FLOOR 21: Descent (The Tower Legacy)

by Jason Luthor

  4, 0, pause, 4, 7, 4, 2

  7, 3, pause, 5, 7, 5, 4

  7, 3, pause, 5, 7, 1, 8

  End Transmission

  DEPARTURE

  Recording Twelve

  Sometimes I complain like I don’t need her, but it’s the running trend of my life that when I need someone to talk to, it’s always going to be Allison that gets to hear me whine. I mean, considering how often I’ve had to put up with her talking about how awful her perfect life is, I think I’ve earned the right to make her my complaint board. I can’t always be talking to my recorder, right?

  Right?

  So, yeah, as much as it pains me, I’ve got to have human contact once in a while.

  “I couldn’t explain it if I wanted, not that I really want to try,” I say as my head rests on the pillow. Allison’s chilling in the chair nearby while I shrivel up like a pathetic mess. “Normally, I’m not supposed to talk about this stuff, but I don’t know, man, it just . . . it was way worse than anything I’ve felt before, and you know how much I go into the Creep.”

  “Yeah, but this is different though, Jackie. You know the Deep Creep’s where all the real funky stuff happens. That’s why they’ve got you doing all these drills, right? You know, so you don’t flip your lid when you go down there.”

  “It just felt like there was someone for reals shutting my mouth,” I say, sucking wind while I shiver at the memory. “I hate having anything over my mouth, Allison. It’s just . . . it’s the worst, like I’m going to choke. That’s the one thing that really makes me lose it and, of course, this happens.”

  “Well, you know, it makes sense. The Creep’s supposed to make you freak out, so, yeah, you had your worst fear come to life. That’s all mental or whatever.”

  My face flops sideways so I can look at her. “You think it’s going to be like that all the time?”

  “Doubt it. I mean, come on, how often are you really going to be stuck by yourself in a room like that?”

  “Yeah, but I have to be able to survive if it does happen. What if I get cut off from the team or something?”

  Allison just shakes her head. “Jackie, you flipped out because you landed face first in that Creep gunk. That’s why you started tripping. Just don’t stress it so much. You ‘ll be fine if you keep cool and don’t let yourself get covered in that stuff.”

  “I hope you’re right.” My hands slowly push down my face. “Ugh, sorry. It was just freaking terrible.”

  “Hey, I hear ya G. There’s a reason you’re going and I’m not.”

  “Sure you don’t want to come along? You can help chill me out in case I start having another episode. “

  “Nah, that stuff’s your thing, Jackie. Besides, you’re not really going to sit there and act like you’re going to let this stop you.”

  “No, I mean, obviously not. Geez, give me some credit here. I’m not a total wash-up at everything I do. Plus, the fact that I’ve wanted this basically for forever . . .”

  “Hey,” she says, throwing her hands up. “Just making sure.”

  “Yeah, no, I know. I just needed to talk this out ‘cause it was, like, super intense.”

  “Sounds like it. But, hey, you’re going to be fine, kid.” She stops for a second like she’s not sure what to say next. “So . . . you’re going to really go down into that Creep and, what? Scrounge up some eats?”

  “Well, sure, that’s kinda high on the agenda. I mean, we only need food to live, right?”

  Her eyebrow tilts to a funny angle. “What about the Second Scavenging?”

  “What about it?”

  “Come on, Jackie,” she says, leaning in. “You can’t pretend you’re not worried about Mike. Not with me, anyway.”

  My eyes roll back to the ceiling and drag my face with them. It’s like just his name’s got magical powers or something. “I feel like the more I try not to think about him, the more everyone and their mom brings him up. Barely anyone seemed to care about Mike before he went into the Deep.”

  “Life’s got funny timing.”

  “I guess.”

  She smiles. “You know, you barely ever told me anything about you two. Is it hot dating an older guy?”

  “Just gross, Allison. Your thing for older dudes is out of control.”

  “Hey, I’m not the girl dating one.”

  “We weren’t really dating. I mean, we hung out. I hang out with you, but that doesn’t mean we’re dating.”

