The Contagion

Nyxie Phoenix here with a story so dystopian that the slogan "abandon all hope, ye who enter" cannot warn you away enough. Don't read this with ordinary spectacles, you will need goggles like mine and a flask of gin and tonic laced with chamomile to suppress your nerve endings as I relate the tale known to sewer alligators and those who creep about the city at night as, "The Contagion".

 

You're all worried about the coronavirus. Little do you realize it's nothing compared to what's lurking out there.

 

I was a normal girl living a normal life in the city until my phone rang this evening. It was my friend Six, who shares my apartment, and she sounded hysterical.

 

"Nyx, come to the warehouse at White and Fifth. Get my laser gun and radiation detector from under my bed and try to get some holy water or at least rubbing alcohol. It's the big red brick building on the southeast corner. You'll need a good flashlight, there's one in my sock drawer. Don't -- "

 

The line went dead.

 

"Six?" Nothing.

 

Radiation detector? Laser gun? ... Holy water? Six was a pretty sober kind of girl who kept herself to herself but maybe she was into some weird drugs. She sounded very freaked out, though, so I guessed I could at least look under her bed.

 

Sure enough, the gun and detector were there. This was pretty strange. Not being a vampire hunter I didn't have much in the way of holy water but I poured some rubbing alcohol into a bottle. I got the flashlight from the sock drawer. It was small enough to fit in my pocket but had a wide bulb that emitted a high-powered beam. Why did she have all this stuff?

 

Are you really going to do this?

 

I didn't stop to answer myself so I guessed the answer was yes. I grabbed my jacket and went out into the night.

 

The building at the corner of White and Fifth had seen better days. The bricks were dark with grime, the windows shattered. It looked pretty grim under the streetlights. Six hadn't said anything about a way in; surely the doors must be locked.

 

As I surveyed the building something that looked like a pale wisp of smoke moved at top speed across my vision. I blinked and it was gone.

 

Ok, weird.

 

The big doors at the front were chained shut but eventually I found a small door around the back that I could pull open. It was pitch black inside and smelled damp and stale. I switched on my flashlight.

 

Now what?

 

I decided to keep to the wall, not wanting to step out into the middle of the room and lose my bearings. I could hear my breathing and heartbeat. I moved the flashlight in slow, steady sweeps, trying to ignore the whitish wisps that seemed to dance at the edge of my vision.

 

Eventually I worked my way around the room and came to another door. This led to a new room, and when I moved the flashlight it caught a pale thing on the floor. I cautiously moved towards it. It was a crumpled sheet of paper.

 

Shining the light on it, I read:

 

"I know it's already too late. Have to warn about the geists. I don't think anyone will believe how many are already infected. I think they go in through the mouth or nose while we're sleeping but we can also breathe them in while we're awake. The changed ones are cunning and can act human, but they aren't. It spreads through a breath, a kiss, a whisper. I think they emit some low-level radiation I can pick up. It may be the test so we can see who is still human. The infected will have to be cleansed. A spray of holy water might work if they're in geist form and rubbing alcohol seems to deter them, but once they're in a body I think we'll have to go for the kill. I can't reach Control any longer and I don't know if there are other agents in the field. I cannot contain this by myself. Millions may already be infected, maybe governments and military. I may have to reach out to"

 

That was all there was.

 

I wondered if this was a setup. Was I being filmed on hidden night vision camera for some stupid ghost-hunting show or was this a unique invitation to some rave? Was Six mentally ill or --

 

Again the whiteness hovering in my peripheral vision. I turned my head. Nothing there.

 

This was crazy, but I was really spooked. Alone in a dark warehouse at night, who wouldn't be?

 

And where was Six?

 

I put the paper in my pocket and kept moving through a series of doors until I saw light shining under one of them. Who was inside? Dared I go through? It was the only way to find out and I opened the door.

 

I squinted at the light in the room, as my eyes were used to the dark. There was a desk with a computer, a few chairs, some boxes of equipment and a few techie things around the room I didn't recognize. And at the desk sat Six. She turned and smiled.

