Lethia had a friend.
She didn’t exactly call it a “friend”, more like a “pet”. But where she lived, she didn’t have many friends, and she was glad to find the little creature.
She was five. Nobody paid attention to five-year-olds. The hive was often too busy to care for little children. It was either work at the factory or fade into the background—out of mind, out of sight.
So when she found it, she was delighted.
It was not exactly a puppy or a kitten. It had the same size, though—it didn’t like to be carried. It hissed and clawed. It didn’t have eyes, only a huge bulbous head. ‘Egg head!’ she exclaimed. ‘I will call you Egg.’ In the hive, people used “egg head” as an insult, especially her mean cousins who poked fun at her – and everyone else. Such was entertainment and fun in the hive: calling people names to pass their time.
Egg was found in the sewers, close to the waterfall, where the wastewater of the hive tumbled down into a thunderous, foamy bilge. Lethia loved the waterfall: she was free and alone, without Da and Ma yelling at her for being lazy.
The creature was tiny at first, like a hatchling. Lethia knew what a hatchling was. Little baby bird. Egg wasn’t a little baby bird. Egg didn’t look like a little baby bird. Not like the rat-birds at all.
It had splotches of orange and red on its skin. Lethia touched it tentatively, and it felt like touching the drain crabs Ma sometimes cooked for celebrations (which were also rare). Ma farmed drain crabs to sell and to supplement the family’s diet. Egg had a skin like that. A shell, as Ma would say, when she was in a cheerful mood.
Anyway, Egg looked cute. Egg was always hungry. Lethia fed it with strips of fresh meat – stolen from the meat stall – and Egg simply wolfed them down.
Lethia was happy to have a friend and a pet. She looked forward to see Egg every day.
There was a lot of noise outside the hive. The sound of thum-thum-thum, like deep explosions. There was a mine close to the hive, where Da worked. The explosion sounded louder this time, and it scared Lethia.
The announcement told them not to be afraid. ‘Stay in the God Emperor’s light, and you will be safe.’ The words pulsed acid green on the screen; Lethia hated the screen. Her eyes hurt at the unholy brightness.
Egg had acid green saliva, too. Lethia found it cute. He was growing fast. Lethia had decided to call Egg a he. Because he reminded her of her mean cousins: brash, always snapping, but always brave. Egg had grown from a small puppy to a big dog, like one of the guard canines who patrolled the hive. The orange and red splotches were more vivid now: Egg had claws, like the drain crabs with their pincers.
He still hissed at her. Only less. Probably because he recognised her as his provider of food. He even allowed her to pat his head. Lethia brought dead rat-birds this time, laying them before Egg. Egg tore the wings and the feet off with his jaws.
‘You’re growin’ fast, Egg!’ Lethia said, disgusted at the blood and guts. She never liked seeing dead animals.
Egg licked his lips with a black, long tongue.
The hive was locking down.
Ma’s frazzled eyes glared at Lethia when she emerged back into the little hab they called home. The continuous booming was making the crab cages rattle.
‘Lethia! We’re goin’ to the shelter,’ Ma grabbed everything she could stuff into a dirty canvas bag, including her treasured holos. ‘C’mon, get your thin’.’ She tossed Lethia a basket.
‘Why, Ma?’ Lethia asked innocently.
‘They’re attackin’ us,’ Ma said, staring at her crab cages forlornly and indecisively. She grabbed one cage containing the breeding pairs.
Lethia shoved two pants and two tunics into the basket. She had nothing precious to keep…
… except Egg, her secret pet.
‘Who, Ma?’ Lethia said. By now, the sirens had begun to ring, and the iron doors were closing. Boom. Boom. Boom. The walls of the hab shook, dust and dirt cascading down like fine white powder.
‘Enforcers didn’t say, but it’s bad,’ Ma replied.
‘But.. Egg needs to eat!’ Lethia blurted out. She regretted saying the words. Now the secret was out.
‘One of your invisible friends?’ Ma’s tone was sharp, like a knife. Lethia hated it. Ma was knives all the time. Lethia made up friends because she had no friends. But Egg was a real friend. The woman dragged Lethia out of the hab down. The cramped corridor was packed with fleeing neighbours. Their sweaty bodies filled the air with human scents and fear.
Lethia wanted to argue, to scream, but her shouts were drowned by the loud explosion. Glass shattered. It was an explosion that was also a shriek.
‘I need to find Egg!’ Lethia managed to whisper, as the hab dwellers recovered from the explosion-shriek, their eyes wide in terror. Their faces were caked in white ash, their mouths black sunken hollows.
‘Forget Egg! It’s not real!’ Ma was saying before falling into silence. She bit her lower lip, backing away, pulling Lethia behind her, using her body as a physical shield.
Lethia saw what Ma saw.
Egg.
At first, Lethia’s heart surged with joy. Egg had managed to find her. What a clever pet! The creature scrambled up from the debris, his bright orange and red incongruous with the destruction and shattered grey walls.
Another Egg joined him. Lethia’s skin crawled as more Eggs skittered forth, their jaws working hungrily. The one Lethia thought was Egg clapped his pincers. He looked at her directly.
It was then Lethia realised Egg wasn’t exactly her friend. She began to cry softly. It was too late.
The Eggs flooded the hab and devoured everyone.
About the Author
Joyce Chng lives in Singapore. Their fiction has appeared in The Apex Book of World SF II, We See A Different Frontier, Cranky Ladies of History, and Accessing The Future. Joyce also co-edited THE SEA IS OURS: Tales of Steampunk Southeast Asia with Jaymee Goh. Their RPG experience started with Demon: The Descent (Onyx Path). They write about werewolves in Singapore and werewolf clan wars in space.
