Cassidian
By the time we exited the interrogation room the sun had set although it would have been impossible to prove it. The air was stagnant - so much so that it felt as if we were inside a gigantic dome too large to see. Harsh lights shown down on us from unknown places, and the blur of traffic lights was even more pronounced – a dizzying array of bright colors spinning every which way like the fragments of colliding particles.
We took three crossjumps to get to a ratskeller named The Canopy Garden. I found it amusing that despite its lofty name, we had to actually walk down a flight of stairs to gain entrance. Green light shone through a small square window in the front door which barred our way. The black paint covering it was peeling in places.
A large man wearing dark glasses was IDing people as they came in – I recognized the scanner in his hand immediately. Blue and Cyris stepped down the flight of stairs in front of us and approached the man, smiling and offering modest greetings. Cyris gave the man with dark glasses a slap on his shoulder as he gestured to Myria and me, who were standing behind everyone else. The IDer nodded but then whispered something in his ear.
Cyris finally turned to me. “I explained to him that you and the girl are Deletes. He’s fine with it. We can go in, but you’re going to have to leave your serrater here. No weapons allowed inside.”
“Why the hell did you tell him I had a serrater?”
“I didn’t,” Cyris said as he brought a finger to his temple. “His glasses picked it up. Remember, you’re wearing common clothes now. No fancy Hunion wear with shielded membranes anymore.”
Walking forward towards the door, I slowly removed the weapon and gave it to the man, grip first. “You know it’s worthless to you,” I said. “Can’t be reprogrammed. Ever.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll get it back,” he said gruffly as he backed up into the door, pushing it open even more and letting green light wash over me. I put my arm around Myria’s waist and together we went in.
Immediately I realized that The Canopy Garden was far different than the ratskellers I tended to frequent. I had been expecting the same type of chaotic place that was so customary on the orbiting colonies - the ratskellers I had typically visited while stationed on ODAC. The Canopy Garden instead actually looked, smelled, and sounded faithfully like its namesake.
The walls were floor to ceiling monitors which displayed a lush garden in all directions. There were tall trees, immaculate shrubs the shapes of cones and spheres, and slender prairie grasses which blew in the wind – all illusions of course. Colorful birds perched upon statues here and there, and one was taking a bath in a circular fountain which glistened in the sunlight. It was only much later that I saw that exact same red bird dipping its beak in the water the same exact way – only then did I realize the scene was being looped back every so often.
We could hear the illusion as well. Birds sang. Chimes rang softly in the distance. And I am sure if the place was empty I would have been able to hear the patter of water and whisper of wind.
It was only then that I realized why this place was so unexpected to me. On ODAC the ratskellers were deafening and confined, places where it was impossible to walk without touching another drenched body or talk without shredding your voice. And at that moment I knew why: it was simply an escape from the ordinary. On ODAC the ordinary had been infinite space and paralyzing silence. Five minutes suited up and tethered to an outership was enough to make any man insane. Staring into the multitude of stars and listening to nothing except your own escaping breath warranted some drastic counterbalance, some dramatic change of scenery. And the claustrophobic ratskellers of ODAC gave that to us.
Here the purpose was no different, but the “ordinary” it was designed to counter was. Instead of unquantifiable vastness, Torsians had their fair share of gray limits. Instead of maddening silence, they had the incessant humming of lights and crossjumps.
In that way the people inside The Canopy Garden were no different than anyone else. They were simply dreaming, except here the color of their dreams was green.
We snaked past tables and booths full of couples and groups. Most of them casually looked our way as we passed through, the men at one table eyeing Myria up and down hungrily, while nearby women gazed astutely as if they could dissect what exactly made her more intriguing than them.
There was a booth in the far corner of the room that we approached – white pin-cushioned seats in the shape of a semi-circle which surrounded a circular faux-wood table in the middle. Sitting in the center of this substantial couch was a smaller man preoccupied with his fabricreader – the glow of it reflected off his thick clear-rimmed glasses. When he saw us he shut it off and it instantly transformed into a scroll, rolling across the table slightly and leaving his face illuminated only by the ambient light of the fake garden beyond.
Blue and Cyris sat down next to him on one side of the semi-circle, while Myria and I slid in on the opposite side. This left Cyris and I sitting directly across from one another at the ends of the crescent.
