Seventh Chapter

Penny Lopez-Tifesys

            Penny felt her heart speed up and the butterflies of anxiety as she stood at attention before Agent Ness.  She was in full dress uniform, while Agent Ness was in a rumpled white shirt with the top button undone; a loose red tie hung halfway down his chest.  There was a suit jacket hanging over his chair to complete the look of complete indifference.  Penny felt anxious because she had received orders to come to this office, after turning in her letter of resignation.  However now that she was here, all Agent Ness had done was stare at her.  Truth be told she didn’t even know if he really was Agent Ness, he had never introduced himself; she had made that assumption after reading it off a plaque on the desk.

            Finally he sat back and signing waved his hand, “be at ease Officer Lopez.”

            “Sir.” She relaxed but remained standing.

            “I have seen your record, the work you did before.  But for three years, in the prime of your career, you have put up with a desk job.  For three years you have endured the boredom and tedium of nothing but writing other officers reports.  You were a very talented cop, you know that; your investigations were comprehensive, you showed initiative.  Most importantly your cases stayed closed.  There was just the one laps of judgment with your brother-in-law.  But I’m sure that you have learned an important lesion from that episode.

              “Every supervisor you’ve had has talked about your tenacity and curiosity.  They all speak very highly of you.  When you are on a case, you will follow every lead and you don’t get caught up in your own theories.  You’ve been awarded high marks on every performance review.  You are also an expert in weapons, both guns and hand-to-hand; particularly the nightsticks, is that right?”

            “Yes sir, the tonfa.” This was not the conversation that Penny had expected.

            “Right, now after all this training, while waiting behind a desk, you have decided to throw it all away.   Why, why now after the three long years of waiting; you’re quitting?”

            Ah, this was more like it. “Sir, for the last three years; when I go home, my job stays at the office, I get to spend time with my family.  I was willing to give up that rush of working a case, the hunt, if you will. That family time was more important then anything.  It was a good job, a little boring, but it paid and I got time with my little girl and my husband.  We live in a big house with three other parental couples.  Though there are eight kids, Marley, is my only biological child. It was ideal. 

“Three weeks ago my husband disappeared while visiting the Below.  He went to check on his brother, the same bastard who got me stuck behind a desk.  Phil was concerned, as he hadn’t heard from his brother for sometime.   Apparently his concern had merit, I haven’t seen or heard from him since then.  I asked my captain, no I begged my captain, to let me investigate these disappearances.   He sent some other detectives to look into it.  These detectives of course found nothing and after about a week, the captain gave me a report that stated my husband had run off, probably with his brother who had also disappeared.  Case closed.

“My husband would not leave me, he would not run out on his family like that.”

Penny found that during the telling she started to get emotional.  At first she tried to stop her voice from cracking, but she was quitting so what did it really matter.  By the end of the story she had tears running down her cheeks.  Agent Ness, or the man at Agent Ness’ desk, gave her a few minutes to pull herself together.  He looked the other way like she wasn’t in the room.

“So you figured you would become a private eye and go and track down your husband.”  He spoke without looking at her.

“No sir,” Penny said making eye contact, “I will become a private eye and track down the people who kidnapped my husband.”

“What gives you the idea that someone kidnapped your husband?  It’s not just because you think that he wouldn’t run off.” The mysterious agent said with some scorn.  “Your captain’s report indicated there was no sign foul play.  You say your Phil would never run, but I have heard that before.  Hell, I have seen some damn devoted spouses take a powder.”

“I went down to the Below.” Penny cut in, “I talked to the people there.  Have you ever gone Below?  It is a whole different society.  The first time I went was five years ago, on a case for vice.  The place was buzzing, full of people hustling to and fro.  There were hundreds of stores, and there must have been thousands shopping. They didn’t trust the ‘Uppers’ and they sold information dear.  This time there were just a handful of shops open, and no shoppers.  The eco was intense.  This is not just my husband, this is an epidemic. The people of the Below are being prayed upon and nobody knows about it. 

“You’re right, I do sound crazy, but I saw it with my own eyes.  The shopkeeps, those that were left, said this had been going on for a long time.  They were all terrified.  If the police wont do anything, I have to try.  This time I didn’t have to pay for info they were dying to talk.  Just no one is listening.”

The man across the desk was quite for sometime, Penny could almost see the cogs turning, but could not imagine what could elicit such deep thought.  Then he spoke.

“Follow me.” 

He got up from his chair, taking his jacket, and left the room.  Penny followed him out the door, down the hall and into an elevator.  When the door to the elevator closed the man felt in his pockets, then reached into his jacket, and produced a keycard.  Touching the card to a screen in the elevator he pressed a series of the floor selectors, like typing in a code.  The panel above the buttons slid open revealing sixteen more floor buttons.  Penny’s jaw dropped, she had no idea that the building went any lower then the parking on the basement level twelve.  That there were sixteen secret floors in a building that she had worked in for at least ten years really shocked Penny.  Her mind was literally spinning by the time the elevator came to a stop.

The door opened onto sub-basement five.  The walls and floor were white.  Two gray strips ran the through the middle of the rug.   She followed the agent down the hallway; suddenly she noticed that there were many halls intersecting with the one they were in.  With everything white it was impossible to see how many hallways there were, or even when you were going enter an intersection.  The only thing breaking the whiteness, giving the space any depth and contrast, was the gray bars on the floor. Penny experienced, what was almost vertigo, trying to follow the agent.  Twisting left and right, sometime she felt that they had turned in the same direction more then four times.  Could they really just be going in circles?

Finally the agent opened a door and ushered Penny into an office.  In contrast to the hallway, this room had color.  In fact this office had flat out style and flair.  A rich rug covered the floor, art enhanced the walls and a desk of highly polished wood like Penny had never seen.  The wood was a deep redish-brown, with darker waves and lines giving it texture.   She wanted nothing more then to rub her hands over that desk.  The agent walked around it, hung his jacket on the chair behind it and sat down.  He gestured to a chair across from him.  Penny surprised herself by meekly sitting down; she was a little overwhelmed with all she had just experienced.

“Never seen real wood before?”

“No sir.”

“You should feel it, there really is nothing like it.”  He waited while she touched the desk, a slight smile played on his face while he watched her wonder.  “The texture is called the grain, they say that every line represents a year the tree lived.  This dark one here would be a year it survived a fire, this thin one a drought.  They say these trees could live for thousands of years, but now they only live in parks and protected plazas.”

 Penny pulled her hand back from the desk with an effort. “I know that you didn’t bring me up here to show me a wooden desk.”

“You’re right.  I’m Agent Ness and this is the FIA, or the Forbidden Information Agency.  A relatively small governmental organization, created way back in the mid twentieth century, during World War 1.5.  Our mission is to contain information that could be dangerous to the public.  We have to keep this information from everyone, not only the people but also the administrators; the government must also be protected.  Protected from information that could cause the way they see the world to be radically altered, changing their fundamental beliefs.”

“What information and who decides that?” She interrupted.

“We do.” Agent Ness replied.  “We are black, fully and completely under the radar. But with fingers involved in everything.  I saw this classic movie that had this line.  Something like ‘the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.’  Understand I could be lying, you would never, never, be able to find a trace of evidence of what I just said.”

“The FIA started as small departments of ‘National Intelligence Agencies’ but it soon became clear that we needed a global entity to be effective.  Using the intelligence agencies we had once been part of to cover our tracks we removed ourselves from all record or rumor.  I tell you all this because you are not the only person that sees what is happening in the Below.  We have been investigating the disappearances for some time now.”

“So what have you found, do you know where my husband is?”  Penny didn’t care about any agency; she just wanted her husband back.

