The Harmony Paradox (Virtual Immortality Book 2)

by Matthew S. Cox

  Kathy crouched long enough to hit the buttons to tighten her shoes before standing again. “It felt like I was inside someone else’s life watching, helpless to do anything. I’m sorry I keep apologizing, but it’s going to take me a while to forgive myself.”

  He took her hand. “So. You ready to go home?”

  She glanced around at the room, and two plastiboard boxes full of the stuff she’d decorated it with. “You have no idea…”

  Kenny lifted her chin with one finger, and stared into her eyes. “Bet I do.”

  Driving from the Amaranth Medical facility in Sector 2081 to the checkpoint at the city edge in a land vehicle took the better part of two hours. It surprised him that Kathy didn’t seem to mind the truck as much as he’d expected her to. Her initial attraction to his whole ‘cowboy’ affect had waned not too long before the mess began, likely due to their continued disagreements over his going into the Badlands. The truck had become a physical embodiment of his fondness for the place, and she often referred to it as ‘the monstrosity.’

  Let a person out of prison, and they won’t care what kind of car takes them home.

  Kathy kept quiet for the ride, seemingly enamored with the view of the city from ground level. Her former job had required a long enough ride that a ground car would’ve been impractical, so she’d gotten a hovercar. No one commutes three hundred miles twice a day without one. Granted, she didn’t work for TMC anymore. The basic Alton Mercury her parents had gotten her wouldn’t win many style points, but as hovercars went, it had a reputation for being safe and a little on the speedy side. They’d likely hoped keeping her surrounded by modernity would convince her spending time with him had been foolish.

  She shrank away from the window as they neared the security station at the top of the ramp that would take them down to the natural earth, off the raised platform of West City. Kenny glanced past her at a crowd of older teens and young twenty-somethings in the trappings of the ‘24’ gang. Though no one could accuse Sector 24 of being even close to a grey zone, the gang had established itself here. The area had mostly warehouses and low-end housing, as few with the means to live elsewhere wanted to be so close to the edge. Doomsday preachers espousing the idea that ‘the next big quake’ will send the edge plates falling to the ground coupled with the general fear of being ‘too close to the Badlands’ kept the locals on the poor and desperate side.

  “The city looks so different from down here.” Kathy scratched at her hair, smoothing it back over her head in a repetitive manner.

  He debated one of his usual rambles about ‘down here, you see things as they are. Easy to ignore all the bad shit from fifty stories up,’ but didn’t want to hit her with deep thoughts yet. “Yeah. It’s almost a different world.”

  Seconds after the truck rolled to a stop at the checkpoint, A Division 1 cop in shiny blue armor approached the door. With the lift on the truck, the man had to pull himself up a bit to peer in the window. A faceless mirror-silver visor wrapped around the front of his helmet. “Afternoon.”

  Kenny nodded. “Howdy.”

  A faint chirp came from Kenny’s NetMini. The officer leaned to his left to peer at Kathy.

  “Her ‘Mini’s in a box in the back. On the way home from Amaranth in 2081.”

  The cop leaned far to the right, peering into the truck bed. “Damn, that’s a ride for wheels.”

  Kenny chuckled. “Yeah. I kinda like it though.”

  “Not getting a signal,” said the cop.

  “I used it too much.” Kathy leaned forward and smiled at the cop. “My former employer was paying for treatment so… bare bones. No room terminal. The battery’s dead.”

  The officer stared at her for a few seconds, likely running a facial recognition search on her. “No problem, ma’am. Hope you’re feeling better.” He glanced at Kenny, back to Kathy, and tilted his head a little to the right. “Are you taking her home, where the minor Alyssa Marlon is residing?”

  Kathy squeezed Kenny’s arm through his coat.

  He exhaled a sigh. “Yes. They cleared the protection order earlier this morning. It should be in the system. All the doctors agreed it wasn’t her fault.”

  “Hmm.” The Division 1 officer held up a finger in a ‘wait a second’ gesture. His body language indicated a conversation, but he made no sound.

  Kenny took Kathy’s hand in both of his and rubbed her fingers. “It’s just a delay. Don’t worry.”

  She forced herself to smile and nod.

