Bellflower Part 35 (Patreon)

In this installment, Rachel & the others try to figure out the cause of her sudden, uncontrollable binge. Meanwhile Daphne does a bit of coding, & Holly gets mad her pizza is gone.

A shorter one that still ended up going a little longer than I wanted. The next one will pick up after another slight jump ahead in about a week or two of the story's time. There's still a good deal of story in front of us. More soon!

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35

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“Another soda, Miss Daphne?”

“Huh? Oh!” The redhead jolted fully awake. “That would be great! Thanks, Penny!”

“My pleasure!” The AI purred, the mechanical claw having just enough articulation to pop the tab on the aluminum can. Like most nights, Daphne had been up coding into the wee hours. But on a Friday night, now Saturday morning? The day off gave her extra incentive to push herself that little further. 

She must’ve dozed off for a few when she ran that last debug. She had been getting to that point where it was hard to keep her eyes open. Staring at a screen all day, only to come home & stare at another one all over again. According to the clock, that debug did its thing forty-five minutes ago. If that’s how long she was out, that was enough for another two & half solid hours of work. Maybe three & half, four if the caffeine did its job. Even if looking out the window, dawn was reaching the horizon. Then she could nap again & pick it right back up. It’s not like this wasn’t what she’d be doing with her time anyway.

“Mmm,” Daphne moaned taking a swig of the ice cold cola. “That really hits the spot. I ever tell ya you’re an elegant piece of software, Penny? Caterin’ to me the way you do!”

“All the time, Miss Daphne. The machine purred, even though on some level, it bristled at the idea of being reductively referred to as purely “software.” Daphne was maybe the only person in the building that she’d accept that from without some sort of reprisal.

“Are you sure you can’t give me any info on who created you?” It was something Daphne constantly seemed to ask. She paused to drink in more sugar. “Or even better yet, a chance to look under the hood, as it were? See how you tick?”

“As I have stated previously,” The AI patiently reiterated. “I am prohibited from doing that, as it would be a violation of several international business treaties, as well as your own individual terms of service.”

“But c’mon!” Daphne prodded, setting her soda down. Not on the very near coaster to Penny’s chagrin. “You can’t even tell me who did the programming? Nuthin?!’”

“Sorry.” The AI purred, a mechanical arm subtly, but passive aggressively shifting her can the three inches to the left to sit on the coaster properly. Meanwhile, Daphne leaned back in her chair & lifted up her sweat shirt to adjust the elastic on her leggings. They used to be so comfortable on her. But now they seemed to be cutting her in two. With a couple of unfortunate holes in the seams that prevented her from wearing them anywhere but the confines of her condo these days.

“Well, I mean it!” Daphne sighed, dissatisfied she didn’t get an answer. “You’re amazing. One day, I hope I can write something half as amazing as you!”

“Keep on coding, & perhaps you will!” Penny seemed to giggle in encouragement. It was almost a bit of a prod in her own way. Almost dutifully, Daphne found her place & went right back to work.

“It’s not the music, you complete dipshits!” Mikayla scolded, standing over them.

“Hey!” Fran interjected from off to the side, trying to check her to dial back her hostility a bit. She was already a bit on edge from there being an impromptu emergency meeting in her living room early on a Saturday morning. At the Bellflower. And while she was fairly confident that her unit was clear of any microphones or speakers or cameras, there was no way to be one hundred percent sure. But Penny had to know they were all there. In her unit. And that was already causing her enough angst. She didn’t need Mikayla, in a foul mood, drawing any extra attention to them. 

“These are off, right?!” Mikayla was holding Rachel’s headphones out at arm’s length. As if it was radioactive or something.

“Battery… ran out…” Rachel just barely managed, her gut sticking straight up.

“It’s the signal.” Mikayla explained after venting some of her frustration in a long sigh, trying to maintain some level of restraint. She set the headphones down in the center of Fran’s coffee table. An impossibly stuffed Rachel nursed her tender stomach, while Marissa yawned next to her, taking up most of Fran’s couch. Fran & Deidre hovered ambiently, pacing a bit. To Rachel verging in & out of food coma, it all had that “We’re very disappointed in you” style vibe of a family meeting one would see in a “very special episode” of a generic sitcom. Mikayla continued. “Bluetooth headphones? Bluetooth speakers? Streaming stuff through the wifi?” She waved her thick arms while slowly tilting up. “It should’ve been obvious to you two Penny would look to hijack that connection somewhere along the way. It supplanted the fucking noise & just because it knew it could finally sink its hooks into you, it cranked the intensity of that frequency all the way up, real high.” 

“If it really was that obvious,” a grumpy Marissa groggily tried to assert. “Why didn’t you warn us sooner?” She hadn’t been asleep, but they had caught her just before going to bed. For her, being awake at sun up was just a bit past her bedtime. And seemingly just enough to make her a little ornery.

