-1-

Jean Dory told me he was an insider.

 Someone who has connections everywhere.  He’s a friend to all; and  with enough time and resources, he could find out any information about anyone.

But I don’t believe him.

I think he is a mad man though.

He talks like one, he laughs like one, he looks like one.

And he drives like one.

The once pearly gray sports car is making donuts and U-turns in the sand,  kicking up ash and threatening to turn over at any minute. He pushes on the accelerator as hard as it will go then twists the wheel all the way to the left. His hands leave the steering wheel as we swerve to the right and we fishtail through the sand.

"Wooo!," he yelps waving both his hands in the air and laughing.

“Stop, you’re going to kill us !” I say for the hundredth time and I mean it. I’ve been for joyrides before, but this is dangerous.  It's fucking homicidal.

He does the maniacal laugh and finally steers the car back on to the single lane road and gunning it to 100 mph all the way to Mojave.

After picking up the car, Jean and I were tasked with heading back to the Sprawl to pick up clothes and supplies and bring them back to the safe house in Mojave--where we will stay until the hit. I don’t understand why Sara left Luce with Rayne if we were all going to be in the same town, but I didn’t question her.

Jean and I had done a quick sweep of the house, coming back with two padlocked trunks and two suitcases of clothes.

He fiddles hopelessly with the radio, but no sound comes out. When he got the car, his friend Neal had told him it was cut off from all satellites and grids; no GPS, no autopilot, no radio.

After a minute of fidgeting he settles for the silence as we speed across the desert.

“So,” I begin and he turns to me, the road an afterthought. “Do you think Saint is in anyway connected to this Externus Unlimited lab ?”

"Alan, listen,  we don't ask questions about the big guy. I'm sure whatever he went through, however Sara and he met, we are better off not knowing. New subject." 

"What did Sara do to Luce back there ? I mean it was like she pressed an off switch or something."

Jean laughs at this and I think he is going to expand, but all he says is

"Funny. New subject."

I get the feeling he won't talk about Sara to me anymore.

"What was growing up in Fort Perch like ?"

“You ask a lot of fucking questions.”.

This is what he says when he doesn’t want to answer me.

“I guess...you told me about Sara and her reasons I’m just curious about why you chose to…. to live this life.”

He looks at me again.

“I didn’t really choose it,” ge says, reaching for the useless radio knob again. “I mean yes, I ultimately chose to leave home, but that was because I knew I couldn’t live there. I was suffocating under the pressure and rules and conformity. I came to the sprawl to get away and I got addicted.”

“Like Minnie ?”

My sentence hangs in the air and I wonder if I have overstepped a boundary by calling her an addict.

“Not, like Minnow, she has a small addiction. I was addicted to biofixes; more adrenaline in my heart, more light in my eyes, more  nerves in my dick. Make my eyes bigger, my body tighter, my nose smaller. I’ve got so many drugs running through my body I feel like a time bomb sometimes.”

I’d always admired Jean for never seeming to need more stimulation than a sip of alcohol. I thought he was in control, but in reality everything was controlling him

“It all got expensive and I was in serious debt to the wrong people.” he continued. “Even with my fuck money I was in deep shit. Sara offered to let me help with a hit and it paid well and Rayne fed my fix addiction and eventually I had to join him. It’s been what it’s been. He takes care of us.”

“He’s not going to make me join, is he ?”

Jean shook his head

“It’s not that easy. You have to be useful.”

We continue to drive in silence as we approach Mojave again.  We pass under the bright holographic sign and speed down the pristine black pavement. The safe house sits on the outer edge of the small city, in the middle of a desert field. The house is small a sleek spherical design of stained wood, glass and tinted windows surrounded by a high black gate.

When Jean pulls up the gate swings open for us and we pull inside a garage. As we get out the car the garage door swings open and Minnie is standing there.

“Where’s my stuff ?” she asks Jean, hanging on to his arm as he walks through the house.

The inside is decorated meticulously in black and silver, it looks like a model house no one ever lived in. 

Minnie grabs a sequined bookbag from Jean’s shoulder and look through it.

“Where’s my shit, Jean ?,” she whines

“Oops,” he says, brushing past her and sauntering into one of the bedrooms.

