The Hallucigenia Project

by Darren Kasenkow

  “Clear!” the guard supporting her weight yelled.

  “What the hell were you thinking?” she snapped with a shrug of her shoulder to rid the contact.

  “That you were trapped in a locked room with a killer and an alarm going crazy,” the guard responded as though it were the most obvious conclusion in the world. “I’ll take that as a thank you.”

  The rage and shock electrifying her nervous system left her hands trembling and legs heavy. Her mouth opened ready to scream that he was both a fucking animal and worthless piece of shit, but a cold bolt of reality kept her silent. He did what he was trained to do, and no doubt had little choice when he’d smashed through the door and saw Shane holding onto her. She was pissed off and didn’t even want to look at the guard’s face, but deep down she knew there was no way he could’ve known the truth of the moment.

  With more uniformed guards storming the room she shoved her way into the dry white light of the hall. The elevator doors at the far end slid open and Rodney ran straight towards her.

  “Jesus fucking Christ what the hell happened in there?” he asked dramatically with greater concern than anger.

  “I don’t know,” she said quietly, her nerves still on fire. “When the alarms started the door got jammed. One of the computers went crazy and set of the sprinklers, and the next thing I know I’ve got pieces of his brain on my hand. At least, until the water washed it away.”

  “I bet you’re glad you came back to work huh?” His attempt at dry humour failed as quickly as the mediocre attempt at a smile. “Look, I’m glad you’re okay, truly, and I’m real sorry you had to go through that again, but a body on the floor is the least of our concerns.”

  “You think?” Candice answered sarcastically while pacing back into her office.

  “Not think, know,” Rodney responded as he followed her into the office and secured the door. “There was another breach. I’m still waiting for initial reports but there’s not much chance it was anything else.”

  Candice leaned against the desk and stared through the one way mirror into the red of the water soaked room on the other side. The sprinkler system had finally turned off, and two guards still had their weapons pointed down at Shane’s body as though he might somehow jump back up tear the place apart.

  “Considering the dust is still settling from the first one, I guess we can’t be too surprised.” She turned away from the window and slowly shook her head as though finally stumbling across the punch line to a joke. “We’re going to have to work out a different network strategy.”

  Rodney walked up to the glass and glanced down at the body like he might’ve been watching an animal sleeping. “I don’t think you understand. Yes it was a breach, but unlike the other one this time the data surge was travelling the other way. There wasn’t anything leaving the building, because this time it was entering the building.”

  “What did you just say?” she asked, caught completely off guard.

  “Like I said,” he sighed, “things went pear shaped thanks to a massive load of data streaming in from the outside, the kind of levels that melt mother boards in seconds. An outgoing breach is one thing, but burrowing back in is a whole different matter.”

  Looking back at Shane as he lay lifeless on the floor, Candice was almost certain that if a surge had occurred it might explain his sudden ability to get up from his wheelchair and walk across the room. But did it have anything to do with the message he said he had? A skull shattering bullet had stripped away any chance to find out any more, leaving her only with the name of an angel and something about stars and a key.

  Now it was a matter of whether she should say anything to Rodney or not. Sure the surveillance cameras had back up power supplies, but it would have been pretty tricky to capture any conversation above the sound of the alarm and pouring water. No, she decided, until she could work out what Shane might have meant there was no use making things more complicated than they already were.

  “If that’s the case,” she said with a sudden tone of professionalism, “then maybe we should switch back offline and weed through the data, all of it. We’re obviously missing a whole heap of puzzles pieces so a fresh audit might bear some fruit.”

  “We have to do something,” Rodney agreed, “because the clock’s winding down and we’re no closer to finding out what that thing in there does.” He pointed to the window. “Who or what was behind the surge sure knew what they were doing, that much is certain.”

  “I guess we have to face up to the fact that we’re exposed even more now.”

  “You’re right, but I’m not sure if it matters much. If the revised impact schedule is true then there won’t be enough time to turn the floodlights on what we’re doing. Besides, who the hell’s gonna believe any of it?”

  “Sure,” she shrugged, “it might be a bit of a delayed reaction if this somehow gets public, but I don’t think that has anything to do with what’s at stake here. More important is whatever’s driving this code that seems to have a life of its own.”

  Rodney couldn’t help the smug grin that turned the corners of his mouth. “Now we’re finally on the same page. For all intents and purposes, this thing is alive.” He stole a quick glance at his watch. “And if it’s alive we need to find out what it wants. Take an hour to tidy yourself up and slip into some dry clothes and then we can get going with the audit. Maybe we’ll find a piece of the puzzle yet.”

  “Maybe,” Candice agreed.

  Rodney stepped forward and briefly placed his hand on her shoulder. “I wish I had words of comfort, really I do, but I don’t. Nothing’s getting any easier from here, but at least the work we’re doing here could prove to be special.” He headed back towards the door and, just before stepping into the hall, turned back around. “When the alarms started I checked the security monitors. I couldn’t hear much, but it looked like the subject was communicating with you. What was he saying?”

  Candice peered back at him with a poker face. “He was scared. He asked me what was happening.”

