THE SEVENTH EVENT

by Phillip Shaw

  The prison morgue was functional rather than intimidating; it had the chill necessary for preservation that many mistook for the feeling of death but had none of the forebodings of other mortuaries. The bodies that ended up here did not rest long; the proximity of the incinerator was not accidental. Markus noticed it had been fired up in preparation for a busy day. Before that, there was the matter of the individually sectioned slabs with numbers on them. The separated bodies of the burned. The staff stood by with what Markus took to be a satisfied look in their eyes. He wouldn't admonish them the job had been unenviable and difficult especially in the context of the previous day's events and the hurried timescale, they can have their pride. The names of the bodies were attached to the slabs, none remarkable he was looking for Coates. He got to the slab and waited for the attendant to lift the sheet. There on the slab was a solitary tooth. He looked over at Ava, the shock was evident for a brief second. He turned to the attendants, ‘You got Coates' DNA from this?'

  ‘Yes despite the charred remains we used a special technique to photo match it with dental records of the prisoners. Everyone who comes in here gets a full head IR scan without knowing it. A tooth in this prison is like a finger print or a smoking gun outside.' Markus didn't question the absurdity or unknown of this the pressing matter was charred tooth on a slab. He didn't wait on the attendant, sweeping to the side he pulled open the slab for Pamela Harding, another tooth. ‘You don't think this is something I should be made aware off? The only evidence you have to say that these two died here are teeth? Ava put a hand on his shoulder. A look into his eyes reassured him she knew what had happened. She turned to the shocked men in the room. ‘Perhaps they were at the heart of this fire; the rest may have been unidentifiable ash.' They relaxed and the agents left the room. Markus was first to speak. He didn't need to but it broke the silence, he had tried to keep his emotions in check since partnering with Ava, she was the adept, she was the one in control of emotions. He didn't want to know what a short fuse he could have.

  ‘You know what this means don't you Ava? They're alive, Coates and Harding; they must have escaped the prison during the riot. Either they were badly injured or they concocted this grisly barbeque to fool the scientists. So many bodies, the first sign of a positive match they move on to the next. Did you see their faces in there, they didn't even think. That's what's wrong with people they stop when they get an easy answer. There are no easy answers.'

  ‘Have you finished Stent? They are only Techs if they solved problems there would be no need for us. I know what it means; they are still alive and are likely on the run. That's why we were sent we need to get after them. We need to go back upstairs see what we missed.'

  Markus seethed inside. He forgot the analytical thrill of being paired with Ava and went back to his earlier thoughts. A partner, unneeded, hindrance, dangerous. He pushed ahead and went back to the office. ‘Ok, we will go through it again.'

  ‘CCTV?'

  ‘Destroyed in the room we need it'

  ‘Accomplices?'

  ‘None all accounted for.'

  Markus knew this was pointless they had bounced the ideas off each other. There had to be a way out of this prison. The thought that they were hiding in the prison still, had been dismissed with a walk around the remains. The toxic fumes from the fires would have killed anyone hiding in the ventilation shafts. The only way out had to be vehicular.

  ‘Delivery schedule'

  ‘Unchecked' Said Ava as her fingers danced on the keyboard. ‘Here it is meals had already been delivered; only delivery in riot time yesterday was laundry. Note here it was delivered. The time just before the agents email stopped. They could have escaped on the laundry van. That's our lead. I'll check with the external company.'

  Markus nodded silently impressed, he had other things on his mind, he fully expected Ava to find a dead delivery driver and abandoned truck. The next piece of the puzzle was the first encounter with any local law enforcement. He used the Magister network to scour the local law enforcement feeds. Experience was his only tool against the threats to his chosen way of life and experience was what he would use. Like an old detective, the first thing to do was join the dots. The first dot was the prison; the second would be wherever the van was discovered. The dot he sought was the missing police officer. Either two unidentified vagrants had been discovered and arrested or there was an officer missing, where there was law enforcement there was adept influence. He put a call into headquarters and was directed through to a video of one of the research agents. ‘How can I help you agent Stent?'