“No, and I don’t want to get your hopes up.  I can tell you that we are pretty sure that your husband did not run off, we found signs of a struggle and talked to someone who claimed to have seen an Upper get taken.  I don’t know if that is really any sort of consolation. 

“What I’m about to tell you is top secret, no joke.  For me to tell you, you’re going to have to accept a job, working for the FIA.  You will act as if you really resigned, but in actuality you will have started working directly and exclusively for me.  I can’t tell you exactly what you will be doing yet.  Also, if you accept you will be sworn to secrecy.  If you slip that that FIA exist or discuss the case with anyone beside myself the punishment is very dire.  Like you are wiped from the public memory dire.  Believe me they will find out, you cannot hide from these people. But these are the conditions that must be met for me to tell you more about the abductions.”

“You’re offering me a job? And you wont tell me about my husband until I accept the job, plus I can never speak about it or I’ll be killed.”  Suddenly Penny’s frustration boiled over.  In that moment of clarity and rage, she understood.  “This whole thing has been a recruiting stunt, an interview. You can’t even tell me what my job will be, will I be working on finding my husband?”

But his downcast eyes told the whole story.  “No you can’t even tell me that,” she said with a sign, sitting back in her chair in resignation.

“I told you this is a very secretive origination, it has many departments and strict rules for keeping them separate.  Its like many Hands, none knowing what the any other is doing, but they all have to trust in the Head…even if they don’t know who the Head is.” Agent Ness said with a slight grin or maybe it was a grimace.  “I can tell you it would be a significant raise, fifteen percent.  How about that, and you would be working from home so that means more time with the family.”  His voice trailed off. “Well more time with your daughter.”  Pause. “You’re right I can’t tell you that you will be directly investigating your husband’s disappearance, you wont be.  But I personally believe that there is a connection.  It will be an adventure, that is for sure.”

“Ok. You’ve sold me, I mean, can I say no?”

“Not really. So you’ll take the job?  Understand when you say yes your answer will be recorded.  You will not be able to quit till your job is done.  That means that you accept the terms; you will not share anything that is said in this room or in regards to this job.  You will not share it on pain of death.”

            “Yes, I accept your ludicrous job offer.”

            “Great, lets get started.”  He pressed a button on his desk and two of the paintings on the wall turned into screens. One screen displayed a blue print with many, many, red marks.  The other had a convoluted chart with the names connected by lines forming a complex web.  “To be frank we really know about as much as you.” Agent Ness began, he took a folder out of his desk and pushed it across to her. “We just have more data.  This is your copy of all the documents that you see on the screens.   The blue print is one of one hundred and sixty showing all parts of the Below.   On these we have documented every disappearance that we can document.” He pointed to a red dot on the screen, it stood out as it was slightly separated from the main cluster. 

            “This, we believe, is where your husband was taken.  Not only is it away from the other abductions it was also the only one that showed a sign of struggle.  What I think happened was that your husband was going or coming and he bumped into the kidnappers.  It was just poor dumb luck.”

            “It should also give you an idea for which direction they came from.” Penny pointed out, “If you map the paths into the Below you may be lucky get some surveillance footage.”

            “Right,” Agent Ness raised an eyebrow.  “This is a freeze frame of a van pulling out of a long-term parking lot about four hours after your husband left for the Below.  The van is also suspect as it had only arrived two hours prior. This lot has one of three possible service entrance allowing access to the area your husband was taken.”

            “It all sounds good,” she said. “But there are a lot of, if-thens in your theory.  Let me guess the van was rented.  The IDs used were fake, the name on the paperwork was an alias.”

            “No, the van was registered to a company titled NPC.”

            Penny had not expected that, “is that an acronym?”

            “Not on its papers of declaration, it is only NPC.  Your guess is as good as anyone else’s.”

            “Ok, so who were the signers on the papers?  What about a CEO, or a President?”

            “Nothing. But this is where we get to the true Pandora’s box.  Look at the mess on the other screen.”

As he spoke he drew her attention to the screen with the web of lines.  On closer inspection it looked like a brain-storming diagram.  Little circles with lines connecting them to other circles.  It was so complex, with no pattern that she could see.  The circles, of which she estimated there were about 120, came in three colors. Most were yellow, a hand full were orange, the rarest were colored green. The  lines also came in three colors, red, blue and black.

He then zoomed into the lower left corner of the mess.  Penny was shocked to see how much depth there was to this chart.  After what seemed like excessive amount of zooming Agent Ness had isolated one circle.  He then zoomed out to show the circle was connected to seven others.  Three of the lines were red, two were blue the rest were black.

“Here is NPC, LLC; this small little company here.  It at one time it had two assets, a van and a parking lot. Before you ask, it is the parking lot that we have video of the van leaving.  Not twenty-four hours later the van and the parking lot had been sold. The blue lines indicate the money to purchase the assets originated, the red lines show the path that the money left NPC.  This is all pretty interesting, but the black lines are where it gets really crazy.  See they show the legal connection, in this case the two Trusts that own NPC.  They have both been liquidated.”

He then zoomed all the way out.

“This is what we found when we started to follow the money and documents. The last time I checked we were up to 124 companies, and 1623 transactions, and we’re not done, not by a long shot.   Is it really so hard to connect what starts as a van and parking lot and turns into all this to your husbands kidnapping?”           

Penny opened the file and pulled out her copy of the info-graph depicting the companies.  Up close she could see the lines were labeled explaining the transaction between companies.  Assets, stocks, money all moved between the companies in a seemingly meaningless mess.  There seemed to be no rhyme or reason.  Some assets moved from one company to another to another eventually coming back to the original.  After a few minutes a few patterns began to emerge.  There were three companies; E, Z, and D.   These three companies seemed to control the most money and held a vast ownership of the assets, just moving them from one holding company to another.

            “These three companies are the key.  Who owns them and what do they do?” Penny asked.

            “We got nothing.  No humans at all, only articles of incorporation.  They are listed in the index as tech companies. On paper they have infinite wealth, but there are no bank accounts, no money, just credit.  The money is so thoroughly laundered that we can’t tell if it’s going or coming.  This is no small feat either.  This organization,” he gestured indicating the office and hallways of the FIA, “has been hiding and laundering money for hundreds, for all I know thousands, of years.  We have used untraceable funds to launch wars and topple governments.  If we are good at hiding our financial movements and assets we are even better at tracking down other people’s money.  But these three companies are good, so good that it has been suggested that maybe they are a secret extension of the FIA.”

            “So you know nothing, not even whether your own origination is behind this or not.  What if it is the FIA performing these abductions?”

            “What if your husband really just ran off?”

            “Fair enough…so what’s the next step?”

            “I have a theory, my theories have always paned out in the past, mostly. So the Powers That Be have let me run with it.”  Agent Ness said with a hint of satisfaction in his voice.  “I was giving the power to choose and hire an assistant.  I chose you.  I need you to help me prove that somehow Zed Inc is behind the abductions.  I know it is a leap but I know there is a connection between that game and your husbands abduction.”

            “The game?”

“Nutrua. It is developed and administered by Zed Inc.”

Penny thought for a few, “the letters match, but what’s the motive. If the letter thing is all you’re going on, that’s more then a leap that’s just grasping at straws. At nothing.”

            “To be honest its not much more then that.  I have hunches, and it has always paid off to follow them in the past, mostly.” He paused for a moment gauging her reaction.  “Following this hunch I started doing some research on Zed Inc. I found out very quickly that Zed Inc has some very powerful friends.  After making just a few inquiries I was quickly made to understand that it was in my best interest to stop.   However brief it was my research led me to believe that Zed Inc’s finances are very similar to the three companies Z, E, and D.  There is no human involvement, no CEO, no Board, President or owner, just an entity named Doctor Zed.  Who by the way, I can’t even prove is a human!”

