Code Flicker

by Marlin Seigman

  “I’ve got an overload,” he heard Xia say.

  Then, he started to produce a sound. He didn’t know why or where it came from, and like his body, he had no control over it. Xia and Granger stood over him speaking, but the sound he made drowned out their voices. It was an odd sensation. He could feel his body moving and hear the sounds he made, but neither felt like it was really him. The painkiller code gave him a sense of being in someone else’s body. He was just along for the ride. At least he could think clearly, as clearly as possible with that moaning sound he made.

  He was lifted onto a gurney and wheeled out of the testing room, still contorting and moaning. Xia said this would last for a few minutes, and he needed to be ready when he came out of it. But he had no sense of time in this state. No way of telling how long this had been going on or would go on. No more than a minute? That sounded about right. Counting the seconds would give him something to focus on and help him with an idea of the time. He would count for two minutes. One hundred twenty seconds. And when he got to one hundred twenty, he could get ready.

  At seventeen, the hallway outside the testing room passed by, his moaning bouncing off the sterile walls. At sixty-two, he was being wheeled into a closed-off section of the infirmary and placed on a bed. He could feel the spasms getting weaker and the moaning had stopped.

  “He’s coming out of it,” he could hear someone behind him say.

  A nurse tried to attach an electrode to his temple as he convulsed, missing several times before she got it right. Another nurse held his hand and placed a pulse oximeter on his finger. The spasms were almost gone, and he began to feel like he had some control over his body. With the sound of monitors beeping in the background, he came to a rest and rolled on his back.

  One of the nurses came into his field of view. “Can you hear me?” he said.

  Two-Step nodded.

  “Can you talk?”

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  The word came raspy and undefined, but the nurse smiled. “Good. You’ll be fine. You just had a little overload. It happens during tests sometimes. Just rest a few minutes. I’ll be back to check on you.”

  “Okay.” More of a croak than a word. That moaning must have taken a toll on his vocal cords. He was sure he would have a hell of a sore throat if it weren’t for Xia’s code. There was little doubt in his mind he would have one when the code wore off.

  The nurse left, closing the curtains around the bed. He sat up and gathered his thoughts. The plan was simple. Xia would come to check on him and slip him another ID. Then he would ask to use the restroom before he reported to have his chip removed. On the way to the restroom, he would take a detour down the stairwell and then out of the lobby.

  Easy.

  The curtain pulled back, and Xia stood, smiling at him.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked.

  “My throat hurts a bit, and I’m a little sore all over, but not bad,” he managed.

  “Good. When the code wears off, you’ll feel it more, but you should be home before that happens,” she said quietly. Then she spoke in a normal volume. “Well, I’m sorry you had to go through that. It happens sometimes. I just need to check a few things before I okay you to have the chip removed.” As she talked she reached into a side pocket of her lab coat and pulled out the ID. She moved around him to check the monitors. As she did, she put her hand on the bed next to his leg, leaving the ID when she lifted her hand. He moved his leg over the card.

  Xia started typing on her pad, erasing his information from the test, and when she was finished, there would be no proof he was part of it. “Well, I think everything is fine,” Xia said. “Also, I do have to tell you, that while we will have to remove the test chip, you are eligible for a discounted chip upgrade as thanks for taking part in the test.”

  “Thanks,” Two-Step said.

  Xia moved close to him and whispered. “You’re clear. Remember, the stairwell is just past the restroom. Come out before the lobby and take the elevator the rest of the way. Good luck.”

  Two-Step smiled at her.

  “All right,” Xia said in a normal volume. “I have to get back to the test. There will be someone by shortly to take care of the chip removal.”

  He stood and stretched, testing his legs. He wasn’t sure how well they would work after going through the overload. Confident he could make it down a few flights of stairs without any trouble, he went looking for the nurse. He found him sitting at a desk, working.

  “Excuse me. Could you point me to the restroom?” Two-Step asked.

  Without looking up, the nurse said, “Just down that hall to your left.”

  Afraid the nurse would look up if he said thank you, he hurried down the hall and to the stairwell. Once in the stairwell, he heard someone running down the stairs below him. The sound gave him a sense of urgency and he increased his speed. He reached the second floor and exited the stairwell, trying to walk at a natural gait. Before he got to the elevators, the alarms went off.

  “That can’t be good,” he said out loud.

  He ran to the elevators and frantically pushed the button.

  “Due to the emergency, the elevators are currently not in service,” a voice said, emanating from a speaker near the button.

  He ran back to the stairwell. Could he still just walk out of the lobby now? There was a good chance no one would be allowed to leave the building. He knew Jacob and Sandy were going to use the delivery tunnels on the first sublevel. He would have to take the same route.

  The whole stairwell filled with the wailing of the alarms and the flashing of the red lights above each door. Through the sound, he thought he heard someone running on the stairs below. Before he got to the first sublevel landing, he slowed and peered down the stairwell.

  Relief hit him. “Jacob! Sandy!” he yelled and ran to them.

  They were waiting at a set of double doors, both holding guns.

  “Hurry,” Sandy said.

  “I’m so glad to see you two,” he said.

