective surface. The Batter...my puppet... Asked a question.
On his own.
This was unheard of! The training said they couldn't think for themselves!
He was staring at me now...not my reflection. I stumbled over my words. I didn't know what to respond with.
"Yes...yes, that is you." I whispered. "That is you."
He nodded, satisfied with his answer. He continued to stare into the plastic. He reached up to his face, his reflection doing the same. He traced his chin, his cheeks...as if making sure he really existed.
This sent me in another flurry of questions. He was self-aware...? He could recognize himself... Was this the first step to something else?
"We..." I coughed. "We should keep going." I stood and wavered slightly, but regained my balance. The Batter followed behind me. I pulled the mini keyboard from my pocket.
Dripping plastic greeted our ears as we approached the only building in Zone 0. I have never heard that sound before...where could the leak be?
I suppose it wasn't much of an issue. We had bigger problems at hand. I had to purify my home.
I stepped inside. The empty, abandoned room greeted me. It got colder. I shivered. My fingers began to shake as I held the keypad in front of me. Holographic images shot up from the device, suspending themselves in thin air. This was The Batter's Point of View. He could see the Spectres, I couldn't.
Well...I couldn't see them all. A few still escaped my sight.
As far as I know, I am the only one to see the Spectres before they attack. I can anticipate their attacks and plan my escape. There are only a few that I cannot track...but the puppets can.
"Scan the room," I said hoarsely.
The Point of View scanned the room, coming up negative. I guided the Batter and myself to the flight of stairs. A flash of white appeared on the floating screen. I gave a yelp as one of the larger, more menacing Spectres materialized in front of me.
The Batter reacted instantly, as all of the puppets do. He swiftly passed me and stood in-between the Spectre and I, bat raised. I turned back to my screen and analyzed our opponent.
It was a fat ghost...fat off the souls it had devoured in my zone. Its jawline was ragged, its teeth broken in its jaw from crunching down onto righteous souls. Its eyes were gouged. A blind one. Blind from what, I'll never know.
"Attack, Batter!" I coughed, pressing a button.
The Batter swung the bat and struck the Spectre with a mighty crack. The ghost faded, a low scream leaving its form. It had been purified.
My first Spectre. I had done a flawless job, I'm sure. My superiors would have been proud of me.
"That is only one of many," the Batter said, slinging his bat over his shoulder. "I sense more...many more upstairs."
I nodded. "Let's hurry." I cleared my throat multiple times, but my voice never reached a suitable pitch. I reverted back to a whisper. "Hurry."
The second floor was as abandoned as the first. No one was around...except abandoned furniture and possessions. "Do you sense them?" I asked.
The Batter shook his head. "Not here. Higher up."
I began walking toward the next staircase, but his strong hand on my shoulder stopped me.
"I should go first," he said. "There are many up there. I do not want you injured. As your puppet, I must protect you."
I let him go on ahead. He was right...and how could I forget. The puppet's main purpose is to keep the puppeteer out of danger. The second, of course, was ridding the zones of the Spectres.
We climbed the stairs and I was hit with an overwhelming sense of familiarity. We had entered onto a main floor connected to three doors. Behind each of these doors were living quarters. The one on the far right belonged to my family. The main room looked like it always had; a simple metal table and chair set with a bronze floor covering. It was the same as all the other floors, but I could tell this one belonged to my family and two others.
The Batter gently nudged me forward. "We have to keep moving."
I nodded. "Let's check the flats. See what we can find." I gave a weak cough. So many memories of this place...how I was raised, how I had been trapped for days in my flat, screaming endlessly for help...
I pushed open the door on the far left. There were no Spectres. It was the one next to my old home that turned up positive.
I didn't need to use the Point Of View the keypad provided me. I could see the Spectre like I could see the Batter. It was hovering in the far corner of the room...over a heap of white and black clothes and bones. The Batter waited for me to give a command.
"Attack."
He rushed forward toward the ghost, bat at the ready. The Spectre turned and offered him a screeching sound; it too would attempt to attack. I readied myself and imputed commands into the keypad.
The Batter struck first, slamming the bat into the Spectre's side. The ghost retaliated, its dark maw opening wide as it darted at my puppet. I desperately manipulated the control pad, trying to get the Batter out of the way of the oncoming threat.
I wasn't fast enough. The ghost tore into the Batter's sleeve, ripping away cloth and skin. Bright, painful red seeped into his white jersey's sleeve. I had to shield my eyes from the burning colour. I blinked and busied myself with another attack input.
The Batter delivered a strong upward swing, slicing through the ghost.
It vanished with a long howl, purified. I shoved my keypad into my pocket and ran toward my puppet. I didn't know they could bleed.
"Are you all right?" I sputtered.
I pressed on the bleeding area, squinting from the almost neon colour.
The Batter didn't respond for a few seconds. He just watched my hands as I pressed on his wound. "I am...bleeding," he said a last.
"Yes, I know..." I coughed and reached back for my left pocket. "I have something that might help."
I slapped a pale yellow fortune ticket over his arm. I always carried one...just in case. My work had paid off. The ticket absorbed the blood and began to purge the wound. It worked.
"I didn't know you could bleed," I whispered at last. "I thought you were just...metal. A puppet of metal."
His eyes met mine. I thought I saw a spark of life...a spark of something in his eyes that separated him from the rest of the puppets. I blinked, and it vanished, replaced back with a dead stare.
"We're very much like you," he said. "Puppets were made to resemble people like you. The alive ones."
"Really?" I coughed again.
He stood and pulled me to my feet. "Yes. Now...hurry. We still have one room left to purify."
"No, you don't," a sing-songy voice said from the doorway. "But I do."
I turned. I knew that voice. "What are you doing here, Zacharie? I thought they sent you to Zone 3."
I had known Zacharie since we were little. He hadn't changed much since then. He was tall, about the Batter's height. He wore a plain white shirt–no tie– and black pants. What separated him from the rest of the crowd was the off-white bandana he wore around his neck, folded in a triangle. His black hair was curly and longer than most other's. I don't know why he wanted to stand out so much.
"I was told to follow you." He said. "To make sure you don't get scared."
"I'm not scared," I coughed.
"They thought otherwise." Zacharie pointed back at the door, where a small, light brown cat with vibrant yellow eyes was sitting. It grinned at me, showing long, white, pointed teeth. "So Valerie and I were sent out here."
"That's your puppet?" I asked.
The cat–Valerie–walked into the room and sat at his puppeteer's feet. "Don't be fooled. I can take care of a whole gathering of Spectres before you could even blink."
The Batter nodded. "He is small, making him more agile and harder to land a hit on. He is ideal for Spectre hunting."
"I was sent to eradicate the last room." Zacharie went back to the previous conversation. "You, on the other hand, are to report back to Zone 2. I'll be right behind you after I'm done here."
Valerie followed us to the stairs, making sure we left Zone 0's apartment complex. The Batter and I found ourselves back outside, the odd dripping plastic sound continuing. I headed straight for the Nothingness.
Anger, fury and sadness were welling up in me. Emotions my training supposedly stamped out.
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Hasta la Vista, Readers!
Lordoftheghostking28
