William raised his head from time to time to check the stops and to see if people were paying attention to him. He did not notice anything in particular, although some passengers nodded to each other. The key thing was that nobody he knew was present. It would have been like adding insult to injury. He would have been somehow obligated to give public explanations. So demeaning.
Fortunately, the minutes ran fast: Karsten Square, Moriah Road; it wouldn't be too long till he could finally get off at Milton Avenue, he could even get home before sunset. A wonderful prospect, given the fear of ending his days in jail. Or worse.
Two people seemed to be staring at him. Most of the passengers had given him a fleeting glance, no more than a few seconds of harmless curiosity: no one was looking for troubles, the subject could be dangerous. Those two, on the other hand, were strangely attracted by him. It wasn't disgust or fear; much less did it seem that they wanted to taunt him. No, they were looking at him with interest and concern. William kept an eye on them for a while, trying to figure out what they were up to. Whatever was on their minds, they clearly didn't want to stop it, so the man in orange costume decided to change place and sit right in their direction, waiting for a possible counter-move. The couple - a bald white man with a full beard and a black woman, both middle-aged – did not get worried by that gesture, they kept talking to each other and staring at him, to which William turned around to verify if the subject of so much interest was instead someone or something behind him. He clearly did not find anything worthy of such attention and it was obvious: he had chosen the seat with care, if there had been something so attractive nearby, he would have noticed. William sensed, at one point, like a flash coming from the position of those two. A quick and very intense flash, like that of a lighthouse. He covered his eyes so as not to be dazzled, then a few moments later everything was back to normal, with just a slight difference: those two curious passengers seemed to have disappeared. William rubbed his eyes, then moved his head frantically to try to understand if those two were possibly hidden by other passengers or had changed places. Neither of those two options was correct, there simply was no trace left of them. Perhaps the sunlight had played tricks on his sight and, while he was looking away, the white man and the black woman had changed coach. Besides, the carrier had not stopped, so they could not have got off and, of course, they could not have dissolved. In any case, he had no time or desire to go deeper, he had to go back home and that's it. Anxiety had made him sweat, he could smell the stench. He needed a long invigorating shower. And a decent meal, no more sandwiches. Not that he had not appreciated the kindness of Delegate DiFraia, but now he was hungry like the wolf. He lost himself in his thoughts and forgot to check the stop. Damn! He had gone two stops too far. He would be forced to get off at “Willis Street”, more than two miles away from home. He would surely be seen by plenty of passersby, just what he was trying to avoid! The damage was now done, he thought it was useless to feel sorry; he had better be ready to run fast as soon as the carrier stopped. No way would he stand up and move closer the door before due time, and then be teased by people. No, he would wait until the last minute, and once got off he would have to run like a pro athlete and get lost in the shadows. In the eyes and minds of the other passengers he would have to become a blurry, irrelevant orange spot. And so he did. Luckily in Willis Street there were still some old buildings and narrow lanes, so he slipped into one of the alleys and eluded the sight of passersby. He would escape the open field, even if he had to take the long way. His stomach was rumbling and he felt tired: that setback was the last thing he had needed to end the day.
Every time he saw a crowd he stopped and waited for a quieter moment. Once crossed the small Warhol Square with no harm, the hardest part was done and he could already see the Buildings. He would walk along the side of the square, he certainly could not walk it in the middle: for the inhabitants of the District that phosphorescent orange costume would mean ATTENTION DANGER. In this regard he wondered what he should do with the wetsuit. Should he keep it for later reuse? Should he throw it away? Would they give him a new one? He would think about it calmly, even though at that moment he was burning with the desire to rip it off. Who knows how much redness it had caused him here and there, that damn hypoallergenic fabric. He then walked the square from the longest side: he had seen children on the other side. He could not stop to think of those who could see him from the top of the buildings. That was something inevitable, it was unlikely for him to pass by without leaving a trace, but perhaps they would not think that William Deveux was the orange blur. He could still get through it.
He finally entered Building 16. He made a brief stop to hear any sounds nearby. There didn't seem to be a living soul. He ran fast with the elevator and reached the attic with relief. With no big surprise, he found the front door open. Even before crossing the threshold he had already sensed that someone had rummaged through his belongings while he was in court. He was surprised, instead, when he noticed a paper ticket attached to the right side of the entrance: “William, you left the front door open. Are you OK? Kisses, Augusta.” Sweet Mrs. Rottinger had gone to visit him. From the tenor of the message, the lady had not probably realized his forced absence and had simply blamed carelessness. Better that way. William then took a deep breath and entered his house, closing the door behind him. From a first analysis it did not seem they had moved many objects, something was out of place yet the flat was not completely messed up, like when the thieves burgle your house. He first checked the computer. It all seemed okay, at first glance there was no file missing and everything worked properly. They had worked carefully so as not to leave evident traces. Who knows what documents they had copied or examined. It did not matter at that point. He had the idea of inspecting the lamp on the table. He unscrewed it and checked its inside: nothing to report. Too many spy movies. He soon got tired of searching, weariness fell on him like a landslide and he went and threw himself on the bed. He was overcome by nausea and headache and had to forget about refreshing himself and taking a nice and long shower. He just wanted to sleep. Before thanking the pillow for its soft and disinterested comfort, he made an extreme attempt to get rid of the costume. Too much effort, he would try the next morning. The next morning, yeah. What would he have to do next day? Go to work as usual? Stay at home, confined to his attic? Could he use communicator and computer? Could he talk to someone about that story? Too many questions at once. He had to take his dose of Sefinol, the bottle was there on the bedside table, but he didn't want to. Too tired.
