The Mimicry

2
 The Mimicry
The Mimicry
Silent, empty suburban house during the
night...
“Hey, you two! Stop! Where do you think
you‟re going?”
Two shadows, one small and one bigger,
which were moving through the hallway just
stopped like frozen next to the kitchen door.
There was a girl sitting at the kitchen table. She
made that noise. Her wavy brown hair was
reflecting the weak light coming from the
hallway and from the street lights.
“Who is it? We thought the house was
empty. Mr. and Mrs. Simmons went out half an
hour ago... who are you? How did you get here?
We thought... Are you their maid? We thought
that there is no one here”, said one of the
intruders.
“Maid? Yes, at your service! Oh guys, you
are so hilarious. I am not, but you will wish that
I was a maid. As you can see, the house is
empty. I broke into it just before you did...
which means you'll have to back off and leave
everything to me”, she said, pointing the gun at
them.
“Oooh! Slow down, babe! We‟re sorry.
We`ve had our eye on this house for weeks, but
we haven`t noticed you around. Who are you?
Are you a family member, or have you broken in
just as we did? We can join forces and divide
everything we find into three equal parts. The
Simmons appear to be...”, said the other
intruder, who was slightly bigger and far calmer
than his companion.
“Are you deaf? I said, I broke into the house
just before you did. And now...silence! Stop
screwing with me! This 'babe' isn‟t sharing
anything with you. Is that clear? Let me see
what you have in your hands. Quick, throw it all
on the floor! What? You have nothing more than
crowbars? Are you kidding me?! You went to a
burglary armed with nothing more than
crowbars, you pathetic scumbags! Where‟s your
weapon?”, she asked them with the voice of
ridicule, with the gun still pointed at them.
“Lloyd, I told you we should skip this house.
I can‟t... I can‟t do this...”, said the smaller
intruder.
“Silence, you skinny ass motherfucker! Yes,
you! Quit that „skip crap‟! Come on, tell me
your name! What is it? What!? Are you
choking?”, the girl yelled.
“Ed...Edward”, he answered with his voice
trembling, trying to catch his breath.
“OK. I'll call you Eddie. And you biggy! Tell
me your name”, she said it a lot quieter.
“Lloyd. Please call me Lloyd. Now babe,
how about telling us your name?”, asked Lloyd,
feeling more confident now.
“Andrea. There, now you can quit calling
me „babe‟. So what‟s up with you guys? Why are
you so scared? I won‟t hurt you. We‟ll just play
a little game”, added Andrea jokingly.
“Has anyone ever told you you look like
Hilary Swank?”, Lloyd asked.
“Yes, so I was told. So... Lloyd, was it? Do
you see that dresser by the entrance to the
dining room? Go to it and open the first
drawer”, she pointed to it with a gun in her
hand, moving it quickly so as not to let him
relax. As he approached it, she pulled out
another gun, tucked into the belt of her jeans.
She also wore a white T-shirt and a short denim
jacket. Now she had them both in her sights.
“You mean this one?”, Lloyd asked,
surprised to see the two guns.
“Yes! That one. Open it! You will find a
rope inside of it. Bring it over here!”, Andrea
said nervously.
Lloyd pulled the rope out, looked first at
Eddie and then at Andrea, pushed the drawer
back, returned to his previous spot and tossed
the rope over to Andrea.
“Sit down, Lloyd! Eddie, come here!”, she
said, pushing a chair to Lloyd with her leg.
“You wouldn‟t happen to be working for the
police?”, Lloyd asked as he was sat on the chair.
“Don‟t be ridiculous! Why would I be
wasting my time with you? The police would
3
 The Mimicry
have been here already. Eddie, tie him up! Take
the rope and tie the bastard!”
“Wait! Why are you doing it then? Why
don‟t you just let us go?”, said Lloyd, a bit
flustered, while Eddie was tying his hands on his
back.
“Let you go? That‟s a strange question. You
wanted to rob a house that I‟ve had my eyes on
for months. I studied the habits of the Simmons
for weeks, I thoroughly investigated every single
corner of this house, I found a draft of the
house on the Internet, I found a way to turn off
the alarms. And now what? You two sneak in
and destroy everything. No, things like this
don‟t happen to me... Tie it harder, Eddie! If he
unties it, I will shoot you without thinking. You
see Lloyd, Eddie is now my right hand. If you
want Eddie to survive, you will stay here.