  ‘Greetings, my partner and I need an immediate scan off all police activity in a hundred mile radius of our current location. Focus on vagrants discovered and apprehended, discovered and at large and discovered officers. Finally is there any adept in the area who may save us some work?'

  ‘The requested information will be with you shortly. The major adept in the area died where you are, there are lesser skilled in the area in small positions, some only training, I will send you their profiles.'

  Markus nodded his thanks and shut down the link, Ava had contacted the company for the laundry and her tone on the phone was troubling another unexpected answer. Ava relayed the call to him, the driver in question had returned from his shift within the normal timeframe. When questioned about the riot on the news he simply said he had missed it. He then handed in his notice and hasn't been seen since. All he said to his boss was, ‘There is more to it than this. Thank you but I have to leave.' Ava said it sounded like his proximity to this catastrophic event had triggered enlightenment in him. His enlightenment has led us to a dark, dead end.

  The PDA buzzed in his pocket as the requested information appeared. There were twenty arrests that fit his criteria since the riot, two missing officers and 5 adepts in the area. Scanning down the adepts there were some surprises. Wrestling promoter, CEO of the local grocery store chain, Oil magnate, Governors speech writer and the only one of use Police chief. ‘Looks like we are going looking for a needle Ava, we need to find ourselves some magnets.'

  24. Haystack

  Libero stopped at the junction, right or left it didn't matter they needed to ditch the car. The traffic in the town seemed to be heading one way to the Dome. From what he could gather on various billboards that littered the approach to the town the Dome was a ten thousand all-seated stadium on the outskirts of town and tonight it was host to a major wrestling event. To Libero and his companion, it was a subterfuge to slip away. The roads were packed with other vehicles and from what Libero could ascertain his vehicle was not out of place within the wrestling fans, he saw many others of the same shape, make or model the only difference was an eviscerated body in the trunk. Pamela had recovered from the ordeal with the Police officer and was back to her inquisitive self.

  ‘Why now? Why have you been reborn now, are things really that bad?'

  ‘I don't know, you tell me? I have searched the memories of James Coates and there is much suffering in this world. The grip of my enemy must be far-reaching to have allowed such disasters to happen without mass rebellion. Tell me are there no voices of dissension?'

  The question seemed to throw Pamela, he felt her emotions swirling trying to comprehend the answer he had just given and find an appropriate response. The heat was stifling but she looked ice cool, not a bead of sweat was present on her forehead and her hair despite showing the stresses of the day could still be considered clean. The blonde hair was commonplace in this age but to him, it was still jarring. Her emotions were easily discernible now; the crimson in her face from his stare removed the need for his ability.

  ‘What do you mean dissension?' she asked diverting his glance.

  ‘I mean has there never been people who have spoken out against the regime, people who have gained followers, who have become targets for the established controllers?' there was suddenly a sharp emotion coming from her, sadness, there had been people in her memories, there was no personal knowledge of
them but faces and imagery showed itself to him like a tour through the history of the country. His own borrowed memories put context to the images he saw. But at the end of the most prominent, he saw only pain, murder and assassination. There were certainly denouncers in the past the question now was where were today's. The traffic edged ever closer to the arena and the moment passed.

  ‘So tell me, Pamela, what is wrestling in this world? My host seems to have been a big fan in his youth.'

  ‘Wrestling is for kids. The fights between over inflated super-heroes are choreographed and designed to raise the anger of the crowd. It's not a sport at this level, more theatre. I don't think we will find any soldiers for your battle here.'

  ‘We don't need to. We only need to slip away unseen.'

