Hypersubjects

by Ainsley Komper

“They will kill you eventually.”

  “It doesn’t matter, they will eventually and who cares?”

  “I care and you can see I am not lying.”

  “But you will change your mind, I know guys like you.”

  “There is no time for this. We are surrounded, I did not want to tell you immediately but we are. We need to go now.”

  “Go yourself, I am not made for this.”

  “I can tell you are not lying.”

  Braith hugged him and unexpectedly, gave him a long kiss just before everything went dark. The smell of damp, old pipes was more overwhelming than the intense headache expanding from his left temple. It took him a couple of minutes to remember who he was and five to recollect his last location. The room seemed like a rundown cell with no windows and a door locked. Despite screaming for help, nobody answered or came. Perhaps they shoot them both and took them to isolation rooms. How long has it been since the memory of that kiss? There was not much in the room/cave besides the mattress and a dirty briefcase with food supplies, water, money, the breathing mask, a laptop and some hardware. This was no prison at all, Adam thought while inhaling from the mask. With a revitalised strength, he removed the locked door and a few more until he realised he was in a tunnel.“Braith! Can you hear me?”

  After a twenty-minute walk, he finally emerged by a river. He decided to leave the suitcase hidden and took a handful of money. Retracing the steps in the same direction of the tunnel but above, led him to the old factory building where Braith was planning his emergency escape only to find the building demolished and surrounded by crime scene signs. It has been almost three days and what he found on an internet cafe in the news was a police chase to a stolen car with a description matching the one Braith had last time. With a bribe, a security guard from one of the shops nearby showed Adam the footage of a security camera place at the back of an alley. In it, Adam saw how Braith knocked him down with a fast blow, placed his unconscious body in the back of the car and drove away. The kiss was just for Adam to let the guard down. Braith had no times for discussions and arguments and probably that was the fastest way to grab him with no resistance. What happened next was well documented by the local press: Braith was chased by the authorities, went to the old building and when they were about to enter, the property collapsed. Just when he was reading that online, recent news popped out about the subject. A wounded man was found by some farmers near the river and took him to the hospital. He was still unconscious but was identified as the runaway guy in the car chase. The forensic team could not explain how the guy survived the collapse of the building and walked a few miles away from it. He had sustained serious injuries causing him the loss of a lot of blood. It was clear to Adam that Braith took him to the room but as he said before, he could not trigger the demolition from inside the tunnels yet so he sacrificed himself for him. After an overwhelming surge of guilt, Adam took a few inhales of the breathing mask and started running on a trail. Braith presence was a strange beacon he could sense. His whole being, what he was, how he tried, the sum of everything that made Braith a pulsating creature, all and beyond made him visible to Adam who couldn’t stop running towards him. A military helicopter was leaving the hospital followed by two more. Braith’s energy was emanating from them as clear as it could be but only for a few moments as they were leaving through the sky.“No, no, you can’t.”

  Adam ran behind the helicopters as fast as he could and despite all his newfound energy and skills, he felt powerless. All of his muscles seemed to tear apart while chasing the chopper, while the next step came without any premeditated thought. Adam sprang from his feet in a jump that led him to think he could fly. There he was, up in the air just a few meters below the helicopters, about to touch the sky, to rescue the one who gave him wings. What seemed to him an eternity above the ground was actually a few seconds before gravity pulled Adam down to crash on the grass. The helicopters were becoming migrating birds into the distance. He was gone now, far from the ground, beyond any reach, Braith had disappeared forever and there was nothing Adam could do to mitigate the frustration of seeing that trail of energy vanishing slowly. He couldn’t help to think it was all his own fault, that all of Braith’s efforts were focused on this possible outcome. He really wanted to save him, he did care for him, maybe not in the way Adam wanted, maybe more than he could admit but he did care so much to protect him with his own life. Braith insisted despite all of Adam’s tantrums and that mortified the young man. He was broken inside but he knew that in honour to Braith, he had to make up his mind about his next course of action. Crying like a puppy was certainly the best way to let his guard down and be captured, which was what Braith wanted to prevent in the first place. So, he decided to stay underground in the cave for two days while moving to the next town and the next until he realised that he couldn’t be doing that for the rest of his life. Wandering from place to place with the only aim of merely surviving, being undetected, was soul breaking for him. He knew that, eventually, they would catch him and if not, he would go insane through such a lifestyle. Besides, the thought of Braith prisoner somewhere just because of him was eating Adam inside. At some point before arriving at the fourth town of his road trip, he decided to go back to England. Clearly, the authorities had lost the track of him otherwise, he would have been captured. Adam went back to the port where he arrived, found the people who smuggled him in and retraced his steps back to England. Taking the bull by its horns was the only thing he could think of. When he arrived in London, he contacted the institute to book an appointment. Somebody told him once that the best place to tell a lie was between the tale of many truths and that seemed the most plausible option for him. At the appointment, he was received by someone from HR, a guy called Matthew and a lady who was a scientist. Dr Velia Morant.

