Shi: A Dark Adventure into Living Forever

by C. F. Villion

  “Only a pleasure Denny, now I have to run. I will see you in a couple of hours if you are still awake.”

  He waved at me, mouth far too full for any attempt at verbal communication. I laughed and returned the wave; he would be okay by the looks of things.

  I needed speed, so I chose one of my beloved Suzuki motorcycles. I usually made sure to leave early enough to get to my daily dose well ahead of time. But with the uniqueness of today, I was leaving well after my usual time.

  My usual dose time was twelve pm sharp; the facility was located an hour’s drive from my home if I drove at an average person’s speed. It was now ten thirty pm, and I needed a bit of extra time to check out the lay of the land.

  By the time I reached the facility my stomach was in knots, never before had I attempted to lie about the outcome of my daily task. I didn’t even know for sure if the Man checked tasks got done. For all, I knew they just took things on faith - as if!

  But, what if they did check? Did they check right away after a task showed completed? I didn’t notice anyone suspicious entering the ME’s offices while I was there but would I have noticed someone as skilled as a primary Man agent?

  I was driving myself crazy, sitting in front of the facility trying to divine what was going on inside. It appeared the same as always, quiet and nondescript. I was certain some others would be inside dealing with their stage of the daily dose and could care less about one more paranoid person.

  Eventually, I had to go in; it was close to time. The pain hadn’t started yet but memories of past experiences kicked in, and I was feeling uncomfortable.

  I walked down corridors apprehensively; visions of guards pouring out of doorways at any moment assaulted me. But an agonizingly slow five minutes later I arrived at Ben’s door. He stood waiting, with a smile on his face.

  “Good evening Eliza, running a bit late tonight?”

  “Hi Ben, my task took a bit longer than I had expected. How has your day been?”

  I tried for calm and hoped my voice wasn’t as shaky as it felt, but by how he steered me into the seat, it must not have been apparent.

  “Great thanks, I slept in for a change and met up with an old friend. We had brunch at that new place on Third. You have to go there. Maybe we can go together?”

  His hand lingered on my shoulder; it had been a long time since Ben had flirted with me. I breathed out slowly and gave him my most alluring smile. Hopefully, this was just horniness talking and not a warning.

  “Sounds good Ben, been a long time and overdue.”

  He nodded and moved behind me, and I couldn’t see what he was doing but knew that he had walked to the counter behind us. And that supposedly he was taking out the small bottle that held my continued existence in his hands.

  What happened next I could only blame on my paranoid state of mind.

  Fourteen

  “Not too much off the top now Ben.”

  Oh, you treacherous mouth you; you stupid bastardly tongue you! My mind screamed out in the awfully quiet moment afterward. I could feel the moment stretch into eternity as neither of us breathed.

  “So, you do know Eliza? I always hoped that you were too inebriated to remember my slip. But I was wrong wasn’t I?”

  I was at a loss for words, how did I start to respond. I turned in the chair and looked at Ben. His face was a mask of dread and horror. Shaking my head I closed my eyes for a brief moment.

  “I am sorry Ben, I knew, but I never meant to say anything to anyone. And I haven’t I promise you.”

  He nodded and turned back to the counter. He carefully placed the vial and injector on the shiny surface. He stood silently staring into nothing. I stood up and approached him, this time, it was my hands on his shoulders.

  I rested my head against his back, like nearly everyone else he was taller than me. I could feel his heart beating, and it was racing.

  “Ben, I promise. I haven’t told anyone and I won’t either. It was a shitty and weird day, and it slipped out.”

  He sighed and turned to me, embracing me as he did. We stood like that for a moment, me waiting for his response and him to get his heart rate under control apparently. Once it was, he let me go and looked deeply into my eyes.

  “I believe you, I have known you so long that I am aware when you are lying.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him; I lied for a living and knew I was flawless at it. He laughed and shook his head.

