Of Superior Design

by Matt Rogers

  Chapter 41

  He was staring into a camera thinking the unthinkable when the answer arrived by way of ringtone.

  “Hello?”

  The voice on the other end of the line almost made him weep for joy.

  “Nat, it’s Detective Smith. We’ve found him.”

  He couldn’t believe his luck then he thought further and discounted the idea. It wasn’t luck, it was fate brought on by hard work, dedication and a lifelong dream to finally put an end to the question of Heaven or Hell’s supremacy.

  “Where is he?”

  The answer he received caused his mind to reel for it was not one he thought possible.

  “Well, sir, we don’t actually know the precise location but if you give us till day’s end I’m sure well have your verification.”

  He didn’t know what to say so he asked again where Johnny Johnson was.

  “Like I said, we won’t know for about six to eight hours.”

  “Then why did you say you located him?”

  What he heard shook his foundation.

  “Because we have. Well, we and the LeTorque have located him. I phoned him earlier and he was with Miss Vivian.”

  Nat’s head was beginning to hurt.

  “Yes, I already knew he was reunited with the LeTorque, Detective. What I need from you is a location for that reunification.”

  There was a pause at the other end of the line before the response.

  “You knew Miss Vivian had found him?”

  He wasn’t sure when he began thinking in such a haze. It wasn’t like him to give away things to Humans. He began to think of a plausible reply but was having difficulty concentrating because two things were also happening while he was on the phone. The annoying reporter was watching him with an intensity he could very well feel and the gallery below was reaching new heights in accusation and insult.

  “Round eye!”

  “Slant eye!”

  “Wet back!”

  “Camel jockey!”

  Everywhere he looked people were in each other’s faces, hurling derogatory terms and reacting with overbearing aplomb at verbiage returned to do the same. He needed a little space to himself but found time and location a bit cramped. He decided to deal with what he could and hope for the best.

  “Yes, Detective, one of my informants told me they spoke with Mistress Vivian and she told them the family was heading out to meet up with Johnny. What she neglected to mention was the location of the meeting.”

  He could sense the detective didn’t believe him but it didn’t matter, Humans would ignore reality for the sake of money.

  “Okay, keep stuff to yourself. I don’t care. We’ve held up our end of the bargain and I’m only required to do one more thing before we can receive our payment.”

  Nat felt something was about to change. The detective was somewhat defensive and a little quizzical. He could hear the confusion in his voice.

  “What are you required to do, Detective?”

  “I was told to give you a message.”

  A very strange sensation came over the Heavenly Monitor, a feeling of dread and unease in his very being. He was not actually there, he was located far away but for some reason he could feel the presence of disease coursing through his molecular image as he both dreaded and needed to hear what the investigator had to say.

  “What message, Detective?”

  There was a pause and he could hear paper unfolding.

  “All right, here’s what I was told to read to you. Do you have a pen?”

  “You were told to ask me if I had a pen?”

  The laugh on the other end was not appropriate at the time, thought Nat.

  “No, I thought maybe you’d like to write it down.”

  Nat’s every holographic nerve was on fire. He needed information. He needed confirmation. He needed to believe all his efforts were not in vain and going down the drain because Humans were inherently insane.

  “I don’t need to write things down, Detective, please give me the message.”

  Time stood still as the gumshoe from Craft and Sons began reciting what he’d been told.

  “It says ‘Dear Nat, sorry about the last minute notice but we’ve come to the conclusion things did not turn out as planned. Therefore we have decided to chill out for a while.”

  Nat felt a dread he hadn’t known existed.

  “Did you say ‘chill out’?”

  “Uh-huh. I thought it seemed kind of a weird thing to say. You know, with the world on the brink of war and all so I had him repeat it. Mr. Johnson stated it was exactly what he wanted to say and you would understand.”

  Nat’s mind was racing a hundred miles a second. He was contemplating things best left unthought.

  “Detective?”

  “Yes?”

  “You said you would be able to verify their location by the end of the day?”

  “Yes.”

  He needed to know if what he was thinking was at all a possibility.

  “Why would it take a day?”

  The response was like a kick in the gut.

  “Because they are on their way to South America. They informed me they bought tickets for three flights and would decide which one as the situation warranted. We verified through our sources indeed there were seven seats assigned to various LeTorques on all three airlines but cannot determine the exact one until they land. So far, we have one to Chile, one to Peru and the last to Venezuela.”

  His emotions were all over the map. He had a feeling there was more but was afraid to ask.

  “Was there anything else, Detective?”

  There was a pause as though the man were deciding on whether to tell him or not.

  “Well, I guess there’s a couple of things. First, I need to know if you want us to keep watch on the airports to see which one they arrive at. Unfortunately, since the LeTorques were the ones who initiated the contract to locate Mr. Johnson and they have already agreed we have done so it will be necessary for you to sign a new one in order for us to continue.”

  Nat thought about it and then thought of his parameters. He was forbidden to interfere in Superior business but was also tasked with monitoring their progress. The hard part, the part which really hurt was the second. He was not there to help with the design, he was there to watch its progression and report when the end product was ready for implementation. Directly involving Humans without Superior authority was definitely not within his jurisdiction.

  “No, Detective, I’m afraid I will need to act on the information alone.”

  “All right.”

  Nat was still waiting for the other shoe to fall. He could feel it above his head, just waiting for the right moment to step in and crush his dreams.

  “What was the second thing, Detective?”

  “Huh?”

  “You said there were a couple of things which occurred. By definition it means more than one.”

  Smith was actually feeling sorry for the man-servant with connection issues until the last statement; the condescending one with definition as its base.

  “Well, it wasn’t part of the message but when I was listening to Mr. Johnson tell me what to repeat I couldn’t help but hear in the background a woman playing along in a sort of teasing way.”

  The description caught his fancy so he asked.

  “A teasing way?”

  “Yes, when Mr. Johnson got to the part where he said they were going to ‘chill out’ I distinctly heard a woman’s voice speak up in a joking manner.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She said ‘It’s not like we haven’t done it before’.”