The man had a narrow glass full of a hot yet clear liquid – I could see steam rise from it. He took a sip without saying a word but I noticed his hand was shaking. I knew then that he was outside of his element and I instantly wondered why.
“Dr. Seung Lei,” Cyris said, extending a palm delicately in his direction, and then in our direction he added, “Anon Selfe, Myria.”
The man nodded, looking at me briefly before gazing down at his steaming glass once again.
Cyris then spelled out the man’s first name before adding that it rhymed with hung. “You are a doctor, Lei?”
“Yes. I have a doctorate in chemical engineering.”
“And when did we help you burrow up from the Still?”
“A little over three years ago.”
“Your family too, correct? I remember your wife is quite the looker. And a child too?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Good for you,” Cyris said, somewhat mockingly. “Well as you probably have figured out by now, Anon and Myria are in the same predicament that your family was in three years ago, except they need to get into Canopy. Do you remember how we helped you get up here three years ago, Lei?”
He nodded and took a careful sip.
“Well, it’s time for you to repay us and help these two. You knew it would only be a matter of time, didn’t you Lei? That’s why we put you where you are. Desalination towers, and all.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve told us that the burrow you’ve created is ready for some time now.”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure, Lei? This will be the first time we’re using it. I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
“It will not. I’ve taken care of everything.”
“Nanoline too? Extra wetsuits?”
“Of course.”
“Empods to take out the cameras?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” He turned to me while pointing to him with his thumb. “Doctorate in chemical engineering.”
“My wife and daughter,” Seung continued stoically, as if he was summoning his nerves to speak. “If there is any trouble, the blacksuits will know I am helping you. They will therefore assume I am UpMove. You should know that I am willing to jeopardize my safety to help you, but I will not jeopardize my family’s.”
“Give me your address,” Cyris said while touching his temple with his finger. When Seung relayed it, Cyris repeated it to himself. Bringing his hand down again, he looked at the man with a certain seriousness and I had hard time determining if it was fake or not. “They are home tonight?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll take care of it, Lei. I’m leaving shortly to take care of the rendezvous agent. You will only be responsible up until the tier boundary, like we discussed earlier. Don’t cross it or they’ll notice the tier breach and later ask you why you were working this late. We’re having another man on Canopy take over for you. Since I am leaving, I will also setup an agent at your home. If anything goes wrong, which I am sure will not happen, we will move your family immediately. Set up new IDs and so forth.”
“Thank you.”
“It is I that should thank you. I am hoping this burrow will last a long time. It certainly took long enough for you to create.”
“Does it have to be tonight?” he asked quietly, still looking down. “I would like to see my family one more time.”
Cyris laughed. “Don’t worry, Lei. It’s going to be fine. In a matter of hours you’ll be waking up your wife to have the best sex with her in years. All of this will be past you. I know you’re scared but we do this every night. It’s only new for you.” He looked at Lei closely before standing up at the edge of the table. “But don’t drink too much saké. That’s enough for tonight.”
Seung nodded.
Cyris looked towards me without any trace of emotion. “We will probably not see each other again,” he said. “You know what you need to tell Blue before you cross over.”
I nodded.
“The rendezvous agent is expecting my green light.”
“You’ve said as much,” I said. “And I’ve told you it’s not going to be a problem.”
Cyris smiled and then slapped the table gently. “Good luck then everyone,” he said. And with that, he turned around and casually walked out of The Canopy Garden. On the way out a table of rowdy men in the center called him over and he shook hands with them, pointing to them and smiling as he walked out.
“Dr. Lei,” I said softly while leaning in. “Where is the burrow?”
Blue immediately shook his head and started waving his hands. “No, no, no. We’re not talking about that until we get there.”
I ignored him and touched the table to activate the ordering system. “What do you have there, Lei? Whatever it is, it looks good.”
“House saké,” he said. “Click warm. It’s better that way.”
“Thank you,” I said, following his instructions. Turning to Myria, I asked her if she wanted anything. While she looked at the pictures on the table monitor in front of her I explained what had been transpiring and why Cyris had left, and she nodded. She asked me if they had a few drinks which I had never heard of, and so I ordered her a water instead.
“It’s in the desalination towers, isn’t it,” I said without looking up from the table. “That’s where you work.”
“I told you to shut the hell up,” Blue said loudly. One of the men at a table in the center of the room looked our way.
“Blue, you’re causing attention.”
