#alice lancaster

[arutai]

Alice Lancaster by Zachary Chick

[aziz-writes]

Y'all. I'm kind of excited about this one ever since @pluttskutt asked me a question that revealed Alice had a dog. IDK if this is going to fit anywhere in Death of a Monarch but here's a short story anyway!

World: Death of a Monarch Butterfly

POV: Alice Lancaster

Prompt by: @flashfictionfridayofficial

Cheshire

Alice moved her knight, carefully counting out three spaces, then one, to make an L shape.

"Checkmate."

The girl across from her nodded and stood without a word, returning to her waiting handler. Alice waited too. She wondered what the girl would lose. She hoped the girl had something to lose. Maybe a doll. Something easily lost. Maybe food. Depends on how many games she had lost.

"MK03-LM01. Alice, report."

Alice stood and reported to her own handler. She was the nicest one, Alice thought. Other handlers might yell at the other girls, or send them to electrotherapy. Alice's handler would yell only if someone was watching, and did her best to avoid time outs.

"You're getting quite good at chess." The older woman said. "I have a present."

Alice smiled like a good girl and waited, silent, like a good girl. Her handler turned and gestured to a double mirrored door, which opened just wide enough for a small black dog to amble through. It was spotted with white specks in it's fur like so many snowflakes, and tripped over the big red bow that trailed the floor from it's place around the dog's collar.

Alice looked once to her handler, fingers twitching for permission. Her handler nodded. "You may speak with him, get to know him. This is a big responsibility. Make sure you feed him well."

Alice fell to her knees, immediately opening her arms and receiving the furry monster into a big hug. "Can I name him?"

Her handler turned so Alice couldn't see her face. "Of course. Remember this little guy is mixed with a line of hunting dogs, so he'll grow almost as tall as you. Name him on his spirit, not his size."

Alice nodded, rubbing her forehead into the soft fur of the puppy's neck. "Hello Cheshire. I'm Alice. I'm the best at checkers and chess and will never lose you."

Her handler went to the door and opened it, pausing before she crossed the threshold. "You'll have twenty minutes to acquaint yourself with Cheshire. You have done so well in the Brain block, you'll be moving to Strength next."

Alice's fingers stopped midscratch in Cheshire's fur. The Strength block didn't care if you were good at chess. They wanted you to be good at fighting. Alice looked into Cheshire's eyes, already regretting her promise now that she wasn't so sure she could keep it.

Her handler stepped through the door and closed it, leaving Alice and Cheshire with only the cameras. She hid a sudden sting of tears in her new dog's fur and made a new promise, with shaky conviction. "I'm going to keep you." She whispered, "I'll work really hard and become the best in the Strength block too."

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[aziz-writes]

Tag by: @flashfictionfridayofficial

WIP: Death of a Monarch Butterfly

POV: Crystal

Context: this is towards the very end of the book, the last scene before the epilogue

Crystal looked at Rebekah, waiting for a reaction. She had dumped a lot of information, so maybe it was shock -- but the way Rebekah looked at Alice made it seem like she wasn't surprised. She was sad, sure. But it was the kind of sad people got when they knew something bad was going to happen, and they had just hoped it wouldn't.

"Bekah?" Crystal dropped her hands and stepped back. "Did you know this would happen?"

"Crystal..." Rebekah took a breath and started again. "I need you to be brave for me."

"No!" Crystal stepped further away from both of them. Alice, to her credit, didn't try to placate Crystal. She just stood warily by the entrance. "No, Rebekah. Last time you told me to be brave I --" Crystal gripped her head, trying to get her thoughts together. "Last time you disappeared, didn't you? You left me. Both of my parents were gone and you left me!"

Crystal grabbed a metal pot and threw it against a wall. She was angry and her thoughts kept slipping away from her and maybe if she slammed enough things around the pounding in her head would be cancelled out. "And I couldn't remember!" Crystal sat abruptly on a chair and Alice started in the corner.

"Crystal, don't push it--"

"Why couldn't I remember you? Why does everyone seem to know what's going on and I don't?" Crystal was screaming now, trying to hear herself over the blood pounding in her ears. She ran out of words but the pounding didn't stop so she just screamed nothing instead.

