text: See part here. Links to other parts of the story begin there. **8** “What the hell’s taking so long, Clarence?” Her normally beautiful face looked harsh on his phone’s screen. Perhaps it was the lighting. Then again, it could be stress. Or maybe age was finally catching up to her. “You look tired, Darla.” She huffed in disdain. “Thanks.” “Where are you?” “Where do you think?” “No, I mean where are you? Where in the crawler?” She panned her phone’s camera to the side, revealing a zero-G toilet. “That enough of a hint for you?” She flushed it for emphasis, the waste-collection hoses making a sucking sound that was so loud it caused his phone’s speaker to crackle. Clarence smirked. “How’s the smell?” “Awful. If I could send you a sample, I would. What’s going on?” He shook his head. “I have no idea.” “Stop shitting me, Clarence. You built this fucking thing.” “I know, but--” “How serious is it?” He stared at her for a moment, unsure how to respond. “What’s Devon telling everyone?” She scoffed. “The usual line of bullshit. But you know them. They don’t even think he poops anymore. They’ll believe anything he says. So?” Clarence took a deep breath. “It’s serious, Darla.” “Fuck.” The word caught in her throat, and he thought he heard her choke back a sob. For a moment, he almost felt sorry for her. “How long?” she whispered. “Until what?” She cleared her throat, her voice regaining some of its punch. “Until whatever shitty thing is going to happen to us.” “That’s the thing, Darla, I don’t--” “It’s a hack, isn’t it? Someone’s trying to teach Devon a lesson, and we’re all caught in the crossfire. That stupid fucking prick has finally pushed things too far.” “I thought you were in love with him.” She scoffed. “As if he’d even notice if I were.” “How was the ride up--until it stopped?” “Extraordinary.” She smiled, forgetting her situation for a moment. Then she looked at the camera, as if probing for his eyes. “I wish you could have seen it. I really do.” “Me too,” Clarence said, “but considering the circumstances, I’m glad I--” “I’m sorry, Clarence.” “It’s no big deal. Really. I’ll just buy a ticket like everyone else once it’s open to the public.” “I’m not talking about the fucking elevator ride, you dipshit. I’m talking about us, the way things worked out with Devon. The whole fucking thing.” Clarence sighed. “Yeah, well, I’m sorry too, Darla.” Just then he heard a beeping sound. He looked up and saw an alert on the computer that was scanning the code. He paused to read it, his eyes narrowing in confusion as he struggled to process what he was seeing. “What was that?” Darla asked as Clarence leaned over and hit a few keys. “I’m not sure,” he said, his eyes continuing to skim the message. He swallowed hard, feeling as if his guts had just been sucked out through his spine. “Uh, actually, can I call you right back?” “No, you can’t. We’re not even supposed to have our fucking phones up here. What’s going on, Clarence?” Clarence glanced back to her, still reeling from what he had just seen. “Oh yeah, right. Well, maybe you can call me then. In about five?” She looked away for a moment and then turned back to the phone’s camera, her face hardening back into the mask he knew all too well. “You know what? Fuck it, Clarence. Fuck you, fuck Devon, and fuck this goddamn fucking elevator.” “Darla, don’t--” But she had already hung up. Wasting no time, Clarence rolled his chair in front of the other computer and initiated the scan again, still struggling to convince himself that what he had just seen was real. How on earth could this be happening? A moment later, he heard the automatic doors to the control room whoosh open, but he didn’t bother to look up. “Were you just talking to someone?” Terry asked. “I didn’t see any communications come through the network, but I thought I heard a woman’s voice.” Clarence punched a few keys, his eyes still on the monitor as he wondered vaguely if Terry had been eavesdropping on him. “It was Darla. She snuck her phone on board the elevator. You know her. She never was very good at sticking to the rules.” Terry leaned over Clarence’s shoulder. “What did you find?” Clarence watched the lines of code scrolling past, feeling like he was looking at a projection of his mind as he scrambled to come up with an answer. “I’m not sure, but I think--” Before he could complete his thought, the alert sounded again. There was no question. What he had just seen was real. Terry read it and then stepped back, chuckling to himself. “So, you found it. Too bad. I thought it would take longer than that.” Clarence turned his head slightly toward Terry, still unable to look away from the screen. “You . . . you knew about this?” A smirk tugged at the corners of Terry’s mouth. “Knew about it? I wrote it.” Clarence spun his chair toward Terry, about to respond, but then he snapped his mouth shut. In Terry’s right hand was a gun, and it was pointed right at Clarence.