  “Got it,” said the cop. “They hadn’t updated the record yet, and we confirmed her ‘Mini’s been offline for a few hours.” He waved them to proceed, and the inner door sank into the ground. “Sorry for the delay. Stay safe down there.”

  “Thanks.” Kenny tipped his hat to the cop.

  “Thank you,” said Kathy a touch over a whisper.

  As soon as the barrier folded flat into the road, Kenny accelerated over it and headed down the long, straight ramp. The sprawl of light brown dirt, scrub brush, and small buildings spread out before him, far below the surface of West City. Most of the structures looked like they’d been standing for centuries, creating the feeling they drove back in time to the days before the Corporate War. Of course, few if any were that old, but everyone who chose to live south of the raised portion of West City seemed to share a common love for ‘keeping things sane.’

  The rumble of his tires changed tone as the surface went from traction-coated plastisteel to bona fide pavement. Even Kathy seemed to brighten up as they left the colossus of plastisteel and electric lights behind for a bright blue sky over wide-open nature. He pointed at a hawk circling overhead. She leaned out her window to get a better look, and stared up like a fascinated child. As much as her parents refused to believe it, Kathy had a thing for the whole ‘western’ aesthetic too.

  Twenty-three minutes after rubber hit the road, Kenny pulled up in front of their wide one-story ranch house. Monoliths of junk towered over it in the yard out back, full of the trappings of his ‘legitimate’ job as a salvage and scrap trader.

  Kathy sniffed and dabbed her eyes.

  “You okay?”

  “I’m fine.” She smiled. “Just happy.”

  He shut off the truck’s electronics, pushed the door open, and slid out to the ground. It took Kathy a few seconds to decide between going out ass-first or trying the slide. She climbed down and dusted herself off before closing the door with a loud thunk. After collecting her boxes from the truck bed, he walked after her to the front door.

  Kathy stopped in the middle of the living room, doing a slow turn to look at everything. “It hasn’t changed at all.”

  He put her stuff on the couch and patted her butt. “You haven’t been gone all that long.”

  “I love you.” She leapt into a hug so tight it seemed she feared to let go would kill her. “I’m sorry.”

  He held her for a moment before easing her back enough to make eye contact. “I never gave up on you, and I never will.” He pointed at the tip of her nose. “Now, stop blaming yourself.”

  “Easier said than done, but I’ll try.” She rubbed her forehead.

  “Hey, look… I’ve been thinkin’.” Kenny peeled his coat off and hung it on a peg by the door. He tossed his hat on the next peg. “You never did much care ’bout me runnin’ off inta the Badlands. I know we’ve had words over it in the past, and I mighta―naw, I did say a bunch of stuff I regret. Took me almost losin’ you to realize you weren’t just decidin’ to hate something I liked. You were all kinds a’ worried I wouldn’t come home.”

  She looked down. “Yeah. Every time you went out there…”

  “Nothing means anything to me without you.” Kenny stooped a bit to try and catch eye contact. “I’m willin’ ta retire from goin’ out there if it’ll help you sleep at night. Got enough squirreled away to make do if we’re careful with it. With the scrap business, we’ll be okay.”

  Kathy blinked. “Really? But… you love it so much. You’re
like a giant little boy at Wintermas.”

  “I’m not as young as I used to be. Sooner or later, maybe I’ll be too slow.”

  “You’re thirty-four.” Kathy folded her arms. “You are not old.” She put her hands on his shoulders and swayed side to side with him. “It’s so much of a part of you. I don’t want you to resent me for ‘making you stop.’ You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t run out there. I’m… you’re right. I’m terrified you’re going to get hurt one of these days, but that’s the man I decided to spend the rest of my life with.”

  “Well.” Kenny kicked the toe of his boot at the carpet. “It’ll be a couple years ’fore I need to run out there anyway. Got a decent bit of change for that revolver.”

  Kathy flashed an impish smile. “Maybe next time I’ll go with you.”

  “Your parents would kill me.” Kenny laughed.

  “I’m serious.” She stared into his eyes. “If you feel that itch come back… I’ll go with you.”

