The Warehouse

by Rob Hart

  “Just be sure to follow directions, watch each other’s backs, and stay vigilant,” Vikram said, surveying the room, his eyes settling on Paxton for a moment and lingering longer than Paxton was comfortable with.

  After the meeting, after Paxton had run through some paperwork he needed to check, he tracked Dakota down in the break room, where she was digging a small knife into the top of a coffee pod, before knocking some salt into it. She looked up as Paxton entered. “Makes it less bitter,” she said.

  “What does?”

  “The salt.”

  “So I’m off the team?”

  “What team?”

  “I dunno. The you-and-Dobbs team.”

  “This is a different thing,” Dakota said. “Vikram may be a prick but he’s pretty good at organizing. Dobbs can’t just shut him out entirely. Anyway, he wants you to concentrate on the oblivion.”

  “I feel like that’s not entirely true.”

  Dakota stared at him for a few moments, then placed the pod into the coffee maker, closed it, and pressed the On button. “That’s where things are right now.”

  “Fine,” he said. “The software update, is that related to the match thing?”

  “It’s a software update,” she said, not looking at him.

  Paxton sighed. “Fine. When do we head out?”

  “We’re not,” she said.

  “What?”

  “You’re patrolling solo for a little while,” she said. “I’ve got to work on the update scheduling. And after that…” The coffee machine sputtered and beeped. She picked up the mug, inhaled the steam. “I think Dobbs might be putting me in tan soon. Anyway, I think you know enough of the ropes to handle yourself.”

  “Okay,” Paxton said. “Okay.”

  “I promise you,” she said. “Business as usual.”

  The way she held his gaze while she said it, trying real hard to make it clear she wasn’t lying, meant she wasn’t telling the truth. Paxton nodded, said, “Let me know if you need a hand with anything on the update stuff.”

  She took a sip of coffee and turned away to the fridge, opened it, said, “Will do.”

  Paxton left. Made his way to the promenade. Walked a bit. Stopped to eat, picking CloudBurger because Dakota wasn’t there to veto it. After he ate he walked some more. Broke up an argument. Gave a newcomer directions. Wondered why he felt so jealous of Vikram. Why he wanted so bad to be the one up there. He hated this. He didn’t want this life. He wanted to be done with it.

  But he was here, and this was what he had. If he was going to do it, he wanted to do it well. He wanted recognition. He didn’t want to be a nameless blue wandering the promenade.

  At the end of his shift he changed and went to the bar, texted Zinnia to let her know he’d be there, not caring if she showed up, but also hoping she would. She didn’t respond but she did climb onto the stool next to him, still wearing her red polo, as he was ordering his third beer.

  “You have some catching up to do,” Paxton said, tilting his pint toward her.

  “Rough day?”

  “Could say that.”

  She paused. It was a long pause, like she had gotten distracted by something else. Then she asked, “Want to talk about it?”

  “No.” Paxton drained the glass and picked up the fresh pint, took a sip, put it back down. “Yeah. So, big new thing at work. Software update day. And that asshole…Vikram. Did I tell you about Vikram?”

  “You told me about Vikram.”

  “He’s Dobbs’s new favorite. Dakota’s, too, I think. I just feel like…” He picked up his beer, put it back down without taking a sip. “I don’t know how I feel.”

  “You feel like you worked hard and when the time came to get a little recognition it went elsewhere.”

  “I feel like that.”

  “It’s weird….”

  “What’s weird?”

  Zinnia took a pull of her drink. “If this guy Vikram is such a dick, why do they keep him around? Like, do you ever feel like Dobbs is pitting you two against each other?”

  Paxton sat back. Stared into the mirror behind the bar. “I don’t know. No. Why would he even do that?”

  Zinnia dropped her voice. “Classic abuser tactic. Make you work harder for his affection.”

  “No.” Paxton shook his head. “No. That’s too much. C’mon.”

  “Okay,” Zinnia said. “So what’s the deal with the software update?”

  Paxton sat back, took a deep breath. “It’s this thing, all the CloudBands need to get updated. Remember when we saw the match? I think it was that. Anyway, everyone gets locked down to their rooms. It doesn’t take long, but we have to be out in force. Make sure no one is outside.”

  Zinnia leaned forward. “If everyone is locked down, then what’s the need for so much security?”

  Fuck, shouldn’t have said that. He looked around. The bar was mostly empty. The bartender was off on the other end, serving a woman a complicated mixed drink. “Every door is unlocked. Fire codes. So it’s just us and hospital staff out, and everyone else is in their rooms.”

  “Huh,” Zinnia said, taking a big swig of her vodka. “Huh.”

  Well, Paxton thought. At least he’d impressed someone today.

  ZINNIA

  Zinnia passed on a second vodka. She wanted to keep her head clear. As the night wound down, Paxton’s hand snaked onto her thigh, and she didn’t brush it off but she didn’t wiggle into its path either. And when he ducked his head in, his breath heavy with the yeasty smell of beer, to ask if they could head upstairs, she told him she had her period.

