Greenhaus:Storm

by Reckelhoff, Bryan

  CHAPTER 11 (Jacob Niles)

  When Jacob’s eyes finally opened, the bright lights of decon were waiting. The whiteness of the room was intensified by having stared so long at his eyelids. He squinted and used his arm to shield his eyes. It was painful, headache inducing light, but Jacob was grateful to be awake, which meant he either fooled the Medic or he was crazy for thinking he had to fool him in the first place.

  Gone was any trace of Jasper’s ‘accident’. The crimson stained cover on his chair replaced with a new one. The glass floor scrubbed clean. As were the walls and anywhere else the blood had run, even the drain cover looked shiny and new. A new Medic, who could have been mistaken for Med Tech Rogers if not for his brown hair, was finishing Jacob’s cleansing. Decon looked so fresh and new, Jacob wondered if it was all just a dream.

  Another worker from Medical came to Jacob’s side after seeing him awake and whispered in his ear, “I had to use the pillow, you were close to causing your own demise.” After stepping away from Jacob, he continued the conversation at a normal volume, “OK Mister Niles, you are set and ready to go. I ran the final test and you are clean, but be sure to keep those wounds covered up. You may return to your home zone. Oh and Jacob,” he started to say before he paused, looking to his left and right, “you stay safe.”

  Jacob gathered up his things from his locker and jumped into a stock beige Nu-Skin, hurrying as fast as he could. He thought he might be paranoid, but the Med Tech’s last statement seemed odd. There was a lot to sort out; the grogginess from his blood depleted nap certainly didn’t help. Jacob tried to get a look at the name on the badge, to start putting a face to the names of Med Techs, but he was gone.

  While Jacob’s body scrambled to get out of decon, ‘You stay safe,’ remained embedded in his brain. Of course he was planning to stay safe. Who doesn’t? ‘Stay safe’, as odd as it had seemed for the Med Tech to say, was certainly something Jasper had not done. Jacob would never believe what happened to Jasper was an accident or a suicide. He seemed happy telling Jacob all the details of his father’s disappearance and the events that transpired immediately beforehand. Had the intruder alarm not interrupted them, he would have said more. Jasper appeared to be relieved to let it all out, not like a man on the verge of suicide.

  He stuffed his application in his Nu-Skin, then stopped at the first kiosk and ordered a new orange Nu-Skin to replace the one that had been torn. Whoosh. The circular door opened, allowing Jacob to walk through it. The flat screen above it scrolled, ‘No citizen may take up arms in a dispute against another.’

  Bullshit. Someone is playing with my mind, what are the chances of that specific message would be playing? Or are they just reminding me they are watching? Jacob fumed as the placard mocked him, as clearly someone had broken the rule with Jasper, but he ignored the cruel joke and continued on his journey home. On the other side of the door was a long, circular corridor. Several doors blocked his view forward, while the view all around him was open and clear. He saw bundles headed in all directions within the elaborate pneumatic tube system. Things going to and coming from Recycling or one of the other departments. People were going places in pods and he remembered how dizzying it could be to watch everything zip around the ‘Haus. Now he knew why it was all there, out in the open, to be seen by all. And he also knew why decon was surrounded by solid walls, to keep things hidden. What happens in decon, stays in decon. This made him become suspicious of the few other places around the ‘Haus that also had solid walls.

  Jacob shook off his suspicions and temporary dizziness from his stimulus overload, but he couldn’t lose the overwhelming feeling that he was being followed or at least being watched. I am watched just as I watch the bundles; only difference is that I am aware now.

  As he walked the tread, he nervously glanced over both shoulders, behind him, down any perpendicular hallway that opened, or any other nook and cranny of the ‘Haus. He saw the same people he normally saw on his daily trip home, but now eyed them more carefully. Paranoia has gripped me, just like it did my father.

  The walking tread sped him along, though he normally just skipped it for the exercise, taking the walking path instead. Today he felt drained, physically and emotionally. It was bad enough to have lost Jasper, but concealing his emotions, something Jacob was having trouble with, was sapping his life force even more. And since he was not sure from whom he should be hiding these feelings, he suspected everyone and kept it all in, allowing things to brew and manifest into darker thoughts. He just wanted to let it all out, to scream, to vent to anyone, but he knew they were watching. Am I paranoid or is this a new reality?

