Sequela

by Cleland Smith

  Kester was unsure whether to laugh. Jones turned her Arctic eyes on Kester. She was stunning. Her hair was pure blonde, almost white, and she had a fine yet severe Scandinavian bone structure. She looked young to have taken on such a huge role. She wasn't wearing, or at any rate she wasn't wearing anything that was visible when clothed.

  'You were an academic?' she demanded of Kester.

  'Yes, I was.'

  'I thought so. I can see it in your clothes. It will be good when you have a proper wardrobe consultation.'

  'This is…' Kester started to reply, stroking his new tie, but she had flicked her cold eyes back to her meeting notes. Alexis put a hand on his arm to silence him.

  Chen sighed heavily.

  'Down your side of the table, to your left, we have Alexis Farrell who you already know, then to your right, my left, Felicity Agbabi, our Finance Director.'

  'Nice to meet you,' said Felicity warmly.

  Felicity was a comfortable-looking middle-aged woman with glowing skin the colour of caramel and she gave off a maternal impression. Kester was sure he smelled fresh baking when she spoke. Her eyes were kind and pleasant despite the styes. Their gaze melted the uncomfortable freeze Jones had laid on him.

  'And that's everyone,' Chen said, 'except for Bradley Farmer who is absent this time.' She nodded to an empty chair at the foot of the table. 'Farmer is Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics.'

  'You have a dedicated director for that?' Kester asked, surprised.

  'We have a whole floor of the building,' Chen said, smiling in a way that made Kester feel uncomfortable for having asked. 'We're very serious about such things.'

  'That's great…I mean –'

  Feeling Alexis' hand on his arm again, Kester stopped. He sat up straight and clasped his hands on the table in front of him, trying to hold his nerves steady.

  'Let's get started,' Chen said. 'There are many things we need to talk about that Doctor Lowe won't be interested in and we don't want to waste his precious time, so let's kick off with his presentation.'

  Kester was unsure whether she was being sarcastic about his time being precious. The strange echoes of Scots in her accent influenced the emphasis she placed on words and phrases and sometimes made her tone ambiguous.

  'OK,' Alexis said. She flicked on the display at the foot of the table. The HoloPoint logo swirled on the wall.

  'HoloPoint.' A subsonic voice filled the room. 'For killer presentations.'

  Alexis shook her head. She caught Gaunt's eye and set him off chuckling. Standing in front of the Board, she looked less tall than usual. Kester clenched and unclenched his hands. He recalled going to see a girlfriend perform in her first University Dramatic Society play.

  'This morning I'm going to take you through a short summary of the latest wearing stats. I'll then hand over to Doctor Lowe who is going to talk more specifically about the viruses that he has been developing and their advantages over naturally harvested viruses.'

  Behind her, a graph showed the increase in wearing for the previous ten years.

  'What we're looking at here is the data from Yule's market study – it's by far the best data set ever collected in this area and it's been put together in conjunction with Stark Wellbury, using quantitative analysis of the interaction between individuals' screens and the Stark biological database. As you'll be aware, this bypasses a lot of the problems with the qualitative surveys that have been done in this area in the past.

  'As you can see, the greatest increase in wearing is in young professionals and the celebrity arena – the existing target market for street mods and commissioned mods respectively.'

  The image behind Alexis changed to a pie chart showing the demographic breakdown of virus wearers.

  Kester tuned out as she continued to talk through the figures. There were some things that just couldn't be improved on. The pie chart was undoubtedly his favourite type of chart.

  Alexis didn't say much and she said it economically, so before he knew it Kester was standing before the Board, mouth biscuit-dry, legs mallow. When he began, Alexis had her eyes focused firmly on the table in front of her. As Kester spoke, taking the Board through a simplified version of the virus design and testing process, his legs grew steady. This was way easier than a conference talk – no experts or rivals waiting to take him down. As he grew in confidence, Alexis' head lifted slowly. By the time he was finished, she had her head held high and her golden eyes were fixed on him.

  'Are you telling us that these viruses have no sequelae, Doctor Lowe? No long-term effects at all?' Chen asked.