Tighten it more, Eddie! Here, take this cloth,
gag him, and put the duct tape around it. Here!
This scumbag can attract neighbors‟ attention. I
don‟t want that. Eddie, you and I will now go
upstairs. I'll show you where the safe deposits
are. What! Do you feel nausea? Stop whining,
Eddie. If you join me, maybe I‟ll let you escape
with me.”
“Andrea, please... put the guns down.
You‟re freaking‟ me out. I can‟t stand the
weapons so well. Please, let Lloyd and me out.
We won‟t tell anyone what happened here. Just
let us out.”
“Good. I‟ll put one gun down. We‟ve tied
Lloyd. Here, I‟m putting it back in my belt.
Come on Eddie, do not be such a whine! Do you
hear me? Don‟t be a whiner! I can‟t stand
whiners. And even if I‟d want to let you go, I
can‟t. This house is has a state-of-the-art
security system. I‟ve managed to turn off the
alarms, but there is another problem. We‟re
now trapped. You, Lloyd, and me with both of
you. You will help me get out. The entrances,
the doors, the windows... nothing can be
opened without triggering secondary alarms,
which I couldn‟t reach.” Andrea spoke calmly,
doing her puppy eyes and pouting her lips.
Eddie regretted he ever listening to Lloyd
and joining in the burglary. He regretted waking
up that morning, he regretted showing the
Simmons‟ house to Lloyd. He regretted not
having gone with Mary. She would always know
how to get him out of these situations and the
fact that she wasn‟t there said a lot about the
situation. Mary sometimes helped them in
burglaries and thefts, but she mostly preferred
doing her job solo. Mary was Eddie‟s older
sister, and Eddie noted that Andrea also liked
doing things solo, just like Mary.
“Eddie, let's go upstairs. They hold their
safes there. Let's open them, rob them and get
out of here”, said Andrea, touching Eddie‟s
shoulder with her free hand.
Eddie gave her a reproachful look, but he
quickly remembered his position and tried to
appear cooperative. He glanced at Lloyd, who
sat quietly, facing the kitchen window with
drawn blinds. He started climbing upstairs, and
Andrea followed him.
“You know Eddie, according to the rumors
I‟ve heard, the Simmons are very rich people. I
don‟t expect that we will find a lot of cash
here. I expect some jewelry instead.”
“I don‟t care! Even if there is nothing but
golden bars, I don‟t want to know anything
about that, about them, about this house or
about you! Did you hear me? When we get out
of here, we‟ll never meet again”, Eddie yelled
at her.
“Yes, of course, that‟s the way it‟ll be.
Everyone will go their own way, but Eddie, you
forget that I am the one holding the gun now,
and it all will be as I say as long as you‟re with
me. It means that you will be obedient. I don‟t
like disobedient kids”, Andrea replied.
“OK, fine! Now tell me where the safe
deposit boxes are?”, Eddie was becoming
impatient.
“Safe deposit boxes? In the bedroom, where
else would they be?”, Andrea replied.
She approached the bedroom door and
opened it. It was a seemingly usual bedroom
with a huge bed and a huge closet. Andrea
approached the closet door and opened it. She
walked in among Mrs. Simmons‟ skirts and
dresses and threw a pile of clothes, which were
stacked by colors on the shelf. She pulled off
some hangers holding dresses and coats. Andrea
wondered what it was with those older women.
They like to keep something that they will never
be able to wear again. They would never fit into
those clothes. At that moment, she noticed a
cute, short topcoat and decided to take it with
her. She has no time for shopping anyway.
“Eddie, I need your help! Don‟t you see that
I‟m drowning in this old hag‟s clothes? Get over
here! Do something. Here is the safe and there
is another one”, she said while she was trying to
move all the clothes blocking her way to the
safe. She still had Eddie at gunpoint with her
free hand.
“Eddie, do you know what we‟ve forgotten?
The crowbars. We‟ve left them downstairs.
We‟ll need them to remove the wooden closet
frame, which is blocking our way to the locks.