  “Yeah, but we also don’t make out.”

  “That didn’t happen with me and Mike either,” I argue. “Look, it’s hard to get into. You don’t really like talking about the Deep Creep and stuff like that. I get it, and we’re cool about that now, you know? Most people don’t like talking about what’s in the Deep because of Tower Authority.”

  “Right, you just never know what’s going to get you into trouble.”

  “Which is cool. We’re cool, Allison, but I’m just saying that it was nice to have someone around that was as into that stuff as I was.”

  Her head rests on her fist. “And that was Mike.”

  “Yeah. It’s just, sometimes you meet someone and you hang out for five hours before you realize you want to spend another five hours talking to them. You wish you could get the time back and use it all over again on that same person.”

  “So, was this the first guy you ever really crushed on, Jackie?”

  “I mean, there’ve been other guys, just none like him.”

  “And you don’t think that has something to do with the fact that he kind of saved your life?”

  Ugh. “Maybe, Allison. I dunno. That might’ve been part of it.”

  “How old were you when that happened?”

  My eyes cut through the slits of my eyes. “Thirteen.”

  “And how old was he?”

  “Sixteen or Seventeen. Why?”

  She shrugs and looks away. “I’m just saying that it sounds like he left an impression because you were young and about to get taken away by Security.”

  “So, you’re saying the only reason I dig him is because he pulled a white knight and saved me?”

  “No. Not entirely, anyway.”

  “Then what is it you’re implying exactly?” I ask. “That I just give up on him?”

  “Jackie, you’re so extreme. All I’m saying is that I think you fell for him kind of because he did save you. I’m not saying that’s right or wrong, I mean, you did say you two do get along. Right? I mean, you feel like you can talk to him about stuff that you can’t talk to anyone else about. That counts for something. Just maybe, you know, get to know him better whenever you do see him again. Don’t rush anything is all.”

  “Yeah. That whole ‘getting to know people’ thing is coming up a lot, too. Tommy, Abbott, even mom and dad. It’s like you have to do this more the older you get.”

  “Oh, speaking of. Have you talked to your parents about this?”

  “Not willingly. Dad asked about Mike, sorta. It’s like I can’t get away from the topic.”

  “Ew. Talking to dad about your future lover.”

  “Don’t ever use that word around me,” I say, absently pointing a finger at her. “But seriously, Allison, it’s the same situation as it was a month ago. You know I’ve always wanted to do this, but, I mean . . .” My shoulders slide up in the bed until they’re bookends to my face. “I mean, of course I miss the guy.”

  “Couldn’t have figured.”

  I ignore her. “So, yeah, sure. I want to find him. I just, in my head I keep seeing this cool action sequence where I swoop in and bust up a bunch of Creep, rescue him like a boss and, I dunno . . . things.”

  “Yeah, okay kid, you can keep those ‘things’ to yourself.”

  “But you know what I’m saying?”

  “At this age, I know too much,” she laughs. “You’ll find him. Mike and you have always been the same. Survivor types. He’s down there, you just got to get to him. And on that note, you leave soon, don’t you?” />
  “Fifth’s Day,” I reply, my eyes pushing past her to the calendar on my wall. The date’s circled in a big red marker and decorated with a dozen too many stars. “We’ve got two more days of psych tests and gun training, then a day to rest. After that, the Scavenging starts.”

  Allison leans in and squeezes my arm with her hand. I resist the inevitable urge to recoil, a well-documented phenomena given my revulsion to physical contact, and tell myself to appreciate the moment. “I’m going to miss you, Jackie. You better not die.”

  I laugh at her. “Shutup Allison.”

  Recording Thirteen

  You know, you learn something new every day, but sometimes you learn something and you’re not quite sure what to think about it. So, today I was trying to get in some time with dad. I mean, I leave in a few days, so I’m at least trying to make up some time with him before I go. It’s no big deal at first or anything. We’re just hanging around in the living room after I’m back from training. Anyway, he’s talking, and I mention one of the girls on the team, Joanne.