  “I am going to be completely honest with you. I was approached by a guy called Braith who said he was a patient of yours here.”

  “Do you know where he is now?”

  “I have no idea. We split in Southampton. I guess you haven’t seen him either

  “No, we haven’t.”

  Adam could tell she was lying.

  “So, why are you here today?”

  “I would like to enrol in your research program. Braith gave me a taste of it and I like it. He also said you guys will try to kill me or lock me up which is pretty paranoid and ridiculous. I mean, I like him, he was a great guy, fun and generous but he was clearly on something.”

  “Do you mean drugs?”

  “Yes, he had to. He was incredibly paranoid and with no reason at all. Everyone was out to get him, so he kept saying.”

  “Why did he approach you?”

  “He said I was on your database which is no secret. You guys have been contacting me for years. He said I was in danger but I told him that in all these years the only thing you have done is call me.”

  “Why do you want to enrol now?”

  “Braith showed me what I can do and also talked about the money.”

  “Aren’t you scared he could be right?”

  “Well, I am not stupid. If something happens to me, I made a recording that gave not only to family and friends but to other reliable parts.”

  Adam was lying but thought it was a good idea to actually implement that plan.

  “Are you aware that you will sign a non-disclosure agreement once you enrol?”

  “An NDA does not give you the right to cage me like a guinea pig, does it?”

  “Of course it doesn’t, but there will be limitations.”

  “I was expecting that but we can negotiate those limitations.”

  “Some of them.”

  “When do I start?”

  LILI

  One of her passions and money makers had always been DJing. From a very early age, she had developed a fascination not only with vinyl and its peculiarities but with the whole art of mixing sound, making a mood, working an atmosphere. It was something that she had always come back to, you c
ould say it was her happy place. After a visit to the hospital for a brain scan, she always needed this space to release all her fears and insecurities. Her condition was something she wanted to keep for herself only. She went to great lengths to do it, even from the people at Tecnium XG. Her brain had some chunks of grey matter randomly located where they were not supposed to be. Those chunks did not cause that much problem in her life but the menace of seizures and other unexpected consequences had loomed over her life since she came to understand her condition. Scared that it would be a liability at work and in her career in general, she decided to conceal that information. Her records in Ireland were not transferred to the UK and she kept checking a few years or so under a different name in places like Ibiza or Latin America during holidays. Perhaps they will stay as they were, perhaps they will evolve but she couldn’t help to worry about them from time to time, especially when she was doing the check-ups. She needed so much her happy place and there she was transported to it, this time in the middle of the Mediterranean waves among revellers where she had become the Goddess of the night. Ibiza turned out one of her conquests in life when she managed at a very young age to DJ in one of the main places. After all this time, she remained relevant among the club owners, even after a couple of years of absence during her time at university. With enough friends to crash, she kept coming back, especially when working at Tecnium, part of her sabbatical was over there. The island helped her to concentrate, focus, research, escape, party, be with herself and also understand others. After everything that happened with the subjects at the institute, the investigation, accountabilities and all the backlash, she had been lucky. Her research was not compromised, her liability was not proven. However, she knew that Velia suspected her but there was no hard evidence that she had aided Lark to escape, which she had or that she was stealing information from the institute to feed her own research, which was also true. Her agenda was focused not in turning ordinary men and women into super-soldiers but broadening the applications that sound-drugs could have in the human brain. The technique of binaural stimulation had been barely used by serious researches and Lili felt that it was an untapped source of vast possibilities, not only to understand the brain itself but also to enhance her own one. She wanted to unveil the peculiarities inside her head and now she had a second chance to continue with that. You could say it was a selfish goal as the idea was to see what her patients could feel with her own senses. Her process started since university, trying to understand the feeling of being high, euphoric, and the chemical imbalance in the brain. No wonder her star patient was a junkie and now, there he was again. In the middle of the crowd, looking at her while working. Lark looked contemplative, a bit happy in his silence with eyes locked on her at the DJ deck. Slowly, he walked to Lili, almost sliding in his high.

  “I’ve actually never thanked you for the helmet.”

  “You left it in the car anyway.”

  “It gave me the boost I needed.”

  “I still have it, it is a great souvenir”

  He hugged her from behind while she kept her hands at the deck.

  “That is great news.”

  There was something about Lark that made her feel happy around him. Perhaps it was the way he gravitated around her like a broken but sweet toy. Unknown to the institution, she had been leaving breadcrumbs for him to find her. In every forum, in every website she knew he used to check, she paid a few small adverts. To his e-mail accounts, she sent a few messages that looked like spam but actually contained information about her gigs including dates and locations.

