Elizabeth's brow knitted together in frustration as she went through
the bills. "We can't keep up like this. We just can't." As she flipped
the bills aside, head cradled in her hands, one of the envelopes
slapped noisily down on the countertop. Curious, Elizabeth lifted her
head up enough to read the label.
TransDem Labs: CHRONIVAC v. 4.0
Send to: Herbert Fairly
Frustration quickly turned to anger as Elizabeth tore open the small
white envelope to find a CD, USB, and strange black dongle. "Herb!"
she shouted, the words exploding out of her. "Herb, what the hell did
you buy now?!" Herbert had a habit of spending money that he didn't
have. After the lay off, he'd been jumping from one get rich quick
scheme to the other. One week it was a $150 metal detector, the next
it was a $225 dilapidated sailboat that he promised to "flip for easy
money"; his refusal to look for real work was about to have the
utilities shut off.
Herbert stumbled into the room, pajama bottoms still hanging loosely
beneath his stained t-shirt despite the afternoon. His eyes darted
back and forth, already worried about what his wife was going to bring
up now. "Look, I swear I just needed some paint for the schooner. You
have to spend money to make money, right?" Elizabeth's icy glare was
the only rebuttal that she needed. Herbert looked around at the
scattered bills, CD, and envelope with his name emblazoned on the
front. "What's that, some sort of video game?"
"That's what I want to know!" Elizabeth couldn't hold back a moment
longer. "A video game?! Really, Herb?" Herbert tried to object, but
Elizabeth was talking over him. "This is fucking ridiculous! We can't
live like this anymore- I can't live like this anymore! Get
out! Out, dammit!"
"What?" Herbert asked, confused. "Where am I supposed to-?"
"I don't care, Herb! Just get out! I need...," she paused, searching
for the words. "I just need to be alone."
Herbert had seen this coming for some time now. Ever since he lost his
job things had been tense between the two of them. The house had
practically become a warzone and Herb kept trying to
(unsuccessfully) tiptoe around the problem. Now he was faced
with a real problem. He was about to lose his wife unless he made a
change. Herbert grabbed his keys and left, hoping that when he
returned home in a few hours he could find the words to put all this
right.
Elizabeth watched Herbert leave with a heavy heart. He was no longer
the man that she had married. Fresh out of high school they had found
each other and been together since then, some fifteen years later.
Admittedly, back then their relationship was more about hooking up in
the back of Herbert's car and sneaking drinks from Elizabeth's
parents' house. He seemed like a more confident man then, but she must
have been wrong. The world had beaten and battered him and Herbert no
longer mustered the courage to keep up the fight. Elizabeth became the
support that the two of them needed. Of course, Herbert's new
submissive nature carried over into the bedroom, and the once
passionate romps had become awkward and... brief.
"What the fuck happened to us?" Elizabeth sighed, setting her head
back on the counter. A moment passed before she turned her attention
to the CD and its peripherals. With a grunt she picked up the disc and
walked over to their archaic, hand-me-down computer. A moment later,
the screen glowed to life with a command screen.
Name: Elizabeth Fairly
Gender: Female
Age: 34
The list went on with more details about Elizabeth and her life.
Numerous panels filled the sides with drop-down menus reading things
like "Transformations," "Genealogy," and "Spatial
Relations." Elizabeth stared at the screen with a mixture of
confusion and revulsion. "Just what the hell is this? How does this
know all about me?" She clicked around the screen, her fear growing as
she found that the program was shockingly accurate. With a mounting
sense of dread, she found that everything in the program could be
altered, added to, or removed in some way. When she did so, a small
green button appeared to the side that read EXECUTE. She had to
test it, of course. Elizabeth tapped away at the keyboard and paused
as her paused hovered over the button.
*click*