Minnie dumps the content of the bag out on to the floor and runs her fingers desperately through makeup, mini perfumes and nail polishes.

I step  into the living room to see it is lit up by several large projections. Sara stands in the middle of them all, watching. In one I see Jedidiah Morrissey, our target, sitting alone in a lab filling syringes with a milky white substance.  In another I see the same lab, but Morrissey is going over pieces of equipment with a cloth.

In the a smaller third screen I see Morrissey speaking at a press conference for the launch of some college scholarships and I feel my heart squeeze in my chest.  My Dad is in the background of the video.

He is standing in for Mr. Kyto to present the Tempus Scholarship. It’s an old video, a news clipping and  I don’t even remember that day, but seeing him brings me the worst kind of grief.

Sara’s eyes wander over to the news clip and I wonder if she notices. I wonder if she see the resemblance and if she is putting it together in her head.

What if she knows ? Is this some kind of test ?

“Do you see it ?,” she asks

I jump.

“I—I don’t--”

“Look. Morrissey is changing out the security loops with his own footage to cover his tracks.”

She points to the video of Morrissey filling syringes and the video of him cleaning the equipment.

“This is live footage of him right now. He is running a program to replace it in real time with the footage of him inspecting equipment. He’s smart.”

I'm still shaking off the suspicion, but I try and speak.

“ Do you think that is going to make this harder ?” I ask. “Like maybe he is expecting this ?”

“I have no idea,” she sighs. “ I’m going to be watching him all this week, but it doesn’t look like The Mjollner is giving him any guards or protection.  They must assume he is safe in Ft. Perch. This will be a fool’s game.”

She goes back to the screen and I look back at the press conference footage and see the loop has restarted. My Dad isn’t on the screen anymore, but when he does appear I send him a silent message that I’m still here and doing whatever I have to to stay alive and I'll be home soon.

-2-

***

This is how I learn to kill a man.

The instructions are simple: See one, do one. But, don’t worry you probably won't have to do this.

Probably.

These are the bullets

This is how you shoot a gun.

This is the recoil.

This is how to get the residue off.

Always run.

This is where to hide.

This is how to hide.

This is how to be quiet.

Drive fast.

This is how  we escape.

I know how to do everything, but I don’t know how to be okay with this.

This is how to move on.

This is how to forget.

This is how to stop caring.

I can definitely do this now, but I still don't know how to be  okay with this.

___

We don’t stay at the safe house long.  On the Friday before the kill we head to the Metronome Hotel, the location of the ball. I learn it's a high profile 4-star venue for nearly every significant Republican event but somehow, their security sucks.

Jean takes the car ahead of us into Fort Perch, he has a fake permit that says he is delivering equipment for the ball. The rest of us take the elevation train. There are a few other passengers on the train with us, so they have to blend. Saint wears a knit cap pulled down over his forehead and Minnie has her hair pulled back in a way to hide most of the purple.

The goal is to be unremarkable.

I start to fall asleep on the train ride again, but Minnie keeps pinching my arm to keep me awake. She’s been in a horrible mood lately and I think she is just being bitchy, but  soon I see what she wants me to see.

If Mojave is an oasis in the desert Fort Perch is a sanctuary.

The first thing I see is the elegant and cleverly designed skyline, every building is shaped to complement it’s neighbors design. The skyscrapers are all adorned at the top with different  decorative features.  The second thing I notice is even more brilliant.

Surrounding the city is a large dome, so thin and clear I lose track of it between blinks. Flying in the face of the dome is a white flag with the crest of both the EU and Republic, marking its sovereignty.

The train pulls slowly through a tight opening in the dome and we arrive in an elegant and marbled train station. Everyone stands in a single file line in front of the train door, when the door opens there is a police officer and a scanner at the front.

I watch as the people in front of me scan ID cards and exit, with a few pausing to sign in non-resident guests. Sara has an ID card, that she has rigged to be accepted by the machine using Minnie's information and  Saint, who also has a rigged ID gets in the same way. As I watch them disapear into the station, I wonder how exactly I am going to get in. I have no ID on me.

When Minnie gets to the gate she hands the policemen her card. She catches his eye and he is trapped.

