“It goes all the way up, and all the way down,” Gabe said. In front of them loomed a metal door, about five metres wide. It was closed, and a large handle bar was bolted to it so that it could be pulled sideways along tracks in the floor and ceiling.
Beside the handle was a little metal box with a little door, and a pipe running out of it and up to the top edge of the door. Just above that at eye level sat a small door that could be opened to peek through.
Except it was stuck. Lenth tried.
Standing behind them were stacks of containers, about a cubic metre, filled with food disks. Half a dozen other Providers stood around, also waiting for the elevator to arrive.
The large door behind them was open, leading into a lower floor of the Provider's realm. It was much like the closed door in front of them.
And so all they waited is this receiving room, staring at the closed door.
“Oops,” Lenth said to himself quietly.
Gabe looked at Lenth, head to toe. “Oops what?”
“I meant to give Carin' a knife. For defending herself.”
Gabe shrugged. “Then do it.”
“I won't get a chance for a while; I'm leaving. Can you do it for me?”
“Leaving?” Gabe smirked and glanced up. “You're that confident he'll agree, are you?”
Lenth just nodded. “So can you, please?”
“I don't think she's in a lot of risk, Lenth.”
“She said the same thing, but I'd still rather she be ready just in case, okay? If people could get a hold of him, I'd be even happier.”
Gabe grimaced. “He's a slippery thing. Fine, yes, a knife. I might be able to scrounge up something better, but yes, I'll get her a knife at least.”
Lenth nodded again, and resumed the silent wait. Eventually the distant sound of the elevator's motors could be heard. The sound got louder and closer. Lenth traced where he thought it was behind the wall, and heard it settle into place with a tremendous rattle and a deep, resonating clonk.
A mental clank sounded as the latch moved, then the whole door slid out of the way. The interior was almost the size of his Brothers' sleeping room. Several replacement panels stood inside, which Lenth recognized to be pieces of wall.
Before them stood Messenger. Somewhat older than Lenth, and leaner, his fine black hair laid flatly around his face, richly-dark with a hint of red. His eyes stared right through them all, and stood with a quiet confidence. Immediately Lenth understood what Contact had meant by Messenger being 'far removed' from others.
Gabe bowed respectfully towards Messenger, but Lenth seemed to be the only one to really notice. Messenger just stood aside as the Providers behind Lenth moved in, loading on the food and unloading the replacement wall panels using small wheeled trollies. Messenger turned his eyes to Lenth and Gabe, the only other ones not doing work.
“Messenger?” Lenth asked, stepping up.
“Mm,” was Messenger's only reply. Lenth waited for more, but Messenger lost interest and turned his attention back to the cargo loading.
“Don't waste his time, Lenth,” Gabe said.
“Uh, right. Messenger, I was hoping you'd take me to Citizenry. Please.”
Messenger looked to Gabe.
“Contact approved it,” Gabe said.
“Fine,” Messenger said. His voice was quiet. He didn't sound irritated at all, but simply disinterested in general. He continued to stand there as Providers continued and finished loading food containers on. As the Providers disappeared down the hall, Messenger looked at Lenth, and at the thin gap on the floor where the elevator floor began. “Coming?”
Lenth nodded and stepped forward. Standing over the seam, he turned to Gabe. “I might not see you for a while. Thanks.”
Gabe smiled with a wave. “Be safe and all that.”
“Bring Carin' that knife,” Lenth said.
“Yeah. Heh. Maybe you should have one,” Gabe said.
Messenger shook his head softly. “Let's just go.”
“Oh. Right.” Lenth got on and gave a sheepish wave as Messenger dragged the wide door shut.
Lenth looked around the closed elevator. The cargo only took up a small portion of the floor space, leaving a lot of big, round emptiness. A few long light strips in the ceiling all but destroyed any shadows in the off-white metal space. There were seams here and there where the elevator had been put together, a nondescript panel flush with the ceiling, and one in the floor.
