There was no sign of Gaul Thule.
Alex shut the door, bolting and locking it.
He went back to the bathroom door, but the shower was still running.
He went to the bedroom. Emily and Mitsuru were still out.
Alex trotted back to the bathroom, took a deep breath, and then knocked twice on the door.
“Katya?” He shouted. “We have a problem.”
“Can it wait two minutes?”
“I’m not…that is…I don’t know if…”
“I can barely hear you!”
Alex shouted through the door at the top of his lungs.
“I’m not sure if this is…”
“Fuck!” Katya shouted, sounding weary, as opposed to angry. “I can’t even…never mind. Come on in.”
“What?”
“I can’t hear you!”
Alex took a deep breath, and then turned the knob and lunged inside as if he expected opposition.
The bathroom was like a sauna, the mirror fogged, and every surface beaded with condensation. Steam billowed over the shower curtain. Alex relaxed slightly when he saw that the blue plastic curtain was opaque.
“Well?” Katya demanded. “What sort of problem do we have?”
“Thule is gone,” Alex said, leaning against the sink, and then flinching away when his jeans started to soak through. “The front door was open. I think he just…walked out.”
“I thought he was dead!”
“I thought so, too. I mean, I checked! There’s…there’s no way, right?”
“I don’t know. How could I? I removed part of his brain!”
“We are so fucked.”
“At least you didn’t spend last night in a closet. While you’re being useless, could you see if there’s any soap in this house? I can live without shampoo, but I…yeah. Could you check?”
Alex shook his head, and then went to look.
He checked beneath the kitchen sink, and found dish soap, a disturbingly vibrant shade of green, in a squeeze bottle. After a moment’s consideration, he returned it to the shelf and resumed his search.
Exhausting his options in the kitchen, he crept through the bedroom, as if the women there were sleeping and capable of being disturbed, and proceeded to ransack the master bathroom.
After opening two sets of completely empty drawers beneath the sink, he found a pump bottle of orange hand soap and a hair dryer in the next one, wedged in beside a collection of rusting clothes hangers. The drawer beneath it produced a plastic vial of conditioner, and then the final one contained a couple of ragged beach towels.
Alex collected the lot, and then hurried back to Katya.
He knocked perfunctorily before letting himself in, as the shower was still running.
“Find anything?” Katya called out.
“Yeah,” Alex said. “I’ve got soap, and towels, and stuff.”
A hand appeared from one side of the shower curtain.
“Give it here.”
Alex put the soap and conditioner in her hand.
They disappeared back behind the blue curtain.
“Hand soap.” Katya sounded disappointed. “Beggars can’t be choosers.”
“They really can’t, can they?” Emily yawned as she let herself in. “I’ve only just woken up, but things have already gotten so interesting! Alex, can I ask why you are in the bathroom while Katya is taking a shower?”
“Both of you can leave as far as I’m concerned,” Katya said. “Just give me a damn minute.”
“How mean! I wanted to congratulate you,” Emily said. “You’ve killed Gaul Thule, the most hated man in Central. That is quite an accomplishment!”
“Are you sure?” Alex asked. “The body…”
“That is a slight problem,” Emily said. “Still, why don’t we look on the bright side, at least until we have a reason to think otherwise.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t worry about it, Alex,” Emily said. “I’m sure we will bump into him again.”
“I don’t like that at all,” Alex said forlornly, sitting down on the toilet. “Not one bit.”
“Why are you two still here?” Katya called out, smearing herself with hand soap. “Can’t you have this conversation somewhere else?”
“Oh, yes, that reminds me!” Emily clasped her hands enthusiastically. “I’ve heard that Anastasia offered her hand in marriage to the young Lords of the Black Sun, on the condition that they kill off the Thule Cartel elite, Gaul Thule first among them.”
“That’s weird and old-fashioned,” Katya said. “Mai must have put her up to it. What does that matter anyway?”