“I need to sign in my boyfriend for the weekend,” she says and her hand loops into my back pocket.

The man smiles at her as he inputs my information. She tells him I’m 17, my name is Ian Lion and that I don’t have any ID because I live outside the sprawl. If he noticed anything suspicious he didn’t say anything as I was granted a visitors pass and we walked into the crowded train station.

There is recognizable life and vibrancy on every corner of the city and for the first time I feel at home. I see shops, stores and brand names that I recognize, nearly everyone is connected on SINdicates. Looming over  every corner are official looking black and gray government buildings completely outfitted with police and guards.  Their presence makes me feel safe, but also on guard.

The Metronome Hotel  is at the end of the block, right near the train station and looks almost like a mahogany mansion in the middle of the street. The stairs out front are wide and expansive, there are families and groups of suits sitting outside just enjoying the day.

We enter the grand atrium and I can see they are already preparing for the fundraiser ball tomorrow night.  A holographic image is circulating in the lobby with the pictures of all the donors.

Minnie and I enter  room 919 just after Sara and Saint. She is already back to work, watching the screens. I notice one of the screens shows an empty hotel suite, room 918 I would guess.  The one  Morrissey will be in  when they kill him.

“Okay, we need to prepare. I want to do a walk through, the hotel is going to be crowded tomorrow night, so there isn’t time for mistakes,” Sara says.

“Can we make this quick ?,”Minnie asks.

“Why do you have plans ?,” Sara frowns sarcastically.

“Actually, yeah. Pascal is in the city for training and I told him I would go and see him later tonight. He’s at the Asimov Hotel, it’s only a few blocks away.”

“Are you fucking kidding me ?,” Sara says exasperated

“Oh, come on, Sara. I know my part. Get him alone. Bring him here. This isn’t my first time, you know.”

“Fine,” she breathes. “Okay, let’s go over this again.”

I’m ashamed to say I’m almost in awe of Sara, because everyone has their parts and their place  and she is the one coordinating it all. Like Minnie, my job is simple.

Put a body in the trunk and then wait to clean up the blood.

Simple.

-3-

Minnie has dumped a small store full of makeup (that seems to have reproduced over the week) on the couch until she finds the bottle of polish she is looking for.  Taking the bottle she applies a thin coat to her teeth and it gives me her brilliant chemical smile.

“Ready to go, boyfriend ?” she laughs.

“What?,” I ask from my makeshift bed  on the hard floor.

The days up to the kill have been a lot of planning and yelling. The 12 hours before it are a quiet boring lull. Sara had claimed one of the beds in the hotel, taken a handful of sleeping pills with a shot of whiskey and had been knocked out for hours already. 

Meanwhile, Jean has been in the bathroom meticulously combing dye through his hair all evening.

“We need to stick together since you are here as my visitor. If someone scans my card and you aren’t with me, it may raise suspicion. You can come with me to see Pascal.”

I shudder at the thought out tagging along with whatever they get up to together.

She puts a think sheen of shimmery powder on  her face and then stands up in her pink and red boots.

She amazes me.

I’ve just never met anyone with her kind of confidence and beauty. No, it’s not beauty. It’s something more than that. Something unattainable.

Before I can think anymore she grabs my hand and opens the room door.

“See you later, Jean !” she calls

He merely grunts in response, which I realize means he is pissed about the whole situation; Minnie leaving, me going with her. But for whatever reason he won’t ever say anything to her.

Minnie pushes a pair of sunglasses over her eyes as we head out on to the street. It’s twilight out and the suits have been replaced with a younger and more casual crowd. Everywhere there are couples holding hands and enjoying a late night dinner. Minnie prances over to a small crowded promenade where a vendor is selling funnel cake and buys one. We sit at one of the tables and she tears into it, turning on some music in her SINdicate.

It's a newer digital track, I like it and can't place the band.

“Don't you love Gravity’s Angels ?,” she asked as the bass-y sound floods from her Syndicate.

“Yeah, I guess,” I say, even though I've never heard of the band.

“You guess ?  You mean they are fucking amazing.” She smiles and I do a pretend laugh.

We sit with the music as she tears piece after piece of the funnel cake and licks powder sugar off her fingers.

“I thought we were meeting Pascal,” I say after two songs.

