In this chapter: Ana moves out. Jessica acknowledges her growth as a person, but not before she makes a tiny discovery. Miranda breaks down after being reminded of some of her deadly mistakes. Miranda makes a desperate plea to save her city.
Day 308 – Anastazja
“Miranda… come on, don’t you want to at least say bye to Ana?” Jessica prodded, knocking the side of her hand a few times on Miranda’s closed and locked bedroom door.
“Yeah… yeah, I do, just give me a minute” Miranda’s quiet, muffled response could barely be heard from behind the door as Jessica noticed a shuffling sound approaching, Jessica backed away and stepped into the living room. Ana herself, was waiting in the living room with a few large cases of packed-up luggage, her bedroom behind her totally emptied out just as Lacy’s was down the opposite hallway. Ana loudly sighed as Miranda turned the corner and into her view, so many thoughts came rushing through Ana’s head, but her stoic expression didn’t match the intense emotions she was feeling within herself.
“Hey…” Miranda anxiously said, scooting passed Jessica into the open area of the living room, standing in between the two girls.
“Uh… hey?” Jessica questioned, subtly mocking Miranda.
“Ana…” Miranda said, turning her attention towards her towering former friend, her voice heavy with anxiety and regret. Ana curled her lips, her hands across her chest as she stood behind her suitcases and luggage, Ana with a disinterested vibe and obvious body language to match; she barely wanted to see Miranda, but at least wanting to be somewhat respectful of a goodbye to someone she had used to spend so much time with. Jessica following behind Miranda and leaning against the armrest of the couch next to Ana at her side as if it were two against one.
“Aww… are you two gonna finally have your moment?” Jessica emphatically teased with a small laugh that she attempted to mute by covering her mouth with the side of her hand. Miranda, unwavering, not acknowledging Jessica’s snide remarks as Jessica tilted her head in confusion and crossed her arms over her lap, expecting some type of desperate rebuttal from Miranda, but Jessica could feel the tone was different, Miranda’s preppy and entitled attitude was seemingly extinguished, she looked paler, more tired, sad, even to Jessica. Jessica wondering in quiet contemplation for a moment at why Miranda seemed so lethargic and different in both appearance and mood before her voice cut her thoughts short.
“Ana… I…don’t…” Miranda began to speak as she slumped her shoulders, dragging her words as she struggled to think of the right words to say. Miranda looked down towards her feet almost as if she were overcome with shame, Ana staring down at her. “I was a terrible friend, but…” Miranda said as she sniffled, not being able to make eye contact with Ana as Jessica watched from the couch in silence.
“I just wanted you to be there” Ana said, her tone lightening up as she uncrossed her arms, resting them atop one of her luggage cases.
“You deserved better, like… so much better, I’m so sorry, I should have paid attention to you when you needed me, but you know I can’t forgive you for what you did to my people, squishing them like that was wrong and you know it hurt me…” Miranda said, wiping her nose a bit, trying not to show she was on the verge of tears, Jessica not being able to tell if they were tears of anger or sadness. Ana’s shook her head a few times in disappointment.
“Why are a few squished tiny people more important than us being friends, Miranda? That is all I ever wanted to know” Ana asked with a hushed tone, her words flustered. Miranda looked to her side, her mouth curling upward as she fought off tears, Miranda remaining quiet for a moment.
“Ooo… I want to know why, too” Jessica curiously chimed in. Miranda picking her eyes up towards Jessica as she expected Miranda to peer at her angrily, instead Miranda still looked so distraught and lost as Jessica lowered her brow in bewilderment, usually Jessica would take pleasure in seeing Miranda so defeated looking, but not when it was out of her control.
“I don’t know…” Miranda sheepishly said as Ana hmphed.
“Do you really have nothing to say for me?” Ana frustratingly asked. Miranda stood in the silent but tense room for a few seconds in thought.
“Because… like, they’re easy, I guess… it’s easy for me to take care of them, it was my distraction from all the real problems I had… including the problems you had, I like, had control over something in my life and didn’t have to think about anything else, but now… I… never mind… I can’t say” Miranda said, dismissing her own words, the lump in her throat only growing as she felt overwhelmed, feeling hot in her face as she brought her hands up to carefully wipe away a few tears from her eyes, Ana shook her head disappointingly.
“Goodbye, Miranda…” Ana said, taking a few small steps up to Miranda and wrapping her long arms around her back, pulling her in for a tight, warm hug. Miranda hugging back just as tightly as she sniffled. Jessica could tell Miranda wanted to say more, but she held her tongue, something else was amiss in her head. Ana gently released her grip on Miranda, showing her a small, forced smile.
“Bye, Ana” Miranda said, waving a few fingers bye and smiling as best as she could through her tired and stressed eyes.
“You ready?” Jessica asked as she dangled her car keys.
“Yeah… I am done here” Ana sullenly said, gripping onto her luggage handles and walking out of the front door as Miranda watched from just around the corner of the hallway. Miranda retreated to her room to watch from her window as Jessica and Ana stepped onto the street below towards the car. Miranda crouching on the far end of her window, giving herself as much distance as she could from Ashton City, taking Sabine’s threats seriously and not wanting to see another fireball of orange and black erase part of her beloved city, taking more of her people away from her without being able to intervene.
Jessica helped load Ana’s luggage into the back of the car, Jessica then turning her key as hot air blasted throughout the car, taking a minute to switch back to cold air before turning the air down with a few presses of a button on her steering wheel, the hip hop music overtaking the sound of the vents as the pair drove down the highway towards the airport, “I am not mad anymore, I think…” Ana said.
