Empty World Ch. 02

--//--

Molly was sitting on the edge of the bed, back in her blue jumpsuit and boots, watching Lu intently and waiting for her command. Back straight, hands on her lap, Lu observed, I don't want to think about how that kind of discipline was beaten into her.

"Let's go eat, Molly," she smiled and took the girl's hand, pulling her off the bed. Molly followed wordlessly. Lu led her into the canteen, straight to replicators.

"Look here, it's really simple - just push this button and say what you want to eat," she explained and pushed the button herself. "Club sandwich and soda, please." She lifted the door after the flash and showed the tray with food to Molly, who watched in amazement.

"Now you try," Lu took the tray to the table and sat down.

Molly hesitated, then pushed the button and, leaning really close to the panel, whispered something. She jumped in surprise, much like Lu yesterday, when the tray with her food appeared in the flash of light, pulled it out and walked to sit across the table from Lu, smiling shyly.

"Oh, good choice," Lu grinned, observing waffles, a bottle of high fructose corn syrup and a mug with hot chocolate. Molly poured an ungodly amount of syrup on her waffles and dug in, sipping from the mug. She ate like a happy hungry child, and Lu even detected a hint of smile. Finally, she lifted her eyes, full of genuine joy, and licked the chocolate mustache off her lip.

"My goodness, girl, that was messy!" Lu laughed. "Let's get you cleaned up! Actually, let's get you properly washed, bet you haven't had a good hot shower in a really long time."

They stood up. Lu showed Molly how to dispose of dirty dishes, then took her hand and led her out and into the lobby to the service elevator.

"Mother, can you activate S303 for Molly, please?" Lu asked as they took a brief ride up to the third floor.

"S303 activated. Welcome aboard, Molly," Molly gave a start and looked around for the source of the voice. "Level 1 security clearance granted."

Molly, wide-eyed, turned her pleading look to Lu, but the small woman just laughed.

"No need to worry, girl, Mother watches over us. You can ask her if you need any help," she led the girl to the door with S303 on it. "Go on, open it. It's your place."

Molly touched the door handle with trepidation, pushed it and slowly opened the door. The apartment is exactly the same as mine, Lu noted. Molly slowly walked in.

"Hey, we don't have a supply of shampoo and soap yet, Max is working on it, but I'll share mine with you, okay? Look around, I'll be back in a sec," Lu went to her bathroom to grab a shower gel and shampoo she brought from home and returned to find Molly testing the bed like a child would do - by jumping on it, absolutely ecstatic.

"Glad you're enjoying yourself," Lu smirked. "Now get in the shower, I brought you stuff."

Molly jumped off the bed and unzipped her jumpsuit, letting it fall down off her, then took off her bra, revealing small perky breasts. When she pulled her panties down, Lu turned her back. She's not shy about her body or her nakedness, how weird is that, Lu thought, walking to the replicator and pushing the button.

"Set of maintenance crew uniform, underwear and a bathrobe for Molly, please," she pulled a stack of clothes out and heard water running behind the closed bathroom door. Lu placed the stack under the door and knocked.

"Molly, I brought you fresh clothes. I'll be outside if you need anything," she walked out and closed the door behind her, then sat on the bench on the balcony, overlooking the lobby below. Huge quiet building, she looked around, Max was probably slowly going insane in here. She shuddered and tapped her wristband.

"Come in, Max."

"Hey, Lu, how's it going?" Max responded, slightly out of breath.

"Not good. She likes the food and her apartment, but she ain't talking. Like, at all. Not a word."

"If I may offer my input..." Mother joined the conversation on the open channel.

"Go on, Mother."

"Preliminary observation leads me to believe Molly was subjected to severe psychological trauma, which made her inner child take over as a defensive mechanism and lock her true self in."

That would explain the behavior, Lu pondered.

"What do you suggest?"

"She needs a trigger, something that will make her start talking, and eventually speak her heart out, relieving whatever feelings and emotions she has compressed inside. However, as we don't know her personal history, I cannot offer suggestions for a trigger."

"Hot damn, Mother, do you shrink?"

"I can only offer my diagnostic capabilities. Psychotherapy requires something I lack."

"And... what is that?" Max sounded genuinely curious.

"Soul, as the name suggests."

"Damn. A'ight, Lu, lemme think. I'll get back to you in a bit, over."

Channel went silent. Lu sighed, fished out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of her pocket and lit up, reclining on the back of the bench.

