Purple People

by Kate Bulpitt

  The girls tipped forward.

  ‘Nothing,’ said Helena. ‘No visible puncture wound.’

  ‘Maybe there,’ Eve pointed at a tiny red speck.

  ‘Mm, maybe,’ said Helena.

  ‘He’s not very Purple,’ said Womble.

  ‘It takes at least six hours,’ snapped Rory.

  ‘We know that,’ said Eve.

  Rory scowled at her, before concluding, ‘Which is why I need to leave, get an antidote.’

  ‘You’ll be lucky, sunshine,’ said Helena.

  ‘I still don’t understand how they wouldn’t feel it,’ said Eve. She turned to Rory. ‘Did you feel anything?’

  Rory grunted.

  ‘For someone who’s been Turning other people, you’re being very grumpy about it,’ said Helena. ‘After all, do unto others…’

  ‘Just shut up all of you, and get me…’

  Rory’s satellite link-up was down again. Eve and Duncan glanced at one another, and she giggled.

  ‘Get me out of here!’ said Rory. ‘It’s illegal for you to hold me like this.’

  ‘It’s illegal for you to try to Turn me without good reason, I think you’ll find,’ said Eve.

  Rory banged his head frustratedly against the table, and then flinched. ‘Given the circumstances, I’m pretty sure it would be allowed. There are people who’ll have you locked up for this. People high up.’

  ‘Really?’ said Eve. ‘I’d be amazed if anyone seriously thought they’d be able to keep the lid on all this. After all, you’d have to get to them before we can release our story and get to everyone else, and given your present position, I’d say you’re a bit too tied up to manage that.’

  ‘So you want to put the safety of the British people at stake?’ Rory asked.

  ‘That old chestnut,’ said Helena.

  ‘It’s very obviously in the best interests of the people,’ said Rory. ‘You’re just being stubborn if you can’t see it. This scheme has made the streets safer, made people feel safer, made criminals and hooligans think twice about their behaviour – isn’t that worth keeping quiet for?’

  Womble gazed across the table at Eve and Helena.

  ‘You agree with me,’ Rory told him.

  Womble peered at the dart, as Helena placed it on a tray next to the operating table.

  ‘You can’t still think this is right,’ she said to Womble.

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe not the method, but…’

  They exchanged an unwavering glance.

  ‘Now then,’ said Eve, ‘we’ve got nearly five hours at least before he starts to Turn. I think I may have a quite nifty idea.’

  *

  When he arrived at the surgery, Bob was absolutely beside himself. ‘This is beyond my wildest imagination,’ he said.

  ‘Who knew there was such a thing,’ Helena whispered to Eve.

  Bob set up a tripod in the corner of the room.

  Eve stood next to Rory. ‘So, here’s what’s going to happen. Bob is going to film pretty much everything that happens from now on.’

  Bob gave an enthusiastic thumbs up.

  ‘You’re going to partake in a chat – an interview, if you will – giving a detailed account, explaining exactly how people have been Turned. So everyone knows, straight from a horse’s mouth, what’s been going on.’

  ‘I’ve got no reason to help you. I am completely committed to the Purple Initiative. I’ll say nothing. And then what have you got? Fanciful theories with no proof. From someone well known for silly stories.’

  Harsh, thought Eve.

  ‘We’ve got the cigarette thing.’

  ‘How can you prove what it is without using it again? I don’t suppose any of you want to be Purple.’

  What other evidence did they have? There was no concrete link to InTan, and even if there were, Eve couldn’t betray Carla De Lora’s confidence. Announcing that she’d been threatened for investigating would be her word against the government’s, and if anyone did believe her, the powers that be would just proclaim the incident as a security-related and justified muzzling of the press. She couldn’t prove Womble had been approached without being able to identify the man who’d contacted him. And though Frankie seemed to be on their side, even if he was willing to jeopardise his job, he didn’t have any light-shedding facts he could share. The faux fag was all they had.

  Helena broke the silence. ‘Turn me,’ she said.

  ‘Hel, don’t,’ said Womble, horrified.

  ‘If that’s what we need to do…’ she replied.