“We are!” Is her only explanation. "Have some of this! Don’t you dare make me eat it all.”

She tears off a piece of fried dough, puts it in my mouth and I accept it even though she is starting to scare me.

Was it all a lie ?

Is this a date ?

My thoughts are dashed when I finally notice the Asimov Hotel on the Northside of the promenade. I watch the hotel intently, but Minnie seems pre-occupied with licking powder sugar off her fingers.

"So, this is like your hometown ?," I ask her.

"Ugh, don't remind me. I hope I don't run into anyone I used to kn--"

Her thought it cut off by a loud squeal as she gets up and runs to my right.

Pascal looks different. He has gained some weight and his skin has a sunkissed golden look. In his hand he has a single pink rose.

When Minnie reaches him they kiss. She  hugs him hard and wraps her legs around his waist and he carries her back to the table, setting her down on top of it. Her long legs staddle his waist as her fingers trail around his waistband and under his shirt.

“Hello, Hello, Mr. Alan Gray.  Still…visiting, huh ?,” he asks like there is an inside joke.

“Yeah,” I answer because I have no other response.

He turns his head  down to Minnie and kisses her again.

“I’ve  missed you,” he growls

“ Really? Could you be any later ?,” Minnie chides him, finally getting his shirt untucked.

“Yeah, I had to wait for Audrina to nod off.”

“Bitch.” Minnie stage whispers and smiles

“Hey, don’t talk about my girl like that,” he says gently, running his hands over her hair.

She rolls her eyes.

“What’d you bring me ?” she asks

“This beautiful rose?” he smiles, holding the flower out to her.

She takes it and throws it on the table.

"I'm not really interested in flowers." 

"How about a dinner for two ? I'm sure we can add on a third. The hotel has a special today."

“I’m sure you and your girl already had dinner. And so did we. So, let's get to the fun," she counters

“Fine,” he says taking her hand so she can hop of the table. “C’mon Alan, drinks on me.”

He walks us into a suite at the Asimov hotel and I start to think how much of my time kidnapped I’ve spent in hotel rooms. The hotel is nowhere near as nice as the Metronome, but it's still very polished.  The room is simple and formless--there is even a small kitchen in the corner.

Sitting on the coffee table are a couple of scales, medication bottles and solvents marked highly toxic. Directly next to them is an unopened bottle of blackberry schnapps, some champagne and chocolate covered strawberries.

By the time I’ve taken in the surroundings, Minnie has pulled of Pascal’s shirt and is playing with his belt. She looks different, her eyes are large and glassy and I wonder what exactly she has taken between leaving the promenade and getting into the room.

“Seriously, anything you want is all on me,” ge repeats beneath a laugh as she pulls him into the bedroom and shuts the door.

I’m alone for the first time in weeks and I hate it. I can’t believe she dragged me here to be a third wheel.

I flip on the television to see what channels I can find and to my surprise I see some channels from the East. I flip to the Tech News Channel  and leave it there.  They are bound to do some segment that involves Tempus and maybe I’ll see Dad or something to let me know they are doing okay.

Right now, I am holding on to the theory that they think I am dead. After all, when Sara short circuited my Syndicate and brain implant, it would be the only logical conclusion. Hell, my Syndicate is probably still sitting in the ally.

Picking up the bottle of blackberry schnapps, I pour it into some orange juice I find in the fridge and settle into the television.

I consider getting room service and think to myself that I can get through this awkwardness… until I realize how thin the walls are.

The squeaky bed springs are moving in a quick and desperate rhythm, I can clearly  hear both of their moans and cries. I  hear Minnie’s  high laugh and for a moment I imagine her full smile and her spastic attention suddenly focused on him.

I’d never been great with girls. In high school my dad was convinced I needed to concentrate on school and that was fine. He never told me much about how to get a girlfriend, and I think he assumed I was the natural he was. But even in college, I’d  said my first semester would be about academics and friends and the second semester I’d finally get past the experimentation part with girls and straight to the results.  Now, I’m not sure any of that will happen.

With each sound they make,  I can’t sit still anymore. I mute the television.

