My Friend the Elevator - Exerpt

MY FRIEND, THE ELEVATOR

Vicki E. S. Biggs

The evening air was unusually chilly for a Washington, D.C. night in July causing Cindy Peters to increase her pace into her luxury high-rise apartment building. The sooner she was inside, the sooner she would reach the warmth of her cozy home. Cindy's medium brown shoulder-length hair swung jauntily as she bounded up the stairs of the building’s five-steps stoop to the double doors at the top. Straight bangs hovered over her green tinged hazel eyes and gracefully arched eyebrows.

Because the day had started out warm, her sundress showed her slim legs to an appreciative audience of one. Normally this would have pleased her, but today the chilly air made her wish she'd worn slacks instead of baring her legs. She waved cheerfully to the guard as she passed by his desk and over to the bank of elevators just out of his sight.

She carried her 5'10" frame proudly, her shoulders squared, as she walked quickly to the elevators and pushed the elevator call button. When no elevator arrived in a timely enough fashion for her, she impatiently began pushing the button repeatedly. "Come on, Harry,” she muttered irritably. When there was still no immediate response, she resorted to rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm her shivers away. "Ahh, Harry,” she pleaded through chattering teeth. "Couldn't you hurry up a bit? I'm cold!" She took time away from her efforts to warm her bare arms to push the call button again, before returning her attention to rubbing away the goose bumps the chilly lobby was creating. "Harry,” she moaned.

Just as the guard was getting up to see who Cindy was talking to, the elevator arrived. Its doors silently slid open to let welcoming warmth of heat and light radiate over the shivering girl.

"Harry!" She breathed gratefully and quickly stepped into the warm box of a room. "Harry, I believe winter forgot what time of year it is and tried to come early."

The doors closed and, without waiting for instructions, started up. The guard glanced around the room, but the elevator had left, and no one was in the lobby but himself. He shrugged his shoulders and dozed off again. Either it was his imagination or Miss Peters must have been talking to herself. It sure sounded like she was talking to somebody, though. It sure did.

"I guess you know I want the tenth floor,” Cindy spoke into a tiny grille box located just left of the dual doors and at her eye level.

"Tenth floor. Tenth floor. Any other floors?" answered a metallic voice from the speaker hidden behind the grille's mesh.

"Oh, Harry,” Cindy laughed. " You know there's only me here. Talk to me!"

Silence answered her.

"Ahh, Harry,” she reproached softly. Perking up some, she continued. "You know, my friends would all think I'm nuts if they knew I talk to an elevator...I'm not quite sure I know why I do. You can't think or feel. You can't possibly know that I talk to you. You're an inanimate object." She stopped and had to laugh when the elevator car jostled her on its slow trip upward. She grinned and added. "Well, mostly inanimate. So why do I feel compelled to talk to you?" Cindy reached out to gently pat the wall under the grille.

Silence was still the elevator's only response. Except that, for a very brief moment, the lights flared.

"Strange, I never thought to ask that before." She eyed the grille in teasing reproof. "Could it be you're trying to manipulate me into asking the question of whether you truly could be a thinking entity? Now, that's a scary thought. An elevator with independent thoughts. I'm not sure how I would react if I found out you really could understand me."

The lights dimmed.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings...” She started and stuttered to a thoughtful silence when she realized what she was implying. Then she laughed. "What am I saying! I'm not only talking to the elevator; I'm beginning to believe it can really hear me."

The lights brightened and the metallic voice beeped an unhappy sound. Almost disapproving. Cindy frowned uncertainly. She started to say something further, but the elevator stopped, and the elevator's computer-controlled voice droned, “Tenth floor. Watch your step. Tenth floor. Watch your step."

"Yes, Harry. I'll watch my step. Goodnight, Harry,” she said tentatively. She wasn't sure what to expect any more, now that her mind had begun to wander down this new track of thought tonight's experiences had brought her.

"Beep." As the doors closed, Cindy saw the lights dim, then brighten to only half the intensity the room had had throughout her ride. And though she didn't know it, the little room chilled as it moved away. As if, having no need to keep a friend warm any more, Harry saw no reason to spend such excessive energy on heat in July or to brighten lights that could no longer lit up a beloved friend's face. Incredibly, a sound very near a sigh whistled through the empty room as it moved back to the lobby. Cindy would have been even more unnerved if she had known that.

********************

It wasn't until almost three weeks later that Cindy was able to talk to Harry so freely again. The other tenants always seemed to need the elevator at just the same time as Cindy, or she was just too tired to talk. Her new job as a tester/analyst of the experimental response computers her company was developing had switched work hours on her so often that, not only did she not have much of a social life, she also was not getting much restful sleep either. She was always tired now and she often found herself dozing in the elevator or on the bus during the ride into work, trying to catch up on lost sleep.

