“Citizens,” Messenger said in his authority-voice, “has the one called Six returned here?”
“No,” the taller one said, “and we'd just as soon not have him. If he was a test from Actual, like some people are saying, I sure hope we passed, and well enough that we don't need more testing!”
“Actual did not send him, and nor did I. Six came for his own reasons. If he does show up again...”
“We'll call you!” the Citizen said.
“We can't. The caller things is broken,” said the other.
“I will get you a new one as soon as I can,” Messenger said, “but know that if a Citizen has to kill Six to prevent Six from killing again, that would be acceptable. Do not put yourselves at undue risk either way.”
“Yes, Messenger.”
“We understand, Messenger.”
Messenger looked to Lenth and said quietly to him, “You had other questions?”
Lenth nodded and stepped closer to the peek-hatch. “Hey, you two. This is Lenth, remember me?”
“Who?” said one.
“I do!” said the other.
“Good. How's Leena? What's going on?”
“Leena's fine, as best I know. She and Edgar went off to talk somewhere about stuff.”
“Talking friendly, or talking fighty?”
The Citizen shrugged and thought about it for a moment. “Talking worried about stuff, I guess. They seemed to be worried about the same things.”
Lenth wanted to go talk to them, but Six was the priority. It really hadn't been that long since he'd left Citizenry, so 'worried talk' was probably the best he could hope for right now. “Tell Leena...well, tell them both that I said hi.” He headed back to the ladder to go to the roof of the elevator, and Messenger closed the peek-hatch.
“Leena?” Gabe asked when Lenth got up. “Who's Leena?”
“A woman I met there,” Lenth said as the elevator started heading up again, “she was confusing, but nice, I guess.”
Gabe smiled a sly sort of smile. “You met a woman? Met her, or met her?”
Naïve Lenth clued in after a moment. “Her 'favourite man' was killed by Six. I just hope she's...”
“Ah.” Gabe's smile faded. “Well, at least Karen doesn't have to worry about competition from her.”
“Carin'? What did she say?” Lenth felt himself blushing.
“Relax, lover-boy, I'm just teasing you. I'm not saying she doesn't like you, I just don't know. Forget I said anything.”
“Forgotten,” Lenth said, “and focusing on finding Six.”
“Right.”
Eyes scanning the walls of the ever-sinking elevator shaft and the maintenance ladder, his mind wandered to the opposite sex frequently. Well, mainly Leena and Karen.
Leena implied she was willing to do sex with him. That was mostly before Mike died, though. Her feelings could have likely changed. Lenth didn't understand her, or her relationship with Mike, but...well, at the very least, the last time Lenth had seen her, she had other things on her mind than educating some naïve Lofu.
“Well, at least we're away from the Citizenry,” one of the Providers mumbled. A few others nodded or hummed in agreement.
“Well, away from the door, anyway.” Lenth pointed at the wall. “It's a big space; it's probably right through the walls all around us. I saw the elevator shaft from the outside; it goes up right through the middle of Citizenry.”
“As long as it's through walls, that's good enough,” another Provider said.
“Maybe more Providers should visit Citizenry. They don't seem to understand you, either,” Lenth said.
“Do they understand that they would starve to death in the dark without us?”
Lenth smiled halfheartedly. “Well, yeah. I think so, but they don't seem to really...well...”
“They don't appreciate us,” Gabe said.
“They appreciate Actual.” Lenth looked up, and was surprised to see that the light had found an end to the shaft. A large door, like the one to Citizenry awaited.
The elevator came to a stop before reaching it, and Messenger climbed up. He looked around. “Nowhere else to go. All right, everyone get back in the elevator.”
Messenger went first and went to the control panel. He took out the headset again, checked the knob, and pressed the button. “Hi. Yeah. Have you heard anything? Yes, that's us. No. Well, it narrows things down a little at least. He might. Did you find the communications set for the Citizenry? Of course. I can come back—well, that's your call. Good point.” Messenger looked over at Lenth, then continued his conversation. “Really? Is that a good choice, all things...oh, yes. The timing would have been awful too, with Six running around. Okay. Sounds good. I'll call him now.”