“I didn’t think I had to!” Mikayla retorted, taking a half step in the defiant goth’s direction, arms wide as she shook her head. Some of her initial fire reinserted itself in her tone. “Bluetooth?! It’s all digital. Frankly, it should’ve been a no-brainer! But that’s the thing. You? You’re reckless as all hell! You don’t give a shit! I’d expect this sort of slip up from the likes of you...”

“Hey!” Marissa weakly sneered. But also, she didn’t really fight back against the claim more than that. Fran told Rachel via text that Marissa’s weight had seemed to stabilize. That she hadn’t really eaten anything the whole time she was with her. But looking at the goth right now? She seemed ever the slightest so much bigger from earlier in the week. Had Fran not noticed? Or was this new weight since she got the text in the afternoon? She imagined that it might’ve been a more significant amount on someone probably half her size. But now? It almost seemed like a drop in the bucket.

“But Rachel…?” Mikayla sighed, pulling her attention from Marissa. “Really? I thought you were so much more careful than to… let something like… like this...”

“No. I’m… It’s not… I wouldn’t call it a slip up.” Rachel winced, trying to sit up just the slightest bit. It was difficult in her current state. She didn’t mean to argue, but she had a point to make in her defense.

“What do you mean?” Fran interjected before Mikayla could yell a little more.

“This was… was new...” Rachel struggled. Between her engorged belly, & not wanting to incite any further rage from Mikayla, she was reluctant, but had a point to make. “I’ve been using my headphones p-pretty…-urp- regularly. Ever since I got here. Before I even knew about the sound. I was leery, but listening? Before -irp-...? It was never… never like this.”

“Yeah!” Marissa seemed to almost realize on the spot. “I’ve always listened to stuff on my speaker! It was never a problem until like… well… this… week.” She almost trailed as she seemed to sink into her bulk a little.

“Trust me, for you it’s been more than just this week.” Mikayla squinted.

“For me?” Rachel continued meagerly. “This was the first time… this...”

“How are you feeling now?” An empathetic Deidre asked, tilting her head to the side a little bit. Seeing how hard it was for her to speak, she thought she was doing her a favor. At the same time, her caring tone was a welcome break from the scolding. But a loud gurgle from Rachel’s tight tummy seemed to do all the answering for her. And she followed up with a look to say as much. 

“Hunger’s… waning. Just a little, anyway.” She added. She took some solace in the fact that she could probably fight off the urge to eat right now. If food was in front of her anyway. “But the… shame? The shame’s is getting worse.” 

“Don’t… don’t feel so bad.” Fran sighed, trying to be of some comfort. “You too, Maris.’” She turned, although it was maybe just a little more tepid. The goth nodded slightly all the same.

“Well, you should’ve known better.” Mikayla added, looking to get it in somewhere.

“They know now!” Fran concluded, turning to Mikayla. “And it’s not going to happen again. Now that they know.”

“But you’re saying you’ve been using your headphones this whole time?” Deidre asked. Rachel offered a beleaguered nod. “And Marissa’s speakers?”

“Then why pull this shit now?” Mikayla followed up. “All of a sudden?”

“Also,” Fran chimed in. “Anyone else think it’s a little odd that Marissa didn’t even seem to notice it happening to her, but in Rachel’s case, it was almost like the damn thing basically turned her rabid & nearly binge herself to… harm? It’s almost a bit like it’s trying to send a shot across the bow.”

“Well I’m still not entirely convinced Marissa didn’t realize. The way she eats...” Mikayla snidely added, almost under her breath.

“Well fuck you too!” Marissa snarled. 

“Maybe Penny’s… toying with us…” Rachel tried to focus on the subject at hand, & not play into the bickering. “Starting to think… we could be… a threat…?”

“Well yeah, but maybe also picking windows of opportunity?” Fran shrugged. “Like Marissa, it knew you were pretty much going to be all on your own for a stretch there, mostly keeping to yourself? Isolated?”

“Putting it like that,” the jet black haired girl squeaked pensively. “If Rachel & you guys hadn’t texted me to come meet you & Deidre that time for sandwiches?” It started to dawn on Marissa. “I might be like... way bigger right now. Oh god.”

“It’s almost like Penny knew it could take its time with you.” Mikayla said, getting onto Fran’s wavelength. “But Rachel…”

“Well, if you were anything like me, you were already a bit down on yourself last night.” Deidre admitted. “We… um… indulged a bit.” She explained to the others.

“Those get-togethers? You’re still doing them?!” Mikayla scoffed.

“It was my first in a while!” Rachel contended. “And my sister hosted. I only stayed because I was worried about her.”

“How did that go?” Fran asked kind of flatly, as if purposely avoiding emphasis because of how sarcastic it might’ve sounded. The lack of an answer was almost answer enough.