  Due to his exhaustion, for now at least, Jacob would take advantage of all the conveniences his life allowed. When he saw the regulars on his way home, he adorned a fake smile and waved like it was any other day. But today was not the same, he wondered to himself who among them were spies, placed in his path to keep watch.

  If they weren’t spies and just ordinary people living pointless lives, then Jacob felt sorry for them, just as he felt sorry for his past self. All living in oblivion, distracted by the beauty and pristine conditions surrounding them, with no one to open their eyes. Jasper had opened Jacob’s, just as Harvard had opened Jasper’s. And look what happened to them. Jacob would allow those he passed to continue living in their clueless little bubble.

  He left them alone, not because he was scared to die, although that was true enough. It was because he did not know how to begin such a conversation. Or who to blame. Or how to explain it all without sounding like a lunatic, just as Jasper had sounded to him. One thing was for certain, he was no longer oblivious and though he did not know which department, if not all of them, was to blame, he was certainly going to be paying more attention from now on and taking better mental notes of his surroundings.

  After the walking tread brought him through the three circular swooshing doors, each with the same Article III message scrolling across the panels above it, Jacob made a ninety degree turn into another corridor, which he took all the way into Central, the Gardens to his adjacent right the whole way. He now understood their purpose as well.

  An escalator, flanked on both sides by glass stairways, invited him up. The elevators at the base would have been quicker and a minipod the fastest method of all, but both would have given him less stimuli to soak in on his way home as well as cost him more gredits, something that no matter how tired he was, he still couldn’t bring himself to waste.

  He opted for his usual method of transportation, though it was more difficult than normal. His feet felt heavier, like someone placed lead in his boots. One step after another, his Second Feet slapped the glass. The resulting noise was somewhere between a squish and a squeak and the rhythm to his pace was only broken when he hopped a walking tread. The sound was different on the softer tread, more of a slapping thump, but the rhythmic pace remained.

  Everything in the ‘Haus seemed new to him, at least he was observing it all as if it was new to him, to see if he missed anything in his previous glances. And now, with the blinders off, he saw much more than he ever had before today’s revelations. Every plant, sculpture, placard, and kiosk, was rechecked. Every inch of space in the ‘Haus was reexamined and placed on probation, Jacob became suspicious of everything, much the same way his father was just before his death. Paranoia, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

  Jacob was certain someone, somehow had heard what Jasper told him earlier. He also pondered what else they were listening to. Or watching. The mostly interior glass walls, floors, and ceilings allowed for that. He reached Zone 2 and looked through the glass floor to Zone 1 below, watching the oblivious scurry about their day. He again stopped to watch dozens of deliveries zip around the tubes. Its constant activity kept people fed, clothed, delivered parcels and messages, and took refuse back to Recycling where it could be made anew. What else are they shipping through the tubes?

  After finally arriving at his home level on Zone 5, he
noticed the entrance into Annex 6 was blocked, yellow ‘caution’ tape stretched across its door while it was being repaired. The work was happening on the other side, so Jacob buzzed a man he recognized through the intercom, “Can I get through?” he asked Drew, a former schoolmate now working in Maintenance, dressed in an orange Nu-Skin with the lowercase ‘e’ for Engineering on his pec and bright yellow hardhat.

  “Not today,” Drew answered back. “Gonna have to pick up a pod or hop a tread if you’re heading north. This door locked up.”

  That was not unusual, it happened all the time, given the amount of the doors located throughout the ‘Haus. They were there to create seals and keep out toxins in case of a breach, but he always thought there were too many doors. Rerouting was never much of an inconvenience, getting around the ‘Haus was rather easy.

  “K, thanks,” Jacob replied as he examined the project, wondering all the while if the door had indeed broken, or if the blockage was placed there specifically to detour him.

  “No problem, I will have it working as soon as I can”, he said before adding, “And Jacob, I’m so sorry to hear about your friend Jasper, I always liked him, I hope he makes a full recovery.”

