A jangle of spurs accompanied the sound of a twanging gunshot. Kitty’s vision started out black but faded into a washed out nature scene; a grassy plain with a herd of buffalo milling about beside a vast and tranquil lake. The words ‘You Died’ were prominently displayed above a scrolling list of her accomplishments and statistics in the game, as well as the perks and items that would carry over into her next play. Beneath that was the journal version of her story, which Kitty immediately swiped away. She didn’t feel inclined to relive much of that.
“What a wretched experience,” Kitty said. “Never playing that garbage again.”
Swiping to log out of the game emptied her screen of everything other than the ‘exit game’ icon and a simple tip for her next playthrough. “Don’t forget, nothing says you have to play the hero.” Kitty scowled at that and logged off, unplugging her head jack and sitting forward with a sigh. Her clock read 7:56 AM.
“Well shit.” Kitty yawned and stood up, heading towards the shower. No sleep again, that always made for an interesting day. While she stood under the hot water, she checked her messages. Several panicked sounding texts were there to peruse, both from her new bodyguard and her lawyer. Kitty ignored all of them and enjoyed her hot shower for a while, scowling in annoyance when she heard the door to her suite bang open and her bodyguard shout for her.
Wrapping a towel around her naked body, she stepped from the shower and opened the bathroom door to glare at the man for a moment. He had entered, gun in hand, but when he saw her in the bathroom door, dripping and annoyed, he holstered the weapon and shook his head. “Why haven’t you answered me?! We were supposed to be on the floor of the senate fifteen minutes ago!”
“I was busy. Get out of my room before something terrible happens to you,” Kitty replied. She stared at him, still dripping in her towel.
“Fine, just get dressed.” He turned to leave, closing the door behind himself and shaking his head.
Kitty scowled into the mirror, toweling off and dropping the wet thing on the floor. She dug through the drawers in the massive bathroom until she found the hair color wand she was looking for and began using it to change her hair. The wand heated itself, sounding a small chime to indicate that its user should choose one or a combination of its already installed dye modules. Instead of the vibrant pink and blue she preferred, Kitty simply removed all color from her shoulder length hair and reverted it to its natural black. With a small sigh, she put her hair back into a simple braid and left the bathroom to get dressed.
Once her new business casual suit was on and arranged correctly, Kitty opened the door to her hotel room and began walking toward the elevator. Her bodyguard fell into place behind her, muttering into his phone about them being on the move.
Narrowing her eyes, Kitty turned and leaned against the doorframe of the elevator to stare at him. “What’s your name?” she asked.
He stared straight ahead, pressing the button to call the elevator. “Why don’t we just stick with ‘Ape?’ It’d feel dishonest if you started trying to bond with me.”
Kitty involuntarily grinned at him, turning and entering the elevator as the doors opened. “That’s more like it.” She nudged him as he stood in front of the door and selected the lobby. “A little genuine interaction, genuine emotion. I can appreciate that.”
The drive to the senate was uneventful, her bodyguard didn’t say very much at all, so Kitty pulled up her phone and ordered a meal to be delivered to the steps of the senate for her estimated arrival time. As her car pulled up, the delivery drone was waiting for her, hovering in the air above the stairs. A quick swipe of her wrist, and it dropped a small box into her hands, and then extended a steaming cup from its inner compartment, which she took gingerly.
“Ew, printed food?” Her bodyguard’s scorn was unmistakable.
“The ignorance of the masses continues to sadden me. There’s nothing wrong with printed food. You never watch Star Trek? This is just the bottom shelf version of their magic food boxes . . . what did they call those . . . replicators!” Opening her little box revealed a spinach and feta block, which was more or less a wrap, just constructed by a 3D printer. The components inside were just mush, formed into sections inside a tortilla composite exterior. Kitty happily tore a bite off and savored it.
“It’s . . . un-natural.” He looked away from her as she devoured the rectangle of food.
Kitty had to stop and glare at him. “Ape, just . . . no. You are woefully unequipped to make that assessment.”
“And you’re not?” He held open the door for her as she finished off her breakfast block.
“I’m a Doctor of Physics. So, by definition yes, yes I am equipped.” Kitty took a sip of her steaming faux-caff, sighing in relief as the caffeine began to circulate. “I feel like we’re becoming friends,” she said with one of her predatory smiles, causing him to wrinkle his nose and look away.
Once they passed through security, he escorted her to the chambers and put his hand to the door before he stopped and looked down at her. “Did you really destroy an entire building?”
