FFF - Ch79

It seems as though Curio has already figured out the things that Jane had only just been beginning to notice. Strange, zombie women with penises on the surface must have drawn attention; it was no wonder that Annette’s adversaries had found this place.

Now, they stand in front of the very door that Jane noted not so long ago, just across the hall from the room where Jane found Shell and Curio when she arrived here.

Curio punches a code into the keypad and the doors open with a hiss. A pale mist floats out of the room on the other side, which lights up when the doors are opened fully.

“Oh shit,” Jane says.

She had expected a server or computer. Maybe a robot.

Instead, it’s another laboratory identical to the one in which Shell and Curio had been kept. More lights click on, casting wild shadows through the glass tank in the center of the space. Inside is a woman, but she’s attached to far more machinery than Shell and Curio were.

“She was keeping someone else here? That bitch!” Shell is righteously furious.

Curio calmly walks to the terminal and bends to type.

Jane takes in the room, sniffing the air. It’s old and stuffy. Damp. Moldy, even. How long has it been since this place has been opened up? How long has Annette held this woman prisoner? No wonder she didn’t want them to know.

The tank fills with bubbles and gurgles as it begins to drain.

“Damn,” Curio mutters.

Shell tears her eyes away from the woman in the tank. “What’s wrong?”

“I understand now. Why are there so many files I couldn’t find? Because they aren’t stored digitally,” Curio says bitterly. She shakes her head. “Irksome.”

Jane hurries to the tank, which is opening. The woman inside sags, held up by the collection of tubes and attachments. The fluid in the tank smells like chemicals. Wrinkling her nose, Shell moves in to help get the woman free of the machinery. They lift her down to the floor, where she coughs pathetically.

It’s a little difficult to be sure of anything; she’s covered in this slimy liquid, but she’s got to be twice Jane’s age. She’s blonde and slim, but with more of a figure than Shell has. Her features seem pretty enough; she’ll clean up well if they can get her out of here alive.

“That’s enough,” Curio says, pulling Jane back.

“Huh?”

“Don’t baby her.” Curio waves at Shell, who curiously backs away.

The blonde sits in a puddle on the cold floor, nude and shaking as she glares up at Curio.

“Do you know what you’ve done?” the blonde asks tightly.

“Annette, I presume,” Curio says, folding her arms.