  Which was a lie. It wasn’t going to start for another week. By now he should have known that, but men never seemed to retain period-related information. He was disappointed but gracious, even walked her to her dorm, where he kissed her and bid her adieu, and then she practically ran up to her apartment.

  Software update. Everyone on lockdown, but not really a lockdown because nothing would be locked.

  That was good.

  Army of security officers out.

  That was bad.

  She dropped onto the futon, leaning forward, elbows on knees.

  Think it out.

  Everyone would be in their rooms because the CloudBands would be down and couldn’t provide tracking data. Security officers used the watches to communicate with each other. Presumably they’d be down too, so there would be a lot of security officers out in case something required a rapid response.

  The hospital would be open. She hadn’t been to the hospital yet, but that would have to be her point of access.

  Zinnia liked hospitals. They tended to not have the same kind of security as other facilities. Disinterested guards retired from something else, mostly focused on protecting stockpiles of drugs.

  The plan knitted itself together in her head faster than she could keep up. She’d feign some sort of injury or illness right before the software update. Something that’d get her placed in the hospital facility. She’d figure it out from there. The security officers would likely be focused on the dorms, keeping everyone under control. There’d probably be a skeleton staff at the hospital. Some nurses? She could dance circles around them.

  A shower. She needed a shower. She did her best thinking in the shower.

  She stripped, threw on her robe and flip-flops, grabbed her toiletry bag, stepped into the hallway, and barely made it ten feet before she saw Rick coming out of the gender-neutral bathroom, which had an out-of-order sign hung on the door. Anger ripped through Zinnia’s body like water rushing into a tight space. It got worse when she saw the figure behind him: a young girl, also in a robe, her hair wet, face, too, but not from the shower. She was holding the robe tight to herself like it might protect her.

 
Hadley.

  Rick looked over and smiled. “Long time no see. I was beginning to think you didn’t like me or something.”

  Zinnia didn’t acknowledge him, couldn’t take her eyes off Hadley, who was staring at the floor, wishing herself anywhere but there. Rick looked over his shoulder at the girl and said, “Now run on back, Hadley. And remember what I said.”

  The girl took off in the opposite direction. Zinnia watched over Rick’s shoulder as she stopped and swiped her watch in front of her room. Rick shrugged. “Why don’t we head on in?”

  A storm raged in Zinnia’s head, waves crashing against the inside of her skull. She could handle Rick. She didn’t like it, but she could handle it.

  Hadley, though…

  The job beckoned. With a great deal of effort, Zinnia relaxed her muscles. She pushed a smile onto her face. “Sure,” she said, the remainder of the vodka working through her system but maintaining just enough of a fingerhold that she still felt warm in the middle.

  He looked around to make sure they were alone and pushed the door open. Zinnia stepped past him, careful not to touch him, like his skin was poisonous, and entered the bathroom, walking back toward the shower area.

  She was so high on the possibility of getting a real crack at this that it was easy to ignore the lech who wanted to stare at her tits for a couple of minutes. She walled Hadley off into a corner. She could come back to that. She could come back for Rick when this was over.

  She turned as he entered and was about to drop her robe when he said, “Software update coming soon.”

  Zinnia nodded, grasping the tie around her waist.

  “Maybe you can come give me a private show, since we’re going to be on lockdown,” he said. “Make up for all that time you’ve been avoiding me. I’m in apartment S.”

  Zinnia paused, the tie of the robe half-pulled from the knot. She looked up at him. He wasn’t smiling. Wasn’t winking. He was serious.

  “It’d be a nice thing for you to do, Zinnia,” he said. “Smart, too.”

  “No,” she said, the word leaping from her mouth. “I won’t be doing that.”

  Rick’s face went dark. “I’m sorry, this wasn’t an either-or type of thing.”

  Another hot flash. After two months of day-in-day-out nonsense, she would not tolerate this sick fuck derailing her opportunity.

  But more than that, as much as she didn’t want to, she couldn’t stop thinking of Hadley’s face.

  Usually Zinnia had no time for soft people. The world was a tough place, and you either learned to take the shot or you bought a helmet. But the look on her face, the way Rick lorded over her, it was like watching someone crush a baby bird in the palm of their hand.

  “How about this,” Zinnia said, letting the robe drop, allowing Rick’s eyes to roll over her skin. “How about I give you a special show right now? An extra-special show?”

  Rick smiled but stepped back, afraid of the sudden burst of sexual aggression. Coward. Zinnia moved in and he grew bold, stood his ground, preparing himself for what was coming.

  He wasn’t expecting it to be a hard, fast elbow to his eye socket.

  Her adrenaline surged as her elbow connected. He yelled and went down hard, cracking his head on the bench on the way. She knelt next to him as he writhed on the floor, trying to crawl away, blocked by a bench.

  “It’s a sad and sorry thing you fell down and hurt your face,” Zinnia said.

  Rick spat, “You fucking cunt—”

  Zinnia grabbed his throat. “Can you not appreciate the peril of making me angrier than I already am?”

  That shut him up. Zinnia got in close.