  Jacob reached in his backpack and took out a gun. He held it out for Two-Step. “Here, you might need this.”

  Chapter 57

  Two-Step took the gun. “I hope not,” he said, over the alarm.

  “The way my day’s been going,” Jacob said, leaving the conclusion unspoken and trying to block out the image of Slade handcuffed to the door.

  “Yeah, you don’t look too good,” Two-Step said.

  “Kat, do you have visual? It would nice to see what’s on the other side of these doors.” Sandy said.

  “Can’t help you,” Kat said.

  “I’ll take the door on the right, Two-Step you take the left. Just be ready for anything,” Jacob said. He took a deep breath and readied himself. When he saw Sandy and Two-Step were ready, he said, “Now.”

  The hallway was empty.

  He took two pairs of zip cuffs from his backpack. He joined the zip cuffs together and then zip tied the free end to the door handles.

  “That should keep people out. Let’s go,” he said. “Two-Step, you take up the rear, and keep an eye out behind us.”

  The delivery tunnels were not far away. When he worked for the company, Jacob would often come down here during his lunch and have some of his nic-stem. It was the only place in the building it was allowed, or at least tolerated. He knew the area well. Well enough to know that they would run into security before they got to the loading docks. After that, the tunnel ran for three blocks before coming out on a street at the edge of the Your Better Life Corporate Zone. There was a checkpoint at the mouth of the tunnel, but once they got past that, they would be in the city and on their way home.

  “These alarms are driving me crazy,” Two-Step said.

  They came to a turn in the hallway next to a pair of double doors with a flashing alarm light above them. “Stop,” Jacob said. “The security station is to the right of those doors. Usually, there were two guys there. Sometimes three. The problem is, the station is ba
ck a little, so there’s no way to get the jump on them.”

  “The loading docks are on the other side of the door?” Sandy asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Any security out there?”

  “Always one or two at a station just outside the doors.”

  “Is there another way out?” Two-Step asked.

  “There are bigger loading docks past the security station. And there’s more there, so this is it.”

  “Great. You have a plan?”

  He had a plan. Not a good one, but a plan.

  “I’m going to rush through the doors. I’ll get through before they can react, and when they come after me, you shot them.”

  “And the guards on the other side?” Two-Step asked.

  “I’ll deal with them.”

  Sandy shook her head. “That’s a shitty plan.”

  “I agree,” Kat said.

  “Got anything better?”

  “I could go,” Two-Step said.

  “No. I know what’s on the other side of the doors. Besides, you have the chip.”

  “You have the code.”

  Jacob took his backpack off and handed it to Two-Step. “Wait,” he said. He opened the backpack and took out his code deck, scanned his tattoo, and sent some amphetamine code to his chip. “Now you have both. Don’t get shot,” he said, returning the deck to his backpack.

  He figured it was about ten feet from the corner to the doors; he should be able to clear that before getting shot.

  “Ready?”

  Sandy and Two-Step raised their weapons and nodded.

  He ran for the doors, his pistol ready, trying to block everything else out of his mind, the sound of the alarms, the sound of his boots hitting the tile. There was nothing but the doors and his determination to reach them. He passed the corner, going full speed into the hall leading to the security station. He could feel the hall open beside him, hear the shouts of the guards. A shot echoed and hit the wall on his left. Another shot grazed his left calf, and he fell through the doors as much as he pushed through them.

  There was no pain, only a surge of amped-up adrenaline as he stumbled into the loading bay. The second security station was also on the right. A pallet with cases of coffee beans sat in front of him on the edge of the dock. He went for the pallet, turning toward the security station. The two guards there were getting up. He fired twice and ducked behind the pallet. Several shots sounded from the other side of the doors.

  “The guards are down,” Sandy said in his ear.

  A shot hit the pallet, sending coffee beans across the floor.

  “Don’t come out yet,” he said.

  He moved to the other side of the pallet. A delivery truck sat in the loading bay. He had to get down to the front of the truck to draw the guards away from the door so Sandy and Two-Step could come out.

  He peered around the pallet. The guards had split up, and he could only see one of them heading along the other side of the loading dock. He looked around the other side of the pallet but still couldn’t see the second guard. He must be trying to work his way around the front side of the pallet.

  The first guard made his way down a ramp leading to the floor of the loading bay. Jacob fired. Pieces of the wall behind the guard sprayed out, and he ran for a stack of boxes at the end of the ramp.

  A shot hit the top of the pallet.

  The second guard was getting closer.

  It was a five-foot drop from the top of the dock to the bay floor. Jacob fired in the direction he thought the shot came from and jumped down, trying to land with most of his weight on his right foot. His right leg couldn’t take all of his weight, and pain shot up his leg when his left foot landed. He ignored it and made his way to the front of the truck.

  “One guard near the pallet just outside the door. The second is down the ramp to the right,” he said.

  “Got it,” Sandy said.

  The doors burst open. Shots filled the loading bay.

  “He’s down,” Sandy said.

  He made it to the front of the truck. He could see the leg of the second guard sticking out from the stack of boxes.