  Kester considered the question carefully, looking out of the window for a moment to help clarify his overheating brain.

  'No,' Kester replied, to rumbles from the Board members, 'I'm not. But I can say with confidence that the risk of any serious long-term effects of wearing these viruses, my viruses, is considerably lower than that of wearing harvested viruses. And any sequelae are likely to be of a less serious nature.'

  Chen stared at Kester for a moment.

  'I like the way your brain works,' Chen said. She almost smiled at him.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Kester caught Alexis' expression. She knew what was coming next.

  'And that's not their main selling point, Director Chen,' Kester said, trying to suppress a smile. He flicked to the next slide. All it said on it was KL02. 'KL02 stands for Kester Lowe…02. We had to come up with a new convention for naming the V viruses – I hope you don't think this first attempt too conceited.' Kester smiled at Gaunt, setting off a chuckle which went around the table. 'Now KL01 you've already seen. You'll have noticed that neither,' Kester paused, swallowing Alexis' name, 'neither Mrs Farrell nor I appear to be wearing today.'

  Alexis looked up at him. Had she expected him to really do this, he wondered? She had said it would reflect well on him to be wearing, but it was no show of virility like it would be with an exchanged virus and he had no need to show his ambition. This was pure theatrics.

  'Lights please,' Kester said and the room went dark.

  'My god!' Gaunt spoke first.

  In the darkness, Kester removed his shirt so that they could see the effect more clearly. Alexis stood up and came over to him. She fumbled for his hand and squeezed it hard, as if she wanted to squeeze it gently, but couldn't bring herself to. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her glowing hands move to un-knot her wrap-around dress, open it wide to display to the Board. Kester glanced down to look at her body before realising that his glowing nodes would give him away.

  'Brilliant!' Chen's voice came from through the darkness.

  Alexis closed her dress and sat back down.

  'Lights,' said Kester.

  The command had been unexpected enough for him to catch the unguarded reactions of the Board members. Gaunt and Jones were whispering to one another, a little too close, Felicity Agbabi had a rosy glow rising through her dark cheeks and Roger Yule was grinning. He was already jotting down notes in his Book. Chen looked satisfied.

  Kester realised his shirt was still unbuttoned. He buttoned it back up as he continued talking, trying not to seem too keen to cover up.

  'That's a virus?' Gaunt asked.

  'Absolutely,' Kester replied.

  'An STV?' Yule asked.

  'Yes.' Kester nodded, suppressing a smile as Yule massaged the scabs on the backs of his hands. 'We've twenty-two more viruses in development as I speak and we're gathering pace all the time.'

  'Thank you, Doctor Lowe,' Chen said. 'Please, have a seat.'

  There had been more to say but Kester was happy that the Board was convinced. He looked at Alexis, who nodded, and then returned to his seat.

  'Excellent,' said Roger Yule. Tiny sweat beads were appearing on his forehead, forced out by fat thoughts of fresh revenue. He was still jotting. 'So where do we start?' he asked, then tapped his Book and swiped a finger towards each of them. 'This is an updated copy of the outline strategy I sent earlier in the week
. Let's take a look and get your thoughts.'

  A few moments of silence followed as the Board members flicked through the document. Nothing had appeared on Kester's Book, so he stared out of the window for a bit and felt pleased with himself.

  'I had heard, Doctor Lowe,' Chen said after a few minutes had passed, 'that you never wore.'

  'Quite right,' Kester said, relaxed now, 'and that, if I have my way, is the last time you will ever see me wear visible symptoms. This reputation has obviously gone before me and I'd like to keep it intact.'

  Chen raised her eyebrows at Kester's apparent leap in confidence.

  'Well, Doctor Lowe,' she said, 'your secret is safe with us.'

  'Yes, that's just the sort of thing we need to encourage,' Yule said. 'And the image. We need to sort out your image. Not wearing is good, distinctive, but we need to make sure you have an image. We need to connect you with the fashion world if we're to market your viruses as a designer product – section eight.' He held up a hand as everyone started to flick through to the relevant section. 'But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I'll go back to the beginning and talk you through.'

