Celebrity Problems (Part II)

Now, I know what you’re thinking. 

Murder isn’t technically legal in SkyCity. And to be honest, I wouldn’t know the first thing about how to do it. I mean, I’ve seen tons of gore reenacted in holo-scenes and VR, but those aren’t real bodies. I’ve never seen someone actually kill another human. 

Would I need to chop their head off, or something? And what could I even print up to do that?

Still, there are some things I do know. For example, I know a DozeXⓇ capsule applied to the BSU puts an average-sized human to sleep in under two minutes. Maybe it takes longer for the hulks in Activities, but I won’t have to worry about that. I also know that the skyplatform waste chutes lead down to some distant, contaminated ground level. Trash goes in, never to be heard from again. 

That’s the fate that awaits my dear friend, Lisa010.

What does killing a human matter anyway?

Soon enough, population levels’ll get too low, and the E-Bots’ll release a new generation. There are only a handful of Simon-Victorias left in circulation, and the Maria-Michaels are nearing retirement. Any time a newb gen-year hits the scene, it becomes nearly impossible for the remaining old-heads to stick around without taking a big token loss.

Most of us leave the CDU after our 13 childhood development years with one goal: earn enough tokens to retire at 45, get our UploadIDⓇ, and spend as many catalog years as we can afford as avatars on the SkyWeb. It’s pathetic to keep generating energy after our peak viability age. Especially for a Sector 1 Celebrity. Even my new mentor, Maria001, is cutting it close.

But since our last session, I’ve been wondering: is murder how Maria’s stayed in the 1A Tops for so long? The most valuable en-gen is the kind you can’t generate on feeds, she told me. Considering what the SkyWeb lets us get away with, I can’t imagine her meaning anything else.

So, I’ve already calculated my plan.

Once Lisa and I exit the skypath, I’ll have at least 12 minutes before we meet up with her unfucked charity case. The 5M junction is as big as any other, but most units are residential, so their skypartment could be anywhere. But even if they lived in the farthest corner toward Sector 6, no skypartment is more than a 12-minute walk away from any given skypath exit. 

I’ll just pretend I saw something cam-worthy down a dark alley and get her to follow, graciously letting her ahead of me to share the first glimpse. From behind, I’ll just click the DozeX capsule into place and let it take effect. E-Doses are usually self-applied, so every Battery Storage Unit has an auto-detect feature to make adhesion easier in medical emergencies. She’ll never expect it. No one would waste good tokens to apply a DozeX to someone else’s BSU. 

Of course, the Dose application will register in her VIZ-screen. This means I’ll have to improvise. I’ll probably try to grab her hands behind her back before she turns to question me. I’ve got four gen-years on her, so I should be able to keep her restrained until the Dose takes effect. And since she does her charity work off-feed and I’ve agreed to the same, no one will be watching.

I just drag her sleeping body to the nearest waste chute, and voila. Lisa010 joins her trash-heap brethren at ground level, and I keep my 1G skypartment for another catalog. Easy peasy.

And the Skycitizens in Sector 5, you ask?

Sector 5 is notorious for dead street-cams left unrepaired. And if there are Fivers out there, we probably won’t run into them. Most suffer some kind of cam-phobia or an illness that keeps them unfucked. If they do run channels on the SkyWeb, they’re lucky to have a single follower. 

The ones that place into Sector 6, I hear, are even worse. Mangled faces, brain deficiencies, or some other defect developed in their CDU pods. Still, the Bots still find them worth keeping around to experiment on. Or so the SkyWeb gossip pages tell me.

In the outer-sectors, Skycitizens hide away in their skypartments, scraping by on token donations because they can’t meet their en-gen quotas. Without fucking, they barely post on their feeds. Even if they could, they’d be shunned into negative token ranges for their unpatriotic laziness.

A patriotic Skycitizen is one that generates the most love energy their body can handle in a single lifetime.

Now, I’m about to end Lisa010’s.

I pack light for my trip, expecting it to take a max of three hours. Or at least, I hope it doesn’t take any longer than that. A Scaler from 1C saw my post about volunteering and pinged me for an en-gen collab later this afternoon. Can you believe it? It’s already happening! But it all depends on how quickly I can get Lisa010 out of the way.

If she takes my 1G skypartment in three days, I’ll have only two options. One, live in a transient unit for junction losers who wait until Botech reassignment according to token levels once the next gen-year releases. Or two, I can voluntarily go back to 1H and choose a unit my declining token levels can afford. In both cases, I can kiss any Scaler collabs goodbye.

You have no idea how hard it was to get out of 1H. Keeping up with the trends meant getting into some pretty crazy shit: fucking with assorted appendages and holes; holo-costumes making me fatter, thinner, or with skin like sandpaper or the color purple. In one feed, me and three other users sloppily generated energy in a pool of jellified QuantexⓇ. That series ran for three weeks. Then, the Rich-Claire gen-year was released and no one cared anymore.

