“Was?”
“Yes, was. Until you laid your eyes on Sorensen back there. You never used to melt into a puddle” He smirks, a faint chuckle under his breath.
Jimmy nods as he leans an arm on the side of the car door. “Ok, yeah. Not my finest moment. I’m not gonna lie either, I like her”. Dixon looks at him, ready to jab with another insult. He sees him looking at the road as he drives, but he can tell that he is interested in the woman. Not like he was with women back when they worked together. He didn’t want to bed her, he could see that real spark in him. Mixed with the genuine feeling that he was doing some real police work, Jimmy looked the most comfortable he’s ever been in his skin.
Looking back at the road, Dixon rests back into the seat. Closing his eyes he enjoys the feeling of almost being the motivated and strong-willed man he used to be years ago. He drifts off to sleep and wakes up as Jimmy pulls up to his apartment.
“Sorry, I must have drifted off,” Dixon says, blinking his eyes clear.
“Not a problem, man. Figure that’s some of the healthiest sleep you’ve had in a while.” Jimmy says as Dixon exits the car. He leans over to talk out of the door.
“These guys are gonna make a move fast. Once word gets up to Engel, he’ll want to question the council. I suspect we’ll be called up pretty early tomorrow. I’ll swing by and pick you up.” Dixon nods in reply and closes the door. Returning upstairs to his apartment, he lets his mind rest as he eats a meal. Sitting down with a glass of whiskey, he swills it around after eating, thinking about what he’d achieved with Jimmy so far. Thinking about what he could achieve if everything turned out well. He could get back into an actual job again, maybe even join the force again. His biggest thought that after everything had gone down and he might be able to see Sadie again. Would she want to pick things up? Could they get married again? Would she want to start a new family?
With his eyes beginning to feel heavy, he tries to hold onto the last pieces of consciousness he has. Realising his vision has rested on his prosthetic arm, he gently closes his fingers. Phantom feelings sting his comprehension almost as much as the silence that fills his home. There isn’t a rattle from the empty bottle he holds in a shaky drunk hand, no numbness to hold back the truth that he’d lost RJ. She’d probably have had some mischievous wisecrack to throw at him right about now. “Back to the bottle?” or something like that. How could artificial intelligence feel so close to a friend, a loved one, another daughter?
Sniffling back the tears he wants to shed, he tries desperately to remind himself that she wasn’t real. Simply a bunch of code some spotty geek had written in a crappy basement somewhere. He raises his forearm and runs his real fingers along the surface, it’s so cold, so inhuman, yet all he can think about is the digital daughter he once had there. Now plastic and metal replaces it. Dropping his arm, he takes a deep breath and looking into nothing, drifts off.
Dixon wakes up, still in the chair, the empty whiskey glass still in his prosthetic hand. A series of bangs thunder from his door and he balls his fists quickly in reflex, the glass shattering, shards scattering across the room. Abruptly awake he opens the door. Jimmy stands on the other side, a nervous smile.
“I’m here, told you I’d pick you up” His smile lingering awkwardly.
“Why do you look weird?” Dixon asks.
“I didn’t expect to get picked up myself,” Jimmy says. Dixon frowns as he lets Jimmy enter. “So I got a call from Maria Sorensen asking for us to come in for a meeting. They think we’d be well placed to provide some footwork for them.”
“Okay. That’s good news right. Oh! Are you nervous about seeing her?” Dixon asks, changing his shirt.
“No, well, yeah. But when I was away to jump into my car to come get you, I got another call.”
“Maria wanted to ask you out? Geez, she’s got more balls than you. I think I like her too”. Dixon fixes his collar.
“It wasn’t Maria, it was Tom Sutcliffe, head of Halo,” Jimmy says, Dixon halting suddenly, his collar still in his hands. “He’d heard that there was something going on with his legal team, and that there were Leistung execs suggesting Engel get in touch with him. Guess they must have some spies in the company or something”.
“They all do” Jimmy finishes fixing his collar. “So Sutcliffe wants to see us too? Good. We can go see him after we see Engel.”
