Thirty Four Minutes DEAD

by Kaye, Steve Hammond

  “We’ve ‘wiped’ the latter scum category as far as we know, but now all public indiscretions have got to be history, and the following steps aim to return us to our former ‘safer-day’ sanctuary”.

  The collective MC-Project audience waited in trepidation as Denison drank from a glass of water before continuing.

  “The initial protection step involves an immediate scaling down of our work in England. This country has seen a greater level of project treachery, and the public have proved hostile towards us, to say the least. In the States we seem heroes to many, but over here most people seem to have a Dark Age fucking mentality when it comes to our brilliant scientific discoveries! The aforementioned snuff-trading attempt took place when most of us were in Chicago, and so today is the first you will have heard surrounding that crime of project treachery. You can draw your own conclusions as to who was the guilty party in question there, but my reason for dwelling on that particularly despicable act further emphasises my point surrounding the bad fortune England holds for our project. We dealt with that problem to the required level of severity and as I reiterate, that will be our course of action for the slightest offences from now on.

  Mr Wheeler has been promoted accordingly, and he is now subsequently the head of all holistic security departments. Jess is a man who gets things done. He will rid us of the internal cancer that has beset our ranks. He will have total right of passage to visit any areas of the MC-Project and he will answer solely to myself. Mr Wheeler’s promotion thus means that he now has the second highest level of project authority. Jess is going to help me to turn the clock back and re-secure the future of our beloved MC-Project”.

  Denison broke for a few seconds so that the MC-Project cohort could digest the implications surrounding the new appointment. The adjustment obviously meant demotion for Vance Fray and he looked ashen-faced as he heard Denison’s words. Mr Voight also appeared to be slightly disturbed by the words of his leader, not because of Wheeler’s promotion, but because of the scaling down of MC-Project operations in England. Denison referenced this point for the last time when he started to speak again.

  “Our work in England won’t totally cease, and this country will keep a skeleton staff to undertake some of our archiving work, but all active front-line exploration work will take place in America. We will break for a forced one month period of leave in three days time and when we reconvene, our new permanent working base will be situated in Washington DC - the city of our greatest achievements thus far. Our Designation will be a new construction. It is another underground venue and all our future workstations will be similarly hidden. The curfews will also return through necessity, and when staff are in working residence no outside excursion will be granted. Outside Designations promoted a laxity amongst us that made our collective number too off guard and we were ripe for intrusive targeting from external sources - the events at Designation ‘B’ proved this”.

  Dwight Richards, an MC-Project member prone to claustrophobia, sunk his head in his hands when he heard the latest edict from his leader. Denison seemed oblivious to the displeasure he had offset amongst most of his project staff and he directed his next words directly at the MC-Project staff who resided in Britain.

  “Our British MC-Project contingent will notice some radical domicile changes when they meet their families again in a few days time. You don’t live where you did and your children all attend the same school in Guildford. It is an institution specifically set up for the dependants of MC-Project members. We had to take this hard line after Sinquiry made us public enemy number one in this country, and the reallocations are taking place as I speak. The bottom line holds that your families could end up as bait for lynch mobs if they stayed where they were, and we’ve already witnessed the ineffective nature of conventional security forces in this country. We safeguard your dependants, they sure as hell wouldn’t. The British based MC Project members will be taken to their new domicile when we break in three days time. Don’t worry, we’ve had these reallocation contingency plans in readiness for over four years now, and so your new homes bear the hallmarks of quality that characterised your previous estate. So far you have heard me relate some significant changes to protect the leading edge nature of the MC-Project. I tell you to contemplate these alterations with a collective determination that helps obliterate any further obstacles, rather than a weak will that keeps recalling your brief ‘freedom’. My next decision will fully test your resolve”.

  Denison paused momentarily, probably in deliberation, stalling his crowd and playing his power rein to the fullest capacity.

  “In five weeks time all of us, I repeat all of us, are going to receive a new face - literally”.

  Uproar broke out amongst the project rank and file. Some people just shook their heads as his words stung them to the core, some shouted abuse in Denison’s direction and others pleaded for calm so that they could hear more specifics pertaining to their leader’s maverick command. Vain felt his sharp cheekbones and Levene nervously tweaked the ends of her raven black hair. Narcissus became an invited guest.

  When order was eventually restored, Denison elaborated.

  “A bedlam befitting a child when their favourite toy lies broken in the nursery! Get a grip on yourselves my friends, and listen. I know some of you feel harshly done by. You’ve never been recognised by the media, you’ve never occupied front-line status, and your job is insignificant when compared to some of the leading MC players. Stop those thoughts. You see, we don’t know how many of our number are known to the media, and all positions represent a threat in that context, because as soon as one of us is located, their scent leads the media pack back to the rest of us. I’m not talking broken jaws to alter facial structure and crows feet to weather a young face. I’m not talking ‘devil’s venom’ to alter your skin colourisation or a two-month hospital lay up to hold you from your work. I’m talking the ‘Rochaux treatment’. No scars, no breaking, just plastic modifications over an eight-day period. Before you ask, I can hear your collective question - will you look very different? Of course you will. What would be the point of the treatment if you didn’t appear ‘altered’ to a level of significant difference? Our old face is a mask of the old days - a cancer that will block our return to closed-door security.

