Edgar raised an eyebrow and turned to Leena. “Your Lofu has been sniffing?” He turned back to Lenth. “The things you speak of are gifts from Actual, brought to us all by Messenger. It is foolish to be ungrateful to Actual.”
“Did Messenger say that?” Lenth asked with a furrowed brow. “Ugh. Not important right now. Do you know where Six is?”
Sipping once more from his dizzy water, Edgar paced in front of his pillow-throne slowly. “Hiding. He found Mike's welcome to be most unpleasant, holding him with his guards. It was only lucky that Six had weapons hidden on himself.”
“Guards?” Leena spat. “There were no guards there! People were there to pick up food! No one tried to grab Six, they just couldn't get out of the way of him and his knives fast enough!”
“So you say,” Edgar said, “and I'd expect nothing less from Mike's woman.”
“I say so too!” Lenth said. “I was there. Six almost killed Leena, then he ran off slashing through a crowd!”
“Mike's woman and a Lofu!” Edgar chuckled. “Convincing indeed!”
“If the word of a 'Lofu' isn't any good to you, then why are you defending one?” Lenth asked.
Leena huffed and stared. “He doesn't care about Six one bit, he just sees a chance to make Mike look like a bad guy. That won't work, Edgar. There were too many people there who saw everything. Too many hurt. Six needs to be taken care of, or thrown back down the elevator at least!”
Edgar was silent, looking at his clasped hands.
“Edgar,” Lenth said. “He’s killed a lot of people for no good reason. In the Citizenry and below. I'm not looking for revenge's sake, I just can't sit by and let it go on.”
“No good reason?” Edgar asked. “It sounded like he had some very compelling reasons. Did you know a man in a black rubber suit made him work for his whole life, and the man in the rubber suit was controlled by your precious Providers?”
Lenth lowered his head. “True. Actually, I came from a very similar situation as Six. I bet he got shocked by his Rubberman more than once, when he didn't do what he was supposed to. And he told me that his Rub—” Lenth paused, imagining Six's Rubberman crashing through the grating, killing one of his Brothers. An accident. And his own Rubberman, Phil, and the death of Slim. An accident.
If Phil had crashed onto Slim...if Phil had been right there to seek vengeance on right at that moment...
“No,” Lenth said. “Even then. Then he went on killing Providers who had no connection to him.”
Edgar peered at Lenth with quiet scepticism. “You do not hate that you were used by the Providers for their daily needs?”
“It's...difficult. I didn't take a lot of time to think about it before I met some. They're people. Most of them pretty nice. And don't forget, they're also making your daily needs. If they were using me, it was for your sake, too.”
“Again with this blaspheme against Actual!” Edgar threw up his hands and faced the banners around him.
“Uh, Edgar,” Leena spoke up, “you should worry less about where Lenth thinks food comes from, and more about where Six thinks it's going.”
Edgar looked at Leena with a quizzical glare. “Explain.”
“If Six feels like he's been used, and is out for blood, and he thinks like Lenth does—that Citizens are living off of his work...why do you think Six would stop at raging against Providers?”
“He said Mike's men were—”
“You talked to him?” Lenth asked.
“Oh lovely!” Leena said. “And how many of your own armed guards were standing around when this little chit-chat took place? Wanna know how many people were armed when Six cut into Mike's followers? Nobody but Six!”
“And why should I believe any of this?” Edgar bellowed.
Looking at the floor and shrugging, Lenth calmly replied, “—because every Citizen and Provider is a likely target to get stabbed to death next?”
“Yup,” Leena said, nodding impishly at Lenth and Edgar, “that's a good motivator.”
Edgar looked around as if spotting snippets of wisdom out of the air around him. He drank the last dribbles of his dizzy water and tossed the cup onto the pillow-throne.
“Edgar,” Lenth implored, “I don't understand the conflict between you and Mike all that well, but this is more important than your...whatever it is.”
