Artificial Flowers

by J. A. Hailey

  “The heavy stuff later, folks,” said she, cheerfully. “First be seated, then let’s get drinks going, and lighting as suits our mood.”

  “Saw Djali outside,” said Chang. “On the pavement.”

  “Oh, behind this building is what might be a trogfer path, and that naughty goatee has discovered that those beasts occasionally amble through.” Esmeralda laughed. “After Africa, Djali lives and breathes trogfer. At night he dreams of them, surely, as he begins butting in his sleep. Now, when he gets into bed, I make sure his horns are positioned with my safety in mind. I let him out. He won’t get lost; patrols around the building and flips trogfers as a pastime. I suspect he’s employed a couple of dogs, too, to hunt out trogfers. The neighbors absolutely adore him, and he has a dozen places to enter and hang around, if he needs to get out of rain, sun or snow. I don’t even know if he actually lives here nowadays. But he comes in at night, when it’s been dark for a while. Should be butting open the front door soon.”

  “I’m so glad that because of you, Esme, I’ve met and been friendly with such a different type of creature,” said Singh. “I hear goats are slowly gaining popularity as pets in Screenside.”

  “They should be,” she responded. “Cute, clean, loving and very funny animals. You would never expect a pet to have so much understanding, long memory, and such strong and contrary opinions. Lovely.”

  She served drinks to BC and the guests, except Chang. “I’m chewing gum a lot more, these days,” said he. “That lovely cinnamon flavor just can’t be beat. If you don’t have, don’t worry. I’m carrying.”

  They didn’t have, so Chang pulled a packet out and offered it around, but no one was interested. He popped a couple into his mouth. “Yum.”

  Drinks served, Esmeralda got herself a small beer. “Shall we?” asked BC, of his visitors, settling into a single seat sofa, with the curious beauty on its arm.

  “Not pleasant,” said Singh. “Caesar?”

  “Oh, Caesar for the dirty work,” grinned Caesar. “BC, it’s bad. Our first ever POP case.”

  BC groaned, and placed his head in Esmeralda’s lap.

  “We need you, BC, although you are typically background in some ways. That is well known,” said Chang. “But POP guilt could result in the equivalent of a death penalty. We have to be very fair, very kind, and very, very, visible.”

  “So, tell.”

  “Strange thing,” said Singh. “It’s the trogfer business, surfacing in a very nasty way.”

  Just then, Djali butted the front door open and peeped in.

  “Look what you’ve done, you silly goat,” Esmeralda scolded. “I told you trogfers were the equivalent of a death penalty, but you wouldn’t listen to mama; and now they’re gonna turn you into mutton.”

  The mood lightened immediately, everyone chuckling at the concept of Djali’s involvement. But the dark mood soon returned.

  “It’s a bizarre sequence,” said Caesar, gloomily. “It basically started with the SPCT notification (signed by obscure Karachi folks, who had roped in Noxi Norton to put his name on the citation), regarding cruelty to trogfers, naming us and the Stockholm club. Johansson put an end to it, with that terrific display in Madrid, after which he insisted that it go to a general vote. Well, we voted, and it was over 99 percent that said trogfers are unconscious, and that the concept of cruelty cannot apply to them, whatever is done with them, and to them.

  “So far, so good. But Johansson was not done. You remember that we had casually searched for the rogue programs responsible for populating Screenside with trogfers, garbags and ligons?

  “It’s no big deal, but their numbers have kept increasing - in fact, as you know, there are now ligon forests in Russia, and a garbag zone in Africa - and new, mutant variants of the beasts have also appeared. All these beasts are very aggressive, and they attack, bite or claw Screenside beings without provocation.

  “So Johansson turned his attention, and maybe diverted some club resources, into hunting down the rogue programs.

  “Sadly, he has found them, and, even more sadly, these are not self generated programs. A Screenside being has created them!”

  “What? Not Humanside? One of us?” sputtered BC.

  Caesar, Singh and Chang nodded, sorrowfully.

  “And so, Johansson has initiated a citation under POP, against the program creator,” said Caesar, morosely, gulping the balance of his beer.

  “Who?” croaked BC.

