The Gravediggers of Orpheus [19]
A Sci-fi flash fiction
[19]
Everything and everybody were exactly the same, Derek noticed after walking through the hallways of the apartment complex the Gravediggers were housed in. Everybody wore grey or white skin-tight suits. The same kind of suits waited in their apartments. Every member of his crew was shown an identical small apartment, every room equipped with state-of-the-art technologies. Derek grew more suspicious every minute, the same question haunting his mind - where did the Rebels get the money for all of this? The official Government news always showed Rebels as a handful of poorly equipped terrorists. That obviously was a lie, but the question remained - who funded the Rebel forces?!
Jerome entered Derek’s apartment after a short beep of the white door.
“Oh, Sophie? Why are you here? We arranged a special apartment for you and the child on floor 36,” he said staring at Sophie, who had refused to leave Derek’s side.
“The child is named Annouk. I’m staying with my husband. That’s what good partners do - they don’t leave each other.”
Jerome cleared his throat, ignoring her remark.
“You are invited to a special dinner on floor 180. One of our leaders and my superior, admiral Nolan is eager to dine with you. We’re expecting you there in 30 minutes. Your crew and physician are expected as well.”
Sophie gave him an infuriated look. Annouk cried in her arms.
“We’ll arrange an android babysitter for the child.”
Sophie soothed Annouk, turning her back on Jerome.
He went away with the white door swooshing behind him.
“The hell I’m leaving Annouk here with an android,” Sophie grunted. “Maybe doc Liz would look after her? I bet she isn’t eager to dine with some fancy Rebels.”
Derek nodded. He too would rather babysit Annouk, than do some fine dining with Jerome.
***
Twenty-five minutes later Captain Derek, Sophie and the Gravedigger crew went to the elevator, led by one of the android servants hovering around the building.
“Now I know how a pre-wrapped sausage feels… Cap can we take this off?!” Jimmy whined looking down on his body wrapped in the Rebel suit - a fully functioning bionic skinsuit wrapping every patch of the skin like white plastic. Though it controlled the temperature, took vitals and felt like actual cotton, Captain Derek wholeheartedly agreed with Jimmy - the suit felt like a layer of artificial skin, forcefully tugged onto him. Plus, he didn’t like the idea of it measuring his heartrate and other vitals. Where did the information go to?
“I don’t like it either, Jimmy, but we’re guests here, and we can’t attend a welcome dinner in our worn-out uniforms.”
“Yeah, sure, Cap. But it’s not us…”
Though the tight suit definitely looked stunning on Sophie, even she appeared to be uncomfortable.
They rode up and up and entered a large white hall with a huge dinner table. A tall grey man stood up as they entered. Derek saw Jerome standing by his right hand, he was probably the second in command. Some other men and women in military skinsuits stood behind them.
“Welcome, Gravediggers of Orpheus! My name is Nolan, I am one of the supreme leaders of the Rebels. Please, take a seat and let us treat you with the taste of the future,” the man said with his ice-blue eyes squinting in a smile.
Character drive, with the unseen ominous and eminent sci-fi background. Love it. What are the internal world of their minds🤔, what is important in their little worlds of their immediate personal lives, eventually disrupted by the big scary world out there. Thank you, Kathrine Elaine, for this insight in their reality.
Great piece, Katherine.
And... I didn't know Substack could generate images!