“Then stop asking Lei questions you shouldn’t be asking,” he said.
“We’re all going to this burrow in a matter of minutes,” I said, controlling my voice since I knew I was annoyed with Blue. “I hardly see any reason for secrecy.”
Lei looked at both of us before bringing his gaze down again. “I don’t want any trouble,” he said. A waitress wearing white autosized clothing and a tired smile came by, delivering my saké and Myria’s water.
I changed subjects somewhat as she walked away. “Tell us about where you work, Lei,” I said. Looking towards Blue again, I added, “innocent enough for you?”
Blue ignored me, sighing dramatically while looking around.
“They are in the utility district south of here,” Seung said carefully, looking at Blue briefly as he spoke. “You’ve seen them, I am sure.”
“They are the tall towers ringing the south shore of the island?”
“Yes. I’m a plant manager there in tower fifteen.”
Looking past Blue towards the center of the large room, I could see four men at a table look our way – the same group of people that eyed Myria as we had walked in and also later noticed when Blue had raised his voice. One of them was tipping his head back as he swallowed the remains of his drink. Another was pointing directly to us while laughing.
I brought my attention back to Lei. “The towers vertically span all three tiers, do they not?”
“Absolutely. Fresh water is needed everywhere.”
I nodded in understanding. “I can see how they are perfect burrows. These towers turn the salt water of the Cassidian Ocean into drinking water then.”
“Of course,” Lei said. “But that is not all. They are also the second greatest source of exchangeable energy on this planet.”
“What is the first?”
“The tiers themselves, obviously.” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with a finger. “The vibrations caused by people or passing innerships are converted into electricity every second of every day. The unidirectional piezoelectric element.” He was pushing down firmly on the table with his palm as he talked. “When outside pressure is placed on these elements from above, electrical polarization occurs. It generates an electric potential in proportion to the amount of force applied. From the bottom however, the subject simply passes through.”
“I remember learning that,” I said. “And I am sure most people don’t realize how the effects of their simple actions can cause such profound change.”
“Speaking of things that people don’t realize,” interrupted Blue. “Do you know who Green was before you killed him?”
I shut my eyes briefly in annoyance. “He was your brother.”
Blue was uncharacteristically at a loss for words. “Cyris told you,” he eventually said.
“No,” I replied. “It was an educated guess.” I took a sip of the saké, feeling the warm liquid coat the insides of my throat. Looking up again I said to Blue, “We may have a problem.”
“Damn right, we do,” he answered. “You killed my brother.”
I kept my voice low and made sure to keep my eyes on Blue. “There is a man approaching you from behind.” I could see Blue start to move instinctively. “Don’t turn around. I think he’s drunk, and I am not sure what he wants. Probably nothing.”
Our visitor had arrived within seconds of my warning and was in fact somewhat inebriated – he leaned on our table with both hands and I could see sweat on his face. He was large and muscular in his shoulders and arms, wearing silver autosized clothing to show off those places - although I noticed his stomach was hanging slightly over the edge of his pants. He had numerous glowing rings through his eyebrows and somehow I knew that he thought he was much more handsome than he actually was.
He was looking at Myria.
“Excuse me for interrupting, but we’re all talking about you,” he said. “Back at our table. We all agree that you don’t look like you’re from here. Damn, you’re even more exotic up close.” He looked back at his friends and one of them smiled stupidly and gave him a thumbs up.
I sighed as I looked at Myria and translated what the man was saying. She smiled awkwardly, parting her hair with her finger and looking down at her water.
Turning back to the man, I said, “She’s not interested, but thanks for coming over.”
He waved a hand at me as if he could mentally push me off before placing it back on the table where it was. “At least tell me where you’re from, love. I know it’s not Cassidian. Make me look good, alright? I have a drink wagered on this.”
“She’s not from here-”
The man extended his hand again, this time accidentally knocking my glass of saké off the table. It crashed on the floor and bounced a few times, making a commotion against the soft sounds of the illusory garden. More people turned our way.
“See, now look what you made me do,” he said loudly. “I wasn’t even talking to you, man. Let the girl speak for herself.”
“She can’t speak for herself.”
“I said shut up and let her speak.” He leaned in deeply. “Where you from, love?”
Myria looked at me guardedly.
“She doesn’t understand what you’re saying,” I said, louder this time. I looked to Blue to see his reaction, oddly noting that he didn’t seem concerned about the commotion at all. In fact Blue seemed to relish the moment, leaning back in his cushion with his hands crossed, smiling.