  “We will select the appropriate alterations, because if self determination shaped a ‘new’ face, two likely weaknesses would emerge. Firstly, human nature is such that the modifications would be too slight due to the fears surrounding facial changes, and secondly, people would subconsciously be drawn towards replicating facial traits evident in some of the icons that inspire them. We’d have film star dimples and catwalk beauty spots!

  “Some of you had your interests shredded by the global media and if they received a plastic-surgery tip-off, they would start looking for evidence of any possible ‘wannabe’ influences.

  “We aren’t going to paint you ugly folks and give you the last mask in the joke shop! I won’t reveal all the details of the Rochaux method yet, because you have already had to cope with several changes and a descriptive account of the intricacies surrounding the Rochaux method would be a form of information overload”.

  Diana Fearston interrupted her project leader.

  “Mr Denison. Isn’t the Rochaux treatment the one that involves dye injections through the iris to change eye colour permanently, and didn’t some individuals go blind as a result?”

  “Yes, seven years ago some prototype problems were encountered, but the treatment has been made flawless since. Some of you may feel that you could use coloured contact lenses instead, but you know as well as I that lenses would be lost and the old eye hues would return in time. As I stated, I didn’t want to divulge any further details pertaining to the Rochaux method just yet, but I guess Ms Fearston has forced my hand a little with regard to eye colour change. You see, most of you will have this alteration because eyes are one part of the face that firmly indicates identity. Changing eye colour will be
a definite alteration for most of our project entourage but for now the Rochaux treatment is a closed subject”.

  The sinister prospect of a person’s new face being chosen by the French surgeons hardly appealed to the MC-Project members, even though the Rochaux unit had been woven into the project ranks three years hence, and the possibility of plastic surgery had therefore already been anticipated by some of the assembled staff members. Vain had been relatively unenlightened, and had thought the recruitment bizarre until Denison’s edict. He could now see how Denison’s mind had prefigured their current crisis situation. The MC-Project leader showed no signs of leaving his speaker’s podium and after inter-unit discussions had abated, he continued with his address.

  “From now on, main MC-vault explorations will largely be a thing of the past. On occasions we will get a front-line team to access images from dead minds when we are ushering in new project recruits, but our mindsight vault-extension work is going to take a heavy precedence. Seeing into the living thinking mind is obviously our route forward, and our primary function will involve us detecting potentially dangerous intentions before they result in lawless actions. Mindsight scanning will therefore enable us to penetrate evil minds before their sick intentions have been incarnated. A testing program has already been set up with potential felons in mind. We have started to catalogue deviants who represent a threat to moral society and wider Western security”.

  Fearston and Vain had caught each other’s eyes when Denison had revealed that mindsight testing was to be increased. They were both thinking of the membrane-penetration factor that Fearston had discovered, but neither of them felt it was worth risking Denison’s wrath by explaining the fall-through discovery in front of such a large project audience. Their leader would almost certainly condemn them for undertaking ‘hidden-agenda’ type work, and his attack would be strengthened by the fact that Fearston’s work illuminated cracks in his beloved project. Leif Denison was nearing the end of his verbal address, but he wanted to close by paying his respect to the Designation ‘B’ casualties.

  “I know that facial changes and going back underground have hardly pleased you folks, but at least you are still alive. Six of your colleagues weren’t so fortunate in the fire that condemned Designation B. In a moment, we will observe two minutes of silence for all six collectively, but two of the dead were well known to all of you and they deserve a brief verbal testimony from their leader at this massed gathering. We have lost the skills of Mr Mason. His charred remains were found in the Lower Chamber of Designation B and we will miss his pathological expertise greatly. He hardly took a day of his leave entitlement and his tenacious commitment to our cause will be fondly remembered. Mr Mason was an MC Project member from day one. A second corpse was discovered close to Mason’s remains, that of Matthew Braddock. This man had the kind of guts that set him apart from most people. He volunteered to be our first full-scale mindsight test subject, being willing to allow his mind to have a real deep reading. This man didn’t flinch from the responsibility he had chosen, and he maintained his cheerful disposition up until the day he died. Jeez, I bet Matt Braddock went to his grave smiling!

  “Food for thought, you guys - two fellas who had no qualms about personal sacrifices. If your eyes change from brown to blue in a few weeks time, is that anywhere near the same kind of sacrifice? Hell, no!

  “Let us remember our dead”.

  After Denison’s words, the two minutes of silence were observed and then the assembly made their way back to their respective sectionalised areas.

  Vain and Levene left the hall together and each of them surveyed the other, with a gaze that envisaged the possible physical changes that might soon beset their lover. Marcia usually rode above repressive directives with a shrug of her shoulders, but the facial change edict had left her visibly shaken and she shook slightly, taking Vain’s arm as they moved through the Designation corridors. When the pair entered the room that they were temporarily sharing, the woman spoke in a clinical icy tone.

