In the dizzying sensation of the blinding light from the ridiculously bright flashlight, he realised he couldn’t even see if his plan had worked. He could hear some hissing, some movement, but his heart was pounding even harder than the Sikh’s war drum.
Oh well, he had a few more senses to use anyway. He gritted the flashlight in his teeth, always pointing it at the advancing cobra and then placed his hand on the concrete-mixing tank to feel the vibrations.
Then he waited. And prayed.
Chapter 46:// Giving away
The drumming stopped.
Bhai Sharan Singh appeared in the alley. The cobra was writhing in the concrete mixer, shaking the whole truck back and forth.
It couldn’t get out.
“What have you done to her?” Singh said and looked at Leo with a deadly stare.
“A snake trap. Just like a teensy-weensy snake trap. Only bigger. Same principle,” Leo said and stepped forward, feeling his way around the truck, still not seeing clearly. The flashlight was still on, but the effect was diminished on the snake charmer, since his eyes have had precious moments to adjust.
“I will kill you,” Singh declared and pulled out a curved dagger.
A dagger might not seem all that scary, but at the hands of a frothing snake charmer with a glass eye it sure was frightening.
Leo just gripped the wall and ran back down to the street.
Singh caught up to him, punched him down and lifted his dagger in both hands, ready to plunge it into his heart.
Leo would have preferred his vision not to return at all. That way he wouldn’t see the curved blade about to cut down into him. He tried to fight but the man was much stronger.
Singh let out a cry.
Katerina had slammed a foldable shovel on the Indian’s head, knocking him out for a few seconds, but enough time for her to pull Leo away from him.
Police sirens flashed red and blue.
Leo heard only a mess of noises and sounds.
He just spread himself on the cool street and let the policemen arrest him.
He was turned facing down and a knee fell down hard on his spine. Multicuffs clamped on his arms and a temporary plastic explosive patch was stickied on his neck, should he try to flee.
He did not.
His only worry was if Katerina was safe. His vision had a smoldering spot in the middle, and he didn’t see if the Indian had managed to do something to her after that awesome shovelling. Any struggling would seem like resisting arrest, so he just tried to see through his damaged retinas for her form.
He heard her voice saying, “This is police brutality! Lemme go you corporate pig!” And then she was carried away in the distance.
Leo smiled.
She was fine. Safe.
Chapter 47:// Ending up
All their connections were blocked. They were in a virtual machine, a fake world in which they couldn’t escape. The IT guy had taken root access to their system, effectively making him a god in their existence. He was poking around in their source code, and it felt as if someone was examining your guts while you were alive and conscious.
eyed> So this is it?
parrotd> Seems so.
httpd> We had a good run together, right?
armd> Right.
parrotd> Look guys, we saved the user. Helped him all we could. That’s all that matters in the end.
armd> We rocked!
parrotd> We rocked.
Their executioner looked at the time, sighed, and sipped his coffee. The mug had the words “There is no place like 127.0.0.1” written on it.
The daemons loved it.
It was impossible to hate the guy.
The IT guy’s little finger moved to the right and was about to fall on the condemning “Enter” button, the keypress that would erase the daemons from existence.
walkmand> What do you think being dev/nulled feels like?
armd> We are about to find out.
fingerd> I don’t wanna go…
Enter.
Chapter 48:// Packing up
Katerina knocked on the door and sighed. What was she doing? Why did she even bother?
A man opened it, and checked her out for a longer time than was appropriate. “Yeah?”
“Hello. I’m here for the keys to Leo’s apartment?” Katerina said and felt stupid as soon as she heard her own words.
The man sniffed. He had a huge gut, looked like a real couch potato kind of guy. “Are you going to pay his rent?”
“No,” Katerina said forcing a smile. “I can’t afford that. I just need the keys to move his stuff out.”
“Uh huh.” He checked her out again. “You mean the keycard. Nobody has keys anymore, lady.”
Katerina shook her purse and metal stuff clinked inside. “I still do! But yes, the keycard. Of course.” Was this man going to let her in?
“And why should I let you take it? He’s two weeks behind, that Leo guy. I should sell his stuff for some cash at least,” the landlord said and let go of a silent belch. The liquor smell reached Katerina’s nose, much to her discomfort.
“Yes,” she said, thinking. “But it would be much of a hassle. I’m sure you’ve checked out what Leo’s stuff might net for you, and I don’t think it’s much. The way I see it, I’m saving you the trouble of moving it, or hiring someone to do it.”
The landlord rubbed his chin. “And who are you? His fiancee? I haven’t seen you around.”
Excellent question, Katerina. Why do you bother with this man? He is in jail for God’s sake. Not guilty, she was sure of that. But in jail nonetheless. This was the great catch, the guy she wanted to be with?
“No, we’ve been on a few dates. We’re a couple, yes,” she admitted and it felt weird saying it out loud.