  “Yeah, so, like, there’s this one girl. Joanne. I don’t know, dad, it’s like, I just can’t beat her.”

  “What do you mean?” he asks as his eyes dart between me and the tablet he’s reading. “Is she better at fighting?”

  “Not, like, a ton better. I mean, she doesn’t hit any harder than I do. It’s just that I can’t touch her. At all.”

  “So, she’s fast.”

  My eyes roll halfway into my head. “Dad. It’s not just that I can’t hit her. Nobody can hit her. If one of the guys gets her pinned she’s not going to win, so, like, in wrestling she’s not the best. But take boxing. You can’t land a punch. And that’s not just me, because no one who tries can get a hit in.”

  It’s obvious I’ve gotten his attention when he puts his tablet to the side. “Tell me more.”

  “Well, I dunno. I don’t know what else to say about it. It’s just, like, she’s always one step ahead.”

  He looks off for a second while talking to me from over his closed fist. “Does it ever seem like she knows what’s coming before it happens?”

  “What?”

  “I mean, even in situations that don’t have anything to do with fighting. Have you ever noticed her acting strange outside of fights? Anything that would be unusual?”

  “Well . . .” I start to think about all the times I’ve had to talk with Joanne, and for a second, I’m just staring into the wall. “Come to think of it, she does always know when somebody’s in the room or if someone’s coming. Like, one time I got to the gym and she was looking away, but she still knew it was me. She actually said, ‘Hey Jackie’ before I could even say that I was there.”

  “And you didn’t think that was strange?”

  I shrug. “I mean, maybe? I just thought she was really good at guessing.”

  “Jackie.”

  Now, see, me and dad never lost this thing we do. Even with all the years of him basically not talking to me, we never lost ‘the look.’ It’s this moment that happens when we stare at each other and I just kinda know he’s trying to send me a message. So, my eyebrow slants, and I’m just locked with him for a second before I say, “Something’s different about Joanne.”

  “That’s a good start.”

  “She can . . .” Am I going to sound crazy saying this? “She can predict stuff? Like, she knows what’s going to happen before it happens?”

  Dad smiles as he picks up his tablet and swipes across the surface. After a second he flips it around so I can see what he’s looking at, and it’s like an outline of a person standing inside of a hall full of Creep. There are glowing lines shining from the outline and bouncing back from the walls. “You already know that the Creep is psychoreactive. It feeds on human emotions.”

  “Right, that’s why it goes nutters when people are panicking and stuff.”

  “So, is it really that strange to think that people can pick up on emotions, too?”

  “Okay, wait, wait, wait,” I say, throwing my hand up. “I get picking up on emotions. But predicting stuff?”

  “They’re both part of the same ability. Before a human being takes an action, they have to think about it. It seems instantaneous to us, but it actually takes a split second before the signal reaches our hands. People like Joanne have an ability to pick up that signal and react to it before it’s even reached our fingertips.”

  “And you’re saying this is like, not even in doubt. This is for real.”

  “It’s a known phenomenon in some Scavengers, and it’s not unusual for at least one of these kinds of people to be placed on a team. Every human being in the Tower has some ability to pick up and project their thoughts and feelings even if they don’t know it, and the Creep’s really good at picking those signals up. Every once in a while, we have someone like Joanne born that’s better than most people at detecting those same signals. That’s why Tower Authority always tries to have one on your teams. They’re valuable for predicting if an area of the Creep is more dangerous than others. Now, they don’t always know that what they’re doing because they’re never actually told they have that power. Your commander knows, though. Usually, all Scavenger commanders know who the precog on their team is.”

  “Precog?”

  “Short for precognitive,” he keeps going. “It wasn’t my area of expertise, but I had to study it a little because we felt if we knew more about that power, we could apply it to Creep research.”

  “So, what happened to that? Did you learn anything?”

  Dad smiles and looks away. “You know, it’s funny. I don’t talk about it much because, well, who would I talk to about it? But, like I said, I wasn’t the resident expert on precog powers and the Creep. That was actually David Marshall, an assistant of mine. Well, I call him an assistant, but really only because I was the lead researcher. When it came to understanding the way Creep interacted psychically with people, though, he was the best.”