“Are you sure? She basically just said your problems never mattered, that her micros were always more important to her, at least, that’s how I understood it” Jessica pointed out, Ana sighed, staring off and out of the window.
“Yeah maybe… but I look at things this way, yes? I will probably never see Miranda again in person, it is over, no more tiny people, no more hate, no more anything… just… home… my old friends, my sisters, my mother, my streets, my foods…” Ana said, relaxing her posture further into Jessica’s leather seat.
“Yeah, sometimes you just need to go home, girl…” Jessica said. Half an hour later, Jessica pulled her car up to the side of the curb as dozens of other passengers were unloading, hugging, saying goodbye, and scurrying off into the airport.
“Thank you, Jessica, for showing me… everything” Ana said with a wide smile.
“Someone had to show you how to have fun, I just wish we could have been friends so much earlier… all that shit when we first moved in ugh… haha! I remember you hating me so much, too, fuck… I remember wanting to slap you right in your freckled face for squishing my army when they were beating Miranda’s… but it turns out you helped me win and I got to stay in the apartment anyway… if you didn’t then… I wouldn’t have gotten to know you” Jessica said, sharing a laugh with Ana.
“I helped you when I did not want to, but then you helped me when I needed it, you are a nicer person than you think, Jessica, but… eh… still a bitch, but you are my bitch, as you would say” Ana giggled as Jessica smirked. The two exited the car as they stood about the bustling airport drop-off area, Ana unloaded her luggage, standing them upright behind her.
“So… I guess have a safe flight, I’ll miss ya, girl” Jessica said, hugging onto the imposing figure of Ana.
“I will miss you, too” Ana said, hugging Jessica back.
“I’ll see you again… I’ll figure out a way to get you to Los Angeles… but yeah, no crying” Jessica said as she let go of Ana.
“No crying… bye, Jess” Ana said with a smile as she turned and headed inside of the terminal.
Anastazja caught a few stares from the airport-goers as her tall figure strode through the security checkpoints after dropping off her larger cases to the clerk at the counter, annoyed that she had to take off her shoes in the security line as she wiggled her sock-covered toes into the cold, flat flooring. Ana slipped her shoes back on as she casually walked over to her gate, sitting down in a seat away from the bigger crowds and listening to some calming music before boarding, watching people walking to and from their gates, some with food in hand, others dragging kicking and screaming kids. Ana wiggled her way down the aisle of the smaller plane, squeezing into her seat at a window behind the wing.
She watched the ground shrunk smaller and smaller as the plane lifted off into the sky, seeing the tiny towns and cities scattered across the land turn into grey, green, and brown patches, reminding her so much of the rug country she had on the floor of her bedroom when she first moved in, Ana hmphed a bit at the sight. Ana slid the window cover shut, darkening her row as she tried to drift off into a nap, listening to the low hum of the plane’s engines just under the volume of her music.
An announcement sounded over the speakers as the pilot stated that the plane would shortly be arriving in New York City, Ana awoke excited to finally lay eyes on one of the places she dreamt of seeing as a young girl, she slid the cover back open, letting the bright sunlight in which made the passengers sat next to her wince a bit at the sudden change in brightness, but Ana only saw the blue darkness of the ocean in the distance below her, disappointed that she was on the wrong side of the plane for the view of the city she wanted.
Ana waited at her next gate, grabbing a quick bite at a snack kiosk before she boarded her next plane, this time, walking onto a jumbo jet with the view of New York City at her new window seat, Ana smiling as the plane circled the city so high above as the buildings grew smaller and smaller as the plane finally turned north, the view of Manhattan and its glowing buildings rotating under her view as Ana relaxed in her seat, her long legs extended as far as she could as she released a pleasant sigh of relief that her time as an exchange student was over, as if her regrets were washing away.
Anastazja knew the rest of her life was ahead of her, knowing she was destined for success, she slumped further down into her seat, resting her forehead against the window, her green eyes watching as the one of the biggest concrete jungles in the world slowly drifted out of her view. Ana listened to her favorite classical music as the plane’s four engines hummed. Ana played with the thought in her head… what if New York City was shrunken in her room instead of that filthy rug… a subtle smirk curled her lips as she slipped into a daydream on her long way back home…
*** *** ***
Day 309 – Jessica
Jessica yawned atop her bed under her soft, warm sheets, the apartment much quieter with two people moved out, and Miranda hardly came out of her room anyway, not even wanting to exercise, or even barely to make herself food, Jessica notice. She had free reign to move about the apartment without having to encounter the woman she saw as a bratty prude, but Jessica also knew her time in the apartment was winding down, already making her plans to go back home to California, using her extra money from all the micros she sold to book a first class plane ticket to Los Angeles and hiring a company to move her things and her car back to the big city as making another long drive all the way across the country didn’t seem worth the effort.
Jessica opened her phone and replied to a few texts from her mom, Lacy, and some friends scattered across the country, still waiting on a message from Ana, but she must have been traveling still, Jessica thought. She then began scrolling through a few social platforms, dropping a few likes and comments on some of the girls from the sorority until she came across a post from her former sorority friend, Ashley, it was a selfie, Ashley taking a picture of herself in her car, the post barely having any likes or comments as Jessica smiled and shook her head at the pathetic post for attention, tapping on her profile and blocking her so that she would never see her again.