Don‟t you worry, I know the combinations.
Opening them will be the easiest part”, she
called Eddie. She was holding that hanger with
her favorite topcoat in front of her, trying to
see how it suits her in the closet-door mirror.
4
 The Mimicry
“I can go down and bring the crowbar”, said
Eddie confusedly, but in the hope that he will
make it somehow to rescue himself from the
clutches of this young woman.
“Yes, of course! Untie Lloyd and bring him
here to help us! Oh, Eddie, Eddie. I am not that
stupid. You thought I‟d let you go down alone
and release that dumb piece of shit. Let's go
down together. We will be quick”, she said
sarcastically.
They hurried down. Eddie‟s eyes were
already fully accustomed to the half-dark. A
chest of drawers in the hall attracted his
attention. There was a shelf with family photos
beside it. Andrea has stormed into the kitchen
and bent over to take the crowbar.
“Edward, come here immediately! Hurry!
Something‟s wrong with Lloyd. Something‟s
happened to him!”, she cried when she had saw
Lloyd, still sitting tied, but completely
motionless.
Eddie went into the kitchen and went up to
Lloyd. Now he was pretty scared. Lloyd wasn‟t
showing any signs of consciousness. Eddie
started taking off the duct tape wrapped around
the Lloyd‟s mouth. He pulled the gag out of
Lloyd‟s mouth, but there was no reaction from
Lloyd.
“You sick, perverted bitch! You‟ve forced
me to kill my friend! Don‟t you see that he‟s
suffocated?”, Eddie cried.
“Don‟t yell at me, you retarded little freak!
Can‟t you see he‟s still alive? Here, check his
pulse!”, she replied, feeling the pulse on
Lloyd‟s neck with her hand.
“This shouldn‟t have happened, this
shouldn‟t have happened, this shouldn‟t have
happened...”, Eddie fell into shock.
“Eddie! Eddie, listen to me, Eddie! Listen to
me, you fucking scum! As you can see, Lloyd is
alive, just a bit catatonic. Understand? While
you and I finish it up upstairs, he will fully
recover and you two will be able to go. I will let
you go! Is that OK?”, shouted Andrea, now
evidently agitated.
“No, it won‟t be OK! You‟ve been playing
the double game from the very beginning. You
haven‟t broken into this house. You live in it,
right? You are Andrea Simmons. You...
you're...their daughter! I should‟ve known that.
I saw your family photos on that shelf. How
didn‟t I notice it earlier. If you had wanted to
play this way, you could‟ve removed the
photos”, Eddie bared his teeth for the first time
that evening.
“Yeah, I admit. I am their daughter. While
you were lurking this house, I was lurking you
two. I admit, it was fun. You couldn‟t see me. I
haven‟t gone out of the house for several years.
I suffer from agoraphobia. Life in this box can
be so boring… that‟s why I decided to make a
little show for fun. And my parents are so filthy
rich. Whatever you took from this house, they
wouldn‟t miss it. And now, Eddie... well, we
will have a small change of plan. You know,
where the rope is. Go take it and sit here. I'll
have to tie you too. Come on, do it! What are
you waiting for?”, she said, this time with far
greater coldness in her voice.
Eddie was already benumbed. Everything
seemed unbelievable and unexpected. He went
up to the dresser, pulled the first drawer and
took the rope. As he approached her, he
mechanically sat on a chair which she brought
for him. He sat to the right of Lloyd. Andrea
tied his hands behind his back. She didn‟t say a
single word. When she finished tying him up,
she said that she would call the police to arrest
them both. Lloyd was coming back from his
blackout, but everything was still to blurry for
him. Andrea went to the hallway and took a
framed picture from the shelves. She returned
to the kitchen and placed it on the kitchen‟s
table for four. She turned on the light on her
way out of the kitchen.
Eddie could see the large framed format of
her portrait photo with black ribbon in the right
upper corner of the photo. It had the
inscription: “To our beloved daughter, Andrea
Simmons 2025–2054.”
“Pathetic, isn‟t it? They couldn‟t think of
something more original”, added Andrea, who
was standing behind them both, leaning on the
kitchen‟s door.
At that moment, Eddie felt strong dizziness.