“Don’t be coy,” Emily said. “I have to know!”
“You have to know what?”
“You’ve killed Gaul Thule, haven’t you? You’ve won the contest! So…do you think you’ll marry Anastasia?”
***
Eerie had her headphones on and was working on her laptop when there was a knock at the door.
Alex’s door, Eerie thought, warmth spreading across her cheeks.
It was not her laptop, of course – the most recent incarnation of that having been destroyed in the Outer Dark, but it was a reasonable facsimile, installed from a virtual image on the network. In truth, any computer could be ‘her’ computer, provided it was networked, and Eerie had fifteen minutes or so to install her custom OS.
She frowned at the door and paused her music, but did not take off her headphones.
The knocking continued.
“Yes?” Eerie called. “What is it? Alex isn’t here right now.”
“That’s perfect, Eerie. I came to talk to you.”
Eerie knew the voice from her internship at Processing. Her expression further soured.
She glanced around the room, at the unmade bed she was sprawled across, lying on her stomach, wearing only Alex’s sweatshirt, underwear, and socks. The space was in total disarray, the drawers emptied onto the floor and the desk rifled during the looting of the Far Shores.
“I don’t know, Adel,” she said. “I don’t think I want to talk to you.”
“I know you are angry with me, and I understand your reasons, but…look, Eerie, could we discuss this face to face? Please?”
Eerie took off her headphones and closed her laptop.
“There’s no one to overhear,” she pointed out. “The whole building is probably empty.”
“Eerie, please. Just hear me out, won’t you?”
“I don’t trust you,” Eerie said, searching for her clothes. “You lied to me and sent me right into a trap.”
“I came to apologize for that.”
She located her pants, buried beneath the comforter at the foot of the bed.
“I could have been really hurt, you know? And why?”
“That’s just it! I want to explain.”
Eerie slid her borrowed jeans on, but then sat back down on the bed, regarding the door nervously.
“Explain it to me, then, Adel. Tell me why.”
“I want to look you in the eyes, so that you know I’m telling you the truth.”
Eerie shook her head, though there was no one to see it.
“Not right now, okay? This isn’t a good time.”
“Eerie…listen. You’re trying to restart the Etheric Network remotely, aren’t you? I’ve got a networking utility on my phone. You got the local intranet running, and now you’re pinging the servers at Processing, looking for one that’s up and responding, so you can reboot.”
Eerie put her hands on the laptop as if to hide something.
“Nothing is responding, right?” Adel continued, his voice growing hoarse from shouting. “Let me tell you something interesting. I was at Processing just a few hours ago, and I rebooted everything manually. The servers are all up and running, minus one or two that have hardware shorts from the shutdown.”
Eerie opened her laptop again.
“If that’s true,” she said, tapping at the keyboard. “Then why can’
t I raise anything?”
“The broadcast units on the roof of Processing must be down,” Adel explained. “The transmitters up there ionize one of the layers of the Ether, so we can send signal across it, to…”
“I know how the Network works, Adel.”
“Yes, I know. I’m sorry. This is a very difficult way to hold a conversation.”
Eerie finished with her keyboard and shut her laptop.
She stood, straightened her clothes, smoothed her hair quickly in the mirror, and then went to the door. Taking a deep breath, she opened it, just far enough that she could look out at Adel with one eye.
He smiled as soon as he saw her, but then the expression disintegrated into self-conscious doubt and nervousness. Adel looked tired and disheveled, the collar of his shirt stained and his hair protruding in every direction.
“Hello, Eerie,” he said, extending a hand to her. “It’s good to see you again.”
She looked at his hand doubtfully.
“What do you want?”
“You’re still mad,” Adel said, sounding a bit surprised. “Let me tell you what happened.”
“Emily told me everything,” Eerie said. “How she set it up.”
“She did?” Adel’s jaw dropped. “Well, that’s fine. I was going to tell you anyway. At least you know it wasn’t my idea to…”
“She said you were jealous. Of Alex.”
