Letting the World Burn

by Graham Dalton

  “One last time. Who the fuck do you work for?”“Vernon!” the man shouted.

  “It was Vernon! He...he hired me. Okay? Just let me live, please! Please!”

  I silently nodded. In my head, I knew it was that weasel Vernon. I didn't trust him from the moment I laid eyes on him. He knew that I was onto something. I wondered what other secrets that scum had.

  “Why does he want me dead?” I asked. I already knew the answer, but I wondered what this man would tell me. Maybe he would tell me something I didn't know. I doubted it, but it was worth a try.

  “I...I don't know,” he said. “He didn't tell me anything. He just gave me the money and told me to kill you if you came back here! I...don't know anything, else! Please, let me go!”

  I shouldn't have come here so soon. He would know that it was me who snuck into the school at night. Then again, I couldn't let a potential lead go cold. I had to act now if I was ever going to find her. My daughter needed me more than ever, and I would gladly march through hell to save her.

  “You have to believe me,” said the man. “Please, believe me!”

  I stood and nodded. “Oh, I believe you,” I said. Then, I shot him.

  I picked up both of their pistols. I could never have enough weapons these days. So, I slid each weapon into my trench coat and stepped out into the main office.

  I walked back to my car and hopped into the sedan. Vernon wanted me dead, and now I knew where he lived. I jammed my keys into the ignition and sped off. I was going to find out whatever else that bastard knew.

  Chapter 8

  Iarrived at Principal Vernon's house a short while later. The towering red-brick buildings of the mid-district shimmered from the full moon. A few teenagers covered in ink smoked a joint beside the cracked concrete steps.

  The mid-district was reserved for people like Vernon and me. We were middle-class Commoners, those who worked directly under the Elites. Often, we basically had to sell our integrity to move up in the world. At least, we weren't living in the lower districts. I'd rather be dead than live in the lower districts again.

  I groaned. I'd gotten lost in thought about them. Now, my stomach churned. My insides urged for a swig of liquor. While sitting there for a few more moments, I released a hefty sigh. I glanced back at the building. Anna was out there, and I was going to save her. I knew that I had to be so close to saving her.

  Then, I hopped out of my car. I walked into the building, crossed through a set of hallways, and climbed a spiral set of stairs until I reached his apartment. I knocked on his door. There was no answer. I knocked again. Still no answer. This man, Vernon, he knew about these kidnappings. That piece of filth could be my clue to finding Anna.

  I thrust my foot into the door, bursting it open, and stepped inside.

  The whole apartment was immaculate, from the shimmering steel countertops to the pristine mahogany floors. Pure white walls, the kind that would look more at home in a hospital, surrounded me. A TV plastered ahead of me was tuned to a news broadcast showing videos of another riot.

  I took another step ahead and heard a man's voice cry out. I tilted my head toward the right and saw Principal Vernon standing there in a black robe with his lips hugging a smoldering cigarette.

  “The hell are you doing here?” Vernon asked.

  “I don't like liars,” I said as I stepped up to him. I pulled the cigarette from his lips, pushed him into the wall, grabbed my gun, and jammed the revolver into his mouth. “I told you not to fuck with me. So, I'll ask again. What do you know about Laura's disappearance?” I pulled the gun back.

  “I told you all I know,” Vernon said, twitching, as I held him back against the wall. “Please, don't hurt me! I...told you everything! I swear!”

  “I told you, I don't like liars,” I said, as I jammed the smoldering end of the cigarette into his right eye. He screamed as he struggled against my grip. I wrapped my hand around his lips. “I'll ask one last time. What do you know about Laura's disappearance?”

  He swallowed hard. “I don't know who they are!” he said. I dropped him, and he fell to his knees, weeping pathetically. “But they pay us not to ask questions.”

  “Who's ‘they’?” I asked. I took a drag of the cigarette.

  “There are these three men in black suits who visit the school and pay me to give away the child's information,” he said. “They...they watch over all of us. They tell me if I don't comply they'll hurt me....please, I'm telling you all I know!”

