Rubberman's Cage

by Joseph Picard

  “Are... are things all right then?” Phil asked.

  Lenth paused before following Gabe through the door. “You... you don't have to worry. It was an accident.”

  After leaving Phil's Unit, Gabe and Lenth took their tinted hazmat headpieces off while riding the elevator. Gabe looked at Lenth with consideration. “For a moment there, I thought you were going to tell Phil who you were.”

  “You told me not to. So I didn't.”

  “It would have made things more complicated,” Gabe consoled.

  “I know, you told me. But you should let him know that I'm okay. He's stuck worrying more than he has to.”

  Gabe didn't reply, but perhaps he looked just a little thoughtful on the topic. “You care?” he finally asked Lenth.

  “Sure. You were there, you heard him.”

  The door opened, and they started heading in the general direction of Lenth's quarters. “Lenth, I guess what I'm getting at... he was your Rubberman. He watched over you in a system specifically designed to keep him at arm's reach, with no emotional attachment. If anything, you should hate him.”

  “Not really.” Lenth shrugged. “Feared him, I guess. He wasn't a person before, just a walking thing that stomped and zapped us.”

  Gabe nodded. “A thing, not a person. I get it. So once you saw his face—”

  “And heard his voice. And talked to him. And found out he actually likes us.”

  They arrived at Lenth's door and stopped.

  “So you forgive him for Slim's death?”

  Lenth shrugged. “Kind of have to. I'm going to work on my reading, I guess, before I go to sleep.”

  “Right. I'll see you later.” Gabe nodded and headed off.

  Lenth lay down on the learning chair and stared idly at the headset. Would Gabe be far enough away now? Would Lenth be able to find Contact's office on his own? Maybe. He wasn't sure why he wanted to talk to Contact without Gabe around. He just did.

  When Lenth finally got underway, he immediately got lost, but managed to put things together well enough to fumble his way along. The biggest error in his navigation was getting off the elevator on the wrong floor. The hallway looked so similar, it was a long ten minutes before he clued in why things weren't going as he expected.

  Part fool, part noble explorer, he found his way again, and eventually reached Contact. The large curve-walled room was quiet, and uninhabited other than the sizable Contact himself, who looked up from his work as Lenth entered.

  “Ah. Hello. Gabe isn't here,” Contact said before looking back down at his in-desk monitor.

  “I'm not looking for Gabe, I wanted to talk with you some more.”

  Contact sighed slowly. “Figures. All right, what did you want to talk about?” He tapped his monitor off, then leaned back into his chair, arms crossed casually.

  “Well, quite a few things,” Lenth said apologetically. Contact merely rolled his hand around, inviting the drivel to commence.

  “Well, first, the meds. The stuff we were getting put in our blood all the time. What's in it? Normally, I mean.”

  “Right now? Nothing. Water. Oh, and you came from one of the units that were kept impotent, aren't you?”

  Lenth didn't know the word, and shrugged.

  “Your thingie never got hard, right?” Contact said. Lenth didn't react quickly enough, so Contact pointed at Lenth's groin.

  “Oh! Yes, I mean, no, it didn't. I didn't know it—”

  “Well there you go.” Contact said. “Water, and no-hard-stuff. Now and then if you get sick or something, some antibiotics or whatever. Ask the medic if you care. All very routine. Next question?”

  Lenth looked down, then back at Contact. “It was always supposed to get swollen? I don't understand. Why bother stopping it from...and you stopped that? Why?”

  Contact shrugged dispassionately. “It was part of the Study. It is a step in preparation. Even units who aren't kept impotent get regular water injections. The water does nothing. The schedule of injections keeps the system ready for when we receive new orders, for testing new medications. We are currently in the 'control' phase of testing. Recording normal non-medicated conditions.”

  “You... record... keep track of how Subjects react to no medication? How long have we been in this 'control' phase?”

  “Always.”

  “Always since when?” Lenth asked.

  Contact frowned. “Always! Don't you know what 'always' means? And we will remain in 'control' until new orders and medications arrive!”

  “When will that be?”

