Sifters

by Shane Scollins

  “Is it a popper?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  A DNS, or a Deployed Neuro-Stimulator, would cause different things to happen in the body by stimulating targeted parts of the brain. The most popular type, and in this case it appeared, was a high-tech truth serum. It was far more accurate and advanced than the old chemical based tools. And the worst part is that some of them were time sensitive and self destructive. Once they reached their point of uselessness, they entered the central cortex of the brain and exploded with a burst of electric discharge, killing the host.

  “Tallon, I’m sorry.”

  “Doc, we have time, don’t we?”

  “I don’t know, Tallon. We have some time but I can’t say how much. It hasn’t reached the central cortex yet, but it will in a matter of hours. How long we have after that is anyone’s guess.”

  “Can’t we zap it?”

  “Unfortunately, not in her state, it’s too risky. With the swelling in her brain, it could kill her instantly. As a last resort perhaps, but if we get to that point it’s likely going to be too late already.”

  “Then we need the code, we need the code to shut it down.”

  “Yes, that would work. But, we’d have to know where it came from to find that out. We need the manufacturer and the make and model. That’s an impossible task. We’ll never get it in time.”

  “What do we do? Doc, you gotta help me. She’s the only family I have left. It’s my job. I can’t let her die. I won’t!”

  “There is one long-shot option.”

  “Anything.”

  “A few months ago I dealt with one that had a very similar digital signature. I was told that a man, an eccentric scientist, had come up with a way to deactivate them with a nanotech injection. There’s no guesswork, it’s fast and effective.”

  “Well, who is he?”

  “He goes by the name Rotus. I learned about him from a colleague familiar with his work.”

  “I’ll find him. I know everyone in this city.”

  “There’s a problem there too. He’s out there. He’s a Sifter, by choice. And it’s said that he wouldn’t help anyone in the cities, not for all the money in the world. I don’t know how to go about finding him.”

  Tallon ran his fingers through his hair, brushed the sweat from his brow. “I think I do.”

  “Well, hurry. Because I don’t know how long we have.”

  “Ebo, I need another favor.”

  “Anything.”

  “Get Chloe out of there, pronto. You know where to take her.”

  “Consider it done.”

  Tallon hung up the phone and slid on his helmet.

  Chapter 15

  From the rooftop across the street, Dia watched the bus line grow at the rear door of the school. She watched them closely as the kids, one-by-one, stepped onto the bus. After a while, she started to worry. The bus had to be filling up already and Ray was nowhere in sight. Granted, she’d not seen him in a couple years, but she was still certain she’d recognize him. The last student boarded, the teachers followed, and Ray was not on that bus.

  Dia took a deep breath. Maybe Ray wasn’t in school today. The other option was to go to the DeRomeos’ condominium and demand they just give Ray to her. Of course, that wouldn’t be easy either. Her father tried that route, and the DeRomeos refused. But she could physically take him away; neither one of those soft loafers were going to be able to stop her.

  Her father offered to pay them money, and Kate laughed at him. The problem was that the government paid them tax breaks for keeping their kids in the public system. You’d be amazed how easy it is to get people to go along with things when you give them a big pile of free money.

  With a huff, she climbed down the fire escape ladder to the street level and unlocked her bike. She rode the few blocks over to the DeRomeos’ apartment building, or at least where she remembered it was as written on the piece of paper she’d seen a while ago. Some people might think it was strange that she could recall something she’d read in passing a year ago, but Dia had a great memory. She could see something once and remember it for a long time.

  She rode down the street as fast as possible, in top gear, keeping up with traffic. The fact that she was illegally blowing through the red lights didn’t hurt. She just hoped a cop didn’t spot her.

  Once down on Park Avenue, she eyed the tall beige buildings in a row across from a few sidewalk-planted trees. She spotted the numbers above the door and stopped. The building was the right one. The black and gold sign read The Colonial Grand on Park.

