Figment, Part 10

Cabin Fever in A Car

By Hedonism

Synopsis : Rebecca has kept her best friend with her since childhood, despite knowing full well that this friend is just an imaginary one she never had the heart to forget with maturity. Putting up with this minor psychological idiosyncrasy, she got on with life. Until she was attacked by two vicious gangs, and the friend she knew damn well was just made up turned out to be quite real, and capable of giving her ass-kicking transformation powers.

Last episode, a secretive, technologically advanced organisation captured Rebecca, plus the other librarians. When Rebecca was released, the human's memory had been changed, and she had been made to think that nothing unusual had happened during her life, and that Figment was just an imaginary friend, one she discarded a long time ago. Figment was no longer inside her to correct this.

When the loss of her Figment caused Rebecca to have memory relapses, two observers tried to stop her from remembering the true events. The first time they succeeded. The second time they were attacked by Rebecca's supervisor Magpie, who had somehow shrugged off the effects of their powers. Taking one of the agents captive, Rebecca and Magpie make their escape from the library.

* * * * * * * * * *

"What the hell's going on?" blustered Rebecca as she started to re-order her thoughts. John just shrugged. Both were dragged to Magpie's car, a stumpy foreign build. Holding onto the young man tightly, she opened the boot.

"In you go lad, just like in the cop movies."

"I'm not going in there!"

"Why does he have to?" asked Rebecca. The immediate past seemed to branch off in two different memories, one more normal, the other more bizarre yet somehow more believable.

"Look, John," said Magpie patiently. "I'm gonna drive, and I don't think Rebecca can look after you on her own, no offence Rebs. You can go in the boot, or join her in the back seat. With both your arms broken."

She grabbed his left arm, one hand at his elbow and the other around his palm. There was the general suggestion that she was about to do some complicated movement that would cripple him in a sufficiently ghastly fashion. John got the hint and hastily climbed into the car boot.

"Such a polite lad," she said flatly, letting go of his arm and slamming down the lid.

Unsure of anything, including the wisdom of going along with Sarah, Rebecca got into the car as well.

* * * * * * * * * *

Sarah turned into a completely new driver. She swung out of her parking space and sped into the multiple lanes without slowing down. She squeezed speed out of her heap of a car with the same wonder of a magician pulling fifty rabbits out of a bowler hat. She attacked tight corners at full legal limit, zigzagged through busy lanes and took insane shortcuts through industrial estates and car parks. Yet despite Rebecca getting jostled about madly as the drive became like a cop chase scene, Magpie always seemed to remain just on the right side of the traffic regulations. There was the impression she could do a lot better, or a lot worse, if there was need to ignore the driving code altogether.

When they hit the motorway, her driving became smoother and less terrifying.

"Why are you taking me?" asked a faltering, muffled voice from the car boot.

"Oh, I don't know yet," replied Magpie breezily. "I'll find a reason. I'm sure there's plenty of things you know."

"You can't make me tell!" he almost squeaked.

"That's a _good_ start. It suggests you have things worth telling us."

"I don't know anything! I've barely started at the..."

He stalled carefully. There was the sound of him tapping the side of the boot quickly, nervously.

"Oh, do go on," said Magpie.

"I can't tell humans - "

Magpie almost giggled.

"That's something you don't hear every day. Anyway, I'm a bird and Rebs here's only a part time human..."

Rebecca ignored that. "What happened?" she asked. "Why have I got... two pasts?"

"R, Rebecca?" hazarded John, haltingly. "If... you want just one past, get Sarah to t, turn the car around, go back..."

"Yeah, but you're giving her a past that's false. And it's making her upset."

"But _why_?!" wailed the voice. "It's a nice, normal past! There's nothing wrong with it!"

Rebecca punched the empty seat in front of her as confusion made a straight transformation into anger.

"Which past is TRUE?!" she screamed. The car waved a fraction before Magpie regained control. "The stupid one with the monsters in, or... the boring one?!"

Magpie shrugged. "The stupid one, of course. I was there."

"And you... John. What do you say?"

Rebecca waited for the disembodied voice to speak up.

"The... monster one. Look, we gave you a past where you weren't a... a slave of that Figment parasite - "

Rebecca nodded, slowly. Now she was prepared to accept the validity of the more impossible past, it's reality became unquestionable. The faults in the normal, false history revealed themselves under the scrutiny of belief.

"Hold on..." she said, letting the latter half of his sentence sink in. "A slave? Of Figment?"

The boy in the trunk resumed his tapping, only louder.

"It was... our job. Restoring normality to you. You were under Figment's control since you were five, that's what the doctor said."

"What did he say she was getting me to do? While I was under her control."

"He didn't go into specifics. It made you do terrible... acts... and you'd forget about them."

Rebecca tried not to let the uneasy chill descend. A parasite inside her, making her do terrible things, making her forget? It sounded half feasible after the mind-screwing she had received. She examined all the corners of her subconscious, looked for traces of evil she might have forgotten, any memories that might seem suspect. And started to laugh, softly.

"When I was seven, she helped me stop... No, that's too embarrassing. But when I was ten, she stopped me from getting hit by a car, she shouted at me not to cross the road. Did your doctor tell you that?"

The tapping from the boot stopped. Reb's smile faded.

"She stopped me from smoking when all my friends were taking it up. When I was eighteen I had a go with... acid. I did it on my own, stupidly. It could have turned really bad, but she talked to me, kept me happy until it was over."

"Good job he isn't a cop," remarked Magpie.

"The thing is, she sometimes let me do stupid things, and she sometimes bitched at me like she was my mother. I don't remember even once being made by her to worship the devil or stab anyone!"

