"Good Morning, Eileen"

Part Seven - Gerard

Peace and happiness. Bobby hadn't felt either of these since he had first gotten Eileen. Now, free of her, he was blissful.

The side effects had left quickly. He had his last one on the way back home from the doctor's after Eileen was taken out of him. It was another vision of him crashing the car and dying. But that was it. Everything was better now. Everything was back to normal.

Bobby put on his fast food uniform and checked himself out in the mirror. Obsidia entered the room and giggled.

"You tryin' it on again to see if it fits?" she said. "You haven't gained that much weight."

"I haven't gained any," Bobby said, then looking in the mirror to see if his statement was correct. He had gotten chubbier. He didn't know how he hadn't noticed before. "I'm getting ready for work."

"Work?"

"I work every Thursday, Dia. You know this."

She looked away from him. "You were fired a couple weeks ago."

Bobby scrunched his face. "Really?"

She nodded.

"Damn." He plopped down onto his bed. "Eileen really screwed me up." His phone dinged from beside him. He grabbed it and looked at the email. It was from Eidetic Corp. He opened it.

Bobby,

You've made your choice. We're sorry it had to come to this.

Gerard Moriarty

There was nothing else.

Bobby read the email again. "What the hell?"

"What is it?" Obsidia asked.

He sighed. "Nothing... Don't worry about it."

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Obsidia said. She walked out the room.

Bobby took off his uniform. He heard Obsidia open the front door.

"Hi. Are you Ms. Jenkins? Mr. Xiang's girlfriend?" Bobby listened as he got up from the bed and went to his dresser to take out regular clothes.

"Yes. And who are you?"

"President Gerard Moriarty of Eidetic Corp. I've come to talk to your boyfriend about his Eileen. Is he here?"

Bobby quickly dressed himself.

"There's nothing to talk about. He got rid of Eileen last night," Obsidia said.

"Oh, did he now?" Bobby finished dressing. "I don't think that's true."

"I did," Bobby said as he exited the room. He saw Gerard, a taller and bigger man than himself. The man held his phone in his hand. Gerard smiled at him, one of his teeth shiny and golden.

"I don't want to talk to you. So, please, leave," Bobby said.

"No. I'm quite sure that you want to talk to me," Gerard said. "There's a lot you need to know."

"I'd rather you leave. I'm not interested in Eileen anymore. I don't want her."

"Yet, you still have her."

"No, I don't."

Gerard stared at Bobby. Obsidia turned and stared at him too.

"Bobby, your stitches are glowing," she said.

Bobby felt his stitches. Eileen's hard and tiny chip body was still inside. "But... I got her out."

"You didn't. If you'd come with me I can explain everything to you."

"Why can't we talk right here?"

"There's something I need to show you." He brought a finger to his phone. "But I'd rather just talk to you when we get there. When there are more people to explain it."

"What is there to explain?" Bobby said.

Gerard smiled and put his finger to his phone.

"Updating," Eileen's soft voice chimed. Bobby felt the back of his neck start burning. It was as if a fire spread through his entire body right from the chip and consumed him from the inside. He tried to scream but his throat was engulfed before he could even open up his mouth. He felt tears cascade down his face. He fell to the ground, his body overheating.

"Bobby!" Obsidia screamed. She ran to him.

He felt his eyes close. All sensation was lost.