            “But someone wants you to stop.”  Penny said.

            “Right!” Agent Ness replied enthusiastically.  “That means I’m on to something.  But the threat was serious enough that I can’t investigate by any of the conventional methods.  Lucky for you, I have thought of an unconventional way to investigate Zed Inc.  Undercover like never before.”  He nodded and raised his eyebrows. 

            Penny got it.  “Oh I don’t know, I have never been much into video games.  So if that’s what you’re thinking, I don’t think that I will be any help.  I have seen the commercials, and I watched the OC interview.  I’ll be honest that whole integration of the human mind and computers really creeps me out.”

            “That’s valid, but if it leads to you finding your husband wont that make it worth it?”

            “Do you know how it works?”

            “Not really.  I haven’t been able to find much more then you would be able to pick up from the interview.  It is an implant in the back of your neck.  This implant seeds a whole slew of nanites into your central nervous system. This allows the implant to interact directly with your brain, adding and overriding signals from all five senses.  The implant can also broadcast, and receive, information from anyone else with the implant.  

All this you probably got from the interview.  The one thing that I know about that was not in the interview has to do with how the game, Nutrua, is maintained.  My earlier research into Zed Inc’s assets turned up the program that is being used to run the game is supposed to be true AI, it will oversee everything that goes on within the game.  If Zed Inc has really created AI that could have a huge impact on our world as we know it.  This is what the FIA is interested in, they are after the AI.

The implant just came out this morning so I really know very little else.  When we’re done here, I’m going to get it.  Now that you’ve accepted this job, you will too.”     

            “Let me get this straight,” Penny felt like she had been through a brain blender.  “You want me to get this implant to play a video game.  A video game that is really an AI controlled corporate conspiracy rabbit hole that my husband has disappeared down.  While in all reality the people that have taken him may actually be working for the same company that is sending us on this ridiculous wild goose chase.”

            “That’s pretty much it.  But if you have a better thought, speak it.”  He waited a beat.  “Go home, like you really quit.  Take some time, and then as if you were bored, get the implant.  Try out the game, you and I will meet once a week.  Just take it from there, just be yourself and keep your mind open.  Plus now that you made the choice, you don’t really have a choice.” 

            He then dismissed her, telling her to follow the green strip on the carpet.  The white hallway beckoned though the door, but now one of the two gray strips was green.  By keeping her head down and following it she was quickly able to find the elevator.  She selected the lobby level then closed her eyes till the door dinged and slid open.

As Penny she had to pause to let her eyes adjust.  The light, refracted off the glass skyscrapers was much dimmer then the garish florescent it had been inside, the false twilight taking the details out of the world.  Around her on the streets were alive with the shadow commuters hustled their way home.  As her eye adjusted she merged with the flow, the shadows, one step at time down to the subway.

Sixth Chapter

Edwin P. Ust

Eddie tried to slow down his breathing as he entered the store.  The trashcan near the entrance was stuffed with his tent, and everything else he had brought.  He walked into the store.  It was almost exactly like the store he worked in, just bigger.  The same walls furry with plastic and the obligatory 3D boobs.  Down at the end of the store he could see lots of activity.  The frantic movements of employees trying to get a task finished before any manager noticed the store was open and the task was undone.   Eddie had to take a deep breath, he was trying to calm himself down, being first was not that important? Right?  He had been so excited this morning before that Lew showed up.  “Remember this is going to be the greatest game experience ever.” Eddie said under his breath as he walked towards the sign ushering him into the new world of ZED inc.

The sign read “Get TAPed” in bright red letters.  It hung from wires going up into the warehouse ceilings.  Three uniformed employees were struggling to assemble a massive cardboard shipper.  One poor employee was holding up the base while another tried to connect it to a leg and torso.  Judging from the clothing, once the head and arms were attached, this would be the stranger from the commercials welcoming customers to the TAPing station.  As Eddie approached the construction area, the third employee stepped from behind the cardboard torso.  This was a mistake as it caused the leg to swing, catching the kneeling employee on the side of the head.  On impact he dropped the base and the whole contraption collapsed.

“Oups!” Said the employee who had perpetrated the destruction by leaving his place. “Take fifteen guys.  We’ll take another look at those direction and give this another shot.” 

The other guys extracted themselves from the rubble grumbling.  Eddie had built some of these shippers before and they all sucked, they were badly designed never had legible directions.  Always made out of the flimsiest material, relaying on tension created by folding it upon itself.  Add in a few pieces and it was sure recipe for failure. Based on the number of pieces scatted around the space this one was going to be a duessy.

“Hi, I’m here to get TAPed, who do I need to talk to about that?”

“I your man,” said the supervisor, “My name is Charon, come right this way.  Did you know you’re only the second person to do this?” Damn that Lew.  “I can’t wait till my shift to get my TAP.”

“I’ll tell you all about it.” Eddie replied trying to be friendly.

“Great,” the guy was genuinely thrilled, “that other guy didn’t talk much.  He only said something about annoying.”  This last word was said with a tone that showed the speakers contempt.

“Yeah, I met that guy outside the store this morning.  He’s a pill, he totally put me off, don’t let him ruin your day.” This Eddie said almost as much to himself as to Charon.

“Here it is.” Charon was gesturing to a large padded chair.  Much like a dentist chair this one had a head and neck support, and the whole thing looked mechanical with large bundles of wires snaking there way along the underside of the chair.  “Sit down and it will do the rest.  Any instructions will be displayed on that screen facing the chair.  Tell you what this is going to be the easiest job ever, after today I don’t even need to come into the store.”

Eddie had completely forgotten that this was for work.  He took a deep breath.  Charon offered his hand. They shook.  He took another breath.  He wanted this moment to last forever.  This moment before the one he had been waiting for.  The anticipation had all led to now, try to savor that, the still unknown.  He got into the chair.  Slowly relaxing into the padding.  He jumped a little as the chair started to adjust itself to his body.  Reclining and extending until his was laid out and the nick support pressed flush against his spine. Eddie closed his eyes, trying to expand his other senses to get any sort of idea of what was about to happen to him.  He felt a slight undulation of the padding in the neck support.  Then there was a slight pressure.  The chair started to move back in to its upright position.  Was that it?  That couldn’t be all there was.

“What happened? How was it?”  Charon was boiling over with questions.  “You promised to tell me how it was.  What did it feel like? What does it look like?”

“Just give me a second.” Eddie felt underwhelmed by the experience.  “It didn’t really feel like anything, just a little pressure.  I don’t know maybe it doesn’t work.”

“It has to work? Right?” Charon was still trying to sound cheery, but failing.

CLOSE YOUR EYES

It was written across his vision, in light yellow letters; if he wanted to he could choose to ignore it.   Eddie did not want to ignore it.  This was it; this was how it will begin.   

“Hey, Charon was it, do you have a place I can sit down?”

“Yeah my name is Charon. OH! Something is happening!” Charon squealed, “What’s happening? Tell me what’s going on.”

“There is writing in my eyes.”

“What!?”

“Writing, letters written across my eyes.  It’s telling me to close my eyes.  I don’t know what to expect so I want to be sitting.  Charon do you have a place where I can sit?”  Eddie had flutters in his stomach, this was actually happening. He didn’t know what was happening, but he could tell it was legit, this was going to be one thing that lived up to it hype.      

