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Artificial Beings
Harry was struggling with the puzzle box. She was finding her way around it by feel in the dark with little anticipation she would get it open, after all she'd completely failed to open it on several long evenings spent pouring over it, with the internet to hand for consultation. However there was nothing else she could do, shut up in a box in the dark, being carried out onto the sea. She was also uncomfortably aware of the rumour of weapons' caches sunk in the water of the bay. Weapons packaged up, no doubt, in big long wooden boxes, dropped quietly overboard in the night and the coastguard long trained to turn a blind eye.
Carla had said she would find help and answers if she opened the box, so she fiddled with it in the dark, sliding the edges back and forth, probing the mechanism inside. Next to her Alex stirred. At the same moment she heard one of the boxes on top of them being shifted and the ominous sound of a splash.
"Where?" asked Alex.
"In a box, in the bay, about to be tossed overboard." Harry said curtly, her fingers scrabbled at the levers in the puzzle box.
She heard Alex groan. "Do we have a plan?"
"No."
"Oh."
There was a short pause and she felt Alex turn towards her, his breath on her cheek.
"Are we about to die?" he asked.
Damn Alex and his insistence on asking questions she was working to keep bottled up. Her panicked fingers worked at the box. "Yes," she said shortly.
"You sound cross."
"I'm concentrating." She felt something give in the box. She wished she could see what she was doing.
She felt Alex's hand on her arm. "I'm frightened too," he whispered. "We had some good times though didn't we?"
Harry nodded in the darkness and then realised he couldn't see. "Yes," she said. "Don't want to talk about it though, otherwise I'll start screaming."
The box jolted and swung as someone picked it up. Harry felt the scream rising in her throat anyway. Alex's arm slipped around her waist pulling her close. In her hands the puzzle box clicked, she felt pieces falling away.
They tipped. There was a drop and a splash, water was pouring in around her feet. Light sparked and the box spun in her hands. Alex gasped. Harry grasped the box as the light washed out over them. Tiny sparks spun through the water and air, surrounding her, then the front of the box bowed outwards and they were free. Alex still clung to her as they were buoyed upwards towards the surface of the bay, surround by myriads of tiny mechanical creatures that continued to pour forth from the box clutched in her hand.
Next Square: First Time
Carla had said she would find help and answers if she opened the box, so she fiddled with it in the dark, sliding the edges back and forth, probing the mechanism inside. Next to her Alex stirred. At the same moment she heard one of the boxes on top of them being shifted and the ominous sound of a splash.
"Where?" asked Alex.
"In a box, in the bay, about to be tossed overboard." Harry said curtly, her fingers scrabbled at the levers in the puzzle box.
She heard Alex groan. "Do we have a plan?"
"No."
"Oh."
There was a short pause and she felt Alex turn towards her, his breath on her cheek.
"Are we about to die?" he asked.
Damn Alex and his insistence on asking questions she was working to keep bottled up. Her panicked fingers worked at the box. "Yes," she said shortly.
"You sound cross."
"I'm concentrating." She felt something give in the box. She wished she could see what she was doing.
She felt Alex's hand on her arm. "I'm frightened too," he whispered. "We had some good times though didn't we?"
Harry nodded in the darkness and then realised he couldn't see. "Yes," she said. "Don't want to talk about it though, otherwise I'll start screaming."
The box jolted and swung as someone picked it up. Harry felt the scream rising in her throat anyway. Alex's arm slipped around her waist pulling her close. In her hands the puzzle box clicked, she felt pieces falling away.
They tipped. There was a drop and a splash, water was pouring in around her feet. Light sparked and the box spun in her hands. Alex gasped. Harry grasped the box as the light washed out over them. Tiny sparks spun through the water and air, surrounding her, then the front of the box bowed outwards and they were free. Alex still clung to her as they were buoyed upwards towards the surface of the bay, surround by myriads of tiny mechanical creatures that continued to pour forth from the box clutched in her hand.
Next Square: First Time