  “And he just, what? Were you never able to look at all his research or something?”

  “Well, kind of. It’s an iffy subject. David was always his own guy, stuck to himself, and didn’t really interact with the rest of us. He wasn’t a bad guy, just quiet. Really intense. So, he spent most of his time working on some side projects that caught the attention of people higher up the chain. You know, stuff that wasn’t exactly authorized.”

  “Now you’re just making this sound shady. What was he doing?”

  “Just think about it. If you’re going to test whether or not people have precognitive powers and how that interacts with the Creep, what do you have to do?”

  My lips ram sideways in a terrible frown. “Use human subjects.”

  “Right. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like we haven’t done that before. David was just a little more . . . zealous, than the rest of us were. I never really knew everything he was up to, but if I heard things right, he might have been pushing a little too hard. I’d bet he tried things he wasn’t authorized to, because one day? He was just gone.”

  I straight duck lip my dad because I’m just confused now. “What do you mean? Did Tower Authority reassign him? Was he put into Reinforcement?”

  “There’s a lot of things I know, Jackie. But this one?” He just shakes his head. “One day, I came into the lab to check the files, and everything about precognition he’d been working on was gone. Obviously, I was confused at first, and so I waited around for him to show, but . . .” Dad shrugs. “He never did.”

  For some reason, the story creeps me out even if I don’t really know what happened. Just going missing . . . at least when it’s Reinforcement, you know that you’ll be coming back home at some point. People don’t just ‘disappear,’ or at least I didn’t think so. “Okay, so, you don’t know what happened. I mean, then what do you think happened?”

  “You know, Jackie, nobody talks about it, but once in a while, people just run away. They go beneath Floor 21 and then they’re just gone. I’m sure
they always have their reasons, like getting away from Tower Authority. The truth is, though, you don’t always know why they run. And, to be honest, I’ve always been a little afraid that my friend discovered something he didn’t think he could let Authority have. Now what that was?” Dad holds his hands up for a second. “I don’t know. But, it’s like I told you, that’s what I suspect.”

  After that, we both go quiet, and dad gets back to looking through his tablet. I don’t know what’s the worst part of the story. Joanne I can live with because, I mean, if she can predict danger, then cool. That might be what keeps me alive later. But this David guy? The one studying the Creep, that might have run off? Holy crap dude. What does this guy know? And why couldn’t he let Tower Authority know about it, too? It’s got me freaking out, but I don’t want to make dad worry when I’m just a few days from leaving. He can probably tell I’m faking a smile, but I still try to get to my room without acting like I’m having a mild freak-out. Once I’m there, though, I just stare off at the roof for a few minutes. Somewhere out there might be some crazy scientist dude that was almost as smart as my dad. That’s impressive anyway, but the thought that he might be carrying around some insane secrets about the Creep? What’s he doing with those? Is he still out there somewhere? I try not to think about it, but like with everything else, it just sticks in my brain. I guess that’s why I’m here, talking about it. Because I have to tell someone I’m freaking, but I can’t let my parents know because then they’ll freak, and the whole house will fall apart right before I’m supposed to leave. I can’t tell my therapist, because I’m not even sure what he’s supposed to really know about precogs and stuff. So, as usual, it’s just you and me, recorder.

  Think I’ll try and get some sleep. Maybe that’s all I’ll need.

  Recording Fourteen

  Team bonding is one of those concepts I don’t exactly have lots of experience with but that I’m pretty sure is important. I mean, the vets are always talking about how you need to keep morale up, and I don’t see how that’s possible if everyone’s always at each other’s throats. That’s why we spend so much time in training together and why they ask us to eat at the same time, so we can all get cozy. It’s kinda under duress, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel just a little closer to everyone. Thing is, I can live with the awkward convos, but I’m not quite as thrilled that we’re forced to attend Reception together. That’s pretty much where I draw the line, if only because I don’t even like going to services with my parents.