Life is a Beautiful Thing (4-Book Box Set)

by Harmon Cooper

  Me: I haven’t stood correctly in years.

  I take my seat in front of Manuel, rubbing my hands together as I say, “Let’s get this party started!”

  “Party?” the drug kingpin laughs. “What is about to happen is far from a party, Meme.”

  “A boy can dream, can’t he?”

  “I suppose he can.”

  Manuel presses a button on his desk. Dark shades dropped from the ceiling, covering the bright windows. A holoscreen drops down from the ceiling; it shows a video of someone being searched before entering the maximum security prison holding Nelly.

  “You don’t happen to have any popcorn, do you?” I ask.

  Manuel gives me a funny look. “Give Noah a call and I’ll see about getting some popcorn.”

  THIRTY-NINE∞

  The EBAYmazon drone dropped off the package of diapers at around nine the next morning. Noah calmly retrieved it, taking it down to the pool area beneath Antimeria’s banging estate. He placed the box on the ground next to Rebel’s crib.

  “Are you ready to see mama?” he whispered to the baby.

  He quickly opened the package to find a small yellow envelope wrapped in tape. Inside he found two 1cc syringes, one with a circle on it and one with the letter X. There was also a message:

  Circle first, then X. Twenty-four hour time limit. Works instantly.

  Truth XO.

  He’d heard of the drug before. It had been developed in the 2050s by a team funded by Kim Jun-Duche, the leader of North Korea and neurotic nutter (like his father and his father before him ad infinitum). It made the recipient completely malleable by adjusting dopamine levels and disrupting memory receptors; essentially a mind control drug. It was one of the most illegal pharmaceuticals in the world, mainly due to its unheard of power and complete undetectability. Once administered, the recipient would blindly and unquestioningly obey any and all instructions for as long as the drug remained in their system. It was pricey too – a single dosage cost as much as a flat in Kensington.

  Noah looked down at the retractable PHASRs installed in his arms. They were covered by a layer of e-skin, and to use them, he’d have to shoot through his skin, something he wasn’t particularly looking forward to doing. Still, sacrifices had to be made. He’d already noted the location of the three men guarding him upstairs (two in the living area, one in the kitchen). The big cheese himself, Antimeria, was on the top floor getting ready for the day.

  It would be easy to take out the first two men. The third would likely hear the noise and come running with his weapon drawn. Noah would be able to neutralize him as well, but Antimeria would definitely hear the commotion and who knew what he’d do. He’d have to deal with Antimeria first then, and disconnect him from the iNet so he couldn’t summon help.

  “Easy-peasy,” Noah told himself as he placed the two syringes in his pocket. He lifted baby Rebel and gave her a kiss for good luck.

  “There’s going to be some loud sounds, but I want you to ignore them. Here, let’s find something on the tube.” A three meter long TV dropped down from the ceiling above the pool. Cartoons appeared and Rebel’s eyes lit up. “That’s a good girl, watch Tom and Jerry while Papa Noah takes care of some things.”

  He ascended the stairwell that led to the first floor, mentally preparing himself with each step.

  “Where you going, Mister Mom?” one of the guards asked at the top of the stairs. He was the youngest of the three, thin and baby-faced.

  “To Antimeria,” he said. “I need to get his permission to order some things for Rebel. It’s time she starts learning English.”

  “But she isn’t even a month old…”

  Noah nodded at the dim-witted guard. “I know, but competition is so fierce these days. Have you seen the latest Asian test scores? I was up all night reading about them. We need to start her education now.”

  “All right.” The guard yawned and sat back down on a stool.

  Noah reached the top floor and turned towards Antimeria’s bedroom. He passed a few abstract paintings that hung in the hallway, one of which had been made by a man flinging paint from his flaccid penis. The piece, entitled Limp, had cost Antimeria a considerable sum of money. Noah knew this first-hand; he was the one who had picked up the piece from a gassy dealer.