Lenth looked back to Messenger, who was facing away from Lenth to attend the control panel by the door. The elevator rumbled from all directions and lurched upwards, much like Lenth had felt in the other, smaller elevators. He wasn't near a wall to grab; nothing to stabilize himself against. He staggered, but caught himself before falling. The feeling was all the more disorienting in a large space like this. Only the fact that he had heard the elevator coming down earlier assured him that everything, everywhere wasn't being heaved around.
Messenger stood by the control panel, entirely unperturbed. The central elevator was the Messenger's domain. His throne, his second body. In fact, he didn't seem noticeably aware of Lenth. No more than any other cargo.
“So..,” Lenth said, “get many passengers?”
Messenger looked over at Lenth and took a stoic moment to consider his reply.
“Nope.”
Lenth waited for Messenger to continue, but his instead turned away to face the control panel. Lenth finally tried again.
“Do you spend a lot of time making deliveries?”
“Some.”
“So. I heard you go as far up as Actual.”
Messenger gave no reply.
“Is he nice?” Lenth asked.
“There are rules,” Messenger said flatly.
“Rules about him being nice?”
Messenger sighed. “Providers can go from Subject level to the Citizenry.”
“Okay. Oh, no, I wasn't trying to get you to take me any higher.”
“Good. There are rules.”
Well. Fine. Lenth sat down by a food container. He could feel the little vibrations from the floor more while sitting. It was disconcerting. “How much longer?”
With no rush to answer, Messenger lazily looked up as if he could see through the ceiling. “We're roughly half way now.”
“How many floors is it?”
“No floors, just distance. Takes time. The central elevator isn't as fast as the smaller ones.”
“We're not passing any floors?” Lenth asked.
Messenger shook his head.
Lenth got up and put his hand against the wall. “So...what's on the other side of this right now?”
“You ask a lot of questions.” Messenger's voice was starting to leak signs of irritation
“Oh. Sorry. Rules? Am I not allowed to know, or do you not know? Is there empty nothing? Solid wall? Metal?”
“Will you just be quiet?” Yeah. Irritation. Lenth took the suggestion, and didn't speak again until he felt the elevator slowing.
“Are we there?”
Messenger's reply came only as a nod. When the elevator came to a full stop, he could hear exited voices. Messenger went over to the little eye-height hatch. He didn't open it, but yelled close to it.
“You know how this works. Clear out.”
The excited voices got louder, but affirmative replies could be made out from the rabble's noise. “Okay.” “You heard him.” “Move it!”
As the talking faded with distance, Lenth quietly asked Messenger, “Citizens?”
Messenger nodded. When silence resumed, a little buzz came from the control panel and a little green light turned on. Messenger opened the eye-level hatch and looked out for a few moments. He was finally satisfied, and went over to the control panel He did something Lenth couldn't see, then grabbed the handle, and heaved the door to the side.
The broad hall in front of them was almost identical to the one where he'd boarded the elevator. Messenger started carrying stacks of food cra
tes, three at a time, using a trolley. There wasn't another trolley available, so Lenth tried to lift a single crate himself.
“Don't be a fool,” Messenger said, wheeling off with his second load. “If you want to help, just load me up when I come back.”
Lenth watched Messenger roll the trolley out about halfway down the hall, then unloaded the three crates over to the side. He came back to Lenth, who was ready to place a crate on. By the time he had grabbed another, Messenger had already loaded the second one on. With the third placed by Lenth, Messenger was off to add to the growing pile.
“The Citizens don't help?” Lenth asked as they continued on in a bit of a rhythm.
“There are rules,” Messenger said as he loaded another crate. One was unusually heavy, so he just rammed the lip of the trolley underneath it.
“What, you can't be in the same room with them? And I can?”
“You're choosing to be around them,” Messenger said. “I choose not to be. They need to follow some rules if they want to get fed. If you change your mind and want to go back, come back here and catch me when I bring them something else.”
Lenth looked at Messenger, then the far door, then at the elevator, then Messenger again. “Right. How often do you come, usually?”