His head had fainted, and then he heard some
voices and a noise. He thought police should
probably be there to arrest him and Lloyd.
The next day, the local newspaper
published an article with the short interview
whose title was: “The house passed the test”.
“Yesterday at the training ground for
testing home security systems yet another house
proved the safest and the most secure when it
comes to burglaries and burglars. Burglars
Edward Hayes (23) and Lloyd Taylor (29) were
arrested late last night in one of these houses.
Training ground test looks like any other
suburban area and is filled with warm family
atmosphere, so that the burglars did not suspect
that someone was playing with them from the
very beginning.
This tandem, which has already been known
to the police, was arrested after they were
initially disabled in the house. Houses with
improved security system will be of great help
to the police in the future. Mr. Simmons, the
creator of Androhome security systems, who is
5
 The Mimicry
living with his wife in experimental Androhome
house targetted by intruders yesterday,
addressed reporters after the arrest of the two
intruders. In a brief interview, he said the
following:
“Is it true that the spirit of your
deceased daughter dwells in your house? It is
a statement from one of the intruders...”
“No, there are no ghosts in our house.
There is no presence of the supernatural, like
one of the intruders said after the arrest. What
they could see, feel, touch... wasn‟t the spirit.
It was a holographic projection combined with
the new generation of nanobots. Holographic
display of a person is not quite enough when we
talk about Androhome security systems.
Nanobots give it a realistic appearance,
independence and full adaptation to the
situation. Thus, a holographic projection can
move things, and hold various objects in its
hands without losing any of its credibility.
Therefore, the holographic projection is the
core of Androhome security systems. This means
that the house itself takes the fight against the
invaders. It decides in which direction to go, it
decides how to disable the opponent, it decides
when to call the police. Will it be tying of the
burglars, as in this case, or simply closing the
intruders in some room in the house, with the
combination of discharging harmless opiatic gas,
which will knock out the opponent and soothe
him until the police come, it‟s up to the house
to decide. The house, or her humanoid
presence, is completely autonomous. It‟s able
to learn from the opponents, remember their
flaws and use it against them. With this perfect
mimicry, it‟s capable of gaining their trust and
forcing them to do everything it wants. It can
turn them against each other. What is certain is
that it is not programmed to kill. It is
unnecessary, because we know that the police
would come after them. The others can not hurt
the house, i.e. its humanoid presence."
“What will happen to the burglars? We
have heard that one of them was dispatched
to a mental institution in Toronto. Many of
his predecessors have ended in the same
way.”
“It is the burglar‟s problem. That is the way
he experienced the house, or should I say the
person who was selected as the humanoid
presence in the house. Perhaps there was a
subconscious attachment, or the Stockholm
syndrome. It has happened before to many of
their predecessors who had encountered such
systems. Each house with this system has the
function of choosing a character or avatar which
presents it. This is up to the owner of the house
to decide. Specifically, we, my wife and I, have
selected the character of our daughter Andrea
who was tragically killed two years ago in her
apartment, in Toronto, when the burglars crept
in while she was sleeping, and then robbed her
and killed her.”
“Are you trying to say that, for example,
should I have Androhome security system in
my house, I would be able to choose a
character of an actor, actress, or any other
celebrity, and also a character that is a part
of my environment or my family?”
“Naturally. As for the celebrities, you would
have to get their permission and copyright on
the use of their character for private purposes.
Many of them have already induced their
characters to Androhome security systems,
achieving amazing incomes this way. Many of
our clients are looking for fresh faces, and there
are those who prefer the classics and therefore
choose from actors and actresses who were
popular at the beginning of the 21st century, or
even 20th century. We experienced a problem
with it though. While she was alive, our
daughter had a remarkable physical
resemblance to the actress Hilary Swank, from
her younger days, from the beginning of her
acting career. When we have chosen our
daughter‟s character to represent the house,
this information has somehow reached Hilary
Swank and her agents and attorneys. We have
managed to prove that the figure we use for our
Androhome security system belongs to our
daughter. Anyway, these disagreements are far
behind, now we cooperate with Hilary Swank
herself.
Translation: David Darko
Editing: Jelena Dimitrijevic
6
The Mimicry