“It was actually most of an island,” Kitty replied. She opened the door herself, pushing him aside. “A really little island though.”
A small wooden table was positioned in the center of the antechamber with a plain white name card plaque sitting atop it. Her lawyer was seated at one side of the table, giving her a rather severe look. Not that it was difficult for him, the man seemed to have just the one expression; his greying hair swept back to frame his stodgy face.
The room was filled, a semicircle of senators glaring down at her from their elevated position, news and entertainment representatives seated in the viewing section. Pictures snapped, and voices murmured as she passed through the rows of spectators.
“Order. This chamber will now come to order.” A tired looking older man sat at the center of the semi-circle facing her. He had a name plaque that read ‘The Honorable McBurgess’ at the front of his station. “I would like to thank the witness for attending our session, even if a bit on the late side.”
Kitty seated herself and leaned forward slightly, setting her faux-caff on the table. “Apologies, my government-issued bodyguard seems to have some issues with keeping time.”
Her lawyer leaned over and whispered in her ear to stop making jokes as McBurgess swiped at the air above his wrist, pulling up some prepared notes.
“This council has been called to address a troubling event that took place four days ago. Outer Brewster Island, off the coast of Boston, Massachusetts was destroyed in an explosion. This has caused a great deal of concern here and abroad, due to the nature of that explosion, which appears to have been caused by an uncontained antimatter reaction.” His eyes glazed over as the crowd began to murmur again. They stopped as he banged his gavel a single time. “After due investigation, it has been determined that your research team was the cause of this explosion, and the subsequent destruction of the MIT facility, and indeed the island itself. Is this correct?” There he peered over his station at her.
Kitty looked around, noticing that every eye in the room was fixated on her. She carefully poured a glass of water from the pitcher in front of her and took a sip before placing her hands on the table and answering. “No.” More pictures snapped. More murmuring took over the chamber and was banished once more by the sharp sounds of the wooden gavel.
“Absolutely ridiculous.” The statement was broadcast from a station to the left of the committee’s chairman. A plaque that read ‘The Honorable Graham’ was gleaming at her from in front of him. “Are you denying responsibility for this heinous act young lady??”
Kitty bristled. “First off, don’t call me that. It’s Doctor, or Dr. Hardage.” She graced him with her best eye roll. “My age and sex have nothing to do with this hearing and I would appreciate it if you could summon a touch of decorum. We’re in an important meeting after all, and you’re meant to be representing a portion of the American public.” The crowd gasped, and Senator Graham’s expression darkened considerably. She regained their attention by continuing. “And to answer your poorly worded question; no, I am not denying responsibility. I am refuting, on the record, that my team had anything to do with it. I acted alone; they were unaware of my test until after it occurred.”
“So noted. You claim sole responsibility for the destruction of Outer Brewster island then?” McBurgess gave Graham a quick sharp look, taking back control of the floor.
“Well . . . I’d call that a stretch. You’re leaving out a whole line of important people who came before me, without their research my experiment never would have been possible.” A few snickers and whispers emanated from the crowd behind her, and more pictures were taken. “But for the purposes of this hearing, I’m your gal.” She heard her lawyer hiss under his breath as he clutched at his forehead.
“Sorry,” Kitty added, staring at her lawyer’s rapidly reddening face. “I’m your doctor.”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Graham seemed unable to help himself, leaning forward and pointing. “You destroyed a valuable military and technical asset, shut down a major airport, terrorized innocent citizens, and you come before this committee to make jokes?” He swiped at his wrist and flicked it towards the front of the chamber, where a screen came to life behind the security council.
It showed what was left of the island her facility had been built on. Most of it was gone, a noticeable crater directly beneath the water.
“The explosion caused massive disruption to the greater Boston area. Boston Logan was closed for hours, causing major delays and costing the airport and its travelers a great deal of money. An explosion induced tsunami caused property damage in Stony Beach, Allerton, AND Deer Island. We’re all lucky nobody was killed!” Senator Graham announced.
Her lawyer finally made his presence known, speaking up. “My client has already personally reimbursed all affected by her actions, through a communal fund that my office is operating. The property damage you refer to was quite minimal, under ten thousand dollars for all affected sites combined. I also need to point out that at no time was anyone in any danger for their life, Senator.”
Kitty decided to push her luck. “Yeah, it was a controlled experiment. Even if it went catastrophically wrong, I had established its parameters to ensure that nobody would get hurt.”