“You think I’m an idiot?” The man’s voice was very loud now.
“She doesn’t have a translator.”
“Really?” He raised his body back up and put his hands to his sides mockingly. “No translator? That’s a good one. I never heard of that one before. I have to remember that.” He turned around to his friends across the room and shouted, “Girl has no translator!”
I took the opportunity to turn towards Lei. “Is everything ready for the move? I think we should be leaving.”
Seung was nodding when I felt a fist grab my shoulder. I heard Myria gasp as well. The man had a hand on me while bending back towards the table of friends.
My instincts took over. I kicked my right leg out, hitting the man directly in the back of his knees, which made him collapse next to us. On the way down I grabbed his crystallized hair with my fist and slammed the back of his head forcefully into the edge of our table.
“Come on,” I said, standing up and taking Myria’s hand. I guided her feet over the man’s head, which he was cradling in his hands as he lay on the floor. Blue had stopped smiling and had already exited the white couch on the opposite end. Lei was following him hastily.
The three other friends were standing up as we moved towards the front door, but smartly stayed where they were, almost in shock. Blue quickly led the four of us towards the front exit. He navigated us away from their table but always towards the door, keeping a few groups of people and tables in-between.
However a few feet from the exit I had an odd feeling and thankfully I looked back towards our booth when I did.
The man I had kicked down was surprisingly back up and moving towards us with his upper body pushed forward. His face was a brilliant red against the delicate foliage moving in the breeze on the monitors behind him.
Cursing to myself, I pushed Myria ahead of me and told her to stay with Lei. She turned back though in anxiety and in the few seconds of time that I was able to convince her to leave without me I felt the man’s fist connect squarely on my jaw. As I was knocked forward I lost my balance and collapsed to the floor.
I heard Myria scream out and saw Blue put an arm around her, pulling her forward and away. From the ground I looked up, seeing the three of them disappear through the front door and run up the flight of steps into darkness.
Cursing, I got up off my knees and dodged a boot which was meant for my face. He lost his balance then, falling slightly, but was able to catch himself by grabbing onto another patron sitting nearby.
I realized I didn’t have time for any of this. As soon as I had lost my line of sight with Myria I panicked, knowing that I couldn’t trust Blue for a second and that Lei was simply a means to an end for him. Every second mattered now.
But the man with red face was between me and the door, and he was coming for me. Appearing in his fist was a small but sharp knife, presumably taken from a nearby table where a couple had been eating their dinner.
I backed up as he ran forward, the people behind me hastening away as they created a mote of space in the center of the ratskeller. Soon I met the edge of the room, feeling the smooth wall of the monitor behind me. My shadow was cast out in front of me.
The man smiled as he thought I was trapped, but then I could see his eyes dart around bewilderingly as he must have caught some movement in the garden image at my back. He lunged at me then with the knife and I parried, allowing his full momentum to carry him into the wall. As he connected, a spider web of cracks emerged and grew, making the illusion fragmented in places. I could see the same bird twice as the pair of them flew away.
Picking up a minimalist metallic chair from a nearby center table, I hoped that it was heavy. It was.
I threw it at the wall. The man ducked, thinking that I was aiming for his head, but I was not. I was aiming above his head, at the monitor.
As the chair collided, the filament cracked apart as pieces started raining down on him. As the shards fell away, they were still lit and as such the garden illusion seemed to break apart like a vivid puzzle of moving color. The man slipped on one of the pieces as he tried to duck and turn away, and I took the opportunity to back up and grab another chair.
With all my might I then swung it around, letting it fly across the open area to connect in the same place, directly over the crouched man.
This time the wall burst apart, fragments large and small erupting in flashes of light and smoke as the people around me screamed and backed away further. Through the dizzying mess I could still see the man moving on the floor but I realized then that I was closer to the front door than him. Quickly I ran to the exit along with many other patrons who by now were starting to flee in panic.
Pushing past the throng of people I left the cool spectrum of The Canopy Garden and climbed out of the dark stairwell and up into the buzzing streetscape beyond. Looking around desperately, I saw no sign of Myria, Lei, or Blue among the crowd. People were running in all directions from the mouth of the stairwell - a mass exodus of The Canopy Garden.
But then I saw the IDer.