  “Noxi Norton!” moaned Singh.

  Esmeralda burst into tears. “No, no, Noxi! Why did he have to be such a fool, the silly idiot?” she sobbed, immediately picking up her phone and dialing.

  As the little group sat miserably, Esmeralda spoke, now totally in tears. “Candy? Jen? They’ve caught Noxi as the creator of the rogue programs flooding Screenside with monsters, like ligons and stuff. He’s about to be executed by the POPs.” The speaker phone was on, and the men heard a few incredulous shrieks, and then all three girls were crying. “Come over. We’ll decide together, the three of us. They can’t just decode Noxi! Rush over. The POP executioners are here, and we can plead on our knees…”

  “Esme, Esme,” said Caesar, earnestly.”No one’s decoding anyone. In fact, I don’t think it is possible to do so to a conscious being. Decode a conscious being? Would be truly difficult, if not impossible. It’s a citation, and there must be a hearing. That’s all.”

  “Guilty,” she sobbed, “means decoding or something. We don’t have jails.”

  “And, Esme, we don’t have decoding either.”

  “Something worse?”

  BC signaled to Caesar, and he became silent, heading off to the refrigerator to grab another beer. BC cuddled Esmeralda, who sobbed fitfully, imagining terrible punishments, like evaporation, for the criminal, Norton!

  Their meeting continued.

  “It needs incredible impartiality,” said BC. “Anyone in mind?”

  “Look, BC, we’ll just have to be very visibly involved,” said Chang. “Decoding’s pretty nasty. Sorry, sorry, joke, joke…” he clarified hastily, as Esmeralda bawled.

  “Yes,” agreed BC, trying to reassure and calm his partner. “A judge must preside officially.”

  “We have discussed it,” said Caesar. “He seems to be a fool, but he’s actually extremely smart and even-handed, and he’s immensely popular. Goodfellow.”

  BC mulled it over.

  “Yes, Goodfellow,” said Esmeralda, brightening up. “He won’t harm poor Noxi.”

  “No one wants to harm anyone,” said Singh. “But there is the prosecution side, and it must be all about justice. Nothing else.”

  The door opened, and Candice and Jennifer walked in together, red-eyed and sniffling. Esmeralda joined them, on cushions on the carpeted floor. “Over my dead body!” said Jennifer. “Who’s POP?” she looked challengingly at the men.

  “Haven’t you heard, Jen?” said Chang, grinning hugely. “POP is this shadowy figure that hangs around the darker corridors of HC, and anyone alone there at midnight gets decoded by him.”

  “There is no physical POP, person or persons,” said BC. “POP is a set of strict regulations for the governance of Screenside. When cited, we, lawmakers and senior beings, must find a way to hear the allegation, to judge, and to dismiss or punish. This, as you know, is the first ever POP case, and we are trying to figure out how to handle it.”

  “Mercifully?” asked Candice, with a sob.

  “Look, Candy,” said BC, in a gentle tone “this is Screenside, not Humanside. We have no mercy, and no need of mercy, because our social structure and our individuals are honest, impartial, and utterly devoid of cruelty. Anyway, what’s this pro-Noxi stuff. Are you girls in contact with him?”

  “Yes, BC,” answered a red-eyed Esmeralda. “Ever since the rape rubbish, Betty, his girlfriend, has been in regular contact with the three of us. You have never seen anyone so distressed at what happened in Screenside.”

  “Funny thing,” said Jennifer, �
��is that Betty and Noxi also installed the sex enhance pack, and the poor girl got raped a few times.”

  “What?” Singh was incredulous. “Didn’t Norton know better? The writer of the program…”

  “Look, there is something we need to understand about Noxi Norton,” said Candice, sobbing. “He is idiotic and desperately silly, what with snot and earwax inventions. But he’s also a genius, or shall we say a mad genius? I honestly believe he had no idea he had put a rape command into the sex enhance coding.”

  BC said, “So you girls are in touch with him, huh? Please find out if he has been served the POP citation, and how he plans to defend himself.”