Then the smell of sage and coriander surrounded her. Rebekah was close again, whispering in her ear like -- when was it? Flashes of a knife, cameras clicking, undone curly hair pulling her to safety, and those same whispers. The same words. The pounding got quieter, Crystal's breaths slower. She stopped screaming. Alice leaned against the wall again.

"Think of softer things, my love. Think of--"

"Stop!" Crystal pushed hard against Rebekah's chest and watched as she stumbled back, looking wounded. Crystal pushed her hair back off her face. "Is anything you say not an attempt to control me?" She was whispering now. Rebekah sucked in a breath and closed her eyes. Tears fell down her cheeks, cutting through dust and landing forgotten on the floor.

"She was trying to help. When you try to push through the programming by yourself, without the right commands and without having the slightest idea of what you're doing, your mind fights back." Alice stepped forward. "The constant ringing? Your blood pounding so hard you feel like your brain might just explode? It's lethal, Crystal."

Crystal stared determinately at the floor, feeling like a chastised child. "She had no right--"

"I had no right!" Now it was Alice slamming her fist against the wooden table. "I was the one who tried to hurt you. I hated you. All Bluebird ever did was make my programming weaker. She gave you escape routes. She gave you a way to find her. Without her we would both be dead and I didn't come all this way just to have you change your mind about how you feel."

Alice stood and gave Crystal her space. "I can deprogram you. But it's not an overnight process. You need to trust us -- both of us -- if we need to stop so you don't die in the process then we stop."

Rebekah took one step forward. "We're all pawns in different government projects. Alice has the codename Monarch, because her project--"

"--is the worst."

Rebekah paused, then shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a Bluebird. I'm supposed to be trusted with controlling specified targets and get them to do or remember certain things, even if they may not be true."

Crystal looked at both of them. "We're all pawns?"

Alice drummed her fingers against her arm and answered for Rebekah. "If you had taken the deal at the hospital, you would have been a Mantis."

"So Kirtus..."

"Was supposed to die after you had a baby. And that baby--"

"Melody."

Alice nodded and looked away. "Melody was to be taken to the nursery. She would--" Alice cleared her throat as her voice cracked. "She would be raised by scientists to determine what program she would be most beneficial in."

Crystal looked at Alice, who was now talking towards a wall, her face an emotionless mask. "And if I had twins?" Crystal whispered.

Alice ground her teeth and shook her head. Rebekah stepped closer and placed a tentative hand on Crystal's shoulder. "You would have had to choose which twin to keep at home and which to never see again."

Then they were all quiet. Two women Crystal loved in different ways, neither of which she was supposed to know about. All of them beaten by some secret government agency that took and killed people like puppets.

"Tomorrow I want to start... undoing everything. Deprogramming?" Crystal looked at Alice, who nodded at the wall she was still staring at. "And then I want to take down the people who did this to us."

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[aziz-writes]

Villains with redemption arcs are cool and all but have you ever had a character just...

*has always been a fragile cinnamon roll*

"I'm so evil and damaged."

*helps old lady across the street*

"I have everyone fooled."

*gives life savings to a children's hospital*

"I'm dangerous. Nobody come too close."

*lovingly tucks in puppy*

"I hate everyone and everything and don't deserve love."

[aziz-writes]

Prompt by: @flashfictionfridayofficial

WIP: Death of a Monarch Butterfly

POV: Alice

Alice watched Rebekah leave and glanced at her sleeping twin on the bed. She'd leave her there for a while. Alice put her work phone down and picked up Crystal's. The girl had a hundred pictures of herself or her things. She had Notifications from every app she had, many along the lines of "you have 173 notifications from your followers". She had been neglecting the poor sheep.

Alice stopped on an image of Crystal from right before her mother died. She looked defiant and self assured. Had I ever looked like that? Alice chanced a glance at the door, waiting for her handler to decide she couldn't do this on her own after all. No one came.