Closing my eyes, I conjure the mental image of Minnie I have when she isn't around. When she's telling me how awesome and fun something is going to be and how I just have to try something. The person who talked to me for a few minutes everyday and decided that was enough to save my life. I imagine her seeing me and only wanting me. I block out Pascal and concentrate only on the rhythms of her voice.

---

Two hours later, Pascal comes out of the bedroom in just a pair of red boxers.  He has large ornate lettering across his chest.

 I haven’t seen anyone I know or anything relating to my life on the television and I’m both relieved and disappointed.

 Pascal sits next to me and starts mixing some of the lethal solvents on the table together before running them through a sieve.

 The only thing I can see now is the wedding ring on his finger.

“God, I’ve missed her,” he chuckles.

“Is she okay ?”

“Yeah, she’s just burning off the last of what she took.” 

We sit in silence as he presses the solvent residue into a pill mold. He looks up at the television occasionally and finally breathes loudly.

“So, I know I’m not supposed to ask, but I have to. What’s your story ?,” he asks.

I know he isn’t going to help me, and he was just as morally ambiguous as the rest of them. I need to get it off my chest, so I tell him the truth.

“I was kidnapped.”

He blows off more air.

“Well, fuck.”

“Can I ask you something ?”

“After that, how can I say no ?”

“Aren’t you scared you’re hurting her ? She’s so…young”

“Hey,” he says. “ I just do my business, I don’t make moral calls. That’s not on me. She knows that.”

His voice is threatening and tense, so I move on

“What’s it like out there ?,” I ask.

“At the Border ? It’s a solid group of guys. Pretty boring though.This is my first time away  from The Border in a month.”

“How have you managed to  see Minnie these last few weeks ?,” 

“I haven’t,” he answers raising an eyebrow. “This is the first time I’ve seen her since the night I left. The day after we first met. Remember ?”

"Strange." I say under my breath, because I'm sure she's mentioned seeing him.

I watch him and I think he is telling the truth.

"Hey, tell Minnie I hate to fuck and run, but I want to be there when Audrina wakes up in the morning."

I nod as he finishes up making about 50 pills and puts them on the table in a row to spell out LAST TIME.

***

When I open my eyes the next morning, I feel a deep pressure on my chest and pieces of hair in my face. I blink in more light and see Minnie is lying on top of me. I gently push  her off  and it wakes her up.

“Oh, fuck !” she shrieks sitting up. “Alan !”

I manage a barely audible groan.

“Shit !” she laughs as she lies back down.

We're still at the Asimov Hotel.

This was my fault. I’d meant to wake her up and tell her it was time to go last night, but she looked so peaceful and all I could think about was the hard hotel floor I’d be forced to sleep on. I had lied down next to her for just a moment , but the moment turned into a night.

She picks up her Syndicate and sends a message before turning to look at me. Her face has the morning puffiness and I feel vulnerable. I knew what this looked like and secretly I wish it was what it looked like.

“It’s deathday for Mr. Jedidiah Morrissey,” she says solemnly.

“I’m scared,” I admit.

 “Don’t be. This is an easy one.” She says. “He did a bad thing. We’re putting a stop to it.”

“The reason he has to die is because he makes drugs for someone other than Rayne Washington. Kind of like Pascal. I’m just saying Morrissey may not even know what he stepped into.”

“So ? God, is that how the world needs to work for you ? Everyone gets a fair chance to apologize ?,” she asks, her voice condescending.

”No I just--”

“Get up.” She tells me as she wipes off her smudged makeup. “ I need to show you something.”

-4-

We leave the hotel and head back into the crowds outside. he walks briskly to the train station not even looking to see if I am keep up. There is a large morning crowd, clutching coffee and briefcases as they head for the train. Minnie is looking at train schedules in her Syndicate and to my surprise I  spot Pascal boarding a train for The Border.

Next to him is a beautiful and teary-eyed woman, who I imagine is Audrina.  She's breathtaking even with her somber smile and holds a large bouquet of deep red roses. On the platform, she and Pascal  hold each other in an embrace for so long that I wonder what Minnie has on her.

When Pascal boards the train, he waves to Audrina from his seat and keeps waving as the train screeches out of the station. When the train is out of sight, she stands for a moment , with her hand over her mouth and taking deep breathes before boarding a separate train for the Sprawl. I’m so caught up in watching them I don’t notice Minnie pulling on my arm.

