Shades

by Eric Dallaire

  “Blasphemy,” Rose mumbled. She whispered a soft prayer I could not understand.

  Then the door behind us closed and we strolled into the smoldering hellfire.

  CHAPTER 20

  Seeds of Discontent

  “Because I could not stop for Death –

  He kindly stopped for me –

  The Carriage held but just Ourselves –

  And Immortality.”

  - Excerpt from “Because I Could Not Stop For Death”, Emily Dickinson

  The tunnel twisted down through the moon's surface for what seemed like a half-mile. Peals of laughter, champagne corks popping, excited moans, and other sounds of pleasure echoed throughout. At the bottom, we saw a large devilish face with an open-mouth-shaped portal, all surrounded by a fiery aura. A female concierge, dressed in a velvet red suit cut to tease a glimpse of her long legs, grinned at our approach.

  “Welcome to Club Purgatory,” she purred. “We are preparing your table now. Enjoy everything.”

  When we entered, the smoky interior of Club Purgatory filled our senses with the extravagance of Charon's vision of a sin-filled paradise. The interior looked like a massive cavern one might encounter spelunking deep underground. Towering, burning sconces illuminated the area, casting our shadows over the black glass floor. Male and female dancers performed on floating disc-like platforms, traveling to different tables to entertain patrons. Many tables had been carved high into the walls, forming private alcoves serviced by flying waiters and waitresses delivering temptations and vices.

  The club segmented into three main areas. The east side featured a dance floor and a deejay creating electronic music. He energized the crowd by combining his music with the v-cast generator. Each beat he generated changed the floor in some way, like its color or its texture. Some of the music created flying demon-like creatures and fairies that flitted between the dancing patrons. The northern section featured a set of bridges and lifts that connected five different bars and restaurants, all serving the finest cocktails, food, drugs, or whatever their gluttonous patrons desired. The western section featured a hexagonal-shaped iron cage standing twenty feet high. I saw two human-looking figures inside the cage grappling with each other while a more intimate number of VIPs cheered the gladiatorial combat.

  “Stick with the plan,” Barnaby whispered. “We'll procure the weapons. You find the doctor.”

  I nodded and took Vanessa's hand. We headed toward the western area of the club while Rose and Barnaby disappeared into a writhing mass of dancing bodies. A blond-haired waitress descended from the air, held aloft by boots that pulsed with a hot white glow.

  “Idle hands are the devil's workshop,” she declared with a smirk. “We have a special new cabernet crafted by the owner called the River Lethe. It's guaranteed to make you forget your troubles. I know you're dying to try some…”

  “We don't want to remember anything, so we'll take two,” I said, returning a grin.

  “You two go have fun, I'll find you,” she said and sped off to take more orders.

  We continued walking toward the western area and the iron cage loomed larger. My eyes focused on the two combatants inside the ring. They fought with an inhuman savagery, beating each other with wicked strikes and tearing at each other not to maim, but to kill. When we stepped closer I realized that the two fighters were not humans after all. I reached the edge of the cage, close enough to touch the bars. I saw that the bodies of the two shades looked grotesque and enlarged, similar to what Jebediah looked like in Dr. Okono's lab. I clenched my fist when I realized the club owner used a modified serum to turn the shades feral.

  The larger of the two fighters picked up the other shade and threw it against the cage near me. The close proximity of the battered feral shade triggered a prickling sensation along my scalp and ears. I sensed the TauK Network interface awakening again. A flood of disconnected words and thoughts spiked across the display appearing before my eye.

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  My instincts told me that Dr. Okono might be monitoring the TauK Network for the slim chance that someone might find him. So I steadied myself and closed my eyes.

  “I am here, Dr. Okono. I can get you out,” I thought, focusing. At first, no peaks or sine waves appeared on my TauK Network interface. I echoed the words again and again, picturing the shades in front of me. Following other patrons crowding around the ring to get a closer look, I moved forward. The crumpled body of the shade still twitched as it tried to rise and continue its fight. I touched the shade through the bars, refocused one more time, and repeated my message. This time, the display on my retinal interface flickered with activity.

