Lenth manoeuvred around the first few injured people, and tried to get closer to Six, but more wounded and panicked people made it impossible. “Stop it, Six! You don't have to do this! They haven't done anything to you!”
Ahead, then a turn in the hall, there was no fighting to be heard, only the yells and cries of Six's wake. Six was gone, swallowed into the chaos.
Lenth made his way back to the elevator's receiving room, where the woman was helping an injured man, tying her scrap-headband around his arm as a bandage. She had zipped her outfit back up to a somewhat more modest configuration. Lenth knelt down by and asked her, “Are you all right?”
Without taking her eyes away from her bandaging job, she drew breath to answer, but was cut off.
“I'm fine, thank you,” Mike said, strolling leisurely towards them. “Oh, you meant Leena.” He smirked smugly at his own joke.
“I'm fine,” 'Leena' said quietly. “I've been through worse.” She lifted her chin towards the two dead men visible from where they were, and a half dozen other Citizens tending to each others' wounds. “I guess I was lucky.”
“I can't believe he...I knew he'd killed, but this...” Lenth looked at Leena. She was rough, and her beauty was somehow a little repulsive, but it was still beauty. “Maybe Six didn't want to hurt a pretty woman. If he's like me, he didn't grow up around any.”
“You know that energetic young knife enthusiast?” Mike said, gazing down the hall. A few unhurt Citizens had begun getting into the food crates...carefully.
Lenth stood, fists forming as he looked at the casualties. “We've...run into each other a few times. Before this, he's killed seven? I lost track. A Rubberman and a bunch of Providers. I kind of understood his reasons for that, but Citizens? He's crazy. We have to stop him.”
Mike shrugged. “Go ahead. As far as I'm concerned, that fellow's little show was more than enough entertainment for the day. Consider your entry...granted.”
“Entertainment?” Lenth looked at Mike with a wrinkled brow.
Leena's patient was bandaged as well as she could manage, and as he stood, so did Leena. She put her hand on Lenth's shoulder and said in a tired tone, “Welcome to the Citizenry.”
“Who's the leader around here?” Lenth asked.
Mike reached out with a theatrical shrug. “Leader? A lot of people do what I say, so maybe I am!”
Lenth silently pushed his repulsion down. He looked at Leena, who had no objection to Mike claiming to be leader. He turned back to Mike. “So, how long have you been kinda-leader?”
Mike counted on his fingers. “One, two...hmm, five years? The guy who figured himself to be leader before was a real prick. I caved his head in, people cheered. It was a big thing.”
“He did a lot of things, that guy before,” Leena said with a distant gaze. “His buddies, too. They...” She smiled, and pinched Lenth's cheek. “You're a damned virgin, aren't you? I shouldn't go trying to confuse a kid like you.” She pulled out a bag made from a scrap of clothing and wandered over to the food crates. She filled her baggie up as much as she could, securing it to her hip through a couple of small holes in her suit. By now, Citizens had been coming and going to secure their own stash.
“He made a lot of use of spaces above the ceiling,” Lenth said to no one in particular. He looked up. The ceiling here was solid, not like the panels that he'd seen in many places in the past. “Where could he go to hide, and maybe move around? You know, where he might not be seen.”
Leena snickered a little. “So you want to go crawl into wherever that guy and his two knives went?”
“I can't believe how relaxed you all are!” Lenth said. “Look at how many people Six hurt and killed!”
“Someone will kill him,” Leena said quietly, “or he'll end up being the leader or something.” She paused to make eye contact with Lenth. “—And for the record, I highly doubt that will happen.”
Lenth looked around to see if any of the Citizens around thought that what Leena said was crazy. “This...this is normal?” Lenth asked.
Leena shrugged. “It's not everyday or anything, and the fact that it's a Provider causing trouble is unique, but this kind of thing happens.”
“Not where I come from,” Lenth said. “Nothing like this at all! I didn't even know what death was most of my life, let alone this! Hey, where's Mike gotten off to?”
“He's probably gone to get his medical stuff. He keeps a bunch of it, and looks like a big hero when he comes along with a bandage and pain pills.”