He was leaning in the shadows of a neighboring shop front, directly above the ratskeller’s lower stairwell. His arms were on a black railing as he dispassionately looked down with his bulbous glasses upon the river of people a full level below.
Walking over to him, I grabbed his shirt with my fists, pushing him up and almost over the railing of the stairwell.
“Where did they go?” I asked him.
“Hey, hey! What’s your problem-”
“Where did they go?” I screamed. I pushed him over the railing even further. “The girl, the short guy and Blue.”
I am not sure what he said next because I was paying too much attention to the sudden reflection in the IDer’s dark glasses. In that twisted mirror image I distinctly remember seeing a light blue dress shirt appear out of nowhere behind me, and the sheen of something metallic.
I ducked aside at the last second as Blue’s shot passed over me and into the IDer’s chest. I could hear the loud popping sounds fire off as within seconds the bullet started splitting into thousands of pieces inside of the IDer. Instinctively I used him like a shield, following his body as it fell over the railing with me still attached to it. My fists were where they had initially been – grabbing a section of his front shirt, and they stayed there as we both flipped over one another, down into the crowded stairwell a full level below.
When we landed we hit the floor hard, but the IDer’s dead body was underneath me at the time and it cushioned the blow significantly. A few other bystanders unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time screamed out in pain as they were knocked down underneath our weight. But Blue quickly put an end to those screams as he started firing uncontrollably from the railing above.
Grabbing a flaccid shoulder, I flipped the IDer’s body around and covered myself with it. A second later I could feel the vibrations as Blue shot again, hitting the IDer directly above me. Together, the two of us slid further down the stairs over bodies and into the ratskeller as the throng around me seemed to suddenly behave like the sum of its parts, naturally changing directions once it realized that it was safer inside the ratskeller. I frantically crawled through the agape door as I heard a third shot go into the dead flesh atop of me.
As I progressed I could actually feel the IDer’s body lose form as its skeletal structure decomposed into tiny fragments from within. My hands could detect the vibrations coming from inside the jellied remains as it started to pool over me like a pillow full of some heavy syrup-like substance.
Gruesome as it was I took advantage of the situation, searching the puddled remains for anything solid, for I knew there was only one thing that could sustain a splitter bullet without being decomposed. It was the very same thing – the only thing - which could also help me in that instant.
Reaching my hand into a bloody cavity, I found it.
Using my feet I pushed the dead lump of flesh off me as I grabbed my serrater and pulled it free. Although it was covered in blood, I could see it light up and activate as I grabbed hold of it.
Spinning around, I saw petrified faces surround me. Among them was the man with the piercings who by now was just standing up at the disintegrated edge, carefully brushing off the lit remains of the monitor. As I aimed my serrater at him, he raised his arms above his head, pleading with me.
He wasn’t my concern. Only Blue was.
Lowering my weapon I crawled back towards the door, kicking it open with an outstretched foot and cautiously peered out. There were countless bodies littering the stairwell. All of them were quiet – most of them I figured were dead with perhaps a few only pretending to be.
But Blue was gone.
Climbing over the still bodies and up the stairs, I slipped on a remnant of flesh and banged my knee badly. Cursing, I reached the street level and barely picked out Blue’s silhouette against the night crowd and colored lights of innership traffic. I watched his body blur as he entered a crossjump and traveled far across the main artery away from me.
Without any hesitation I started running after him.
Gawkers in the street looked my way with open mouths as I roughly pushed past them. I was covered in blood, I knew, and I held my serrater in my hand openly. I didn’t care. If a blacksuit came by at that moment I would have shot him without a second thought because I couldn’t afford the precious time trying to explain things. All of me was devoted to sprinting toward the edge of stopped traffic to get into the crossjump that Blue had entered through. And as the faces blurred past me, the fears blurred together in my mind. Thoughts of Myria, thoughts of losing her in this trapped city, thoughts of losing the future which was so elusive to me.
I knew then that if I could not find her I would have nothing. My dead body on the beach would have more meaning than the one I was inhabiting.
The crossjump was in its final seconds of counting down before the artery traffic would commence once again. I jumped as the platform field closed in upon itself. Sliding through it, the blood covering me rubbed off on the crossjump’s opalescent inner platform, but I knew that I had made it once the world started to move around me. The brush of wind on my face told me there was hope. My future was still in front of me somewhere, but it was held together by a string.
And that string was Blue.