Messenger shrugged. “They usually need more food and call every thirty days or so, but they can call for other things in between.” He began closing the door to the elevator.
“See you around, Messenger.”
“Do better,” Messenger replied.
Lenth cocked his head. “Better? Better than what?”
Messenger shrugged. “Better than Diane, at least.”
Before the door could close entirely, Lenth asked, “You know Diane?”
“About as well as I know you,” Messenger said. The door closed tight. Of course Messenger had met Diane when she made this trip. It suddenly struck Lenth with increased clarity that he was risking the same challenges that broke Diane.
The sound of the elevator moving started up, and behind him, Lenth heard the door to Citizenry opening.
Chapter Seventeen
Welcome, Lofu
The group of noisy strangers stopped cold when they saw Lenth. The leader, a lanky, bright-looking man held his arms out; less to embrace a new acquaintance than to hold his minions back. They were all wearing clothes like Lenth and his Brothers had, but different. A few of them were stained, and many of them had ripped their body suits in different ways. Scraps from clothing had been used to make things like headbands, armbands, belt decorations, and hair ties. Not being of Citizen culture, it all looked very garbagey to Lenth.
The leader had light blonde hair that stuck straight upwards a few centimetres, and was wearing a patchwork scarf that dangled down to his knees. He smiled and walked forward slowly, lilting a bit from side to side as if different angles would allow him to better understand this newcomer.
“Ah, hello? I'm Lenth.”
“Right,” said the stranger. “I'm... Mike. What sends one of your kind up here?” He tilted his head and plucked the air in front of him, as if lifting something to his level.
“My kind?”
“Providers,” Mike said in a patronizing yet friendly tone.
“I guess I am. Recently anyway. I've come up to Citi—”
Mike frowned and held up a hand. “Wait, wait, recently?”
One of the people in the little mob at the door called out, “What were ya before? A chair?”
Lenth halfheartedly joined in the laughs over the chair comment. “No, no, I grew up below the Providers, I worked on filters every day.”
The Citizens' expressions ranged from disgusted to intrigued. Mike was among the intrigued. “Oh my, young man, you certainly have come up in the way of things. Welcome to the top!” He put his arm around Lenth and smiled widely with a nod. “Oh yes, Oh yes, but of course, you know there is a fee to enter, correct?”
“A fee?” Lenth asked, standing in front of the month's worth of food he'd come with.
Mike chuckled. “Oh, no, we wouldn't expect you to have any material possession worth trading, but entertainment, on the other hand, would do nicely.”
Lenth stood silent, at a loss.
“Well, my boy, there's two interesting things you can do, and we can provide a partner for either,” Mike said, then turning to the others. “What do you think? Will we make the baby Provider fight, or ffffffornicate?”
With a dozen of the Citizens already leaked past the imaginary line that Mike had set for them, and uncounted others beyond the door, the bulk of them began chanting, “Fight, fight fight, fight”.
Lenth had scuffled with his Brothers before, but nothing serious. Certainly not much, since their Rubberman would shock the floor to settle them down before anyone got hurt.
He didn't know what to expect now. He backed away from Mike, in case he was the opponent, and kept his eyes on everyone. He spread his stance and clenched his fists. If Messenger was still here, Lenth would have been back on that elevator in a blink.
From the group at the door, a figure was seen pushing a way through. It was a woman, unlike any Lenth had ever seen.
Her wild, scraggly hair was held out of her face with a scrap of cloth tied above her forehead. The dark mess of hair shot in every other direction.
Her bodysuit was zipped open wide enough to see much more than Lenth had ever seen before, and the legs of the suit were cut off high. Any higher, and it would fall off of her.
“Yer not gonna let anyone bloody up this pretty, pretty boy, Mike. It's not like shiny Providers pop up every day! I want a turn with him!”