I can’t go through that again. But in the loser units, I’m just as likely to earn enough to stay in the Scales as I would be in 1H. Either way, I’m back in the Soup and can kiss any hope of living in the A through G junctions goodbye. But once I kill Lisa010, my life can only get better.

It’s early morning when I meet Lisa in 1M.

The skyshield is still projecting the dark blues of night, though the stars have lost their twinkle. Of course, Lisa010 is already at the meeting point. She waves her stupid, mother-loving hand in my direction, and I try to keep my face from expressing how much I hate her.

As I approach, I hear her grating voice trying to say something to me. I can only catch a few words. “Volunteering.” “Patriotic duty.” “Unfuckers.” And , “Here she comes now!”

Suddenly, I realize she’s not talking to me. Is that unfucked ground-licker posting this live on her feeds? By the time I’m right beside her, the answer to my question is obvious.

“Hey girl! So glad you could join me! We’re broadcasting live from 1M as Jessica128 and I are about to embark on our first unfucker charity shift together. Can you believe it!” She squeals with delight, pulling me in for a hug as her fly-cams circle our heads to capture the moment. 

My jaw clenches.

Bot, how I truly loathe her. 

“H-hey,” I stammer, fighting to keep my rising anger off my face. “I thought today was going to be off-feed.” I have nothing planned: no scripts or highlight reels set up. But even if I did, it would be too late to attempt to post anything about our meet-up now. Any users who might have cared to watch me are already spending their tokens on Lisa.

“Oh, my Bot! I’m so sorry to confuse you,” she replies with a sugary sweetness. “The volunteer sesh stays private, of course, but here in 1M, I wanted to capture our first meeting. I never venture out so far into the Soup, and I thought my viewers might appreciate the newness of it all. When you made such a public request to join me, I guess I thought this was something we both understood.”

The words she uses sound compassionate and remorseful, but I know how her conniving mind works. She’s blaming me. Trying to get a rise out of me. I won’t give her the satisfaction. 

“No, of course,” I laugh, too rigidly, but I can’t take it back now. “So you’ll be live all the way into 5M?” Sweat droplets start forming at my temples and my heart races. Bots please grant me at least 12 minutes of feed silence.

“Bots no. This post is only scheduled to run until we get to the boundary at 4M. The Activities fuckers love any free publicity, but I wouldn’t want to risk exposing Fivers who aren’t prepared for it. That would go against the whole purpose of our mission, don’t you think?”

I grin, and it’s genuine. At least because now I know I’ll still have the chance to Dose this dimwit.

Her interrogation is non-stop.

“How do you keep up your en-gen quotas?” “Who’s been the most fun to collab with?” “What’s your favorite type of fucking?” She swipes her wrist across the skypath entrance undistracted as she peppers me with a thousand questions. Between hating her and trying to be civil for her feed, I can barely keep up as she climbs the skypath tower up to the fast track on the third level.

My answers are brief. Saying too much risks releasing the anger bubbling in my heart. Still, as we catch our feet on the moving walkway and settle into a steady pace with other skypath pedestrians, I try to keep my responses valuable. If nothing else, maybe some viewers will find me more interesting than this dull sister-witch and swap their subscriptions to my feed. 

Then, Lisa010 says something that surprises me: “I was really interested in hearing your perspectives on risks the other day. It was a shame that Maria001 didn’t consider it a topic worth pursuing. I would have liked to hear that conversation between two Scalers.”

Words escape me. My mouth dries up. She knows full well I’m about to lose my skypartment, and yet, she still calls me a “Scaler.” Takes my side against Maria, meant to be 001. “Y-you watch my mentorship series?”

“Of course! Most everyone I know in the Sector 1 Soup watches the Celebrities who break into the Scales. You probably don’t remember me, because I was only just released right before your upgrade, but we lived in the same Junction H neighborhood. I’m sure no Scale Celebrity wants to look back if they can avoid it, but I had hoped you’d notice. I subscribe to all your feeds.”

This must be a trick.

I quickly pull up my list of subs into my VIZ-screen. On every channel, every series, every special guest-spot, there she is: Lisa010. There has to be a catch. Is that how she did it? She followed my every move so she could repeat it herself? Get herself into my skypartment?

“And I’m sorry about the whole skypartment thing. I wish that rising up the ranks didn’t mean someone else had to fall, but it is the way of SkyCity. But you’re Jessica128. I’m sure you’ll figure something out!”

There it is. The false apology. Trying to milk sympathy from viewers, make herself out to be as much of a victim of the system as I am. Groundshit! I cannot let her get away with this!

“Oh, I will,” I smile back, finding my composure now that I realize her game. “I’ve actually got a collab scheduled later this afternoon. A Scaler in C known for risky en-gen in dangerous places. It’s why I wanted to start the conversation with Maria001,” I lie. “I’m just glad someone appreciated it.”

Lisa010 smiles, but her mouth quickly scrunches into a concerned “O.” 

“Bot’s alive, we’re almost here!”

