Pornopsychedelica

by Chris Johnson

  'Look at the octopus,' she said, pointing to it and laughing. A moray eel poked its head out from behind the television.

  She stood, turned around and fell back onto the sofa. Poppy was on her hands and knees, naked, her back arched because an octopus had hold of her wrists and was pulling on her arms. Tentacles wrapped around her waist. A suckered tentacle reached between her legs. The fleshy body quivered and huge eyes reflected the dim light in the room.

  Teja closed her eyes for what seemed only few seconds, but when she opened them she could see a crab scuttling across the floor and Poppy was sat next to her, her tongue exploring her mouth. She tasted different to Tomoko, different to Vanaja.

  Tomoko always kissed slowly, moving her lips against hers, fingers touching her ear, her neck. She wondered if Tomoko would kiss her differently now, after she'd been repaired.

  She felt her eyes change to yellow, her pupils elongate to black slits. It happened when she was completely relaxed. Gentech called it going gekko. Poppy moaned, then she was pulling back, screaming, running toward the arch that led to the kitchen.

  'Where you going?' asked Teja. She rolled off the sofa, on her knees when a dark shape appeared in the doorway and Poppy dropped to the floor.

  Teja laughed, she couldn't help it. 'Is she okay?'

  Tomoko entered the room. 'She'll be fine. What are you wearing?'

  24

  Simulacrum

  Teja had once seen a simulant get eaten by a tiger. Not eaten whole, just chewed up a little, mostly around the throat and part of the left thigh.

  The young simulants had been on a trip to Gopalpur, to swim in the Bay of Bengal. They'd taken an Airstream rotor from New Delhi and had stopped over at Bhanjanagar. It was rare for them to have two days away from their nine-hour lessons, usually only having Sunday as a break, when they could do nothing or play games in the compound. She'd swum to a platform, floating about thirty yards off the beach, sitting there with her feet in the water and looking back at the forest.

  It had been just after lunch when the tiger had run out of the bushes and attacked Nisha, puncturing her throat with its fangs so that she drowned in her own blood. Teja had swum back to the beach with the other sims, though by the time they had reached her, Nisha was dead and the guards were trying to calm the sims who had been on the beach and seen it happen.

  Ajay Ganesh, the police officer called to the scene by a family playing further up the beach, had said, 'They emptied the zoo about six weeks ago, just let the animals go. It must be one of the tigers from there. I can't do anything about this, you'll have to remove it yourself. It's like calling me out to look at a dead dog.' The Gentech guard had just shaken the officer's hand, said, 'We would never have called you ourselves. We can take care of this. Sorry for the inconvenience.'

  Teja always thought that seeing that tiger tearing at Nisha's throat would set her up for sudden shocks in later life. If she could sit on that platform looking at the forest and remain relatively calm while a tiger killed one of her friends, then she could probably handle anything and stay in control. As far as she could tell, despite the drugs altering her perception of the artist's apartment, seeing Tomoko appear out of nowhere and Poppy Jay fall to the floor was no different to seeing that tiger.

  She watched Tomoko picking up one of the spent ampoules, smelling it. Tomoko moved slowly across the room, passing the artist in the middle of the floor, waving all eight of his arms. She was wearing close-fitting black pants, black T-shirt, protective body armour like Teja had seen the cops wearing on TV. Guns in black holsters.

  Tomoko said, 'Are you okay?'

  'I'm fine.'

  'Then let's get to work.'

  'How much time do we have?'

  'Not much. You'll need some clothes.'

  'There are some in the bedroom.'

  'I might need you to adapt again. Think you could do that?'

  'To do what?'

  Tomoko ripped a gun from a Velcro strap. 'This is a Ruger semi-automatic. The magazine holds ten rounds.' Tomoko released the magazine, showed it to her, slid it back into the weapon's grip. 'Magazine catch. Safety. Slide. Trigger. Point and shoot. Bang. You got it?'

  'Are you asking me to kill people?'

  'You might have to.'

  'I can't do that.'

  They got Poppy Jay to her feet and dragged her to the sofa, sleeping for all Teja could tell. She had a tattoo of a bunny on her left breast, Teja wondering why she hadn't noticed that before. The bunny winked at her and hopped onto the curve of Poppy's hip. The clothes Teja wore came from the bedroom, but she wasn't sure how she found them, or when she'd put them on. A red bra one size too small, a leather jacket with Hard Rock Café Puerto Rico on the back, a skirt with an elasticised waistband.

  Tomoko was laughing as she moved to Fernandez.

  Teja said, 'What?'

  'You look like a hooker.'

  'You think I should -'

  'No time. Let's get Fernandez,' said Tomoko. 'Look at him, he's out of his head.'

  Fernandez wrapped a tentacle around Teja's leg, working it up the inside of her thigh. The limbs on his octopus outfit seemed to have a life of their own.

  Fernandez said, 'Look at the crazy fish.'

  They got him to his feet and dragged him to the kitchen portal. Tomoko found the light switch and they made their way to the glass doors of the balcony. It was warm out here, away from the air-conditioned apartment. A carpet of city lights below.