  The traffic finally cascaded itself into the arena car park. Libero slowly drove up and down the crowded parking bays looking for a space. A number of times he went to position himself only to find another car had barged itself into the gap. Pamela seemed anxious that he would do something stupid but there was too much at stake. These people had their own problems. He had the patience to forgive. Finally, he found a suitable spot near the back fence. The car would be left and they would have to be long gone before the grisly secret was discovered. With Pamela's help, they wiped as much evidence that they had been in the vehicle as they could away before other cars parked around them. Pamela leading the way began walking and talking. ‘First we need to find somewhere to stay, I can access my bank account… no, they will trace that… I can ask my mother for money, we need to go to a bank or wire centre… hold on can you not just get people to give us money?' Libero just nodded. He could get men to jump off buildings if the circumstances were correct; getting them to hand over a few dollar bills wouldn't be a problem.

  They walked past the crowd queuing at the doorways when Libero froze. Two squad cars had pulled across the gates. Pamela saw them too, ‘They are probably just for security.' Her tone sounded like it was self-convincing rather than reassuring and he could sense the anxiety growing within her. They weren't ready for a skirmish. This world was unknown to them, he had been able to fight for their lives against the blood crazed in the prison but here in the outside world the influenced could be anywhere anyone and if he was captured the chances of this age were lost again. Quickly he tried to search the mind of the host for anything some sign of normality that could get them through, he was stuck, he looked at Pamela. ‘Any ideas?' the growing feeling of anxiety gave way now to a steely determination, years of thinking on her feet in court he presumed. ‘We can go inside, sneak out halfway through, they should have gone by then.' Libero smiled, ‘Lead the way, Lieutenant.'

  ‘We'll need tickets, you just don't walk into these events anymore, the world isn't a safe place.'

  ‘Leave that to me.'

  Libero looked around there was a fat man standing at the bottom of the steps with two tickets high above his head, he was waving them around until the police officers approached then he seemed to disappear into the crowd. Intrigued Libero left Pamela and moved so he could find the man and the tickets. To his surprise the fat man was now sitting in a wheelchair, he waited again, the police officers patrolling left and he stood again waving the tickets, Libero turned to Pamela, ‘I've found our tickets.'

  Libero walked towards the man, clearly the tickets were for sale, however, he had obtained them there was something illegal going on here. ‘Tickets?' the man whispered. Pamela answered him quickly, ‘No we're here to ask where you learnt your wheelchair routine, of course, we need tickets.' Libero sensed the heckles rise in the man, and he quietened his companion. Looking directly at the man he searched the mind. What inspires this creature, how can I turn him, how can I put him on the path towards his rue potential. All he sensed was greed, a desire for money, power, status. It was a desire he had almost universally felt since his awakening, the people of this world had isolated themselves, they viewed everyone as competition, he wondered if he had been reborn too late. The one crack in the armour of the man was loneliness. It filled his soul, like cancer eating him from the inside out, it caused the rise of the other desires in him, he didn't have a balanced life he placed the need for companionship on an altar and was using any means to get it. In his twisted way, he felt that the money and power exerted for these tickets would get him closer to his goal. Libero reached out to him, he caressed the pain in his soul, he told him this was not the answer, released the endorphins that had been dormant for so long, This is not the way, this is not your way. You can be someone else; the person for you is out there. Leave this world behind, it will only bring you pain. If you use your instinct, release your fears you will achieve your goals, go now.

  The man stood from the chair, the tickets dropping to the ground Pamela stooped so quickly they nearly hit her on the back of the head, they had their way in. they took their place in the queue and approached the doors. As they went through Libero cast a glance back to the fat man, he was walking past the police officers. Walking to a better life he knew. Pamela spoke close. ‘What did you do to him?'

  ‘What do I do to any of you; I am only here to show you the truth, to set you free.'

  In Cologne, Schultz sat at his screen, he had monitored the request for information from Stent and Ava, it was necessary. They were on the trail of one of them; the speech heard this morning told him which one. Worry lines had long since tattooed themselves onto the face of the Magister leader. He was so close; he could do what the order had been established to do. It was why he had sent Stent. The rugged Scandinavian was the best they had, he should have been the leader but he couldn't have been trusted. The histories were so precise so succinct that they needed a special kind of keeper. Originally in discovering Ava he had hoped to keep her close, he would need the protection, soon. But she was not for security detail, she was his project a personally crafted weapon and an experiment. How will she react when we put the plan in motion? What side will she choose? He hoped the answers in the histories were correct. For now all he could do was go over them again.