  “They pay you,” I said, grunting. “I bet you'd slit your mother's throat for a quarter.” I spat in his face and took another drag off the cigarette. “These children have parents, families. There are people who care about them, and you're just letting those bastards walk all over you.”

  “They scare me,” Vernon squealed.

  I jammed my pistol into his mouth. “You let those bastards take that little girl. For what? Did you do it for the money, or did you do it because you're a spineless coward?” I pulled the pistol out of his mouth. “Start talking. Tell me everything you know.”

  “I don't know Laura,” he said. “I...don't know. Those Elites…I don’t know what they want with those kids.”

  “Elites?” I said. This still didn't make sense to me. “What would bunch of Elites want with some Commoner kid?”

  “I don't know what they want, but if I don't do what they tell me, they'll kill me.”

  “You sold your own students out,” I said. “People paid you to kidnap students. You're more pathetic than I thought.” I flicked the cigarette at his face. “Know anything else about them?” I asked, pointing the gun at his forehead.

  “I told you all I know,” he said. “I just told you. I think those people are Elites. They give me these papers, these tests for the students. All the kids take them when they're old enough, and then, I give the papers back to those men. They take a few of the kids. I don't know why or what they're doing with them. Please, you have to believe me. That is all I know.” For the first time, I believed him. His words were genuine.

  This man wasn't the head of some big child abduction case. No, he was a puppet at the lowest end of this operation.

  “So, how many kids have gone missing?” I asked him. “A few dozen? A hundred?”

  “This has been going on since before I became principal,” he said. “Everyone at the school knows about it, but nobody talks about it. It's an unspoken rule.” He lowered his head. “They've taken about a couple dozen kids since I got the job about a year ago. Please, please, please, don't kill me!”

  A part of me was almost excited to find out this was such a large conspiracy. Certainly, my daughter had to be involved in some way. I would be one step closer to finding her after all this time. Anna was only six went she went missing, just like these other students and just like Laura. There must be a connection, and I knew that, for the first time in the past year, I was on the right trail. This wouldn't be a case that would go cold. I would find Anna.

  “Who's their next victim?” I asked. “When are they going to strike?”

  The principal shook his head. “I don't know.” I groaned and clasped a hand around his thick, meaty neck. “I...I...don't know.”

  I wasn't having this. He was lying again. I could see it in the way he shifted his eyes back and forth. I told myself I would find Anna. I would make the principal talk. I squeezed tighter around his neck. He choked and flailed. Scum like him deserved no mercy. I couldn’t begin to fathom how many children had gone missing under his watch.

  “Tomorrow!” he squealed.

  I released my grip, smiling briefly yet again. “What time?”

  “They always come after school,” he said. “I don't know who their next target is, though.”

  Another lie. I'd seen those documents and files that he kept in his cabinet. There were dozens of students’ folders. My guess was that each of those folders was reserved for a kidnapped child. He knew the next target, and I’d have to make this pathetic weasel tal
k. I smashed a foot into his side, and he sobbed softly, still sitting there on the floor.

  “If you lie one more goddamn time,” jamming my gun back against his head, “I will blow your fucking brains out. Understood?”

  “Jack Carter,” he said. “They want Jack Carter.”

  He was telling the truth again. I knew my next goal, my next objective.

  “Just please, please don't hurt me!” he said.

  He was so pathetic that shooting him would probably be doing him a favor. I slid my gun into my jacket and swung around.

  “I probably don't need to tell you this,” I said, “but keep your damn mouth shut. If you tell any of your Elite friends that I was here today, I will fucking kill you, and don't send any hit men to try and kill me again.” I walked off, slamming the door behind me.

  I returned to my apartment some time later and sat on the couch. I still wondered why this was all happening. If Elites were behind all of this, what was their motive? Most of the time, Elites didn't give a shit what Commoners did. The Commoners just accepted their role in society and did their jobs. They lived their short, meaningless lives until they died and became nothing. That was just how it was. What would Elites want with a bunch of Commoner kids? This just didn't make any sense.

