She walked gracefully across to him and reached out, offering a hand of support. "It is. I like it here. It's a much better spot than the area you picked out for your camp."
Startled by her knowledge, Elias said, "You've seen my digs?"
A sudden smile wrinkled the corners of her mouth. "Digs? I like that. Nineteen-fifties beatnik jargon. Cool, man!"
He took her hand and slowly sat up, triggering a new flash of pain from his head. She must have seen the effect of that pain, because the smile left her face, replaced by an expression of concern. "Aspirin or ibuprofen?"
"Got anything stronger?"
"No, I don't."
"I do. There's some Percocet with my things, but they're back at my place."
"You're in no shape to go there now, so you'll just have to make do with what's in my medicine cabinet."
"Ibuprofen. Four of them. And thanks."
She was still holding his arm to steady him. Reluctantly, she released her grip and walked across the area to a small cabinet, which was trimmed with an elaborate silver design around the face, opened it and removed a small bottle. Compressing the cap to defeat the childproofing, she shook out four tablets and returned to Elias, grabbing a bottled water from the refrigerator on her way back.
Gratefully, Elias took the pills and washed them down, wishing them Godspeed on their circuitous journey to his skull.
"Thank you very much. If I may ask, who are you and how did I get here?"
She was still standing in front of him. Sitting gently on the bed beside him, she extended her hand and introduced herself. "I'm Tillie."
They shook hands.
"I'm Elias."
"I know."
"You know?"
She nodded. "Uh-huh. Wilson told me."
"You know Wilson?"
"Everybody knows everyone here. But, yes, Wilson is probably my best friend in this place."
"So, he told you about me?"
"Actually, Mr. Death," she replied with an impish grin, "I was inside his shack during your visit with him."
"Another one with the ‘Mr. Death' thing," Elias said with mock exasperation. "How did I get here? The last thing I remember was that I was escaping Kreitzmann's lab and someone knocked me out."
Her smile turned into a good-natured laugh. "You were anything but escaping. If I hadn't gotten you out of there, you'd be one of his lab rats right now."
Elias' mind flashed back to the scene. He remembered making it all the way to the receptionist, when he was suddenly hit from behind.
"What happened? I didn't see what hit me."
"You were taken out by one of the Zippers."
"Zippers?"
"That's what Wilson and I call them. I think you call them the blurs."
"Why Zippers?"
"You're kidding, right? Because they zip around."
He looked closely at her for a moment. She was in her early thirties, had bright green eyes and a full crop of freckles, all accentuated by the shaggy, close-cropped red hair. But her most prominent feature was the, for lack of a better term, aliveness of her face, which displayed each passing emotion with clarity. Her eyes shined with an intelligence and wit rarely seen, and they fixed upon Elias' eyes with a directness and firmness which was almost disconcerting. At that moment she was watching his face, her innate curiosity seeming to pull his thoughts from him before he was ready to let them out. She leaned toward him slightly, in anticipation.
"Tillie, what are they? The Zippers, I mean."
With a dismissive shrug she responded, "I wasn't able to track you completely inside Kreitzmannstein's lab, but I'm assuming you got the tour."
"I did, until I ran into someone who blew my cover." Elias was not sure why he was being so forthcoming in his information, other than the disarming nature of the woman, not to mention the fact that she had more than likely saved his life.
"Then you already know what he does."
"Yes. He takes people from birth and immerses them, as he calls it, in a different reality to enhance their skills."
"Right. Did he show you the Auctioneers?"
Elias chuckled. "I'm guessing you mean the fast-talking subjects. Yes, he did."
"That was his first experiment, right?"
"So he said."
"His second experiment, motivated by his early success on the first, was with the Zippers. He's been doing this one for years, way before he came to Aegis. He took babies…little tiny infants…and put them in a special room, basically from the day they were born. The room had screens for walls and even the ceiling."
"He told me that Phase One was a virtual reality."
"Virtual unreality is more like it."
"What did he do with them?"
"These infants, every waking minute of every day, saw normal life on the screens all around them – people talking, people performing tasks, everything – except it was…."
"Speeded up!"
"Exactly. All those little babies knew was life at a pace way faster than our regular pace."
"How were they cared for? Certainly the people who came into the room to do that moved at a normal pace."
"They did. I didn't get the benefit of the full tour, like you almost did, but I talked to a man who used to work with Kreitzmannstein. He told me that they would change the babies' clothes, bathe them, and do everything else while the babies slept so that they never saw people moving at a slower pace. And they would blindfold the babies during this, in case they woke up while someone was still in the room."
"But what about feeding? You can't feed a baby while it sleeps."
Her face took on a more serious expression. "You can't? Ever heard of a feeding tube?"
"You're kidding!"
"No, I'm not. That's what the man told me."
"So that's what they are doing over there?"
"Not anymore."
Elias started to speak; then he figured the rest of it out. "Phase Two."