  He knocked lightly on his owner’s door and entered. Soft jazz music trickled out of a speaker system installed in the walls; the smell of pheromone-enhanced body wash met Noah’s olfactory senses. The steam in the room indicated that Antimeria was taking a shower.

  Noah: Doing it now. I’ll update you on my progress after everything has been resolved.

  Meme: Here’s looking at you, kid.

  Noah: I don’t understand the reference.

  Meme: Just do it already.

  Noah could now see the outline of Antimeria’s plump body behind a floor to ceiling shower. The fat man was humming a pop song called “You So Cray (But I Gotz U Gurl)” as he loofahed his nether regions.

  Noah took out the two syringes, knuckling the syringe with the circle on it. Circle first, then X. It seemed to take an eternity for Antimeria to finish scrubbing. Eventually, the fat man stepped out of the shower, his Dunlop condition readily apparent. He never noticed Noah, who slammed the first needle into his neck, dropped it, and then jolted him with the second. “Ow! Noah, what the fu… c… k… ” Antimeria trailed off as the drug blasted through his system and took hold.

  Ever so gently, Noah lowered Antimeria to the bathroom floor. His owner lay there like a stranded orca now, blinking slowly and breathing normally.

  “Are you okay?” Noah asked as he performed a quick vitals scan. Everything was within normal limits.

  “I think so. What happened?” Antimeria asked.

  “You slipped getting out of the shower, and I want you to just lie here and relax. You may hear some noises in the next few minutes, but it’s nothing to worry about. You just relax here and think happy thoughts. Don’t go anywhere or do anything until I come and get you, okay?”

  “No problem, buddy,” Antimeria said.

  “Also, I want you disconnect from iNet, completely.”

  “Got it.”

  “Did you disconnect?”

  “Yes. Anything else, Noah?” Antimeria asked, licking his lips.

  “That will do for now. Remember – stay put.”

  Noah exited the bathroom and made his way down the stairs. The two guards were watching a cooking show, of all things, as Noah zapped them both in the back.

  The droid shrieked, “Help! Help! They’ve both fainted!” as the pair thumped to the floor. Number three charged in from the kitchen and Noah blasted him right through the heart. He was surprised to find that he felt worse about the holes he’d burned through his e-skin than he did about killing the three guards. They’d all been rude and snarky to him, ordering him around and disembiggening him at every opportunity; further, they wouldn’t clean up after themselves, so perhaps there was some justice in the universe after all. Philistines.

  Noah: Done.

  Meme: Good, now get the baby and Antimeria and drive to the location I’ve forwarded you.

  Noah: Is Nelly free yet?

  Meme: Almost.

  _∞_

  An unfamiliar guard stopped in front of Nelly’s cell. She stood there for a moment, looking at her through the observation. Nelly was lying on the concrete bed, didn’t even notice the woman was there until she heard the door hiss open.

  “What is it?” Nelly asked, looking at the woman through blurry eyes. She was Hispanic, with a light complexion and elaborate make-up. Something isn’t right, she thought as the woman approached her.

  “Take off your clothes,” the woman said. She immediately began undressing herself.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Nelly asked.

  “I’ve been sent by Manuel, the new jefe of Carloza’s organization. We are switching clothes then we are switching data.”

  “A data-switch? I didn’t think that
existed.”

  “It does.” the woman said. “Undress. We don’t have a lot of time.”

  “So I get to keep my body?” Nelly asked as she stripped.

  “Yes, you keep your body but you take my data; my name is Gloria by the way.”

  “Hi, Gloria … wait so you’ll be stuck in my cell?”

  “Don’t worry. Manuel’s lawyers will represent me once I am discovered as you. They’ll say you forced me to data switch, and there will be no camera evidence to say otherwise. The FCG doesn’t want the news of data-switch technology getting out, so it will likely be covered up. The lawyers will get me out though. It may take a month or two, but … why am I telling you all this? Hurry, chica! Put on my clothes.”

  “Good, let’s switch data now.” She showed Nelly the ring on her finger. “Agree to transfer.”

  “But my iNet access has been disabled.”

  “This will override everything. Hurry.”