“But not heroic enough to go after Six, huh?” Lenth asked.
Leena shrugged. “He might. Mike's never been much of a brawler.”
“But he caved in the head of the old leader? What, was he asleep?”
“That's not how the tale goes,” Leena said, “but you're probably pretty close to the truth. What do I know? Someone needed to do it.”
Leena began to wander down the hall, and Lenth followed. “Oh, Leena, Six isn't a Provider, by the way. He came from a couple of floors below that. Unit Subject. Like I was, but in a different Unit.”
“I have no idea what you're talking about,” Leena said.
“Units. We live below the Providers, and Rubbermen. Among other things, the Units grow what the food is made out of.”
“Grow food?” Leena chuckled. “What are you talking about? Food doesn't grow, dummy.”
“It does! I didn't know either. My Unit doesn't grow anything, but I've seen the 'trees' that they get the papayas from, and the papayas go into the food. And don't even ask what they feed the trees, not if you want to sleep tonight!”
Leena's incredulous expression stopped Lenth from explaining any more. It sounded ridiculous. How do you explain that these tree-things are living, unmoving giants, twisted and hard, with weird green bits coming out of their many arms, who eat the rotting dead, and make food from it?
Thinking about it made Lenth wish he'd taken the time to see the other trees. Like a rice tree, or a beet tree. Did they all look the same except the fruit? So many types of trees. Strange to think they're alive. So life isn't just humans. It's humans and like...six kinds of trees! Who knew?
“So, Provider guy, are you following me for a reason? Showtime is over. Are you thinking of some nekkid grunty fun? Because to be totally honest, I'm not in the mood after your buddy did his stabby thing.”
“I...wasn't really thinking about that. I just...the only two people I know around here are you and Mike, and between the two choices...”
Leena scoffed in amusement. “Gotcha.”
“And I'm not quite a Provider, I think. My name is Lenth.”
“All right, not-quite-a-Provider-I-think-Lenth, what's your grand plan?”
The surrounding Citizens, some dealing with Six's attack, and some heading in for a resupply of food, were thinning out a bit as Lenth and Leena got further from the elevator. Lenth noticed how big the hallway was . Just as wide as the elevator, and a metre or so higher than most ceilings. The walls were marred with grime collected over time, and the occasional smudge which hinted at burns or blood. Pictures were on the walls as well. Some small, some grand, all crudely created, and all in dark, near-colourless tones.
“My plan?” Lenth said. “I was looking for answers about my Brother's death. Found 'em, too. But I guess while I was looking, I started finding things. Things I didn't know were out there.” He chuckled and looked Leena up and down. “Like women! I never knew!”
“What? I was right? You've never...”
“Nope. I learned about it recently, though,” Lenth said.
Leena couldn't help but laugh. “What, you learned about it? How, from a magazine?”
“What's a magazine?” Lenth said. “I learned it from a video.”
That did it. Leena burst into hysterics, imagining Lenth perched in front of a little TV, taking notes in a studious trance—which hadn't been that far from the truth.
“How is that funny?” Lenth asked. “How is a person supposed
to learn it?”
Leena forced her laughter down to a dark, rolling giggle. She pressed Lenth against the wall, unzipping her clothes half way down. “Have a peek,” she said darkly. “Are you telling me you need instructions to get ideas?”
Lenth found himself staring, and being invited, he didn't feel a great need to look away in the name of manners. Mind you, he was stunned anyway.
“See, you get it,” Leena said, zipping up and continuing down the hall. “It all figures itself out.”
Lenth composed himself as well as he could and trailed along behind her. He was just thankful that he hadn't had to deal with any swelling. “I don't understand how you...and I guess I mean all Citizens I've met so far, can be so casual about sex and death. I mean, what Six did was horrible! I'm still expecting him to jump out and attack again! He could be anywhere! And you're teasing me and showing—”
They came to the end of the hall. The room it led to was the biggest thing Lenth had ever seen. His mind went immediately to what Gabe had once said about a place with no ceiling. There was a ceiling here. It was just very, very high, about eight floors up.
