Measure of Danger

by Jay Klages

  He tried on the sneakers from the drawer and they were way too tight.

  Great excuse to wear my boots.

  After he cleaned off the hiking boots in the sink and put them on, he stood at the window and looked outside at the tall evergreens swaying in the wind. His eyes came back to the steel bars.

  It’s time to play the game or I won’t get out of here.

  Quick knocks resonated on the door and two new Sentries entered. Their nametapes said SMITH and WOLF, and their similar brushed-up dark brown hair and pork-chop sideburns made them look like cousins. They were smaller in stature, and Kade thought he could take out one, if not both, in a fight if he had to, if only they didn’t have pistols.

  “Let’s go, Sims,” Smith said. “You’re walking.”

  “Where’re we going?”

  “To see the special assistant. We need to put the hood on.”

  “You know I love that thing.”

  He heard some shuffling about and then a female voice.

  “You’re going to get a mild sedative now.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Dr. Drakos said so.”

  They unbuttoned his top and pulled his undershirt collar over his shoulder before sticking him with a needle.

  “Thanks a lot.”

  As they guided him down the hallway, he noticed they didn’t put handcuffs on him. At first, he felt stronger and more alert as he walked, like he could run if he needed to. It took another few minutes for the sedative to kick in while Smith and Wolf escorted him down several more corridors, turns, and entryways. The floor’s hard surface changed to carpet, and he heard four beeps that sounded like digits being entered into a keypad access lock. Finally, he was guided to a seat in a padded chair that felt like soft leather.

  Wolf removed the hood and Kade saw a smiling Joshua Pierce sitting across from him, the Sig Sauer holstered on his side. This time he was in a comfortable office instead of an interrogation area. The stick-figure tree design he had seen on the badges was etched in a large square piece of frosted glass mounted to the side wall.

  “Mr. Sims, you’re looking much better,” Pierce said like they were old friends. “I was worried about you.”

  Okay, let’s roll with some Stockholm Syndrome . . .

  “Thanks,” he said. “I was worried too, but I’m feeling better now. Thank you for treating my injuries, and I’m sorry to have caused a bunch of problems.”

  Pierce nodded.

  “That’s good to hear. And I think from now on you’ll find us much more hospitable. We’ve learned a lot about you and would like it if you stayed with us for a while.”

  “Really? Well, I don’t know,” Kade said in rapid bursts. “I know I trespassed on to your grounds. Your private property. I’m sorry. You have some sensitive stuff going on here, I gather. Security is important. I understand. Corporate secrets and all. It’s great that you were nice enough to take care of me. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. We know you didn’t learn about AgriteX in the most normal circumstances. Not in the way we would’ve liked. We’d like to introduce you to some of our team and have you learn more about what we’re doing. But first, I need to bring you online into our network. You’ve been fitted with a microcomputer that’s an essential part of our program.”

  “You mean the one in my room?”

  “No, we’ll get to that one in a minute. You may have noticed a small bump in the area above your left eyebrow. Can you touch that spot?”

  Kade raised his hand and rubbed his index finger on his forehead until he felt a spot about the size of a pencil eraser. There was a raised bump under the skin like a small, hard cyst. He hadn’t thought too much about it before, just thought it was a wound still healing.

  “Yeah, I feel it.”

  “It’s a tiny infrared port,” Pierce said. “The device sits just under the skin.”

  “What?” Kade felt a sick feeling build in his stomach. He touched the spot again.

  “That’s the gateway to the microcomputer,” Pierce said. “You have the ability to receive and send information to the network. The download speed isn’t too shabby—two megabytes per second.”

  “You put a computer inside my head.”

  “Yes, a chipset. It’s active, but now you’ll get oriented to the program and the network.”

  Kade’s mouth began filling with saliva like he was going to throw up. Pierce pointed a device at him that looked like a TV remote control and pressed a few buttons. Kade was shocked by what he saw seconds later. A number of colorful graphics appeared right in front of him in his plain view, as if they were frozen in the air.

  The first graphic was a tiny stoplight in the far left side of his vision. Right of center was a white oval filled with green lettering that said CHAPTER NETWORK. That same tree insignia was right beside it. He raised his hand to check if he had some kind of specialized digital eyeglasses on his face, but there was nothing there.

  “What you’re seeing now is visible only to you, but it’s a display every member of the Chapter has, myself included. Now I need you to sit in the chair over there.” Pierce pointed to the chair to his right. It looked similar to the one used with the Verax machine except that it sat fully vertical instead of reclined. It faced a separate desk, positioned against two exterior windows and held about three times more computer gear on it than the one in Kade’s room.

  Kade obeyed. The Sentry bookends, Smith and Wolf, watched him with pistols now drawn but not aimed.

  “You’re going to sit very still and position the plus sign that appears in the center of your vision right on top of the plus sign in the center of the screen. The plus sign will only change position when you move your head, not when you move your eyes.”

  A white plus sign appeared in midair in his vision. He turned his head a fraction until it lined up flush with the one on the screen.

  “Now you’re going to hold as still as you can in that position for about five minutes,” Pierce said.

  “Okay.”