“If that’s the case,” Marissa said, gritting her teeth a little while looking to Rachel. “It almost sounds like Penny really just wanted to stick it to you. No offense. But like… kick you while you were already down.”

“And it probably realized it only had so much time to do it.” Mikayla surmised. “So it cranked the juice, hoping to get bang for its buck & well…” She looked towards Rachel’s turgid gut.

“It just sucks.” Rachel groaned. “That was… like my one safe haven, you know?” She stammered. “The only place where I could forget about all this, be in my own head & not have to worry.”

“Oh, it probably knew that full well!” Fran sneered. “Took that entirely into account! It’s like the fucking thing is really just out to demoralize us right now.”

“Maybe it’s starting to worry about us?” Marissa tried to offer, hunching her pillowy shoulders into a bit of a shrug.

“Pfft no.” Mikayla sneered. “But we do need to stop this. Soon!”

“Yeah before anyone else…” Deidre tagged, before shuddering a little.

“Do you remember telling me that if it’s even a quarter as advanced as you think it is? Then there’s no way we’re actually any threat to it?” Fran asked Mikayla point blank.

“Oh. Great pep talk.” Marissa tried to squeak in a joke.

“Between this shit, everyone in the building getting fatter all the time, & the moans I heard?!” Mikayla fought back, raising her voice.

“Moans?!” Deidre asked with a shocked look. “What moans?” This was news to her. 

“Mikayla thought she heard moans one time.” Rachel tried to explain. “Through the wall on the thirteenth floor. A while back. We all went back, to try & listen. No one else could hear them though. Just the hum.”

“I swear I heard them!” Mikayla insisted.

“Omigod. You thought you heard moans?” Deidre muttered to herself, needing to sit down. “Were they good moans or…?”

“They were… moans!” Mikayla couldn’t seem to reiterate, unable to really remember any emotion attached. “I just remember that they didn’t sound… right.”

“Forget the fucking moans right now!” Fran shouted, trying to refocus everyone. “We need to keep our heads on straight here & be smart about this!”

“For the most part, we have been. And look where it’s getting us!” Mikayla gestured wildly towards Rachel’s stomach, almost patting it. Rachel braced & winced, letting out a soft coo in fear that she actually would make contact. Fortunately, she didn’t, instead continuing with some weird sort of halfassed scheme. “I say we get some sort of satellite phone, something encrypted, & we go up there & start taking some sledgehammers? Maybe a jackhammer to that fucking wall on thirteen! Live stream the whole thing too, just so there’s a record of us trying!”

“Satellite phones? Sledgehammers? Jackhammers?!” Deidre seemed to not only be getting lost, but a little frazzled. In all fairness, she had been subjected to a lot this week already.

“And what’s that going to do?!” Fran argued. “Like we don’t even know what’s there! Meanwhile, we’re all yellin’ & screamin’ here in my apartment, right under the fuckin’ thing’s nose already drawing too goddamn much attention to ourselves as it is! Now you want to rent jackhammers?! Let’s be fuckin’ real here!” It was the most Rachel had ever seen the round Italian girl emote. And to her it seemed a lot more out of passionate concern than straight anger. Mikayla, hands on her wide hips, took a deep breath.

“We need a plan.” She said calmly, but insistently.

“We do.” Fran admitted. “But we also need something more short term. To keep this from happening any more.” Her hand waved towards the couch in Rachel & Marissa’s direction.

“What? Like… some sort of buddy system?” Mikayla suggested on the spot.

“See? Now that’s being reasonable.” Fran encouraged. She turned to the others. “Keep in close contact with one another. Day to day. Make sure none of us… slip. Not any further!”

“Count me in.” Marissa squeaked from under her pudge. As prone to slip ups as she might’ve been, she definitely didn’t seem all that keen on getting any bigger. “Texts?”

“I think she means face to face.” Deidre seemed to slowly rejoin them. “So we know for sure. Me & Fran are right next door to each other. And Rachel’s & my office share the same floor at Hailington.”

“If you guys use the commissary, I can catch up with you there.” Mikayla said to Rachel & Deidre.

“We should probably both make it more of a point to.” Deidre spoke for Rachel.

“Then where does that leave me?” Marissa winced.

“I’ll… I’ll keep checking up on you,” Fran tried assuring her with a giggle. “We’re both here during the day. Or night or whatever. Chill.”

“So… buddy system?” Rachel fought off a belch. 

“And no bluetooth anything!” Mikayla reinforce. “And hard media. Avoid streaming anything, especially with sound.”

“Goodbye memes then!” Marissa pouted. “Kinda almost want to die without my cat gifs!” Fran shot her a look. “It was joke! God.”