  She touched the woman’s hand and an agreement screen appeared on the insides of her eyelids. Nelly agreed and felt something stir in her stomach. A ripple of electricity slid down her spine and about ten seconds later, she was still standing in her same body.

  “Verify your personal data,” Gloria said.

  Nelly found her saved information:

  Name: Gloria Pilar

  Age: 29

  SSAN: 639 A8 0879 B29

  Date of Birth: January 4th, 2054

  “It worked!” Nelly gasped.

  “Good, take the ring.” Gloria dropped it in her hand. “Manuel will want it back. Follow the instructions I’ve left on the notepad attached to your iNet screen. Do you see it?”

  “Got it,” Nelly said.

  “Also, I brought some make-up to cover up the bruise on your face. Check my front pocket.”

  FORTY∞

  Nelly walked down the hallway, amazed to be out of the prison cell. She knew she needed to supress the euphoria, knew better than to start celebrating, at least not until she was past the border. For some reason there were no guards in the corridors that separated the DFC Block from the guard station.

  She closed her eyes and glanced at her notes again. They told her to enter the locker area, check in her weapon, grab the woman’s purse from locker thirty-two (using the key in her pocket) and proceed to the exit. Once she was at the exit, she would pass her purse through a scanner and she would be patted down. From there she’d move to an eye scanner and finally, an entry controller would review her exit data.

  Nelly reached the locker, nodding at another guard with a face like the south end of a north-bound bulldog. Keep it cordial. She checked in her weapon, unlocked her locker, and took the purse.

  “Haven’t seen you around before,” Bulldog said.

  “New, well new here…” Nelly recited the info that Gloria had provided her in the notes. “I was upstate at Sterling, just transferred a few days ago.”

  Bulldog thought for a moment. “You don’t happen to know Maria Sanchez, do you? She works there at intake.”

  “Oh Maria … ” Nelly said. “She’s … um … nice. I trained with her once.”

  “Really?” Bulldog said. “Well, I hope I’m not the first person to tell you this … ”

  Nelly’s heart skipped a beat.

  “But welcome to ADX. It is a hellhole for some, but we make it work.”

  “Yes we do!” she said nervously. “See you later.”

  Before Bulldog could say anything else, Nelly spun around with her purse, deposited her make-up in the bag, and headed towards the exit. She placed her bag on the X-Ray scanner’s conveyor belt and waited as it travelled through.

  “Good to go,” a black man sitting behind the screen said.

  The next person to greet her was a short, stocky, crew-cut, stereotypical female guard. ‘empty your pockets, assume the position, and spread ‘em!” she grinned. She was particularly thorough in her frisk search, though; Nelly had no doubt that this was the woman’s dream job.

  An interminable interval later, the guard finally let up. “You’re good to go,” she said.

  Nelly took her purse and stepped to the retina scanner. It apparently liked what it saw and gave her the green light. At last, she stopped in front of a glassed-in booth with an older woman sitting behind a desk. The woman looked over the material on her screen.

  “Gloria Pilar?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Nelly said.

  “Did you get a new photo?” the woman asked. She was clearly looking at some sort of doctored registration ID.

  “Yes, recently.”

  “Hold on a moment.” The woman typed something on her screen and Nelly swallowed hard. She’d made it this far and by God she was going to make it out alive. Freedom was as close as it had ever been, maybe as close as it would ever be, and Nelly wasn’t going to let some photo issue stop her from escaping the terrible prison.

  “Is there a problem?” she asked, her voice tinged with apprehension.

  “Just checking to see your reason for leaving. Ah here, you’re taking care of your nephew now, yes?”

  “Yes.”

  “I see, and he’s sick?”

  “I have to pick him up from school. My sister ran off with her new boyfriend,” Nelly said, following the script given to her by Gloria. “I’ve been looking after him.”

  “I see. You know, mothers these days need to take responsibility for their offspring. All you young people think children are just some type of fashion item, an accessory or something, to be seen and not heard. This is one of the problems with society today – children have become accessories.”