Messenger pressed the button, then turned the knob. He looked to Lenth and the Providers. “I'm calling Contact next.”
“Was that Actual?” Lenth asked, voicing what the others wondered.
“Yes.”
“And that door up there—”
Messenger stared at Lenth for a moment and said quietly, “Providers are not prepared for what is behind that door.”
“Forgive Lenth,” Gabe said solemnly. “He's been a Subject all his life, and doesn't appreciate how monumental it is to be this high.”
Lenth felt like he'd been lectured, like maybe he had offended Gabe.
“Actual feels that everyone's lives are important enough to warrant you all up here,” Messenger said. “I convinced him that I needed to come up to make sure Six wasn't tampering with things he had no business dealing with, but since he's not here, we take the next step in finding him.”
“What now?” Lenth asked.
“I call Contact.” He adjusted his headset and hit the button. “Yes.” Messenger's tone for Contact was back to his authoritative mode. “Six is still missing, it is possible that he may be back in your levels. I'll be bringing your people home to assist in keeping people safe. Yes.”
Messenger pressed the button one last time, jammed the headset in its compartment, and started the elevator down.
The grand elevator door finally slid open onto the Provider level. Most of the Providers filed out, and made a sloppy little formation beside Contact, who was waiting for their return.
“Messenger,” Contact said with a bow.
Messenger stood stiffly, holding one of the spears at his side. “Six is still unaccounted for,” Messenger said. “I'm going to continue looking, but your people belong here. You need them more than I do. It is possible that Six may have found his way back into your areas.”
“Messenger, that's quite imp—” Contact stopped himself and lowered his gaze. “He's sneaky. We'll have to be very careful.”
“Keep your people safe,” Messenger said. “Make no mistake, it would be good for everyone if Six died, but don't risk people trying to make it happen. Providers, Managers, Subjects. They all deserve to be treated with respect.”
At that, Contact eyed Lenth. Just for a moment, but it was enough to redirect Messenger's attention. Gabe's, too.
“What are you thinking, Lenth?” Messenger asked in a calmer, slightly less official tone.
“I kind of want to check in on people. My Brothers, Carin', Fill, I guess. But I think it can wait. I think finding Six is more important. Gabe, can I help look? Is there some kind of organized... I don't know—”
“Or you could come with me.” Messenger had reasserted his authoritative tone, and in the wake of his words, an uncomfortable silence pressed against everyone.
Lenth looked around at everyone and fiddled with his hands. “Where would we go?”
“Looking for Six. Just because he might be in the Provider area doesn't by any means exclude other places.”
Gabe looked to Contact. “May I go too? You have enough people now, that—”
“Just Lenth,” Messenger said, resulting in another bout of silence.
Contact stared at Messenger while Gabe and Lenth exchanged sheepish glances. Gabe got of
f of the elevator and grabbed the edge of the door, pulling it partly closed until Messenger stepped close enough to take over. Lenth waved to everyone outside the elevator while he still had the chance, and called out to Gabe, “Say hi to Carin' for me!”
Gabe and Contact watched the door shut. A few moments later, the elevator hummed and creaked to life.
“Fine,” Contact said grumpily, “that's just fine.”
“Are you worried for Lenth, Contact?”
Contact gave Gabe a critical glance. “Lenth. Ha. Listen to that elevator.”
Gabe looked upwards, listening to the elevator's sounds fading. “It sounds...it sounds okay to me.”
“Yes, but you're looking the wrong direction, Gabe. It's going down.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Heart
“Are we going to the Subject Unit areas?”
“It's possible to access them from the shaft, but no, the Providers have those areas covered. At least, they should.”
Lenth nearly asked about the Manager/Rubberman layer, but that was silly. It's practically the same place as the Subjects, and just as well covered by the Providers. He wanted to ask dumb questions, but didn't want to sound dumb in front of the Messenger.
