by Ryan Rinsler
She frantically rooted in her pocket and pulled it out, slapping it into Sonny’s hand. He instantly smashed it against the corner of the table repeatedly until it too stopped working, then threw it nonchalantly onto the technician's lap.
“I’m here to find somebody.”
“Yes, yes I heard them saying.”
Sonny leaned in. “I thought you said you don’t know anything?”
“I… I heard them talking about it! They’ve gone somewhere. They’ve been taken.” Her was speech was excited, stuttering and quivering as she tried to communicate.
“They? Who is they?”
“It was just a number, I don’t know.”
Sonny sighed. He reached out a helping hand, lifting her to her feet, then pulled out a chair and pushed her onto it. He slipped his pistol into his belt once more and sat opposite her. He stared at her for at least a minute, as she fidgeted uncomfortably.
“You don’t look like one of them,” he said.
“One of what?”
Sonny thought for a moment. “Do you have any pets?”
“Pets?” she asked, with a sudden look of surprised confusion. “My mom has dogs, why?”
“It’s just somethin’ I ask. Helps me know you’re not one of them.”
“What’s ‘one of them’?”
“How did they know I was coming?”
“All I know is what I overheard. They came and grabbed me from my station upstairs.”
“Why you?”
“I don’t know that either, it happens all the time. They just come and pluck somebody. I guess I was plucked.”
“How old are you?”
“Sorry?”
“You have family here?”
“My mom and dad live back home in Tampico. They’re all I have, really.”
“That’s Mexico?”
She frowned. “I’m not under obligation to give you this information,” she said, appearing to suddenly remember corporate policy.
“Do you think I give a shit about your company rights?” shouted Sonny, breaking into a laugh. “Do you know where they would have taken them?”
She shrugged. “People talk about the lower levels, like… the lower, lower levels.”
“You know how to get there?”
“I dunno, probably.” She suddenly looked anxious. “Wait, no, I’m not coming with you.”
“Look, sorry, what’s your name?”
“Micki Rojas.” She said it with a beautifully thick and rolling Mexican accent.
“Look, Micki, you’ve got two choices. Come with me and help, or stay here and become a Slave like these assholes.”
“A slave? What do you mean?”
“It ain’t nothin’ good,” he said. “You seen anyone else that’d been plucked after they come back?”
Micki thought for a few moments. “Yeah, maybe. I’m not sure.”
“Trust me, you don’t want that. It’s no coincidence your parents live in another country. I guess you’re not married, right? No kids either?”
“No.”
“OK, you’re coming with me, and that’s not a choice. Quick, get the BlackBooks off of those two.”
She stood up cautiously, keeping eye contact on Sonny.
“The hell are you stalling for? I’m not the threat here! If anything you’re the one who was gonna inject me with some shit so I could become their gimp,” he said, pointing to the scouts. “You want to get outta here you’re gonna have to do what I say.” He grabbed her by the jacket and pushed her hard toward the unconscious Scouts. “I can’t afford delays. Worse case I’ll find the place on my own.”
“OK, OK!” she said, like a stubborn child. She crouched over the Scouts one by one, taking each of their BlackBooks.
He grabbed one from her and smashed it over the corner of the table. Pointing to the other, he said, “Scan in using her thumb, then auth yourself.”
“Auth myself?”
“Give it here.” He swiped it from her grasp and crouched next to the unconscious Scout. He took her hand and signed in by pressing her thumb to the screen, then handed it back to Micki. “Add yourself as a user on there. We can use this to keep track of what they’re doing.”
She quickly flicked through the various settings, then added herself as an authorized user on the BlackBook by scanning her own thumb print.
“Know how to use these?” asked Sonny, handing her one of the tasers from the two Scouts.
“Point and squeeze, right?”
“Good enough. See that button that says ‘sedation’? Click that.”
She obeyed, setting the tasers to not only stun but also apply a sedation, which lasts up to two hours.
“Now,” he said, “where are we heading?”
42
Having made sure both Scouts were fully sedated, Sonny and Micki had left the room and were making their way deeper underground. Micki fidgeted and squirmed in the elevator, her anxiety levels clearly peaking.
“I’m a level nine, you’re a level five. We can be here,” said Sonny, reassuring her as best he could.
“They need reasons though,” Micki replied. “They see us down here they’ll ask questions.” She looked at Sonny. “I literally have no idea who you are or why we’re doing this, and, if I’m honest, I’m pretty sure you’re not a level nine.”
“Then it’s best you keep your mouth shut. Don’t do anything unless I tell you.”
They were possibly headed for levels deeper than twenty stories below ground. These were easily the most secure, and between the two of them they had no idea what access they would be granted when they arrived. Sonny took hold of the pistol and, despite knowing exactly how many were left, checked the number of bullets he had remaining anyway. Two. Combining the tasers, he had five deployments available, which may not be enough.
“How do you know your way around if you’ve never been down here?” he asked as they descended.
“People talk. Anyway, I’ve only a rough idea,” she replied.