  ‘I don’t think you should,’ said Duncan. ‘Who knows what will happen after this? There’s no guarantee you’ll get Turned back…’

  Helena shrugged. ‘I can take that chance.’ She picked up the cigarette, and shooting Rory a look of defiance, handed it to Eve. ‘Here you go, Evie. I’d guess there’s more than one in there. Hit me with your best shot.’

  Eve had a light hold on the device, her fingertips hovering over Helena’s still outstretched hand. ‘There has to be another way,’ she said.

  ‘Good luck with that,’ said Rory.

  Bob was busy tinkering with camera angles, humming as he did so. Trying to recognise the song, Eve played a subconscious game of Name That Tune while she mulled over their options; she was pretty sure it was an old record called ‘Turning Japanese’ by the Vapors.

  ‘Got it!’ she said. ‘Hels, didn’t you say you’ve got a package of the tranquilliser that had been recalled?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Have you sent it back yet?’

  Helena smiled, letting the ‘cigarette’ drop back onto her palm. ‘No.’

  ‘So we could give Rory a dose, couldn’t we? See how he finds it.’

  ‘Oh dear,’ said Bob, ‘the side effects with that are supposed to be really something. I’ll bet what was reported isn’t even the half of it. They said first there’s euphoria and hallucinations, then vomiting and diarrhoea…’

  ‘Followed by sweating and shaking,’ said Helena.

  ‘And in some cases, permanent paralysis,’ said Bob.

  ‘You wouldn’t dare,’ said Rory.

  ‘Try me,’ said Eve.

  ‘Fine. Go ahead. I’m not telling you anything.’

  Helena nodded. ‘It’s your choice,’ she said, then left the room.

  Rory’s head and shoulders bobbed up and down violently as he tried to shake himself free, and the table began to wobble.

  ‘Maybe he needs another tie across there. I’ll go and see if I can find one,’ said Duncan, leaving the room.

  ‘I’ve told you,’ said Rory, ‘I’m not saying anything. Do you realise just what you’re jeopardising? One of the most effective crime control methods modern society has ever seen, and you want to expose its secrets? You want to help the scum?’

  ‘They’re not all scum.’

  ‘Most of them are. And you’re going to rue the day you did this. When you can’t walk down the street again in safety, think of this moment.’

  Eve and Womble locked eyes, considering this.

  Helena poked her head in the door, beckoning Eve into the corridor.

  ‘When you arrived, you didn’t notice a small brown box behind the reception desk, did you?’

  Eve shook her head. ‘By the time I reached reception I was a bit preoccupied.’

  ‘Hm.’ Helena wandered away.

  ‘Aren’t we going to be on a sticky wicket if we do this?’ Womble whispered to Eve as she re-entered the room. ‘Holding someone against their will, particularly a person who’s a government agent, or whatever he counts as – isn’t this kidnapping, or something?’

  ‘I would think the police will have other things to worry about, given that we now know the crux of what they don’t want us to know. We’ve got a pretty good bargaining chip.’

  ‘What if he’s right? What if we do regret this? You know how I feel about the Purple Scheme.’

  ‘But you’re here.’

  ‘Because of you, and H
elena, and… Look, I think it works. I think the good it does can outweigh the bad. I know you’re doubtful, especially since what happened to Duncan, but you weren’t entirely against it before, were you? You’ve wanted to know how they do it, and now you do. But does everyone else need to? If we do this, it’s ruined.’

  Eve turned to Bob. ‘Could we borrow you for a second?’

  ‘I know what you’re talking about!’ crowed Rory. ‘You’re seeing sense, aren’t you? You know I’m right.’

  ‘Pipe down,’ said Eve.

  Bob joined them, now a whispering circle. Down the corridor there was a thud and a ‘dammit’ from Helena.

  ‘Bob, do you think the Purple Scheme is right or wrong?’

  ‘I know it gets results, and it targets those who deserve to be punished.’ He looked at Eve. ‘Mostly, anyway. But I don’t agree with the way they’ve gone about it, or how they’re doing it, that’s wrong. It’s unjust, undemocratic.’

  ‘But is it unjust, really?’ asked Womble.

