The Hallucigenia Project

by Darren Kasenkow

  “He’s caused quite a few problems for us in the past,” Klementina revealed. “Now he’s probably getting desperate, and sending you here was maybe his last role of the dice. None of it really matters anymore though, does it? The planet’s clock is only seconds from midnight and there’s not much left to do.”

  “You’re right,” John agreed. “Maybe things don’t matter anymore. Rebecca’s obviously not going anywhere, so maybe the best thing to do is send me on my way back to the hotel and I’ll pack my bags and head home considering the mess this has turned into.”

  There, John thought, I’ve said it now so maybe they’ll escort me back out of wherever I am so I can grab Bobbie and get the hell out of this country. Klementina, it seemed, had slightly different ideas.

  “They say home is where the heart is, but home is also where a sense of purpose can be found. I think by the end of tonight you’ll realize that you are already home.” She took a moment to glance at the computer screen then back to John. “It seems you were once a hell of a cop, one of the best in the city, with a treasure chest of awards and an arrest record that is, to understate it, exceptional. You were offered your detective badge with the view to take over the department and probably could have risen as high as your heart desired. But it didn’t pan out that way, did it?”

  “No offence, but I don’t think my history has any business here.”

  “Actually, it does.” Klementina grinned as though she knew something he didn’t. “A person of your fortitude and skill set doesn’t come along very often, and that’s one of the reasons we’re honoured to have you here at the Hallucigenia Project.”

  John squirmed a little in his chair and quietly wished he could close his eyes, drop the last few pills and magically land back at the hotel.

  “Well if you’ve done your homework,” he said with heavy resignation, “you’ll know why I’m not a cop anymore, and considering the conversation we’re all enjoying you can add a sorry excuse for an investigator to the list.”

  “Actually, taking into account what I know I’m even more grateful for your cool head at the casino.” Klementina drew her eyes down to the desk deep in thought, then brought them back up with a newfound sadness. “I can only imagine the kind of damage something like that must have on a person’s soul, and I sure as hell wouldn’t pretend to know. It’s obvious to me though that you were put in an impossible situation that was never going to reach a satisfying conclusion and then hung out to dry, and for that I’m sorry.” She leaned forward and brought her hands together. “I don’t suppose you feel like telling me what happened?”

  John stared back across the desk as the silence began to press in from the walls. Now that he had been caught out any confidence he may have been harbouring was quickly dissolving away, and the question, although appearing innocent enough, stirred up the memories and brought things dangerously close to the edge of the swirling nightmare that was always waiting for him deep inside. Sure, he could just pretend she didn’t ask or maybe tell her to go fuck herself, but the truth was there was nothing at all threatening in the way she carried herself and, staring into her eyes, he found genuine concern and curiosity. Besides, it was becoming obvious that she knew enough already so he wouldn’t exactly be revealing secrets.

  “There’s not a whole lot to tell you,” he began. “I was under cover for nearly two years running down walking excuses for the death penalty, and the deeper I got the bigger the web got. One thing lead to another and I cornered one of the filthy animals that was behind it all in the lounge room of his house and the fucker had a hunting knife jammed against the neck of a little six year old boy. He made it clear that if I didn’t drop the gun he was going to slit the kid’s throat, and even though I had a pretty good line of sight I didn’t want to risk the shot. The kid was my first priority.” John rubbed the side of his temple as familiar sting of anxiety began to surge along his veins. “So I dropped my weapon and told him to release the boy, only it didn’t work out that way. The second my gun hit the floor he dug the knife as deep as he could, slashed the boy’s throat open and threw his hands in the air. I picked up the gun and now the motherfucker isn’t around anymore. Things didn’t work out too well for me after that, so it was time to hang up my badge and change careers.”

  “Two years is a long time to be in a dark world hunting down paedophiles,” Klementina almost whispered. “The report says this guy had cameras set up all over the house and that it shows you shooting him more than three times after he raised his hands, leading to the crap you had to deal with. I can promise you if it was me three bullets wouldn’t have been enough.”

  “No,” John shook his head. “I shouldn’t have pulled the trigger. I don’t know which report you managed to find, but I’m willing to bet it didn’t highlight the fact that the little boy was the thirteenth kid to die and that the piece of shit I blew away could’ve helped us locate a bunch more that are still missing. I fucked up and because of that you can bet there’s more little bodies to be dug up so tell me, still think I’m a stand up guy?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “I remember when it happened,” Rebecca announced. “It was all over the news back home and everybody was talking about it. I don’t think there was anyone who wasn’t glad you did what you did, and if you ask me you deserve a medal for getting rid of trash like that.”

  “A kid died because of me, and who knows how many more after that.” John shrugged his shoulders. “They don’t give medals out for that.”

