by Joshua King
"Can I ask you a question, Bugs?"
His eyes slid over to me.
"It would be unfortunate for you if I didn't want you to, considering you just did. But I'm all right with it. I'll even let you ask me another one."
"What did you do before you came here?"
He let out a long breath like he was preparing himself for a revelation and gazed out over the river.
"Well... I watched the sunset. That was really pretty. Lots of swirly purple and red. What does that mean? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? For sailors, I mean. I know they take the sky into account a lot. Is it a good thing when the sky is red at night? In the morning? It would probably be real bad if it was red in the middle of the afternoon. Not that I haven't seen that happen. That wasn't a fun day."
"Bugs?"
"I digress. I was watching the sunset and enjoying my evening, then I saw some flippity-flopping around in the water and thought it was time for me to strap on my welcome hat and bring in a new friend. But then I realized it was you. I got you up out of the water and brought you over to the trash can."
"Do you actually have a welcome hat?"
Bugs stared back at me blankly.
"It's a metaphor, Hayden."
I shook my head.
"Anyway. Not here like at the trash can, here. I mean here, like in Final View. What did you do before you came to the Underworld? You told me once before that you were called Bugs for a reason."
He nodded.
"Yep. That's a whole story."
He stopped. I waited a few seconds, thinking he might be pulling himself together, but Bugs just stared into the fire, humming a tune that didn't seem to know what genre of music it wanted to be.
"Bugs?"
"Hmmm?"
"Want to tell me the story?"
"Oh, sure. I used to live in the other world."
"In New York."
"Eventually. I wasn't born in New York. I came from a little town a few states down the country, but it had always been my aspiration to get the hell up out of there as soon as there was even the hint of an opportunity. That opportunity came in the form of a scholarship to college. I went and learned everything I possibly could about computers and what they could do for a company. By the time I was a few months out from graduation, headhunters were coming after me wanting to bring me in to work exclusively for their clients, but I wouldn't do it. I wanted much more."
"What do you mean?"
"If I had the skills and the talents that were so desirable bunches of people were trying to woo me, why should I choose just one of them? I could be a computer tech slut. Available to whoever I wanted. And that's what I did. I became a freelancer and consultant and worked for big firms on their computer systems."
"Doing what?"
"Whatever needed doing. If the company needed something with their computer, I was there to do it for them. I did some programming, some customizing."
"Some hacking."
He laughed.
"Some of that, too. But that didn't come until later."
"And you found... bugs?"
"Right. The computer kind and the real kind."
"You mentioned that. What do you mean by that exactly?"
His face darkened and his eyes flickered back to the flames.
"What is it that you need, Hayden?"
The way he kept saying my name struck me. I didn't know if it was reassuring or unnerving. Somewhere in the back of my head I remembered a class in college that taught how to connect with others and create a strong rapport. One of the main things the instructor, a dizzyingly exuberant woman who looked like she should have been at the top of the cheerleading pyramid and not the front of a lecture hall, emphasized was saying the other person's name. It was supposed to make them feel acknowledged and recognized to create a sense of trust or some shit like that. It seeped into the conversation with Bugs in a way that made me wonder if it was just part of his personality or a throwback to his professional days in the other world he couldn't shake. It had been almost endearing, but the last sentence he said had a heaviness that compelled me to apologize. What I wanted to apologize for, I wasn't sure.
"You know I've been looking for Malakan with the others since he disappeared." I gave him a brief recounting of the conflicts with Darian and the progress we'd made so far. "I hoped you might be able to help us," I finally finished.
Bugs looked at me for a long time, his eyes first traveling up and down my face and then locking on my mouth. I was used to people trying to exude a sense of confidence or even intimidate me by looking directly into my eyes for uncomfortably long stretches of time, but this was my first experience with someone transfixed by my mouth when I wasn't speaking. It was like he was watching my lips with the same level of suspicion the others in Final View approached everything else. His eyes didn't move as he evaluated them, staring like he was waiting for something else to fall from them without me noticing.
"You want me to help you with a computer problem?" he asked.
I wasn't sure what emotion was in his voice. There was no real way for me to respond but nodding.
"Yes."
"Tell me about the computer."
He spoke with a steadiness not exactly befitting a man in one shoe, but there was a curiosity in his voice, too, that kept him the same unique character I'd learned to associate with Final View and the threshold of Malakan's residence.
"I don't know much about it," I admitted. "Computers weren't exactly my thing even in the other world. I got about as far as being able to type a paper and communicate with people, but that's the extent of it. I can tell you that the computer in Darian's office doesn't look anything like any computer I've ever seen in my life."
"What does it look like exactly?"
"I don't think I can give you exact details. All I can say is it looks... strange. Like it's been pieced together from different machines. Parts of it don't even look like they are a real computer. It's more like someone wanted to create an artist's rendition of a computer, or some sort of sculpture that's supposed to have a message or statement or something. Commentary on commercialism and the rampant over-reliance on technology or some dramatic shit like that."