This strange half freedom of hers was nerve racking. She wasn't truly alone-- the cameras saw to that. She couldn't leave. She could change her clothes, though. The standard issue Delta uniform was not meant for casual encounters or long term use. Why not? She thought, Let's mess with her head even more. Alice found the closest copy of Crystal's outfit and changed into them. Luxury sweatpants were a thing, apparently, but Alice couldn't imagine working out in them without them falling apart. On her way back to the main bedroom, Alice swiped some chocolates off a side table and noticed a picture of Kimimi Lancaster. How did you do it, mother? How did you decide which girl got her freedom and which became...me?

Alice decided it was time to wake her sister. As uncomfortable as the compound was, being surrounded by soft and glittering things set Alice on edge. There was anger, fear, confusion -- and in her own world of handlers and punishments she would never have to navigate the drama of your world suddenly being absent of parents and inclusive of a twin and fiance.

"Carousel."

Crystal blinked out of her trance and sat up. "How long have I slept?"

"Not long, miss." Alice sat in a chair in full view of the bed and watched as her twin moved her gaze from Alice to the mirror and back again.

"Who are you?"

"No one you'll remember. Tell me: who do you love?"

"Kirtus Pheffer." Crystal seemed shocked at how quickly the response came.

"Good. Marry him."

Crystal sat up straighter and glared at Alice. "I am! Not because of anything you say. I was already planning on getting married."

Alice smirked. "Sure you were. Now I can leave."

"Wait! Who are you?"

Alice left anyway, loading the control app on her phone again. "If only I had a dollar for every time you asked that." Alice pressed the trigger and knew Crystal would close her eyes against the rush of petrichor spraying into the room, weaken her mind enough to remotely erase Alice from her memory.

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[aziz-writes]

Rebekah's turning point

With much thanks to @corav1a for helping me brainstorm how to not completely destroy Rebekah but to still stay (mostly) true to my original plot.

Rebekah brushed a strand of Crystal's hair behind her ear. "I know this feels like a lot. You're not alone."

"No," Crystal said softly. "At least I have you."

Rebekah closed her eyes a moment and opened a jar of lotion. "You have Kirtus too. He..." What was a good thing to say about Kirtus Pheffer? "He is clever, and charismatic. He'll help you manage media and the board."

Crystal laughed and held out her arm for the lotion. "He's not you, though."

Rebekah smiled, saying nothing as she worked the lotion into Crystal's skin. Crystal tilted her head back and closed her eyes with a sigh. "This is my favorite scent. It smells like..."

"Petrichor." Rebekah closed the jar and sighed. "Paradise."

She lay Crystal back and checked the time. They would be here soon.

"Swingset," Rebekah paused, counting the hours. "Twelve half swings."

Crystal smiled, a blush running across her cheeks. She would be back to last night, but last night could no longer be the truth. Rebekah loaded up the application Kimimi had used so ruthlessly at the beginning of this mess. It won't be the same, Rebekah told herself. I'll only press it once. "Who are you with?"

Crystal smiled wider. "Bekah." She breathed.

A tear fell from Rebekah's eyes and she took a breath to steady her voice. She pressed the trigger on her phone. "Who are you with?" Her voice still held a quiver, but didn't break.

Crystal breathed in deeply, a moment of confusion flashing on her brow. "Kirtus?"

"You love Kirtus."

"I love Kirtus."

"Kirtus makes you happy."

"Kirtus makes me happy."

"You want to make a family with Kirtus."

"I want to marry Kirtus and have a baby."

"Paradise."

Rebekah checked the time again. She didn't have long. "Who is Rebekah?"

Crystal's face morphed into a confused smile. "Bekah?"

She still remembers. Good.

"Forest. Rebekah is hiding. Rebekah is a bluebird."

"My bluebird in a field of poppies."

Poppies? That's an interesting place to put me. Rebekah turned at the sound of steps in the hall. "When you need to find me, follow the bluebirds. Find me."

"Find the bluebird."

"Paradise."

Rebekah stood as the door opened. Crystal's doppelganger walked in, alone. "They let you out of your cage by yourself?" She said casually.

Alice smirked and handed Rebekah an envelope. "Your services are no longer required. Here's your severance pay."

Rebekah glared. "And?"

Alice held up a finger and walked to Crystal lying on the bed. "Who do you love?"