“Order!” The chair banged his gavel again. “Dr. Hardage, you are flirting with a contempt charge. And Senator Graham, please watch the cross talk. We have serious issues to get to the bottom of here, and accusations of this nature are not the focus of our committee.”
“Point of order?” Senator Graham was excited, having clearly been waiting for this opportunity. When the chair recognized him, he continued. “I would argue that the citizens of Boston Harbor find my accusations to be exactly the point of this committee. We are here to ascertain the danger of this line of study, as we have been attempting to warn this committee, and indeed this government of, for years now. Antimatter is simply too dangerous to be waving around and experimenting on.”
Kitty had to hide her face as she snickered into her palm. When she realized the crowd's attention was on her, she coughed and took a sip of her faux-caff, doing her best to look innocent.
Her lawyer leaned over. “Catherine, they will arrest you for contempt, keep your shit together.”
She gave him a wink and a nod, sitting back in her chair and looking up at McBurgess. He sighed slightly and gave her a severe look. “Dr. Hardage, could you please explain the nature and purpose of the experiment that caused the explosion?”
“Of course. She sat forward again, looking around the room before beginning. “Antimatter is the perfect fuel.” The chair frowned, clearly not following her. “When we refer to energy production, there is a natural waste component. The example I always liked best was burning a log of wood. The desire is light and heat, which is produced, albeit inefficiently. Light and heat are produced, but so is ash, smoke, and a chunk of burnt wood. The fuel we make our light and heat from is imperfect, in this and all scenarios.” There she paused for effect, glancing around to ensure she had them hooked. “Antimatter is mathematically perfect. There is a zero-percent waste ratio in antimatter-matter reactions, it all becomes pure energy.”
“Energy in the form of a violent explosion.” Senator Graham interjected, sensing his opportunity.
“Yes, exactly.” Kitty smiled innocently at him.
“And you don’t find this troubling?” Senator Graham asked. He leered, confident in his victory.
“Not at all.” She cocked her head. “Are you aware that until the early twenty-first century, the vast majority of personal vehicles were powered exclusively by explosions?”
The crowd began its murmurs and snickers again, and Senator Graham's face became a shade redder than it had been. “Yes, I am aware of internal combustion technology.”
Before he could continue, she cut him off. “Excellent. Same thing here, just a bigger explosion that requires a lot more work to contain and direct. The point is, once we develop that technology we will have a practically unlimited supply of energy. That is in fact what my research revolves around; finding a reliable method of containment for antimatter reactions, with the intention of ushering in a new golden age of expansion, development, and research.”
Her lawyer placed a hand on her shoulder, attempting to bring her back from her impassioned speech but she continued to its finish. “Just imagine what we as a species could do if we had unlimited resources. That’s what Outer Brewster island was destroyed for, that’s why all the innocent travelers of Boston Logan had to suffer minor delays, and that greater cause is why I bothered to try something new and difficult at all!”
The gathered crowd burst into cheers and laughter at the end of her small speech, and Kitty turned to grace them with a smile for their support. The gavel banged, the chair shouted for order again and again, and once the hearing returned to a state of calm, the usual boring threats were laid out and the questions began anew. Kitty was forced to recount different aspects of the night in question for different senators with different concerns. One of them showed real interest in her work, and while his end remarks condemned her rash actions, he applauded her desire to change the world for the better and offered at least moral support for her research.
Kitty explained how her research using sonic reinforcement of ablative paneling had begun to show real promise by expanding on her early shielding designs. How MIT had made grand and sweeping promises, and then began to slowly roll those promises back as her requests came closer and closer to live testing. How things had finally stalled, with no ability to move forward without a live test. She explained her respect for her colleagues and the staff at MIT, but how her work was among the most important advancements humanity could make. How the choice to move forward with a live test was hers alone, and how she stood by it as a critical step. She reaffirmed that the explosion had been tightly controlled, and in fact well below the threshold of her ability to contain now that she had the required data. Kitty explained that the mountain of data she had acquired from the destruction of Outer Brewster island would undeniably lead to the breakthrough needed to begin using antimatter as a fuel source.
A span of four hours passed in this way, each more boring than the last. Kitty finally began to fade, her lack of sleep catching up with her hard. After she yawned during an answer, the chair became angry again. “Dr. Hardage, you have been warned about your disrespectful behavior. Any further outbursts could easily lead to a contempt charge,” Senator McBurgess announced.