  ‘I’ll re-phrase the question,’ said Eve. ‘Is what we’re doing here right or wrong? If the Purple Scheme implodes because of us, will we regret it?’

  ‘Well,’ said Bob, ‘do we have to make that decision now? We’ll be armed with the information, we can do what we want with it. We’ll be ready to negotiate, and we’ll have the upper hand over the governmental dark forces, won’t we?’

  ‘Found it, finally.’ Helena returned with a cardboard box, and began unsealing the packing tape. She clocked them huddled together. ‘What are you three talking about?’

  ‘They know what they’re doing is wrong!’ said Rory.

  ‘Zip it, Chatty Cathy,’ said Eve. She turned to Helena. ‘What if we are wrong?’

  ‘Would you say that to Duncan?’

  Eve closed her eyes. For all the bad eggs banished from the streets, deterred by being Turned or the fear of it, could that justify people like Duncan – kind, unwitting, in the wrong place at the wrong time – or those committing increasingly minor offences, like the boy who’d dropped the crisp packet – from being collateral? Could the questionable good that came out of this qualify the bad? If she believed so, what had her investigation been about – simply solving the mystery, being the riddle-busting, news-making gal who could? Or proving her sleuthing-ness while also genuinely wanting to protect and de-lilac Duncan?

  Helena took a bottle filled with clear liquid from inside the box, and filled a syringe with it.

  ‘Right,’ she said, ‘shall we start?’

  ‘Hel, we should be sure about this…’ said Womble.

  ‘Think carefully about what you want to do here,’ Helena told him. ‘Now, shall I?’

  There were quick, shared glances around the room. Eve nodded.

  ‘Okay,’ said Womble, conflicted, but looking Helena in the eye.

  ‘She won’t do it,’ said Rory.

  ‘Really?’ said Helena.

  ‘Argh!’ Rory let out a scream as Helena stuck the needle in his arm. Her thumb was on the plunger, ready to inject the liquid. ‘Alright, alright,’ he said, ‘I’ll talk.’

  Bob hit Record.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  They all sat around the kitchen table: Eve, Womble, Helena, Bob and Duncan, plus the recently arrived Annie and Magnus. Rory was on the sofa, still tied up, and thankfully, due to a sneakily administered sleeping tablet, snoring quietly. He was also now quite Purple.

  Eve had explained the day’s events to Annie and Magnus, who had then watched the parts of Bob’s video which most clearly showed Rory’s change in colour. Duncan had winced at this, but the others, despite having already seen it happen once before their eyes, watched again, still agog. Patches of Rory’s skin began to slowly change shade, his pale olive tone giving way to islands of a very slight, light mauve, which gradually darkened as it spread, the pools of colour merging into one another, like continents colliding on a map. From initial blotches to top to toe colour took four hours.

  Duncan had squeezed Eve’s hand as they watched.

  ‘Incredible,’ said Annie.

  ‘He was rather reluctant to give us any information,’ said Eve.

  ‘Despite the threats of the dodgy tranquilliser,’ said Womble, looking in his wife’s direction.

  ‘But eventually he realised resistance was futile,’ said Helena.

  ‘And he – very belligerently – answered all my questions,’ said Eve. ‘So, we have gathered that aside from police and military personnel, the scheme recruits sympathetic members of the public, who are given multiple assessments, background checks, and then six months’ training – part-time, that is, so as not to arouse suspicion. They’re then armed with these ‘cigarettes’, wear a barely detectable camera which films every altercation they witness and is later used as the primary source of evidence. More often than not – Rory was being particularly grumpy at this point, so we couldn’t get any definite figures out of him – but we think at least two thirds of incidents have a decoy dog, to make them less conspicuous. That way, they could be out anywhere, at any time of day or night, without bringing any attention to themselves.’

  ‘That is particularly clever, because really, who would look twice at someone with a dog and a fag?’ said Bob, begrudgingly impressed.

  ‘And also, using ordinary people… Folk may recognise their local police officers, or have an idea what a military type might look like, and if you were looking for an off-duty sort who might be out and about, that’s what you’d be thinking of. But recruiting a retired postman… of course he’s going to fly – or dog-walk – under the radar.’

