Jason Luthor - Floor 21

“Okay, but, just so you know, they were literally about to inject me with Creep gunk when the alarms went off.”

“Hey, everything worked out, didn’t it?”

I shake my head. Dad loves me, I’ve never doubted it, but he’s always played it kinda loose. “Yeah. Guess it did.”

“Anyway, how are you feeling? Are you ready to get out of here?”

“Where exactly are we supposed to go if the Creep’s everywhere?”

“I… don’t know exactly. We can’t stay on Floor 1. They’ll come back for you once they’re done pushing back the Creep, and then they’re going to get on with the process of Reinforcement. We have to move you deep, but for now we just need to get you off this floor.”

“Okay, sounds good and everything, but how?”

“Jackie, we’re in a Cleanup closet. At least one kind of one.”

So, Dad’s a pretty smart guy, and it takes me up until that second to realize that there’s a reason he’s hauled me over here. Pro tip? It’s not for the décor. Taking a look over my shoulder, I see that the grate here’s already been popped open. Still, there is a Creep infestation happening. I look from the vent back to him. “Uh, do you really think that it’s safe to go down that way?”

“We know the route the Creep is taking. It’s coming straight up the primary staircase and more than a few old elevator shafts. No sign of intrusion through the vents, though. So far what we’ve been able to determine is that something broke down the old blockades on the stairwell access so the Creep’s got free run through those.”

“Dad… Dad, I really don’t know about this.”

He stares at me for a second, then back to the door. “We can’t go into those halls, Jackie. This is the only way for you. If you see anything suspicious, just come right back. As long as you don’t panic if you do see the Creep, it shouldn’t react to you immediately. It’s psychoreactive.”

“Psycho what?”

“Psychoreactive. It reacts to the psychological state of a person, primarily negative emotions. Fear, sadness, panic—those sorts of things can produce incredibly strong reactions. If you do see anything, just back away slowly and retrace your steps. I promise you, it’ll be okay.”

I mean, he’s probably right. What am I saying? Of course he’s right. There’s no way to go through those halls without Security getting me for sure. At the same time, I just don’t want to be stuck in a tube that could flood up with angry living tissue at any moment. Kinda, you know, one of my peeves. No freaky muscle goop on Jackie. Anyway, he sees I’m hesitating, so he holds up a hand and says, “Okay now, wait. I’ve got it. I’ll go to one of the Security lockers and get a flame gun. That way, if you do see any Creep, you can at least push it back. How does that sound?”

A big hell yeah is what it sounds like. What I actually say is, “Yeah. Okay. Thanks, Dad.”

He takes off through the closet, and I have a few minutes to get myself psyched up. Or at least that’s what I’ve been trying to do. I think it’s working. Talking to this recorder’s helped.

Just got to wait here until I get that flame gun.

If I get through this day, I’ll be happy.

Dad was right. The vents weren’t infested. Floor 4, on the other hand, was just a little bit different a situation.

I pop out into a Cleanup closet on a far end of my wing that I normally don’t go to, which, you know, wouldn’t have been such a problem except for the Creep dripping from the ceilings. And coming out of the ground and the cracks and the elevator shafts. My floor looks nothing like what it normally does. Instead, it looks a lot more like Floor 16 or worse. All the doors are sealed up, and for the first time, I’m asking myself how the heck Dad is ever going to get down here. Between Security and the Creep, he’s going to have to fight through a lot.

Actually, thinking about Dad brings up another question.

Does Mom even know what’s going on?

I mean, right? She’s always so out of it. Is she just sitting at home, eating chocolate bars while the Tower falls apart?

Well, guess there are worse ways to go.

Trying to get back to my room is like working my way through a minefield, except all the mines are made of child-size growths of muscle and tissue. As I dance between all the slime and gunk on my way to my room, I suddenly slip when something grabs my leg and yanks me toward the wall. I turn to see a Creep tendril tightening around my leg until I think my bone’s going to snap. My instinct is to scream, but instead, I douse it with fire. I’m not sure what’s brighter, the flames or my eyes as they light up while the Creep gets scorched. The thing screeches at me with that terrible scream that I must admit I’m getting used to. I’ve heard it enough by now, and really, it’s my life or theirs. Or its.

Whatevs.

I keep sprinting for home. So, this is how you know just how bad it is. As I’m running back, I accidentally dash headfirst into someone from Security. He looks me up and down, says nothing , like he doesn’t even tell me to go to my room, and just runs off. Something big’s going down. Anyway, I know I’m at least safe for the moment. At least, safe from Security. The Creep’s another story.

But with all the distractions, I’m able to find my room. Even with the shutters down outside, my keycard works on the lock access, and I stumble into the living room. Sometimes you’re just grateful for the small things. Like your life.

Anyway, Mom’s there, and for once she doesn’t look either depressed or super insane happy. Actually, she looks kind of worried as she moves over to me. She wraps me up in her arms, and I’m actually a bit, I dunno, concerned . The one thing Mom isn’t is affectionate, or at least she hasn’t been in a long time. Still, I’m just glad to see her, so the least I can do is hug her back. And okay, I’ll admit I’ve kinda missed just hugging Mom. I mean, don’t tell her that. Anyway, she pulls off after a second and looks me over.

“Jackie,” she says, shaking her head, “Jackie, you had me so worried.”

I honestly don’t know what to say. It’s my mom. What do you say to your mom? What do you say to your mom who’s usually so crazy that you never know if she’s going to start crying for no reason? “Sorry,” is the best I can manage to get out. “You knew what happened to me?”

“What do you think I am? Of course, I knew. Do you think I’m oblivious?”

I shrug because… yeah. “Well, lots of times you act like, I dunno, like you’re… weird. Like on drugs or something. It just really throws me off. I mean, that’s understandable, right? I don’t think I’m the crazy one here.”

She holds up a finger to her lips and steps away, moving to the tablets on our counter. She hands me one and starts typing something on hers. It takes just a second, and then she turns it around, showing the screen to me. It reads, “ They listen to this apartment .”

I kinda stare at her for a second, then I look down at my tablet. I get it. I look down and type back on my tablet before turning it to her. Mine says, “ Why? Are you guys important? I thought Dad worked on solar panels .”

She replies, “ Yes, as part of his common job. The same way my common job is to work with the garden. The truth is that he’s the head scientist in charge of researching the Creep. I’m one of the lead chemists that works on Voluptas. Your father spends so much time away from home to avoid monitoring. We don’t talk much because we write to each other. And I act a certain way to make them think I’m high. Because that’s better than being too smart .”