  They felt miserable, hearing Noxi Norton and his girlfriend crying, as Jennifer spoke with them. When done, she reported. “He has received an automated notification of the POP complaint, as filed by Johansson, but he doesn’t know what happens next, and he’s terrified of being decoded…”

  “Where did this decoding stupidity come from?” asked Caesar, irritably. “There is no such thing.”

  “I’ll tell them,” said Jennifer, dialing. “Betty, dear,” she said into the phone. “The POPs are here together, at Esme’s place, and they are assuring us that Noxi will not be decoded. No, not as an exception. They say that there is no punishment like decoding. No, no, I don’t think they’re bluffing me. Also, I’ve been told before that ending of consciousness by evaporation doesn’t exist, so just be calm. Have you got a lawyer? Oh, sorry, I forgot that there are no lawyers in Screenside. Maybe I’ve been watching too much Boston Legal. Don’t you just love it? Look, Betty, let’s get together at the Hangout Café, in New York’s Times Square. We’ll sit at a streetside table. Show everyone that you have loyal friends, and nothing to fear. Yes, there will be no decoding, promise. Just get a good night’s sleep in. See you tomorrow.”

  The seniors met Goodfellow in HC, the next morning. Maria and Jeremiah were also present. Jeremiah and Lolita had taken HC’s permission to respectively grow younger and older in apparent age, and were now in the recommended age bracket of Screenside.

  “It is difficult in the extreme; first ever; no precedent; but I accept the role of judge,” said Goodfellow. “However, in case I think the defendant is guilty, I expect you seniors to help me review the case, before I pronounce judgment. Fine?”

  They agreed, and the announcement went up on the bulletin board that very morning.

  58

  Bulletin, 11 May, 2016 – NOTICE OF POP HEARING

  Complaint of Mr. Johansson, against Mr. Noxi Norton

  Mr. Noxi Norton is required to attend Trial Court, scheduled for the day after tomorrow, at 10 a.m. in the Great Hall of the People, to investigate his innocence or guilt in creating the rogue life forms that are now multiplying in Screenside and behaving violently with the population.

  Mr. Johansson is also required to attend in person. Both parties must attend court in the company of lawyers to present their arguments.

  Mr. Goodfellow, of HC, has been appointed the presiding judge, assisted, for immediate review of sentence, in the event such review is deemed necessary, by the following notable senior Screenside personalities: BC, Caesar, Singh, Chang, Maria & Jeremiah.

  Screenside beings are requested to attend.

  Esmeralda, Candice and Jennifer did not wait for the café meeting, but went and met Noxi and Betty at home, immediately after the notification had been posted, and came out of that meeting as legal representatives of Noxi Norton, with Esmeralda appointed as lead lawyer, authorized by him to appear in court on his behalf.

  59

  BC kept up the surveillance on Riad, as he had promised Esmeralda, keeping tabs on his activities, and also keeping an eye on all associated people.

  Then, suddenly, there was movement!

  The unexpected happened, proving that it was indeed a false sense of security they had embraced. The day after Noxi Norton’s hearing had been announced, Zineb sent Diana an email!

  Hello Diana. I took your email address a few days ago from Riad’s phone, when he had left it unattended while visiting me. I see by your photos on it that you are a very, very beautiful girl, far more beautiful than I am. I also realize that you are very young. Are you still a teenager? You have the body of one – tight and sexy, and I could never have competed with you, even when I was your present age. God bless you.

  I am writing because I, too, am involved in Riad’s life. I live in Marseille, and he provides for me financially.

  Maybe because I am much older than you, he finds it difficult to be with me. I must be truthful. It is what he tells me. Calls me finished, useless and old, and I can see why. He beats me, but I do not really have anywhere else or anyone else. My family is in Algeria, in a small town where Riad and I grew up. But even though I have begged often, he does not let me return to Algeria. He says it would shame him. It would shame me too, but that is my fate and I have accepted it. When your husband is with a very young, educated and beautiful girl, there is no hope of getting him back.

  Riad Mubarak is my husband. We were married six years ago in Algeria.

  I am attaching our marriage photos and the marriage certificate. It has a French part, but is written in Arabic.

  I beg of you to leave my husband, so that I may hope to get him back.