  After locking her bike to one of the U-shaped bike racks, she headed up the few steps and through the tall smoked-glass doors with gold trim. She stopped at the desk where a doorman in a red and gold uniform stood.

  “Hi, I’m here to see James and Kate DeRomeo.”

  The doorman looked down at the computer. His coffee-colored cheeks had deep pockmarks that made him look menacing, but he had kind brown eyes.

  “Who should I say is calling?”

  “Dia Demarco.”

  The doorman picked up a phone on the desk, punched a few numbers, and waited. “Hi ma’am, this is Clayton down at the front door. I have a Dia Demarco to see you?” There was a long pause while he listened, nodded. “Yes ma’am.” He looked up at Dia. “Yes ma’am, that’s correct.”

  Dia knew this was probably a calculated risk at best. After a few uneasy moments, he hung up the phone.

  “You can go up.” He pointed to the elevator. “Apartment 8F3A. That’s the eighth floor, third door when you see the A wing.”

  Dia went to the fancy elevators and stepped onto the red-carpeted floor. The doors slid shut smoothly, and the hoist silently lifted her up to the eighth floor.

  The building was nice. Dia didn’t have a lot of experience with what things might cost these days in the civilized world, but this place looked to cost a ton. She wondered just how rich the DeRomeos really were. Everyone knew they’d had some money. They had the nicest house in the neighborhood. But this place was beyond what she expected to see. There was stained glass and ornate looking brass at every turn. Every surface was white marbled stone of some kind, probably quartz or granite.

  Dia reached the door with the giant gold 3A on the top and knocked three times. She’d not seen Kate DeRomeo in about seven years, so when a woman she hardly recognized opened the door, it wasn’t shocking.

  The woman looked at her, blinked, and smiled broadly. “Dia Demarco, this is a real surprise. My goodness, look at you all grown into a woman.”

  “Good to see you, Kate.” Kate stepped aside to allow Dia passage into the apartment. She looked like Kate, only about fifty pounds heavier and with short, straight, blonde hair. As opposed to the brown curly hair she used to have.

  “To what do we owe this unexpected visit?” Kate’s words slurred slightly and her pupils were dilated. She closed the door and sipped from the martini glass in her hand.

  “I’m here to see my brother.”

  Kate tilted her head and stuck out her thin lips. “What do you mean?”

  “What didn’t you understand?”

  Kate’s head snapped back. “My, you’ve grown into a sassy woman, I see.”

  Dia knew someone drunk out of their mind when she saw them. “Sorry, but I don’t have time to play games.”

  “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kate moved a few sloppy steps toward the huge kitchen, placing her stemmed glass on the black granite countertop.

  “I’m talking about Raiden. Where is he?” Dia crossed her arms under her chest.

  “This is kinda strange for you to be here. What are you doing in the city? I don’t think you should be here. Are you supposed to be here?”

  Dia moved closer. “Kate, where’s Ray? Where’s my brother?”

  Kate shot her a haughty look. “You know that’s none of your business. You shouldn’t even be asking such things. You shouldn’t even be here.”

  �
��Are you drunk? Jacked up on pills? He’s my brother, I have every right—”

  “No, you don’t.” She placed her fingers under the glass and lifted it to her mouth. “He’s not your brother anymore, he’s our son. And you know damn well you have no right to demand anything.”

  “Like hell I don’t. What’s going on here?”

  After taking a sip, she placed the glass down. “I think I’m going to call security.” Kate reached for the phone.

  Dia moved quickly and ripped the phone away before she could grab it.

  “Give me that, you little bitch!” Kate took a step toward her.

  Dia moved her hand out. “Stop right there. I don’t want to start trouble. I just want to know where my brother is. He’s not in school, so where is he?”

  Kate’s eyes narrowed and she lunged at Dia trying to snatch the phone. But Dia was way too spry for her.

  “Give me that back, you little whore!”

  “Where’s Ray?”

  “I’m going to teach you something about respect.” Kate raised a hand and thrust an open palm at Dia’s face. But Dia flashed out a hand and grasped Kate’s wrist, and back-handed her to the face.