There wasn't a single doubt in my mind I had slipped into rambling, but it didn't seem to dissuade Bugs. If anything, my description of the computer seemed to have fascinated him. He nodded, his eyes slightly narrowed and staring diagonally into the distance. I could almost see the gears in his head churning as he thought through the details I gave him and tried to figure out what they could mean.
"That definitely doesn't sound like any computer I ever saw in the other world. Now, I'll tell you, I haven't seen any computers since I've been in the Underworld. There isn't a whole lot of need for them out here in Final View. But I saw more than my fair share of them in the other world, and that doesn't sound like anything I've ever dealt with. But I'm up for the challenge. Tell me more about it."
3
"We've been following the instructions Malakan left for us, trying to find him and figure out what he's doing. I have to tell you, I'm not entirely sure he even knows exactly why he left us the clues he did, or even if they're going to lead us anywhere."
"They will."
"You say that with a lot of confidence."
"Everybody seems to think because the old warlock was eccentric and did things his own way it meant he didn't know what he was doing. He's powerful and impressive, yet it makes people more comfortable to imagine him as being a few barnacles short of the bottom of a boat. That's just because they don't understand him or are too scared to admit just how small they feel around him. No matter what anybody says or how much of a stance they seemed to put up, most people like to go along with the way things have always been. The status quo exists for a reason. You've heard the saying good fences make good neighbors. That's not because it sets up a boundary between two people and makes sure they don't interfere with each other. It's because fences mean knowing where
you're supposed to be. It's easier and more reassuring when you don't have to wonder what's expected of you or if you're doing what you should be. Even more than that, it's easier to not be the one to break down the fence and find your own path."
"And that's what Malakan does?"
"He doesn't care what people think or what they want from him. All that matters to him is what's right, and sometimes that is far less than what's popular. People turn their backs on him because they don't know what he's going to say or do next. They can't look at him and predict his next move or feel confident he's going to follow some sort of pattern."
"I feel like you might know something about that."
The sheer number of words he had successfully and compellingly linked into sentences surprised me. I was back to feeling confident about the plan that snapped into my head when standing in Nakatomi Tower with the rest of the crew, staring at a computer that may or may not have realized it was actually supposed to be a computer, and at a loss for any idea of what we were supposed to do next. The thought of Bugs had seemed outlandish at first, but the longer we were unable to figure out how to crack into the system, the more I realized he was quite possibly our only shot. He was far clearer than I expected him to be and the little voice in the back of my head drafting my eulogy was getting quieter.
"Not me. I don't understand it. It's the straight and narrow for me."
And, I lost him again.
Time to reel it back in.
"Sure. Sure. But not Malakan? He doesn't do the straight and narrow?"
"Malakan does the squiggly and very wide. Or the incredibly narrow. I'm not sure. He does what he wants to do, and that's usually the right thing even when nobody knows it's the right thing because they are so wrapped up in the extra wrong thing even the semi-wrong thing starts to seem right, not realizing that the actual right thing is what they thought was the wrong thing all along."
"So clear."
"My point is, if Malakan left you those clues, he did it for a reason. He doesn't do things just because he feels like it or thinks it would be fun. He's not into games. No matter how many times I invited him to Game Night."
"Final View has a Game Night?"
"Absolutely. It's not just people that end up in the river. We get all kinds of stuff falling through all the time. How do you think we have such luxurious surroundings around here?" Fortunately, he didn't stop talking so I didn't have to comment on the community or the fact that I'd never seen what may constitute individual homes for the residents, if those did exist. "You should join us next week. We have a Cluopolcrabble tournament."
"You have a what?"
"We never get all the pieces of the games, so we make do with what we scoop up."
"Fantastic." I swirled my hands around in little circles in front of me. "All this is really enlightening, Bugs, but we don't have a lot of time. I need to get back to the others. Right now, Brielle is protecting them, but I don't know how long it's going to last before the Shades come."
Bugs stiffened.
"Why would they come?"
"You said Malakan wouldn't just send us around for no reason. I've been following every one of his instructions and what it got me was a few extra people in my group and getting zapped back to Darian's office because of a really twisted bit of technology and magic. Apparently, when Darian got in with the warlocks, they weren't exactly the most reputable bunch. Well, that might not be the right way to put it. They were reputable, just for really fucked up reasons. One of which being they had mastered enchantments that could let people have absolute control over others. That's what they gave Darian. He could embed a tracker chip into his Shades, or anyone he felt like, and when he wanted, use it to find the people and transport them through any portal. Jaxxim swore his loyalty with us without knowing that he had one of the trackers and Darian used it to bring us all through a portal to his office in Nakatomi Tower. Malakan had led us to the portal, but we don't know where it was meant to bring us."
"Can't you just follow the instructions again? You went through the portal to get here. Maybe it only works once."