Tillie nodded. "They don't need the virtual reality now. They have their first crop of graduates who do everything a lot faster than we do. They still have newborns there. And they are still enhancing them, but now they have a staff of Zippers who take care of the new ones. Many of the Zippers are old enough to be getting together and creating little Zippers."
Tillie giggled and added, "Sorry. It's not funny. But every time I think about them making little Zippers, you know, I visualize them…. Never mind."
Elias shook his head. "It is a funny image. But back to your rescue. I've seen what the Zippers did to the thugs who tried to grab me when I first got here. How were you able to get me out of there?"
"Thanks a lot. What are you, a chauvinist? You don't think I just jumped in and overpowered them?"
Before Elias could protest, she stopped him. "I'm kidding. Actually, it's pretty simple if you think about it. They zip around real fast, right?"
"Yes."
"So, therefore, they have accelerated metabolisms, like hummingbirds."
"Makes sense."
"That's what I thought. I call it the Hummingbird Effect because every hypothesis should have a name. So I did a little research in my library." With a swing of her arm, Tillie indicated a row of three mismatched bookcases off to the side, which he had not seen before. They were all overfilled with literature and textbooks.
"What I thought was that if they were running so fast internally, they would be susceptible to drugs at a level which wouldn't bother us."
"Very clever."
"Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically, before continuing. "I have a few medical books here. One has a great section on anesthesiology. I basically put together the same gases they use to put us under in the infirmary for surgery, Desflurane and Sevoflurane, and loaded them in an aerosol dispersal device. I use the Desflurane for the up-close work because it is less irritating to my mucous membranes."
Elias was amazed. "An aerosol dispersal device?"
With a broad grin, Tillie stood up and crossed th
e room, opening a door on a tall metal cabinet. She reached in and removed a balloon partially filled with a liquid.
"It's a water balloon," she explained proudly.
Elias laughed. "Ingenious."
"I fill up the balloon part of the way with water. I have the pressurized tanks with the anesthesia and use them instead of air to inflate the balloon. I need the water in the balloon so it will burst when I throw it. I still have to throw it real hard, and it's more reliable if I hit something sharp, but it works."
"Tillie, I'm impressed."
She reacted to his heartfelt compliment immediately, beaming. "They work fairly well. One or two balloons in the area where there is a Zipper, and he drops within seconds."
"Won't Kreitzmann figure it out soon and give them gas masks?"
She shrugged. "Probably. I've only used them a couple of times. Well, three, counting my first test. And I've always made a point of picking up the broken rubber from the balloon so all they find afterward is a wet spot and unconscious Zippers. Rescuing you was the first time I did it in front of a non-Zipper witness."
"The receptionist."
"Right. So I'm not sure how many more times they'll be useful."
Elias thought of something. "Did you drop your little gas bombs from above?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm guessing, since we are in the air system of Aegis, that you utilize the plenum to move from area to area."
"I do. It also allows me to watch and listen through the return air grilles."
"I understand. But if you opened a grille in front of the receptionist to drop your balloons, she would have seen that and told her boss. They'll be checking this system right now and will find us soon."
Tillie rolled her eyes. "I was kidding before, but either you really are a male chauvinist or maybe I just look that stupid."
"I am not a male chauvinist!"
"Okay. Then I guess I have a stupid face."
"You don't have…."
She interrupted, "I didn't use the plenum. I was standing near the entrance door, waiting for you. You know there is no lock or security there. Kreitzmannstein has such a massive ego he doesn't think he needs it. When I heard you go thundering into the room, I knew they wouldn't let you leave. I chucked the balloon into the room from the doorway. They had only sent one Zipper, and he fell like a dead tree. I ran in, made the woman at the desk tell me where your guns were, grabbed them, grabbed you, and skedaddled."
"You did all of that by yourself?"
Seeing the look on her face return, he held up his hands defensively and added, "Not that you couldn't have. I'm sure you could lift me over your head with only one arm. I was merely wondering. I mean, dragging me up to the plenum to get me here would be a little tough, even for Wonder Woman."
With a smirk, she said, "You're right. I had some help."
"Help? Who? Was it Wilson?"
Reaching out, Tillie patted him on the arm. "All in good time, Mr. Death. Just because I rescued you doesn't mean that we know you well enough to share the whole membership roster with you."
"I understand. I wouldn't either in your shoes. And please stop calling me that."
"How about some apple juice?"
"Sure, that would be great," Elias answered, shaking his head in frustration.
He watched her as she walked to the refrigerator and pulled out the bottle. "If you don't mind my asking, how did you get all of this stuff?"
Over her shoulder, she asked, "Do you like it?"
"I do. It's all beautiful. But I didn't think they would have the type of stores in Aegis where you could pick up decorating items."
"They don't." She returned with two full glasses and set them on the coffee table in front of the sofa. "Would you like to move over here? Sitting up would probably be good. Think you can make it?"
Elias stood slowly, wobbling for a moment. Tillie, seeing this, started to come over but he waved her off. "I can do it. Give me a second."
In a moment, his head cleared and he was able to walk the five paces to the sofa, dropping heavily into the overstuffed cushion.