She is pulling me towards a completely different set of tracks.

“Where are we going ? Don't we need to get back ?,” I whisper to her as we board a train, but she doesn’t say anything.

“I just want to show you something,” she repeats

The train is full of a few working-class people in suits, they all have Syndicates and don’t seem to be paying us any attention.  This train travels at a whiplash pace and after half an hour we arrive at what I can only describe as a tent city.

Right in the middle of the ashen dessert are acres and acres of short metallic and wooden buildings. The tallest edifice on the landscape is the train station. Unlike Mojave there are no paved roads or flashing signs, just endless nearly identical buildings.

The people who get on the train after us seem  much frailer than anyone I have seen, but also much more human. Minnie leads the way off the train and follows a small crowds up one of the roads. As we head deeper into the fabricated city I see more people with marks on their hands and I remember what Jean said.

This must be The Valley.

We walks towards what looks like the town center, where they are lines of small shops surrounding a tall, white edifice with decorative spires and columns.  In front of the building is a long line of people of all ages, waiting anxiously.

A hologram in front reads Externus Unlimited Donation Bank. Minnie stops in front of me and leaning close whispers to me:

“Welcome to the BioFarm.”

“What the hell are you talking about ? What are we doing here ?”

I'm mad and I don't know why.

“Minnie, what is going on ?,” I ask

“This is the Valley. People who live out here have two choices; Work in a factory or become a part of it.”

I’m staring at her, I have no idea what she could possibly mean and I dread whatever she is going to say next. She walks up to the front and pulls a piece of green paper from a basket near the door.

“You may not know this, but ExUn pays people for organs and and  to be human test subjects. They then sell the parts or information to Tempus to run their BioFarms”

I shake my head.

“The organs in BioFarms are grown from small pieces of cell taken from when a person is a fetus, even I know that.”

“Well, you’ve only got half the truth. To grow fully viable organs they need more tissue than is safe for people to give. So, they buy it from those willing. Which is why this place exists."

She unfolds the paper and puts it in my face.

Prime Donations

February 15, 2101

8oz kidney - $115

3oz Liver - $200

7 oz. Epicardium (Heart) - $400

12 oz. Pericardium (Heart) - $600

2 oz. corpus callosum (Brain) $9,000

“Market price,” She says.

An overhead speaker above begins to repeat the same information in a cold, distant voice.

“Minnie why are you showing me this ?”

“Two reasons. One, stop feeling bad for assholes like Morrissey, he is high up in Externus, he knows about this and is okay with literally using people for parts and two.”

She takes her hands and rubs them on my shirt. A skin colored smear appears on my shirt and   I see one dark + on each of her hands.

“What are those ?,” I ask

“They don’t have an official name, but we call them the Sigmatas. One dash for each major item given  or test treatment received. Once you have three on each hand you are cut off. They don’t want anyone dying in the labs.”

I take her hands and look at the marks, they are dark and fresh.

“Why would you-- ?,” I start to  ask her, but I get there on my own. “This is what you’ve been doing when you said you were with Pascal. He said he hadn’t seen you since the night of the attacks. This is how you’ve been paying for drugs--”

“Would you shut up ?,” she whispers. “I needed money. God, don't turn  me into a criminal.”

I almost laugh at the irony.

“Did you buy from Morrissey ?,” I ask

“God, no,” she lies.

"Will he recognize you ?"

"I don't know. Probably not, but just cover me if it happens."

I’m frustrated.

"Why are you telling me this ? Why did you have to bring me out here ?”

“Would you have believed me any other way ?,” she questions and I have to conceit.

“Can we leave ?,” I ask. Being in this place is unbalancing me. I see young children standing in line and I hear people negotiating what they are willing to live without.

She nods and we board the train. It doesn’t leave right away and  lull in the station.

“Are you going to tell me what you gave ?,” I ask.

“I had some experimental testing done, just once. It was a bitch. They injected me with this thing to make my body think I had a genetic disorder for seizures. So, then I had the seizures and they wanted to see if the new treatment would turn that genetic disorder off."