She closed her phone and sat it on her nightstand, sprawling out across her bed as she let out a pleasant hum, closing her eyes and resting for a few extra minutes on the lazy, weekend morning. After nearly falling back asleep, Jessica shook herself out of the relaxing, dull haze and proceeded to ready herself for the day. Jessica finished applying her makeup and adjusted her summer outfit in the reflection of the mirror before she thought of her appearance as acceptable enough to her high standards.
Jessica went to her closet, realizing that she had left the light on for Toy Town during the night, she rolled her eyes as she bent down at grabbed a pair of flat sandals from off her shoe-rack, dangling the sandals just over the remaining skyscrapers of the city and tossing them down at her feet and sliding her wriggling her toes and soles across the surface before closing the door and exiting into the living room.
“Oh my god, you’re actually alive” Jessica teased as she saw Miranda in the kitchen.
“Hey Jess… just you and me now, huh? Hehe” Miranda said with a forced chuckle, her tone still riddled with an obvious depression. Jessica gritted her teeth, trying to decide if she wanted to be cordial or not.
“Yeah, almost poetic… What’s wrong?” Jessica asked. Miranda looking up from the kitchen sink surprised at the question.
“Why are you asking me?” Miranda asked.
“You just seem… off… you know what? Forget it, I’m leaving to get food and moving stuff” Jessica said, twirling her keys as she walked across the living room.
“No… it’s just weird that you ask” Miranda said, Jessica stopping just by the front door.
“Why is it weird? Jessica asked.
“Uhh… because you never like… talk to me?” Miranda questioned.
“Fine then, don’t tell me” Jessica said, slamming the front door behind her. She drove off into town for a quick bite at a café by the local mall. Jessica scrolled through her phone periodically while eating her small plate of food, annoyed at Miranda, but for different reasons than usual. Jessica drove to a hardware store next to the mall, buying a few empty boxes and having one of the younger workers put it in her expensive car for her as she politely thanked him.
Later, Jessica returned to the apartment, carrying a few of the small, flattened boxes upstairs with her and opening the door, the cold air from the A/C hitting her warm skin immediately as being outside, even for such a short amount of time, made her sweat a bit in the hot, southern summer heat. Miranda was in the living room, but tried to retreat into her bedroom quickly after catching Jessica’s eye, “where are you going?” Jessica asked, laying the boxes down against the wall in the hallway.
“My room?” Miranda dismissed.
“Ugh… obviously” Jessica said with attitude.
“Oh my god, what do you want from me? You never talk to me, you hate me, you fed micros to me… you pretended to be friends with me just to torture a bunch of tinies while I was back home for my family emergency, now suddenly you want to ask what’s wrong like you actually, like… care about me?” Miranda said, exploding in anger towards Jessica who reared her head back in shock at the sudden outburst.
“Jesus… calm down, girl” Jessica said.
“Calm down… calm down… Yeah! Okay! Here, I go calming down” Miranda shouted, throwing her arms up in the air and mimicking Jessica’s words.
“God damn, what crawled up your ass, Miranda? You’ve never acted like this before no matter how bad we were” Jessica said. Miranda huffed, breathing heavily through her nose before she suddenly burst into tears and folded her hands over her face to try to hide her embarrassment, Miranda was a psychological mess, her moods swinging all over the place as she quickly retreated into Lacy’s old bedroom instead of her own, closing the door behind her as Miranda collapsed onto the empty bed to be alone. “Um… okay?” Jessica said aloud in the living room with a confused look as she picked up her boxes and went back into her own bedroom, closing the door behind her.
Jessica laid the boxes on the floor and grabbed her desk chair, pulling it up to her closet door, reaching for the knob and swinging it wide open as she sat down in the chair in front of Toy Town, the tiny metropolis beneath her as Jessica scanned her vision across the floor. Jessica slid her feet out of her sandals and buried her toes into the sand that engulfed the carpet of the closet and surrounded her tiny little city. The sand immediately sticking to the soles and toes of Jessica’s sweaty feet as she wriggled her toes further into the cool, powder-like substance, kicking up a small sand cloud as it wafted towards the city, sweeping across all the remaining and still standing structures and streets as the tinies took shelter indoors to avoid the blinding gust littered with sand.
Jessica dragged her feet further into the sand as her movements lifted mountain-sized dunes of sand, collapsing and folding between the gaps of her toes until she settled her feet right in front of the outskirts of the city. The scent of her feet drifting into the nearest neighborhoods that were mostly unoccupied as most of the citizens, former slaves, had retreated into the denser parts of the city, even after Ana’s finger rampage weeks prior. Jessica sighed as she scanned the city for collections of her speck sized people, but they were hard to pick out with so few left alive.
“I honestly don’t know what to do with you all…” Jessica said, wiggling her toes as sand cascaded off them and poured into the neighborhood streets, burying houses under mounds upon mounds, swallowing cars whole, the streets disappearing as Jessica didn’t even notice. “I was going to use you all to mess with Miranda… but… something just doesn’t feel right about doing that, god… I mean look at me, I’m your goddess talking to you all like you even had a choice anyway” Jessica chuckled to herself. “I’m gonna start packing up my things, I’m leaving to go home soon” Jessica said as she hmphed, curling her toes a bit as more sand fell off her toes, engulfing the neighborhoods further.
“I thought about leaving you to be found by the next girl who takes my room after I move out, but it would be easy to crush you all, so I have space to move all of my things without having to step around you… I don’t know… I used to not even think about this kind of decision… take it as a sign of my maturity over the last year, so much has changed for me and this only prolongs your pathetic lives, so you’re lucky to even be able to just listen to my voice right now” Jessica said as she peered down at the city just in front of her toes.