  'We present him as a fashion designer.' Chen considered the idea, continuing to scan section eight of Yule's report. The rest of the room gave her time to go through her thoughts. 'Yes. This is the difference. V viruses are designed, created, fashioned to be beautiful.'

  'Yes,' Kester said.

  'We need to do more with this,' Chen continued.

  'Quite,' Yule said, 'but shall we start at the beginning?'

  'Big clients,' Alexis said. 'We need to make this exclusive.'

  'Or we could go through this section now,' Yule said. 'Let's go through this section first and then we'll come back and put it in context.'

  Kester watched Yule try to hide his annoyance. He wondered how many of the Board had read the plan before the meeting.

  'We can't rely entirely on the big clients,' Agbabi said. 'They're fickle and we could be hit with a competitor any time, once someone clocks what we're doing and catches up with our research. And once your product is out there they can start to extract the viruses and analyse how they work, make copycats – can't they?'

  'Copyright,' Yule said. 'Paragraph 10.'

  'There are ways of protecting the viruses,' Kester said, a little uneasily, unsure if he was supposed to be contributing.

  'We'll talk later,' Yule said to him across the conversation.

  'So you're proposing that we hit the high street with these things as well as the high end?' Alexis asked Yule.

  'Exactly,' Yule replied. 'We license selected viruses to the Pigs – at a higher premium than the harvested range, obviously – perhaps only to a few upmarket outlets to keep it exclusive.'

  'Right,' Alexis said.

  'But we need to differentiate between the products we're providing to our high-end clients and our high street customers – paragraph 12. So we have exclusives – guaranteed originals sold to only a few high profile clients. We make these available to the high street after a certain amount of time – similar to the contracts you'd see for a commissioned mod at the moment. There'll be a grey area where people think if they buy it quickly enough they can pass it off as having been contracted from someone big, so we bring each one in at a high price and then drop it down to the normal rate once that period is over.'

  'Yes,' Chen leant forward and pointed her pen at Yule. 'There'll be a rush, then market saturation, and then they'll be on to the next thing.'

  Kester watched Alexis tracing a finger around the edge of her Book. She was mulling something over, looked pleased with herself. He watched as she noted something on the display and then nudged her Book towards him. Fashion show? it said Gucci, Brinkov…Lowe…

  'It's just like designer clothes,' Yule said. 'Fashion doesn't move on as quickly on the high street as it does on the catwalk, so there'll still be a fairly lengthy period where you still get spread and purchase just because people like the look of it, or because so-and-so was seen wearing it.'

  'Nice,' Gaunt said, licking his lips.

  'But here's the catch – paragraph 18.' Yule was getting more excited as he spoke, his pale form jiggling like agitated panna cotta. 'The product is the same. The fashion world works on the principle of one-off designer items and lower-quality copies. Fair enough, you can make the one-offs, but they have to stay one-offs for good for them to retain their value. These viruses will never have retained value – they are ephemeral by nature.'

  'So something has to be different about the designer items,' Kester said. His brain started to tick over. How could he make them different?

  'Exactly,' Alexis said, shifting in her chair.

  Kester could see her stockinged knees rubbing together through the glass table. He looked up. Chen had been watching him watching Alexis. There was a paper-thin smile on her lips.

  'Exactly,' Alexis said again and slouched back in her chair, crossing her long legs.

  'Mode of delivery,' Kester said, 'or certification, something like that. Or slight differences in the patterning.'

  'Models,' said Gaunt, leaning forward on the table. 'Beautiful boys and girls. Don't worry, Yule, I've read your plan. We're going to give the initial buyers a package – they go to a day spa or something to be serviced by our expert team – if you get my meaning.'

  'You're talking a high-class version of the Pigs?' Alexis asked.

  'If that's how you like to think of it, my dear,' Gaunt smiled, toying with his fat pen, 'but it would be so much more than that. You really ought to read the plan.'

  'But it's still the same virus – it's essentially the same service with the price bumped up,' Kester said. 'You end up with the same thing. Who's going to go for that?'