  “Yeah, me too.” Word sure traveled fast in the ‘Haus. Too fast, thought Jacob. Recovery? That man is dead, I saw the blood, and it was enough to kill two men. Jacob remained at the glass wall that the broken door was centered in. The shiny metal placard with its raised black lettering relaying the message of Article III glared at him, but he no longer was under its spell.

  He peeked again at the project, the entire stainless steel assembly above the door was disassembled, and wires jutted in all directions, the placard that doubled as its cover lay on the floor. The job to this point had taken some time, possibly all day, and with no interaction except random encounters like this Jacob thought, How could Drew know so fast?

  Jacob shrugged off the coincidences, asking questions could be a fatal mistake. “See ya around the ‘Haus Drew,” Jacob said as he waved him goodbye and went on his way.

  “Yeah for sure man,” replied Drew. “You stay safe.”

  That froze him in his tracks, and he almost returned to question Drew, but after his brief pause, he continued on his journey. They are watching. As Jacob made the detour, he thought about the strange words of the Med Tech, repeated by Drew. You stay safe. His path brought him close to his mother’s apartment in Annex 6, so he stopped to tell her the news, but expected her to already know.

  Jacob rang the buzzer. When she looked at her only son and saw the anguish on his face, a look of concern came over her. “Jakey Blue Eye, is everything alright?” she asked, using a childhood nickname she never let go. “You looked like you have seen a ghost or something.”

  “Long day, but there is something I need to tell you, it’s about Jasper,” he started before suspiciously looking quickly in both directions. “Quick, inside,” he instructed her as he gently guided her into her studio.

  “Have a seat and tell you dear ole mom what the trouble is,” she said in a comforting tone. “That old grump giving you trouble again on the beams?”

  Jacob could tell the news hadn’t reached her. He took a seat in one of the sleek, round red stools situated around her high, marble topped table.

  “You should sit down too, mom, because I have bad news, really bad news actually,” he informed her, his voice dropping. “Jasper was…” Jacob swallowed hard and caught himself before saying ‘killed’. “Jasper had a terrible accident.” It hurt Jacob immensely to say it, to smear Jasper’s name with a lie, but it would have hurt her even more to hear the truth, she was one of the oblivious. Jacob trusted his mother with the truth even if it would have shaken her beliefs; he just couldn’t trust the air and the walls around them to keep his true suspicions a secret.

  She sat silently, the tears welling up before she said, “I’m surprised it took this long, honestly. He always felt responsible for your father’s death. It was eating him up inside. There was always something I think he wanted to tell me, but whenever he had the chance, for whatever reason, he just couldn’t say it.”

  Jacob stayed to console his mother over the loss of one of her oldest friends. After leaving, he pushed the button on nearest kiosk to summon a pod. Moments later, one appeared beneath the floor, which opened to allow access to the single seat pod. Jacob’s apartment was close, but he felt completely drained, so he sacrificed the gredits and stepped into the pod. He punched in the coordinates, a few twists and turns later, he arrived at his doorstep.

  Whoosh. Home, though it felt anything like that. He wondered if he would ever feel comfortable here again, or if he would he always suffer the feeling of being watched and followed, like his father did. Paranoia must run in our blood.

  His eyes were now open and he knew things he wished he did not. With little appetite and in no mood to force himself to eat, he finished only half of his evening rations before retiring for the night. The glass, egg shaped sleeping chamber was small and hung between his kitchenette and bathroom. Eight feet in diameter at its widest and considerably smaller at the top, his bed sat atop storage bins and called the weary bodied Jacob. The storage below was empty, but Jacob’s mind was full. As he pulled the white cloth curtain closed that surrounded the interior of the pod, he wondered when Jasper did the same thing the night prior, if he had any idea it was the last time he ever would.

  ***

  The next morning it was hard to pull his tired bones from the bed. Jacob’s energy was sapped and he briefly thought about using the intercom to call off, his supervisors would have surely understood. Instead, he put on a fresh orange Nu-Skin, and began his day just like he thought Jasper would want him to do.