Edgar stared at Lenth with one eye closed and pointed at him for a moment before letting his arm drop lazily back to his side. “Huh!” Edgar walked over his pillow-throne to get behind it and pulled out a long weapon. It was a length of pipe that stood a little taller than him. The blade, hammered flat from the top thirty centimetres of the pipe, was simple but dignified. Pipe fittings along the shaft served as grips, and the top one supported a modest flourish of fabric, stained dark from old blood.
He beat the shaft of his spear against his chest twice to punctuate himself. The sound it made told Lenth that his robe had more to it that just fabric. “We sort this out now,” Edgar said.
“What?” Lenth gripped his sword a little tighter, wondering if he could counter Edgar's attack. Edgar undoubtedly had more experience in fighting than Lenth. The bloody rag on his spear spoke to that well enough. But Lenth was younger, and had been kept in optimal physical condition by his daily Unit workouts.
He remembered the weapons he had selected from, and how he had considered the weaknesses of a long weapon. Maybe if he could evade Edgar's first strike, even if it meant taking a hit from the blunt shaft rather than the blade, he could quickly counter with the sword. Better yet, the knife. In desperation, the spikes of his knuckles. He was well armed with options.
“Relax, Lofu,” Edgar said, walking past him, “I don't leave home without Gungnir.”
“Who?”
Not bothering to break stride, Edgar raised his spear over his head. “Gungnir! I got the name from a book!”
Leena prodded Lenth to get moving, and found that one of the two guards following behind. “I have to have a look at some of the books around here some time. Where did they come from?”
Edgar still didn't bother to turn back to face them as he answered, “They've been around for longer than anyone can say.” He pointed his spear up to the top of the elevator shaft. “Likely from Actual originally. I'm not sure.”
“Or Providers?” Lenth asked, catching up.
“Huh. I suppose that is possible, but it seems unlikely that a Lofu could make such things.”
Lenth resisted lecturing Edgar again on all the things he owed to the Providers. It didn't feel like a good time to push his luck. “Aren't we going to go see Mike?” he said, noticing that Edgar wasn't leading them to the gate out of the Refuge.
“Yes. Yes,” Edgar said, “but first we get Six. It just makes sense, no?”
“What?” Leena said. “You've been keeping him here?”
“Yes, I ran into him. After some difficulty with introductions, he explained that he was attacked outside of the elevator, and had to fight his way out. He climbed the wall of the Refuge, trying to hide. So I helped him clean up, and he offered to help with the next meal. Very nice fellow, really.”
Lenth thought about it. Maybe all Six needed was some understanding and kindness. Maybe Edgar caught Six unprepared to start a fight, and that gave talking a chance. Maybe Six didn't feel the need to defend himself from things like Rubbermen and Providers any more. Six did get off on the wrong foot with them, after all.
“Oh,” Edgar said as they came to a nook in the Refuge, where he expected to find Six. “Dead person.” A man in pants and nothing else was lying in front of them, face down. A pool of blood seemed to come from the abdominal area, and a couple of smears of it were spread across the floor. Traces of the dead man's bloody hand-prints were around him here and there.
There was no way out, other than how they had come in. Lenth whirled to face behind them, and readied his sword. Getting the knife out of the glove's spikes was a little clumsier than he'd hoped, but he soon stood ready for c
ombat with both blades ready. The guard who had come with them had the same idea, and had readied his spear.
“Boys, relax,” Leena said. “From the look of the blood, this happened a while ago. Edgar, who's this guy?”
Edgar knelt down by the body and pulled him over by his shoulder. The wound left the floor with a wet sound, and no longer being held in with the pressure of the floor, more blood oozed out. “Eh, I know him. Is a good guy. Is...name starts with a 'D', I think. Eh, Daryl? Doug? Something like Doug. Dave?”
“You don't even know?” Lenth asked, still facing away, scanning around for signs of Six.
“I'm going to go with 'Dave',” Edgar said.
A woman ran in from around the corner. “Robert!” she cried, running to the body's side, collapsing to embrace him.
“I was close,” Edgar said, standing back up.
This woman's reaction was more like what Lenth expected. Her display of grief at least told him that not all Citizens were so callous about death. Lenth knelt by her and spoke softly, “Excuse me. I'm trying to find the person who did this. Do you know—?”