--//--

For several minutes Molly just stood there with eyes closed, exposing her face to the tight hot spray, relishing the sensation of water cascading down her body. She reached for the bottle of shampoo Lu brought, popped the cap and took a whiff. Strawberry, she smiled, poured a decent amount into her palm and started lathering her hair, humming a melody.

Several minutes later, she came out of the apartment, dressed in a bathrobe and slippers, and quietly sat beside Lu on the bench.

"So you are pretty, girl," Lu laughed. "Sorry, was kinda hard to see under all that grime. Your hair is gorgeous, chica," she admired Molly's wet cascade of blonde hair, coming down her shoulders nearly to her midriff.

Molly blushed cutely, then scrunched her freckled nose and waved her hand in front of her face.

"Oh, sorry about that," Lu put out her cigarette. "Bad habit, I know. So, what do you want to do now?"

Molly shrugged and hung her head, looking away. Lu sighed.

"Okay, maybe Max has ideas?" She tapped her wristband. "Weller, I need suggestions about that thing we talked about."

There was a long pause, and Lu even started to worry a bit, when the speaker clicked.

"Lu, yes! Just remembered something that might help," his voice betrayed his fatigue. Did he empty the entire Macy's stock? "Ask Mother to guide you to the Garden. I'll be back in an hour or so. Max out."

"O-kay," she drawled. "Mother, what's he talking about?"

"The Garden is a recreational facility. Take the service elevator to the lobby, then take the main elevator to level 42."

"The top? Wow, fancy," Lu chuckled. "Let's go, Molly, see what recreation for the rich and powerful means." Molly stood up and followed her into the elevator.

"Correction, Lu. Everything the Tower has was designed to be used by all and every inhabitant."

"Oh, communism? What could go wrong with that," she smirked as they descended to the lobby.

Main elevator was, in fact, eight huge cabins in a single circular shaft in the far end of the lobby, directly across from main doors. They entered the one closest to them.

"Level 42, please," Lu said. Elevator smoothly accelerated, and Molly pressed her face to the glass wall, watching the lobby disappear down below. They were flying past the office floors, labs, levels that were empty, floors whose designation wasn't clear from the first look, and Lu realized she spent almost a day here and still didn't know anything about the Tower or its mission. They flew past the last several apartment floors, and the space behind the wall of the elevator went dark. They were decelerating.

"Level 42." Cabin slowly slid into the brightly lit round room and stopped, opening the doors, and they stepped out.

"Looks like it's the only way in," Lu crossed the short hallway, leading out of the elevator room, walked to the frosted glass doors and pushed them open, entering... the jungle.

Thick tall tropical trees, overgrown with creeper vines, and shorter bush-like undergrowth - stuff of legend, Lu only seen that in the old movies - formed the wall before them, not allowing to see farther than 20 yards, but a path, paved with smooth natural stone, was leading into the forest. Soft warm breeze rustled the leaves and smelled... salty?

"What the actual fuck," Lu muttered under her breath and turned to Molly, who, wide-eyed and jaw-dropped, was looking up. Lu followed the direction of her gaze and froze - above them was a perfectly clear blue sky. "Mother... what's going on here?"

"What you are seeing is part of the Restoration project. The Garden is a perfectly balanced environment, it hosts many rainforest flora species that can be used to replant the Amazon one day. The sky is artificial, until the fog clears. You're free to explore the grounds, this is meant to serve as a recreational facility first and foremost." Mother's voice was coming from the wristband. "Keep in mind that the Garden doesn't have speakers installed, your communication with me is possible only through personal devices."

Lu was slowly walking down the paved path, looking around, smelling the air, touching the large fleshy leaves, when Molly made a small excited sound and zipped past her, running forward.

"Molly, wait! Stop!" Lu turned to follow her, stumbled on a tree root and fell on her knee. "Mierda! Wait for me, girl!" She got up and, unable to run, walked at a fast pace, limping, now looking under her feet. Bushes grew thicker, higher and closer to the path, blocking the view entirely, so she had to push the leaves and branches away, until they abruptly ended and she found herself standing on the sand.

Before her, encircled by a sandy beach, was a perfectly round lake about 50 yards in diameter. Water was perfectly clear, small waves, created by invisible wave machines, lazily lapped the sand. Tropical forest surrounded the lake from all sides, huge palms on the edge of the beach forming a natural canopy.