  “Do you see that stack of boxes at the bottom of the ramp?”

  “Yes.”

  “Fire into it.”

  The boxes began to fly apart in a spray of blue liquid. The guard started to inch back. Jacob knelt and took the shot. The guard fell back, landing in a puddle of the blue liquid.

  The loading dock was quiet.

  “Get in the truck,” he called.

  Two-Step and Sandy met him at the front of the truck.

  “You’re bleeding,” Sandy said.

  Blood stained the bottom of his pants leg and had soaked his socks and was pooling in his boot. “One of you will have to drive,” he said.

  “I will,” Two-Step said and got in the driver's seat.

  In the cab, Jacob took out his deck and connected with the truck.

  “You sure you can drive?” Sandy asked Two-Step as she tried to get comfortable in the middle of the seat.

  “I learned to drive when I was eleven. We had a bunch of old cars and trucks converted to run on vegetable oil in the community. I would drive my dad’s truck all the time.”

  Jacob connected to the truck’s system and started it, setting it to be driven manually.

  “All right, at the end of the tunnel is a checkpoint. You’re going to plow through it,” he said.

  “No problem,” Two-Step said as the truck lurched forward.

  Two-Step accelerated down the tunnel. The truck’s safety system began to warn him. “You have reached an unsafe speed for this environment. Reinstate self-driving mode for safety reasons.”

  “Can you turn that off?” Two-Step asked.

  “Just ignore it,” Jacob said.

  “How bad is your leg?” Sandy asked.

  “It’s fine.”

  She removed her shirt and ripped off the sleeve. “This might hurt,” she said. She wrapped the sleeve around his calf and tied it tight.

  He felt real pain now and unsuccessfully tried to stifle a “Shit.”

  “Sorry.” She reached in his backpack and pulled out his deck. “I think a painkiller is in order.”

  He nodded and she scanned his tattoo and sent the code.

  “Warning,” the truck’s driving system said. “Barrier in fifty meters. Decelerate to avoid a collision.”

  “You really can’t shut that thing up?” Two-Step asked. He was hunched over the steering column, focusing on the path in front of the truck.

  Two guards stood silhouetted at the end of the tunnel in front of a barricade, aiming at the oncoming truck.

  “Can you duck and keep it straight?” Jacob asked.

  “I hope so,” Two-Step said.

  The guards opened fire, and Two-Step jerked back, a red mist spraying from a hole in the shoulder of his shirt. They all ducked down in the seat, trying to get below the windshield. Two-step clutched his shoulder while holding the steering wheel steady with his other hand.

  There were more shots and shouts from the guards, then the sound and impact of the truck breaking through the barrier.

  They all sat up. Two-Step pressed the accelerator to the floor, and the guards continued to fire at them as they sped off.

  After a few blocks, Jacob said, “Take a left up here and go into the old housing projects. We’ll ditch the truck there.”

  They were silent for a long moment.

  Finally, Sandy said, “We did it.”

  They looked at each other and smiled, then went back to being silent.

  Now I know how a dog who caught the car and got away with it feels, Jacob thought.

  Chapter 58

  “You’re both damn lucky,” Kat said. She opened a tube of surgical glue and applied it to Two-Step’s shoulder. “A little deeper and we would have to take you to the hospital, and that would lead to too many questions. I guess we’re all damn lucky that didn’t happen.”

  “I’
ll take luck any day,” Jacob said.

  The three of them sat with Sandy in the backroom of Retro Media. After they ditched the delivery truck behind an old burnt-out gas station in the housing projects, they made their way to a rendezvous point where Kat met them with the Retro Media van.

  “Well, you’ll both be sore for a few days. And you should try to stay off that leg as much as possible.”

  “You got it, doc.”

  Kat wrapped Two-Step’s shoulder with a bandage and leaned back in her chair. “And you try not to use the arm too much. A sling might be a good idea.”

  “All right,” Two-Step said.

  “Any word from Xia yet?” Sandy asked.

  “No,” Jacob said, trying to hide any hint of concern in his voice. “But that makes sense. Even without the backup system setting off the alarms, the test would have her busy for most of the rest of the day.”

  “I guess you’re right, but I’ll feel a lot better when she contacts us.”

  “So,” Kat said, “what’s the next step?”

  “I have to get in touch with Johnson and set up a meeting. I want to do that ASAP. The sooner this whole thing is done, the better.”

  “It was kind of fun, though,” Two-Step said.

  Everyone looked at him with blank stares.

  “It was,” he insisted. “Well, not the getting shot part.”

  “Or the shooting someone part,” Sandy added.

  “You get used to it, or at least learn to deal with it,” Kat said.

  “I don’t want to make it a habit.”

  Kat put the surgical glue away and stood. “I’m going to go get us some food. Any requests?”

  After she took everyone’s order, she headed down to the food court. Two-Step went to his work station and turned on the monitor. Sandy brought a stool over for Jacob to prop up his leg.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  She smiled, a look that was a mix of relief and concern in her eyes.

  “Holy shit,” Two-Step said. “We made the news feeds.” He swiveled the monitor for them to see and tuned up the volume.