Her eyes glaze over as she goes through the closing production steps of a live feed. “Time sure flies, am I right friends? Now, be sure to tune in later tonight for my reflection series as I unpack today’s experience. Lisa010, signing out. K, byeeee!” She always closes with that same annoying screech of a phrase. It boils my blood enough to commit to what I’m about to do.

She deactivates her feed as we approach our exit into Sector 5. Red, yellow, and green precaution arrows flash in both our VIZ-screens, directing us from the moving walkway and onto the stationary landing pad. From here, we’ll have to descend the tower to one of the local tracks. But before my feet hit the top step, Lisa010 grabs my arm.

“I hope you know I meant it,” she says, pulling me out of the way of the foot traffic veering around us. “It wasn’t just for the feeds. I’ve always looked up to you, Jess. Since my first day out of the Childhood Development Unit. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s like the Bots programmed me this way. Like we were both meant to rise out of 1H together, or…” she pauses, as if thinking to reveal some secret wish, but I can see it in her face when she changes her mind, “Whatever happens, I know you’ll find your place, too.”

As she speaks, her wide eyes glisten. Her voice is soft, just above a whisper. Almost pleading. But her grip on my arm is tight. Too tight. Beneath the shimmering sleeve of my holo-costume, I can see her fingernails digging into my skin; feel them through the spraycoat of my Quantex jumpsuit.

“It’s okay,” I reply, gently prying her hand from my arm and taking it into mine. Then, louder, because I do want any live-streaming passersby to hear, I add, “Your success is all our success. Your en-gen fuels the Bots who drive our best future. And I know you’ll do whatever it takes to serve SkyCity.”

I smile, hopeful my speech serves as an alibi.

Most Skycitizens I know would view a missing user profile, especially a Celebrity, as an opportunity to rise up in the ranks. That is, if they even notice that one of their hundreds of subscriptions is no longer active. But on the off chance that someone were to bother to investigate Lisa010’s disappearance, these will be my last recorded words to her. I couldn’t possibly be the one who disappeared her. 

She seems to accept my compliments without question, a smug smile stretching across her lips. I hear her blabber on as we descend the tower and board the local skypath, but I pay little attention. I’m too busy planning.

I go over the steps in my mind: distract, let her get ahead, click the DoseX into place, and restrain. I just need to come up with something juicy enough for her to get curious. I’ve never been out to Sector 5 before, so I’m unsure what to expect. Maybe some undisposed trash heaps for us to comb through. Or a curious outer-sector catalog product.

With the act now moments away, and my heart pounds in my chest.

Ours is the third exit into 5M. 

We climb down the tower to exit the skypath onto the skyplatform-level. But unlike the junction courtyards in Sector 1, 5M is dark and dreary, with only lamplight illuminating it.

“Now, it says here that my charity client should be just around this corner,” Lisa pulls up a holo-screen that projects from her wrist and hovers over the length of her arm. On one half is a map of this segment of 5M. On the other is her volunteering dashboard. “Skypartment 414, building 5M36. It should only take a few minutes.” 

That’s all I need.

But as we walk, I struggle to find anything distracting. 5M has very little going on. There are no holo-billboards. No adverts featuring Celebrity avatars enacting scenes around the junction. I see one shop in the distance, but its flashing neon sign says only “Clot-ing.” The “h” seems to be broken. Most importantly, however, I see no active street-cams. 

As we approach building 5M36, I start to get nervous. I’m running out of time! I just need something, any reason to keep her from going inside! 

Then, I get my reason. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a figure dart past the back of an alley just beside the building. 

“What was that?” I say, grabbing Lisa by the arm. I grip it as tightly as she grabbed me earlier, emulating the intensity of her words. I’m just like you, I want her to think of me. You can trust me, I want her to sense through my reciprocal show of obsession.

“What? What did you see?” she asks, definitely curious. I furrow my brow to disguise my glee. 

“I don’t know,” I say back, moving away from the 5M36 doors and into the darkness between buildings, dragging Lisa010 behind me. “But it might be worth checking out. They were moving so fast and confidently. I don’t think it was a Fiver.” 

“Where did they go?”  

“Up ahead,” I say as we turn down the alley and crouch down low. My legs scurry in silent crawl, moving quickly so as not to lose my distraction, but keeping quiet to keep it from discovering us first. “There,” I whisper, pulling Lisa close and positioning her in front of me. With my finger, I signal toward a dark figure ducking from shadowed corner to shadowed corner less than 50 paces away. 

“They certainly are taking a lot of trouble not to be seen,” she returns in an equally cautious whisper. “If we can get a little closer, I can scan their SkyWeb profile.” 

She’s hooked, I think with relief. Tip-toing forward, I place a guiding hand on Lisa’s back, trying to urge her to take the lead. My other hand cradles the DozeX capsule in my pocket, waiting for the perfect moment to whip it out and Dose her. But while she matches my pace, she seems hesitant to step ahead. 

Only once we get close enough to see the culprit in person, does Lisa finally take the lead. But at that point, I can’t move. The shock freezes my feet in place.  

“According to my VIZ-scan,” Lisa says, “that’s Maria001! What’s she doing out here?”

TO BE CONTINUED…

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