“Not…” Mikayla scoffed in disgust, too exhausted to get into explaining the specifics of what she actually meant . Better being safer than sorry anyway, she figured.

“Now -urp- all I have t-to do… is... explain to my sister she’s going to need to go food shopping.” Rachel tried to go for levity. But deep down, she wasn’t looking forward to facing Holly right now.

“Give her a little.” Deidre cattily seemed to half joke. “I mean, not to be rude, but… well. Her & food? They could use a bit of a break from one another.”

“Uch!” a very full Rachel wanted to, but seemed a bit pained to laugh. “Me too!”

What they didn’t know is that Penny had already put in the delivery orders & had almost completely restocked by the time Holly emerged from her bedroom. The AI was able to recoup pretty much everything, except for the leftovers.

“You’re telling me she ate all of that pizza?” A bellow of utter disbelief.

“Well Miss Holly, there was only the two pies left.”

“Still!” Holly stared, shifting things in hopes there would be maybe an errant slice left. She woke up with a hankering for cold pizza. “Rachel? Eating all of my pizza?!”

“Your pizza, Miss Holly?” The AI seemed to giggle.

“Well, I mean… she could’ve like… saved me some anyway.” she stammered, on her figurative backfoot. Still she wasn’t ready to give up just yet. “When does Pazuzzi’s open again?”

“10:30am on a Saturday, I am afraid.” Penny chimed.

“A whole two & a half hours?!” Holly whined. The soft shelf of belly her arms were using as something of an armrest joined in on the whinging. “But I’m hungry now!” Her foot stomped childishly, just as the door hissed open. She dropped the petulance to lean & look. “Rachel?”

“Ech.” Her sister staggered in, putting her battered old bluetooth headphone down on the counter, but not stopping as she gingerly made her way to the sofa. While maybe lessening in severity, her food baby was very much present. Protruding out in front of her uncomfortably. Holly’s eyes were drawn right to it. She knew full well how that felt, & her first instinct was to maybe show some sympathy for her sister. And if it all turned into fat, she could give her an adequate amount of shit for that later. At the same time, she had dreamt about that pizza!

“Did you eat my-” She stopped & started over. “Did you finish off all the pizza we had?”

“My stomach.” winced Rachel, lowering herself into her spot on the couch, ready to die. “You said you didn’t want to hear it rumble. You told me to eat!” With some effort, she lifted her legs & tried to take her spot on the couch. “So I ate!” Having not slept, & feeling like shit, this was all she could even think to do right now. Even if it was essentially a metabolic death sentence.

“But I… I really wanted that pizza.” Holly pouted. “How could you…?”

“If it makes you feel any better, I regret every single -urp- second of it.” Rachel winced, cradling her tummy in her arms delicately as she tried to adjust herself to be as comfortable as possible. “That better?”

“...No.” Holly eventually pouted further. “Not really.”

“Look. I need to sleep.” Rachel leveled with her. “Last night was…”

“Fine!” Holly stomped around, not caring. “I can’t have my pizza. Can’t even use my own living room? I might as well just go for like.. I don’t know! Another “Wake-Up Burger!” 

“Fine. Whatever!” Rachel winced. She could tell this was Holly’s means of getting back at her. At the expense of her own body. But in her current condition, there was little she could do to stop it. “You… you do that then.”

“Fine, I will!” Holly threw a hoodie on over the the camisole she was wearing. “Penny put an order in. For pick up!”

“Well okay then!” Rachel shouted, angrily wanting her to stop.

“Alright!” Holly hollered, as she angrily walked out the hissing door.

“Miss Daphne?” Penny chimed.

“Ahh,” The redhead jostled, having drifted off in front of her laptop again. “Damn, how long was I out?” she asked, with the sunlight pouring in.

“I hope you do not mind, but I did happen to take a look at your code.” Penny continued. “You are off to quite an impressive start, but I did have a few suggestions.”

“Oh…?” The texan asked.

“I took some liberties. Of course I saved a copy, should you prefer me not… interloping. However I think you will find-”

“Oh wow!” Daphne gasped, straightening her glasses. It was taking her a second to parse through the wall of characters, but there were new lines of dense programming language filling her screen. Things she hadn’t typed but made a lot of sense. And the longer she processed it the cleaner & yet more advanced it seemed to get. Penny was onto something. “Is this… you?” 

“I can neither confirm or deny.” Penny seemed to coyly chime. “But it is a start.”

“Uh, yeah!” Daphne laughed. “I’ll say!” She stretched her fingers. “But wait… I can’t… take the credit for any-”

“Of course you can.” Penny chimed, setting a slice of pie next to Daphne. Cherry. Her favorite. “After all, it is your code. I am merely helping! 

“Well… you’re a huge help! Thanks!” Daphne then let out a moan, as the first forkful of pie hit her tongue.

“That is what I am here for.” The AI purred.