  “That’s all?”

  “Pretty much. You could ask him yourself but…”

  Rodney slowly nodded as though he believed her and made his way back to the elevator. As soon as the door closed behind him she headed for the cabinet, opened the drawer and cursed silently. She didn’t have any more spare clothes, and thanks to the soaking wet material sticking to her skin, the chill was beginning to seep into her bones.

  Chapter 25

  “I know you got your reasons but seems to me you just wanna play with fire,” Vanessa said as they pulled into the now familiar car park under the cloak of darkness.

  “That’s a pretty fair assessment,” John answered.

  “The problem with fire is it tends to spread.”

  This time there was no tent set up to greet them, and John was surprised to see only one bus with engine idling as it waited for passengers. Perhaps they were running late and one of the buses had already left, but a quick check of his watch confirmed they were several minutes early.

  “You’d be right about that too.” He unbuckled the seatbelt as the car came to a stop. “I promise no more secrets once I know for sure what’s going on, okay?”

  “Pinky swear?”

  “Pinky swear.”

  “Well whatever your secret meeting’s about I sure hope it’s worth it.”

  John flashed a confident grin and stepped out into the night. He could just make out Veronica, the woman who Joey had quickly become infatuated with, standing by the bus doors with face illuminated from the tablet in her hands, and wondered if his newly tattooed friend would be on board.

  “It’s so great to see you again Mr. Richter,” she announced as he stepped closer.

  “Things seem a little quieter tonight,” John replied with a glance across the car park.

  “You’re observation is correct. We’ll be leaving shortly so step on up and make yourself comfortable.”

  Inside there was only a scatteri
ng of faces among the seats, some he vaguely remembered and some he didn’t. There was no sign of Joey though, and so he sat down and enjoyed the cool processed air while the last traces of the valium he’d swallowed that morning filtered into oblivion.

  Minutes later Veronica appeared at the top of the stairs indicating that it was time to don the headsets. John shook his head as he reached beneath the seat.

  “Is this really necessary?” he asked with honest curiosity.

  “Why of course,” Veronica replied, “a little bit of discretion can go a long way.”

  “No doubt about that but from the air it wouldn’t be too hard to follow a bus like this, especially once it strays to open roads.”

  “Another true enough observation, but I can assure you we’ve got some wonderful little machines that will make data capture and broadcast quite difficult for anyone looking down. You would have a better chance of following a firefly across the face of the sun.”

  “In that case, I stand corrected.”

  Just as she had last time, Veronica strolled down the aisle to ensure those onboard were strapped in, while John adjusted the headgear and settled back into his seat. There was the sound of muffled footsteps followed by the mechanical wine of the doors closing, and the engine rumbled to life. The now familiar view from the cockpit flooded his senses. It was less jolting this time, in fact he found a strange pleasure as the Earth was left behind. Soon though there was a shift in the aromatics of the air, and the darkness of space became the darkness of mind.

  “Wake up…”

  Pulled from the abyss, he instinctively grabbed at the hand on his shoulder only to open his eyes and find that it was Veronica.

  “The only way to fly,” she said while gently removing the headgear.

  “Too bad the memories don’t last,” John replied, neck stiff and legs numb with a lack of blood.

  When his muscles were ready he stepped from the bus into the concrete bay, following the other passengers into the electronic infused ambience of the round room. This time the collection of monitors all displayed deep ocean images of enormous, graceful whales and alien like creatures that glowed with such rich and detailed colours that even the expert hand of an artist would struggle to capture.

  The wooden beads rattled and Klementina appeared. Although dressed in faded denim jeans and a plain red buttoned shirt that contrasted somewhat against her ink, she still managed to project both elegance and confidence.

  “Welcome everyone,” she began. “No doubt you’ve noticed we’re a smaller group tonight, but now that we’re moving to the next phase logistics demands efficiency and speed. Those of you here are part of the primary download and will play a vital role in both the distribution and execution of knowledge, and although that sounds like a mouthful it will all make sense soon enough. Now, Veronica will take you through to your delegated departments and on the way will give you the chance to grab some coffee, because it could be a long night.”

  With no grace offered for chit chat Veronica smiled and began the charge through the beads. John did a quick head count and determined that he was one of thirteen that had made the drug induced journey, but if he thought he would be joining them he was mistaken. Klementina straddled past the new members of the family and looked him up and down with a strange sense of knowing.

  “I hope you don’t mind me saying but considering the look in your eyes whatever’s happened between our last meeting and this one must have been either really good or really bad.”

  “If that’s a hello I’ll take it,” John replied, “and rather than keep you in suspense I can promise you it was both.”

  “It’s usually a package deal,” Klementina grinned.

  “So what happens now?” he asked as casually as he could.

  “Now? We work out how to survive the end of the world.”

  Before there was any chance to respond she led the way through the beads, down the bunker corridor and into her office on the right where John was greeted by Rebecca’s cautious smile.

  “I have to admit I had my concerns you wouldn’t come back,” she said.

  “I’d be lying if I said the thought didn’t cross my mind,” he answered.