“Rough is better than nothing I guess.”
“Why are you helping me?”
“Helping you what?”
“Get out of here?”
Sonny shrugged a little. “I’m starting to ask myself that.”
“Who is this person to you?”
“He’s my target.”
“What, you’re here to kill him?”
He looked at her as the doors opened at level B18. “That’s enough questions.”
They stepped out into a large room, coated floor to ceiling with dark grey tiles. The triangular beams of the wall lights did little to light the room, and there were no visible exits.
Suddenly a woman appeared at their side. “May I help you?”
They both jumped. Sonny smiled politely and gently pushed Micki out of the way. “This technician has been asked to assist in a medical… capacity. I’m escorting her.”
“Medical capacity?” she asked, frowning. “May I see some identification?”
Sonny took Andrew’s wallet from his pocket and handed over his I.D. card. She examined it, then handed it back, doing the same with Micki’s.
“And where are you supposed to be?”
“All we have is a number and instructions to come here. Maybe you can help us.”
She looked them both up and down, then turned to walk away. “This way please.”
They followed her to a blank section of the wall, as blank as any other, where she pressed her palm against a tile. A previously invisible door opened next to them, moving inward and then sliding to the side, which led to a very small office-like room. They stepped inside, where she sat behind a desk and appeared to sign in to the computer.
“Number please.”
Clearly to her disapproval, Sonny pulled the crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and read the number aloud. “766298114.”
She typed in the number as he read, then shook her head.
“I’m afraid you don’t have the clearance to acc
ess the location of this individual. I’m sorry, what was your business again?”
Suddenly, Micki whipped out her taser and fired it at the woman, hitting her in her uncovered collar bone. She convulsed vigorously, the whole desk banging as her legs jolted up and down beneath it.
“What the hell are you doing?” shouted Sonny, jumping behind the desk.
“I don’t know!” she replied. “She was onto us!”
Sonny glanced around the corners of the room. No visible cameras, but that wasn’t to say there weren’t any in there. The woman had stopped writhing and was now limp, her head flopped behind her, facing the ceiling.
“We don’t know who’s watching,” he said angrily. “What’s gonna happen if someone sees this? You need to not be a problem.”
He snatched the taser from her grasp and pocketed it.
“Come here, read this,” he said, wheeling the unconscious woman on her chair out of the way of the desk. “Know what you’re doing with this?”
Micki crouched at the desk and began reading the screen.
“Hurry,” said Sonny, heading to the doorway and checking for anyone paying them a visit. “What does it say?”
“It says I.D. 766… blah blah blah is currently a P.O.I., whatever that means.”
“Person of interest.”
“Well, the status is ‘Under investigation’.”
“Does it say where?”
“Hold on.” She tapped on the screen a few times. “No.”
“Can you call someone? Pretend you’re her?” asked Sonny, pointing to the unconscious woman on the chair.
“Are you crazy?” she exclaimed, her face aghast.
“Listen, ‘til now we’ve used our access levels to get around this place. If someone else comes down here and sees her I’ll have to put them out as well. What are we gonna do, just keep building a pile of unconscious people ‘til we run out of taser shots? Just get her BlackBook or whatever, and call someone.”
“This is crazy,” she whispered. She tapped a few more times on the screen. “I’ll do it from here, you can call from these. This is what she’d use.”
“Whatever, just hurry up.”
“OK, quiet, it’s ringing.”
A few seconds later a person spoke at the other end. “485C.”
“I’ve a technician and level nine escort required for medical assistance for a P.O.I., reference 766298114. I’m looking for a location.”
“Have you checked V-Comm?”
“Yes, I’m looking at it, but the individual is red-listed.”
“One moment please.”
They shared an expectant glance. Sonny nodded in reassurance.
“I’m going to have to get some identification to release this information,” said the voice. A prompt appeared on screen, asking for a fingerprint scan.
Micki gesticulated silently toward the unconscious woman, flailing her hand toward her, then pointing at her own fingertip and then back to her. Eventually Sonny understood what needed to happen, so rushed to her and wheeled her over to Micki. He lifted the woman from her chair and held her nearer the screen, where Micki grabbed her hand and pressed her finger to the prompt.
It buzzed green and the two of them relaxed.
“One moment please,” said the voice. There was a deathly silence as they waited for a response. “B21, sector F, room zero-three.”
Micki pumped her fist and screamed silently, then hung up.
“You know where that is?” asked Sonny.
“No.”
“Going down then, I guess.”
“What are we going to do with her?” Micki asked, looking a little anxious.
“She’ll be good for a couple of hours.” He glanced around. “We gotta be out of here in thirty minutes. Any more than that will give them time to check surveillance if they find someone we’ve left asleep.”
“There’s those guys upstairs too,” said Micki.
“Exactly. Let’s go.”
They walked calmly out into the large, lobby-style room and re-entered the elevator, which was still waiting for them. Sonny scanned his thumb and said the floor number, and the doors closed.
“Don’t tag anyone unless I tell you, understand?”
