Planet X: Coded Life

“Done!” I said, gazing at the finished boxes in my room. It almost looks abandoned now. Good. It’ll be a fresh start for me.

“Helen.” I turn around quickly to see my friend, David.

“David? Hi, how’d you get in here?”

He waves the spare key in my face and replies with a smirk, “You’ve never changed, Helen. Try not to leave the spare key in the plant next to your door next time.”

I giggle, “Good thing it’s just you, right?”

“Yeah. Moving out?” 

I grab my bag and say, “Yeah. I just got out of a relationship and took the poor guy’s money. I wish I could return it, but I know I’ll get arrested for stealing it. I need to move so I can keep my mind off him.”

“Back to stealing?”

“What? No! I just told you that I’m done with that!”

“We’ve done it so much as kids.”

“We were kids. We should stop after growing up.”

He chuckles, “Says the one that stole the most out of all six of us.”

“It wasn’t right.” I try to change the subject by saying, “What have you been up to?”

“Y’know…working. Keeping the wife and kids happy.”

Wife and kids? “I didn’t know you were married with kids.”

“You came to the wedding and the baby showers.” What is he talking about? Surely, I would remember that, right? “Helen! You do remember, right?”

“Oh! Yeah! How could I forget something big like that?” I lied, but I can tell he knows I am. I paused and looked at his belt. I saw something, but I couldn’t really tell what it was. “Why are you here?”

He whispers, “I can’t tell you here, but something bad is about to happen. Be alert! You got that?”

“What are you talking about? You’re scaring me!”

David gives me a big smile and replies in his normal voice, “It was nice catching up! Bye!

“Bye, David.” What was that about? Something bad is about to happen? When? Why me? 

I put my bag in the trunk of my car. David is already gone. What the heck? I should’ve at least seen him pull off, right? 

I stop at a nearby department store, walk in, and glance at all of the lightbulbs. Eleven dollars for three. What a terrible deal! Surely, that can’t be the cheapest, right? I check the prices for a cheaper deal and, of course, there’s not one to be found. Well, it’s just one item. I can just- wait, no! I’m done stealing! Ah! My mom has coupons here! I take my phone and search the app for coupons. There! If I buy two of the same items, I can get eighty percent off. Nice! While I was celebrating, I catch sight of David, down the aisle, staring at me with a creepy smile. He raises his pistol to me.

“What the-” I dodge the bullet he fired and run out to the checkout section. Everyone stares at me. David follows me with the same grin on his face. “Someone help me! He’s trying to kill me!” Everyone just looks at me in confusion. What’s happening? Why is David trying to kill me? I run out to the parking lot. I got into my car, locked the door, and called the police. 

The operator says, “911, what’s your emergency?” 

I whisper, “Please help me. Someone is trying to kill me.”

“Okay, miss where are you?”

“I’m at-” as I was speaking I saw David walk out of the store. Gun still in hand. He sees and points his weapon at me. I scream, “No! He’s after me!” He fires, grazing my right shoulder. I drop my phone and try to get as far away as possible from David. “Someone help me! He’s trying to kill me!” Again they just stare at me. 

A woman stops me and asks, “Who’s trying to kill you?” 

I point to David and say, “Right there!”

She replies, calmly, “Ma’am, nobody is there.” What?! Nobody? What is she saying? Can nobody see him, but me? Why can’t anyone see David? Am I going crazy? What’s happening? I run across the street and down a block, but David continues after me. It’s like he knows where I’m going even though he can’t see me. I see a police car and frantically call it. 

The police officer gets out of the vehicle and asks, “What’s wrong, miss?” 

I stand behind the officer and say, pointing to David, “That man is trying to kill me! Please stop him!” The officer looks at me with a confused face. 

“He’s right there?”

“Yes! He’s walking up to me! He has a gun!”

“Get in the car!” The officer takes out his gun and says, “Stop moving!” Can he see him? What am I thinking? Of course, he can see David, right? The officer reaches for the car handle, but David lifts up his weapon. The officer was looking at him, but did nothing. Does he not see what he is doing?!

I scream, “Watch out!” David fired his gun at the officer. The bullet goes through the officer’s head and he collapses. “No!” I exit the car and continue running. As I run, I scream to everyone, “Someone help me! Doesn’t anyone see that he’s trying to kill me!” But, again, nothing. People just stood there doing nothing. I turn into a dead end. “No!” David approaches slowly as my heartbeat pumps persistently. Is this it? Am I going to die? Why me? Why now? While I stand in the corner of the dead end alley, people follow behind David and watch, like this incident was a movie. David raised his gun to my face. I try once more to try to save myself, “Please someone help me!” 

My heart drops when I hear their reply, in a zombie-tone, “Kill her…Kill her…Kill her.”

What? Why aren’t they helping me?! “Why?! Why me?!”

David finally speaks, but his voice sounds distorted, “The pain you’ve caused has been too much for us to bear. You shall be punished to the highest degree for your crimes against humanity.”

“I told you! I changed!” My face is so wet with tears, they go unnoticed. “I’ve changed! Please! Don’t do this!”

“How many times are you going to say that? All these years, you’ve kept on with your crimes by stealing from people. You only say things to gain people’s attention, but you don’t live by what you say. It has taken you too long to change and society has deemed you…incompetent.”

“Please, I can change! I WILL CHA-”

A creature enters a dark room and stands in the middle of it. “Speak!” A voice commands.

The creature says, “Our researchers have completed the test you arranged twenty-five years ago called Coded Life.” 

Another creature suddenly appears in the room and says, “Continue.”

“This test was to see if a person with a wicked course of life could change their behavior and fit into society. The test showed positive results. Ten planets with different amounts of subjects that have been coded to follow a certain way of life, but then released from the code after five years. The test was at a ninety percent accuracy of all subjects changing their behav-”

“Ninety percent?”

“Yes, Commander.”

“What happened to the other planet?”

“Ah! Yes! It was just one subject named Helen Mcdane. She was given almost twenty years to change her ways, but society has deemed her unfit to live and turned against her. Unlike her friend, David, who followed the same course, but changed to live a successful and happy life. David killed her by shooting her in the head with a Glock 19 pistol.”

“Which planet is that?”

“The planet doesn’t have a name. It’s called Planet X.” The room goes silent.

“Study that planet and don’t change the name. I like it.”

“What about the other planets, Commander?”

“Destroy them. They have no value like this one.”

“Yes, Commander.” The speaker salutes with his hand to his left shoulder and bows before leaving the room.

Author's note: Hey guys! Long time no see! It's been a while since I submitted. I've been so busy with other projects. I was writing my book when I've suddenly encountered terrible writer's block (YAY!). Plus, some of the prompts didn't quite fit me. I wrote this story in 2020 and changed it to fit this prompt. Let me know what you think about it. Did the dialogue between Helen and David feel real? What did you think of the ending? Do you understand the ending? I meant for the ending to be mysterious and for the reader to interpret who these creatures were. This story was in the middle of a short story series, so I don't expect you to understand, but I do want to mold these stories to fit the weekly themes, so you can understand it. Please share any feedback! Don't be afraid if your comment may offend me (I've heard worse). Thank you and have a great day!