ER: Dark Tetrad

Dark Tetrad

It’s a quiet day on the island. The sun is out. The winds are down. Not much is going on. There is too little funding at the moment to gate or time travel. Everyone has a bit of free time.

Alexis and Anne Marie are lying on pool chairs up on the plateau. Holly is in the distance shuffling around her track. Anne Marie finishes her frantic typing on her keyboard and leans over to play what she has typed for Alexis.

“What?!” Alexis says, ripping the ear buds out of her head. “Are you trying to say something, my voiceless little truffle butter cup?”

Anne Marie rolls her eyes and restarts the text-to-audio program. A pleasant female voice flows from the computer speakers. “There is an interesting article about someone who studies nasty personality types - people who are born with strong components of narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and ‘everyday sadism’ in their personalities. These types of people seem to make an effort to cause pain for others all for their own pleasure. Apparently, people with these traits seem to be night owls. I’ve noticed that you are working all hours of the night and sleeping in late. Hmm… I wonder...”

Alexis sits up and reaches over to the end of Anne Marie’s pool chair where she picks up a remote. After studying the remote for a moment, Alexis begins to pound repeatedly on a button shaped like an up arrow. A garbled grunt echoes from the far side of Holly’s track. Alexis looks up, and sees Holly stumbling over to a nearby boulder and leaning against it. Alexis repeatedly presses a down arrow shaped button and casually tosses the remote back onto Anne Marie's pool chair.

“I wouldn’t say that I’m any more sadistic than anyone else around here,” Alexis says as she sticks the ear buds back in her head and closes her eyes.

Holly continues to lean against the rock in the distance. She seems to be breathing hard.

<>--+-

Deep underground Lilith turns down the Jesca Hoop song that is playing and looks over at Amy. They are sitting by a window through which a human shaped raggedy doll is lying in a bed. It is Nikki, their latest retrieval.

“That ‘Plastiflesh Super Glue’ is some fiendish stuff. I don’t know if we’ll be able to get that reddish canvas material off of her skin. And, it covers her eyes, so…” Lilith explains to Amy. “But, Alexis hacked the ear phones, so we know she should be able to hear us. There is nothing keeping her from talking, but she still hasn’t made a sound. She seems to be catatonic.”

Amy wraps an arm around Lilith then grasps her wrist and pulls her gently towards the door. Lilith resists at first, but then looks at Amy who is now using her hands to signal that Lilith should get some rest. They leave the room and turn out the lights but turn up the Jesca Hoop song. “...Take off your sweater to earn your varsity letter. It’s a virgin feast for all…” Inside the darkened room, Nikki the Doll Girl’s foot begins to tap in time with the song.

<>--+-

Even deeper in the depths of the mansion, in a spare room, in a small, well secured cage, a woman sits up suddenly and states “They are not just places… Rio… Somewhere in England…” syryn wraps her small hands around the bars. “They’re the names of albums! Both from the 80’s. But… What could this mean?”