“Here right this way sir.” Charon took Eddie’s hand and walked him to a couch against the wall facing the TAPing chair.  “They said that people might want’ta sit afterwards.  They gave us this couch for that.  You can stay as long as you want.  Do you want something to drink?”

“No I’m alright. Thanks, and don’t worry, just give me some time to figure this out, then I’ll tell you all about it.”  Eddie settled back into the couch. 

 He closed his eyes.

Eddie was sitting in a small classroom.  Wood paneling went about half the way up the walls; the right side of the room had three big windows.  A door was set at the front left side; ten desks were the only furniture.  Eddie was sitting in the front row, facing a blackboard.  The door opened and a tall man with grey hair entered.

“Welcome, this is TAP 101, I’ll be your teacher, Dr. Zed.”  He wrote this on the board. “This class will take you though all the basic functions of your new TAP.  Lets start by exploring the two different levels of interaction, or as we like to call them ‘states’.  The one that you are currently experiencing, the lucid, is the most in-depth.  It allows for total sensory engagement.   To reach this state you close your eyes and sit or lay down.   To leave this state all you need to do is open your eyes.”

“Sensory engagement?” Eddie asked.

“Go ahead and try it, open your eyes.” Dr. Zed continued.  His inability to recognize the question implied that the good Dr. was a pre recording.  Regardless, the command worked and Eddie’s eyes popped open.  When they opened the classroom faded. 

“Now you can go about you normal life, and still hear me.  This will also work as a phone device.”  Dr. Zed’s voice continued.  “Look up and to the right, you will see the word Menu.  We are now going to take a few minutes to learn the three ways to interact with the menu.  The first is manually.  Take your fingers and pinch the word Menu, then pull down.”

At first he couldn’t see anything but then by moving his head just a little, right out side of his periphery vision Eddie saw the word.  It seemed to just hang in the air.  The letters were about three inches tall, and looked to be about and inch thick.  When he reached to touch it, it felt substantive. Grasping the Me between his middle finger and thumb he pulled down.  There was some resistance like pulling down a curtain, revealing other words before his eyes.  As a gamer Eddie was well acquainted most of the new options; controls, audio, optics, contacts, Applications, TAP and NUTRUA.  This last tab set Eddie’s pulse racing.   These words hung right in the middle to Eddie’s vision and it was easy to follow the next set of directions.  As an experienced gamer Eddie was very pleased with how intuitive this all was.  There were just a few questions he had then he could quit this tutorial.

            “You interact with these tabs in the same way as the Menu, grab it and pull down.” Dr. Zed dictated.  “Lets try it with controls.  Good, this changes how you interact with the interface.  There are three options; the first is the default, touch, optical and vocal.  Now move the selector over to optical.  The Optical setting allows you to interact with the interface using just your eyes.  This is a great when in public when you can’t talk and don’t want to wave your arms around.  Ha HA.”  The laugh was very creepy. 

            “The down side is that this is the most tiring, as you use your eyes in ways you never have before.  We will start simple; this method will take some practice but can be a lifesaver when in a meeting or a boring date.  Focus your eyes on the selector, and then push it to the vocal setting.”

            This proved harder then it would seem.  The selector, like all the lettering was three inches tall and an inch thick.  It hung on long a thin track.  He tried to grip the block with his eyes.  At first it seemed that it was too heavy and felt like he was straining his eyes.  Then he relaxed and just looked at it.  The little rectangle seemed to jump and hum.  Then he saw it move, he visioned it, watched it, sliding along its thin track to the vocal setting.

            “Well Done!” Dr. Zed chimed in as soon as the selector had reached its destination. He continued, “Now, in the vocal setting, you can control all the menus through vocal commands.  This is one of the easiest to use, but also the most ostentatious.  This method relays on your ears being able to hear what you say; so you can whisper you will be audible to those around you no matter what.     Be careful in public with this method, as you can be quite annoying to those around you.  Or just come off as crazy.

            “Lets start but moving back to the main menu. There are two ways to do this.  You can say ‘main menu.’  That will take right back.   The other way is to say ‘close,’ this will move you back one menu at a time.  Something of note is that both these commands are represented on the bottom of all menus.  All vocal commands have a corresponding visual aid, that way it can be interacted with by all three methods.”

            Eddie first tried whispering.  So quietly, he literally could not hear himself, then just a little louder.

            “Close.”

            Unable to wait he just said it out loud.  Charon’s head snapped around, he half got up from where he was holding a piece of the shipper.  Eddie tried to wave him a way, but it was too late and the whole structure collapsed again.  Charon returned to work, looking sheepish.

CLOSE YOUR EYES

            Eddie followed the prompt.  He was back in the classroom.  Dr. Zed then took him through the other menu options. Audio, optic, contacts and Applications were exactly what Eddie had expected.  They were the same options that every cell phone had.  TAP was also familiar, with a video function, which created video files called TAPS.   You could load your TAPS up on to a network, where you could browse other users content at will and they could view yours.  Though Eddie could see how this would have a mass appeal, it was not something that interested him. 

            He got up and walked over to Charon.  "I'm going to head home, Charon."
            "You Promised to tell me what its like."  Charon said, a slight whine in his voice.  "You promised."
            "I know," Eddie said, "truth is I don't really know what to say.  It's really something though, I think its totally going to live up to the hype."
            "Graaa, that makes it even harder to wait.  Damn this shipper! I'm telling my manager I'm sick, or something.  I can't really do that, he'll never let me go.  Fine I'm just going to wait.  Well thanks, I guess, have a good day."
            "Thanks, I'll do that.  Good luck with that shipper."
            Eddie then left the store and walked to the station to catch his train, trains, home.  The tutorial continued as he walked, using the menu he created his first TAP.  He was just trying to get to the next segment, which he hoped was the Nutrua, so his first TAP was just of him walking.   He spent a few moment checking to see what was available, but so far there was only one other post.  Eddie assumed that this had been posted by that jerk Lew, and based on the content it had also been generated as a way to move the tutorial along.

            The tutorial started to move into the Nutrua phase so Eddie paused it long enough to purchase tickets and take a seat.  Then he closed his eyes to immerse himself into what he had waited so long for.  Alas it was not to be, Dr. Zed brought Eddies hopes crashing down.  He was cheerful informed by the cartoony professor that Nutrua was to have an introduction and jump off event in about six hours.  Six hours! What was he going to do until then, what was he going use for entertainment for this damn return trip.  It was the middle of the day, its not like he could sleep all the way home. 

            Well he had this new toy he might as well get to know it better.  He started by playing around with the different menus.  He went into contacts and found that he could sync his phone; he tried calling his parents to see how the phone function worked.  It worked, the sound quality was good, so his phone was now completely outdated and unnecessary.  After the call, just letting his parents know about when he was going to be home, Eddie explored the Application menu.  He was distraught that was going to have to wait longer to play the game.  However soon he found a way to watch movies, projected on the back of his eyes. 

            Eddie found something mindless and violent, entertaining, a way to kill a few hours.  So he sat on the train.  To anyone who looked he would appear asleep.  As he sat and watched some mindless movie, the world continued to end.  Drifting slowly, so slowly, off its rotation. Without the guiding flutter of butterfly wings the world was falling away from the sun.  Towards the end. 

Fifth Chapter

Lewis Key

The nametag on his uniform said Lew. Try as he might Lewis could not stop people from calling him Lew.  He found this annoying.  Just about everything annoyed Lewis. He worked for PPC or Privatized Package Curriers.  Lew however was not a currier; he worked the front desk at one of the outlets, customer service.  Lewis thought that customer service was annoying.  Currently it was he was sitting out the slow time between three am and five thirty, when the early birds went out after the worm.  The rush was still about twenty minuets away.  Lewis was not sure the boredom of nothing happing, was better or worse then the line of impatient go-getters.