  A rush of emotion came over him at the thought of mixing his two greatest loves―Kathy and adventuring in the Badlands. She wasn’t half bad with a rifle, and he’d make sure to bring Eldon along, maybe another hired hand if he could swing it… She wouldn’t be stuck home worrying about him, and unless they did something crazy like going to Southern Texas, she’d probably be safer with them than home alone.

  Motion caught his eye, and he peered over Kathy’s shoulder at Alyssa, lurking in the arch where the hallway met the living room. A long plum-colored shirt covered her to the knee, and hot pink paint gleamed from her toenails. She clutched the wall with both hands, staring at Kathy. Dark chestnut hair covered most of the cartoon character on the front of her shirt.

  Kenny almost did a double-take at her, certain her chest hadn’t been that noticeable only earlier this morning. Visions of chasing would-be boyfriends away with a rifle danced around his mind.

  “Ken?” asked Kathy.

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” He winked. “Like I said, I’m not in a hurry to get back out there. Probably not till Alyssa’s old enough to go with us.”

  “You’re going to bring her into the Badlands?” Kathy blinked.

  Alyssa crept into the room, padding up behind her mother. She didn’t look at all afraid, which reassured him, though she did seem to be on the verge of a sobby explosion.

  Kenny nodded. “She’s not fond of staying with the Rodriguezes, and she doesn’t want to be home alone. I said I’d consider bringing her with, but I agreed under the expectation my next trip wouldn’t be for a couple years.”

  “So… Umm…” Kathy fidgeted. “Where―”

  “Mom,” whispered Alyssa.

  Kathy spun around.

  “Mom…” Alyssa covered her mouth with both hands and started crying. Two seconds later, she wrapped her arms around Kathy and sobbed into her shoulder.

  “Liss… I’m so sorry for what I did. I’m never going to forgive myself for going after you with a―” Kathy wept, evidently unable to say the word ‘knife.’

  Alyssa swayed side to side. “It’s okay. I know it was the drugs. Dad said it made you like nuts and stuff. Wasn’t really you.” She sniffled. “Are they gonna let you stay home?”

  “Yeah,” mumbled Kathy between sniffles. “I’m home.”

  Hayley appeared in the arch, also in an oversized t-shirt, only white. She had the same hot-pink polish on her toes and fingers as Alyssa, and held the Nanochroma wand responsible for it. She glanced at the two hugging with an expression that radiated a hint of awkwardness as well as being happy for Alyssa.

  “Hey,” whispered Kenny, raising an arm.

  Hayley crossed the room, climbed over the back of the sofa, and attached herself to Kenny’s side.

  “Oh, hello,” said Kathy. “You must be Hayley.”

  “Yeah.” Hayley looked down.

  “You’re so thin. Are you feeding her?” Kathy glanced at Kenny. “You said she’s twelve. She looks younger.”

  Hayley shrugged. “I guess. Thanks for letting me stay here.”

  Kathy gave him a hesitant look before taking her hand. “We’re not ‘letting you stay here,’ Hayley. We’re adopting you.”

  “Wait… we are?” Kenny blinked.

  Hayley gasped at him, betrayal all over her face.

  Kathy pulled both girls into a hug. “I know it’s not official yet, but we wanted to wait until they declared me officially ‘not nuts.’”

  “I’m teasing.” Kenny kissed Hayley atop the head. “You seem happy here. We’re thrilled to have you, and if it’s okay with you, we want to make you officially part of the family.”

  Hayley’s eyes widened. She pulled Kenny closer so she could hug him as well as Kathy at the same time. “Yes! That’s awesome.” After a second of laughter, she seemed about to burst into tears, but lapsed into bouncing on her toes.

  Alyssa grinned. “Mom’s home!”

  “Umm.” Hayley’s enthusiasm waned. “Am I supposed to call you Mom and Dad now?” She fidgeted.

  “If you want to,” said Kathy.

  “Fine with me.” Kenny patted her shoulder. “If you are comfortable with it.”

  “Well… I never really called my actual mother much of anything but ‘bitch.’” Hayley smirked. “The woman didn’t want me. I guess I can try.”

  “Mom,” whispered Alyssa as she got clingy again. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

  Kenny imagined Eldon making a weak joke about his missing a chance to ‘escape his psycho wife’ and return to the freedom of being able to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. As he stood there watching Kathy soak up Alyssa’s relief and joy, and Hayley gradually releasing her awkwardness, it hit him that maybe he ought to grow up a little. The cowboy persona, the running around the Badlands and sleeping under the stars, maybe he could live without it.

