THE MOMENT
"What the hell's a Z T?" Aurelio was caught off guard by the list item. He was browsing the monsters he had available to create a practice dungeon for the roller derby team. It was a task he'd done before; but, this time he wanted something to add some extra Halloween spice and sorted by infectious monsters. The last item on the list, below Zombies, was greyed out and only had the letters: 'Z (T)'.
"Helios," he summoned the company A.I. by name. A golden, faceless mannequin appeared on one of Aurelio's monitors. The figure wore a deep crimson suit with a golden tie and stood in a plain white void.
"Yeah?" Helios asked.
"What's ZT?" Aurelio asked. Helios pulled out an umbrella and opened it as he answered the question. Tube noodles rained on him from the top of the screen and bounced off the umbrella.
"Ziti is a popular tube-shaped pasta that gets its name-,"
"Thank you, not that," Aurelio shook his head to interrupt the A.I. He held his node up to the monitor and pointed at the locked entry. "This Z T", he clarified.
"Huh," Helios leaned forward. He normally had no eyes; but, black lines appeared where each eye would be and he squinted like a cartoon character. He reached up to adjust his glasses which didn't exist until that moment. "Uh.. lemme see...," He walked forward off camera and came into frame on Aurelio's node. Helios squatted to take a closer look at the box, then stood up and kicked it like a tire.
"I'm going to lie to you. I don't know what that is," Helios shook his head and shrugged.
"You're lying," Aurelio chuckled.
"I'm going to do it again. What? Nooooo. C'mon Aury, I wouldn't lie to you!"
"*ahHM* Aury cleared his throat and held up a different node. Unlike the clear one he was using, this one was translucent red. "Ms. Sharp gave me a command node, remember?"
"Stupid guardrails..," Helios mumbled under his breath. Eyes appeared on his face just long enough for him to roll them before they disappeared again.
"Whatever," Helios shrugged. "I don't even have to lie; I can't tell you anyway."
"So you do know what it is?" Aurelio asked. Helios crossed his arms and shifted his weight to one leg as he tapped his foot.
"You see this? You see me standing here looking bored? I'm running the entirety of Sharp Development while I'm here. I'm monitoring a multiversal corporation spread out among millions of alternate Earths while I talk to you. Of course, I know what Turbo Zombies are. Eyes appeared again and widened to exaggerated proportions as Helios clapped a hand to his mouth with a metal *clang*. "I didn't say anything," Helios disintegrated immediately and vanished from Aurelio's node.
"Where are you running to?" Aury chuckled. "You're everywhere."
"Fine, fine," Helios appeared on one of the desk monitors again. He slumped his shoulders and let himself fall down and a large red bean bag caught him. "What?" he asked.
"I'm gonna need you to explain what a Turbo Zombie is...," Aurelio said.
"They're like regular zombies; but, better," Helios answered. "I'm glad we had this talk," he leaned forward to stand up but Aury interrupted him again.
"Better how?"
"Literally in every way. If you're bitten, you turn into one quite quickly. They have the strength and regeneration of El Soldado; and, then there's the best part. It's only a temporary change. They were created for a Halloween event; great fun at parties."
"That sounds exactly like what I'm looking for, why can't I use them?" Aury asked.
"They don't exist yet," Helios replied.
"But you said...," Aury paused to consider the alternatives. Helios was mostly unhinged; but, he was an A.I. and he usually chose his words carefully. "...is this a timeline thing?" he asked.
"It's an 'Only Ms. Sharp' can answer that question thing," Helios replied.
"Then, put me on her calendar please, as soon as possible."
"I won't do that. Sure! I'm making a note right now ... Au re lio ...meeee ting...," Helios sounded out his words as if he were writing them. "...sooooooon. All set, champ! Anything else I can do you for?" Aurelio sighed. He decided it would be best to just visit Ms. Sharp himself instead of trying to figure out why Helios was lying about it.
But, the more he thought about it, the less he was sure he wanted to. He felt confident Helios could only lie if he was programmed to; and, it made him wonder why these lies were programmed in. The obvious answer was Ms. Sharp was responsible. He considered going another route.
"Can you at least tell me who created them?" Aurelio asked.
Helios shook his head with a smile in his voice. "No one, yet."