  There’s nothing I can do. I can’t run or Smith and Wolf will shoot me dead.

  His next experience was like a very bad dream. A bad trip like none he’d ever imagined. Over the next five minutes, his mind was flooded with information in various forms—text, pictures, and video—at a stunning speed. His heart thundered inside him, but he didn’t speak or move other than a slight shaking of his body. Finally, the words DOWNLOAD COMPLETE appeared just off-center right.

  “Congratulations on connecting to the network and your first download,” Pierce said. “You’ll have at least one download per day while you’re here, received at your desk in your room. It takes about five to ten minutes.”

  Kade sat silent.

  “I know this must feel overwhelming,” Pierce said. “But I’m very pleased that everything seems to be running smoothly . . . The software diagnostics checked out. You must have a lot of questions.”

  When Kade looked straight at Pierce, the name JOSHUA PIERCE now appeared in his vision. He turned and looked at the Sentries and the names KRISTOPHER WOLF and PRESTON SMITH appeared when he focused on their respective faces.

  Questions? This is fucking insane.

  “Sentry Smith, how are we on time?” Pierce asked.

  “Thirty minutes until dinner,” Smith said.

  “Okay. Let’s go over a few important basics,” Pierce said. “Come sit back over here in front of me, please.”

  Kade moved back over to the black leather chair and lowered himself into it.

  “Now that you’re on our network,” Pierce said, “you’re an Associate member of our family, which we call the Chapter. When we refer to our business, we refer to it as AgriteX. You will not utter the words the Chapter outside this organization to anyone or it will register on your stoplight as yellow. Yellow on your stoplight will produce a painful reminder that you’re doing something wrong regarding our rules and the Code. Red indicates repeated violations and will result in your bei
ng incapacitated. Green means you are good to go, of course. Make sense?”

  Kade swallowed and cleared his throat. He couldn’t think straight. How much of this was the sedative, he wasn’t sure, but this was a helpless situation.

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, a few quick things.” Pierce stood, uncapped a dry-erase marker, and began writing on a large whiteboard on the wall. “We have our own code of behavior here, made up of what we call the Chapter Tenets. They are Knowledge, Truth, and Trust. First, members of the Chapter are not allowed to discuss the special knowledge they have gained from the Chapter outside the organization or with another member who doesn’t have the proper authorization. Knowledge is compartmentalized and disobeying the Knowledge Tenet is a code violation. Offenders can be euthanized.”

  “Did you say—do you mean, like, euthanasia?” Kade asked.

  “Yes.”

  Kade sat back in his chair and looked at the ceiling. He smiled for some unknown reason. Maybe it was complete disbelief. Or the drugs. This was like nothing he ever could’ve imagined.

  But there was nothing he could do. Fighting while sedated would get him shot and killed. He needed to regroup and continue the mission. Finish it to the best of his ability.

  I’m in this, whole hog.

  He swiveled in place to look at Smith and Wolf, who both remained expressionless.

  “Okay, I got it,” Kade said. He spun the chair back, facing Pierce again.

  “Next is Truth. Our lives depend on each other. If you’re caught lying to another Chapter member after initiation, you may be euthanized. Use your best judgment at all times with your communications. Your program attempts to steer you in the right direction and logs your activities. But ultimately, the Guardians vote on a lying offense to determine deceit, and if you’re found guilty of an offense, you’ll be euthanized. Simple enough?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Last is the Trust Tenet. The special knowledge you gain while you’re here at the Chapter is a privilege you must use to further our cause of eliminating the abuse of American power and environmental atrocities. You will learn much more as an Associate. When you complete the program here, if you betray the trust of a fellow Chapter member, and it’s documented, you may be paid a visit from a few Chapter alumni to make sure it never happens again.”

  “You mean, euthanized?”

  “Possibly,” Pierce said. “It depends on the breach. We have a simple saying here—if you break the Code, you get the Code.”

  “That’s pretty clear,” Kade said. “And how long would you like me to stay here to complete this program?”

  Pierce snapped the cap back on the marker and tossed it into the whiteboard’s bottom tray.

  “As a Chapter member, you’d normally be required to stay for a year before returning to the public workforce again. In your case, we plan to accelerate the progress so we cut the time in half.”

  “I see. I guess I’m just concerned that my family will wonder what the hell I’m doing out here and my boss will wonder if I’m ever coming back.”

  “Mr. Sims, I’m a hundred-percent sure you’ll be very happy you decided to take a leave of absence from your job. Your family will understand. You can tell them you met some people and networked into a very well-paying job opportunity. You can explain the great things AgriteX is doing with balancing environmental stewardship and the demands of the timber industry. Our seed technology and forestry-management software produce faster-growing evergreens for designated private farms, so we can maintain the richness of our wild forests. As part of your AgriteX employment agreement, we’ll pay you in excess of a hundred thousand dollars when this training period is complete. And you’ll continue to financially benefit from being part of the Chapter after you return to your subsequent occupation.”

  “Who are the Guardians?” Kade asked.

  “The Guardians are hand selected from Chapter members for special training, treatment, and duties. Their roles and future responsibilities are somewhat different from the Sentries’, such as those of Sentries Smith and Wolf.”