They were both annoying.

Then it happened the first customer.  A larger woman, her black hair whipped up into a rushed bun, wearing a conservative skirt suit.  She was all business; the whole transaction was done with out a word being spoken.  Lewis liked customers like this.  They knew what they were about, and he could do his job.  His job was simple; when someone wanted to send a package, and not have it opened, they came into PPC.  Lew took their money and in exchange sent said package on its intended way.  That was it.  PPC provided a computer which when connected to a scale could, if provided the correct information, would tell exactly how much it would cost to send the package wherever it needed to go.  The only thing Lew had to do was say whether the package was an envelope or a box.  His other tasks were to make sure he gave the correct change, and then make sure the customer entered the recipient’s information properly.  There it was his three tasks: envelop vs. box; don’t lose money; and then try to protect the customers from themselves.

The first customer was not the norm; no unfortunately most people had a very hard time with directions.  To Lewis it seemed simple all you really needed was a item to ship and an address for it to go to, and money to pay for it.  The next customer that walked in brought an envelope full of money.

“I need this to go to my mom, in the N3uu4oR77 cluster.” The man said.  “Its very important that it reach her tomorrow.”

“Ok sir,” Lew said, trying to sound chipper. He sealed the envelope and placed it on the scale. “All right, that was N3w”

“Not w, u..u.”

“OH! Uu, 4oR, I don’t remember the last digests.”

“Uhn, N,3,uu,4oR.  Seven seven.”

“Ok, that’s been inputted, whats the rest of the address?”

“Whadda mean?”

How do you answer a question like that, a single cluster could have up to four or five million people, generally three million individual addresses.

“You know, like, her street address, what number her house is.  Stuff like that.”

“She lives in an old folks home.”

Did this guy not really know what an address is.  Now a line was starting to form, the next person in line was a cute girl.  She was looking at her watch like maybe this errand wasn’t as crucial as it other tasks.  Time to get past this guy, carefully, how annoying.

“Sir, if you don’t know the address I can’t send your package.  We’re open twenty-four seven, you should call your mom and get the address, if you do it before three thirty it will get there tomorrow for sure.”

“Are you giving me lip SON, I am a paying customer, just send it to my mom in cluster N3uu4oR77.  I want to speak with your manager.”

Customers always seemed to think that these were the magic words to get what they wanted.  Maybe in other situations that was the case but they did not get much traction here.

“I Am the Manager.”  Lew did get a little thrill saying that, knowing that it totally flipped the power dynamic.  Then after a pause and to try and soften the blow, he gestured to the four walls and few piles of boxes and a desk that comprised the store.  Clearly there was no one else here.

“I’m sorry sir, if I send it the way it is it will not reach her.  If you want to make sure it gets to your mom we need the rest of the address. Make sure you get it here before three thirty and it will still get there tomorrow.”  Lew then turned to the next customer.  “I can help whose next, step right up, what can I help you with?”

The man stood with his envelope clutched to his chest.  The next customer was not the cute girl but some old man.  For a moment Lew thought that the man was going to push the old man out of the way.  But he didn’t, which was kind of too bad; that would have been entertaining.  The line that had built up stayed punctuating the morning rush.  Annoying.  Fortunately most people in line were regulars or at least knew what the address was.  So the rush passed with only a little grumbling about raised rates.  Till just after seven, the next shift had just come in and there was about fifteen minutes left before Lew could leave.  So of course that’s when it happened.

She was hot, and she dressed the part.  She was wearing a very tight business suit, and she wore it well, very well.  She walked straight up to the desk in the controlled wave that of a women with very high heels.  Lew knew that the timing was too good, and she was too hot, this could only mean trouble.  The first and primary challenge was to make, and keep, eye contact.  Don’t look down.

“Good morning, how can I help you to day?” Don’t look down.  Wait till the right moment.

“I would like to ship this envelope, the address is written on the cover.”  Her voice was husky and quite, so he had to lean in a little to hear her.

This was the moment, and he took the envelope, he let his eyes wonder, just a little.  It was amazing.  He quickly looked up to her eyes, realized that he was not holding anything.  While he had been scoping her out, he had been looking to grab an envelope, so he had dropped the box she put in his hand.  He picked it up off the counter.

“You want me to send this as an envelope?”  Lew held up the box.  “Please tell me that you at least know that this is not an envelope?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She said with a mocking innocence.

“If I try to send it as an envelope some one else will see that it is clearly not one, and send it back.  I would like to help you but it just will get sent back.”

She leaned forward towards him and whispered, Lew leaned in even closer to hear her.  “Maybe that’s just what I want.”

He leaned back.  He could see no reason not to do that, not if that was what she wanted, it was good customer service.  Not only that but she leaned over the counter as he entered the information into his computer, it was a great show and he tried to draw out the whole interaction.  Not a bad way to end his shift.  He left the store with some small level of satisfaction.  Normally he would have just gone home.  But today it just seemed too oppressive to go from the four close walls of his work to the four small walls of his apartment.  The plaza where Lew worked was as close to bright as it got now.  Everywhere Lewis looked there were people moving about; shopping, chatting, generally going about their lives.   Most other days Lewis would have found them all annoying.  They would seem to step in front of him and then walk slowly, getting in his way.  The kids would all make noise and whine.  Normally he would have done anything to avoid this whole scene.  For some reason he felt the want to join in.   Then he remembered why.  Nutrua came out today.   He didn’t know much about what it was, but then no one seemed to know much about it.  All he did know was that it was supposed to change the face of gaming and he wanted to be on the crest of that wave.    

The only store in the plaza that held any interest was the electronic store.  Lewis considered himself a gamer, and this store always had the new hot releases.  As he walked across the parking lot he remembered that the store wouldn’t be open quite yet.  But he had nowhere else to be so he sat down on one of the benches next to the door to wait.  Maybe he would get a few moments of shuteye.   That would be hard though he was pretty excited about this new game.  He had seen the previews on TV; the first two had not done much for him.  They showed some nice landscape and some dude in a cape.  But the third one really caught his attention.

The third commercial was full of violence the dude in a cape, ripped into three goons using a quarterstaff.  There was no blood but the brutality, or the opportunity for brutality, was clear.  The commercial ended with the three goons broken on the ground, unmoving.  The stranger in the video turned to the audience and challenged them. “Can you be the best?” He grinned before the screen went dark.  Lewis took the challenge personal, he would be the best; he was going to take out all his anger and frustration out on anybody that entered his domain.

“Hey! You!”

Lewis was snapped out of his blissful daydream of brutal domination by some lanky nerd, “what?” he tried to say calmly. “What do you want?”

“Can’t you see there is a line? I have been here for three days.  You can’t just cut in line.”  The nerd whined.

Lewis though the nerds voice was annoying.    He had dark skin and dark hair that fell over his eyes.   He would have seemed tall if he was standing up straight but he had hunched his shoulders and kind of tucked his neck and head down.   There was a tent set up, with bags and trash strewn about.  From the look of the campsite it did not take any stretch of the imagination to think the guy had really been here for three day.  However there was no one else waiting.

“What line? I only see you, its not going to sell out with just two of us.  What does it matter?”  Lewis knew that he was baiting the guy, but it annoyed him that he had to deal with this annoying guy when he could have been sleeping.  Or at least dozing.

“Fine, you’re right I can see that I’m being a little ridiculous, I’m sorry.  But I just really wanted to be the first person into Nurtrua.  I mean, do you mind?”

“Whatever.”