  I stepped into my kitchen and reached into the liquor cabinet. I pulled out a bottle of rum and took two gulps before setting it back. Then I leaned against the cabinet. It was so quiet. Most of the time, I enjoyed the silence, but now, it just made me feel hollow. Maybe it was because I was finally close to getting my daughter back. The thought of seeing Anna again made me crack another smile.

  I looked around and realized I was still alone. I groaned, but there was nothing I could do about the case until tomorrow. I just needed something to take the edge off, and could feel this urge inside of me. There was this yearning that I had, and then my stomach churned. I felt sick. I hated when I got this way.

  I needed a distraction. I decided to go down to The Iron Goddess, that strip club where Mona worked. It reminded me so much of my wife that it was almost unreal. It was exactly what I needed right now. If I felt myself inside of it, that would surely take the edge off. I took another drink of rum and was off.

  I drove a few blocks to the club. First thing I did when I arrived was to drown my sorrows in whiskey.

  Neon pink lights flashed naked silhouettes around the scarlet walls. Synthetic whores danced to a slow, seductive rhythm. Those robots pulsated and gyrated on thick, greased poles while they moaned and undid their tight, thin fabric. A pleasurebot danced in front of me, flapping its bare breasts to the music. It groaned and reached a hand toward its synthetic genitals

  This place wasn't my style, but I needed to unwind a little. I wanted to see Mona, bring it back to my apartment, and have it pleasure me. There was only so much I could do until tomorrow anyway, but I didn't see that prostitute. I glanced to my left and saw a man with pruned skin tossing dollar bills at the robot with his gnarled hands. His saggy face was blotched with bumpy liver spots. To my right, I saw a few teenage boys who'd probably gotten in with fake IDs. They laughed as they tossed a few hundred dollar bills at a robot inked with black tattoos in the shape of a phoenix. Those kids wore pristine suits ironed to smooth perfection. Their hands were adorned with dozens of jeweled rings. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they were Elite children who lived off pleasure and luxury.

  Then, I saw Mona, as it danced out onto the stage, undoing its bra, exposing its breasts to the public. It rubbed against the pole, groaning, as it wrapped its legs around the steel pole, sliding down. A couple of the boys tossed some bills its way, and then its eyes met mine. My loins begged for it, urging me to have my way with it.

  I still couldn't believe how much it looked like my wife. I stared at it, awestruck, as it kept sliding up and down on the pole. It looked so much like Alice.

  I glanced at the kids who laughed and threw bills at it. I scrunched my face. I hated to see it expose itself to all these random nobodies. Tonight, I was going to buy it, and it would be all mine. It wouldn't be exposing itself to a bunch of spoiled Elite children and creepy old men. I was going to take it home.

  I crossed the room and stepped up beside the stage where it was. Mona stopped and giggled, looking down at me. It rubbed its fingers against its oiled breasts and laughed.

  “So, you decided to show up after all,” it said.

  “How 'bout you and I get out of here?” I said, reaching for my wallet. “This damn music's making my fucking ears bleed.”

  It laughed and rolled its eyes. “You sure know how to be charming,” it said.

  I turned toward the kids who were a few feet to my left and snarled. “You don't need to go around exposing yourself like this, not tonight. C'mon.” I pulled out my wallet. “Name your price.”

  It stepped off the stage and rubbed a finger against my chin.

  “Two hundred,” it said.

  “Deal,” I said.

  “Oh, baby,” it said. “Let me get ready, darling. I'll be out soon.”

  It walked past the Elite teenagers. One of those shitty kids slapped a hand across its ass.

  “You little shit,” I muttered beneath my breath.

  I turned away from them and watched Mona walk off into a back room. It made my heart skip a beat, and I could feel this warmth inside of me. It was just like Alice. Maybe tonight, I'd make myself call it ‘my wife’. It would go along with me. After all, they were programmed to go along with anything. They couldn't say “no,” and they couldn't object to any twisted thing that someone asked them to do.