Exhausted.
Rest.
Sleep.
Chapter XV
An unkind ringing made William Deveux jump from his stiff but cozy mattress. He stood upright and, just enough time to rub his eyes, he ran to open the front door. «Here I am, I am ready!», he said aloud as he activated the automatic opening device. No one was there. Fearing he was still sleeping, he rubbed his face again. He didn't see a living soul. He leaned forward just enough to look outside the door and inspect the corridor. Just wasted time, there was no militiaman, no neighbor or mysterious guest. He curled his lip and went back inside. The annoying trill did not cease and only then did William realize that it was his communicator that was asking for attention, not the front door. He walked up to the table with three big strides and so he picked up the diabolical and noisy item. There was a flashing name: “Ramos”. William stared at the display for a few seconds, then, as soon as he realized he was still wearing the wetsuit, he sat down and started laughing. It was a hysterical and self-deprecating laugh, he was so disoriented that he had forgotten he had already been taken from Militia the day before. The proceedings against him had already been opened and, except for last-minute decisions, the judge would hardly call him back so soon. And above all, he was in his house at that moment, in his den, wrapped in the embrace of his four home walls, safe. Given the initial fear of being imprisoned for the entire duration of the trial, and even beyond, a surprising and, t
o say the least optimistic, turn of events had occurred.
He let it ring for several seconds, to better savor that unexpected sensation of freedom mixed with excitement. Then he pressed the answer button.
«Ramos!»
«Oh, damn it Deveux, you let it ring a hundred times!»
«Take it easy, it rang no more than thirty seconds.»
«Yeah, yeah. Listen up now, are you busy this morning?»
«Kate...», William hesitated, not knowing what to answer, «to be honest, I don't know if...»
«I know, I know», Kate Ramos stopped him, trying to read his mind, «I know about the trial and all the rest. As you know, all business communications pass through my hands.»
«Oh, so you all know everything about it...»
«They told us what they wanted us to know. I don't know if that's everything or not.»
«Maybe now at Leigh Madison they know things I wasn't told about», William inquired, but with little interest in the answer.
«No, I do not think so. Anyway, if you want, we may talk about it face to face, I would like to invite you to have a coffee with me. Oh, don't get any ideas, okay?», Kate said jokingly.
«But I don't know if I can leave the house, if I have to go back to work, I don't know anything about anything!», William protested. «In the hurry to leave Militia headquarters, I forgot to ask for information and they clearly didn't bother to tell me anything!»
«I can help you with that», Kate assured him. «So, it was written in the communication that you can leave the house but, of course, you are forbidden to leave the city. You can use every tool you need, make payments and go to work when you're not busy with your trial, if you like.»
«What does “if you like” mean?», William objected.
«It means that it's not mandatory, that they will pay you the salary anyway, even if the employer - Leigh Madison in our case - has the right to cut the pay up to one third for each day of absence. They already decided that they will do it, for your information.»
«Great.»
«Oh, if you choose to come to work, there will be someone to supervise your work.»
«Great decision! Honestly, this is the least they could do to treat a scum like me», William replied sarcastically. «I will gladly stay the hell away from there, at this point. I've got bigger worries right now.»
«Slow down, William. Don't make hasty decisions. There is time to reason calmly. In any case, our wages are good, a temporary reduction should be bearable, right?»
«Let's say yes. Listen, why do you want to meet me?»
«Because I would like to... thank you for your last visit», Kate explained, in a more serious tone of voice.
«Thank me? But there's no need for it...»
«It's necessary, I tell you», Kate pointed out. «I'll wait for you at 11.00 at that nice bar, you know which one I mean?»
«Yes but...»
«All right», Kate said shortly, «now have a quick breakfast and please have a nice shower. I don't like scruffy men.»
William stayed silent.
«Deveux, it's all clear?»
«Yeah, yeah. Okay, at your orders, Colonel», William joked, in a low and tired tone.
Kate Ramos then interrupted the communication. Why did she care so much to see him? In such complicated circumstances, by the way. That nice bar. Could it be possible that Kate turned into a feminine and sharper version of that paranoid of Charlie DeClerk? In any case, William didn't really want to go out, he still harbored the fear of being kidnapped. He had already suffered a deportation disguised as a relocation for health reasons and the forced transfer of the previous day revived that memory. He could at least enjoy an ephemeral sense of security within those walls, although he was aware that Militia would stop at nothing. However, if there was one thing that worried him even more than Militia was having to give up a normal life, the everyday life, the desire to feel free and do what he liked best. Therefore, for all those reasons, he jumped to his feet, took care to remove the wetsuit with due accuracy so as not to risk damaging it and, finally, he got into the shower cabin to enjoy the feeling of freshness on the bare skin.