"Did it ?,"

"A few times. I don't know. You know what's funny ? I don't remember half of it."

"What else did they do to you ?," I ask

"Nothing, much. After that I just gave up both my ovaries. I get all my hormones with pills anyway.”

I can’t process any of this.

“Alan ?,” she asks, her voice is quiet. “I just needed you to see. What are you thinking ?,”

I wonder if my Dad knows about this. I think about the girls I saw on the Valley Bus after the bomb threat, they had the marks and they were so young.

“I’m just…adjusting.” 

“Hey, this is our secret. Don’t tell Jean, okay ? He’d freak out.”

“Okay,” I nod.

***

Minnie and I don’t make it back to the Metronome until late afternoon and Sara is pissed. I think Jean is upset too, but he doesn’t say anything. There isn’t enough time.

When we get to the door, Jean throws me two set of clothes, one of which is ironically enough, a tuxedo.

“I had it dry cleaned.” He says.

“What ?”

“I’m joking. Relax,” he smiles

Yeah, relax. You’re just about to kill a man.

I change clothes and put all of my supplies  into a shiny gift bag, done up professionally by Jean with ribbons and a card. When I look up, I see he is in a green jacketed suit, with a Metronome Hotel pocket square from the gift shop. Jean's hair is a natural looking dark brown with hints of copper. He had cut it to  the top of his ears and runs his hand through it until it's messy.

Saint is wearing a Republican Police dress uniform with the cap pulled tightly over his forehead. Sara is sitting on the bed wearing all black.

The room is quiet and I hear Minnie fiddling in the bathroom. Jean sits next to me and puts his arms around my shoulder and rests his head on my neck.

“You’ll be fine, brother,” he whispers into my ear. "Just be quick."

I shudder at his whisper. I don’t want to be fine.

Jean holds a StarScape Syndicate Beta up to my face and I want to laugh even more at the irony. What I would have given up just a month ago to get one of those. This Syndicate is fake, of course, but it looks real and has a speaker that will connect me to them.

The bathroom door opens and Minnie walks out and takes the air out the room with her. She’s in disguise, wearing a black wig, with curls that fall down her back and her eyes are a radiant deep green. A tight deep purple corset hugs her body, pushing her breasts up and making her waist look tiny, the revealing floor length sheet of fabric that makes the skirt leaves little to the imagination.

“Va-va-voom,” Jean smiles, going over to her and fussing with her wig.

She’s nearly as tall as him in her crystal studded stilettos.

“I clean up nice,” she giggles, smoothing her waist in the mirror.

Looking up at her, Sara stands up and says one word.

“Go.”

***

In the elevator, Minnie puts her arm around my waist and she smiles up at me. When the doors open, we walk towards the ballroom.

Now I’m  Alan Gray, a remote intern for ExUn who is visiting headquarters this week and Minnie is my plus one. Nothing has been hacked to make this story look true, but Sara claims I have an honest face and people will believe whatever I say.

We are scanned into the party by Saint and join a table right in front of Morrissey. I steal glances at Morrissey’s table and see his wife, Dr. Margaret Morrissey.  I'm sure I could carry her, she doesn't look to heavy. She is a sensible looking woman in a simple red dress.

Before anyone can start any small talk with us, the  award ceremony begins. I am sure to whisper at Minnie every now and then and make it look like we are together.

As the award ceremony comes to it’s end and we are about to move to the cocktail party, I see Jean move in my peripheral vision. He kneels next to Dr. Morrissey and whispers in her ear. After  a few nods, she begins to collect her things and say her goodbyes.  She is moving quickly and as Jean escorts her out I make pretend excuses to Minnie and follow. I’m barely out of the door before I see Minnie shimmy out of  her seat and over to one near Morrissey.

I start toward the back of the Metronome and throw my suit jacket and shirt into a laundry shoot. When I reach a corner, I take off my suit pants where I have black running pants underneath and exchange my dress shoes for the black sneakers in the gift bag. Pulling a hooded jacket up, I break into stride to the parking deck and up the flights of stairs.

Spotting the dark blue sports car I crouch by the passenger side and pull out my knife.

“No worries, ma’am. I’ll get the valet,” I hear Jean say over the microphone. Which is code for Alan, hope you are there.