  As I waited, I watched some more strippers dance away. They looked so beautiful and exotic, but they weren't like Mona.

  I drove back to my place with it in the passenger seat as it caressed my pants. We drove a few blocks, and I sped past a stop sign on my way. I wanted to be with it so bad.

  We stepped into my apartment, and immediately went at it. She did everything to me, and we did everything once again. Looking at it in the moonlight was unreal. From her long, blonde hair to her thick, rounded hips, I was smitten. I thrust myself into her, and she moaned. She still reminded me of Alice with the way she quivered as we made love. I called it Alice as I kept pushing myself inside of her. I pretended that she was my wife. Several minutes later, I finished.

  I lay beside it in my bed, naked. It sighed, rolled over, and hopped onto its feet. Mona stepped up to my window and stared longingly at the street. It sighed again. Something was amiss. Pleasurebots never felt regret. They never felt sorrow.

  They were built for one thing and one thing only, pleasure. That's all they were good for.

  “Something the matter?” I asked. It stared out my window, frowning. Maybe if I could cheer it up, it would get back to pleasing me.

  “I'm fine,” it said. “I've just been doing a lot of thinking lately.” It leaned forward, and I crossed over to it. “Sometimes, our master lets us out on the town for a little bit. He thinks that human interaction is important for our cognitive development so that we can be as real as possible.”

  “And what's your point?” I asked.

  “I see some happy people with the freedom to do what they want when they want,” it said. “But I'm just a machine. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of being a program. I want to have my own business. I always wanted to run my own bar.”

  “But you'll never be able to,” I said, shrugging. “You're not human. You're just a machine.”

  I walked over to my dresser, grabbed a cigarette out of a carton, and lit it with a silver lighter lying there. Then, I rolled open the windows and huffed away into the night.

  “But I want to be human,” it said.

  “Don't want something you'll never get,” I said, taking another drag from the cigarette as I leaned against the dresser. “Then, you'll never be happy.”

  It snapped its head toward me. “How can you be so mean?”

  I rolled my eyes in annoyance. I didn't pay f
or this. I didn’t pay to hear about its issues. It kept talking about how it wanted to feel alive and how it dreamed of seeing the world someday. I leaned back as it spoke but didn't listen. It was oddly comforting to feel its presence.

  “This isn't right,” it said, turning around. “I want to have rights like a human, like you.”

  Robots were just robots. They didn't deserve the same

  rights as people. They were property to be bought and sold. Mona was nothing more than a collection of synthetic pieces meant to resemble a real person. A part of me thought about mentioning its recent defects to its master, but I didn't care enough to do that.

  Maybe, this was a mistake. I never should've taken it home. There was something off about it. It was becoming too self-aware. I was certain that she would be disposed of soon enough. Whenever a pleasurebot became too self-aware, it was destroyed, and a new hooker would take its place.

  “How much money will it take for you to shut up?” I asked. I reached behind me for my wallet. I slid out a hundred dollar bill and handed it over.

  It snatched the bill from my hand and then glared down at the money, staring. “But this isn't my money. It's his. I work for free.”

  “That's just the way the world works,” I said, walking over to it.

  I brushed my lips against it, and it kissed back. I pushed it onto the bed, and we had sex again. As I thrust up against it, the pain of the world seemed to evaporate.

  I awoke the next morning with it lying beside me, hand rubbing against my chest. Again, it made me think of my wife. I remembered the days that Alice and I would cuddle all day, never leaving this bed. We'd snuggle, lock lips, and fool around. I lay there now with Mona behind me. I reminisced about those old days, back when Alice was still healthy and full of life. Sometimes, I wished that I could have one more day to spend with Alice. If I did have that one day, we'd spend all day in bed, watching TV. God, I missed those days.

  Sunlight shimmered through my windows, blinding me as I rolled up onto my feet. I stepped into my hallway, and stared into Anna's bedroom. I sighed and thought to myself. I'm coming for you, Anna, I told myself as I stepped foot into her room. I thought about her some more and kept telling myself that I was going to find her.