  “What concern is it of yours? When it happens! Probably not in our lifetime, of course. But we will be ready.”

  Lenth ignored, or was oblivious to Contact's agitated tone, and asked another question. “Where will these medications come from? Messenger?”

  The bitter expression that had been growing on Control's face while answering 'stupid' questions finally softened, into an almost-smile. He nodded and pointed casually at Lenth. “Ah, yes, he will bring it, but it will have come from Actual, and before that, it has been said, from Big Farm! Big Farm needs to test medications, as it was told.”

  Lenth leaned in with puzzled look. “I just learned about you and Messenger! Who's Big Farm? Let them test the medications on the farm! I don't care what happens to some stupid papayas! Who's Actual? Does he live on a farm? Why does any of that matter?”

  Contact smiled broadly and stood. He walked peacefully away from his desk, gazing slightly upward. Now that he was standing, Lenth could see his size a little better. He'd have to ask about that. Some other time. Contact turned to Lenth.

  “Young man, to know of Actual is to know of the highest of us. Even Messenger has not seen him, but Messenger has spoken to him, and will one day become him.”

  Lenth tilted his head. “But isn't Messenger picked from the Providers? So couldn't you, or Gabe, or any Provider eventually become this... Actual?”

  Contact smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Ah. Simple, yes?” He patted his gut. “I would make a poor Messenger, I think, if you're implying I have such a goal. But it isn't that simple. The Messenger becomes almost entirely removed from us. From our world. Above us, different. He travels beyond our realm, out beyond the Citizenry, and beyond places with no names before reaching the halls of Actual. And as removed as Messenger is from us, Actual is removed that much more from him!”

  Reaching up, Contact held his hand open, as if ready to receive from the great unseen Actual by providence of his Messenger.

  After basking in Contact's own awe for a moment, Lenth asked, “So he's an Actual what, exactly?”

  Contact looked momentary mortified by the question, but quickly decided to take the blasphemous ignorance with good humour.

  “Actual! Actual. Is the one of us who has risen to be the truest of us. Actual is all of us! He is, and so by his being, we are. Almost as his children. Without him, we would live on for a time, but eventually ruin would overtake us all.”

  Contact gazed upward and fell silent again. Lenth spoke, but quietly, as to not disturb Contact's moment too much. “Actual makes sure Messenger can get us the things we need. Replacement parts, wall pieces, stuff that use glass, Gabe told me.”

  Contact turned to face Lenth. “Yes, yes, all that and so much more. We understand so little. I feel Messenger knows more. He has let slip the idea of places around us beyond what we know. We know much already, much we cannot understand, but we know also that there is much which we do not know.”

  “So why don't we ask him?” Lenth asked.

  A sly smile crossed Contact's face. “I have tried. His answers say much, but tell me nothing. It is the path of the Messenger to learn as we ourselves would want.”

  “By becoming Actual,” Lenth said.

  Contact pointed at Lenth with a stubby finger. “Exactly. More or less. I think. I have to live with knowing that I will never know for sure. My place is only to try to keep things running smoothly here.”

  As mu
ndane as Contact saw the everyday running of everything, it was still new and strange to Lenth. Even just the basic elements of the food he'd eaten all his life, and literacy. These were the frontiers of Lenth's reality. Lenth looked down at his clasped hands. “So this is it. Unless a Provider is chosen as Messenger, there's nowhere else to go.”

  With an incredulous glance, Contact said, “Where exactly would you want to go? We have food here, we have peace, and everything is fine here.”

  Lenth thought back a little. “Sitisrunny...? You mentioned a place Messenger goes through called—”

  “Citizenry.” Contact groaned a little and sat back down. “You don't want to go there.” He shook his head a little. “Messenger doesn't even get off of the great central elevator there. Only to load off deliveries, and even then, he does not mingle with the... Citizens.”

  “Deliveries?” Lenth asked.

  “Food mostly. From us. The Citizenry doesn't make their own food. They get air and water processed by us, too. If we were to feel the need, we could probably kill every Citizen in about as much time as it takes a person to die of thirst.”

  Lenth cocked his head and stared at Contact for a moment. “Are you serious? What do they do with their time?”