"No. It works as many times as Darian wants it to. But each time he uses it, it ages him and takes away some of his strength and power. That was the price from the warlocks."
"So, leave the Shade. He's the one with the tracker."
"It's contagious."
"Like a bug," he said seriously. "A computer virus."
"Yes," I said with a nod. "And the effect is spreading. No matter where we go, he'll be able to find us. Unless we can break into his computer system and deactivate the program. The tracker is a part of Jaxxim now. There's nothing we can do to get it out of him, but we can stop its control over him, and the effect from affecting all of us. Until we do that, we can't keep going. If we do, they hunt us down and we won't know when they're coming. That's why I came to find you. None of us can get into the computer. We don't understand it or how it works, and we can't even find the program operating the tracker, much less what we're supposed to do to stop it. We need you, Bugs. Can you help us?"
"I'll help," Bugs said. "I can't promise anything, but I'll do what I can."
"Thank you," I said, relieved to have gotten past the first obstacle of getting him to agree to help us. "Do you need to get anything? We should get going."
He stared back at me blankly.
"Going?"
"We have to get to Nakatomi Tower. And soon. Time is ticking. Any time now the Shades could swoop in and I really don't want that to happen without me at least being there to help."
"You want me to go with you? To Nakatomi Tower?"
I nodded.
"Um. Yes. You said you would help us."
"I thought you would bring it to me."
"The Tower?"
"At least the computer."
"We can't bring the computer to you. Do you even have electricity out here? Besides, if they come here, that means Darian and the Shades will be able to track us here."
"Darian has been here before."
"Knowing you were helping someone he is trying to kill?"
Bugs's mouth opened and then snapped closed.
"Can I tell you what I would do and you can let me know how it works?" he finally asked.
"This isn't a game of chess by mail. We don't have the time for me to do the Pony Express thing. I need you to be there."
It sank a little deeper just how little I knew about this man. It was obvious he'd been in the Underworld for a long time, but I didn't know just how long that was. Part of me wondered if he even did. Despite his clearly delusional perception of himself as someone who followed the straight and narrow, he didn't exactly strike me as having the tightest grasp of his reality. He knew he was in the Underworld, but I got the distinct impression he hadn't left Final View. He hadn't told me how he came to be in the community under the bridge, but it was obvious he didn't relish the idea of leaving where he was as comfortable as he had the opportunity to be. The thought crossed through my mind that I didn't even know what Bugs was. The question of who he used to be was enough of a puzzle, but I couldn't help but wonder what was keeping him here. For a brief moment I wanted to characterize him as jumpy, but considering where we were and how he made his grand entrance into the Underworld, it didn't seem like the best turn of phrase to use. I decided to stick with suspicious and strange as hell.
"I'll go with you," he finally agreed. "How are we going to get there?"
It wasn't until then that I realized I hadn't thought this all the way through. I wanted to save time trying to get to him and had thrown myself off the bridge to do so, but it hadn't occurred to me I would have to figure out a way to get back to the tower. Somehow, I didn't think Bugs or any of his band of merry followers had easy access to a grappling hook, and even if they did, the chances of us being able to go back through the portal I just used and then climb our way over the bridge didn't seem very good. It had already been emphasized to me that the portals very rarely moved the sa
me direction each way. For all I knew, if we jumped back into the water and did battle with whatever I might have seen down there to get through the portal, it very well could spit us out on the other side of the world rather than anywhere near where we needed to be. There was only one way we were going to get back to the others.
"We have to travel through the city. I obviously don't have a car, so we'll walk."
I wished I could use my vampire speed to move through the streets and alleys, but there was too much of Bugs to just toss him on my back and carry him with me like a baby monkey. We'd have to move at his speed. Bugs rushed across the space and I saw him talking animatedly to Philip. When they finished talking, he came back to my side.
"I left Philip in charge. He'll keep things under control around here until I get back."
Bugs only got more and more agitated the further we got away from Final View. It was obvious he had a strong connection to the bridge and didn't like to be far away from it. I wondered how much of the city he had seen, if any, and what memories the mirrored image of New York might bring back for him. Nothing seemed to have any more of an impact than anything else until we finally got to the set of concrete steps leading down into the first subway station we'd found. Weaving our way through the streets and alleys, I hadn't even been sure we would find one. An underground form of public transportation in the Underworld seemed a bit too on the nose, but the women had told me Solan City was a direct mirroring of New York. That meant it would have the same features, including the complex network of stations and tracks beneath the sidewalks and streets. I was relying on that and felt a sense of hope and relief when I saw the steps. Bugs didn't have the same reaction. Instead of rushing down the steps alongside me, he stopped on the second step and clutched the handrail. I was most of the way down the flight when I realized he wasn't beside me and turned around to see him clinging to the peeled paint of the hand rail. His knees were turned in slightly, his legs bent as he seemed to fight with himself between continuing down into the station and retreating back to Final View as fast as he could go.