  “I think you wanted to see me.”

  “You always want to party and I have a few new “sounds” for you.”

  “Interesting.”

  Walking by the beach, they both seemed relieved about meeting without the vigilant eye of the institution.

  “It may be dangerous for you to come here.”

  “I know but I really wanted to see you again before leaving this side of the world.

  ”“Where are you going? Africa? South America?”

  “It’s best you don’t know.”

  “Australia?”

  “Would you give me the helmet?”

  “As a parting gift? Sure, it was made for you. Are you with the others?”

  “We had a fall out.”

  They arrived at her place.

  “Some of the new tracks are merely recreational, others are more… practical.”

  “Let’s start with the recreational. Hook me up!”

  They both laughed while she prepared the equipment and the track.

  “Once an addict, always an addict.”

  “You know me. Is everything alright?”

  “Yes, it is. I am just surprised to see you here all of the sudden. You look different.“

  “I am different. I’ve changed, especially since I left the others.”

  “How come?”

  “I thought they were holding me back and when I was free from them, I realised I had no excuses. Mercy embraced what she was, the same as Braith but me.”

  “You have your issues.”

  “I had excuses but not anymore.”

  “It is great to have you here.”

  “Thanks, for everything, I mean, it is not your fault that I am a fugitive or an addict. What you created it is truly amazing.”

  “They told me you did not need to dose. That is according to what happened up there in the rooftop back then.”

  “True, I did not. What I had was Mercy.”

  “Really? Is she that good?”

  “You have no idea.”

  “And where is she?”

  “We fell apart.”

  “Your dose is ready.”

  “Would I be safe?”

  “I promise.”

  After wearing the helmet one more time, Lark felt he was going to the next level of hypersensitivity. If before he could see every living creature linked through pulsating halos, now he was able to feel each one beating within those halos.

  “This is beyond amazing but you are sad.”

  “No, I am not.”

  “They are coming, you told them somehow I am here.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “You are scared I will kill you and this amazing e-drug is a mask.”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “The high is a distraction, it is actually a side effect.”

  She laughed and poured a glass of wine.

  “You are beyond paranoid.”

  “The real effect of this sound is to neutralise any possible enhancement I have.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “I know why but it was hard to believe. I just wanted to see how far you would go.”

  “I helped you escape, I gave you the helmet.”

  “I’ve been on this island for a more than a month, watching you.”

  “No, you haven’t.”

  “I’ve been tracking you for months.”

  She produced a gun and pointed it at him.

  “Really? You are very bad at this then.”

  “A gun, I am scared now.”

  “You should be. There is an army coming for you.”

  “Not fast enough to stop me from doing what I am going to do.”

  He moved fast to the other side of the room, throwing books and all other objects lying around at her in the process while she started shooting. Lili was hit in the head by one of the books and lost the sense of orientation. Lark grabbed the weapon and pointed it at her.

  “Sit down!”

  He took her laptop.

  “I need your password.”

  “They are coming very soon. If I were you, I would try to run fast.”

  He shot at her left foot. While she screamed in pain, he started trying different passwords but they were all wrong.

  “The next bullet will be in the other foot, so that would mean no walking for a while if ever.”

  “Fuck off!�
�

  “I know, I enjoy that. I would have threatened you first and then shot, but somehow, I think you wouldn’t believe me.”

  “What happened to you?”

  “Oh, you happened to me. Give me the password now.”

  “GMH0758595.”

  He accessed it and plugged a memory stick into the machine.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  He hit her in the back of her neck and by the time she woke up, they were on a small yacht departing from a port.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “I always wanted to do a Mediterranean cruise.”

  “You will never get away with this. The Interpol is behind you, all the international agencies, even the most corrupt governments are in our side.”

  The vessel started gaining speed just when the authorities appeared on land.

  “Your friends arrived a little late.”

  “They will call reinforcements by air and sea.”

  “Will they shoot us?”

  “Is that what I am to you? A human shield?”

  “Oh, did I hurt your feelings?”

  She looked inside the ship and there is only a small bag.

  “Where is my computer? What did you do? Did you put a virus?”

  “While they are worried about coming after us, the virus is making its way through all of your work and to the institute.”

  “There is no way you could wipe out what I’ve created, what they have created. There are backups and backups of backups. Also, there are contingency measures like…”

  “Oh, save it!”

  “It is just yourself, you are the last one, there is no point in running.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Everyone else has been captured.”

  “Liar.”

  “You are the last one.”

  A couple of helicopters could be seen in the distance and also several ships.

  “I know I am not the last one.”

  He stopped the boat and started changing into some sort of diving suit.

  “What are you doing? You will never escape, no matter how deep you go, we are in the middle of the sea.”

  “You will be surprised.”