At least, that was the excuse she gave herself. Cindy had a sneaky feeling she was just hiding behind her job. The truth of Harry was just too frightening to easily accept. It was scary to realize that the very thing her colleagues were attempting to create may have come into being without man's intervention, right in her own backyard, so to speak.

That the mini-computer system, which runs just one of the three elevators within her apartment building, could have become a thinking entity without human assistance was an unsettling notion. And yet, she found comfort in the feeling that her Harry was glad to see her even if neither could show this openly. The conflict between her mixed reactions to the idea of Harry as a cognizant entity was causing her stress on top of the stress her job was already causing her. Cindy didn't know what to do. So, for the moment, she tried the old trick of hiding her head in the sand and did nothing.

Between her ostrich act and the timing of her fellow tenants, it was not until one morning in mid-August before Cindy was able to enter the elevator without anyone else getting on with her. She stepped through the doorway with a quickened gait and happily patted the elevator's dark blue doors as they closed in the face of another would be rider. "Oh, Harry. How have you been?"

"Which floor, please? Which floor, please?" moaned the metallic voice dryly. But the lights brightened and dimmed in a rhythmic beat that was a dance of joy with lights.

"Missed me too, huh? Lobby...just in case you need to know for your records."

"Lobby. Lobby. Any other floors?" The lights calmed down to a steady blinking. Dim...bright...dim dim...bright...dim dim...

"Harry. I've missed our talks. You seem to understand me so much better than anyone I know. A strange concept and one difficult to believe. That my best friend is an elevator. I thought a long time before I could face up to the possibility of what you are and begin to accept it. It still scares me somewhat. But I've decided not to let that stop me from exploring what you've somehow become without assistance."

Cindy shook her head in amazement. "Geez! You are the very result we're trying for at work! I'm nervous, but I'm not afraid of you anymore. And if it weren’t for my job, I'd have told you this sooner. Damn job!" She waved her hands up and down, following the rise and fall of her voice with their motion. "I hardly know whether I'm supposed to be asleep or awake...at work or at home. So even when we're alone, I've not been alert enough to talk. I enjoy my work, so I'm glad that I don't have to leave it to start getting regular hours again. Starting this week, I'm off the fluctuating work hours for at least the rest of the month. Och, one would almost think there was a conspiracy against us! Either I've been too tired to talk...or too scared...or someone has been around."

"Beep!" A note of concern entered the normally placid voice of Harry's limited voice box.

She laughed, “No, I don't really think it's a conspiracy. Why would anyone want to keep us apart? I doubt anyone even imagines you can talk to me...I couldn't and wouldn't believe it myself at first. Besides, why would anyone want to stop us from talking? It's not as if we communicate much beyond feelings."

The lights darkened as if Harry was thinking deeply. Suddenly, the lights lit up again.

"You have an idea?"

"Beep!" The lights came back to normal, dimmed for a long beat, then brightened for a short beat. Harry repeated the sequence twice more.

"Harry? What idea do you have?” Cindy frowned in concentration. “What are you trying to tell...Harry!” She beamed in excitement. “Morse code! You know Morse code?"

"Beep." The lights shone proudly.

"Of course. Through your portal hook-up to the buildings main computer system and its link to the city library's computer system, you have access to all sorts of information." Cindy patted the blue walls in approval. "Good job, Harry. Tonight, I'll bring home some books on Morse Code, pencil and paper, and we'll really be able to talk. Though my brother and I used Morse Code to talk to the other kids in the neighborhood each night after we were supposed to be asleep, that was years ago and I’m very rusty. I'll have to brush up on my Morse Code. This is such a great idea, Harry!"

"Beep...beep...Lobby. Watch your step. Lobby. Watch your step."

"Tonight, Harry." The doors opened and Cindy hurried out without a backward glance. Three men and a woman strolled into the elevator. "Which floor, please? Which floor, please?" No one seemed to notice that the lights of the elevator were brighter than usual.

*******************

That night, Cindy arrived at the security door of her complex in a flurry of books and notebooks. More or less falling out of her taxi, Cindy juggled her load to pay the driver, then rejuggled it to retain her grip long enough to reach the top step of the five-step flight leading up to her apartment building. When she reached the door, a guard stepped through to help her carry her books.

"Looks like you plan to do a lot of reading tonight, Miss Peters,” he laughed as he grabbed the books that were tumbling out of her arms even as he spoke.