“Not going to happen I’m afraid.” Jimmy bows his head a little. “After he’d found out that we were the ones involved in this, uh…he had me picked up. There’s a ride waiting outside waiting to take us to him.”
Dixon stops as he exits the apartment, with Jimmy following close behind, he is both surprised and impressed. “He works fast, huh? I like that” he continues on down the stairs and out of his building. A large shuttle sits at the kerbside, a stunning looking piece of technology that was drawing lots of attention. The Halo logo across the back half of it in a sleek design. A man stands at the door, a smart suit, expensive haircut and expressionless face all scream that he is security.
Walking up to the vehicle, the man steps aside, with a vague gesture to enter the vehicle. Dixon looks down at the man, assessing whether he was being forced or assisted. The man looks up at him and in a flat tone says “Good day, Mr Callaway. Please enter the shuttle and we’ll have you at Halo momentarily”. The robotic tone of their employees is a little haunting.
They climb into the shuttle and take a seat. The luxury and comfort is obvious upon sitting down. The interior doing its best not to show off any specific feature, but also screaming that it is better than anything you will ever see in your life. The man sits down facing Jimmy and Dixon, and speaks to the driver in the front briefly. The shuttle doors bolt closed with a reassuring clunk, and Jimmy looks out the window as they ascend out of the neighbourhood, watching the people gawk at the shuttle as it picks up speed, flying through the air like it was rolling on a smooth roller coaster.
Dixon looks out through the front window of the shuttle as they continue to fly higher and higher, noticing that they are not joining the streams of flying vehicles working their way between the buildings. Ascending above them still, he sees the clouds that hide the tops of the most important structures. Pushing into the cloud the sky goes dark. Looking through the front window the clouds prevent any real view. The heads-up display highlights the outline of buildings as they rise and finally burst through the clouds.
Light fills the cabin again, blinding Dixon and Jimmy’s. They squint as the shuttle begins to level off. Looking around they now see a white fluffy floor with only a few towers stretching above it.
“It’s like heaven or something,” Jimmy says to Dixon. The guard cracks a faint smile at the gentlemen’s’ amazement.
“If you could buy your way past the pearly gates” Dixon adds, his comment causing the guard to look down his nose at him. The shuttle pulls up to the largest of the towers. A landing dock juts out of the side near the very top of the building, it’s spire reaching higher still. As the landing feet of the shuttle unfold from the body, and it gently takes its place on the dock, the guard stands. Exiting the vehicle and holding the door open, he turns.
“This way, gentlemen” his eyes fix on Dixon’s and a fake smile appears on his face. Jimmy exits first, followed by Dixon who hunches over to get out. The entire top of the building is plated with thick dark glass. Only the faint shadow of the inside can be seen - another three floors are visible. A few people mingle around on the current level, three figures appear to be on the second floor and the top floor is empty.
The guard leads the way inside. Two shining black doors, eight feet in width, slide apart with sharply. Dixon spots a bar as the centrepiece of the room. A man wearing a monocle stands behind the bar, a white shirt with a checked waistcoat and a white light shooting up from inside his collar. As he smiles, waving to them, his teeth appear to glow with light. Noticing the large curling hair style, purple in colour, Dixon then realises that almost everyone on this floor is decked out in
similar flamboyant outfits. They sit around chatting, with snooty poses, sipping from extravagant looking cocktails in even more glamorous looking vials. Their conversation difficult to distinguish, even Jimmy struggles to pick out the words due to the put on posh tones and dialect.
The guard continues on to a staircase, looking back he sees that both Dixon and Jimmy are standing awestruck in the middle of the room.
“Gentlemen, a drink perhaps?” the bartender asks. Dixon is about to turn and ask for something as the rest of the room goes quiet, like an old western, they all look at the two drably dressed men before them.
“How did this filth get in here?” one particularly pretentious looking woman says, breaking the silence. “This place isn’t for low-level GIDs like you. Away peasant” her lips curling almost as much as her nose as she turns back to her drink, looking for the adoration of her peers.