She turned her head to Lenth, bleary-eyed with shock. “The Lofu?”
“Yes,” Lenth sighed, “his name is Six—”
“I know. Damned Lofus! We should kill them as soon as they pop up!”
“Six is not like most of us,” Lenth said quietly. “Do you have any idea which way he went?”
She shook and settled in to cry under Robert's chin.
“He said before that he didn't want to come here,” Edgar said quietly. Everyone moved away from the body and the grieving woman except for Lenth.
“Is there...can I do something for you?” he asked. She only replied with a brisk hand motion, shooing him away. Edgar pulled him away. “I'll have the guards deal with the body and all,” Edgar said. “Six saw that the elevator shaft went further up and said that he was trying to go up more. I told him all about Actual, and he said he had a lot to think about.”
“Then we have to get to the elevator!” Lenth exclaimed. “Actual is in danger!”
“Six can't use the elevator, stupid,” Leena said.
“No, the great Actual is beyond harm,” Edgar rumbled, “but just maybe Messenger is in danger, if you believe such a thing is possible. Certainly Mike is in danger.”
“Oh what the fuck do you care about Mike, Edgar?” Leena spat.
“I do not hate Mike, I simply know I would be a better leader. Mike is popular because it was he who overthrew a horrible leader. If—”
“Is anyone else coming?” Lenth asked as he walked off briskly.
“Where are you going?” Leena asked.
“To the elevator, of course.”
“No,” Edgar said, “I'll go, and I'll take send my guard to bring a few more guards to join me. You two go to Mike's.”
Leena glared at Edgar for a moment. “You're right. Lenth, up we go again.”
Lenth jogged to keep up with Leena. “Leena, why is going the wrong way such a good idea?”
“Elevator doesn't come unless it's a regular time to drop off supplies or Messenger is called. The machine to call him is at Mike's.”
“How would Six know that?”
“Ask the dead guy. Doug, David, err...”
“Robert.”
“Right. Robert might have told Six anything.”
The trip to up the ramp was decidedly more strenuous jogging all the way. Lenth tripped a few times on the uneven surface, sacrificing caution for the sake of speed.
Short of breath, they arrived at Mike's place and heard a voice coming loud and clear from the other room.
“—And we could have him there in ten minutes.”
“It's Six, it has to be,” Lenth whispered.
Leena nodded and they readied their weapons, creeping as quietly as possible towards the bedroom. As they came in, they saw that the weapons rack had been ransacked. Half of the weapons were dumped on the floor, and most of the rest were hanging haphazardly.
They tensed up as they heard a crash from the darkened little doorway in the corner, followed by two more crashes.
“Fuuuuuuck, fuck, fuck, fuck...” Leena whispered to herself.
With bloody hands once more, and carrying Mike's longest blade, Six stepped into the light. Speckles and gobs of blood reached all the way up to his face, but his hands and forearms were nearly as red as the blade.
“What have you done, Six?” Lenth asked, weapons in hand.
Six smiled wide and tilted his head. “I just called for a ride, is all.”
“That's all?” Leena growled, staring at Six with restrained rage. “Then what's the blood about? I've seen Mike use the machine a lot of times, and it never bled.”
As if he hadn't expected anyone to notice the blood, he shrugged, holding his blade out to the side. “Oh. Oh yes, there were some problems,” Six said, “A difference in opinion of what should be said to the machine. Did you know it doesn't talk back? At first I thought they were shy, but I think the talking back part might be broken.”
Chapter Twenty
Deported
Leena brought her machete forward, holding it with both hands. She shifted her weight back and forth, looking for her chance to approach. Lenth followed her example, readying his 'sword'.
“Huh, I guess I should have expected this,” Six said.
“Is Mike in there?” Lenth asked.
Six glanced back behind him. “Yeah. Well, someone is. I never got his name.”
“Is he dead?” Leena almost choked on the word 'dead', only really considering the idea as it came out of her mouth. The blood seemed to bear an obvious answer, but foolish hope demanded that the question be asked.
