cityscape

Ego went crazy, had a hard time calming it down. The gov got the whole city burning, neon light in every alley, and where the shine don’t reach, the ir cams keep their ever watchful glass eyes open. Look out for law-breakers, every citizen is a suspect, too many laws, you’ve got to break some to obey others.

The sirens passed and my heart slowed down to walking pace. No sleep for days, had to find a tin coffin somewhere, not safe on the streets. It’s not the gangs and geeks I fear, it’s the law force, their steel-capped boots and shiny handcuffs. Once you’re into the interrogation tanks, you can kiss the night-sky good-bye for a long, long time.

The Lone One got out by “accident”, had some fingers into that “accident”, actually. Anyway, the Lone One got out and the Jeffrey got in, they caught him while on the line, camera from a nearby phone booth must have spotted him, red handed, still had his hands on the keyboard when they broke them.

Sick situation, now the Lone One and me had to climb fences, checking in and out of their files, couldn’t pick him up until we knew the loc. Anyway, I heard the Coke tell tale of the copters taking him right to the towers. Sec-sect.

I only remember one person ever getting in and out of the towers without clearance, and that person got “robbed and stabbed to death” the day after. Quite an accident I would say, with the law literally stomping the whole district that very day.

Tried to talk the Lone One out of that biz, but she wouldn’t hear about that. Had a life dept to the Jeffrey, she said, and that the Jeffrey had to be taken out of the tank quickly. On that I didn’t argue, had seen the look in the Lone One’s eyes when we got her out, and it had taken two hours and quite an amount of uppers to push that look back to the hidden regions of the “I am”.

So we sat in front of the map screen and the Lone One popped another pro. Chances were good that the law was already fetching her family for “information gathering”. Straight to the tanks, that is. We had to fix some files quick, turn the Lone One into an orphan and her family into happy and loyal citizens with one mouth less to feed.

Phoned the Merry Child and had her bring her chips. Law had taken mine a week ago, “confiscated” because my fake license had expired. Lucky they didn’t check anything but the expiration date, told me that they would recharge it if I had the cash with me. Lied and told them I was broke, so they fined me for hanging around the corp gates without being employed there.

We had used the Jeffrey’s chips on the Lone One rescue run, but law had taken his board from his broken fingers. The Chilly One would surely rage, one of the Jeffrey’s chips had a stolen id on it, one which might be traced to the Chilly One’s neat and perfectly illegal backyard wares emporium.

The Merry Child arrived after daybreak. Safest time of day, when the neon dies the streets grow dark until noon, when finally the sunlight fights its way through the dirty sky.

She had even brought a second board, had been at the Chilly One’s store when my call got her, and the sleazy little salesman had actually given her a board for the Lone One. I hated him, but he liked the Lone One, and, of course, he knew what voodoo she could spread with a decent board and a black set of chips. He had told the Merry Child that he would break my nose if I touched that new board, so I let the girls start the dreaming and went to fetch some food.

Met some friends of the Jeffrey, told them to keep a low profile for the time being, but one of them had actually received word that the Jeffrey was being held in the Hoover-Tower. That would reduce searching time, and so I went back to tell the girls.

The Lone One had already succeeded in erasing herself from the family records and the Merry Child had cleared the rest of the tracks that the Jeffrey and me had left behind during the rescue run. They initiated the search algorithm and I went back to the streets again to finally buy something to eat.

The law was already waiting downstairs, demanding an explanation. A street-cam had spotted me and alerted them to my turning back without buying anything. I pulled out my wallet and told them I had forgotten it upstairs. Instinct.

They were in a mood anyway, and fined me for leaving home without money. Remember, you are customer first and citizen second.

While the girls were eating, I used the Merry Child’s board to access some of the tower’s cams. The Lone One really knew her way with the law chips, she had entered the core like a fly through a keyhole, no alarm, no security breach. Perfect.

While the search pattern ran, I took a longing glance at the Lone One’s new board. Quite a babe, it looked simple and sleek, must be one of those rare arabian designs, I saw that the Chilly One had fixed some of the slots so the western wares chips would fit.

I dared not touch that beauty, for I knew the Chilly One’s eyes must be watching, monitoring my every move, and, of course, spying on the Lone One. Had quite a lot of wires tapped, I knew that he spied on people, and he had a crush on the Lone One, though he was far too shy to ever ask her out.

I grinned and turned back to the screen. The choice was down to four cells in the tower. You had to search for faces, when they brought you to the towers, you lost your id, “confiscated”. If you ever got out, you would receive a new one, though most people who left the towers went straight to the cemetery.

I checked the pictures, but even I couldn’t tell those faces apart. I could eliminate one, but any of the remaining three could be the Jeffrey, their faces were pale, frightened, and maimed.

The Lone One was gazing over my shoulder. Neither she nor the Merry Child could identify the Jeffrey, so the Lone One started her magic on all three of them. Prison transfer, they would be taken to Nixon-Tower in twenty-five minutes, but once they were in the tube, the guards would receive an emergency call. The shuttle would then stop somewhere in between and open it’s doors. The Jeffrey would know what to do, head for the sewers, fewer cams down there, easier to escape.

I went down to the basement and broke into the service office. Five minutes later I had access to the power supply. I waited, hidden in a dark corner next to the environmental controls, and watched the security cam swivel in its wall mount.

The Lone One called and gave me the go. I flicked the switches as fast as I could, all except the one for my apartment. The whole building went dark and I heard the camera fall silent.

That’s a strange feeling, all of a sudden you are absolutely alone, no one watching you, no one listening. Peaceful. Tranquil.

Ok, I did get nervous, so I started fixing up the power supply, should look like an accidental break-down.

In my mind, I tried to visualize the other people in the building, sitting in front of their dead television sets, stunned, disturbed. Maybe some of them would feel the same tranquility, but most would just be running to their phones to call the tech staff.

I guess I had another five minutes before a janitor with a sec guy would enter the basement and head for the service room, so I stood there in the dark silence, and mentally started counting seconds. I must have lost track several times, for that strange feeling of being absolutely cut off from the rest of the world overwhelmed me.

My phone beeped and the Merry Child whispered that the shuttle was now on it’s way, most tracks covered, and the programs done with the tower interface. Time to leave.

I switched on the power again and my short circuit worked out, there was a hot flash of light and the fuses burned out. Now the whole building, including my apartment would be dead, cut off.

By the time I had reached my place, I had really gotten an eerie feeling. All the floors of the building had been dark, and silent. You could usually hear some music or television from within the other apartments, but now I could nearly hear the people breathe, standing in their rooms, listening.

We sat down near the two boards and their dead screens, eating the rest of my cold chinese food, when suddenly the Merry Child burst into hysterical laughter.