With a deep sigh, he said, "There! Made it."
"Congratulations. To answer your question, I've accumulated all of it over the years from newbies."
"People bring in this kind of stuff?"
"This kind of stuff? What kind of a comment is that?"
"I didn't mean it that way. Really. I'm only surprised that people checking in at Aegis would bring their refrigerator magnets with them."
"People have their favorite items buried with them when they die. Why wouldn't they bring them here? At least here they know they can look at them again."
"That's true. But how did you get them?"
"Well, I didn't steal them if that's what you mean."
"I didn't…."
"Don't give me that. I saw it in your eyes. You were visualizing me dropping out of the ceiling grille while people slept and stealing their favorite peacock feather fans."
Elias laughed. "I admit I did briefly entertain that image. Are you sure you aren't a graduate of Kreitzmann's psychic class?"
She held up both hands, palms facing Elias. "No way! I would never submit to any of his experiments."
"I'm curious because if people went to the trouble of bringing their prized possessions, their lovely objects…."
"That's better."
"…into Aegis with them, why would they give them up?"
With a subtle upward jerk of her shoulders, Tillie answered, "I guess they just liked me."
"They just liked you? People spontaneously gave you these things?"
"Sometimes. Sometimes I'd barter with them."
"What do you mean?"
"I've been here a long time. I was one of the first-day group."
"You were?"
"Yes. So, that and, well, another reason – I know my way around. A lot of times the newbies wanted something and I knew where and how to get it. I'd trade for something they had that I liked. I'm kind of like that genial character in the old World War II movies who could always procure whatever his sergeant needed, and nobody ever asked him how he got it.
"People would arrive here with a whole bunch of stuff. They never seemed to mind giving up one or two of their pieces. The only exception was all the refrigerator magnets. That whole collection was given to me at once."
"Who would do that?"
"You aren't my only rescue. A very nice lady arrived who had them all packed in one of her suitcases. I watched her come in and was tracking her when the Zooks…."
"Zooks?"
"That's my name for the ZooCity hooligans. Anyway, they jumped her. God knows what they were going to do to her. But they never got the chance."
"You are the Wonder Woman of Aegis, aren't you?"
The huge smile again filled her face. "I do what I can. Now it's my turn to ask some questions, if you feel up to it."
"Fire away."
"Who do you work for?"
"No one. I'm retired."
Her mouth scrunched up in an expression of displeasure. "Okay. So you're going to lie to me. And after I saved your butt back there."
"I'm not lying," Elias protested emphatically. "I am retired."
"From where?"
Elias looked up at the cast-in-place concrete ceiling, in an unconscious attempt to reduce her ability to read his mind by looking into his eyes. "A department within Homeland Security."
"Which department?"
He laughed. "One you've never heard of."
"Try me."
"It is called the OCI."
"Office for the Coordination of Intelligence."
"How do you…?"
"Just do," she interrupted. "What did you do there? Before you retired, that is."
Giving up any pretense, he answered, "I ran it."
Her eyes widened. "Really?"
Elias nodded.
Without another word, Tillie quickly rose from the sofa and walked to the same c
abinet where she kept her knock-out bombs. From it she withdrew an object which was blocked by her body. With a flourish, she turned and held it up for Elias to see. It was a square of cardboard with two words printed on it with a Sharpie. Elias made an involuntary sound as he recognized it as the sign from the video in Faulk's office. On it were the words – Help us!
"That was you."
She nodded, carefully placing the sign back into the cabinet and closing the metal door. As she returned to the sofa, Elias asked, "How did you know about the camera there?"
Dropping down, she answered, "As I said before, all in good time. I'm still not one hundred percent sure I can trust you."
Elias was not certain what direction to take next. She took advantage of his silence by asking, "Why was it so long before you got here?"
"So long? You only put up the sign a few days ago. I think that's pretty damn quick."
"Not like a 9-1-1 call. Should've been hours, not days."
He shook his head in frustration. "Well, I'm here now."
"Whoopee! The cavalry has arrived, and the first thing that happens is I have to rescue him."
"Thanks."
"Actually, since you've been here, you've been rescued twice. The first time you had to be saved from the Zooks."
"You were watching?"
"Yes. I've been watching the entrance since I put up the message."
"Why didn't you help me then? Not that I needed it."
"Of course not," she said, rolling her eyes. "I was going to jump in, but the Zippers beat me to it. I would have if they were going to mess with you, but they didn't."
"Okay! So I haven't gotten off to a great start."
"You could say that again."
"I do have a question for you, though. Since you seem to know everything going on in here, have you met a man named Eric who would have arrived about two and a half months ago?"
Her brow knitted in thought for a moment. "No. At least not by that name. What does he look like?"
"About six feet tall, brown hair, brown eyes, dark complexion, average build but in good shape."
"That sounds like about a fourth of the population. Do you have a picture?"
"Not on me, but I do have one back on my laptop."
"We'll have to look at it. When I see his face, I can tell you if he arrived and maybe where he is now. Who is he?"
The Aegis Solution Page 19