“Nobody would miss you if I just started stomping right now, but…“ Jessica sighed, placing her hands on her exposed thighs as she wiggled her toes once more, further burying entire neighborhoods under the cascading dunes of sand running off her toes as houses started to collapse under the increasing weight. “I’ll start packing my clothes and shoes and see how I feel after…” Jessica said as she stood up, she took a few steps back into her room, wiggling her toes into the carpet as she wiped her feet a few times against the fibers, brushing off the excess sand as she stepped back in and started to remove her clothes from off the hangers high above the city.
After a little while, Jessica had removed all her clothes from the hangers, leaning into the closet as to not get anymore sand on her feet, she had laid all her clothes atop her bed as she returned, pair by pair, she removed her heels, sneakers, sandals, and everything else, working her way down to the last few pairs closest to the far wall of the closet. Jessica reached down and picked up a fancy pair of red heels by their straps, “ah… I remember these, I’m sure you all do, too” Jessica giggled, dangling the heels directly over downtown, Jessica remembering what it used to be like to hear their squeaks of screams being loud enough, but that disappeared a long time prior. “These are the stilettos I used to crush your military haha!” Jessica laughed, picking up the heels up to her face as raising it above her head, dangling the heels with her fingers as she looked at the bottoms, “oh wow, you can actually still see some of the dried blood and little mashed tanks and stuff” Jessica said as she poked her nail at a flattened tank stuck to the bottom of her right heel, barely touching it as it crumpled off of the heel and crashed into the carpet next to Jessica’s toes, “whoops” Jessica said, giggling as she carried the heels away.
Jessica returned once more as the closet already looked a little more spacious, realizing how big the city actually was at that moment now that there weren’t massive shoes dwarfing the perspective of its size. Jessica looked at the last pair of heels, reaching down and picking up the strappy, pink platforms that she hadn’t worn that entire year, dangling the shoes upward before something caught her eye, “What the fuck is that?” Jessica questioned, tossing the heels behind her as they thudded and crashed into the carpet by her bedroom door.
Jessica bent downward, burying a knee into the sand as she lowered her face above the strange sight, “is… is that a little town or something?” Jessica asked, wincing her eyes to focus her vision, the little huts and shacks becoming clearer in her view. “Haha, oh my god, it is!” Jessica said excited, bringing her hand over her mouth as she tried to hide her amazement. “You guys were really living under my heels this whole time? “Jessica asked. “I mean, really? You didn’t think something like this would eventually happen? That’s just dumb… that honestly lets me know you’re too stupid to let live… I mean, I guess I don’t blame you though either, you’ve been hidden away this whole time without me finding you, it worked… at least until now…” Jessica said with a smirk as she stood up to her full height and hovered her toes over the tiny colony…
*** *** ***
Day 309 – Toy Town
Asif watched from his abandoned building downtown as the goddess began removing all her clothes and shoes from the walls. The closet seemed even more massive than ever before now that the walls were mostly free of the goddess’ clothing, he noticed as he tried to tune out the booming words of Jessica rolling throughout the city, nearly shaking his bones. Asif began to run as fast as he could back to the colony, knowing deep down that it was only a short matter of time before the goddess would discover the under-heel village he had been living in. Asif wagering his life on the belief that Jessica would crush the colony upon its discovery, Asif so desperately wanting to die that he made his way back as fast as he could just for the chance to finally be rid of the personal hell, heaving and struggling to keep a steady pace as the goddess kept reaching over him and plucking shoes above the city and out of view.
The goddess paused to talk about her red heels, and she was right, Asif remembered them well, if he had not hidden from the military, there was a good chance he, himself, would have been flattened by the red heels almost a year prior, but back then, Asif had hope and a deep will to live and persist. Asif was probably less than a mile from the colony as the goddess’ hands descended once more onto the pink heels that had been keeping him and his village safe until they were picked up and into the sky. Asif heaved heavily, slowing his pace as sweat poured down his face, his heart beating out of his chest as he struggled to fill his lungs, but he knew he would find relief from everything if he just kept going.
Asif could hear the words boom above him, but he was too focused on getting into the village to understand what she was saying, suddenly a huge, looming shadow was darkening his sky, the shadow moving underneath him towards the village in the distance as he still was too far away, but her toes came into his view, her light-brown flesh lowering slowly as he saw dozens of his neighbors running in every direction with horrified looks on their face, huts exploded as her toes and sole made contact with the floor, hearing the disgusting squishes of people as they screamed out for help before they were instantly silence from her skin compressing into the floor, Asif tripping to his knees from the vibrations of her impact, the entire village wiped out as he had nothing to do but stare up at the mile-long sole twisting and grinding everything he had left into a fine paste under her toes, following her shapely legs all the way up to the view of her face with that familiar twisted, evil grin of her enjoying taking the lives of his friends…
*** *** ***
Day 309 – Jessica
Jessica twisted the ball of her foot one last time into the carpet where the hidden village was, picking up her foot as a few loose pieces of debris trickled off her skin, she took a step back, wiping away the debris and squished bodies into the carpet behind her with a few lazy scrunches of her toes until she didn’t feel anything sticking to her soft skin. Jessica relished that old familiar feeling of dominating her people, feeling their pathetic bodies crush and break under her with such little effort, Jessica couldn’t help but feel giddy, the pleasant feeling working its way through her body like a jittery sugar rush, smiling wide as she stared back down towards Toy Town. “I know you all saw that… how easily I can change my mind about crushing you all, I wouldn’t feel bad at all is the thing, the old me would have moved onto downtown for more fun… but… I’ll let you live for now, I have one last thing in mind… one last chance for you all to make yourselves useful to me, think about that while I’m gone…” Jessica said as she slowly closed the door, playfully waving her fingers bye at the city before closing the door shut and returning to her packing.