Using the knife, I quickly pop open the manual override locks on the car and curl up in the backseat. Going through the gift bag, I pull out a syringe as the valet  opens the car door and drives to the front of the hotel.

Dr. Morrissey tips him gratefully, takes the drivers seat and starts driving at full speed.

“Call hospital,” she directs her Syndicate

I’m supposed to wait until she is at a red light, but I can’t. She can’t talk to the hospital, she'd get suspicious if they tell her they never tried to call her in.

My hand is shaking as I slip the slim needle through  her headrest opening and slowly push it into her neck. She feels  the pinch and as she turns to see me, her eyes go blank. I put the car in autopilot as she goes limp and let it park itself in an alley.

“I’m at the afterparty with dear old Jed,” I hear Minnie say into my ear. “Room 213”

“Get him alone.” Sara responds. “I'm in 918 and I'm ready. Alan get back here now.”

“On my way,” I say.

I pick Dr. Morrissey up and place her carefully in the trunk. I have six hours to come back and get her out. She’ll have no memory of me or even why she got in the car.

And her husband will be dead.

Which makes me sick, but it’s already in motion and I can’t stop it from happening.

 Once the trunk is closed, I sprint back to the hotel.  I got up to our room, where Saint is waiting and watching a livestream of the afterparty and room 918 , where Sara is sitting on the bed with a gun in her hand.

“Come on, Minnie.” Sara says into the mic."Get him in here."

“I'm trying. He’s a prude,” she sighs. “He won’t be alone with me.”

“I’m on it.” Jean says from wherever the hell he is.

I watch the footage of the party as Jean walks over to where Morrissey and Minnie are talking. He whispers into Morrissey’s ear and soon they are chatting on their Syndicates, leaving Minnie out of the conversation. After a few minutes ,Jean walks out of the party.

“He’s coming. I told him I want to buy and he's going to meet me. You ready ?,” Jean asks.

“Don’t patronize me.” Sara grumbles. “Minnie stay with him. Make sure he doesn't wander.”

The minutes tick by, I watch on the screen as  Jean walks into the killing room with Sara. He hides behind the bathroom door as back up.

It feels like hours as we wait for Morrissey to leave the party.

"I love this painting, let's steal it !," I hear Minnie shriek, signaling they are coming to the room.

Saint presses some buttons on the videostream and we can see the outside of 918's door. Morrissey and Minnie are standing just outside. Morrissey goes to knock on the door, but seems to change his mind at the last minute.

He pushes Minnie against the wall, puts his hand under her dress, pulls out her gun and presses it to her head.

This isn’t part of the plan.

She just stares at him, as if to challenge him.

“Who the fuck are you working with ?,” he snaps at her.

“What ? I carry it for protection. What are you talking about--,” she says and her voice cracks. “You’re hurting me !”

He presses the gun into her head.

“Who are you working for ?,” he repeats. His hand is shaking.

“No-“

“Bullshit. Why aren’t you crying out for help ?”

She pauses

“Please,” she begs

I  stand up, but Saint takes my arm.

“It's okay, baby, just play dumb. He'll think he's being paranoid. Come on, let’s finish this as planned.” Jean says to her over the mic.

We need Morrissey to be completely in the hotel room to make the kill clean.

I watch, beat by beat as he shakily takes the gun away from her head and grabs her by the neck. In an instant, he shoots open the door and charges in, using her as a shield. It all happens so fast, I don't have time to tell Jean and Sara and I just hope they don't accidentally kill her.

He walks in face to face with Sara who shoots on sight, but seeing Minnie throws her aim and she misses them both. Before she can get another shot out, Morrissey charges across the room and flings open the bay window and just....jumps. Right out a  9th floor  window.

I race over to our window and witness by some miracle or practice as he lands on his feet and is takes off running.

"Saint, go." Sara says into the mic.

Without a hesitation, he  pushes me out of the way and  hauls himself over the  window ledge, drops to the ground and landing on his feet, races after Morrissey.

"Shit, Sara I'm sorr-," Minnie starts.

"Not now, we need to get him."

"Alan," she barks. "Get Dr. Morrissey's car."

"And do what ?"

"Follow them."

And I do

Without a second thought.

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