  Then I stepped back to see if any of the patrons reacted to my message. While most of the VIP club-goers cheered and yelled for more bloodshed, I spotted one person who did not seem to be enjoying the spectacle. The older, brown-skinned man stood up and looked around as if a ghost just whispered in his ear. Peering closer at the second floor table, I recognized him as Dr. Okono. He looked thinner, more emaciated than the spry and healthy man I saw from the video logs at the university. I turned from his gaze and looked back at the shades to avoid suspicion.

  I put on a fake smile and nudged Vanessa to get her attention.

  “Let's get a table, honey, this looks like fun,” I said, pulling her to one of the three disc-shaped lifts. We walked to the platform and it whisked us up to the second level overlooking the bloody arena. We made our way through a dozen tables piled high with empty liquor bottles and dirtied food plates. The people at the tables wore expensive gowns, tailor-made suits, and tuxedos, all dressed up for the carnage created for their amusement.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for a team battle?” bellowed the disembodied voice of the arena announcer. As patrons stood up to yell their approval, I decided to make a move amidst the chaos. “Remember to get your wagers logged before the battle starts!”

  We walked across the second floor platform and sat down onto empty chairs at Dr. Okono's table. At first, he failed to recognize Vanessa with her disguise. “Excuse me, but these seats are taken,” he said. Then he peered closer. His eyes widened. A look of happiness flashed across his face that changed to concern. “Vanessa, what are you doing here?” he whispered. “You are in grave danger!” He looked behind him nervously and back down to the arena. A look of shame crossed his face. “They make me watch so that I can make improvements to their serum.”

  “We're going to get you out of here,” Vanessa replied. She pointed down to the arena, pretending she was talking about a different conversation. “When the fight starts up again, I want you to follow us out of here.”

  “How--how did you know to contact me through my TauK Network?” he asked in a hushed voice. “And who is this?”

  “I’m Vanessa’s friend, Jonah. I'll be helping you as well. I was the one who replied to your message.”

  “But that's impossible,” he gasped. He leaned closer to regard me, paying close attention to my eyes. He squinted, leaned a bit closer, and then his mouth opened wide.

  “Of course,” he said. “The IRS gave you the newest serum. I can see it in your skin and the flecks in your eyes. But that serum was not ready for human trials--”

  “Believe me, I didn't have much of a choice,” I replied with a wry grin.

  “And here we go with the next deathmatch!” boomed the announcer.

  The crowd roared and jumped to their feet as a trio of human handlers guided four augmented shades into the arena.

  “Get up, now,” I urged. “Walk, don't run.”

  As Dr. Okono rose to leave, a large man emerged from a dark corner of the floor, grabbed the doctor by his shoulder, and pushed him back into the chair. The crimson display from his wrist-com brought Spenner’s grim face into the light. A strange thought crossed my mind. How many people had the chance to gra
pple with their death a second time?

  “Why such a hasty retreat?” said another voice behind Spenner. A well-groomed man dressed in a black suit walked to the table and took a seat. He raised his polished white shoes onto the table and leaned back. His black hair parted in the middle. Twin streaks of silver ran along both parts of his hair, the trademark style of Gabriel Charon. “Please, stay and enjoy dinner. I insist.” More shapes shifted in the darkness around us. Six shades lumbered forward, forming a ring around the table.

  “I'm curious. How did you discover us?” I asked.

  “Money,” Gabriel retorted, rubbing his thumb against his raised index finger. “It seems David Solomon and Titan Tech overlooked the talents of Dr. Evelyn Briggs far too long.” He raised his hand, revealing his golden wrist-com studded with four knuckle-sized diamonds. With a flick of a finger, he caused a virtual projection to appear in the middle of the table.

  “They're coming, Gabriel. Four of them, including Jonah. He's alive,” whispered Evelyn. Her projected head turned around the table as the message repeated three times.

  “Don’t blame her too much.” Gabriel urged. “You see, I also threatened to eject her parents into space and turn them into shades if she didn't help me. She made a sensible choice.” When Evelyn's virtual projection faded, a pair of waitresses floated toward the table bearing four plates of food. They put plates down before Gabriel, Dr. Okono, Vanessa, and myself. The food on the plate looked exquisite, featuring a salad mixed with exotic fruits, and an ornately-prepared seafood dish.