Adel blushed and recoiled, shaking his head.
“No, that’s not it! It’s not jealousy at all. You must understand…I do like you, Eerie,” Adel said, smiling pitifully. “That’s the truth.”
“Betraying me is a strange way to show it,” Eerie said. “I trusted you.”
“I know! Believe me, that is the worst part. I betrayed your trust, and that bothers me most of all,” Adel said, putting his hands on the doorposts. “Please, you have to forgive me. I want it to go back to the way…”
“Why did you do it?”
“Can I come inside?”
“Not until you tell me, and maybe not even then.”
“It’s hard to explain,” Adel said. “I didn’t know that it was a trap, for one thing.”
“You had to know something was wrong.”
“You sound different, Eerie,” Adel said, looking at her with concern. “I’ve never heard you talk this way before.”
“You preferred me before, didn’t you?”
“No, not at all!” Adel protested. “This conversation is just different. I’m not used to you being so perceptive. It’s true, I did know that Emily had something planned for you. She also assured me that you wouldn’t be harmed.”
“Did you believe her?”
“Yes. Of course! Why would Emily lie to me?”
“She’s an empath, Adel. Lying comes naturally to empaths. Bribery and seduction, too. Emily said that all she had to do was flirt a little and you would do anything. She said you were angry, about Alex and I dating, and that she promised you revenge.”
“You already said Emily was a liar! Why do you believe any of this?”
“Give me a better explanation.”
“Emily told me you would be fine, I swear it,” Adel said, his face reddening. “You have to believe that. It was Alex…Emily told me that she wanted to separate the two of you. That she would take him away, from Central…and from you.” Adel wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. “Alex is no good for you. You must know that! He’s a self-absorbed jerk, and—”
“Alex is not a jerk!” Eerie shouted. “Who are you to talk about him?”
“I don’t mean it like that,” Adel insisted. “Even if Alex is a good guy, he’s being targeted by the Hegemony, the Black Sun, the Anathema, all of them. You know that. He’s screwed. One side or another is going to get to him, and…”
“That’s not going to happen,” Eerie said defiantly. “I won’t let it happen.”
“It will happen,” Adel said. “I respect you, Eerie, but you are just one girl against whole cartels. What are you going to do against the Thule Cartel or the Black Sun?”
“You might be surprised,” Eerie said. “I’m going to close the door now.”
“Wait, wait! Just hear me out. I was trying to help you, Eerie. I thought, if Emily got rid of Alex, then you would be safe. I didn’t want you to have to suffer because of some stupid crush. I thought if I removed Alex from the equation, you might come to your senses, and…”
“…fall for you, instead?” Eerie said. “I don’t want to talk anymore.”
“I think I do miss the old you,” Adel said. “It was easier to talk to you.”
“I knew it! That’s gross.” Eerie started to close the door. “Go away!”
“I can’t! Even if you don’t want me to be here, we need to talk,” Adel said, sticking his foot in the door to keep it from closing completely. “You need the Network running, right? That’s what you are trying to do, isn’t it? I need the same thing.”
“Why should I care?” Eerie leaned on the door. “You’re a creep, Adel!”
“Please just listen to me,” Adel said. “We need each other.”
“I don’t need you at all.”
“You do, you just can’t see it yet,” Adel said. “We need to go to Processing together. We need to get the Network back online. You can’t do it without me – not in time, anyway. I have all the passwords, the door codes, everything.”
“Great,” Eerie said. “Go do it, then. You don’t need me.”
“You don’t understand,” Adel said. “It’s the perfect chance for us to talk. I need someone to help me, anyway, and you already know what to do. Come on, it’ll be like old times,” Adel said insistently. “We’ll work together. It’ll be fun! Please, just – I want your help, Eerie, and you need mine. You know that Emily and Alex and the rest won’t be able to return safely without Network guidance. There’s something in it for both of us. Maybe you don’t want to be friends anymore, but that’s a place to start, right?”