  “You’re right John, they don’t,” Klementina offered. “And from the little I do know, they didn’t give you much support either. Relentless nightmares clawing away at your sanity, constant judgement calls on your character, the breakdown of your marriage, constant prescriptions for whatever might ease the anxiety and a pitiful pension to usher you out the door. I don’t know about you, but from where I’m sitting calling that a shitty deal would be an understatement.”

  John could feel the blood bouncing along the edge of his temple. As for the fucking poker game and throwing cards on the table, all bets were off now. He’d taken on the job, sure, but now that he was sitting in the heart of the cult with his dirty laundry being rubbed into his face like some broken puppy he was clocking out. The job was over.

  “I don’t know how or where you get your information,” he began with a sharp edge to his voice, “and no offence, but you’re bringing up things that are none of your fucking business. Now don’t get me wrong Klementina, I haven’t exactly been honest about what I’m doing here no two ways about it, but at the end of the day the only reason I’m sitting here is because of a guy with a big wallet and a broken fucking heart.” He paused for a steady breath in and did his best to relax the fists he’d been forming. “I’m sorry you got shot and maybe it would’ve been better if we met under different circumstances, but when it comes to whatever batshit beliefs this Hallucigenia Project is sprouting, not to mention drugging a busload of passengers and collecting enough money to gold plate the streets of Miami, it’s time for me to say goodbye.”

  It wasn’t exactly an outburst, but it felt good none the less to get it out. Now there would be no more games. Now he could get back to Bobbie and put the whole show behind him as they disappeared into the sunset, even if it meant wondering with regret what another walk on the beach with Candice might have brought. Maybe, just maybe, he could spend some more time with her again before slinking his way back to Australia.

  If Klementina could sense the shift in his tone she sure wasn’t giving anything away. Perhaps there was a hint of sadness flushing her features, or perhaps the pain in her shoulder was flaring up and he was just misinterpreting things.

  “In answer to your question how or where,” she revealed, “we have a whole cyber division with some of the best hackers in the world able to find or access just about anything that has a digital signature. Now that you’re a private investigator, I’m sure you can appreciate we perform thorough screenings for
any prospective additions to our family.”

  “Then why wait until tonight to confront the situation?” John asked.

  “Here is a nice safe place to let you see what’s behind the curtain.”

  “Might be easy for you to say, but you’re not the one that’s half a world from home and stuck in an underground lair with nobody to call.”

  “I can’t speak for the outside world, but while you’re in here I can assure you there’s nothing to worry about. Besides, everyone here in this room knows you’re looking for something more to life than constant nightmares and demanding clients. The first moment we spoke I could sense that deep down you had a deeper search for meaning than quick bucks and fancy clothes, and the more I learned about you the more I wanted you to become a part of our family and embrace a new dawn of meaning.”

  “I’m a paid tourist,” he replied with a heavy sigh, “nothing more nothing less, collecting a paycheque by a man to find a girl, and now it’s time to go home.”

  “He’s not the man you think he is,” Rebecca said with conviction.

  “Well that’s between you and him,” John replied.

  “Unfortunately that isn’t the case.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means there’s a lot more to it than sending you over here to try to find me.” Rebecca slid off of the desk, took a slow walk to the far wall and continued to talk with her arms across her chest and back to John. “I hate to be the one to tell you this but you deserve to know. The thing is, Sebastian knows better than most how to bring things together for his advantage. Nobody builds that sort of wealth without controlling the chess board, and I can promise you he plays well. He paid you to find me and try to convince me to go back home, that’s true, but your reputation as an investigator wasn’t the only reason he came knocking on your door.”

  “I still have no idea what you’re talking about,” John said with genuine confusion.

  Rebecca turned from the wall and edged forward with arms still held tight. “You think it’s a coincidence you got served divorce proceedings at the same time you’re being thrown on a plane? Sebastian is helping your soon to be ex wife and the father of her baby to take the house from you. Hell, they’ve probably already changed the locks and redecorated by now. Sebastian still keeps close track of any business going through his firms, and when he came across your situation he saw an opportunity to give his clients what they want and give him what he wanted. You fell into his lap John, and he used you like a pawn. While you’re over here thinking you’re on some sort of love quest he’s shuffling the papers that are going to leave you out on the street, and as far as he’s concerned there’s nothing you can do about it. But here’s the thing.” She edged closer to John, crouched down and rested a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve got the opportunity to wipe the pieces off the board.”

  John felt sick. Bile was forming at the back of his throat and his fingers were squeezed into fists. There was no way what he’d just been told was true, no fucking way in hell. Felicity had ripped his heart out by fucking someone else when he had needed her more than ever, and getting pregnant with another man’s child when she knew how much he had wanted to start a family had been a blow torch to the bloody hole where his heart had been, but to try to take his house like this? It was too crazy to be possible.

  “What you’re telling me… is bullshit,” he managed through clenched teeth.

  “I wish it was John,” Rebecca whispered softly.