According to Kate, he could normally use every technological tool. He would take that opportunity to continue to look for information useful to his cause and Charlie would help him as he always did. But before that, it was urgent to have breakfast. It was almost twenty-four hours that he didn't eat. He prepared pancakes with syrup and strong tea. It was since the last time he had seen Lucinda that he didn't have breakfast that way. Who knows what she was doing, Lucinda. He would have time to think about it later, the priorities were others. The first was to understand what was on Kate's mind. His colleague was just the last person on Earth who would get involved in fantasies, supposed mysteries or even conspiracies. She had never even dated him, if only for a coffee. No, it had to be something important.
William Deveux reached the “X Café”, the nice bar, with plenty of time to spare. Anyway, he had nothing planned for that day. He couldn't have, after all. Kate had chosen a place not too close to Leigh Madison Enterprise headquarters, evidently not to risk unpleasant encounters, yet not too far from it, so to force her to stay away for too long. At 10.30 Kate was already there and this confirmed William's suspicions: it surely was not a trivial matter. The colleague had chosen a table located in the top left corner of the venue, so she could see whoever entered the bar and at the same time stay clear of prying ears. Kate smiled and waved her arm to show William the direction. The two greeted each other and Kate affectionately kissed him on the cheek.
«Ramos, don't take such liberties, all right?», William joked.
«Would you like something?»
«Just a coffee. I've just had breakfast.»
Kate Ramos made number two with her fingers to signal to the waiter to bring their coffees.
«You said you wanted to thank me but I guess it's much more than that, isn't it?»
Kate hesitated and looked around before answering.
«No, you're not wrong. You surely understood that I preferred this bar to avoid our colleagues. If they had seen us near the office, they would have asked a lot of questions.»
William nodded. «Any rumors about me?»
«I haven't had many chances to chat lately», Kate Ramos justified herself. «Hutchinson is angry, anyway. He believes they targeted you, they want to use you as a kind of scapegoat.»
William nodded again, smiling slightly.
«I've always respected that man. Maybe he's not that funny but he's a good and honest person.»
The coffees arrived and the two fell silent for a few moments. William drank it all in one gulp, then waited for the waiter to be at a safe distance.
«What did you want to talk to me about?»
Kate, unlike her colleague, carefully sweetened the coffee and sipped it slowly. William followed all the steps of that little ritual with his eyes.
«Do you remember when I fainted?»
«Of course.»
«Well, I'm sure you remember that at Saint Patrick they didn't run any in-depth medical tests and you suggested me to do them by myself.»
«Get to the point, Ramos», William impatiently urged her.
«Here it comes, don't worry. So, I run those tests and the result was interesting.»
Kate paused and sipped the last drop of coffee left. «But first, let's take a step back to when I entered Dietrich's office and then fainted. When I woke up, I remembered very little and I was told that I had just spoken a few words and then had collapsed. According to Dietrich I would have mumbled something meaningless and then lost consciousness. Well, he lied.»
«Now you've really intrigued me», William said, leaning forward and putting his elbows on the table.
«I know. But let's take it slow. So... after your visit - in which you told me, among other things, that you were sick too - I got a little scared and decided to go to the lab near my house. I didn't mention the episode and I w
as vague about the symptoms. I hoped they could tell me what was wrong without having to confess too much. Dr. Anne Winkel - who works there - took me aside and asked me with surprise if I regularly attended dance clubs.»
William raised an eyebrow, not understanding where that was going.
«Well, at the moment», Kate explained, «I thought of going along with her and told her that sometimes, after a hard day's work, I love to have some fun. She asked me not to go overboard with 'Triple S' because it can cause permanent damage.»
«Triple S?»
«It's a synthetic drug they sell in nightclubs. I pretended to know what it was when I talked to the doctor, but then I searched the net to get some information. The acronym stands for 'savage surrender sensation'. In essence it makes you lose inhibitions and pushes you to become a sexual object.»
«Holy shit!», exclaimed William. Kate waved him to lower his voice.
«The funny thing, let's say, is that Dr. Winkel looked at me from head to toe as if to say 'aren't you a little old to do such things?' In short, I had to look like a misfit so as not to reveal the truth: that is, that they had secretly drugged me.»
«But how did it happen? How did they drug you?», William asked.
«Ice tea.»
«Ice tea?»
«Yeah. Dietrich offered me some. And now I remember perfectly that he insisted that I drink it.»
William let himself fall to the back of the chair. «Son of...»
Kate sadly bowed her head. «That crap at high doses makes you lose consciousness and causes amnesia. And, from what I've understood, the administered dose was actually high. So I pretended to apologize to her, to regret and so on, all right? And I asked her if she could prescribe some medicine that would help me get rid of that junk. And so it was. She gave me a detox powder and I felt better, my head was clearer.»
Kate paused again, tapped her fingers on the table and looked William straight in the eye.
The Ruling Impulses Page 25