***
Alex knocked lightly on the bedroom door, hoping that he would not receive an answer. Mitsuru yelled that the door was unlocked. Considering that an invitation, Alex let himself in.
The room lighting was a contrast of extremes, sunlight slipping around the blinds, white beams that crisscrossed the otherwise dark room. It took Alex’s eyes a few seconds to adjust enough to find Mitsuru in the corner of the room, sitting on one of the mattresses and staring at the blank wall with defocused intensity.
The resurrected Auditor was perfectly still and composed, but Alex could nonetheless feel the distress radiating from her across the room.
“Hi, Ms. Aoki,” Alex said, scratching at his arm nervously. “It’s been a while.”
Her lips did not move, but he heard her voice clear as day in his head.
Since our encounter in a memory of Mexico, you mean? I thought it had been minutes.
“Less than an hour, actually,” Alex said, puzzled at her failure to speak. “That’s not what I meant, though. I’m – I really don’t get it, but I know you’ve been through a lot. I guess I just wanted to say that I’m happy you’re back.”
He waited for a moment, and then when Mitsuru did not respond, he nodded to himself and headed for the door. She waited until he had the doorknob in his hand.
I’m not entirely sure that I am altogether back. I’m not entirely sure I ever left.
“What do you mean? Are you not feeling well?”
I don’t know about well, Mitsuru thought. I certainly don’t feel right.
“What’s wrong?”
Mitsuru turned slightly, her bloodshot eyes settling on him. Alex nearly jumped at the unexpected movement.
I’m not sure you’re the right person to talk to about this.
“That’s probably true,” Alex said. “I’m here, though, and I’m willing to listen.”
Mitsuru looked very slightly surprised, and Alex braced himself to be asked to leave. Instead, she nodded slowly.
Emi
ly Muir allowed me to download a record of recent events from her mind. She believes you have changed for the better, despite, or because of some rather cruel experiences. I confess that I was initially dismissive, as Miss Muir has always had a rather elevated opinion of you. Maybe I was wrong.
Alex blushed and muttered something incoherent.
I’m told you spent some time in a simulation recently yourself, Mitsuru thought, looking at him inquisitively. What was it like?
“It was a little like yours,” Alex said. “Not from my memories, though, because juvenile detention and administrative segregation aren’t therapeutic, I guess. It was a beach. I’m not sure if it was a real place, or a composite, or something Rebecca made up for me.”
A beach as well. Mitsuru closed her eyes for a moment. Rebecca loves the beach.
“Doesn’t everyone? I mean, I’ve hardly ever been, but the beach at Ana’s island, in Thailand or whatever…”
Vietnam, according to intelligence, Mitsuru corrected. Ha Long Bay.
“Sure. It was alright, that’s all I’m saying. A nice spot.”
Rebecca is obsessed with the beach. She went all the time when she was just an Auditor. Growing up in Southern California, I suppose. She always wanted to take me there when I was depressed. I think it’s her go-to solution when the people around her are hurting.
Alex nodded and waited.
Did the simulation help you, Alex?
“Such a weird situation,” Alex said, sitting on the unoccupied mattress. “People were trying to break into my head, first the Anathema, and then Eerie’s sister, Samnang Banh. I could feel it happening, the whole time, but in the background, like I was getting dental work done with not quite enough anesthesia or something. I did sessions with Rebecca, therapy and training, yoga on the beach, running and swimming and stuff. The whole time, in the back of my head, I knew that there were people on the outside, and when they finally got in, I would be tortured. Kind of a downer.”
What happened?
“Simulation-Rebecca did what she could to prepare me,” Alex said, shrugging. “Then Samnang got in, and sure enough, it was all torture and mind games.”
Oh.
“It was a bad scene,” Alex said, suppressing a shudder. “The prep in the simulation definitely made a difference.”
The Church of Sleep (Central Series Book 5) Page 38