  “I know when you are lying to me Eliza, you lie well to others but not to me.”

  He walked me back to the chair and gently pushed me into it, “Now, shall we get to your dose?”

  Not knowing what to say I chose to remain quiet. I had no freaking idea what to say to him. Things had changed between us, but neither of us knew yet which way it would go.

  He returned quickly; the pain had started in earnest now. I didn’t care at that moment what would happen as long as I got some Shi into me. I felt the injector pierce the skin covering the injector site.

  The long needle slid home with exquisite pain and the slow burn of Shi entering my brain removed all concerns from my mind. If I could only feel this forever, I would gladly do what was needed. After this long even the pain was bliss, a bliss that I didn’t want to give up.

  Ben gave me a moment to gather myself and to come down a bit. The sensation didn’t last long; the blissful feeling would last for another hour. But that initial rush left quickly, and I felt a bit empty, as always.

  Before I could turn and look at him, he bent over me and kissed me deeply. I was shocked but returned the kiss as deeply, the man was a good kisser, and all kisses were to be savored.

  In the aftermath of Shi, we could both get lost in each other for hours if we wanted to. We often had in the past. I wasn’t sure what he was attempting with this, but a girl takes what she can when she can.

  Eventually, he broke off the kiss and only then was I capable of drawing a full breath. His thumb was still rubbing my right nipple, and as confused as I was I didn’t object. It had been a long time since I had gotten close to anyone, and I recalled exactly how good Ben was with his hands.

  He smiled his best bedroom smile and moved in closer to nibble on my ear. “Thanks for stroking my ego like this Eliza, glad to know I still have it.”

  His right hand slipped lower and was massaging my hip now. Would it seem too forward if I started undoing his pants?

  Would it be too hasty? Should we settle for the slow burn or skip straight to the fun? My mind was laser focused, and it had nothing to do with the danger that lay ahead.

  “Oh, you never lost it, Ben. And it’s safe to say I don’t have your ego in mind right now.”

  His roving right hand found a target that we both enjoyed and for a moment I lost myself in the pleasure. His left hand was behind me, on my lower back. I tried to lift myself to give him access to my butt.

  I felt an unexpected object shoved into my back pocket, surprised I opened my eyes and searched his. He smiled and leaned in to whisper in my ear, “A thank you for not giving up my secret. It is only enough for one dose, but I expect you to have plans of your own. My stash will see me through until I can get more. But I expect both of us should lay low for a while.”

  He gave me a final kiss and stood up and away from me. I was dumbfounded; I knew the building got monitored, but we got told that the dose rooms weren’t. I cringed, that was stupidity right there. For so long I did as I was told that I took a lot of what was said on faith too.

  Of course, the dose rooms were monitored too, and I had just given Ben’s secret away and revealed that I had known and promised not to divulge it to the Man. Of course, the absolute worst thing I could have said. They would come for Ben, probably not tonight, though.

  Otherwise, Ben wouldn’t have taken his time to give me an extra dose to tide me over, but soon. They must not be monitoring the feeds live, or remotely.

  And for me, soon I would have a talk with some crack interrogation team to divulge
all that I knew about Ben’s secret stash. Or perhaps one of the others would take care of it, maybe Ben and I would show up on tomorrow’s roster.

  I stood and gave Ben a tight hug, and I felt miserable. I hoped he had a good amount stashed away and vowed to myself that I would figure out how to get enough Shi for both of us for forever.

  “Thank you Ben, and I am so sorry for the shit storm I brought today. I will make it right with you I promise.”

  “Don’t worry about me Eliza, I will see you at the end of time and we can laugh about this together.”

  He patted me on the bum as he practically pushed me out the door.

  Fifteen

  I rushed through the corridors for the last time, jumping at sounds that suddenly seemed menacing. There were others in the building, dose admins and puppets alike. But all were in the various stages of Shi administration and hopefully too occupied to notice someone leaving.