It took Lu, astounded and unable to tear her eyes from the view, several tries to tap the right button on her wristband.

"Max, I gotta admit, your skill of surprising a girl has greatly improved over the last several years. Just sayin'."

"Roger that," Max laughed in response.

Molly was standing knee-deep in the water, holding the ends of her bathrobe, her slippers dropped at the shoreline. She turned to look over her shoulder, and Lu saw nothing but the absolute happiness on her face. Molly tugged the belt on her robe, took it off and sent it to join the slippers, then effortlessly dived and swam.

"We gotta talk about underwear, girl," Lu sighed, watching the naked girl crossing the small lake. Should take Max out here for a night swim, she decided. What if he forgets to raid a swimsuit section? Oh no, what I'm going to do without a bikini, she grinned to herself.

Molly freestyled at a good pace. Had a good teacher, probably swam in high school? Lu kicked off her boots, rolled her pants and walked into the warm water, hands on her hips, watching Molly cross the lake and go back in the same tempo. And that's not the forest that needs to be saved, Lu averted her eyes as Molly, in all her natural glory, rose to walk the last several yards to the beach. She dropped on the sand, lying on her back, threw her arms and legs and closed her eyes, basking in the warmth of the fake sun with a happy smile plastered on her face. Lu silently sat beside her.

"We lived in Los Gatos," Molly suddenly said after several minutes of silence. Lu froze, scared to spook her.

"Dad would take me to the ocean every weekend. He taught me to swim and tried teaching me to surf, but I failed - miserably. We'd stop at the diner on our way back, and I would always get waffles with corn syrup and hot chocolate."

Molly paused and sat up, pulling her knees up and hugging them with her arms.

"On one of these trips, I was kidnapped. Just stepped out to go to the bathroom and... I've never seen my parents again..."

She turned to Lu. Her lower lip trembled, her face contorted, streaked with tears.

"I've never seen my parents again, Lu!"

"Oh, niña," Lu moved closed and wrapped her arms around the girl, pulling her into a tight hug. Molly dropped her head on Lu's shoulder, clutched her jacket and let out a wail.

"Let it out, Molly," Lu whispered, gently stroking her hair. I would not repeat my mistakes, she thought, never again. I will never let anything happen to her. I would fucking kill for her.

--//--

Max rolled in much later than he had anticipated. He glanced at the clock on the dash - 4:13pm, no wonder it's nearly dark outside. Whew, long fucking day.

"Mother, close the doors, please," he jumped out of the buggy and tapped his earpiece. "Lu, honey, I'm home! Where you girls at?"

"Right here," her voice was coming not from his earpiece, but from the hallway up ahead. Lu and Molly turned the corner. "Welcome home, sweetheart!" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Happy to see me?" He grinned and pulled one of the huge bags from the back seat. "I brought presents for my girls!"

Molly, dressed back in her blue jumpsuit and boots, walked closer.

"Hi, Max," she said softly, looking down, hands in her pockets. "Thank you."

Max did a double take, then gave Lu a questioning look. She nodded in response.

"Uh... hello, Molly. You're welcome," he said, shrugging.

"I- I'm sorry I stole your food," she almost whispered.

"You can't steal something that's free," he guffawed. "Don't worry about it, kid, I ain't mad at you."

She lifted her big hazel eyes to meet his and smiled shyly.

"Can... can I help?"

"Be my guest, grab a bag," he pulled out the smallest bag from the back seat and handed it to her, then pulled out two more, handing one to Lu. "Okay, let's unload and scan all this in the canteen, then you girls can play dress up."

Lu and Molly looked at each other and giggled.

"Had a good time?" he raised his brows questioningly.

"I'll tell you later, a'ight?" Lu grabbed a bag and headed to the canteen, Molly following her closely behind.

"Sure thing," he grabbed two biggest bags and left the garage too.

The three of them made short work of the loot Max had brought - laying clothes wrapped in plastic on the table, scanning, pushing into the pile, rinse, repeat - in no more than 15 minutes.

Max, with a sandwich and a coffee mug, took a seat at the table some distance from the girls, watching them sort the clothes, whispering and giggling. Looks like you've found the sister in her, Lu, he thought. Or a friend at least.