  'Hold him,' said Tomoko.

  She pressed an icon on her phone and a drone appeared at the balcony, twin rotors humming, multiple appendages hanging down, making it look like a giant wasp against the night sky. It passed Tomoko a harness. They sat Fernandez on the floor while they strapped him in, got him back to his feet and pushed him over the balcony. He swung for a moment then eventually settled under the drone. It extended another arm and passed Tomoko the metal briefcase Teja had seen Tomoko carrying before.

  Teja said, 'Are we flying too?' She watched the machine disappear, Fernandez underneath it, steadied in those raptorial appendages.

  'It can only carry one. You ready?'

  They were walking past the bar with the fake banana leaves, down the dark passageway with the mirrored walls. Teja caught her reflection, saw a woman there with a deep gash on her forehead. Something moved inside her skull, like a coiled, glistening worm.

  'Hey, come on.'

  Tomoko pulled gently on her fingers, guiding her to the open door. Teja remembered the corridor from when she'd first arrived with Fernandez and Poppy Jay, the man with the broad shoulders who'd escorted them to the artist's apartment. Now he was running toward them, shouting something, reaching under his coat. Tomoko pulled out a gun and fired, two shots closely spaced on his chest, then a third that left liquid pouring from the hole where an eye had been. Teja felt a desire to run, anywhere, somewhere safe, and Tomoko seemed to know, pushing her into an alcove and motioning for her to stay there.

  Tomoko slipped back into a facing alcove. The gun had disappeared and Tomoko had in her hand an eighteen- inch knife. Teja heard voices, quick steps coming up the corridor and moved her hand to her mouth as the drug sent cold blood to the surface of her skin, prickling between her thighs and the back of her neck. Tomoko balanced on her toes, the knife held low. Then she moved with such speed, Teja had no chance to prepare herself, Tomoko spinning, the blade a shimmering blur whipping toward the small lump at the front of a man's throat.

  He seemed to lift an inch off the floor, his head rolling through the air. And before the head had hit the carpet, Tomoko had thrown the knife down and stepped out into the corridor. She grabbed hold of the man's shirt to keep him balanced for the few seconds it took her to open fire on the three guards running up behind him. She let him go and slipped back into the alcove.

  'Come on,' said Tomoko. She holstered the gun, picked up the briefcase and took Teja's hand, pulling her down the corridor. Two men slumped against the wall, another lying on his
back. Tomoko jabbed the elevator call button. They waited a few seconds. Tomoko jabbed the button again, looking down the corridor at the people coming out of their apartments to see what the noise had been. The elevator arrived and Tomoko put the case inside, laying it flat.

  'We need the elevator to reach the basement level after we do.' She pressed several floor buttons on the panel, the last one marked Car Park Level 1. 'We're catching the freight elevator.'

  'Pretty lights,' said Teja, leaning against the wall. She felt dizzy, the drug pumping adrenalin and euphoriants.

  They were running, barely making a sound, Teja in her bare feet, past men in pyjamas, a few in boxers, a woman in a pink babydoll nightdress. The freight elevator had a funny smell, oil and bad fruit. There was an old white man in the corner.

  'You're not supposed to be in this elevator,' he said. 'Don't reckon that matters to you.' Arthritic fingers held a broom handle. 'They'll be waiting.'

  'I know,' said Tomoko.

  The man just nodded, staying in the corner when they reached the basement and the doors opened. Grey concrete down here, low ceiling, square pillars and cars parked in bays outlined with white paint.

  Teja ran her fingers through her hair, feeling like dancing naked in the beams of the three cars speeding down the ramp from the high street. 'Who are they?'

  'This is Travis.'

  Four men got out of each car, leaving the doors open. They all wore dark suits and black ties, except one guy who wore a jogging outfit and blue sneakers.

  A bald black man bent to a wing mirror to check his trimmed beard, seemed happy with it and straightened.

  'No-win situation. Would you agree, Tomoko?'

  The men lined up across the carpark. Tomoko scratched the tip of her nose.

  'Somebody always has to win, Travis. Did Peter tell you to bring three cars?'

  'We just happened to be passing.'

  'You got here fast.'

  'We catch you by surprise?'

  The elevator opened behind them, chimed a little tune.

  Tomoko said, 'No.'

  The top of the briefcase revolved. Metal parts opened and connected. When Travis turned to look, there was something there that resembled a huge spider, scurrying out of the elevator, around the back of a Perodua 4X4. Teja could hear its metal feet tapping on the ground, slow, then fast. It appeared briefly, then vanished again.

  Some of the men were backing away. Teja felt the gun in the jacket pocket, the Ruger. The trigger felt smooth against her finger. It was heavier than she thought it would be, when she'd seen weapons in the old apartment and resisted picking them up.

  The spider appeared on top of a car, jumped and landed on a man's chest. He hit the floor screaming, though Teja could hardly hear him over the noise of gunfire. The men were shooting at the spider, then back at Tomoko. They reached a black sports car at a crouch, Tomoko releasing the door locks with a key remote.