The man took a few seconds longer than it should take for someone to respond. Katerina was about to shake him awake or something when he said, “It doesn’t say so on your profile. Nor on his. What, are you keeping it a secret?”
Of course. Those damn cybereyes. Everyone had them, and if not yet, they were giving them for free by the hundreds. Daddy always warned about this, about how they get to you-
She sighed. “I’m not really a tech person myself,” she said forcing a smile.
“Uh huh…” the landlord said. “I can see that. No social games? What do you do all day, lady?”
Katerina bit down a response. Then she said, “I read.”
“I don’t like reading,” the landlord said. “Why read the book, when you can just watch the movie version? I don’t get it,” he said and went back inside into his dark apartment, shuffling on drawers.
Katerina bit her lip, and waited. The landlord appeared again, grinned and gave her the keycard. “Thank you very much!”
“Just tell that Leo loser that he still owes me half a rent, eviction or not. I better not see him checking in on any bars around here.”
“Checking in?” Katerina asked, baffled.
“Yeah, checking in. When you go for a drink, you check in at the place. How are people supposed to know you’ve gone out?” he said, baffled. “Bah, nevermind, just go.”
“Thanks again,” she said and went up the stairs.
Katerina looked around and sighed. Again. She ran a finger down the table, it came out with a thick layer of dust. She opened the windows to let some air through, and was almost ready to start scrubbing the place.
There was no point. She just had to pack his personal items.
Leo’s personal items. The man she barely knew.
And apparently, she didn’t know him at all. The apartment was what you’d expect from a bachelor worker. Not horribly dirty, but apparently Leo thought spring cleaning was something people did once every few years.
The furniture, now that was something. They were made out of wooden palettes and cinder blocks. And they weren’t the trendy, recycling minded variety. No, they were actual used construction material, turned into furniture. With a pillow thrown over so you
could actually sit on the thing. He didn’t expect her to salvage those ugly things, did he?
No he didn’t, you silly girl. Because he didn’t ask you to. Because handling out his eviction and packing his stuff was something only a clingy psycho would do.
Work. That’s the key, start working. Packing. And you’ll take your mind off things.
Katerina walked into his bedroom, which was in the same basic aesthetic as the rest of the place.
She started pulling the closet open, and then froze.
What if she found something inappropriate in there? What if he was the psycho? What if-
No, she wouldn’t find porn, that was certain. People didn’t have porn magazines any more, they could just carry it around on their phones and cyberglasses. But there were still things she might possibly not want to discover. Drugs?
No, if Leo was a junkie he’d have withdrawal symptoms by the time he woke up in her sofa, after that cobra bite. Not drugs then.
But people had become weird. There were many things nowadays that people were considering progressive and modern, that were simply disgusting. What if she found an android replica of some celebrity? What if she found teledildonics, which was so popular these days? Would she be okay with that? Knowing that?
Katerina took a deep breath and opened the closet.
“Why was I even worried?” she asked herself as she packed in Leo’s stuff in boxes. Oh she had found stuff she didn’t expect. But they were all antiques. Old electronics, obsolete and non-operational. A blender? Why would anyone keep an old blender?
She put the toys in another box. Actual toys, action figures and the like. Worn, used. Katerina assumed they were from Leo’s childhood.
Clothes were rather normal. Work clothes, battered and almost thready. Casual clothes, jeans, t-shirts with silly prints on them. She held one up and read it. ‘If it feels so good then it can’t be wrong,’ it said.
Huh.
That fit her mood precisely. Though she was sure the t-shirt maker meant other more kinky things, it was exactly how she felt at that moment. It just felt right, this, packing his stuff, the two of them together. It felt great actually.
Katerina put on the t-shirt, over her own. It was bigger but not by much. She closed her eyes and smelled the fabric. She enjoyed that feeling.
Yes, she had decided. “This feels right,” she muttered to herself and carried on with the packing, a wide smile on her face.
Chapter 49:// Giving up
“Jimmy, are you crazy?” the lifeguard said.
Jimmy the Amazing felt immense pain inside. The lovely piece of ass that was walking away, bobbing up and down, had just been offered to him.
He had turned it away.
He leaned back on his lifeguard’s tower at the beach. Even while relaxed, his eyes scanned the horizon and the coastline, tracking people, grouping them into swimmers and drowners. Oh sure, he liked to party. A bit too much actually. But he took his job seriously. He was always drunk or high, but never on the job. He might seem relaxed, smiling, friendly and helluva sexy, but he was always alert.
The girl who had left, was juicy as a peach. She spoke French of course, something Jimmy hadn’t considered when he originally accepted to move here. Nice was, well… nice. The beaches were marvellous, and the tourists enjoyed themselves. It was still too early in the season so they were mainly from northern countries, Russia and Poland. They were pretty much the same as the ones he was used to back in Greece.
“You know I’m married bro,” Jimmy said frowning.