"Maaaax," Lu called. "Thank you for all the underwear, dear, but where's the lingerie?" She mock-pouted and batted her eyelashes. Max rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Nuh uh, chica, I'm not doing this ever again, do your own girly runs. Besides, you know, I don't like that stuff - it just gets in the way," he grinned and Lu smiled mischievously. Molly was smiling too, but unsure, darting her eyes between their faces.

"Wanna go shopping with me, Mols?" Lu asked and got an enthusiastic nod in response. "Good, we'll take my car and load it up with a bunch of girly stuff," she stuck out her tongue in Max's direction, eliciting a laugh from him. "Now, what's this? Mustang? Oh you semental," she teased.

"What? It looks good on me and you know it," Max finished his coffee and stood up. "Okay, I'm officially wiped. I'll be at my place if you need anything, have fun with your new wardrobes!"

"Thank you, Max, we will," Lu smiled.

--//--

"Mother, give me a sitrep, please."

Freshly showered and dressed in new sweatpants, Max was standing near a window, looking down into the brightly lit inner courtyard.

"No incoming transmissions detected. No movement outside, except your own."

"Lu and Molly?"

"Molly opened up as a result of visiting the Garden. They had a long talk which I consider to be highly therapeutic for her. Do you want a brief?"

"No, thanks, I'll let Lu update me on that..." He paused, grabbed a cigarette and lit up. "Mother, what are our chances of finding new people?"

"Extrapolating the current rate of discovery, the Tower will be full in approximately 5 years."

"That's a stretch," he did a quick calculation - the building could host thousands.

"I'm taking the higher than average chance of survivors being women and the human gestation period into account."

Max choked on the smoke and went into a coughing fit. Of course she did. This whole place - Mother included - was designed to save humankind, civilization and the planet. Breeding grounds. Shit.

--//--

They stayed in the canteen for early dinner, Lu demanding Molly eat some mexican veggie mix instead of more sweet stuff.

"No way, girl, you can have carbs for breakfast, fat and proteins for lunch, fibers for dinner. Exercise - every day," Molly didn't stop nodding for a second. "You need some good meat on your bones, build up your muscles - you're too skinny, it's unhealthy. Workout with me at 7, before breakfast." Molly agreed. Lu can be trusted, she decided, and she's willing to take care of me.

After their dinner, girls pulled two bags into Lu's apartment and began trying on everything they've picked, modeling for each other, using Lu's bed as a podium, with lots of giggles and laughs. Finally exhausted, they fell on the bed, dressed in matching skinny jeans and white crop tops.

"Thank you, Lu," Molly said quietly.

"Oh, you're welcome, girl," Lu rolled over on her side, grabbed Molly's shoulders and planted a kiss on her cheek.

Molly shuddered and hid her face in the pillow.

"Aw shit, did I do something wrong? I'm sorry," Lu softly apologized.

"N- No, nothing's wrong," Molly shook her head. "It's just... I forgot what it's like... to be touched out of care... or love," she mumbled into the pillow.

"C'mere," Lu rolled her on her side and wrapped her arm around her waist, spooning her, despite their height difference not being in Lu's favor. "You can always come to me for cuddles, niña..." Molly melted in her arms, blushing and hoping Lu wouldn't notice. They stayed like that for a while, and Lu almost drifted off.

"Do you love him?" Molly asked suddenly.

"I- what?" Lu stammered. Do I, she asked herself. "I used to, you know, in the before-times. We haven't talked for years - before all this happened. Looks like we've managed to stay friends and still care for each other..." And if we are to repopulate the world, monogamy is out of the question, but she didn't say that out loud.

"Good..." Molly whispered. "I want to be friends with you... both of you."

"You already are," Lu hugged her tighter. "And now, my little friend, we need to go to sleep. It's been a long day and it's going to be an early morning tomorrow," she planted a soft kiss on the back of the blonde's head and let her go.

"Yeah," Molly yawned. She stood up, smiling and stretching, pushed her unpacked clothes from the bed into the bag, and grabbing it, headed to the door. "G'night, Lu..."

"Night, Mols."

Now don't fall asleep, Lu, shower first! She forced herself out of the bed and started taking her jeans off.

--//--

Max woke up from a soft knock on the door. Oh, fell asleep in my sweatpants. At least I don't have to dress in a hurry.

"Open," he called hoarsely. The door opened and closed silently, and a couple seconds later Molly tiptoed into the bedroom, dressed in a button down shirt coming down to her mid-thighs, and stopped at his bed. "Hey Mols... what's up?"