*** *** ***
Day 311 – Miranda
Miranda sat in her bed, curled up against the wall, hugging her legs as she stared off towards Ashton City across her room, Miranda’s eyes were tired, her arm still sore, her hair in a messy bun, and her skin losing its olive perfection. It was later in the night as the desk lamp glowed over the city; the window blinds closed on the wall next to the desk. Miranda sat in silence, her phone at her side as she wore baggy sweatpants and a loose t shirt. Miranda thought about asking Sabine for permission to turn off the desk lamp for the night and then quickly slamming her hand into the military base, giving Sabine no time to react, saving her city from the bombs, turning control over the city back to herself, but Miranda knew it would likely cause collateral damage to the innocent people of the city who knew nothing of the tense situation, Miranda sniffled a bit atop her bed as the stress and depression consumed her thoughts.
Her phone vibrated as Miranda wiped her nose and kicked her legs off the edge of the bed, dangling her fuzzy sock covered feet over the carpet as she held her phone on her lap. “You may turn the desk lamp off now” Sabine typed. Miranda got up, stretching her hand over the city and towards the lamp, clicking off the switch as the city glowed in the dark room, Miranda went back to her bed, washing out the idea of slamming her hand into the base, she just simply couldn’t do it without feeling like she would kill thousands of others, if not more. Miranda huddled up against the wall once more as she picked up her phone.
“Can you at least tell me if the people are doing okay?” Miranda replied.
“Oh, you feel like talking tonight, do you?” the reply came back quickly.
“Just a yes or no, please, just give me that much” Miranda replied.
“How about we play a game instead?” Sabine suggested.
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea” Miranda typed.
“Do you need to be reminded of what happens if you don’t do what I say?” Sabine replied.
“Okay, you fucking psycho! What game?” Mirada typed; her face angry as tapped on her phone screen.
“It’s called, Do You Remember?” Sabine replied, Miranda shook her head atop her bed as she looked at the message, her look of anger turning into confusion as she winced her eyes at the sickening feeling building up in her body. “Let’s start! Almost a year ago, Ashton City showed up in your room, do you remember the first thing you did to us?” Sabine asked.
“No…” Miranda sheepishly responded.
“You crushed an entire neighborhood with your finger, thousands of people gone in an instant, including my own family, which you never seemed to feel too badly about… okay, let’s try another question… do you remember Major Matheson?” Sabine typed. Miranda’s lips quivered as she remembered that first day, thinking that Ashton City was simply a toy set, how the people must have saw her as such a monster, but she went along with Sabine’s twisted trip down memory lane, wanting to keep her people safe from Sabine triggering any more bombs.
“Yes…” Miranda replied.
“Great! Remember when he was the guy in charge of the city, he committed suicide when he found out his young daughter died in the riots back in the earlier days… the same riots that caused you to subject innocent people to painting your nails with Ana, hundreds died that day, too…but at least your nails looked pretty! right?” Sabine typed as Miranda looked up towards the ceiling, resting her head on the wall, her eyes had been sore from so much crying.
“I remember…” Miranda typed as she shook her head in disgust.
“Pink is such a good color for you… Oh! Captain Sellers… she was nice to you, I remember helping her use the communication terminal with you… you made her fight in a war with Jessica’s city, I don’t think you realize how selfish that was… you sent thousands of soldiers to their deaths all so you could attempt to teach Jessica a lesson, really? How do you not feel like the biggest piece of shit that has ever existed? Think of all those young men and women, watching their friends get shot or blown up, then suddenly, they’re crushed underfoot because your giant beast of a friend couldn’t let your ego go to waste” Sabine typed.
“I do feel like a piece of shit, I’m still so sorry about it, I didn’t know better a year ago…” Miranda typed.
“You’re a terrible fucking person, Miranda, I saw the videos of you spilling boiling coffee on people, the screams as they burned alive trying to get their friends and family to safety… your little goodnight kiss when you were drunk, demolishing an entire city block saturated with people, I see you for what you are, an entitled, murdering princess… using people for your own pleasure when you can’t sleep at night… you monster” Sabine typed as Miranda burst into tears, collapsing into the pillow of her bed as her moans and wails coming from her mouth were muffled into her soft pillows.
Miranda continued to sniffle and sob into her pillows as she felt hot and flush. Sabine smiling in her bunker. After a few minutes, Miranda picked up her head, wiping her nose, clearing her throat a few times and picking up her phone.
“I know it’s all my fault” Miranda typed.
“How about this, I’ll let you rummage through the city to find my bombs, how many lives will you end just doing that as you pick through buildings and neighborhoods, imagine their faces in pure horror, watching your hands about to crush them as they hug their loved ones… maybe then they’ll finally see you as a murderous, angry god, killing without reason, is that something you would like to do? Kill a few, save a thousand, no? Oh, great protector of Ashton City… I’ll just keep playing my game then” Sabine ruthlessly typed.
“Please, Sabine… I didn’t want this anymore” Miranda begged.
“Oh, yes… When you left Ana to watch over us in your absence… I had to watch as people begged for you to come save them while Ana flattened thousands of us with a smile… and you didn’t believe me… I should just do you a favor and detonate my entire payload, maybe then you’ll actually go find something better to do with your entitled life without us to occupy your time” Sabine typed.