“Tag?”
“Shoot them,” he said, placing the taser in Micki’s hand. “With this. What color is the sedation indicator on it?”
“Red.”
He sighed. “Same with these,” he said, checking each of the ones he was carrying.
“What does that mean?”
“It means we can only stun people, not knock them out.”
“Got it.”
After a few moments the doors opened into a room similar in style to the one they’d just left, only much busier. There were elevator doors on every wall, twelve or more, with expressionless people stepping in and out of them. Above each elevator was a digital sign, displaying a single letter.
“What now?” asked Sonny.
Micki glanced at him inquisitively. “You’ve not used these before?”
“Just tell me what we’re doing.”
“Are you sure you’re a level nine,” she asked. “Who are you?”
“You’re one question away from me putting you out and making you look like you caused all this, so lead the way.”
Micki half-smiled, then led them to the elevator marked ‘F’. “This is how you get to the zones. They’re lateral.”
“They’re what?” he asked, as they stepped inside.
There were small seats spanning the walls of the elevator, to which Micki pointed. “They go sideways. Sit.”
“Sideways?” asked Sonny, examining the seat.
“The elevators, dummy!”
There were two other people in the elevator with them who didn’t acknowledge their presence, even after they set off when Sonny almost slid from his seat. After a fairly jerky ride, the doors opened and they exited, and were immediately met by a reception desk. A young man sat behind it, and two Scouts stood guard over one of two exits.
“Shit,” said Sonny quietly.
“Can I help you?” asked the young man.
“We need to get to room zero-four.”
Micki looked puzzled. “Room zero-thr—”
“We are scheduled to be there now,” said Sonny quickly, purposely cutting Micki off.
The man scanned the screen in front of him. “There’s no activity showing in that area.”
“Well, that’s where we need to be.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t have authorization to allow you to access the floor unless you are given clearance.”
“I have been.”
“I’m afraid you’re not showing as being authorized to access that facility.”
“How do you know if you’ve not taken my details?” he asked.
The young man glanced at the screen and then back to Sonny. “There’s nobody on the list, sir.”
“Andrew?”
Sonny spun around quickly to see a man approaching him from the unguarded door. He was slim, tall, and suited, and walked toward them as though on a mission.
Shit.
“What the…” stuttered the man, his face showing a surprised excitement. “Over ten thousand people in this building and here you are, in my zone. What the hell are you doing here?” His big, round cheeks puffed out as he smiled, his teeth not meeting as he did so, like some kind of smiling robot. His tone appeared jovial, rather than suspicious, so Sonny played along.
“Hi, yes, weird, huh?”
Now his expression quickly became one of suspicion, but he remained smiling. “Is… everything OK?” he asked, glancing at Micki.
“I’m, well, we’re trying to get to a room on this floor but this kid isn’t having it.”
“Where are you headed?”
“Zero-four.”
“Are you scheduled to be there?”
Sonny leaned in and spoke quietly, “We… we’ve been called down, but it’s not on the system, i
f you know what I mean.” He flicked his head in Micki’s direction.
The man raised his chin in recognition, widening his eyes, indicating he knew what Sonny was talking about. His gesture only lacked a tap on the nose and a wink.
“Why can’t we just go in there? I’m a level nine.”
The man smiled and grimaced at the same time. “Doesn’t work like that down here,” he said. “Your access level lets you walk around, get to certain areas, but anywhere with Scouts on the door, like this, you need special clearance.”
“Can you get us in?”
“No, even if I used my pass, we can’t all just waltz in there. You’d be stopped straight away.”
“We really need to get in there,” said Sonny, almost whispering. “What’s it gonna take?”
The man’s smiled turned quickly to a frown. He took a step back. “What’s going on, Andrew?”
“Nothin’,” Sonny replied. “Nothin’, now… let’s…”
The man glanced at the two guards, then back to Sonny, his expression one of grave concern.
Shit.
Sonny held up his hands inconspicuously, silently pleading with the man not to draw attention to them. The man continued stepping backward, still glancing back and forth at the two Scouts, who’d thus far not noticed anything untoward.
“Can we talk about this?” asked Sonny, taking a step forward. The man stopped, his eyes fixated on Sonny’s. “In there?” he asked, pointing to the unguarded door.
The man nodded quickly, then turned and marched toward the door. The two of them followed, Sonny’s hands in full fight mode, ready to grab whatever weapon he could and fight his way out of there should the alarm be raised.
The three of them trooped through the door into the privacy of a small corridor, where the man suddenly turned and pushed Sonny hard on the chest. “What the hell are you playing at?” he barked in a loud whisper, his teeth gritted tightly together.
Sonny considered knocking the man out, but given his apparent care for their wellbeing he figured he could trust him. “Look, I’ll level with you. There’s some shit going down in the room next door to where I said we wanted to be. If I told them zero-three is the room I wanted to get to then they’d know why I wanted to get in there and it’d be game over.”
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” he whispered angrily, becoming increasingly animated. “Why are trying to get in there anyway?”