  He chuckled to himself.

  Maybe.

  asaru Kurotai reclined against the wall of a massive hot tub made of dark stacked stone and surrounded on three sides by bamboo and rice paper. If not for the electric glow of the Miyazaki skyline against the fading deep orange of the setting sun, the décor could have been lifted from a millennia ago. He stretched his arms to either side upon the rough stone, behind the two women who he’d escorted home from the ‘event’ his father had thrown for his official return to Japan. He pondered the relaxing bath, a vessel so large he could swim laps in it, and amused himself by calculating how many women it could hold. He stopped counting around twenty and let his gaze track a slow-moving advert bot about the size of a PubTran car. Whatever it tried to sell occupied a massive holo-panel it aimed down at street level.

  Before he could stop himself, his mind ran away with a cost-benefit analysis of using a single large advertising unit at the seventieth story versus a greater number of smaller units at street level, where potential customers could complete transactions with less effort. With the large bot, they had to see the product, desire the product, then use their personal NetMinis to order it before desire faded. With the personal bots, ordering would be right in front of them with holo-panels. Customers could complete transactions before impulse could fade.

  Amid his mental wanderings, the women chatted with each other. Though they sounded civil, their cheer had a false undertone. Masaru lay there somewhat like a deer carcass between a pair of lionesses discussing how best to devour him. Of the eight or nine women who’d been hovering around him at the dinner and after-party, these two wound up in his limo.

  Kiyomi worked on her degree in electrical engineering and nanotechnology. She wanted to spend her life making computers and everything that used them smaller, more portable, and more available. Her parents lived in a small town, Daro, west of Miyazaki City in the forested hills. She’d turned twenty last month, and made no secret of her intention to avoid commitments with a man until after she’d established herself career wise. However, she also hadn’t been terribly subtle about her willingness to fuck him on the casual. Cozying up to the so
n of the CEO could only help her.

  Sayoko on the other hand had Masaru by two years. At twenty-four, she represented the sort of life his father would have expected of him had he been born female. Her father sat on the board of directors for Kurotai, and she lived the life of the idle rich. The woman’s greatest fear wound up somewhere between going out in public in an outfit two days out of fashion and using the wrong formal greeting. Her presence radiated a regal quality, unlike the younger woman who looked and acted like the teenager she barely wasn’t.

  Both women kept their hair natural black and seemed fascinated by Masaru’s orb of snow-white, especially the lime green accent over his left temple. Kiyomi thought it ‘killer,’ while Sayoko asked how he managed that without creating a furor of impropriety among the company. True, some on the board and perhaps his father frowned upon such a show of irreverence. It made him look more like one of the disaffected youth who congregated around cybernetics shops, and not the second heir to a multi-billion credit empire. Of course, having an older brother shielded him from much of the responsibility and afforded him a degree of latitude.

  He glanced from Kiyomi’s frizzy pixie cut and wide eyes to Sayoko’s long, regal coif and warning stare. Fair bet that she expected to wind up as his wife, little more than another company accessory, and regarded the younger woman as a threat to that future. Kurotai ranked perhaps third or fourth among the Japanese companies in terms of wealth or power. Not exactly White Orchid Corporation, but then again, they also didn’t take the anachronism that far. It took a special kind of person to tolerate having to live Kabuki Theater.

  Masaru chuckled to himself.

  Conversation shifted to include him, and he found himself replying to the banal exchanges as a reflex. Faces changed in his memory, hundreds of women he’d been with for only a single night. Perhaps two in ten of whom he’d done more with than relax and drink. He couldn’t quite place the moment ‘pussy on tap’ as Joey had so eloquently phrased it had become boring. Someone with his money and status would’ve had their pick of women hoping to marry upward in social order even if he’d been unpleasant to look at. He didn’t regard his appearance as too far above average, and didn’t take the endless compliments from women as anything more than the required pleasantries while worming a hook. Masaru couldn’t place the point where he’d gone from feeling like a wolf in the henhouse to being a koi staring up at wild-eyed women dangling barbed offerings in his pond.