![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aaaaaaaagh_skyThe door slammed shut behind her, its report drowned out by the chatter of assault rifles in the hands of two dozen Chinese commandos. Ellen ignored it and ran for all she was worth. The soldiers didn't seem to notice her; if she could just reach the playground in time, talk to 'Betty' before the Chinese actually cut anyone down- ah, there! "Betty!" she cried, as loudly as she could manage.
The little blonde girl whipped around, eyes blazing. In a deep, snarling man's voice made all but incomprehensible by accent, Betty thundered, "Do you REALIZE what you've DONE?"
Ellen gaped for an instant, then shook herself. "I've forced your hand," she made herself say, just as she'd planned. "Where is my father? I'll turn it off-"
Betty snorted. "No you won't. You'll never make it to the failsafe in time. No one could. The subjects will die, and I'll be stuck here in this hell! Alone!" She- he?- threw out her arms dramatically. In her original girlish voice she wailed, "You've ruined everything! Everything!"
Ellen swallowed and turned to look at the soldiers, who were kicking in doors and bashing apart windows. Maybe Braun was lying- maybe she could make it back to the terminal-
( "It needs to end! The suffering must end!" )
"You put those people through two hundred years of torture," she said, turning back to Betty. "Playing with them until you got bored. Resetting them, Making them forget and then doing it all over again. I put these people out of their misery. You're getting what you deserve."
Betty sniffed, unimpressed. "You've taken them all from me! You've left me with nothing!" she said, in what Ellen could only assume was Dr. Braun's actual voice. Without warning she switched, yet again, to the simulated girl's tones. "It's not fair! Nobody to play with ever again!"
"Oh, for-" Ellen restrained the urge to lunge at the other girl's throat with hands outstretched. "Pull yourself together, man! It's over- now talk!"
"It's not over until I say so! Do you understand me? I... I..." The man's voice slipped into the girl's registers as she blinked, eyes rapidly dewing with tears. "I just want things to go back to the way they were."
"Dr. Braun, you are only just beginning to get on my nerves," said Ellen through clenched teeth. "I came here for my father. WHERE. IS. MY. FATHER."
Betty rolled her eyes and managed something approaching a smile. Dr. Braun's voice said, "He's been right here the whole time, and you were too dense to see it. The dog, you see." She nodded towards the black and white animal sitting not far away, and slipped into the girl's voice again. "Man's best friend. But now you've taken all my friends from me..."
Ellen stared at Betty as the gunfire raged in the background. Eventually she said, "You are a sick sick man and I can feel my soul scabbing over every moment I am in your presence. Can I leave?"
"Fine," said Betty in Dr. Braun's voice. "I have no power over you. Go. That door over there." She gestured towards a free-standing door that had not been there two seconds ago. "I'm sure your father will be waiting for you when you leave the simulation." She sighed and hung her head, adding in the child's voice, "But there's no one waiting for me..."
Ellen shuddered, and opened the door into blazing light.
The little blonde girl whipped around, eyes blazing. In a deep, snarling man's voice made all but incomprehensible by accent, Betty thundered, "Do you REALIZE what you've DONE?"
Ellen gaped for an instant, then shook herself. "I've forced your hand," she made herself say, just as she'd planned. "Where is my father? I'll turn it off-"
Betty snorted. "No you won't. You'll never make it to the failsafe in time. No one could. The subjects will die, and I'll be stuck here in this hell! Alone!" She- he?- threw out her arms dramatically. In her original girlish voice she wailed, "You've ruined everything! Everything!"
Ellen swallowed and turned to look at the soldiers, who were kicking in doors and bashing apart windows. Maybe Braun was lying- maybe she could make it back to the terminal-
( "It needs to end! The suffering must end!" )
"You put those people through two hundred years of torture," she said, turning back to Betty. "Playing with them until you got bored. Resetting them, Making them forget and then doing it all over again. I put these people out of their misery. You're getting what you deserve."
Betty sniffed, unimpressed. "You've taken them all from me! You've left me with nothing!" she said, in what Ellen could only assume was Dr. Braun's actual voice. Without warning she switched, yet again, to the simulated girl's tones. "It's not fair! Nobody to play with ever again!"
"Oh, for-" Ellen restrained the urge to lunge at the other girl's throat with hands outstretched. "Pull yourself together, man! It's over- now talk!"
"It's not over until I say so! Do you understand me? I... I..." The man's voice slipped into the girl's registers as she blinked, eyes rapidly dewing with tears. "I just want things to go back to the way they were."
"Dr. Braun, you are only just beginning to get on my nerves," said Ellen through clenched teeth. "I came here for my father. WHERE. IS. MY. FATHER."
Betty rolled her eyes and managed something approaching a smile. Dr. Braun's voice said, "He's been right here the whole time, and you were too dense to see it. The dog, you see." She nodded towards the black and white animal sitting not far away, and slipped into the girl's voice again. "Man's best friend. But now you've taken all my friends from me..."
Ellen stared at Betty as the gunfire raged in the background. Eventually she said, "You are a sick sick man and I can feel my soul scabbing over every moment I am in your presence. Can I leave?"
"Fine," said Betty in Dr. Braun's voice. "I have no power over you. Go. That door over there." She gestured towards a free-standing door that had not been there two seconds ago. "I'm sure your father will be waiting for you when you leave the simulation." She sighed and hung her head, adding in the child's voice, "But there's no one waiting for me..."
Ellen shuddered, and opened the door into blazing light.