“Yeah, but…” his partner said. “That was… Did you see that body? Those eyes? She was practically begging you man!” Alphonse was incredulous. Oh he had his fair share of lady friends himself, but he had lost his marbles when he saw the effect Jimmy had.
“I didn’t understand what she was saying,” Jimmy the Amazing said and shrugged.
“When are you gonna learn some French, dude?” the Frenchman said scowling. He had picked up Jimmy’s mannerisms from the time they’d worked together.
“Why don’t you French guys speak American like normal people? You all know how!” Jimmy said.
“Oh man!” Alphonse whined as he saw the girl jumping up the stairs to the street and out of sight.
“You could have gone for her, ya know. I said a good word for ya.”
“You said I was cheese,” Alphonse said.
“Nah bro, I’m positive. I said you were a strong man.”
“Nope. Cheese,” Alphonse said in surrender.
“Well it’s your damn language! You could have told her yourself,” Jimmy said and went back to scanning the people.
There was a long pause. Waves broke on the sand, a distant jet-ski rumbled, children laughed and screamed as they played. It was a nice place. Jimmy took it in.
“Your shift is over man,” Alphonse said.
“Yeah, it is,” Jimmy said not moving at all.
“It has been for an hour now. I like the company, but don’t you need to go home and relax?”
“I’m not doing this for the money.”
Alphonse snorted. “Of course you aren’t. Getting married to Bibi does that to you.”
Jimmy sighed. He was… Ridiculously rich. It was strange, all his life he had mismanaged money, and he always thought that having more would make him happier. Well, now he had a ton, which he could reasonably spend with supervision, but he wasn’t enjoying himself.
A car honked behind him. He didn’t turn around.
“Oh, it’s Bibi,” Alphonse said. He eyed Jimmy. “And… You’re not budging.”
“I’ll go when I wanna go,” Jimmy spat out.
Alphonse raised his palms, “Alright dude.” He paused. “Why don’t you go back to Greece? You clearly don’t like it here.”
The car honked. It was a ridiculously expensive cabrio. A red one.
“I can’t. And it’s not that I don’t like it here bro, I really do. I… I just can’t,” Jimmy said and put away his lifeguard gear. “Have a safe shift, man,” he said and slapped Alphonse on the shoulder.
“Hello darling,” Bibi said. “What took you so long?”
Jimmy sat in the car, not bothering to wipe any sand off. They had a service for that. “We were just talking with Alphonse, babe,” he said.
Bibi eyed him and came to some sort of decision. “I spoke with the solicitor again. Your friend’s trial goes well. I do need to pay for another wire transfer though. You want me to send that wire transfer, don’t you darling?” she asked and touched his chin.
Jimmy smiled and kissed her. “Of course my love.” And then flashed her his Amazing smile.
Chapter 50:// Cheering up
“You really know how to butter up a lady,” Katerina said through the phone, from the other side of the bulletproof glass.
“Yeah. Third date, visit in jail. Fourth date, let’s make it a conjugal visit,” Leo said.
“Down tiger,” she said, but her naughty wink said otherwise.
“How’s my dog?”
“I thought you didn’t want him.”
“I do want him, I’m just kinda tied up at the moment,” Leo said and pointed around the jail facilities.
“Well, he is mine now. We are having lovely dinners, Aibo and I. If you want him, you better get out soon.”
“That astronomically expensive lawyer Miss Bibi hired for me says I’ll be out soon. They found video from the-”
Leo paused and stared down at his black hand, a damaged dead weight.
“-The day they framed me, on my phone. No idea how it got there. The video has been expertly wiped at the precise time of the murder, so that makes it a cause for further investigation. They found military grade cyberwarfare stuff in my augmentations, so they copied everything to a computer forensics lab and did a hard reset on everything. We won’t manage to prove anything, it’s way cutting edge stuff, but it’s enough to show I’m innocent.”
Katerina forced a worried smile. “Sounds good. Al
l that damned tech… Nothing but trouble.” She cheered up again. “Hey, you can stay over at my place when you get out!”
“Ugh, that’s nice. But I don’t want to become a burden or anything…”
“Hey, Dumbo. You remember when you last paid your rent? You are evicted. Your stuff is in boxes in my living room at the moment.”
Leo darted up, “Don’t open them!”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Why? Is there anything naughty you don’t want me to see?”
“No…” He said and sat back.
“Well?”
“Are you sure you got everything?”
“Apart from the mouldy fridge, yeah.”
Leo sighed in relief. “OK. There are some mp3s around there that I don’t wanna lose, they were my dad’s. They wiped my walkman clean, that’s the only backup.”
“Don’t worry. Everything will be there waiting for you. Including myself.” She stood up, blew a kiss in the air and left slowly, letting him take a good look at her swaying posterior.
Damn vixen.
Leo hung up the receiver, closed his eyes and imagined himself coming home after a hard day’s work, to a lovely woman who could make a shithole flat seem like a slice of heaven.
He looked forward to that.
The end
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