  Dia then yanked Kate’s arm and pulled her in close, face-to-face. “Kate, don’t make me hurt you.”

  “Are you kidding me, you skinny little shit? You just brought down a world of hurt.” Kate charged like a bull, using her considerable mass to push Dia backward. But Dia planted her foot, twisted, and used Kate’s momentum against her to body-toss her into a table and chair.

  Kate crashed through the table, sending a lamp flying. Her body bounced off the recliner chair with a grunt and twisted to the floor. She looked up at Dia. Her hair was mussed up and she was breathing heavily. Beads of fresh sweat glistened on her forehead. “Who do you think you are?” Kate leveraged herself up to her feet. “You can’t come into my home and—”

  “Kate, I don’t have time to play games with you. I want Ray, and I want him now. And stop acting like you don’t know why I’m here. Now tell me where Ray is. He’s not at school. I’ve been there.”

  Kate smoothed her hair. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

  “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

  “No, you don’t. You’re in over your head.”

  “Where’s my brother.”

  Kate laughed. “Why not? You’re dead anyway.” She moved over to the kitchen again, sipped her drink, and with a smack of her lips said, “He’s long gone. You’re too late.”

  “Gone where?”

  “To a special boarding school for kids who won’t behave.”

  “Huh?”

  “Yup, Ray’s a bad boy so they put him in a special school.”

  “And you let them take him?”

  “Let them? We took the standard deal, honey. It was our pleasure to send that little punk there to get his head straight. He needs to learn how to respect people.”

  Dia shook her head. “What are you talking about?”

  Kate took another long sip of booze, keeping a safe distance from Dia. “I guess you don’t know as much as you think.”

  “I know enough.”

  Kate shook her head. “You don’t know anything.”

  Kate’s front door busted open, and two men entered wearing black and red security uniforms. They had guns drawn.

  “Arrest her.” Kate pointed demonstratively. “She assaulted me.”

  Dia thought about several moves, but staring into the barrel of a pair of guns didn’t leave her many options. She was done.

  Chapter 16

  Tallon moved quickly through the subway tunnel, finally reaching the end. Since all the undesirables had supposedly been swept out of the city, these areas were cleaner but they were not safer. Drug dealers and killers for hire still did most of their business in these places away from the city camera system. This tunnel in particular had a very good vantage point from which to spring in and out of the cityscape.

  He climbed the six concrete steps up to the platform and looked down the long corridor. This line had long ago been inactive, so no trains would be chugging by, and the long view allowed you to see anyone coming.

  From around the corner a few hundred feet down, she appeared, in full run, dressed in her usual skin-tight black pants, sneakers, and jogging jacket that no doubt concealed a handgun.

  She pulled up to a stop just a foot from him, jogging in place to cool down.

  “That’s better than the hooker clothes,” Tallon said.

  Jocelyn curled up one side of her curvy lips, and blew out a few hard breaths while placing her fingers on her wrist. “You loved seeing me dressed like that. You like to pretend you don’t want me, but you do.”

  Tallon smirked. “A man can only pretend for so long.”

  “Just say the word and I’m yours.”

  No man could resist Jocelyn for long. She was sexy, strong, and there was no denying it. “Did you find anything?”

  She huffed. “C’mon Tally. How long’ve you known me? Have I ever not found what I was looking for?”

  “Fair enough.”

  Jocelyn leaned her shoulder into the gray concrete wall. “Well, it didn’t take long. You’re pulling a ton of heat.”

  “Cortech?”

  “Yeah, and some others, some sort of mercenary hit squad. There’s a bounty on your head. I don’t know what you did—”

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  “You did something.”

  “It’s what I didn’t do. I didn’t kill someone I was supposed to.”

  “Alex Simmonds?”

  Tallon nodded. “He wasn’t dirty.”

  She shrugged. “He is to them.”

  “He knows about their little island.”