  ‘It also explains the resurgence in cigarette advertising,’ said Magnus. ‘Supporting their cover, given what a decline there had been in smoking.’

  ‘But the thing is, what do we do next?‘ said Womble. ‘We’ve got Rory tied up, and that’s bad enough as it is, but we can’t hold onto him indefinitely, and as soon as we let him go, of course he’s going to tell the police, or whoever else he answers to, exactly what we’ve done and what we know. What if there are people he’s supposed to check in with? There could already be alarms going off that he’s not been heard from.’

  ‘We didn’t think about that until after the sleeping tablet,’ said Helena.

  ‘So we do need to come up with a plan pretty speedily,’ said Eve.

  ‘What would you like to do?’ Annie asked.

  ‘We want to request a halt in the Purple Scheme, pending further discussions – with police, psychologists, convicted criminals, victims’ support organisations, representatives from countries with lower crime rates than our own, whoever might have sensible input to give – about alternatives. We want those already Turned given a fair trial, or in some obvious cases, the charges against them dropped, and for everyone to be Re-Turned to normal. And to discuss this, we would like a meeting with the prime minister.’

  ‘You would like a meeting with the prime minister,’ said Womble.

  ‘Yes,’ Helena agreed. ‘This has all been down to you.’

  ‘Not quite,’ said Eve. ‘It was Bob who made the biggest discovery. And we had help from Magnus and —’ she stopped herself before she uttered Carla’s name. ‘Debs and Frankie helped with the ISON footage. And, weirdly, Simon…’

  ‘Enough, already,’ said Helena. ‘Just accept some credit. And as to that louse, Theo Fletcher…’

  Magnus smiled at this; he and Helena clinked mugs.

  ‘My guess is that he’d rather attempt to negotiate with us, or have some input or control over this, than have the video and my report available for everyone to see,’ said Eve. ‘We’ll give him a twelve-hour deadline, and if we don’t have a meeting by then, we release the details.’

  ‘I could help arrange that,’ said Annie.

  ‘You can’t do that,’ said Eve. ‘Surely the repercussions for you would be terrible.’

  ‘I could say we’d received a tip, and present it as an opportunity for him to intervene before this is m
ade public.’

  ‘You would do that for us?’ Eve asked. ‘Why?’

  ‘I may be officially impartial,’ said Annie, ‘and I really do believe Theo Fletcher is acting in good faith. But the scheme is very divisive, and it’s only going to get worse. Plus, even us strait-laced news broads like to be a bit unpredictable on occasion.’ She looked at Eve and winked. ‘I think Pam would be proud, don’t you?’

  ‘I can get Humane involved,’ said Magnus, ‘and I’m guessing that’s why you asked me to be here. I’m sure their lawyers will be eager to help, and it would be savvy to have a legal person coordinating the proceedings.’

  Eve nodded.

  Magnus paused. ‘I’m gobsmacked by what you’re doing here, but you shouldn’t undertake it lightly. Are you absolutely sure about this? A really bleak, worst case scenario would be that they won’t let you foil the scheme and stay anonymous. There are so many people who support the Purpleness, and you could become the figurehead for that being taken from them. You could be blamed for anything that happens – a rise in crime, retaliations by those Turned, all sorts of things – that’s seen to be the result of the Purple Scheme being forced to end. And that’s all aside from the shifty government bods, like the kind gent who gave you the bruise.’

  ‘You should think about that,’ said Duncan. ‘I’m not exactly happy with what’s happened to me, but I could be considered collateral damage.’

  Eve looked at him. ‘I don’t think that’s acceptable,’ she said. ‘And anyway, Magnus, you’re not suggesting we shouldn’t go to them at all, are you?’

  ‘I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it. I think you have an incredible opportunity here, but just be aware of what the consequences might be.’

  ‘You sound like Theo Fletcher,’ Helena teased.

  ‘Ouch,’ said Magnus.

  ‘Yes, you do need to be mindful of what might happen, consider all eventualities,’ said Annie. ‘I’m sure Magnus or some Humane reps can present this for you if you’d rather err on the side of caution.’

  ‘What do you think?’ Eve asked, looking around the table.

  Duncan said, ‘I think you should follow your instincts.’