  “If you didn’t entertain the idea I’d be worried,” Klementina added as the door closed behind them and settled behind the desk. “You’re here though and that’s what matters, so let’s get down to business.”

  Rebecca waited for John to sit down before once again making herself comfortable on the edge of the desk, leaving him to wonder if she ever actually sat in a chair. While it wasn’t obvious, there was something in the way she looked down at him that hinted at a lingering mistrust.

  “So,” she said, “did you have the chance to speak with Sebastian?”

  “No,” John shook his head, “he hasn’t answered any of my calls.”

  “Well maybe it’s time we give him a reason to call you.”

  “Okay, what do you suggest?”

  “Simple,” Klementina perked up, “we hit him where it hurts and at the same time make sure some vital deals can go through.”

  “You want to take his money?” John asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Absolutely! Now I know it’s not exactly what you’d call moral behaviour, but the truth is things are moving even quicker than we planned and without it we’ll be turning up to the fight with only one fist. Besides, it’s not like we’ll be cleaning him out and, when the day comes, he might not be around to spend it anyway.”

  “Fuel prices are going through the roof and the supply is slowing to a trickle,” Rebecca explained. “The Hallucigenia Project has acquired a number of gas stations on the outskirts of the city but not for business purposes. They’ll be closed down any day now but before that happens we need to get one more delivery for each location.”

  “In another forty eight hours or so the delivery trucks will be empty and when they head back to base for a refill they’re going to be turned away,” Klementina declared. “As for what lies they’re going to be told, who knows? Maybe it’ll be blamed on politics or maybe industrial action, but either way the city is going to start to see rationing in a matter of days. We’re going to need fuel, so what better way to buy in bulk before it’s all gone than own a bunch of gas stations?”

  “So we need to pay for the imminent deliveries, fill the underground tanks and make it look like just another business ticking along. Hopefully, by the time people start to work out that the shortage isn’t going anywhere, our stores will be off the radar.” Rebecca shrugged her shoulders, uncertain of how things were going to pan out. “As far as problems go though, this is snowflake on the tip of an iceberg”

  John pursed his lips with confusion. “If you need the fuel for generators then you must have some big fucking machines, and it can’t be for transport because the roads will probably be torn to pieces.”

  “There’s more to fuel than fire,” Klementina remarked. “Now all I need is the account login details and it will be quick and painless.”

  John couldn’t deny the hesitation that pulled the muscles at the back of his neck. The insanity and bombshells that had marred the strange path that carried him to the underground bunker were always going to leave him paranoid, and now was far from an exception. What if he was in the final play of a masterful long con? Maybe the whole damn thing was some exotic, bizarre spell designed to seductively extract enormous sums of money, and here was about to hand over the account details for what was supposed to be a honey trap in the first place. Still, paranoia wasn’t always seeped in reality and, in order for the con to be true, Candice would have to have been lying to him too.

  “Once he finds it gone,” John said while bringing up the details on his phone and sliding the screen across the desk, “it’ll only take him minutes to find out where it went.”

  “Actually, he won’t because the digital ledger is fully encrypted, but he’s a smart man so it probably won’t take him too long to put the pieces together.” Fo
r a brief moment the sound of Klementina’s fingers clicking across the laptop was all that separated the room from total silence. Then, with a quick glance at Rebecca, she slammed it closed and revealed a grin that assured success. “We might just be back on track.”

  “Even if the track takes us to hell,” Rebecca offered gingerly.

  “One way or the other we’re heading straight to the fire, that’s for damn sure.” The grin of success was quick to melt away. “Now we light the fuse.” Klementina leaned forward to ensure she had John’s attention. “This is the state of play. It looks like impact is now less than two weeks away and that means we haven’t got time to blink. Now I can’t speak for other cities or countries, but as far as our government is concerned the wheels are already in motion.”

  For John it still wasn’t quite comprehendible to be almost casually discussing worldwide destruction.

  “When do you think they’ll make it public?” he asked.

  “I can assure you,” Rebecca said, “that they have no intention of letting the cat out of the bag.”

  Klementina indicated her agreement with a slight nod and began to lightly drum her fingers on the wood of the desk.

  “Chaos and anarchy might sound good rolled up in song lyrics but as far as the government’s concerned? It’s a direct threat to any chance they might have of maintaining power, and they’re not going to worry about any kind of rule book when it comes to doing what they think they need to do.”

  “I don’t see how not letting people know is going to avoid a total shit storm,” John pointed out.

  His hosts shared a concerned, knowing glance, leaving him to suspect there was yet another bombshell to rain from the sky.

  “As you can probably guess,” Klementina continued, “the squeeze on fuel distribution is designed to restrict mass movement. It’s a drastic and effective move and capable of being spun to make sure people are angry but still none the wiser. Then, like herding cattle to the slaughter, they’ll strike.” Her fingers became still. “When the asteroid impact has become an absolute certainty and there’s no feasible way of changing the trajectory, a particular chemical is going to be released in the air. You become tired and weak, slip into a deep sleep, and then you die.”