  “Well it is. Felicity has already put me through enough hell, she wouldn’t put the boot in like that. We had our problems and she fucked things up in the worse possible way but she won’t kick me and Bobbie out on the streets.”

  “That’s the problem with looking behind the curtain,” Klementina explained as Rebecca squeezed John’s shoulder one last time and sat back upon the desk. “There’s things there that we’d rather not know about, but regardless of how painful the truth turns out to be it’s always better than the pain of disillusion.”

  John jumped from his chair, blood jolting for room along the edges of his jaw and temples, and strode to the metal door. Realizing it was locked he kicked the bottom of it and spun around with a boiling rage.

  “I’m done with all this crap. Now open the fucking door and get me the hell outta here, because believe me I’m three fucking seconds from doing something stupid.”

  “Just wait,” Klementina said with hands held up. “Please, just take a deep breath and hear me out.”

  “It’s important John,” Rebecca added, “you need to know.”

  “Get this door open.”

  “If you go back to Australia there’s a good chance you’ll die,” Klementina announced. “If you really want out then I’ll personally take you back to the hotel and help you pack your bags, but if you want a shot at spending a little more time on this planet you’ll sit back down and listen to what I’ve got to say. This is it John, this right here is where you decide your destiny. Your life, your choice.”

  John turned and stared at the cold metal door. Mentally he was already on the other side ready to head back to the city, but something in his heart was asking him to keep his feet where they were. There was no explaining it but it was there, a nagging feeling that maybe he should sit back down and let her finish whatever she had to say. While he couldn’t believe the bombshells that had been dropped he also couldn’t deny what his gut was telling him. Considering he’d been forced to face the fact that his gut was just about the only thing left he could trust, and that it was telling him she was showing all the signs of being truthful regardless of the insanity, he knew the only thing left to do was trust the instinct that had kept him alive in so many tight situations.

  He didn’t know where he was. He didn’t know what they wanted from him. And he sure as hell didn’t know what he was supposed to do from here. With a swelling of his chest he closed his eyes and pictured Bobbie curled up on his blanket in an effort to pull back some composure, steadied the pulse flickering along his veins, and then slowly walked back to the chair.

  “Okay,” he said as calmly as he could, “I’m sitting down, so I want you to grab that god damn curtain of yours and rip it down for good.”

  He watched quietly as Klementina and Rebecca shared a look that rested somewhere between trepidation and excitement. As for his current state of mind, it was pretty much a state of shock that was slowly but surely growing numb against the absurdity of the situation. In fact, things had become so fucking absurd that there was a sick little part of him that couldn’t wait to see what was coming next.

  He didn’t have to wait long.

  Klementina lifted a hand to apply soft pressure against her wound and spoke with growing frenetic energy that revealed the thin muscles of her neck.

  “In just a few weeks this city, this country, as well as other locations across the planet, will be torn apart by massive molten dragon eyes almost as old as the universe itself. Right now we’re trying to pinpoint the time of arrival but rest assured they’re on the way, and when they tear through our atmosphere with billions of miles of momentum that they’ve carried for so very, very long, the life we’ve come to know and love will be shattered. Destruction of a magnitude that can’t even be imagined is assured. Death is going to sweep down from the heavens and there’s fuck all we can do about it.” A small patch of blood began to seep through the bandage. “The Hallucigenia Project is a family of minds and hearts preparing to carry what’s left of the human race through this galactic test into the light of a new dawn of consciousness and interplanetary integration. The death and destruction that’s ready to be unleashed is going to mark the birth of a new state of mind for those that can crawl through the blood and the bones, and there are forces already positioning themselves to control that state of mind. Our job, to put it simply, is to stop them. It’s our mission, and we’re willing to do whatever it takes to make sure our species has the right opportunity to reach out to the sta
rs.”

  “So you might think you’re a long way from home,” Rebecca took over, “and that things aren’t looking too good considering my husband, the man who hired you, has probably already had the papers printed and signed to strip away your house, and maybe you think you’re sitting here listening to two batshit crazy women who have been brainwashed and sucked into some strange and mysterious cult, but the truth is you couldn’t have found yourself in a better position if you tried. Not only do you get the chance of a front row seat to the next stage of our interstellar evolution, but you’ll be with people that will never fuck you over like the way Sebastian has. Now it’s us and them, and you belong with us.”

  “The end of the world is coming,” Klementina announced. “But there’s a new world waiting to be born its place, and it’s up to us to make sure the delivery goes smoothly. You can help us with that delivery John. You can mark your place in history.”

  The sound waves were signalling the inside of his ears, but John was struggling to process them. I know, I’m still drugged to all hell back on the bus and this is all just one crazy trip, because reality has well and truly flown out the fucking window. The green ambient light, plastic palms and rounded concrete walls didn’t exactly sway the idea either.