  Kade nodded.

  “Ten minutes,” Sentry Wolf said.

  “Right,” Pierce said. “Now, let’s test your stoplight so you know what you’re dealing with. I’m going to give you a one-second burst of the yellow light indicator so you know what it feels like. Then you’re on autopilot. Ready?”

  “Sure.”

  Pierce dialed in a code and pointed the device again, and Kade watched his stoplight turn to yellow.

  This is so bizarre.

  He shut his eyes and waited for whatever was coming. He expected the graphics would still be there with his eyes closed, but they weren’t. It seemed they needed external light to show up. At least they wouldn’t be there when he went to sleep.

  “Now do you understand how this pain signal works when rules are broken?” Pierce asked.

  Kade opened his eyes. Blinked them a few times. The stoplight hovered there, now unlit.

  “Yeah, I understand. That doesn’t feel good at all.”

  “Okay, we’re all set,” Pierce said. “Unless you have any questions, it’s time to take you to dinner.”

  Kade sat in a daze and was slow to get up. Wolf gave him a nudge.

  “Let’s go, Sims.”

  Kade stepped toward the door and shot a glance at Pierce.

  Your program must have a bug, Special A-hole.

  Because I didn’t feel any pain.

  CHAPTER 15

  Saturday, June 15

  7:00 p.m. (PDT)

  AgriteX

  Kade guessed there were over three hundred people packed into the AgriteX café. The room was noisy and the entire scene felt odd. How many companies had evening meals for its employees? On a Saturday night? Sentry Wolf and Pierce guided him to a seat at a ranch-style dining table and announced him to the group of five already there.

  Two women sat next to him on his right, three men on the opposite side. He noticed his dark blue outfit seemed to match everyone’s at the table. The whole café looked like an outdoor clothing convention, and now he fit right in.

  “Hey, Sims, I’m Daniel.” The rosy-cheeked guy with a mustache stood and offered a handshake from across the table. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Hi,” Kade said. He shook Daniel’s hand, and when he looked directly at his face, the name DANIEL SLADE appeared in Kade’s vision. Daniel had friendly brown eyes, wavy hair, and a forehead that looked dented in the middle.

  Kade wondered how the hell this facial-recognition program was working from inside his own skull, but the food and drink right in front of him stole his attention. Platters of thick steaks, baked potatoes, salad, and two pies made for a beautiful spread. Two wine bottles and two pitchers of beer sat in the midst of it. The wonderful smell of everything made him weak.

  A hand gently touched his right shoulder.

  “Hi, I’m Lin.”

  He turned his head and the woman sitting to his right was smiling at him from behind wide strands of dark brown hair. She had Asian features, and by his quick measure, she was a knockout.

  “Hi, I’m Kade.”

  He turned forward again. Further conversation or greetings were lower priority for the moment. Even though no one else had started eating, he put food on his plate and dug in like he’d never get the chance again. Screw what anyone else might think, he couldn’t remember being hungrier in his life. No one seemed to protest.

  Daniel grabbed Kade’s empty pint glass and the beer pitcher.

  “Here, let me pour you your first Chapter light,” he said.

  “Thanks,” Kade said with his mouth overstuffed with food.

  The beer would’ve tasted like a cheap domestic on any other day, but today it was pure nectar.

  “Where are you from?” Lin asked after he had eaten for about five minutes.

  “The DC area,” he said, and then reminded himself to be interactive. “How about yourself?”

  “New York City.” />
  “That’s a long way from here.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “What’s your background?”

  “International business sales and marketing. I help American companies make connections with business and government in China, so they can—”

  Lin stopped talking when she saw Marshall Owens walk across the far end of the café and stand at the raised podium.

  “Good evening, everyone,” Owens said. “Please continue to eat and drink.” His voice sounded confident and crisp over the PA system, like that of a college coach.

  Conversation hushed. Everyone at Kade’s table had their attention drawn toward the podium, so Kade followed suit by occasionally turning his head, but generally he focused on shoveling down as much food as possible.

  “Welcome to our monthly dinner,” Owens said. “We’ve reached an exciting milestone today. We mark the two-hundredth Guardian who will leave and return to government service. This force, along with the over three hundred graduates of our political action program, will help us enact tangible change in America and support our causes. With the right people in place, we will end American atrocities abroad, end our government’s abuse of power, and focus on our own domestic strength. We will regain balance with the lands we live on. Some people will fear us. Some people will fight us. But everyone will respect us. We will be a powerful, unified voice that will never be ignored.”

  Everyone in the gathering applauded. Then a quick standing ovation grew out of the noise. Kade was the last to stand and turn toward the podium when his table rose. His stomach cramped. He was eating too much, too fast.

  Owens continued. “We recognize Guardian Jeffries, who has been with us two years. He’s proved to be an impassioned writer, thinker, and leader. He’s had a tremendous impact with us and has assisted our continued growth and execution of our strategy.”

  Owens’s intonation, pauses, and fluid hand gestures seemed choreographed to accentuate his points. Kade thought the overall presentation style could’ve made any vague generalities sound convincing. He also thought the shaved head worked well.