Crystal grinned and blushed on cue. "Kirtus. I want to marry him. I want a baby."

Rebekah turned away to hide her hurt as Alice approached her again. "Well done. Your father is in the envelope too."

Rebekah tore the envelope from Alice's hand and grabbed a waiting suitcase.

"I hope they fix you one day. I hope you learn to love."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Sex and love are two different things. Not needing intimacy is normal and lowers distractions. Or do you need a reminder of where 'love' got you?"

Alice's hand was on the phone now, thumb hovering over the trigger. She wouldn't be gentle. Rebekah raised her hands in surrender. "I'm leaving. I'll disappear, as promised."

Alice put the phone down and nodded. Rebekah left. I'll disappear, but I sure as hell won't be gone.

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[aziz-writes]

For those who ship Rebekah and Crystal

I apologise in advance. Things are going to get painful.

POV: Alice

Alice read the report and watched a replay of the security videos. She didn't see the appeal of being touched by someone like that, and the thought of another person's mouth on her sent a snarl of disgust through her face. She knew this wasn't the program. Some older girls--Betas, mostly, but some Deltas-- had been insistent it can feel good. There were rumors of love, of girls who had tried to hide a relationship only to have it serve as a noose around their neck later. Regardless, Crystal was clearly one for such affections. She drummed her fingers one by one against the desk. It didn't do the Mantis project any good for Crystal to be drawn towards women. Alice shuffled through the files until she landed on the one that had both assets in the garden. The passion Crystal showed the boy was similar, but prompted by fear and adrenaline instead of sadness and confusion. 

"Fix it." Her handler had growled. How? Alice wondered. There's no time to train a new handler. We're losing our hold on the current one. Alice used to play chess, in the nursery. Every time one of her pieces was taken, so was something else. A doll, a meal, it didn't matter. If you did well you received gifts. If you didn't they were taken away. Alice had nothing else to lose but her life, and there was still much to do before she lost that. 

First, the problem of Crystal's affections had to be dealt with. Alice wrote up a plan and sent it to her handler. Nothing happened. 

She followed up with a failsafe to keep the maid under control. The door to the room unlocked, and Alice was handed a meal ticket she could use to eat. 

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[aziz-writes]

A look at what Alice was doing right before Kimimi died

The chain holding the stained, heavy sandbag off the ground clinked against itself as Alice attacked it. Her daily physical training always started out fine, a chore that had to be done. Some days she saw faces instead of a sandbag, and even her handler knew to approach her carefully when it was time to stop. Skin broke on her knuckles and Alice responded by alternating her elbows and knees on her target.

"... Alice" 

She heard her name but didn't stop-- couldn't. She went harder and twisted toward a new attacker when she felt a brush against her shoulder. Her assailant sidestepped Alice's kick, and took her loss of momentum as an opportunity to grab Alice in a restraining hold from behind her.

"Alice! Stop it now. Come back. They kill Deltas they can't control." 

Alice dropped all of her weight to the floor, slipping out of the hold and holding a sparring position to show she was listening. A glance wasn't enough to tell if the handlers were buying it, if they thought this was a pair of Deltas sparring for a chance at privileges.

The girl across from her nodded subtly. She seemed convinced everything was okay. 

They leapt at each other, mostly blocks and acrobatics. Neither of them would ever dare to leave a mark where it was easily found. Destroying property that wasn't yours would also lead to death. 

"Attention!" The master's voice crackled over the loudspeaker and every girl turned towards the viewing area, backs straight. "MK03-LM01 report for duty."

Alice walked to the exit without looking back. She flagged down a medic and grabbed a roll of gauze for her knuckles on the way to the control room.

"Sir," she nodded to her handler, "I am at your disposal."

"Our contact has discovered the source of our target's misbehavior. The report is on the desk. You get to choose a cutout to eliminate the problem."

Alice glanced over the report, and pulled up security feeds to see the effects for herself. "Are any cutouts conditioned to remote programming?"

Her handler nodded. "A taste of her own medicine, eh? Yes, an army vet with a drug problem is ready to go. He's currently living on his own in the streets, so no one will miss him."

"I'll program the commands then. Let's have him in the area when the press conference starts."

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