“They are with me.” A voice with a strong Australian twang echoes out from above. Looking up, the room sees a tall man leaning on a rail, overlooking the entire bar area. The previously snobbish woman now holds her tongue and looks extremely embarrassed.
The Australian walk around to the stairs and shouts “Come on, guys. Up here!” He beckons for Dixon and Jimmy to join him. As they walk up the stairs, Dixon receives another counterfeit smile from the guard.
“I see you’ve made friends with Bob” the Australian chortles as they reach the top of the stairs. He throws his arms around Jimmy, patting his back warmly. Looking up at Dixon he laughs again.
“Holy shit stacks, you’re nearly taller than this building.” He extends his hand and feigns pain as Dixon shakes it. “Please, let’s have a seat” He gestures to the room he came from, two figures are sitting in the room. He opens the door and gives them a quick gesture.
“Off you fuck!” he says, and they do.
Jimmy manages to catch his breath, “Are you Tom Sutcliffe?”
“In the flesh. The one and only. Head of Halo, and most famous of the rich philanthropists on this fine planet”. Both men look back at him blankly. He coughs and corrects his stance. “Uh, yes. Tom Sutcliffe, at your service”.
Chapter 20
Tom Sutcliffe was not what they expected. He was known for being a big character, but also as a brutally intelligent and professional businessman. His commercials and news interviews had shone a very positive light on him. Almost everyone who saw him liked him within seconds. Not because of his handsome face and strong jawline. Nor due to his entertaining outfits, which although giving the appearance of suited and booted CEO, were also decadent and bright.
Neither Dixon nor Jimmy would have thought that the man who essentially ran the entirety of North America would be such a friendly person.
“You two are both cops, right?” he asks, hesitating. “Well, you are, you used to be” he points to Dixon as he circles the large glass table in the centre of the room. He claps his hands twice and the wall unfolds presenting another private bar. Picking up a large dispenser containing a very dark spirit he turns.
“Single or double?” Tom asks as Dixon pulls up a seat at the far end of the table.
“Single for me,” Jimmy says.
“Make it a triple” Dixon says smiling, shrugging to Jimmy as Tom turns back to three glasses already lined up on the bar top. Pouring the drinks he takes two over to the table, looking up and flashing his smile again, he pushes the glasses, sliding them across the full length of the table. The rolling sound of the glasses bouncing around the room before cutting as Jimmy and Dixon catch their drinks.
Lifting his own drink Tom toasts. “To the police and all the sacrifices they make for everyone else’s safety”. He throws back the double he’d poured and swallows it in one. Dixon and Jimmy sip theirs, both feeling the sharp bite of a very well-aged rum. Tom walks up to the seat next to Jimmy and sits on the table instead.
“Now, gentlemen. I’m sure you’ve been made aware of my request to speak to you. I don’t mean to be rude or ruin your day, but I’ve been quite disturbed at the stories I’ve been hearing surrounding you two.” He squeezes his eyebrows together, looking as serious as possible.
Jimmy is about to explain as Tom cuts him off. “You can imagine my surprise when I hear that several files have been stolen and sent to LAF authorities by one of my legal team's receptionists.” He points across the table at Dixon. “You’re ex-wife, no?”
“Uh - yes,” Dixon flutters.
“Indeed, then I’m told that you have been rustling up a meeting with the big wigs at Leistung. Something about an inside scoop on us that’ll give them the advantage.” He leans closer to Jimmy a little, “correct?”
“Mr Sutcliffe, first of all, let me thank you for having us up here. I don’t think either of us would have ever dreamed of seeing something like this” he looks at Dixon who shakes his head with an upturned lip. “The fact is that we found an actual paper copy of a legal document in a Fenghuang employee’s apartment.”
“Fenghuang?” Tom’s features scrunch. “Filthy scum have been trying to set up a base in Denver. Trying to train spies up to infiltrate my business, Leistung too for that matter. What did the file say?”
“It was a legal document outlining the merger of Fenghuang and Halo,” Dixon says. He swigs his rum and looks back at Tom with a firm glance.