  “Christ Greg, they can have my soul, but they can stick their scalpels up their fucking arses! I don’t want some Rochaux bastard throwing an ugly sister spell in my direction. I am what I am, and I fucking love it. Unless they make any changes my prerogative they can kiss goodbye to Marcia Levene. If I don’t look like the Marcia I moulded I don’t want to play ball anymore. Do you get that, Greg?”

  “Yeah, I can follow your drift, but you’re no wrist slitter and if you were, Denison is in the sort of mood that would bury you not barter with you. He sure as hell wouldn’t crumble if you approached him, and don’t you think that we’ve used up all our cards anyway. A fair bit of his address was coming smack-bang in our direction you know. Perhaps it is time to play it their way for a while, I’ve got others to look out for you know”.

  “Yeah I know, Mr family man, I noticed your family loyalty bond back in my London residence! I bet my housekeeper is still wiping your semen from the carpet now!”

  Levene turned away angry at Vain’s line of referencing. After a short silence she spoke again in softer tones, looking deeply at her lover, playing him with her new modified style of speech.

  “Look Mr Vain, I think we’re both locked in egocentric confines right now, don’t you? Me with my face, you with your family. Part of Marcia Levene really kicks the dark lust Greg Vain inspires in her, part of her wants more, and maybe part of her needs to shed his presence on a physical level. Right now she’s trying out a third-person type of reflection and maybe you should do the same”.

  Levene left their room with that line, and the ensuing three days became a kind of mutual separation for the pair. This was agony for Vain though, as his state of mind had started to become more and more dominated by thoughts of his project lover. He knew in his heart that his family should be the dominant ingredient in his thoughts but he had become entranced with Levene to a significant level. At times he felt that physical lust was the sole reason the two enjoyed each other’s company, but this reasoning was always broken down by a realisation that a deeper bond existed between them. Vain was in need of time to ‘escape’ to his family, and he hoped he would re-discover the ultimate love he had once reserved solely for them. Greg really needed to do exactly what Levene recommended but surely following her advice was another part of her spell!

  When Greg was placed on the convoy to rejoin MC-Project loved ones he was still in a state of flux, a confused individual with his heartstrings and sexual urges pulling for two women.

  The convoy pulled out of the Designation in darkness and Gregory Vain’s thoughts turned to the family that had been denied him for the last couple of months. He had missed Gary’s eighth birthday and Rachel’s tenth birthday during his absence - two more key dates that the MC-Project had stolen from him. In six days Tanya would turn thirty-three, and he looked forward to sharing her birthday to the fullest level, especially as his lengthy absences had rendered her a ‘virtual’ wife for the best part of the last six years. He tried to envisage their new project-sectioned domicile, and he wondered how Tan had coped with the pressure of his recent media status. She would have seen images of him brandishing the Uzi at reporters, and the papers had profiled his university years in licentious accounts that thrived on his womanising. A fair amount of lies and fiction had made up the bulk of the reports, but he felt sure that Tanya would have dismissed the trash amidst the truisms. Sinquiry would have terrified his wife, of that he was certain, but he was content in the knowledge that his family would have been protected before the lynch mobs traced their address - surely that would have been the case!

  Vain fell into a light sleep whilst contemplating the last three days without Levene. Somehow their parting had seemed more than reactionary bickering, and maybe her last hint was the direction the pair should follow.

  The jarring motion of the MC-Project vehicle woke Vain and he saw Mr Voight individually conversing with each project member, speaking in hushed tones. In time he reached Vain’s seat. The
air felt rather chilly for a mid-English summer and the countryside looked alien to that of the greenbelt type Vain had expected - too green, too beautiful. Voight spoke.

  “Welcome to Scotland, Gregory”.

  “What? I thought that the Guildford region was going to be our new project corral!”

  “Merely a bluff, Gregory. Mr Denison played it that way in case any wayward project member felt impelled to fuel the press with details of our whereabouts. Sure, there is a decoy educational institution set up around Guildford, but it’s just a charade. Plenty of coaches going in, but no actual project children on board them. You see, some of those who got leaks out did so despite our heavy security cordon, and so Leif chose to throw all of us in the wrong geographical direction. In two hours we’ll reach our real base, a highland locale - our first project village!

  “A masterstroke, don’t you think? Our convoy will split soon, so we reach our destination in small batches that won’t excite any untoward media attention. Now enjoy the glens, my friend, through your single-view window. You will soon see your loved ones again in the village”.

  After a duration that was closer to three hours rather than the stated two, the vehicle carrying the MC-Project contingent which included Vain, entered a tunnel that bore into a verdant hillside. After a few minutes of travelling through the dimly lit tunnel, the transportation vehicle slowed to a halt. The reason for the stop involved a roadblock that was manned by a heavy MC security cohort. All project members had their papers checked by two of the guards who had boarded their vehicle, and after Voight had verbally reiterated all the names of the personnel aboard once more, the cohort were granted passage. This form of document checking was repeated when the vehicle reached the last stage of the tunnel. When daylight was finally encountered, a breathtaking sight met MC-Project eyes.