“Don’t you dare” Miranda said aloud without thinking, her saddened, angry words rumbling across the city as people looked off in the distance towards the bed wondering about her lack of involvement with the city in recent memory and her newly sad looking appearance.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have said that out loud, Miranda…do you remember when I said, not a peep about what I’m doing?” Sabine typed.
“No, wait!” Miranda typed back as fast as she could.
“I’ll give you one message to convince me not to set off another bomb at random… oh sorry, I mean another gas leak… power conservation is such a big deal when you’re this small, sometimes things get overlooked, whoops…” Sabine typed. Miranda’s heart raced; her fingers shook as she nervously tapped at her phone screen.
“Sabine, I know I’m a terrible person, you don’t have to blow up anything just to show me that… please, they don’t deserve it… nobody did, and nobody deserved what I did to them, don’t be like me… don’t take any more people away from their family…” Miranda typed, gripping her phone tight, waiting for a response for what seemed like an agonizingly long time, just hoping Sabine would believe her. Miranda staring at the city across her room as the clock struck just beyond midnight.
*** *** ***
Day 312 - Ashton City
“What do you think Natalie?” Sabine asked the young, captive woman at her side.
“I think I believe her” Natalie said.
“Are you sure? Or are you just not okay sacrificing a few pawns to take down the queen?” Sabine said, her two brutish guards hovering around the room watching Natalie’s every subtle movement.
“No, just look at her face, she’s broken… those eyes… that was me… that was me when Lacy broke everything around me, I had to turn off every part of my mind to just survive each day, I know exactly what that feels like” Natalie said as Sabine locked eyes with Natalie, studying her. Sabine hmphed as she turned back towards the screen.
“Maybe… maybe not” Sabine said.
“I wouldn’t do it… she was right, don’t be like her… taking away lives when they don’t deserve to be taken” Natalie said. Suddenly, Sabine typed in a command as the cameras of the city picked up a puff of black smoke, Sabine had detonated another bomb, Natalie hearing a feint rumble as she looked at the cameras pointed towards Miranda’s bed.
“Why would you do that?!” Natalie screamed. Sabine watched the cameras too, seeing if Miranda would angrily react or not and charge her body towards the city, Sabine readying her other trigger for the much bigger bomb rather than the smaller one she had just detonated at random. The pair of women could hear the low rumblings of Miranda’s sobs as she collapsed into her bed yet again, burying her face into her pillow.
“Okay good, she’s just crying…” Sabine said.
“Sabine!” Natalie yelled.
“Will you relax? That bomb I just triggered was in a dirt pile in the coffee-stain ruins, nobody lives there anymore, everyone is okay, I just wanted to scare her off for good” Sabine said. Natalie breathing heavily, her heart racing as she stared at the monitor confused.
“I don’t get it!” Natalie yelled.
“Look at her, now she’s broken, she probably won’t even look at us anymore, mark my words” Sabine emphasized, pointing at the screen showing Miranda bawling her eyes out a dozen miles away.
“Why though? She thinks you just killed more people in another explosion” Natalie said.
“But I didn’t… I’m not a monster” Sabine said.
“But you killed people in the last blast!” Natalie yelled as she stood up from her chair, Sabine’s two guards immediately grabbing on to Natalie to forcibly sit her back down.
“I know, but this bomb served two purposes… one: to psychologically break Miranda and two: to see if you trusted me yet… you don’t, your reaction says it all” Sabine said, counting out her reasons on her fingers as she stared Natalie down.
“You’re a sociopath, no different than the giants…” Natalie scoffed as Sabine tilted her head.
“I’m actually glad you didn’t trust me right away, it means you’re smart, maybe a bit too accepting of Miranda, but we’ll work on that...” Sabine said as she waved at her guards, the two hulking guards lifting up Natalie as she didn’t struggle, carrying her back to her cell deep within the bunker.
Sabine sighed as she heard the cell door lock, the sound of the footsteps approaching her as she dismissed her guards for the night leaving Sabine alone to scour the camera feeds of the city to check in on the people. Sabine noticed the levels of the emotions in the city declining, people wandering the streets, unsure of themselves, the moral of the population was decreasing, and Sabine knew it was because the lack of interaction with Miranda who tried her best to make the citizens of Ashton City feel good, but Sabine knew if she just kept working at her goal, eventually the people would forget about her and realize they were better off without her, maybe then they could finally invest time and research into how to get back home.
*** *** ***
Day 317 - Miranda
Miranda stared at the wall of her shower as the water crashed all around her, barely blinking as her skin started to prune and turn red while the hot water steamed the entire bathroom. Miranda forgot how long she was in the shower as she sniffled, going through the motions of washing herself. Miranda dried herself in her bathroom, barely looking at her own reflection in the steamy mirror. Miranda dressed up in lazy clothes and walked out into the living room, sitting on the couch as she just stared at the empty walls surrounding her as her hair dripped dry, she was hungry, but she didn’t care, she was thirsty, but didn’t care, her mind seemingly shut off from the overwhelming feeling of stress and defeat. Miranda could hear shuffling movements coming from Jessica’s room as the door suddenly swung open.
Miranda was met with the view of Jessica carrying a box out towards the front door as she sat it down near the kitchen entrance, “hey…” Miranda spoke, her voice tired and groggy.
“They’re about to take my car, can’t talk right now…” Jessica dismissed as she scurried off and out of the front door. After a few minutes, Miranda could hear the beeps coming from outside, a large truck backing up into a parking space. Jessica returned a bit later, the side of her head with a few droplets of sweat. “It’s hot out today…” Jessica said, clicking her tongue at the obviously saddened Miranda.