"But that's the point!" cried John. "She made you forget - "

"F**K off with that, John!" she shouted back. "She'd have to be DAMN good at making me forget, a THOUSAND TIMES better than your f**king doctor! All the things we did - there's no seams, no trace of false memory! I shouldn't even have doubted her, I know her so well! I remember NOTHING evil happening, and I remember NOTHING evil happening because nothing f**king evil happened! Now, what did you lot do to Figment? 'Cos I want her BACK!"

There was an uncomfortable pause.

"And stop tapping! Or Magpie's going to wrap the back of this car around a tree!"

"Not my car I won't - "

"I'll tell you," said John hurriedly. "But I want out of the boot first! Where're we going, anyway?"

"Ahhh... Well... That's the interesting part," said Sarah brightly. "This seems a good time to resume a personal little mission."

Rebecca put her worry on hold. Part of her was too afraid to know Figment's fate in any case.

"You see, about five years ago, I met you snake boys before. While I was out looking for someone who could make me into a bird. Not just in the soul but physically as well."

"You've been looking for someone to do that for five years?!" asked Rebecca.

Magpie laughed raucously. "No. I've been looking for someone who could do that for my whole _life_. Anyway, I finally found someone who said he could. Problem was, he was a psychopath."

"What?"

"Oh yes," said Magpie lavishly, getting into the tale. "Or one of those complicated mental words, anyway. What he definitely was though, was a mad genius. He just called himself the Scientist. You know, one of the earliest things he did was unlock the chemical make-up in a human that determined sexuality. He could make any sex lust after any sex. He could increase or decrease lust from murderous levels to complete indifference. Imagine what humanity could do with that! Imagine homophobes going around forcing people to become straight! Or permanent Viagara! The whole issue of whether homosexuality was right or wrong could have... who knows? Become a reason to make war, or would've become completely unimportant."

"What did _he_ do with that secret?" asked John.

"Glad you asked. He made it into a weapon and called it the Lesbo-Laser. As you do. He did nothing with the gun, got bored of it and moved onto other things."

"Well..." said Rebecca uncertainly. "At least he didn't _use_ it. That sounds fairly sane."

"Fair enough. What about the fact that he... mutilated himself... with one of them fast food spoon-fork things, and without anaesthetic? Got rid of his manhood and all the bits connected with it. Apparently he had a lot of reasons for doing that. He posted them all on the Internet."

"Okay, he's mad. And you want us to _meet_ him?!" stammered Rebecca.

"Hell, yes! While I was trying to get him interested in changing me, those snake-cop things like John here paid us a visit as well. You boys captured both me and the Scientist. You tried to make him forget everything because his experiments were getting close to something. And you tried to make me forget everything because my mission was making me too nosey as well."

The boot was quiet for some time. "It's possible."

"It happened. Only the Scientist is too mad to stay ignorant, and I'm just too strong-willed. Ain't no-one going to cage this bird, mind or body," she said, the last part betraying forceful pride.

"But you _did_ scare me, and I knew you were still watching me. I was worried you'd try to make me forget again, so I stopped investigating and just did a little thieving until the law made me into a librarian. Now you lot are going to try and make me forget again anyway, I may as well get back to my mission. Maybe the Scientist can help Rebs get that Figment thingy back as well."

A tapping noise issued from the boot.

"Rebecca?"

John's voice was broken, as if he was fighting the urge to cry.

"Figment died a few minutes after they took her from you."

Rebecca looked around, a little bewildered. Her mind turned off. She found herself listening out for any sounds inside her mind.

Magpie pulled off the motorway into a side-road and parked as soon as she possibly could. No-one said anything while she did so.

"John... Did you see her body?" asked Rebecca. Her tone was low, level and sounded like it was coming from a different person.

"The doctor saw her die in front of him. His equipment can't be fooled."

"And you're not lying to me?"

"No."

Rebecca paused. With the motorway roar gone, the only sound was that of cars passing.

"We all know how snakes lie. In all those stories. You're untrustworthy types. Are you lying to us?"

John spluttered.

"I, I'm not lying! And do you really _believe_ fairy stories?!"

"And the Bible."

"No, I'm not having that," he screamed, kicking the bonnet. "I swear by Ssseth himself and by the Union Of Coils that I'm telling the truth! That's good enough for me! If it's not good enough for you, then go ahead and break my f**kin' arms! Now let me out of the trunk!"

"I'm supposed to be the upset one," said Rebecca smugly. She could deal with him when he was angry. She knew he was more likely to be on the level. Her anguish at Figment's demise lifted before it really got the chance to grip her, stop her from thinking straight. She needed clear thoughts now.

"This is the same doctor that told you Figment was evil?"

"Yes!"

"And how did he know that? Presumably, if he can change minds he can read them as well?"

"As a matter-of-fact, Yes!"

Rebecca punched the seat in front of her violently. It shuddered in a satisfactory fashion.

"Well, I believe you, but I think your doctor's talking s**t."

She smiled, got out of the car shikily, opened the bonnet and pulled John free. He looked around as if contemplating escape. His face looked quite long and animalistic. His mouth had long fangs.

"Get in the back of the car, John. We're not there yet."

"What do you still need me for? Haven't I told you enough?"

Rebecca opened the car door for him.

"Let me be honest. I'm a bit worried about the Scientist. I was hoping you could... you know... protect me?"

The kid looked around in confusion as he contemplated his transformation from hostage to bodyguard.

"You're mad!"

"No, I'm just... Hell, maybe I am. I've lost my friend, and I want her back, parasite or not. Get in."

By Hedonism