After a while, Messenger broke the silence. “Do you ever wonder how this all got here?”
“Yes, but hang on, slow down,” Lenth babbled, holding out his hands. “Are we going down further below the Subject levels? I just learned that there was an up all this time; now you're telling me there's a down?”
Messenger smiled wide, nodding, and holding back a chuckle. “There is always more down, always more up, always more left, right, forward, and back. It's just that there's usually a huge amount of rock in the way.”
“Yes! Fine! But right now—We. Are. Going. Down. And not through solid rock!”
“Correct, Lenth.”
“How far does the rock go? Why is it here?”
“Arg! Big questions! And I don't think I have the answers you want! Actual might, but I don't. Let's focus a little closer to the moment than the nature of all existence, all right, Lenth? I meant this place, your old home, the Provider's space, the Citizenry, all of it...how do you think it got here?”
Lenth looked around. “It's been here...always?”
“Someone made it all,” Messenger huffed. “Everywhere you've ever been used to be solid rock. Someone used some kind of tool to make the empty spaces we live in. How, I don't know. Where the rock went that was here, I don't know. I assume that wherever they put it had to have empty space already.”
Lenth tapped at the elevator wall with his spear, staring beyond it into the rocky unknown. “So why aren't we in a space that was already there?” he asked, feeling stupid as he said it.
“Exactly! Why? They built the elevators, the rooms...I know, because I spend a lot of time fixing things. I've been in the Unit you used to live in, as a matter of fact. Many times. Fixing this or that, replacing a screen on the exercise machines, the work stations, the showers, all kinds of things. I have to ask Actual for supplies, and they show up days later. Actual knows more than me. Much more.”
Lenth held a hand out to interrupt Messenger. “Do you fix tubes that give us the medicines through the tether cuffs?”
Messenger stared at Lenth with a hint of remorse for a few moments. He stopped the elevator. “We're here.”
“Do you?” Lenth asked.
“Messenger peeked out the little hatch, then headed to the handle to open the door. “Yes, sometimes I do. Often a Manager or Provider does. I am sorry about your Brother. Now and then, no one finds out about a malfunction until too late.” He dragged the door open.
The room was much like any of the other rooms connected to the central elevator. Another big door on the opposite side, and lots of room for cargo. It was very clean. Cleaner than the room connecting to the Citizenry, easily, but even cleaner than the one connecting to the Provider area.
On one side, a dozen Rubberman suits hung on the wall, the masks hanging at the top, overlapping the coat, boots sitting neatly below the pants, and gloves in the boots. The row continued with eight sets of hooks for suits that had been taken.
“Where is this?”
“Have you ever been in the dark, Lenth? I mean, total dark, not the 'dimmed' sleep-time in your Unit?”
“Yes,” Lenth said, idly looking to the ceiling. “As soon as I got out of my Unit, I was between ceilings and floors. There were bits of light sometimes. It was...”
“I'm sure it was. If it wasn't for this place, everywhere would be dark. Even those 'bits of light'. Air and water would stop being circulated, heat wouldn't get generated, the elevators wouldn't work, and so on.”
“You mean we'd all... die of thirst in the dark, freezing?”
“Something like that. So we keep this place running well. Grab a suit.”
Lenth walked up to the nearest suit, and reached under the mask on the top hook, to grab the coat. “It...it's heavier than the last one I wore.”
“The Managers just wear a bio-hazard version,” Messenger explained, “and most of those aren't even up to original specs anymore. Eroded seals and dead filters, at the very least. These ones here are well-maintained, also have protection from radiation, and—” Messenger paused, looked at Lenth's blank expression, “—and you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm guessing.”
“Protection from radi-what?” Lenth asked as he put the suit on.
Messenger started on a suit for himself. “Radiation. It's...kind of like heat, but not. You can be in it, and not even feel it, and still soak enough into your body to kill you.”
“That doesn't make any sense,” Lenth said as he pulled the last piece, the mask, off of the hook.