  “That’s fugu,” explained Gabriel. “If it's not prepared by a trained chef, the tetrodotoxin poison will kill you. Lucky for us, I moved the best chef in Japan to the Spire last month. Please, enjoy.” Gabriel motioned for everyone to eat. Vanessa and I exchanged glances. To stall for time, I played along, and poked at the salad. Nothing looked dangerous, so I took a bite after Gabriel ate his first. I tasted kale, lettuce, blueberries, and ripened pomegranate. Vanessa took a bite of the salad as well.

  “It’s delicious. My compliments to the chef,” I muttered.

  “Now that you both have eaten from this world, you cannot leave,” Gabriel said, grinning.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The vegetables in your salad were all grown at the Vitum hydroponic farm,” explained Gabriel. “But the pomegranate you ate came from my personal garden, down here.” He raised his fork, showing the juicy fruit impaled on his utensil. “Do you recall the myth of Persephone? Oh, you're not the literary one...perhaps your AI Sasha would enlighten us?” Gabriel motioned at a space next to Jonah and Spenner chuckled. I nodded and the distant whine of the v-cast generator heralded Sasha's virtual appearance.

  “The story is commonly known as the Rape of Persephone,” Sasha answered, materializing in her blue form next to me. “Hades, God of the Underworld, stole Persephone and kept her in his realm until Hermes, Messenger of the Gods, arrived to rescue her. However, Hades refused to let her go, citing that she ate the seeds of his underworld's fruit. Because of this trickery, Hades made Persephone return to his underworld for three months of the year. It is an ancient metaphoric mythology designed to explain the cyclical nature of the harvest.”

  “She is even more remarkable than your surveillance reports indicated, Colonel,” Gabriel said to Spenner. Then he turned back to admire Sasha. “I understand why David Solomon is so eager to get his hands on your code. You're simply perfect. Well, we'll beat him to that patent too, won't we?”

  “That would be a fitting ending to their story,” Spenner agreed.

  “No, you're describing a fairy tale,” I retorted, holding back a rising rage. “We will be leaving, with Dr. Okono.”

  “No. I heard Dr. Okono has a new serum locked inside his brilliant head, one that allows shades to keep their minds intact. Sadly, I wasn't able to extract it in time for my father…so we had to make due.” He gestured to the sixth shade behind him. I peered close and recognized the long face and close-cropped gray hair as belonging to Guy Charon, the former CEO of Goliath Corporation. Next to him, stood another shade, Guy Charon's old partner Mr. Grand. More of the disconnected puzzle pieces fit together in my mind. Gabriel used me, and others, like pawns to consolidate his take-over of the company. Given that Guy's corpse looked undamaged, I surmised Gabriel made the deaths of his father and Mr. Grand look natural, maybe a hard-to-detect poison to induce their strokes. It would not surprise me if Spenner himself performed the deed. It was a solid theory, but hard to prove. I looked into Gabriel's twinkling gray eyes, ignoring the veneer of charm and sophistication, and found no remorse, morality, or emotion reflected back. “It looks like the serum is now within you. So I don't think your escape is on the menu.”

  “Tonight's menu has been changed,” replied Barnaby from behind me, aiming a pistol at Spenner. His shirt looked disheveled, no doubt a result of a struggle to acquire his weapon. Rose emerged behind him, then stood behind Vanessa. Unlike Barnaby, her dress looked unruffled, though another person's blood stained her knuckles. She pointed the wide barrel of a new grav-gun at Gabriel. “My team walks out of here, you surrender to me, and I’ll make sure you’re served your just desserts.”

  Spenner stepped forward, raising his wrist-com to strike. Gabriel smiled and held up his hand to restrain him.

  “Jonah, you're right. Let's dispense with the stories,” he said. “There is only one safe way out for you and Vanessa. Will you hear me out?”

  “I’m listening,” I replied.