“Are you moving out?’ Miranda asked.
“Yeah, I figured it’s best if I just go, my flight is tomorrow morning, I was guessing you wouldn’t even notice or cared if I left anyway, so…” Jessica said.
“Jessica… I have to ask you something… something like, really serious” Miranda said. Jessica crossed her arms over her chest as she took a few steps closer and sat on the armrest of the couch a few feet away from Miranda.
“What is it?” Jessica asked.
“You’re good at… not treating micros the best… uhhh…” Miranda stumbled her words.
“Oh my god, I don’t want to have this conversation for the 50th fucking time, Miranda, we’re different people who did different things with our micros, you gotta learn to deal with it by now…” Jessica dismissed as she stood up from the couch.
“No… no… That’s why I need your help…” Miranda said, Jessica noticed that Miranda’s hands were visibly shaking as she tried her best to hide them by burying them underneath her thighs, pinning them against the couch.
“My help? Are you serious?” Jessica asked as Miranda’s eyes welted.
“Yes” Miranda said, barely able to look into Jessica’s eyes, Miranda’s heart beat faster and faster, her upper arms and legs subtly shaking as her body felt heavier than normal.
“With what?” Jessica asked, Miranda’s breathing increased as she winced her eyes shut, almost as if she was in pain. Miranda yanked her hands out from under her legs and grabbed at her chest, sitting up on the couch, “oh my god, quit being so dramatic…” Jessica said, shaking her head, but Miranda seemed to only breathe faster as she twisted on the couch, placing her feet onto the floor and lurching forward as if hugging herself. “Wow, it’s like you asking me for help is killing you haha” Jessica laughed, but Miranda only continued to heave. “Alright, you can stop now, I get it…” Jessica said as placed her hands on her hips.
“I-I th-think I’m having a p-panic attack” Miranda spoke, her words were labored in between hyperventilating breaths, Miranda waved her hands at her face, fanning herself with a few bursts of air.
“No, you’re not… your body is just reacting to asking me for help and it’s actually pretty funny” Jessica said.
“Jessica, p-please…” Miranda said as she felt an overbearing weight within her chest tightening, “I feel like I’m about to die, my chest…” Miranda said, her eyes almost hollow looking as she lurched down, almost putting her head between her knees.
“Alright, just relax, here…” Jessica said, pulling Miranda up from the couch and wrapping her arm around Miranda’s shoulder, slowly walking Miranda into Jessica’s bedroom, and laying her down on the bed, Jessica could feel Miranda’s body vibrating while she walked her back. Miranda continued to breathe rapidly, pursing her lips together as Jessica stood by the bed, Jessica felt confliction in her head as she stared down at Miranda jittery and panicking atop her bed, part of Jessica felt superior to her, watching Miranda squirm after begging for help admittedly validated long time feelings that had built up over the last year, but the other part of Jessica felt bad, despite all the disagreements, fights, and bitterness towards each other, she didn’t like seeing Miranda in actual pain, especially when it had nothing to do with the micros being involved.
“My chest feels like it’s gonna fucking pop!” Miranda shouted between a few breaths.
“Do you want me to slap you?” Jessica asked as Miranda didn’t flinch at the comment, instead angrily furrowing her brow towards Jessica, Jessica rolled her eyes, “Fine… but you know I’ve always wanted to” Jessica said, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back against the bed near Miranda’s legs. “Just focus on breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth, you’ll get over it…” Jessica said, clicking her tongue, “aren’t you a nursing major?” Jessica asked.
“Yeah…” Miranda said.
“What did they teach you about this stuff then?” Jessica asked.
“Breathing” Miranda said.
“Then just… keep doing that, you’re fine” Jessica said.
After a few minutes, Miranda’s breathing slowed as she seemed to return to a somewhat normal state of mind, her chest loosening up as the pressure in her head and body seemed to calm and her hands stopped shaking, the feeling of an impending doom washing away with each passing minute. “I don’t blame you by the way, I’d probably go into shock if I had to ask you for help, too” Jessica said with a smirk.
“It’s not that… it’s why I need your help” Miranda said.
“So… spit out, before you have a heart attack or something” Jessica said, Miranda sighed deeply.
“A while ago there was this, like… guy that tried to take over the city, he was hurting people so I had to squish him-“ Miranda spoke.
“You actually squished a micro… on purpose?!” Jessica shouted, shocked as she laughed.
“Yeah… I know… but this woman named Sabine took over for me, she’s that one that talked to me, let me know what was happening in Ashton City and stuff, but… she…” Miranda said, but she struggled with her words as she rubbed her lips anxiously with the side of her hand.
“Tell me!” Jessica excitedly said.
“She’s threatening to like… explode some huge fucking bomb and erase the city… for a few weeks, I haven’t been able to do anything, she won’t let me get close without like, blowing up some people, it’s awful… I lost Ana… I’m losing my city; I’m losing my mind…” Miranda said as she stared down at the floor.
“Wow… first of all, therapist Jessica isn’t a thing, so I don’t know how to unpack that, second; that sucks, so just squish her like the last dude and move on, it’s what I’d do” Jessica said.
“it’s not that easy” Miranda said.
“Uhh… yah, it is actually…I did it all the time” Jessica said.
“Which is why I need you to do it…” Miranda said, looking back up towards Jessica.
“You want… me… the girl you hate, the girl you think is the worst thing to ever walk this earth, me… to help your tiny city, by crushing some random micro bitch?” Jessica asked.