It curved slightly, like they were under some huge, wide bowl turned upside down. In the centre of the ceiling, the elevator shaft protruded, connecting the top of the dome to the structure Lenth and Leena had just exited. The elevator shaft ran right through the open centre of Citizenry.
Eight 'ribs' spread out from the top of the elevator shaft, reaching down along the curve, all the way to the edges of the grand room’s floor. Each 'rib' was at least five people wide.
From place to place, the walls had arrays of windows into smaller rooms. Doors to them were joined by platforms railed off to help prevent falls, and once-graceful staircases joined them all to each other and the floor. The stairs had seen quite a bit of damage. Some were useless, and some had been repaired in obvious ways with metal plates. They were attached by many means. The only one he could make out from a distance were some kind of black rope. Some of the repairs left crude ramps where steps had once been.
As unsafe as it looked to Lenth, a few people were walking and even running on them.
The enormous sight stopped Lenth in his tracks, and his knees felt weak. A mild sense of vertigo swept over him, and for a moment, he didn't notice the activity in front of him.
“Lenth. Wake up,” Leena said.
Lenth snapped out of his gawking. “Oh? Oh! What's going on?”
“Mike's feeling important and doing his thing.”
Looking forward, Lenth saw the vast expanse of scrap and ruin. Structures made from anything and everything littered the area. They varied from from modest homes, to work areas, play fields, to things of unknowable intent.
Wide paths led out of the hall and through the scattered clutter, debris and 'structures' in the room. One brought Lenth and Leena to a crowd of about fifty Citizens around a raised platform, upon which Mike testified.
“Attention, people,” Mike called out with tempered good will, “Many of you know what's happened, and some of you know bits and pieces. I was there, I saw it all, and I want to make sure truths are known before rumours get confused and muddied, as rumours tend to do.
“First, the good news. Yes, food has arrived as expected. I see many of you have already gotten yours. I don't have to remind anyone what happens if people get unreasonably greedy, so good is good.
“Second, I see some of you are bleeding. You've met one of our newest inhabitants, an angry fellow who likes knives. He's from really deep down, bottom rung Unit Lofu, so we can't expect much in civility. I saw four dead people on my way out, and a lot more hurt. I've sent runners to go fetch some medical necessities, and we'll get right on treating the injured as best we can.
“Thirdly, good news on that front. We also have another new inhabitant, at least for a while: a Provider!”
Mike held his hand out to point towards Lenth. The crowd turned to look at Lenth, and all he could do was shift uncomfortably. Mike quickly took the attention back.
“Our new friend Lenth here will take care of our little stabby-man problem, after which,” and Mike paused for emphasis, “after which, I'll summon Messenger with the communication box, if Lenth wishes. Then he can go about whatever other adventures await such a hero! Ah, I see my runner coming back with medical supplies, so I'll just get to business. Oh, if you see that stabby Lofu, do tell Lenth here.”
The gathering slowly started to dissipate as Mike stepped off the platform, stopping to talk to various people.
“Leena,” Lenth asked quietly, “what's Lofu?”
Leena rolled her eyes with a smirk. “Lesser Outsider From Under.”
“Lesser outsider?” Lenth asked. “Are there better outsiders?”
“You're a riot,” Leena said mirthlessly. “Outside of the Citizenry. Lesser as in not as good as us.”
“Ah.” Lenth stuck out his chin and nodded slowly. “So I guess that counts for me, too.”
“He didn't call you that,” Leena said. “Maybe he counts you as a Citizen now. Or maybe you're just useful.”
“Useful but lesser?” Lenth asked.
Leena smirked. “That attitude, minus the sarcasm, will get you far with Mike.”
“And the people that make your food? Are they lesser, too?” Lenth wondered aloud.
“I guess!” Leena paused for a moment, only giving it real thought for a split second before her Citizenship reasserted itself. “They're not as lesser than other lessers, I guess.”
“And Messenger? And Actual? Are they outsiders, or lesser?”
“You have odd thoughts, Lenth.” Leena looked back at the elevator shaft that reached up to the lofty ceiling. “They're...outsiders for sure. But they're not like us. They're...” she stared at the ceiling, looking for the right words.
“Better outsiders?” Lenth offered.