  Chen was watching him again. He slid back in his chair and pulled his hands down into his lap. He would keep his mouth shut now.

  'You need to think of it like flying,' Yule said, turning to Kester. 'There's a service that has no retained value. There are broadly three different classes on air services, yes?' Everyone turned to listen. Yule was onto his specialist subject. 'You can fly first class, business class or economy class. The secret is that the service is really very similar. Buy first class and what do you get extra?'

  'A bigger seat?' Alexis said. 'Free champagne?'

  'Better service?' Gaunt said the word 'service' slowly, with a sly smile, drawing a smirk from Alexis.

  'And?' Yule asked.

  Everyone looked around, shrugging.

  'A big fat bill,' Agbabi said.

  'Exactly!' Yule nodded. 'Nothing but a big fat bill. At the end of the flight you've made the same journey in the same amount of time – you arrive in the same place at the same time as everyone else.'

  'You let them charge you ten times the price,' Agbabi said, 'for a comfortable seat and however much you can drink. But the seat takes up only four times the space of a normal one and the drink is bought on discount in bulk. They multiply their margins to a silly degree.'

  'Six times the price for business,' Yule said and rested back in his chair, 'up to twenty times the price for first, and all provided by the same company on the same plane. No lasting value; just fleeting prestige and comfort – that, people are also willing to pay for.'

  'It's all about 50,000 Euro a night service – disgraceful!' Gaunt smiled to himself. 'Delightful!'

  'That's what this Vspa you're proposing provides,' Chen said, as she caught up with her reading.

  'Right. And we keep the Pig customers happy by calling their service something that makes them feel good about it – not that "economy" really fits the bill here,' Yule said.

  'Ugh,' Jones said, her first contribution, a look of distaste on her perfect features.

  Gaunt laughed at her, drawing a sharp glance followed by what Kester thought was a fleeting smile.

  'I'm open to suggestions here,' Yule said.

  There was a long pause while the Board made their various thinking faces.

&n
bsp; 'Express,' said Alexis. 'It's not for people who can't afford the top price service – it's for people who are busy, pushed for time – they're too important to swan off for a day and get pampered.'

  'Sounds a little bit TescMart,' Kester said. 'How about Vector – as in means of transfer. It sounds cool and modern…and it starts with a V.'

  Alexis looked round at him, her golden eyes sending a shudder across his chest.

  'Vector.' She took the word in her mouth and snapped it on her tongue like a cracker.

  Kester tried desperately to visualise his calendar – where did he have to be after this? Somewhere he wouldn't be missed?

  'Doctor Lowe.' Chen's voice made Kester start. 'I believe you have somewhere to be.'

  'Yes.' Kester gave the only sensible answer.

  'Good,' Chen said. 'Let's take a break.'

  The other Board members filed out while Kester closed down the presentation file and put away his Book.

  'We need to set up a meeting, Lowe,' said Roger Yule, holding out his hand to Kester.

  Kester shook it, resisting the urge to withdraw his own hand when he felt the rough scabs on the back of Yule's.

  'I need to talk to you about how we control this thing once it's out there,' Yule said. 'It'll affect how we market it and the price points and whatnot.'

  'Of course,' Kester said. 'Call my office.' For the first time, it felt good saying this.

  'Vector,' Gaunt said, slapping Kester on the back as he walked past him to the door. 'I like it.'

  'Well done,' Farrell said to him under her breath once Yule had moved on. Only the two of them and Chen were left in the room.

  'A moment, please?' Chen said, looking at Farrell.

  Farrell turned and left them without replying. Chen approached Kester as he slid his Book into his pocket.

  'Very impressive, Doctor Lowe,' she said. 'You don't disappoint. Or so it seems.'

  'I like to think not,' Kester said, turning to face her.

  She was standing a little too close. Her perfume was harsh, like the pleasant end of petrol. She wasn't as tall as he had expected. With her heels on, she only just came up to his height. Her small figure was complemented by her simple green tunic dress; it was tiny, but there was still enough room between the fabric and her skin for a pair of hands.