“Yeah…” Miranda said.
“Why though?” Jessica asked.
“Because if something goes wrong, I don’t want to like… see it happen, I can’t take it anymore, these breakdowns, that… like, panic attack, I didn’t want you to see that… but that’s what Sabine has turned me into” Miranda said.
“I have to admit, it is weird seeing you this sad when it wasn’t me who caused it” Jessica said with a smirk as Miranda shook her head, “so, what’s stopping me from just sitting on your city and moving on with my life, it’s not like I’ll ever see you again after tomorrow” Jessica said.
“Nothing… nothing is, this is the worst thing I could have ever thought of, but if you can just try… I’ll never say anything about you ever being mean or a bitch again, I promise…” Miranda said.
“Hmm…” Jessica hummed, playfully rubbing her chin with the top of her hand. Jessica played with the images in her head of having Ashton City at her disposal without any restrictions, her true chance to be good or evil, “alright, I’ll help, but… what’s stopping this Sabine bitch from blowing up the city as soon as she sees me coming?” Jessica asked.
“I don’t know, that’s why you need to save them, whatever happens in my room while you’re in there… like… happens, okay? No matter what happens” Miranda said.
“You won’t care if some ‘accidents’ happen? There’s no telling what I’ll have to do to kill this Sabine person, where even is she? how will I know it’s her?” Jessica asked.
“She’s a woman in the bunker underneath the army base thing… get her out into the open and…” Miranda spoke.
“Crush her… alright…” Jessica said as she leaned off of the bed, “just don’t come into your room, you probably don’t want to watch me work my magic” Jessica said as she saw Miranda reluctantly nod, curling her lips atop the bed as Jessica turned on her heels, smiling wide as she exited her room…
*** *** ***
Day 317 - Ashton City
“Miranda has been gone for a while…” Sabine said, waiting a few seconds for a response without hearing anything as she turned around. “Natalie, I’m not trying to make you afraid of me… I just want to go home without Miranda controlling every aspect of our lives…” Sabine said. Natalie sat in her chair as the two guards hovered right behind her in case she attempted any hostile intent towards Sabine. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, I know it’s been rough for you down here, but we’re finally alone, Miranda hasn’t even looked in our direction for days!” Sabine shouted excitedly, looking over towards Natalie as the captive young woman simply just stared at the ground without much expression or emotion. Sabine sighed, “is that what you were talking about, Natalie? Having to shut off your brain, dissociate yourself so you didn’t have to deal with all the stress Lacy put you through?” Sabine said as she noticed Natalie looked up from the floor at her.
“Yeah…” Natalie said, her voice tired.
“I’m assuming that you think I’m responsible for your current stress then?” Sabine asked as Natalie refused to answer, instead staring back down at the floor.
“I’m trying to fucking save you!” Sabine angrily shouted as Natalie barely flinched.
“From what?” Natalie said as Sabine angrily shook her head and turned back towards the cameras.
“Ah, good timing, Miranda is back, let’s see is she even dares to look at us” Sabine said as she leaned back in her chair as if confidentially relaxing, the familiar light rumblings of footsteps approaching the bedroom, then the woman came into view of the city’s outermost cameras. “Wait…” Sabine questioned as she leaned back towards the monitors, Natalie picked up her head to watch. “Is that… Jessica?” Sabine questioned as the Latina woman grew closer into view, Sabine wincing her eyes as she tried to focus on the images, not believing them at first as the rumblings only increased with intensity.
“Do it… pull the trigger, save us… just like you’ve always wanted” Natalie spoke without emotion, watching as Sabine’s hands visibly shook from fear, Sabine hesitating as she reached for the command on her keyboard to go through with it, destroying as much of Ashton City as she could. The camera showing Jessica’s curvy thighs dominating most of the city’s skyline as Jessica suddenly raised a foot high in the air and slammed it down far below the desk, stomping as hard as she could, Jessica’s curvy thigh shaking in the camera as the city experienced their most devastating quake. Natalie, Sabine, and the two guards tossed to the ground violently, preventing Sabine from entering the final trigger passcode, sparing the city.
One of the guards slammed his head onto a metallic desk as he bled from his forehead profusely, he wasn’t breathing as his body laid under a desk limp. Natalie tried to brace herself, but the impact was too much, she was tossed her from her chair as she slammed her face onto the floor breaking her nose and dislodging a few teeth, Natalie screaming out in pain as her face instantly swelled, nearly choking on her own blood dripping back from her nose and mouth as she coughed violently trying to catch her breath. Sabine was tossed backwards through the air, hitting the back of her head against a wall and nearly knocking her out as she laid on the floor in a daze, trying to pick herself back up, the other guard landed awkwardly on his shoulder and leg, hearing his ankle and collarbone snap as he stood up after the rumbling stopped, the guard limping off and out of the room as he panicked, leaving the two women alone in the bunker.
The bunker with the trigger, the communication console, and the view of the city was up for grabs as Natalie struggled to her feat, but Sabine wasn’t too far behind her.
*** *** ***
Day 315 – Jessica
“Oh, I’ll help alright...” Jessica whispered to herself after slamming her foot down on the carpet under the desk, Jessica smiling as she saw a few buildings collapse into puffs of grey smoke, that old satisfying feeling of hearing an entire city of micros begin to scream loud enough to be able to hear was pleasant on Jessica’s ears as she placed her hands on her hips and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling as she reared her head back, savoring the domination. Jessica took a deep breath through her nose as she slowly breathed out through her mouth, and with a smirk, she stared down at Ashton City…