  “Now and then, one of us goes up. They make you earn entry. I've heard of... let's see... five or so Providers going up? One came back down.” Contact looked away and made a sound that mixed a scoff and a sigh. “She was not treated well there. Quite badly hurt.”

  Lenth leaned over, trying to catch Contact's averted eyes. “She was hurt? How? Can I talk to her?”

  “I suppose it is possible,” Contact said. “However, there isn't much point in doing so. She doesn't talk about her time in Citizenry, and says there's no point. That the Citizenry is worth forgetting about, but that we'd better keep supplying them with food and water. She was rather firm on that last part.”

  “Why?” Lenth asked. “I mean, it sounds like she didn't like the Citizenry at all. Why’s she so worried that they're taken care of?”

  Contact sighed and stared at his desk, spreading his hands across it slowly. “Perhaps merely a general sense of compassion.” His tone was sarcastic. Almost spiteful.

  “I don't under—”

  “Forget it. Just know that we are safe here, even below on the Unit floors. Oh, and Gabe mentioned to me the idea of you becoming a Manager?”

  “A Rubberman? Yeah, he mentioned it to me, too,” Lenth said.

  “You don't sound terribly attracted to the idea. It is not as if I'd assign you today. There is some training involved after all.”

  “Fill was a Subject like me, right? If I have the names of things right.”

  “Phil?” Contact searched his memory for moment, then the name clicked. “Yes. But not all Managers were previously Subjects.”

  “I know,” Lenth said, thinking of Karen. “Fill seems like a good person, now that I've talked to him, but I...I don't want to be like him. He doesn't know things. Even how to read much. I already know more than him, and to be honest...I like knowing things. There's a lot out there.”

  Contact chuckled. “And you want to learn, hm? And once you know everything there is to know, what then?” Contact only really meant knowing everything below the Citizenry, but as the words left his mouth, he realized how it probably sounded to Lenth.

  “I don't know!” Lenth said with a smile. “That's the exciting part! I don't know what I don't know, and until I know, how can I guess? I mean, I can guess a lot, but I don't know, you know?”

  “No.” Contact said, unable to resist. “Yes, yes, I understand you. Look, start with learning about what positions are available. If you find a few you're interested in, we can talk about them then. Your learning station should have access to everything you need.”

  Lenth replied only with a thoughtful nod.

  “All right, then; if that's all, I do have other things to do today.”

  Lenth nodded again. “And I have learning to do.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Studying for Citizenship

  Citizenry. Citizenry. It took a great deal of trial and error to get the system to understand him, due to Lenth's still-rudimentary spelling. Only scouring the listing displaying topics saved his sanity in the end.

  Huh. No convenient videos. Lenth was forced to read, and it went slowly. Sounding out words, getting them wrong, then going back when he got the idea a little better, and maybe figuring those words out in context- or just skipping some, hoping they didn't matter too much. As far as he could tell, the Providers sort of feared the Citizenry, but at the same time, thought they were less. Less good. Less useful.

  There was no obvious mention of how to go there. Either the topic was avoided, censored, or there just wasn't enough interest in going up to warrant mentioning—except for one link. Messenger.

  Lenth's first impulse was to go ask Contact about meeting Messenger, but the idea of bugging him again seemed... it seemed like a good way to get Contact mad. Contact seemed to have a limited, or at least unpredictable amount of patience for things that he found stupid.

  Gabe was the next best thing. Lenth found Gabe eating at the cafeteria.

  “I want to meet Messenger,” Lenth said bluntly, not bothering to sit across from Gabe. Gabe looked up, half a food unit in his hand, chewing.

  “Mfy?” Gabe swallowed and tried again. “Why?”

  “I want to go up. To see Citizenry.”

  Gabe stifled a chuckle. “Oh, Lenth. It's not a place you simply go to.”

  “Which is why I need to talk to Messenger. He brings the Citizenry food, right? So he can take me.”

  Gabe stood abruptly and pointed at Lenth. “You want to move there? You want to be one of them, that don't work for their food? They're consumers, nothing else. Parasites!”

