Cyberwitch Academy: Learn or Burn

Chapter 36

The lounge stinks of sweet vape juices and takeaway food. Boxes and packaging everywhere, evidence of an online shopping spree. And another smell, tang of antiseptic, medical smell.

The lights rise up to a low setting as we come into the room, low grade smart home crap. Can't believe anyone still has that stuff, it's so vulnerable. I can feel the Rhizome inside me reaching out to all the dumb little wireless devices, reaching its finger of control into the apartment's weak and pliable distributed brains.

Suddenly, a deep extended grunt alerts us to the presence of a woman in the corner, easily mistaken for a pile of old rags. She's asleep still, but stirring. Looks very sick, MedTech hanging out of her in several places, yellowing skin, a huge red panic button hanging around her neck.

"Please don't wake up mum, she'll have a heart attack." Whispers Kath

Both the girls have tears in their eyes, one is shivering with fear, the other holds tight onto her hand, white knuckle tight.

"Stay here, we don't have time to move this show upstairs. If she wakes up, I'll put her back to sleep." Says Mel.

Ty watches the girls, all cold fire, reading their deceptions. Mel towers over them, an unsubtle threat. Vash runs the recording equipment.

I have stage fright. But something has to happen. So, I open my mouth.

"I saw you, talking to the witch finder."

"We all did, we had to!" Anna replies.

"We was scared. Please. Mum is really sick; can you just leave? We'll do anything." Adds Kath.

"Just tell me the truth and we'll be gone. What was your deal with Marketta?"

"What are you on about?" Anna

"What are they talking about?" Kath asks her sister.

Ty signals to me that they're lying. And I sense something through the Rhizome, one of the devices in the room is about to give a signal.

"Did the hunters pay you to make those accusations?" I ask, indicating the evidence of the internet shopping spree.

"My uncle got a new job, said he wanted to look after us!"

"What with mum being sick, he wanted to cheer us up, buy us some nice stuff."

"We was attacked by witches, I don't know how it works but it happened. I swear."

Mel signals that we're running out of time, always running out of time.

And I can hear what the system is about to do, it's a smart pill box, about to remind them to give their mum her meds. Then I hear something else, an alarm transmission, silent in meatSpace, but loud as hell in cyber. And I point at the woman in the chair.

She has pressed the panic button with one hand, giving us the finger with the other.

"Get out of my house." She wheezes. Then she starts to convulse. A trickle of blood runs from the corner of her mouth down her chin.

The girls leap up and Mel is on them, locking them both up in joint locks and forcing them down.

I run to where I know the meds are and pick the box up.

"No! That's all we've got! Cost a fortune they did!"

"Yeah well, we're taking these with us or we're taking the truth. Which is it going to be?" I hear it coming out of my voice, but it's not me. Someone much, much nastier.

"Alright! She paid us!"

"Say it to the camera."

"She paid us, she come to us months ago, not her but people what worked for her."

Ty tugs on my sleeve.

"This won't stand up; it just looks like they're saying what we want them to say because they're terrified."

"Proof. Where do we get proof?"

"I kept a video diary. I thought she might turn on us. I wanted security, something on her. It's all there, rock solid metadata, all crypto."

She points to a picture on the wall. Hidden wall safe. Vash is in there in seconds. Grabs a device, I drop the meds and we run.

And we're back in the van, and I throw up all over the back of the van. And I'm elated, full of a wild howling excitement but there is disgust, shame and horror. And it's all too much. And I just want my mom to sing me to sleep. Those strange old songs she used to sing to me. Before the twins came.

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