  It wasn’t unusual to go now I kept telling myself, stay calm and just keep moving. I didn’t hang around these days much past my dose time.

  Finally, I reached the front door, and my nerves nearly broke. Could they be waiting outside in an ambush? Leaving a place was always a trick, that moment of not fully seeing what waited for you on the other side.

  Paralyzed by fear was something new and not an emotion I wish to keep or ever repeat. I tightened my grip on the door handle; I could pretend it was resolve and not to still my shaking hands.

  I slowly pulled the door open barely breathing I waited. Night sounds filtered in through the crack I opened. I strained my hearing as much as I could but eventually all I heard was the blood pounding in my ears.

  I let out an explosive breath and drew in beautiful fresh air. Still nothing other than the usual sounds of a city in slumber reached me. I pulled the door open further and peeked around the edge; my night vision was gone after all the time I had spent inside.

  Eventually, there was nothing for it, I stepped through and was outside waiting to get tackled, or shot. But nothing happened, and I realized that I was stupid. Wasting time like this was unforgivable. I needed to get away from here now before they did, in fact, arrive. Someone could be reviewing the footage as I stood there like a fool and may be dispatching men right that second.

  A mental slap delivered I cast a look around and darted to where I parked the Suzuki. It appeared the same as when I left it, but paranoia dictated a careful but quick search to make certain.

  After a couple of minutes, I was satisfied that it was intact and, in fact, had no sneaky additions anywhere. It took a moment to get on and gone from the facility. I would like to indulge in a sentimental moment and look back one last time. But yeah, I am not that stupid, at least not anymore.

  But I did take a very long and circuitous route home, precautions were in full effect. No one knew how to get to my place, and Ben might have been to it, but even he didn’t know exactly where it was. At most he could point into a general direction of the city.

  Of course, the Man could search the city for as long as it took to find it if they wanted to. But my hope was that they would just think I would die tomorrow night and leave me to do so alone.

  After an hour and half of driving around in patterns that crisscrossed and confused even me, I made it home. The Suzuki was parked, and I stumbled into my warehouse. Home, sweet home. It was quiet, and the kitchen was clean. How nice of Denny to clean up, the boy was, at least, tidy.

  I locked up and activated my security system. It was now the following day, my birthday passed eventfully and no cake. It sucked, I wanted to have cake, it seemed something that was important, a way to mark the day. Somehow it seemed a little bit of my life lost forever now; I had completely forgotten about my birthday once things got going.

  Every year I got some cake, it didn’t matter what it was, but it needed to be a slice with a candle on that I could enjoy. I felt normal still then, that moment of looking at the bright, cheery candle on a slice of whatever fancy piece of cake the bakery had available.

  For a moment, I could close my eyes and remember all those birthdays long since passed. Of wishes made, the silliness of most of them and the fervent hope at the time that they would come true. In one crazy day, it was all gone, I felt cheated.

  The truth was of course that I hadn’t spent my birthday with anyone in a very long time, that it was a day like any other for me. Doing some shitty task or another and only afterwards would I get a slice and bring it home.

  I dragged myself off to bed, where I stripped and let my clothes drop on the floor before I crawled under the covers. I wanted to cry myself to sleep, but no tears would flow. Tears belonged to another version of me, a version that was dead in the memory of anyone that might still be alive to remember me.

  I didn’t cry anymore; there was little point to it. Crying left me feeling worse and looking terrible. Once upon a time I cried for love lost, I hated that I had loved that man, my ex-husband was miserable but I married him for love.

  I buried my face in my pillow and tried to ignore the prickling behind my eyelids, all of what was happening was no one’s fault but my own. Grow up, shut up and deal with it, Eliza. My body decided there had been enough punishment for one day, and sleep claimed me.

  I won’t bore you with how I woke up but suffice it to say it wasn’t pretty. Hot showers are what miracles were made of, though, and hot water completed the mercy bestowed by sleep.