  Half of the other people in the cafeteria were looking at him. “No,” Lenth said, “I just want to see. Have you seen it?”

  “Who cares? Who wants to see a bunch of spoiled idiots lying around, eating our food and having sex everywhere like morons?”

  “They... they do that? You've seen it?” Lenth asked, all the more curious.

  Gabe rolled his eyes. “Well, no, I haven't seen it personally, but what else are they going to do with their time, if they don't work?”

  Lenth looked at him and the faces now paying attention to Gabe and himself. “Anyone?” Lenth asked. “Have any of you been there?”

  A man Lenth didn't know spoke up in an unconcerned tone, “They're a bunch of mooches. I always thought we should cut them off. Starve ‘em, suffocate them, whatever. It's cruel to let them live like that.”

  Lenth stepped towards the man. “You've seen it?”

  The man looked away, suddenly focusing on his food. “Nope, don't need to.”

  Holding out his arms to the room, Lenth called out, “Anyone?” He looked around in the silence. “No one here has seen Citizenry?” Lenth relaxed his arms and turned to Gabe. “That's why I want to go.”

  “People have gone before, and—”

  “I know, Gabe. Contact mentioned them. The one that came back isn't talking, right?”

  Diane squirmed through the crawlspace, doing a regular inspection of the various conduits that kept things running in the Provider areas. The darkness was cut by Diane's headlamp, a boxy little thing strapped to her head. The light, as much as it moved around, was enough for Lenth to follow her. Diane didn't show any interest in sitting for a chat, but begrudgingly allowed Lenth to follow her as she worked.

  Piping, vents, and electrical cords. Diane inspected every inch, paying extra attention to joints and connectors. Lenth couldn't help but wonder if this kind of diligence would have saved Slim. Should Diane have caught that leak? If that particular little tube had been her duty, he couldn't bring himself to blame her. She seemed to be doing her job with fine attention to detail.

  “How often do you do this?” Lenth asked.

  “A lot. These things go everywher
e. By the time we're done, it's time to start over.”

  “How far do you go?”

  “Me? Provider levels only. Others go higher up or farther down.” She sounded tired. Not in the way that a lot of work can make you tired, but in the way that a lot of life can make you tired. Before they had crawled into the darkness, Lenth had seen that her eyes matched that feeling.

  “Have you ever been—”

  “I know why you're here,” she snapped. “I know what you want, and you're a fool.”

  “What was so bad about it?” Lenth asked.

  Diane turned around to face Lenth, which was no simple task in the crawlspace. Her headlamp shone almost directly in Lenth's eyes, so she adjusted it a little. She took his hands in hers and squeezed hard enough that her knuckles cracked. “Don't go,” she said quietly. Her eyes were a mix of anger and fear, and her breathing had become rougher.

  Lenth stared into her eyes for a while, then asked what she'd likely been asked a hundred times. “What happened?”

  Her eyes broke the stare and she looked away. For a moment, Lenth thought she was going to answer, but then abruptly, she turned back around and resumed working. Lenth followed silently for some time, hoping she'd have a change of heart.

  Diane stopped. After a moment of shuffling, her light went out.

  “What's wrong?” Lenth asked.

  “Shh!” was the answer. As Lenth's eyes adjusted to the miniscule ambient light being supplied by an undefined source somewhere, he saw Diane reach to a pocket on her thigh and pull out a knife. Still facing away, she laid there silently. Lenth heard only her breathing, but Diane apparently heard something else. Her body shifted suddenly.

  “Six, maybe,” she whispered. “Go,” she said, crawling backwards, forcing Lenth to do the same. Seconds later, Lenth heard what Diane had been hearing. Someone else was here, and they were now moving fast.

  “He's coming. Hustle!” Diane said. There he was, a dark shape coming from the right, yanking on a pipe to help him move faster.

  “Monster!” came a male voice, harsh and furious. Diane's body shifted to defend herself as the attacker reached them. Lenth tried to maneuver to go help, but Diane's foot slammed in his path as she tried to find leverage. She screamed as the attacker's voice came again, “Die! Die! Get out of our way and die!”