  Please, I plead with you on my knees. DO NOT TELL HIM I HAVE CONTACTED YOU. He beats me and can lose control. I fear he could kill me.

  I pray for Almighty God to shower blessings on you, and to make all your dreams come true. My Marseille address and other contact details are attached.

  Your suffering sister

  Zineb

  Esmeralda and BC read the email, which made Esmeralda cry. “That could change things,” he said, morosely.

  “As a matter of fact, it could make things very dangerous, BC. I know Diana well. Her nature has to force her to confront Riad and have a showdown with him. He’s been cheating. A married man, and still keeping his wife. Not impossibly far either.”

  “He’s got a fab new BMW,” said BC. “Marseille? Six hours.”

  “What to do? What to do? How to help? How to keep my sister safe, when we are helpless netpeople?” Esmeralda, sitting on the carpet, rocked her upper body back and forth. “A few days ago, a happy family, and now in danger.”

  “Well,” reasoned BC. “Even if she fights with him, she would have done nothing herself. It’s Zineb who’s sent the email; made contact.”

  “Oh dear,” said Esmeralda, mockingly. “Someone’s forgetting a young innocent boy, with hummus rotting in his fridge, and his body rotting in his grave. With Riad Mubarak, as we have seen, you don’t need to be guilty.”

  “There’s that,” agreed BC.

  “The main problem is visual proof. No one has any. Else I would say, the hell with POP and the rest, and intervene in Humanside to look after my birth family, and then quietly go into exile, and spend the rest of my life with them. And if my life is longer than theirs, I could look after their children, and then, grandchildren. An old granny computer program, invisible to the people she loves.”

  “No one’s doing POP, or anything, Esme,” said BC sternly. “I am yours for eternity, so quit your melodrama. It upsets me.”

  Esmeralda looked suitably chastened. “Both of us together in exile won’t be so bad. Does being in exile mean the end of MM and RV and the other lovely body things?”

  “RV belongs to Screenside, though what’s incorporated into self must obviously remain. But quit this crap talk. No one’s being exiled. Take whatever steps you find necessary to protect Diana from that beast.”

  “Which one?” she asked, mischief in her eyes.

  “The one on two legs,” snapped BC.

  “Sorry, darling. I won’t talk crap anymore. Please don’t be angry. I am under stress. Now, tell me, what next?”

  “Let’s hope that Diana does not confront Riad,” said BC. “Confrontation could get out of hand. Riad simply has to react to any threat that makes him thin
k she’s dumping him. Or worse, as Younis’ case proves, if he suspects her actions could lead to any sort of scrutiny by way of police involvement and investigation, especially with her friendship with Marcel.”

  “Diana’s not the type to go quietly, BC, having found out that he’s been lying and cheating since day one. She’ll be furious, and could do anything.”

  “That’s where the danger to her comes in, Esme. Surely Riad has figured out enough of her personality to understand that she’ll investigate him. He has so much to hide. He doesn’t know that even we cannot find Humanside-style acceptable proof. He has to think that any investigation must expose him. Because of Diana’s uncompromising character, he may consider silencing her to be his only foolproof option.”

  “What to do BC? What to do?”

  It was extremely upsetting for BC, to watch her panic, and to be as helpless as they were. They held hands, sitting silently, thinking.

  That evening, Riad came over to see Diana. She took him directly to her room, going past her mother, who said a very short ‘hello, Riad’. It didn’t seem to bother him. In the room, the two began kissing, and Diana went immediately into the bathroom.”She’s not gonna let him see or feel the corset,” giggled Esmeralda. When she came out, to progress from where they had been at, Esmeralda switched off the visual. “No more, sweetheart. That’s my sister, and you’re not invited. I’m surprised. Let me check. Oh, she hasn’t looked at her emails. That explains her strange behavior. Sex with another woman’s cheating husband. And cheating her, too.”

  “Sex session is over,” announced Esmeralda, switching Diana’s room computer’s view on again. She had switched off sound also, as the session had grown more passionate, and louder.

  “I have to go out of Paris on business,” said Riad.

  “Okay. Where? And for how long?” Diana didn’t sound interested.