Virtual Insanity | PG | The Devil Wears Prada
Title: Virtual Insanity
Prompt: Andy needs some stress reduction, so she's just installed The Sims 2 on to her computer. She begins making a sim and finds that it resembles, unmistakably, a certain boss of hers. Finally, she is the one in control, and the silver haired-fashionista's life is in her hands.
Fandom: The Devil Wears Prada
Requested by: kitnkabootle
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1201
Disclaimer: Not mine. Wish they were. Please don't sue.
Author's Note: I changed the prompt a teensy-bit and this is what I came up with. Not exactly a drabble, but hopefully that won't be too much of an imposition for readers.
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Andy took a heavy, exaggerated breath and fell unceremoniously onto the couch, causing the ten-year-old girl seated at the other end to bounce. Stella glared at Andy and turned back to her computer. She wasn't sure how exactly she had gotten roped into babysitting for her neighbor's kid, but there she was, wasting away her first free Saturday in a month.
"How about we go to the park?" Andy asked, staring longingly out the window.
"I wanna play my game."
"You can play your game any ol' time, can't you?"
"So?"
"Well aren't we Miss Cranky-pants? You know, I bet sunshine and fresh air would do you a world of good."
Stella raised an imperious eyebrow before looking back at her screen.
Right. So much for that. Andy conceded that she could use the time stuck indoors to clean her kitchen, as there were likely to be small woodland creatures living in her cupboards, but as she stared in its general direction, she shuddered.
She scooted closer to Stella. "What are we playing?"
"I'm playing The Sims 2."
"Don't they have a Sims 3 out?"
"Mom said I have to wait until my birthday before I can get that one."
"Fair enough. So what are you making?"
Stella tilted the corner of her computer to give Andy a better view. From what Andy could surmise, the girl was creating an older, virtual version of herself. She'd managed to give the character the exact replica of her tight blonde curls and even gave her a similar outfit of flared jeans and purple t-shirt.
"That's pretty neat."
"I know. And you can make them houses and everything..."
An hour later, Stella had explained every feature of the game and Andy had begun to consider ways to remove the disc from the girl's possession. What did a ten-year-old need with a computer game anyway when she should be playing with living, breathing people her own age? What that said about what a twenty eight-year-old woman should be doing with a computer game was another story; it was less crucial for an adult to have an active social life or, in Andy's case, any social life at all.
"What time is it?" Stella asked absently, her eyes fixed on the computer where she was making her Sim-boyfriend, Zac Efron, play with their dog.
Andy tipped her head back and looked at the clock in the kitchen. "It's almost 2."
"Already!?" Stella shrieked. She shoved the laptop at Andy, reached into her pocket to find her cell phone, and began punching in numbers. "You have cable, right?"
Andy stared, bewildered, at the bevy of technology before her. "Uh, yea." She reached for the remote, which Stella promptly snatched away. "What's--?"
Ignoring Andy completely, Stella chirped into her cell phone, "Carrie? Has it started yet?"
Andy watched as Stella made herself comfortable, her eyes widening in horror as The Disney Channel pronounced its High School Musical marathon.
There was no way she was about to kill her brain cells watching that crap, she decided, and promptly turned back to the computer.
She watched the screen for several amused moments, looking at Sim-Stella chase after her disinterested boyfriend. She suppressed a laugh and set to creating a new Sim. Taking the child's route, Andy found herself creating a version of herself.
They have better clothes than I do...and I bet they don't have bad hair days either...
She was pretty sure that Sim-Andy was way cuter than she was, and that made her a little bitter. With a jealous stab at the button to create a new character, she began to construct herself a companion.
Andy mindlessly began to piece together another virtual person, peeking over the edge of the computer from time to time to watch in amusement as Stella sang along to the annoyingly catchy music on the television. She didn't have a bad voice, though there was no way Andy was going to tell her that. The kid's head was big enough.
To her shock and horror, she looked back at the screen to see that she had created a Sim version of Miranda Priestly.
What the hell?
Andy leant closer to the screen and squinted her eyes. Okay, so she wasn't exactly a dead ringer for the editor, but she looked a helluva lot like her, down to the silver forelock.
With a devious grin, Andy changed Sim-Miranda out of her professional attire and into jeans and a tank top. For good measure, she chose the tank top that came with tattoos.
Now who's the boss?
She hadn't given the woman much thought since she'd left Runway three years ago. She tried so hard to leave that part of her life behind her; Nate's relocating to Boston woke her up to the harsh reality of everything. She had to start over, completely alone.
She lived and breathed journalism and had advanced far at The Mirror. She loved her job. She was lonely, but she was damn good at what she did.
With great satisfaction, she accepted the two Sims that she had created and switched the weird green diamond thing to hover over Miranda. Every facet of her life had been controlled when she worked for Miranda.
Now it was Andy's turn.
*
Andy hated to admit it, but she was becoming addicted.
Within three hours, she'd paused the game only once to get Stella a snack, plug the girl's charger into the wall, and run to the bathroom.
To Andy's dismay, Stella's mom would be picking her up within the next fifteen minutes. Thoughts of theft once again crossed her mind.
It's just a game, Andy, just a silly distraction that you don't...Oh, make Miranda dance!
Andy scrunched her nose as her rational side continuously gave up and joined the Dark Side. She's put Sim-Miranda through every possible degrading situation, complete with running around the Sim village completing random tasks while Sim-Andy lounged in her Beauty-and-the-Beast-esque library.
It was heaven. She felt powerful for once. She could get used to this sort of thing, could get used to being the one in control, making the demands…
And then it happened.
"Hey, what's it mean again when a heart pops up with a plus next to it?"
"Love points," Stella mumbled.
Say what?
A knock sounded at the door.
"Call you back, Carrie!"
In a flurry of movement, Stella had jumped off the couch, ripped the charger from the wall, and snapped the screen of the laptop shut. She dumped everything into her backpack and pulled open the door.
Stella's mom, Jean, let out an "oomph" as the child collided with her, tugging impatiently on her arm.
"Thanks again, Andy," Jean said, proffering a folded check.
Andy took it and slid it piously into her pocket. "Not a problem. She was great." Ish.
"Stel, say 'thank you' to Andy."
"Thanks, Andy," she droned. "Mom, the movie's on!"
Jean rolled her eyes. "See you around."
Andy nodded and smiled, watching as they headed down the hall. When they were out of sight, she closed the door.
Now that had been weird.
Miranda and Andy in love?
Yea. Right.
Andy didn't sleep that night.
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