  “This is the last time you’re going to play your little sign-swap game,” she said. “This is the last time you’re going to be a creepy-ass fuck with the women who live in this dorm. And you can get me fired, but you better believe on my way out I will find you and fucking end you. It’s not like you can get someone to protect you from me, because then you’ll have to tell them why, and it’ll be a thing. You feel me?”

  Rick mumbled something, the sound cut off by the lack of oxygen getting through his trachea. Zinnia let off a little.

  “You feel me?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Make me believe it.”

  “I do. No more.”

  “Good.”

  She let go. Considered giving him a jab or a kick. Some kind of parting shot. But then she figured she’d done enough, so she put her robe back on, exited the bathroom, took the out-of-order sign, and tossed it over her shoulder.

  That was stupid.

  So stupid.

  She also did not care one inch.

  She went into the ladies’ room. It was slightly more crowded than usual. Two stalls occupied, and in the back, all of the showers. Two women Zinnia barely recognized were sitting and waiting their turn, along with Cynthia. The room was thick with steam and whispered conversations.

  Cynthia waved her over and Zinnia sat next to her. “How you doing today, sweetheart?”

  “Walking on sunshine,” Zinnia said.

  “You must be,” she said. “No offense, dear, but that’s the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on your face since you got here.”

  “Some days are special.”

  “Are they, now?”

  Zinnia nodded, warmed by the thought of the give she felt when her elbow connected. There was a very real chance Rick’s orbital socket was broken.

  A shower curtain pulled aside. An older, lithe woman with gray hair stepped out, grabbed a towel, wrapped herself up. One of the other girls who was waiting got up and took her place.

  “Honestly, though, I think I’m coming down with something,” Zinnia said. “Stomach bug.”

  “That’s too bad, dear.”

  “Might check myself into the hospital for a day or two. Just to be safe.”

  “Oh, no no no,” Cynthia said. “You don’t want to do that.”

  “Why not?”

  Cynthia looked around, leaned forward in her wheelchair. “Calling out sick affects our ranking.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “If you’re injured, they have to send you to the hospital,” she said. “But if you just have a tummy ache, or a cold, or something like that, you’re expected to come in and work through it. Sometimes the ambulance trams won’t even take you if they don’t think it’s serious enough.”

  Zinnia laughed, because it sounded like a joke. “That’s ridiculous.”

  Cynthia didn’t smile, didn’t laugh back. “You don’t want to mess around with that stuff.”

  “God, this fucking place.”

  This time, Cynthia did smile. “Here’s my advice. Avoid the hospital the best you can. The care is pretty good. The problem is they don’t want you to actually use it. It costs a ton of credits, too.”

  The curtain of the handicapped shower at the end of the row opened. A woman came out, nude and on crutches, a robe clutched under her arm, toiletry bag hanging around her neck. She made her way to a bench while Cynthia grasped the wheels of her chair and propelled herself forward.

  “Sorry about your stomach,” she said. “Feel better.”

  Zinnia sat back. Watched Cynthia pull the curtain closed. She sat there for a couple of minutes, her thoughts drifting back to Hadley.

  She could imagine the girl sitting on the corner of her bed, holding herself, sobbing still over whatever violation Rick had subjected her to. She considered walking over to her room, knocking on her door. Checking on her. But she wasn’t emotionally equipped for that, so she went to Cynthia’s stall and called through the curtain, “Hey.”

  “Yes, dear?”

  “You know that girl Hadley? Looks like a cartoon bunny?”

 
“Of course.”

  “Can you check on her? I saw her earlier. She seemed upset. But I don’t know her well enough….”

  “Say no more,” Cynthia said. “I’ll pay her a visit after.”

  Zinnia smiled. She was still frustrated but that helped a little. And as she walked back to her room, she got another idea.

  It wasn’t an idea that she liked, but it probably would work.

  SOFTWARE UPDATE ANNOUNCEMENT

  At eight a.m. tomorrow, Cloud will issue a software update to your CloudBands. This update will repair a few minor bugs, as well as improve heart rate tracking and battery life. At six thirty a.m., all work at Cloud will cease, and unless otherwise instructed, you are to report immediately to your rooms, where you will stay until the software update is completed.

  After the update is complete, anyone on shift will report back to work immediately to finish the remainder of their shift. Anyone due to work will report to work immediately.

  Please be advised that only essential security and medical staff are allowed out of their rooms at the time of the update. Anyone who is found outside of his or her room during the update will be docked one full star. For those of you with two-star ratings, that will mean immediate termination.

  Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in this matter. We know it’s an inconvenience, and as always, we will work to make it as smooth as possible. We appreciate your assistance in this.

  PAXTON

  Paxton skipped his preferred breakfast—two fried eggs and toast—in favor of a protein bar, lingering over a single thought as he chewed: today would be a four-star day.

  His assignment was the lobby of Oak, and he was the section leader, so mostly he just had to be sure everyone was spread out enough that there were eyes and ears where they needed to be. He’d have twenty people to assign and that was more than enough. He didn’t want Vikram to have an opportunity to shit-talk him to Dobbs any more than he already had.