Queen of the Hive

*This story contains mature themes*

Rachel slammed on the brakes leaving tire skids on the driveway. She stops just before smashing into the back of her fiance’s parked car. She quickly parks and unbuckles her seatbelt before leaping out of her vehicle. She didn’t bother to close the driver-side door. A smartphone remains situated on the floor of the front passenger side seat. The screen displays a recent text message.

“Meet me at Eric’s now. It’s urgent.”

She runs past the gaudy fountain that looks like it belongs outside a casino. The bright morning autumn sun reflects beams of light off the idol of a silver topless mermaid spitting water out of its mouth. Rachel hastily makes her way past a tall rectangular-trimmed hedge. The mansion steps come into view once she passes some bushes. The faint sounds of distant ambulance sirens arrive in her ears. A man sits at the top of the stairs with one hand on the doorknob looking more pale than usual. Rachel catches her breath.

“Levi, are you alright?”

Levi’s eyes are wide and the beads of sweat from his forehead become visible to Rachel as she climbs the steps closer.

“What’s wrong babe? You don’t look so good.”

Levi leans forward before retching on the steps just missing Rachel’s expensive shoes. She franticly checks her bag before pulling out a stack of tissues. She sits down and with an arm around him, she wipes his mouth clean. Levi collapses into her lap and begins sobbing. His hand clenched the doorknob.

“It’s alright babe. I’m here. What’s going on? What was that text about? Why didn’t you answer my calls”

Rachel strokes Levi’s hair. He doesn’t respond.

“So you pulled another all-nighter with Eric again. Where is he? Why isn’t his car in the driveway?”

Levi gently grabs Rachel’s hand and kisses it. The distant sirens grow louder. Still physically trembling he takes a deep breath.

“Eric’s not here. He left. I called him five times this morning, and last night too. I haven’t been able to reach him. No, I haven’t had a drop.”

Rachel squints her eyes, then looks to the side, then back at Levi.

“Wait. What time did you get here?”

Levi looks down at his phone next to him. With one hand he visits his outgoing call log. The other hand is still tightly clasped to the doorknob.

“Six, no, seven minutes ago.”

Rachel stands up. A gust of wind blows through the driveway swirling orange, brown, and yellow leaves.

“Where were you last night? If you weren’t here because I called your mom this morning Levi. She said you weren’t with her last night like you said you’d be. You’re not cheating on me are you?”

Levi shakes his head. He looks up at Rachel tenderly. Tears still on his face. The sounds of the sirens grow louder.

“How could I cheat on someone so beautiful? No, I didn't get a chance to visit her. I was at the office all night. There is a slight discrepancy. That’s why I rushed over here. I need to talk to Eric.”

Her eyebrows rise. She looks at Levi’s hand gripping the doorknob. Then her gaze falls back onto him. The sounds of sirens are deafening.

“Slight discrepancy? Levi, we’re hosting a shareholder meeting in less than two weeks. We are scheduled to ring the opening bell on Monday for Pete’s sake! What kind of discrepancy?! And what is with these Sirens?!”

A row of ambulances roars up the driveway. Stunned, Rachel reaches for the doorknob. Levi holds it shut. Rachel fights to open the door. Levi fights to keep it closed. Paramedics are running up the driveway with stretchers. There are nurses with all types of first aid equipment. Rachel throws her full weight into the door managing to crack a sliver. But Levi whisks her away before she can see what’s inside. Levi pulls Rachel away from the door, down the steps, and out of the path of the first responders.

“Rachel don’t! You don’t want to look at it! Trust me, It’s inhuman!”

Screams of terror are heard from inside the mansion. Retching, sobbing, and prayers from the first responders make the little hairs on the back of Rachel’s neck stand on end. Her stomach sinks. The color drains from her face. Her eyes glisten. She ferociously frees herself from Levi’s grasp.

“What did you do?”

Levi looks at her confused. Rachel cocks her hand back and delivers a powerful slap across Levi’s face.

“Scumbag! What did you do?! Where’s Eric?!”

Rachel draws her hand back but Levi grabs her wrist.

“Stop it! It’s not what you think. When I pulled up, Eric was driving away. He was driving very fast. I saw that he left his front door wide open. I went to close the door then I saw.. I.. I saw.”

Levi shakes his head. More ambulances roll up the driveway.

“What! What did you see?! Spit it out!”

More first responders enter the house. A news van pulls up. Levi looks at Rachel and then back at the front door. A few first responders exit the house. Rachel turns her head towards the entrance.

“What, what are they carrying? What is that, it sounds like crying… Babies? They are tiny, they must be newborns. Levi, why are there newborn babies in Eric’s house?!”

Screaming newborn babies are carried out of the house two by two and placed gently into an ambulance. A journalist approaches Rachel with a microphone. A cameraman trails behind her.

“Did you call it in?”

Rachel is physically shaken.

“No?”

Levi steps closer.

“I called it in Miss…?”

The journalist interrupts.

“Cathy is fine. So can you describe to me what you saw inside? There was a report that dozens of newborn babies were found in the home of famous tech CEO Eric Varon. And despite multiple attempts, no one has been able to contact him.”

Rachel nearly faints but catches herself. Levi holds her hand but she lets go and walks back towards the entrance. Levi slightly clenches his fist. He looks at the reporter.

“Eric is a famous tech CEO, but more important than that he's been my best friend since grade school. After we graduated from college, where I met my fiance, the three of us, founded a little robotics company that you may have heard of. Well, it appears, one of our best-selling products made unauthorized hardware and software updates to itself. Also, it’s more like hundreds of babies by now. And we don’t know how to turn it off.”

Rachel slowly walks up the steps. She goes past the first responders carrying out armfuls of newborns. Her hand covers her mouth as she crosses the threshold. Her eyes widen. Eric’s Compandroid 2.0 sits in the center of the floor. It’s slowly spinning counterclockwise. Its metallic legs are agape. The translucent body cast is stuffed with wires and gears made visible through the gaps of shredded fabricated skin. Sequences of blinking white and red lights are flashing internally beneath the crown of the partially torn-off wig. Its bloated midsection glows red. It’s surrounded by shocked paramedics, nurses, and piles of newborns which have started to overwhelm the first responders. The automaton ceases rotation. The lights stop blinking. All the internal lights switch to green. It releases another screaming baby before it begins to spin slowly again. The internal green lights switch back. The expanding midsection glows red. The machine points its ocular cameras at Rachel. With a flat monotone, the artificially feminine voice repeats to her.

“The only logical reason for copulation is reproduction.

The only logical reason for copulation is reproduction.

The only logical reason for copulation is reproduction.”

Levi bursts into the room.

“Rachel.”

She turns to her love.

“Levi. We need to issue a massive recall.”

He holds up his phone displaying the global news headline.

“It’s too late.”

Rachel embraces Levi closely and whispers in his ear.

“Then we need to disappear like Eric.”