 

"Hi Nyx," she said.

 

"What the hell, Six? What is this place? Why are you here? Why did you call me?"

 

Six laughed.

 

"Sorry to upset you. Actually I'm working on something for my company. It's a kind of game, you know Pokémon Go? Well, a bit like that, but more of a scavenger hunt in meatspace. It doesn't really use phones except for the initial contact, but there are some special effects we rigged in the destinations. I don't know if you noticed some pale apparitions when you came in?"

 

"You brought me out here just for a game? Are you crazy? I thought something was really wrong! And that crazy list of stuff --"

 

Six looked apologetic. "Sorry Nyx. I just wanted to test the initial concept. It's still pretty roughly worked-out, and of course the things you brought were just props. I thought you'd see the funny side. It'll be pretty exciting when we get it to the beta stage. Meanwhile, I think I have a flask of gin somewhere. Let's have a drink and then we can go home together."

 

She got busy with the flask and a bottle of tonic. Watching her, I felt something stirring in my mind. She was so easy, so relaxed, nothing like the tone of her phone call, nothing like the controlled panic of the paper I'd found. Her story didn't match what I'd read.

 

Was Six lying to me?

 

She held out a drink. "Sorry it's warm. You aren't still mad, are you?"

 

I forced a smile. "You scared the hell out of me, Six. I hope this game's going to be worth it."

 

"It'll go viral," said Six, and the ghost of a smile crossed her lips. For a minute I was scared to taste the drink -- was she going to poison or drug me? -- but I needed that drink right now. I took a sip and it seemed fine.

 

Six was watching me. Did she suspect something? I hadn't mentioned the paper to her and I realized I wasn't going to.

 

"Cool special effects," I said, trying to sound natural.

 

"Yup," said Six. "We're proud of them. Here, try these." She handed over some goggles.

 

I put them on and nearly jumped out of my skin. All around us, flying through the air, were.... things.

 

They were wispy like smoke, pale in colour, but had what looked like faces which kept shifting and re-forming. Their expression was malevolent and as they darted around the room they cast glances at me out of shadowy eyes. I ripped the goggles off my face and they vanished.

 

"You can see them a little without goggles if the room's very dark, but if it's lit up you need them," said Six.

 

"Are they some kind of computer generated projection?" I asked.

 

"Something like that," said Six. "Anyhow, I guess I've worked late enough tonight. Let's get home."

 

On the way home I kept thinking I saw flashes of light at the corners of my eyes. Six went straight to her room after we got in. I asked her if I could keep the "props" as souvenirs and she hesitated, but then she said, almost to herself, "Why not? It's not as if you know how to -- it's not as if you can do any harm with them."

 

I'm sitting in my room now. I'm very scared. I don't know what to do.

 

I believe the paper. I believe Six was trying to contact me and she wrote that note and then something happened to her. Like she said, "they go in through the mouth or nose.... we can breathe them in".

 

Six is infected.

 

I can't trust her. She's pretending everything's all right. But this is no game. I've seen the -- geists? How many have they infected already? Governments and military, she wrote. If that's true, this could be the end of the human race.

 

I'm sitting on my bed with the lights out. I'm writing this on my phone. I'll try to get it up on the Net somewhere. I haven't seen any white wisps but I can't be sure. I can't go to sleep or they may get me. I saw Six put the goggles in her pocket. Maybe I'll sneak out and try to steal them. Then I can see them with the lights on. I'll sprinkle myself with the rubbing alcohol and I'll try to figure out the radiation detector. I'll try to make it through the night.

 

But then what? Who can I tell? Who can I trust?

 

Something white just flashed past the corner of my eye. This may be my last moment of being human. If you are reading this, protect yourself. Get a radiation detector. Get holy water. Arm yourself. Don't go to sleep.

 

May we all make it through somehow. This is Nyxie Phoenix saying good night and goodbye.

 

The End

 

 

 

Done