Six smiled wide, looking around with mock incredulity. “What am I, a doctor? Do you want to rush in and see if you can help? Fine by me, I'll get out of your way, but you need to get out of my way first. A nice wide path.”
Lenth looked over to Leena, who was standing with a wide stance, ready to fight. Her machete wiggled visibly from her trembling.
Six leaned his head towards the exit, raised his eyebrows, and asked, “Well?”
Leena yelled a guttural sound, and moved the machete to one hand, before moving back, out of the way. Lenth followed suit.
“Interesting company you're keeping, Lenth,” Six said, dashing to the exit. Leena rushed into the small room where the communication device was kept. Lenth stood there, looking in both directions. Go try to help Mike, or chase after Six? And if he caught Six, then what? Try to kill him?
Leena screamed. He dashed back to the communication room. In front of him, Leena was on her knees, staring at Mike's body. His neck was hacked so deeply that the ridges of several vertebrae could be seen easily. There were splatters of blood on the walls, and the floor was a vast pool of red.
Mike had other cuts and minor injuries, but his neck was such a mess, it was hard to focus on anything else. It looked as if Six was trying to chop his head right off.
Leena was still. Silent. Lenth didn't know what to do. He looked at the only other thing of note in the little room, a small table with something that was seemingly the communication device. It was smashed quite well, and much of Mike's blood was on it and in it. Mike would have died what...ten minutes ago? Five? It depends on how long it took Six to figure out the device.
“He's going to the elevator,” Leena said in a squeak. “Go.”
“Come with me.”
“No,” she whispered.
“I get it,” Lenth said, “I do, but you can't stay here. At least come as far as another person. Don't be alone with this.”
“With this? With Mike?” Leena finally turned away from Mike's body. As she turned, her knee came up from the blood, and she felt it trickle down her shin. She eyes widened as reality struck a little deeper into her mind. A desperate rasp, too rough to be a cry, came from her as Lenth helped her to her feet.
“We have to go,” Lenth said, feeling more grief for Leen
a's loss than Mike's death itself. She was slow to leave the room, reliant on Lenth's arm around her shoulders. When they get out onto the ramp, Lenth saw Six running down it, already near the bottom. “There he is,” Lenth said.
Leena looked up and her defeated posture snapped. She brought her machete up, adjusting her grip on it, then bolted forward with a grunt. Stunned for a moment, Lenth collected himself and gave chase. Leena was fast. Lenth had to struggle to keep up, already a handful of metres behind her. His gloves and weaponry were surprisingly cumbersome for running.
He tripped, handing hard on the ramp. It shook violently, threatening to break apart and drop him. He landed on his forearms and had the luck to keep his face away from the gloves' spikes. As he tumbled, he was unaware of letting go of the sword, but heard it clatter off the edge, fated to fall to the commons floor. When he stopped, he was sitting, facing forward. Leena was still running, having not noticed Lenth fall. Or maybe just not caring enough to stop.
He got up, checked the knife in his glove, and started running. Six was nowhere to be seen, but there was no question about which way he was going. Lenth was a lot farther behind Leena now.
“Wait for me!”
“No!”
“We have to stick together!” Lenth was suddenly reminded of being with Diane when she was attacked by Six. He didn't help much then, but he was determined to make a difference now. Even if he arrived too late to prevent an attack, he would at the very least avenge it. He pulled the knife out from his glove as he ran, and sacrificed caution for more speed.
A life of 'Lofu' exercise was winning out again, especially when they got off of the ramp. When Lenth caught up with Leena, she looked ragged.
“Gonna...get...him...” she said between breaths.
“Don't get caught alone with him,” Lenth said. It was more likely that Six was headed right for the elevator, but an ambush from Six was far from out of the question. Lenth decided not to run ahead and leave Leena on her own.
The elevator shaft loomed closer and closer, but gave no clues about where Messenger and the elevator currently were. Ahead, a couple of Edgar's guards jogged into view, also headed for the elevator's building. Lenth glanced at Leena and she nodded at him. Lenth went ahead to talk to the guards.
Rubberman's Cage Page 18