“Great, thanks so much.  It really means a lot to me.” Then reading Lewis name written on his work uniform. “Its nice to meet you Lew, my name is Eddie.”  Could the guy be any more annoying?

“It’s Lewis.”  Upon meeting his competition, he was thinking this is going to be easier then he thought.  Lewis hoped that not all the player were going to be losers like this guy, know how the world worked they probably would be. How annoying.

“Oh, well its nice to meet you.” Eddie extended his hand for a shake.  Lewis had no intention of shaking anybodies hand, and just ignored it.  They sat in silence for a few.  Then the sound of the lock clicking and the automatic door slid open with a hum.  Eddie sprang up, and leaped for the door.  The store employee blocked his path.

“My manager says that you can’t come in until you clean up all you’re trash.”

“What!? Common I just want the TAP.  I promise that I’ll clean it all up when I’m done.” Eddie was not far from begging.  His voice was still annoying.

“No.  My manager said that I couldn’t let you in until it’s clean. I’m sorry there is nothing I can do, you don’t want me to get in trouble.”  The employee was obviously enjoying this, and so was Lewis. Eddie turned from the door with a sob and ran to his tent.  Lewis slowly got up and with a smirk strolled into the store.       

Fourth Chapter

Phil Tifesys

Phil sat down in the chair behind his desk with a sigh.  The classroom was empty, the echo of lost potential ringing in the silence broken only by the ticking of the over sized wall clock.  The class had not gone well.  The kids had not misbehaved really they had just decided that they were not going to learn anything.  The sat through out the whole semester mashing away at their mobiles under their desks.  The school had ruled two years ago that teachers could not confiscate mobile devices.  That was that, the kids just tuned out.

Phil had tried to find a way the incorporate the mobiles into his class, but the kids would just block him.  At one time Phil really liked his job, he was a young teacher with a slightly radical bent.  He had tried to stay current with the pop-culture; he genuinely tried to reach the kids.  Some how a long the way things had changed.  After this class it would have been easy to blame the current generation.  But Phil knew that was a bit of a cop out.  He walked out to his car trying to separate the taste of frustration from the taste of guilt.

He merged with traffic out of the staff parking lot, and set the autopilot.  Instead of brewing on the class, Phil when over all the things that he had to be happy about, the class was over no use thinking any more about it.  He closed his eyes and opened them as his car pulled in to the driveway.  Coming home never failed to cheer him up.  The house was huge with eight bedrooms and almost as many bathrooms, closets and hidden nooks.  With a large front AND backyards.  What was not to love?

Opening the door Phil was buffeted with sound.  Three children ran past so fast that Phil was unable identify weather they were his or not.  Chuck, one of the other husbands that lived in the house, following the fleeing children slapped Phil on the shoulder.

“Congrats on the start of your vacation!”

Then he was out the door.  Phil started to walk towards the kitchen, where the majority of the clatter and chatter was coming from.  Halfway through the entryway he was hit from the side.

“Daddy!”

 Marley slammed in to Phil’s leg and latched on. Slowly he lifted up his foot and took a step, she giggled.  Another step, more giggles.  It was in a cloud of giggles, and a few chortles that Phil walked in to his kitchen. Penny, his wife stood in a kitchen that was completely trashed.  Flower coated every surface.  Every surface had dough draped across it straight from Salvador Dali’s melting clocks.  In one corner a dog was lapping up tomato sauce.  The cause of the mess was clear, two girls and a boy were franticly throwing balls of dough in to the air.  The some of these balls were spreading out to become disks, the others not so much.  But all three UFOs were sending flower and a few chunks of dough in every direction. 

In a flash, and without missing a giggle, Marley was separated from Phil’s leg and throwing dough with reckless abandon.  Among it all stood Penny, lovely Penny, covered in flour. Her smile was radiant as she overlooked the chaos that was going to be dinner.

“Hello dear how was your last class?”  Penny asked as she turned that beautiful smile, topped with two shining eyes, towards Phil.

“I’m glad it’s done,” Phil signed, Penny took two big steps and hugged him.

“Did the big bad teenagers beat up on you,” she said in a sing-songy voice.

“No nothing like that.  This whole semester they have been…I don’t know, tuned out.  These last two weeks have been the worse.  The whole semester was bad, but recently they would only talk about this Nutrua, whatever that is.   I mean, they wrote all the papers I assigned, all their work was turned in on time.  But all I needed to do was go online and run a search for the topic and I could find the website that they plagiarized from.  They would change some of the words and move some of the sentences around; the only work they really did the whole time was to alter their papers so I couldn’t bust them for plagiarism.  Which if I wanted to I totally could if I wanted to bust my entire class.”

“Well look on the bright side, they did learn how to find the information online, they know how to find it when they need it.  Just think how much info there is at all these kids fingertips.”

“Yeah maybe your right, maybe that’s what I should focus on, not so much the info but how to find and use it, and when you need it.”

“Marley don’t put that in your mouth, its not cooked yet,” Penny turned towards the children in the kitchen, “Honey I have to oversee topping these pies then see them into the oven, dinner should be ready in about a half an hour.”

“I don’t think that I’ll be here for dinner, I want to go visit Ben tonight.”

Theresa, Chuck’s better half walked into the room. “Theresa could you help the kids get the dinner in the oven?” Asked Penny, “I have to discuss something with my foolish husband.”

With that she took Phil’s hand and led him from the room.  “Why are you looking for your brother for? I hate when you go down there.  Plus he’s a terrible human being.  You remember what he did.”

“I know but he is my brother, what he did, and I understand how it impacted us, but really he is a different person since he has gone Below.  It was the power and attention, that changes a man.”

“Whatever, don’t make excuses for that jerk.  He was a pimp, then he ruined my career.”

“A pimp is a bit strong don’t you think.”

“No I don’t think!” Penny’s voice had started to climb; she took a deep breath, and then continued in a softer tone.  “Honey he was using young girls who came to him for help, and had them sleep with politicians for ‘gifts’ and contracts.  Worse he used me to arrest anyone who tried to compete with him, and when one of his girls said she was going to go to the news he tried to have me kill her.  Don’t you remember I used to do real police work, not this behind a desk CRAP!?”

Once again Penny’s voice had risen in pitch.  Phil held up his hands in a sign of surrender.  “You’re right of course.  What the guy did was inexcusable I wont defend his actions.  But I keep hearing these reports of the disenfranchised that live below are disappearing.  Ben was writing me letters at least twice a week I haven’t received a letter from him in over a month.  I’m starting to get concerned, more then concerned I’m starting to freak out.”

“Fine, you should go find him, and when you do, tell him no more letters.  You want him out of our life. But you should make sure that he is all right.  Just don’t stay overnight, I hate when you sleep down there.”

Phil pulled his wife to him and kissed her.  He tried to step away but she grabbed his arms and pulled him in for a longer more intense kiss.  “Just be safe, ok?”

Phil went upstairs and changed, off came his clean school cloths.  He pulled on an old set of torn jeans, and a stained button down flannel shirt.  Over that he put on the cameo-jacket that came from a wilder time from his past.   He finished off the look by rubbing a little bit of shoe polish on the backs of his hands and on his cheeks.  He looked in the mirror and appraised his outfit, it was not perfect and to really fit in where he was going he should smell worse, but it would do.   Anyways where he was going nobody paid attention to who you were or what you were wearing. 

He then dove for about a half and hour.  The sprawl that had grown to be called The City was massive and with a multiplicity of levels, to many to count.  As a rule the higher the tier the more money there was.  The lower levels the more poverty.  Nobody had a clear idea of how many tiers there were, everyone knew that there was a lowest level.  A level so low that it was just called The Below, this level was reserved for those who dropped out of society.  Some had dropped out by choice others had been forced out, like Josh.  The insane and the forgotten all found their way down to The Below.   Ben had “found” his way after the massive scandal rocked his life.