  Rising from his black marble desk he walked over to the corner of his private office. The only way to the holding chamber was through here, the only ones who knew of it had been his predecessors. One each generation, unable to take a partner, the keeper, the leader was the end of his own bloodline, he choose his successor when he was sure, he chose the one who perpetuated the order, the one who understood the foundations. He stepped into the concealed titanium wall panel, biometric scanner revealed a plush leather seat in a rifled elevator shaft, he took his position and began the descent to the archive room. His apprentice was there, already handpicked already studying, learning to read the code as he had, more was discovered each generation, new readers brought new interpretations to it. No one had discovered what he had. Soon they will all know. The descent complete he walked to the sealed door, again scans were needed and he was through, the thin air biting at his lungs he stood before the housing chamber, his apprentice fell in beside him. It was time for another reading.

  25. Gladiators

  Libero took his seat in the upper echelons of the arena, illuminated below was the ring where the nights entertainment was to take place. He could feel the corners of his face curling into a childlike smile and he felt the emotions in Pamela rising, it was a mixture of amusement and disgust, he didn't care life was about freedom to be your best and watching even this small piece of entertainment was the best he could make of a bad situation.

  ‘You do realise it's staged don't you? This is basically a soap opera for adolescents and men who never grew up. We should get out of here, you're wasting time.'

  ‘Time that is free is never wasted, we have to stay here until the squad cars leave, and there is no harm to be had in enjoying the show. I feel a great deal of affection in the host's memories towards this particular sport.' He detected another snort at the word sport but the lights had dulled and the show was about to begin.

  The spotl
ights hit the ring lighting it up to the baying crowd. Signs written by the fans were dotted all around the packed arena professing their love to the men about to do business. Some names were more popular than others and he saw many for the ‘Incognito Boys'. A small suited man had walked into the ring and began whipping the crowd into even more of frenzy.

  ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages, welcome to Liberty Class Wrestling. Brought to you by our CEO Jackson Deane and broadcast around the world by Blaincorp productions.'

  The crowd started jeering profusely at the announcement of the CEO but Libero looked over at Pamela who was staring in the opposite direction, it seemed this was normal. The spotlights moved over to an entranceway at the far end of the arena and the first of the combatants emerged. Flowing hair, with muscles popping out everywhere on his supremely tattooed body, the man walked down the entranceway, the upbeat music playing in the background seemed to identify this participant as a favourite amongst the fans. He entered the ring with an athletic bounce over the top rope and twirled in the ring soaking up the adoration of the crowd, the cloak he wore around him lit up like a glitterball catching everyone's eye. Libero found himself intrigued at this spectacle. Perhaps I can recruit my soldiers here. The distance was too far to feel the motivation of the man but he felt the love in the crowd for him and he too stood up to get a better view.

  Suddenly without warning the music stopped to be replaced by a darker orchestral piece. Artificial smoke began pouring down the entranceway as another figure emerged. Clothed all in black he cast a long shadow, not as defined as his opponent the man moved with a snake-like grace towards the ring stopping occasionally to shout insults at the newly enraged crowd. One man on the entranceway threw a drink at him but after it narrowly missed heavy set security guards bundled the man away from his seat towards the exit. The hostility of the crowd was infectious to Libero and he felt the desire for this man to be defeated, at that moment in time, he could think of nothing he desired more. Again the derision was palpable from Pamela but it was in good humour he noticed she had stopped counting the lights on the arena roof and was now focussed on the impending duel inside the ring. The lithe man entered under the bottom rope remaining on the ground for a brief moment before raising himself to meet the original entrant face to face.