Chapter Text
“Dear Astounding Associates!,
I hope this email finds you! It has come to our attention that you may have unknowingly taken part in an experiment regarding virtual cloning and brain scans!
For more information, please stop by the abandoned FatCats in MillCreek at 8:07 AM MST.
Hope to see you there! (But not really since I won’t be there!)
Sincerely, The CEO of Caine and Abel.”
Abigail stared down at her phone, the email still open. She really should’ve deleted it and she knew that. It was easily the most suspicious email she had ever received. But if she was being honest, that was exactly why she was there. She liked thrills that added a bit of spice to her life, and this didn’t seem too dangerous. It would probably just a scam after all.
She had done a bit of research on Caine and Abel (the company not the bible people) just to make sure it was real. It was. It was a tech company that shut down in 2007. It was a very small company and she didn’t find out much about it, like why it was named that, but it was real and wasn’t a code word for human trafficking or something.
She watched the time change from 8:07 to 8:08. She was late. Only by a minute, but still. She decided it was probably time to stop hesitating and go in.
The door was unlocked. Abby took a deep breath and walked through the door.
It was darker inside the FatCats. The lights were on, but not all of them worked. The place reeked of mildew and Abby had to put in a small effort not to gag. There was a bit of graffiti around. That was the only sign people had been there before that day in years.
It was creepy, but she’d seen worse abandoned buildings. That being said it was in pretty bad shape for a place only closed since 2022.
Abby looked around for a bit until she heard several voices at once coming from one of the rooms. It had a neon sign labeling it “THEATER” but now it just said “EAT R” and the R was flickering. Weird. But she didn’t know where else to go so she entered the room.
5 people were standing around in the theater.
“I can’t believe I won!” said the oldest looking one of the group. He had dirty blond hair and a slight moustache. “My kids always beat me at that game.”
The person leaning on the wall in a hoodie with medium length, black hair was the first person who noticed Abby. They sighed. “Please tell me you’re just here to spray paint or something. Because if you came here because of that email, we’re going to have to do the rock, paper, scissors tournament all over again.”
“You got the email too?” Abby asked.
“We all did,” said the one with folded arms and curly black hair. “And apparently we were all stupid enough to actually come here.”
Abby had never been so offended by something she 100% agreed with. “If you thought coming here was stupid, why did you do it?”
They pointed their thumb and the one who had first noticed her. “Because Lee mentioned they got the email too, and they were planning on going, so I thought I should be here to collect evidence for the police or something.”
A woman with brown skin and long, dark brown hair chimed in. “I came because I don’t want AI cloning me or my work. I hate AI.” She frowned. “I thought that was what the email was talking about, but now I’m not sure… It was worded pretty unclearly.”
“I used to think AI was the future,” the blond man sighed. “But I don’t like what it’s become at all. Anyways, I came here because I thought I’d get to see Dick.”
The one leaning on the wall laughed.
A moment of awkward silence fell. Abby decided to break it. “Why are we all gathered in the theater? The email didn’t mention it.”
“It was the only room where the lights were on when I got here,” the blond man said.
“I turned on all the other ones after I arrived,” the red headed girl added.
The blond man nodded. “Anyways, I found a box of film in here and figured it was the right place to be.”
“We were about to sit down and watch it, but Lee and Riley started arguing about seats, so we decided to do a rock, paper, scissors tournament to decide who sat where,” the brown haired girl explained.
“We weren’t arguing. It was just some good, old fashioned bickering. There’s a different,” said the one leaning on the wall, who Abby was guessing was Lee.
The one with curly, black hair rolled their eyes.
“I’ll just take a seat that hasn’t been taken yet,” Abby decided. “Does anyone here actually know how to use film?”
“I do,” said the one with curly, black hair. “But before we start, we should probably introduce ourselves. I’m Riley, I use they/them pronouns.”
“I’m Lee,” said the one Abby had already been guessing was Lee. “They/them for me too.”
They all went around the room introducing themselves, ending with Abby.
“Everyone take your seats,” Riley instructed. “I’ll start the first tape.”
So they all took their seats, and the first video began to play.