  “I agree,” Nelly said, biting her tongue. It wasn’t a month ago that she was thinking of Rebel as an accessory. For now she needed to get out of prison; she could focus on motherhood later.

  “Well, good luck,” the woman said.

  A green light flicked on at the end of the hallway and Nelly let out a sigh of relief.

  “Thanks,” she said over her shoulder to the woman. “Have a nice day.”

  _∞_

  “This baby is great!” Antimeria was in the back of the aeros next to Rebel, who was in her aeros seat. “My baby!”

  “Good!” Noah said, looking at the two through the rearview mirror. “Keep your eye on her.”

  “Will do!” Antimeria bent down. “You sure are a cute little baby,” he said in a funny voice.

  Noah dropped into a different, faster airlane. He needed to get to Arizona muy pronto. It would be … interesting to see how Nelly reacted to her ex-husband. Noah didn’t really care what happened to him; after all, it had been Antimeria who’d placed Nelly in that horrible jail. He couldn’t imagine what she looked like by now; she’d probably lost several kilos and her diet was definitely ruined. Definitely. It would take him weeks to get her back in shape, to increase her vitamin intake and fix the damage the horrible prison food had no doubt done to her skin. Weeks!

  He glanced at Antimeria for the umpteenth time. It was strange seeing his employer so intoxicated. He was slap-happy yet completely malleable.

  “Noah!” Antimeria said. “Where are we going, buddy? You never told me!” He made a face at Rebel and laughed. “She sure is cute!”

  “We’re going on a vacation.”

  “Great!” Antimeria said, his eyes glazed over. “It’s been ages since I’ve been on a vacation!”

  “We have to pick someone up first though,” Noah said, “and I want you to be very calm when you see her.”

  He increased his speed, well over the legal limit now. Luckily, the MercSecure transponder usually kept law enforcement off his tail.

  Antimeria tried to tickle Rebel with his fat fingers. “Whatever you say, Noah, whatever you say. I’ll be as calm as you like!”

  FORTY-ONE∞

  “Is Clove in position?” Sauria asked. He was in the back of his stretch-aeros with Heidi next to him in a tight black dress. He didn’t normally bring his assistant along, but she insisted and he obliged.r />
  “Yes,” Lorem Ipsum said, his video feed visible on the inside of Sauria’s eyelids. “He has a direct view of Bill Bleak’s room from over a kilometre away. Of course, Bleak is using some sort of body-masking app – Not BlurYou – something that is disrupting Clove’s targeting optics. Still, Clove said that his outline is visible in the room. He’ll be able to make the shot if necessary.”

  “Good. Bill has promised to view the video feed from the Shinagawa assault and tell me what he’s seen. That’s all that matters. I don’t care about other information he may have – we can cover anything up if it gets released online, or bury it with some of Murdoch’s back up news.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Any word from Antimeria? He’s been off the radar since this morning.”

  Lorem said, “Nothing. He might be taking a daycation. People do that from time to time, you know, disconnect from everything. I might take one in a couple of weeks. Using iNet all the time is draining.”

  “Tell me about it. Well, Lorem, stay online for now and we’ll see how this goes. I’ll transfer info as soon as it comes to me.”

  “Got it. Good luck.”

  Sauria disconnected the call and turned to Heidi. “Listen dear, I want you to stay here.”

  “Are you sure I can’t go with you?”

  “I’ve asked you before and I’ll ask you again, why do you want to go with me?”

  “Something about all this sounds strange.”

  He knew he shouldn’t have told her about his plans and the failed persuasion attempt the previous night; he usually didn’t tell Heidi work-related things. But Sauria was so ecstatic that Bill Bleak had given in, that like a schoolgirl with a brand-new secret he had told her everything over his soy latte that morning. Everything. Now she was concerned.

  “Nothing is strange about it. Businessmen meet all the time to exchange data. He is doing us a favor by viewing the de-encrypted video feed from the Shinagawa assault. Whoever Anonymous One and Two are, their days are numbered.”