Phil and his family unit lived in Cluster0o460v3.  The serial number may mean something to someone, but Phil couldn’t image who.  They certainly didn’t mean anything to him also serial numbers that began with zero sort of creeped him out. The City was one massive sprawl known as Bosaltami, and covered what at one time had been the eastern seaboard of the United States, an archaic government which had suffered a cataclysmic collapse a few generations ago.  Cluster0o460v3 was a community of around six hundred homes.  Though the community was very ethnically diverse the income range was quite narrow, almost all home having a larger number of parents and breadwinners then the traditional mom and dad household.  The community had all the important parts of a community; five or six restaurants, dry cleaning, a bar or three, the school where Phil taught, and the Foods Mart where he was parking.

The Foods Mart was a very important part of the community, supplying the most import utility, food.  The Food Mart in Cluster0o460v3 was quite nice it had an open park with a café.  It also had one of the few parking lots in the cluster.  Phil slowly drove to the very back of the parking lot, parking near the wall of the cluster.  He got out of the car and took a backpack out of the trunk.  Pulling the backpack on he walked to the corner of the lot where the wall of the cluster arched up in the rest of the city.   Here where the parking lot met the wall there was a door with a sign.  The sign said ‘Service’ but someone had written in graffiti “Skin of the world” over it.  This door allowed access to the vast super structure of the city, the skin and body that gave it form. It was this super structure that contained all the levels and clusters and protected the City from threats both internal and external.   This structure had evolved over many years, as the city grew vertically.  As it had grown up it had also grown out and then merged with the other cities becoming the massive entity it was now.

Once his eyes had adjusted to the change of light Phil could see a roughly painted B in a circle with an arrow pointing down a flight of stairs.  At the bottom of the stairs he saw another sign, following these signs took Phil through a series of stairs, catwalks and doors always heading down.  Some times they were really clear and easy to find, others not so much but find them he most and otherwise finding he Below would be impossible.

Phil was walking down a narrow ally between two tall walls or supports for some part of the City when he came upon the gates to the Below. The gates had been built up over time; the prime material was scraps and bits of this and that.  The nature of the building materials were such that pieces were always falling apart, and different people were always finding new things and ways to keep structural integrity.  The effect was gothic with two towers of trash growing upwards till they pass some point and gravity begins to make its presence known.  The towers now lean against each other, creating an arch one needed to pass through.  Various scaffolds had grown up to allow the constant upkeep necessary, this added to the momentous feel of the arch.  This structure had so much work and so many architects that it felt organic, like it was grown not built.   It was, Phil thought as he walked through it, a new wonder of the world.  A wonder that so few would ever know of let alone see.

The ach opened up into a market place in the ribs of the city above.  Here commerce had a different meaning, no form of money was recognized, trade and barter ruled here.  In the past it was a lively place full of noise, the good all scrounged from the city, the market feed from a zillion transactions and not a few thefts. It was a true trickled down market, the commodities of credit and debit, filtering down to this market of pure trade.  Goods accumulated here from every type of loss and devaluation. This process also could be said about the people in the below.  No one really knew how things or people ended here but to say that they were no longer wanted was an over simplification.

 Today Phil was greeted with a more subdued tone, it hushed as he entered, then after a few minutes the sound picked up, hushed negotiations and the hue and cry of disappointment or victory resumed, Josh had called that “the call of the bulls and the bears”.  Messengers scuttled through the shadows, moving always at the periphery of sight.  Phil had visited Ben down here a few times.  Well to be more accurate, Ben had come to Phil’s house, Phil had gone to the Below as a way to keep the peace. Today the shadows seemed more prominent and there were defiantly fewer people.  The market place smelled of unwashed people and trash. Underneath, like a bass line in a song the scent of grease and oil.  Today he noticed something else, something sour.  The other smells though unpleasant at first one could learn to at least ignore them.  This new smell was very light; Phil only noticed it when he wasn’t thinking about it.  Like having a name or a word at the tip of your tongue.  

This market had many vices for sale and one could find them all in the shadowed caverns that were formed in the ribs and supports of the City overhead.  In the past there were always a few folks from the City here either out of curiosity or just to get something that they may not be able to find or afford elsewhere.   Here a pair of socks or a copy of SI’s swimsuit edition could get you a new large screen TV or the latest designer drug.  If looking to fulfill a darker, more base physical desire, that was here too.  Every taboo up above was bought and sold, a true market where the invisible hand ruled. 

As much as the shadows held one type of commerce the rest of the market sold every imaginable good from clothes to industrial cleaners.  Another type of merchant that proliferated the market was the food vender.  As long as you didn’t ask too many questions of where it came from you could find many delectable snacks and meal.  There were carts and stalls that served burritos and taco, others offered various fried vegetables and other fried things, remember don’t ask.  But by far the most common were the meat-on-a-stick venders, it was to one of these that Phil was looking for.

Ratz-Ratz claimed to be the first true food vender in the Below market.  Though he fell under the meat-on-a-stick label, he would become enraged if he heard you call him that.  What he served was not some mystery meat; it was a whole rat on a stick roasted to perfection.  Ben had introduced Phil to Ratz-Ratz on one of his first visits, not only did Josh think that Ratz-Ratz offered the best food in the market he also had a pulse on all the news and gossip in the market, it was his secondary source for income.   Ben had a thriving business of gathering and selling bits of info, and Ratz-Ratz had been one of is most reliable sources.  If any one knew where Ben was it would be Ratz-Ratz.

As one of the originals in the market place Ratz-Ratz ‘restaurant’, if you will, held a prominent spot between to post near the geographic center of the market place.  Phil could smell it before could see it.  The rich smell of roasting meat made his mouth water, as the knowledge that it was rat made his stomach ache.   Ratz-Ratz himself was a wrinkled old man who very much looked like the animal he served, he was short but very skinny with a bent back his shoulders hunched up almost to his ears.  His face was elongated with a very large toothy grin.  He wore some many layers of clothing all so old they had more holes then material, the grin and the tattered look of his garments were responsible for the nickname.

“Rats, I got some fresh roasted rats, you want some rat?”  Ratz-Ratz went right into his pitch as soon as he saw Phil.

“Hi Ratz, do you remember me, Ben introduced us a little while ago?”

“Maybe if you get a rat then I’ll remember, yeah then I’ll remember.”  Ratz-Ratz had gotten his nickname because he had a habit of repeating himself.

“OK Ratz, I guess I’ll have one rat, skinned please.”

“Comin’ right up, what you got to trade?  I could use some new under rues.  Or maybe you have some batteries, I can always use some new batteries, yeah I always need new batteries.” Ratz-Ratz rubbed his hands together as he contemplated his wish list. 

Phil took off the backpack in which he had a collection of items he intended to trade knowing that his credit had no value.  It made no difference that he had a 730, 690 and 710 rating, his plastic card would only be good as a small, rectangular Frisbee. He had a small stock pill in the bag and if he needed to Phil was also prepared to trade the backpack.  All in all he thought it was much more then he would need for a rat on a stick and a little information.

“Ok Ratz, I got some batteries here and what about a couple socks?”  Phil pulled the bundled socks out of his bag.

“Those are ok, maybe worth half a rat, just a half rat.  What size are the batteries, you know I only need some sizes?”  The socks disappeared into the old mans tattered cameo jacket. 