Leena looked at him in all seriousness, and studied his face for a moment. “Yeah. Yeah, maybe that's a good way of putting it. We're...”
“Do you think they call you Citizens 'Lofu'?”
“Stop thinking so much, Lenth.”
The group was nearly dissipated, and Mike wandered towards the two of them.
“Well, that went well!” Mike said, grinning. He accepted a large, worn medical bag from his runner and slung it over his shoulder.
“Subtle, Mike,” Leena said, “how you spelled out that Lenth can't go until he's gotten rid of the other guy.”
“Liked that, did ya?” Mike chuckled as he did a quick little inspection of his bag's contents. “I thought it sounded right leaderly of me!”
“His name is Six,” added Lenth quietly.
“Who?” Mike closed his bag, apparently satisfied. “Oh, oh, Mister Stabby. Right. Six, whatever. Hey, do you have a knife, Lenth? I hope you have a knife, it might help.”
Lenth shook his head.
“Ah. Pity. Leena, can you take our brave boy here up to our den and let him pick something out from the pokey-rack? Not my best ones, of course, but the main racks should have something that suits him.”
“Sure,” Leena said.
“You're a doctor, Mike?” Lenth asked.
Mike patted his medical bag. “Nope. No one here is, but I've figured out enough. I've read a couple of manuals. Lot of pictures.”
“You can read!” Lenth said, partly as a question, eyebrows high.
“Yes,” Mike said with a fairly smug look. “I've been able to read for a long time! I've mastered it! Well. Mostly.”
“Don't tease the Lofu, Mike,” Leena said. “Mike reads well enough to get by. As well as anyone.”
“I bet 'anyone' is better than me at it,” Lenth said. “I'm pretty new at it. The Providers, though, they all seem great at it. Probably better than any of us.”
Mike coughed. “I highly doubt any Provider is better at anything than a Citizen is.”
Lenth looked away and shrugged. Providers sure seemed to be better at doctoring, making food, or operating the cen
tral elevator, but it didn't seem worth bringing up.
“Come on,” Leena nudged Lenth. “Let’s go get your pokey poke.”
Chapter Eighteen
Poking Around
Lenth followed along beside Leena as they crossed the huge common room towards one of the haphazard ramps. As they walked, they passed a group of three Citizens.
“Leena, food's here?” one of them asked.
“Yeah. Hey, you guys haven't seen a stranger in the last little while? Besides this guy here. Probably has bloody hands and stuff? Did a lot of damage, some dead people.”
The trio looked surprised and didn't have any useful information. Leena gave them a brief warning before she and Lenth continued on their way.
“Who were those people?” Lenth asked.
“I don't know. I mean, I've seen them around, but I don't know their names.”
Lenth looked back at them as he walked, then back at Leena. “They knew you.”
“Yeah, most people know me. I'm kinda with Mike and stuff, and, well...”
“I only knew about four people all my life, and I know them all. Not knowing people that you live around...” Lenth glanced around, spotting others in the distance. “It's just really weird for me. I guess I'm weird to you and the other Citizens.”
Leena shrugged. “Hadn't thought about it much. Four people all your life, huh? Does that have something to do with why you couldn't get a girl?”
“Pretty much. There were no girls.” Lenth chuckled nervously.
Leena whistled a long, low note. “Boy. That sucks. Wait. Am I the first girl you've ever seen?”
“No, no, I met some Provider women. You're nothing like them, though.”
“What, they got no...?” She swayed back and forth and ran her hands down along her body in an exaggerated way.
Lenth stared at her, shaking his head. “I'm not even sure what that was.”
With a weathered gaze, Leena walked on. “Oh, you poor boy, you,” she said sullenly. “Gonna have to get you an education.”
They passed a few more Citizens as they approached the ramp, and asked them if they'd seen a stranger with bloody hands. No luck. They started up the ramp, and Lenth could now see that it was a mix of metal slabs built into the wall, fragments of the original staircase, and chunks of anything flat and big enough to be lashed on. Electrical cables, bungee cords, regular rope, and unidentified bits bound the whole mess together.
Rubberman's Cage Page 15