  “We all know what Dr. Okono discovered, and what that could mean for all businesses relying on shades. My partner Tomoe, for instance, just purchased a million shades for her daring new world project. Do you honestly think she will suspend that project and free all of those shades? No, they have a world to build! I’ve heard you have some familiarity with the project I’m speaking about?” Vanessa gave me a puzzled look and I held her hand under the table. “The solution is simple. Dr. Okono stays and is equipped with the best lab in the universe to duplicate his newest serum. Vanessa becomes my head of legal counsel. Then attorney-client privilege keeps our secret…and you, Jonah, best of all, can work with Tomoe as her head of technology, with Sasha safe at your side. We’ve been trying to recruit you since your Louisiana mission. Join us and I’ll make your dreams come true.” Gabriel grinned and looked to Barnaby and Rose.

  “What about the agent and the Black Rose?” Spenner asked.

  “I’m afraid Director Barnaby and Ms. Rose are loose ends,” Gabriel replied, holding his gaze on them, and expressing an exaggerated frown. “I’m sure Lunar Security will side with us when they learn he went rogue, forced his way into my establishment, pummeled my staff, and threatened me.” Gabriel lifted his hand to reveal his own grav-gun from under the table.

  “Of course, Rose, we would be willing to give you a way out, as a professional courtesy,” added Spenner. “If you agree to slay Barnaby in the arena below, you can walk out alive.”

  “C'est magnifique, monsieur Spenner!” praised Gabriel. “Yes, we shall have a sport of it. Rose, you're a one-woman-army. You would be the heavy favorite. I'd wager 5:1 odds.”

  “Go to hell,” she shot back.

  Then a gentle nudge grazed my back, like someone picking my pocket. I realized Barnaby managed to slide a pistol into my back pocket while still keeping his own gun trained on Gabriel. I let go of Vanessa and moved my hand ever-so-slowly behind me.

  Everyone tensed while they waited for my response. During the time it took to reach for my gun, I considered Gabriel’s offer. One year ago, maybe even three months ago, I would have accepted the deal to save Vanessa. Now, the burden of knowledge disrupted the scales of my morality. I faced the devil’s offer to turn my back on the plight of the shades, bury that secret, and live a life of extravagant indifference. I looked to Vanessa to see if she offered any counsel on this decision. She nodded back to me as if to say that she would agree with my decision. The rational part of my
brain warned me that in six months or less, Gabriel and his allies would consider us 'loose ends' too.

  “After careful consideration, I’ll have to decline your offer,” I said. “Dr. Okono is a free man. We’ll be leaving with him if he chooses.” While I waited for Gabriel’s inevitable, violent response, I cleared my head and focused on the TauK Network. This time the interface appeared when I first started to concentrate.

  “Dr. Okono, I want you to dive away in three seconds,” I thought. I wondered if he accessed the TauK Network like me or if he needed a device. I hoped he had an implant or an ear-receiver to receive messages.

  “Three…” I counted to myself. Gabriel looked to Spenner, whose dour expression grew more sinister from the crimson light emanating from his wrist-com. My hand gripped the cold handle of the concealed gun.

  “That’s not the answer I was hoping for,” Gabriel muttered. His free hand touched a gray streak of hair and curled it in his fingers. “Maybe we’ll be giving my patrons a thrilling show after all?”

  “Two…” I continued. This time, Dr. Okono flashed a look to me and blinked twice to tell me he understood. I saw the muscles on Gabriel’s hand twitch and his index finger moved toward the trigger. Spenner’s hand evoked the access console. I saw the crimson door to hell cracking open.

  “Now!” I said to Okono, and he leapt from his chair. The table flipped over and everyone burst into action. With my right hand, I shoved Vanessa back toward Rose. With my other hand I whipped the gun from behind my back and fired first, launching a bullet straight at Gabriel’s chest. Barnaby’s gun unleashed his volley a tenth of a second later on a true course for Gabriel’s left eye. Despite our quickness, Spenner proved to be faster. After my bullet left the chamber, he summoned his wisp. The nearby v-cast generator whined, and formed a body for the green-skinned creature in front of Gabriel. It howled when the bullets tore its virtual form in half, filling the air with embers of glittering proto-matter.