“Ok, lets see. I got six triple As and ten doubles. Ok here is another pair of double As and here are four Cs. that should be good for a half rat and some info.” Phil had never really battered before, he had read about it in history books but wasn’t really sure what it should sound like.  He tried anyway, “All these batteries should find anyone in the Below, it should be enough for you to make me a map, then ignoring the map, bring me to where ever it was that he lived.”

“I’m not real sure what that means mister, mister no idea what that means.  But those batteries will get you the rest of your rat.  Here you go,” Ratz-Ratz reached back into his hovel and pulled the rat from a rack that was rotating over a small smoldering fire.

“All the good flavor comes from the fuel for the fire, that right the fuel for the fire.” He said when he saw Phil watching.  “I will also provide you with some info about your brother.  He is missing, has been for sometime, yeah sometime.  Must be almost a month, I really haven’t seen him for a month.”

“A month? Where could he have gone?”

“That info will cost you some more, Its gonna cost you. What you don’t like the rat, the rat? You haven’t taken one bite, not one bite.”  Ratz-Ratz looked at Phil with one eyebrow raised with expectation.

Phil lifted the rat to his mouth. “Its just meat,” he said hyping himself up.  He took a deep breath, and with Ratz-Ratz laughter ringing in his ear, he took a small bite.  The skin crackled under his teeth, not unlike fried chicken.  The meat was kind of tough, stringy almost and the bones were so thin, that other then the spine he was able to take a full bite.  The flavor was not bad, salty.  Some grease ran down his chin.  Phil stopped eating and used his sleeve to wipe a way the slimy trail.  About half the rat had been consumed, then he was very sick.  Sick on the ground, while Ratz-Ratz unable to contain his glee, laughed till tears ran down his face.

“Here take it all.” Phil said with some venom, dumping the contents of the backpack into Ratz-Ratz hands. “Just tell what you know about Ben’s disappearance, everything.  If you tell me everything and you bring me to where he slept, I will let you keep the bag too.”

“Oooo, a bag, a bag.  What have we here, what is in this bag here?  Oh good some more socks, Socks!” Ratz-Ratz took a big sniff of the socks, then a second huff. 

“Clean!” he said with glee then digging back into the bag he pulled out two cartons of cigarettes and six magazines. Each item was greeted with a chortle or snort of joy.  The magazines were received particularly well; three of them were targeted to women and advertised the secrets of keeping you man completely satisfied, or the steps needed to look good enough to keep him happy.  The others were lingerie catalogs these where quickly flipped through with silent reverence.  Then he looked Phil straight in the eye.

“Things are bad down here.  It may not look it but people are scared.  They’re scared cause folks are disappearin.  At first they would just be gone.  One day they’ed be there, like right there,” pointing at an empty shop. “Or there,” an arm sweeping out to include the whole market, “They would leave to go to sleep and just never come back.  Just gone.  It was just a few people at first, one person a week maybe two.  But its getten worse, yesterday they took two.  Someone most like is already gone today.”

“Who? Who are they?”

“Don’t know, no one has seen them.  Maybe they don’t even exist. Maybe they are just leaving the Below.  But I think someone, some thing is taking them.  Hunting them, hunting me and all my people, we came here to be safe and now, they, are coming after us.  They took Ben maybe a month ago.  He was in the market, gossiping and telling people it was news.  Ha, then he would ask for money like the rumor was valuable.  You know sometime it was, and sometimes people paid him, everybody liked your brother.  Don’t know who he was in the City, were’ll some kinda broken when we end up here.”  Ratz-Ratz paused his talking with a vacant look and ran his hand through the tuft of hair that he had left on his head.

            “That day,” he continued, “Ben was up to his old game, talking, that Ben could talk.  I think that he was trying to get people to talk bout the disappearance.  Maybe not though, memories not so good anymore and maybe I just want to think that he knew what was coming.  But, whatever happened he left like always, a wave here a nod here, he would always stop by and try to get a free rat.  I always told him that there’s nothing free in this world, certainly no free rat!  Then he left to go to his spot, where he slept.  That’s it, no more, I haven’t seen him since, nor none of the rest, maybe thirty now.”

            “What?” Phil interrupted, “Did you just say that thirty people have been abducted?”

            “Well, if abdoocted means, taken, whatchta say, ‘napped.  Then yeah, that what I said.  It’s probably more, I don’t know everybody here, some people don’t really get known here, don’t want to be known.  Maybe fifty, I wouldn’t be surprised if they took fifty.”

            “I had no idea.”  Phil was shocked.  He had no idea what to do, thirty people, fifty people, that was a lot of people.  If it had just been Ben maybe he could have done something.  I should go to the police, they would care if it was fifty people.  Then on second thought they wouldn’t care, not here in the Below. 

            As if reading his mind Ratz-Ratz piped up again breaking into Phil’s chain of thought.  “Don’t bring the cops here, we’ve no love for them pigs, and they certainly don’t give a good god damn about us.  This is a Below problem, these are Below people.  Josh was a Below person, leave him to us we’ll take care of him.  You wont, or cant I don’t judge, but just go back to your life.  Josh belongs in the Below and if he disappears down here then maybe that is what happens to all of us, he is one of us now.”  By the end of this Ratz-Ratz face was getting red and his hands were clenched, in front of him. “Just go, go now before they get you.”

            Phil tried to say something, but Ratz-Ratz closed the flap that covered the window/door/opening, effectively slamming the door in his face.  So he turned and headed back the way he came.  As he walked back through the market towards the gate he felt very conflicted.  In many ways he felt that he was failing his brother, leaving or abandoning him. However like Ratz-Ratz had said there were other people who cared for Ben now and they wanted the responsibility of trying to save him, something Phil could see no way he could do anyways.  Also he felt some deep release, Ben was no longer his problem, it was done.  This thought made him feel even worse, he was a terrible brother.  Sally will know what to do, or at least she’ll help, she will know what to say. 

With that thought Phil passed beneath the gates, now he needed to find the arrows that had lead him down here.  He found the first one, then the second.  It was easier going back, he was able to let his mind wonder has he worked his way back the way he had come.  The more he thought about it, he realized that most likely Ben was dead.  This concept hit him like a ton of bricks, knocking him out of his reprieve.  He stopped walking and looked around, this area didn’t look familiar.  He could see the arrow that he followed here, but where was the next one.  Now his breath was speeding up and he could feel his hands sweating, suddenly the room he was in was very warm.  Phil took a deep breath.  Trying to calm down, he knew that if he panicked he would never find he way out.   He needed to be calm.  Calm.

In the quite, in his calm, he heard them.  The shuffle of steps, footsteps of someone, NO someoneS creeping up on him.  Phil spun around to face the sound, to see who was behind him.   A light was turned on right in his eye.  Having been in the dark for long time his eyes had become adjusted, the bright light completely dazzled them, leaving multi colored circles that blocked his vision completely.  The circles stayed when he closed his eyes against the brilliant light that was violating his pupils. 

Hands grabbed his left arm; he spun towards his attacker and slammed into a different body rushing towards him.  The sudden movement must have surprised the rushing attacker because he had smashed his own face into Phil’s chest, bounced back and fell down. Phil tried to jump the downed body and open his eyes, only to be blinded again by the light.  What may have been an amazing escape attempt, failed as he miss calculated how close the downed attacker was.  First he kicked him in his side then he tripped and fell on him.  Whoever was holding his left hand fell on top of them pushing Phil onto the ground with his left arm behind his back.  Phil struggled but was pined; the man under him was trying to hold his right arm.  As he struggled the man on top of him was trying to put something over his face.  He really could do nothing to stop the man from forcing the device over his mouth and nose.  He tried not to breath, but he had been struggling, and he was so scared.  He breathed in, it-tasted minty, the world faded away.