“Hey, don't wear the mask, just have it handy. The mask strap can hook onto the bit on the hip of the coat. And stick the gloves in the mask.”
Lenth looked at Messenger incredulously but followed directions. “What, this radiation stuff doesn't hurt your head or hands?”
“Sure does, but we're not headed into a dangerous area, at least not yet. Best to be prepared.” Messenger headed for the door further into the reactor section. “Oh, Lenth, before I forget, don't mention this place to anyone in the floors above, except Contact. Some Providers might know, but that's Contact's business. We wouldn't want to mess up anything he's set up.”
Lenth picked up his spear, ready to go. “Can I tell Actual?”
Messenger smirked. “If you happen to talk to him, yes. He knows all about it.”
“Oh. Well, yeah. I guess I should have known.”
Messenger, spear in hand, opened the door. On the other side was a round room, ten or so metres wide, with three evenly spaced doors. The door ahead was a double-door that looked to slide open into either side of the walls, and it was bulkier than the others. It had a circular design on it with six alternating wedges of black and yellow.
Messenger pointed at it. “That thing means radiation danger. The little room through that door is sometimes dangerous, and the places after that room are always dangerous. To make things simple, before you go through that door, put the mask and gloves on.”
Lenth eyed the door as if it were looking back at him. “Are we going in now?”
“Nah, we'll talk to some of the Engineers first.” Messenger led to the left door, and headed in. A short hallway later, and they were in a larger room with desks and computers everywhere. These computers were larger, and most were built into the walls, or the bulkier desks. Bright geometric designs were on most of them. Some fluctuated very slightly, and most had small words next to them. Many looked difficult to read, but Lenth's attention was soon drawn to the people here.
“Messy!” called out a woman who rose from her seat by a computer desk. “How are things?” She wasn't in a Rubberman suit, but one sat folded nearby. She was an older woman, maybe a little older than Messenger. Her once-black hair showed prominent streaks of grey, and her smile for Messenger
was a bit wrinkled.
“Messy?” Lenth quietly asked Messenger.
“Looks okay to me,” Messenger said gesturing to the largest technical-looking display on the wall. There were dozens of technical screens, and as many screens showing other locations, including the radioactive door. “We're actually looking for a rogue Subject,”
“Six?” the woman asked. “We heard from Contact, some time ago now. He's still on the run?”
“Yeah. Actual and I thought it would be smart to check in here, since—”
“Well, understandable,” the woman said. “So Six is crawling around the shaft, hm?”
“Messy?” Lenth asked a little louder.
“Messy. Short for Messenger,” Messenger explained. “Huh, I should introduce you two. Tara, this is Lenth. He was a Subject, and, well...got loose. He's a good fella, though. Made friends with the Providers, took a trip through Citizenry, and is being generally helpful. Lenth, Tara here used to be a Provider, but was selected by Contact to come down here and join the reactor crew. We call the Providers that get moved down here 'Engineers'.”
“And you brought this fellow down here,” Tara said. “Does it mean this one's joining the crew?”
“Maybe,” Messenger said, looking Lenth up and down. “His education is pretty wanting, being a Subject and all, but he could learn, I think. He has a lot of potential, and doesn't have a...a 'Contact' attitude.”
Tara forced back a smile and nodded in understanding.
“Were you part of the crew here?” Lenth asked Messenger.
“Yeah. I worked with Tara for a long time before becoming Messenger. Most Messengers are drawn from the crew here.”
Lenth absorbed it for a bit, and imagined doing Messenger's job one day. He knew some of the tasks already, but he also knew there was a lot more that he'd only heard hints of. “Wait. Wait you have a name.”
“Excuse me?” Messenger said with a smirk.
“Messenger is just what you do! A job name! You had another name before that! And maybe Actual had one too! Messengers become Actuals, right? That's what Contact said! Oh! And Contact! Does he have a regular name? I should have known! My Rubberman has an actual name!”
Rubberman's Cage Page 21