  Jocelyn looked down the corridor. “Where’d you stash him?”

  Tallon trusted her with his life. But he didn’t want to tell her.

  She held up her hand at his delay. “Wait, I know, PD.”

  He nodded.

  She smiled. “You’re really stretching that plausible deniability thing a little thin. You know that no one could get anything out of me. But that’s fine, I don’t even care. But know this. They’re looking for him, and they’re looking for you.”

  Tallon looked up to the cracked veins in the concrete. “There’s another complication. They got to Chloe.”

  Jocelyn shook her head. “I know, I heard. Tal, I’m so—so sorry. What happened?”

  “They put one of those neuro stimulators in her head, a truth serum. It’s a popper and it’s live.”

  “Oh, man. Do you know who did it?”

  “I’m not sure, but I think it was Cortech’s new security squad. I ran into an old friend right after they fired me. He all but admitted he knew about it, and if he knows about it I’d bet it was one of his men.”

  “I’m sorry.” She rubbed his arm. “Chloe is strong, she’s very strong. Just like her big brother.”

  He met her eyes. “So what’d you find out about the girl?”

  Jocelyn pulled her phone from her pocket and handed it to Tallon. “Your little Sifter got herself locked up. She busted into a Park Avenue luxury pad and assaulted a resident.”

  “What precinct?”

  “Three-one-five.”

  He dragged a hand down his face. “That’s a corporate pocket poodle. No way I’m getting in there.”

  “You don’t have to. She’s likely being deported first thing in the morning if they follow standard operating procedure. My experience is that someone like her will be tossed out of the city without incurring charges.”

  “Cortech no doubt revoked my special security access passes already.”

  “You still have your citizen card. And you know everyone in this city.”

  “They won’t lose their jobs for me. So I need you to secure me three sector cards.”

  “Three?”

  “One for the girl and one for the scientist. And I want one for me to mask my resident activity.
”

  “You got it. What else do you need from me?”

  He reached into his pocket and took out the resident card he’d taken from the Sifter. “Here, I want you to find out who this belonged to and why some Sifter was walking around with it.”

  She flipped the card over in her hand. “This is a gold card, irrevocable. This is a diplomat card. A Sifter had this?”

  “I thought it was strange too.”

  “Huh, I’ll check it out.” She slid the card into her pocket. “Is that it?”

  “For now, but I’ll be in touch.” He opened the door to the staircase that led to the street. “Oh, and your paycheck will be in your account this afternoon. Sorry it was late.”

  Jocelyn touched his shoulder and stopped him. “Hey, you be careful. Word is that Cortech has put a million-dollar bounty on your head, dead or alive.”

  He nodded once and headed up the long staircase.

  * * *

  Dia knew she’d screwed up. The cops were nice enough, but the judge was probably not going to be as kind. If she were lucky, they’d just toss her out of the city. If this went bad, they were going to sentence her to hard labor. Either way she was probably never going to see Ray again. She’d let him down. She’d let herself down. But worst of all she’d let her parents down. If they were looking down on her now they were probably disappointed.

  She sat on the rock-hard bench and looked at the opposing wall. There were several messages scrawled on the gray bricks. Some in blue marker, some just scratched in. One in particular stood out. Scratched in large sloppy letters were the words ALL SIFTERS GO TO HELL. It felt ominous.

  Dia knew that no matter how much she thought of herself as not being a Sifter, the people inside the cities would call her nothing but. They had no idea what life was like outside. They had it all in here, they were still part of a civilized world, they had pizza. She was a lawless loiterer with no direction and no purpose. Sifters were nothing but a nuisance taking up the space that the cities were eventually going to spill out over.

  This wasn’t the life she wanted. By now, if the world had not imploded, she’d probably be ready to graduate college. She never really got the chance to figure out what she wanted out of life. When she was younger, she wanted to be a dancer. Then by the time she’d hit middle school she wanted to be a doctor. If she’d had the chance to go to high school that probably would have changed again.