She fixed him with a hard look, her annoyance rising to the surface once more. “While I understand and even respect the importance of clarity into what could easily be considered a frightening event, I would hope that the esteemed members of this council would admit that the proceedings have grown rather monotonous. I have explained what happened in full, how I am compensating those affected, and the grave importance of this research. Plus, I’m tired. My yawning is not a reflection of disrespect, I am simply exhausted and more than a little bored.”
“Oh pardon us, Dr. Hardage. You must have much more important and exciting things to do than be accountable to the American people.” Senator Graham was back, flicking another slide up onto the screen. This one was a screenshot from The Life of Crime, showing the Jahre Viking destroying the online city of Illusion. “Perhaps the wanton, monstrous destruction you displayed off the coast of a major American metropolis was not enough for you. Would you rather be causing more destruction in one of your games?”
Kitty swiped her phone up and began a basic web search of this frustrating man. “Perhaps. You should try it some time, I find it quite cathartic.” Her focus faltered as she began reading about his most recent re-election campaign. “Immersive plug-ins have proven mental health benefits, your attempts to smear me notwithstanding.”
“No smear here Doctor. I simply worry about the goals and ambitions of someone who clearly delights in the widespread destruction of an online city. How long will virtual destruction be enough for you?” Senator Graham asked. His pudgy red face was alight in satisfaction as he spoke.
“Oh, we’ve come to the speculative portion of this proceeding? Excellent.” There she flicked her wrist at the overhead monitor, casting up a list of campaign donations. “Since you wish to paint me as some crazed wannabe super-villain who lives on a skull shaped island, I’d like to paint a picture as well.”
The senator glared in confusion at the screen. “I don’t . . . what is the purpose of this?”
“To explain your real motivation.” Kitty became very matter of fact then. “The picture I would like to paint is one of corruption, and dishonesty of intent in this hearing. The Wind, Solar, Nuclear and Tidal industries accounted for nearly seventy percent of all contributions received by your campaign in the most recent electoral cycle. To clarify, you have no real concerns about the safety of my work. You are simply doing the bidding of the energy industry that has bought and paid for you.”
More gasps from the crowd, more stress for her lawyer, and more gavel banging filled the air after her statements. Kitty reveled in the noise, staring directly at her new enemy as his already red face darkened a few shades. “Sergeant at arms!” Senator Graham roared in a futile attempt to be heard over the crowd.
“You are a coward, Senator Graham! A dishonest and corrupt coward!” Kitty’s voice filled the chamber as it finally calmed. “The future of energy production IS antimatter. Fighting to stop that will always be a losing battle.” As the tumult began anew, Kitty rose from her seat and walked out of the chamber, glancing back to see her lawyer with his head firmly in both hands. As she stormed through the audience area, she was happy to note that every camera in the room was firmly pointed at her, and not the raving senator she had left in her wake.
Her bodyguard fell into step slightly behind her as she moved through the building towards the exit. “My name is Deacon,” he said. She glanced back at him in confusion. “Don’t look at me like that, you may have earned a little respect is all.”
Walking out into the afternoon sun with her head held high, Kitty smiled back at him. “Nice to meet you Deacon. Call me Kitty,” she said.
The drive back to the Watergate was full of spectacle, Kitty’s act of defiance making worldwide news. Everyone was busy speculating about every aspect of the hearing, which pleased her somewhat to see, as it meant her work was finally getting the attention it deserved. Sadly, the majority of the focus was on her brash back and forth with that miserable Senator Graham, and her sensational accusations of corruption. She turned off the news with a deep sigh, sickened by the noise and nonsense it seemed to be composed of.
At her penthouse door, Deacon grabbed her attention with a light touch on her elbow before she could enter. “I’m actually off shift right now, I’ve gotta grab some rack. Capitol Police has my replacement in the lobby, once he’s up I’m out of here for a while.” He looked around briefly. “Are you going to stay in your room?”
Kitty’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Yeah, I’m planning on crashing for a while. Why?”
“I’d just feel better knowing you’re not going anywhere. You made a lot of very powerful people angry today.” His concern seemed genuine.
“Thanks for the feels Ape, but I’m fine without you. See you later,” Kitty replied.
With that, the door swung shut in his face again. Kitty stood on the other side of it, a small scowl on her features changing into a smile as she set the privacy features. After changing into a hooded sweatshirt and some comfortable sweatpants, she went to the suite's kitchen and guzzled a glass of water. Then she stumbled into the bedroom and crashed into the massive king sized bed, passing out. Her sleep was fitful, the blaring claxons and spinning warning lights of her experiment clashing with the gleeful bloodstained grin of a cannibal looming over her prostrate body.