The Citizens by the door cheered and goaded the woman on. She revelled in it. She twirled and bounced with a wicked smile, exuding a type of joy that Lenth had never witnessed. It was mesmerizing but somehow horrifying. Her motions had a certain edge to them that implied experience. Maybe it wasn't simply joy.
Her dance ended with her body pressed up against Lenth, but when he clumsily recoiled, she deftly extended her dance to keep up. She stopped him by putting her arm around his waist. “Afraid of a little slippery fun, Provider?” she growled softly.
Not that this woman wasn't interesting. Not that she wasn't soft in the right places. Not that she was entirely unappealing.
If this woman was proposing what it seemed like...this was not how he imagined it. In front of so many people, so impersonal, and nothing at all like Karen. He looked at the other Citizens, who were leering and waiting with giant smiles.
The woman looked at them, then back and Lenth. She leaned closer and whispered in his ear, “Don't worry about them. You don't even have to take your clothes off. Just get it out and go for it, yeah? And our audience isn't into softie-style, so feel free to rush and get it over with.”
She leaned back far, a thigh coming around him now, her head almost upside down, her cleavage struggling to escape the unzipped top. The 'audience' reacted to her showmanship with a wave of lewd cheers.
Coming back up, she found his other ear to whisper into. “I'm the show here, kid. Don't stress it. We all earn our place in our own way. Just enjoy it.” As they came face to face again, her glossed over demeanour cracked a little. Her smile was gone, and she shrugged so slightly that only Lenth would notice. Just as quickly, her seductive facade was reasserted.
Lenth's gut was tight. Something wrong was going on, but he couldn't really identify it. He backed away, holding her with a soft push to her shoulder. She stared into his eyes as he did so. He couldn't read if this was a look of irritation or not.
Cries of protest rang out from the Citizens. “Come on!” “Make her scream for it!” “Maybe he's into guys.” “Whip it out!”
“Maybe you were more interested in the fight option?” Mike said in an accommodating tone.
Lenth shrunk away from everyone slowly, taking unconscious little steps backwards towards the elevator. “Maybe I should just wait for Messenger to come back,” he mumbled. Moans and boos fr
om the Citizens only pushed him back towards the elevator further.
One of the food boxes began to move. Grunts came from inside as it wiggled around a little. The top finally burst open. A fist holding Diane's knife shot up as smashed food units spilled in every direction.
Up rose Six with a knife in each hand. “Lenth! I thought these Citizens were supposed to be the best of us! They just seem like a different kind of awful than the Providers!”
Six spotted the woman and was quickly behind her with an arm around her throat, knife by her face. “Well! I've heard enough to know that you obviously work for your keep! Maybe you're the exception!” He pointed the other knife at Mike and the other Citizens. “Anyone want the soft one dead?”
“Six! Don't make this worse than it already is!” Lenth pleaded.
“Friend,” Mike said, “you're clearly out of your depth here. I don't think you under—”
Six wrenched his arm against the woman to enforce his leverage. She struggled, but the daily workouts that Six had always done as a Subject made him more than strong enough to contain her.
“Out of my way, I'm leaving,” Six said to the Citizens clogging up the hallway. He walked towards the Citizens with his free knife waving at them. Between a lack of organization and room to move, the group wasn't moving nearly as fast as Six was hoping for. “This is garbage,” he seethed at them.
Six threw the woman at Mike as forcefully as he could in order to slow them both down. Before she even landed on Mike, Six had turned again. With two free arms and knives to wield, he charged at the Citizens, screaming.
Lenth looked at the woman and Mike. They were all right, just knocked down. He then moved closer to Six, intending to stop him, but Six was already slashing wildly. His third rabid slash sent an arc of red across the wall, as did the fifth.
Three Citizens were on the floor already. One scampering away backwards from Six as he held his bleeding upper arm. One Citizen was kneeling, guarding a third who lay motionless in a growing pool of blood.
“Six! What are you doing? Stop!” Lenth's cries went ignored, if Six heard them at all over the swarm of chaos he had created- and was still cutting his way through.
Rubberman's Cage Page 14