The sun peeked around the curvature of the Earth, and its rays shined through the main viewing window of a spaceship where our hero sat at the helm of the command center. Madame Morose admired the celestial sunrise and thought about the upcoming fight and all the events that had led up to this moment. She wanted to be as prepared as possible for anything, but no matter how much she prepared mentally, she couldn't shake off her anxiety; like there was something she was forgetting to think about. She looked down at the Earth and wondered if normal people ever had these kinds of struggles.
"Uh, ma'am?" asked Lola, the waitress from Grandma's Diner, who had been recruited for this mission, "Have you thought about what you're gonna say to him?"
"Of course," Madame Morose spoke confidently, "Since Rocky foolishly blasted off to Mars without any form of communication, we have to go, in person, and warn him about Cyrus' powers and abilities."
"I meant--, " Lola was interrupted.
"Cyrus is still assembling his body with my personal arsenal of weapons," Madame Morose said, "which includes all the usual stuff you see on TV, like rockets, missiles, nukes and lasers..."
"Did you say lasers?" asked Lola, but Madame Morose continued.
"But my arsenal also includes prototypes for machines that can drill holes deep into the Earth's core which means--".
"That they're heat resistant, and could be used to fight against Rocky!" Lola chimed in.
"Exactly," replied Madame Morose, "To make matters worse, he's still connected to my personal network which means he has access to all my computer servers, which means..." She took a pause and then continued, "Which means that even if we destroy his brain, there's no telling how many back-ups he has hidden away in my database." She pulled up some data graphs on her console so she could monitor the progress of her cyber defense division. She could feel her anxiety begin to swell in her chest once again as she thought about the severity of her predicament. If she wasn't careful, Cyrus could become a permanent problem.
"Permission to speak freely, ma'am?" asked Lola, cautiously.
Madame Morose looked up and saw her look of concern. "Sure," she replied bleakly.
"I know the Cyrus situation is big and scary, but I've seen you and Rocky overcome all kinds of crazy shit." Madame Morose chuckled, and Lola continued, "I have faith that y'all will survive this shit storm, as long as y'all work together."
Together. Madame Morose's thoughts lingered on that word. What did it mean to be together? All the years she spent fighting Rocky, wasn't that accomplished together? All the conversations they've had, every understanding and misunderstanding, alike; weren't they together? Haven't they always been together, in one way or another? She looked out the window of the space shuttle, and thought about how much things had changed. All these changes scared her. She didn't feel ready. Even after all this time, she still didn't feel ready, and somehow, that scared her even more.
BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!!!
The sound of metallic banging came suddenly from the back of the space shuttle, sharply cutting the silence of the cabin. Madame Morose and Lola jumped out of their seats and turned to face the danger. The banging continued until finally, a metal floor panel shot up from below, and a woman jumped out defiantly exclaiming: "I've heard enough!!!"
With a phone in her hand, recording herself, she walked up to Madame Morose, declaring, "This is C.C. Lake, independent news reporter..." Madame Morose scoffed, but Lola was starstruck. "...recording from inside Madame Morose's space shuttle en route to the planet of Mars where Rocky awaits his battle with the superpower AI entity known as Cyrus." She turned her phone towards Madame Morose and began questioning her, "Is it true that Cyrus was an employee before you harvested his brain for AI experiments? Are you responsible for creating the monster that's currently wreaking havoc on Earth? Did you manipulate Rocky into confessing his feelings for you, just so you can manipulate him further? Did you purposefully lure him out to Mars so you could finally get rid of him? Do you feel any remorse for your actions???"
YOU ARE READING
What is Love?
RomanceA collection of short stories about love, relationships, sex and romance. Inspired by my real life experiences but also formed from the depths of my imagination.