  When I finally went downstairs, I saw Denny had been busy. Hot food and delicious smelling coffee were waiting for me. Denny was sitting at the counter eating and looking at a tablet screen.

  He looked up and smiled at me, “Good morning Eliza, I hope it's okay that I took the liberty of cooking?”

  I laughed, “Of course Denny, cook away. Thank you for breakfast.”

  A sip of coffee later I felt more human than I had in a while, the eggs were better than what I had at the dinner yesterday. We sat in companionable silence while I finished my food. When done I looked over at him.

  “Are you ready to find your mirage, Denny?”

  “Yeah, but if we don’t find it what will happen?”

  “Nothing Denny, other than it will be a shitty day for me,” I said.

  “So, you won’t kill me if I can’t lead you to it?” I saw the concern written across his face; so earnest and worried.

  I shook my head, “Denny, I didn’t save you because you knew where to find the plantation. So I won’t kill you if we can’t find it. I promise.”

  “Ok, but it does bring up an important question, though. Why did you save me?”

  “I knew your family ways back, and it seemed a terrible way to repay a friendship.”

  I hoped that it would be a satisfactory enough answer for him for now. I could see the wheels churning though and knew it wouldn’t be. I jumped off the stool and rubbed my hands together.

  “Let’s get going, it’s a long drive.”

  His mouth was hanging open, the question apparently ready to pop out. But I grabbed his hand and pulled him up and towards the parking bay. He sighed and let me pull him along. I knew it wasn’t the of it but hopefully, for now, we could just focus on getting to the desert. For this trip, I chose an SUV, nothing fancy or classic. It worked, and as much as I liked my classics I wasn't about to waste one on a trip that would add sand to my undercarriage.

  “So where are we going exactly, Denny?”

  He handed me a piece of paper, coordinates for the GPS. I inputted them and fired up the engine.

  “Let’s find a mirage,” Denny said.

  Sixteen

  Denny was a good passenger; he hadn’t pushed for more. In fact he was quiet for a long time, hopefully mulling over options for a new life, like a new avenue of revenue perhaps.

  “What are you mulling over?”

  Hey, I can’t help myself and honestly it was a bloody long drive, and if we were going to be quiet, it would be even longer. We left the city behind, and I felt a bit naked and ex
posed. I was a city girl, born and bred. The great outdoors was a bit too great for my liking.

  “Who sent you Eliza? Whom did I piss off so badly that it came to this?”

  “Go for the big ones don’t you Denny?” I said.

  “Rule of the con, score big, and you don’t have to score again.” He leaned over and smiled, “or at least not for a while.”

  I laughed and shook my head, I knew it wasn’t necessarily about the money to him. The money helped but as I was sitting outside the morgue, I thought about it. Things were easy for a man like Denny, his looks and smarts made things accessible. He found challenge in the con, how to trick people without hurting anyone.

  “Not someone that appreciates the con, unfortunately,” I said gripping the steering wheel tightly, “They suck up the best of you and spit out the chewed up remains.”

  A soft whistle broke through my grim thoughts, “And you work for them?”

  That I did, at least, up until I fucked things up last night with Ben. My thoughts drifted so much that I wasn't looking at the road anymore. A stream of horns sounding jerked me back.

  “Whoa, there! No need to get us into an accident. Do you want me to drive rather?”

  I looked over at Denny, his hands in the air ready to grab the wheel. I shook my head and relaxed my grip and focused on the road again. We were straddling lanes; I put us back on the proper one and sighed.

  “Sorry, I ok now,” I sat back a bit and rolled my shoulders into a more comfortable position.

  “If you say so Eliza, but please warn me if you are going to do something like that again ok?”

  “No worries Denny, won’t happen again. You just made me realize that I don’t, in fact, work for them anymore. As of last night, I am out of their employ.”

  I felt a bit giddy, “Today is my first day of freedom, and like you I can now do whatever I want.”