“A merger? Why would we- oh! Those sneaky shits. They are probably specking up documents to put behind fake new employees to send into Halo HQ. They tried this about fifteen years ago. Caught three of them and another killed herself jumping off the one hundred and fourth floor.”
“So you have no plans to merge with them?” asks Jimmy.
“On the contrary, those two I just kicked out are part of my legal team. We’re setting up to try and push them further out of Colorado and Kansas. I was actually going to be hiring up some Leistung muscle” He taps Jimmy on the shoulder. “Maybe I should keep you guys in mind. Brains go well with brawn.”
“My ex-wife. She said that she was being tracked by you guys. That true?” Dixon’s voice low and pointed.
“Well of course. We aren’t seeking a merger with one of our main competitors, but if our internal staff are shipping off important documents to external sources without our permission - we tend to pay close attention to that sort of thing.” Tom jokes. “I can reassure you, she would come to no harm if we found her. The worst case scenario - she would be questioned on her motives and given a severance package. Maybe not the best package but she wouldn’t leave empty-handed.”
Dixon asks “Do you have any idea where she went?”
“Last we heard she’d fled the city. Somebody went to her home address but didn’t find her. Apparently, someone else had been looking for her. A few bodies turned up there.” Tom’s eyes get more serious “after we found out that, we knew things weren’t just as simple as someone selling our contracts for a quick buck”.
He stands from the table, pulling the chair out and sitting down, putting his feet up. “A friendly source at Leistung, one Maria Sorensen informed us of the details you had passed on to her. She just so happens to be heading up the recruitment process there for our hired protection. Gave us the news as a show of good faith.”
“Did she mention me at all?” Jimmy asks in as his concentration wanders.
“You? She mentioned your names” Tom says. “What? You got a thing for this girl or something?”
“Or something…” Dixon says, the other two turning to look at him like he’d just insulted their mothers. “Mr Sutcliffe, the document didn’t only mention a merger. There was a framework for altering the GID hierarchy. Lows and mids would be one new low level. High’s an execs would be a new High, and you council members would remain at the top.”
“Why change the GIDs?” Tom asks rhetorically, standing and walking around to lean at the end of the table. “They want to simplify the GIDs to create a large slave base?” He asks, looking up. Dixon and Jimmy nod back at him. “This goes against what the council have been
seeking for years. We’ve been trying to find common ground to bring everyone forward, raise everyone’s standard of life.” He thinks further. “Hell, I’d just been working on some plans with Esther Beneventi of Praetorium”
“Is it possible that this file may have been the beginning of Fenghuang infiltrating your company and looking to take over? If they did, putting through this GID change would be far easier.” Jimmy says, “They’d be able to strong-arm the other council members into agreeing.”
“Yes, you’re right. This has to be stopped” Tom stands up and taps his temple. A circle of metal glimmers and then unfolds a series of short arms that curve around his ear and down his cheek. “Gentlemen, I need to speak to the other council members. Please take the shuttle to wherever you want, be ready for us to contact you at any time.” He walks to the door and signals them to leave.
As Jimmy and Dixon exit, the doors close and Tom’s voice can be heard very sternly shouting for someone to get him Leistung and Praetorium as soon as possible. The guard approaches them with a far friendlier expression.
“Gentlemen, I’ve been informed to give you a ride to wherever you choose. Where do you want to go?” he asks politely.
“Dix, where to?” Jimmy asks. The guard looks up, almost apologetic for his previous demeanour.
“That shuttle got tracking?” asks Dixon.
“The only person with clearance to track it is Mr Sutcliffe himself.” The guard states.
“Perfect, let’s take it to Sadie’s mother’s,” Dixon says to Jimmy. “Fenghuang won’t track the shuttle, and even if they do they won’t want to cause a mess of Tom Sutcliffe’s shuttle”.
“Could be risky - but ok,” Jimmy says after thinking it over. The three men turn to the stairs, walking down, a few of the colourful guests notice them. Looking down and holding their silence, they watch as Jimmy and Dixon exit the bar area. Whispering to each other about who they might be, and trying to figure out why Tom Sutcliffe wanted to speak to them.
Neon Haze: Snakes and Roses Page 11