"Thanks, Mr. Parks. Yes, I am." They continued up the second set of stairs just inside the first of two sets of glass doors. Usually, Cindy would have buzzed the guard on duty, and he would have released the outside door latch. The inner doors were normally left unlocked. But today, she had to wait for the second set of doors to be unlocked by a second guard. A third guard sat inside watching a series of security monitors and the lobby. "Say, what's with all the extra security tonight? Expecting someone special or just trouble?"

"The VIP is back,” answered Parks. He handed her the books, tipped his hat, and hurried back to his post.

"Really?" she murmured, thinking how that could mess up her plans with Harry. Then jerking back from her thoughts, she called to Parks, “Thanks for the helping hand!"

"You're welcome, Miss Peters. Have a good night."

"You, too." She turned to the desk centered against the far wall where the third guard sat and waved. "Hi John. Have you taken your bar exam yet?"

"No. It's next week,” the young, redheaded man called back.

"Good luck! Let me know the results."

"I will."

"See ya." She waved a cheery good-bye and walked over to the elevators. John thought the doors seemed to open before Cindy had pushed the call button, but he shoved the notion aside as imagination. He waved again as the doors closed about the trim figure.

"Harry! I got the books." The lights brightened, then dimmed. Harry had noticed the extra security, too. His alarms for special security alert had been turned on. Would that spoil their plans? "I know just what you're thinking Harry, but the extra security precautions will only interfere if the secure elevator system fails. The other non-secure elevator will just have to handle the rest of the traffic. It should be able to cover everyone's needs for an hour. And if it can't, the others will just have to wait or take the stairs. You're booked for at least one hour tonight.

The lights brightened.

"Now, I have to go study these books. I'll call you around 10 p.m. The place should be fairly quiet then. One elevator should be enough, and you shouldn't be missed."

"Which floor, please? Which floor, please?"

"Tenth. Come for me at 10 O'clock tonight. Okay?"

"Tenth floor. Tenth floor. Please watch your step. Tent...Tent...” The lights dimmed...brightened...dimmed...

"Good. You know it would have been so much easier if you'd been programmed to have a larger verbal vocabulary." She patted the grille cheerfully. "Oh well. See you tonight, Harry."

"Beep." The doors opened and Cindy stepped out.

"Tonight." She reminded before turning down the hallway towards her apartment.

"Ten...beep." The doors closed.

*******************

Promptly at 10 o'clock, Cindy waited at the elevator doors. And one second later the doors opened to let her on.

"Hi, Harry. Ready to begin?"

The lights flashed one long, one short, and then two longs.

"Now let me see...” Cindy dug through her notes. "Lord, I should know that one...Oh, that's a Y. You're spelling out, yes?"

The lights flashed one long moment, then stabilized.

"Dash?" Papers fluttered again. "Dash? That's all?"

Harry flashed the signal for 'Y' again.

"YT does not spell anything, Harry,” reprimanded Cindy in frustration. "This is not going to be easy. I might have known all the tricks once, but I have forgotten a lot of it since last I used Morse Code, and your memory doesn't diminish." Abruptly, the frown of confusion faded into recognition. "T also means 'I understand'! Oh, T to you, too, Harry. Or dash, whatever. But I can see right now this is going to take practice before we can have any meaningful conversations."

"Beep,” agreed Harry.

"Okay." She took a deep breath, and then slowly let it out in a long sigh. "Okay, let's get started practicing."

The lights flashed a dash. Cindy giggled. The lights flashed some more. "Tee hee?" Cindy finally spelled out. "Harry! You have a sense of humor!"

"Beep,” Harry beamed with a brightening of the elevator car's lights.

********************

Fifty minutes later, Cindy decided she'd practiced all her mind could stand in one session. "Tomorrow, same time."

The lights flashed one dash. The doors opened and Cindy stepped out. "Bye, Harry."

"Beep." The doors closed again.

*********************

The next night, Cindy was again prompt. Ninety-one floors further up, at the penthouse's private elevator, waited another person with a late-night engagement, Jack Brewster -- the VIP the extra guards were in the building to protect.

Two floors below the penthouse, two men waited for the common-use elevators. Both of these men were large, although one was slightly taller than the other. They also had a late evening engagement.

For the late hour of 10 p.m., it looked to be an unusually busy time was likely for all. The other elevator car was broken and out of commission until morning. The 'supposedly' secure elevator that was the only elevator able to service the penthouse suddenly stopped functioning halfway up the building. The VIP had to walk down one flight of stairs in order to access the other elevators. Since this meant only Harry was running, Harry was on call to everyone, and the scene was set for disaster.