  The paperwork lay next to him bed, another reason Jacob had to press on. Even though the events of the previous day planted some doubts in his head, the likelihood of something sinister happening among the higher ups in Engineering was the same as it happening in any other department. Plus he knew the higher ups in Engineering well enough to make this decision whereas a transfer somewhere else would place him under complete strangers.

  Having failed to fully regain his appetite after a night of restless sleep, Jacob was only able to finish his leftover rations from the night before, putting him a full ration ahead, which offset the cost of his pod travel the day prior. Today, he opted for the same, too weak to walk, too tired to care about the gredits spent.

  He arrived looking haggardly and broken, not unusual for those in his line of work, but odd for Jacob, normally fresh faced and chipper. After exiting the pod, he trudged along, his rubber Second Feet slapping the walking tread and glass floors the rest of the way.

  The sensor at the final doors into decon, would not allow him through, instead of whoosh, Jacob received a jolting BZZZZ, the circle around the door lit up red instead of its usual green. Thinking maybe his weary mind caused some procedural error, he inserted his arm into the manual wand, but got the same denial code on the screen, a bold ACCESS DENIED flashed across his profile.

  It was not long before the Vice Commissioner of New St. Louis, also the head of Engineering and Jacob’s most superior boss, arrived decked out in the silver Nu-Skin all VCs wore. Second in command, only to Commissioner Law, Doyle Carpenter informed Jacob of the news. “Your shifts are covered for the next week, son. You need some time off, I know you and Jasper were close and I...”

  Jacob interrupted and tried to use the same cover he was using with everyone else, “I’m okay Mr. Carpenter. We weren’t close anyway, just an old friend of my dad’s. To me, a coworker, nothing more, nothing less. I’ll miss him, but there is demand to be filled.”

  “Okay?” Doyle questioned while adjusting his thick, black rimmed glasses. “Pfftt. You’re okay my ass. You look like death warmed over. Or that you haven’t eaten your rations in a couple of days. And I have on good authority you have taken two pods since leaving yesterday, after taking none in all you’re years working here.”


  “I was just tired.”

  “I’m not some sucker Med Tech that just met you Jacob Niles. I was your father’s boss too, ya know. I distinctly remember you tagging along plenty, admiring the two of them almost equally.” Mr. Carpenter’s voice rose and his tone turned from sympathetic to stern, making him more imposing that his already bearish build did naturally. “Now listen Jacob, you are taking the week off and that is final!” He finished his piece and crossed his larger than normal arms, waiting for Jacob to turn around and leave, but instead he received an unexpected reply.

  “I’m fine, really,” Jacob pleaded, seeing his initial ruse would not work with Mr. Carpenter, he tried another tactic. “I think working might help me, take my mind off of everything else.”

  Doyle threw his hands up and messed his gray hair. He could not speak this more plainly, but he gave it one more try. “Well, here’s the skinny kid, your pops and Jasper grew up under me. I know how close they were, maybe better than you. I put the stop code on your EPC personally, and this matter is not up for discussion,” Doyle said, rebuffing Jacob’s protests. “This is how it’s going down. You are taking the week off. Period. You are human, just like the rest of us,” he said as he threw one of his heavy arms over Jacob’s shoulder and walked him back toward the ever spinning walking tread. “You need rest or some time away, or just like your father, work is gonna be the death of you. Now go home, take the time off. Take a trip or something, I will call you if Jasper improves,” he said as he winked at Jacob, before cupping his hand to Jacob’s ear and whispering in the faintest voice, “We all know we can be seen, but now you know we can be heard too. But what they don’t know is that we can hear them too. And that we are also watching.”

  Though shocked and confused at the message, the wink and the whisper was enough to let him know something was up. Jacob got the hint, albeit slower than Mr. Carpenter would have liked, but nonetheless, he ceded the argument. And for any who might be watching or listening he added, “I think I might do that boss. I have been wanting to take a trip for awhile now,” he began. “And I think I know just the place.” Jacob reached into his Nu-Skin, retrieving his application, handing it to Mr. Carpenter while saying only half joking, “I think I should get this out of my hands, before I change my mind.”