  Tomoko said, 'Get in.'

  Teja slipped onto the passenger seat, glimpsing the spider losing one of its legs as Tomoko spun the wheel. Two men were running, the spider bringing one down with a limb that skewered his body. They hit the ramp going up to street level at high speed.

  Neon flared through the rain bouncing off the windshield. They took corners with the rear wheels sliding over the road, the black nose of the car probing between slower cars. Teja fumbled with the seat belt, two lights glaring through the rain, close enough now so she could see the driver in the truck, cigarette hanging from his mouth, palm pounding the horn. Tomoko gave the wheel a quick quarter-turn, skirting down the side of the truck, spray from sixteen wheels hazing the road. Teja turned on her seat, saw something hit the truck behind them.

  'They're following us,' said Teja. She tried the seat belt again, got it buckled. Her vision blurred, dim lights from the dash floating through the car, iridescent amoebas, a glowing sea horse. She tried to catch them.

  'I know. Take it easy. Put your hands down, I can't see.'

  They hit Jalan Ampang, slid across to the outside lane and passed the traffic lights on red at the Jalan Munshi junction. Above the streetlights, Teja could faintly make out the beacons on the KL Tower, blinking through the rain. It was raining faster, pounding the pavement, the wipers on the car working harder.

  She reached to the dash and fumbled for the air-con control. She gave up when a sea slug kept nibbling her fingers. They passed close to the Sungai Kelang river, black water rippling under the rain, then the road dipped and the river disappeared behind trees and a couple of shanty restorans. She glimpsed red Chinese lanterns strung from poles, green frogs in a tank.

  The water on the road surged and rippled, a shoal of fish jumping and making irridescent arcs in the headlights. A triangular dorsal fin rose out of the rain bouncing across the tarmac, caudal fin nine feet behind. It cut through the rain like a knife, matching their speed. A grey snout buffeted the car, rows of shark teeth coming toward them. Tomoko wrestled with the wheel. Black eyes rolled white and the mouth opened and took a bite out of the front wing panel. The left headlight exploded. A second shark appeared, tail thrashing, dorsal fin cutting a straight line in their direction. Tomoko braked, jerked the wheel.

  'Lean back,' she said.

  Tomoko held the wheel in her right hand and pulled the gun with her left, emptying the magazine through the passenger window and into a shark's head. Teja's lap filled with glass and the shark bounced over the curb and rolled into a wire fence. Jalan Sultan Ismail cut across Jalan Ampang, traffic in a steady flow. Tomoko pushed on, overtaking on the far right lane. They shot the junction, Tomoko working the wheel in sharp movements. Taillights loomed up into the windshield, then fell behind them.

  'Hold on,' said Tomoko.

  She started to make the next turn and a shark came in fast, tail thrashing the water. It slammed into the side of the car, bouncing them over the curb, glass shattering. Teja caught the door handle, pressed her hand against the roof. The seat belt snapped tight against her chest. A seahorse curled its tail around Teja's little finger when the car shook violently, coming to a screeching stop with the front end buried in the stomach of Protein Cabin's Fat Boy. He had a waving arm that banged angrily on the hood of the car.

  Tomoko shouted, 'Get out.'

  Teja moved fast, popping the seat belt switch and trying the door handle, finding it jammed. She climbed out of the window. Rain ran down her bare legs. People stopped on the sidewalk to watch, faces pressed against the restaurant windows, sucking drinks through straws.

  The bald man was walking toward them, holding his hand against his head, blood trickling across his fingers. He fired three shots, bullets punching holes through the cracked windshield.

  Tomoko fell out of the car and fired back. The man twisted and fell. Tomoko walked over to the guy and fired seven shots into his chest. The car burst into flames.

  Teja got to her feet, the drug still keeping her head light. Tomoko reached to the back seat and pulled out a raincoat, throwing it around her shoulders, over the guns and the protective vest.

  They pushed through the crowd, under the balcony sheltering store fronts. Tomoko limped, holding her arm against her chest. Teja heard sirens.

  Relativity

  25

  Incentive

  The two men sat at the bar like they had a hundred times before, Saigo with a cold beer, Jimmy with Japanese sour whiskey. Saigo glanced at the clock behind the bar. 1.10 a.m. Tomoko cleared a table in the corner, eighteen years old and already taller than most of the men who came in here. Saigo arched his back and stretched.

  'Dead people,' he said. 'They should be left in the ground.'

  'I'm a businessman,' said Jimmy.

  'Still, you try digging me up when I'm dead and if I'm anything resembling a ghost I'll haunt you.'

  'I'd get more money digging up Hirohito's dead dog.'

  'Saying I'm not worth anything?'

  'Are you famous?'

  'Somebody might want my bones.' Saigo
dipped a pickle into a small bowl of wasabi. 'Some rich young thing I made an impression upon.'

  The noise of a chair hitting the floor made them turn, Tomoko helping a drunk into his coat.

  The bar in Himeji was empty save for half-a-dozen patrons finishing drinks. Time to cash up, lock the doors. Jimmy knew who'd be going home and who'd be wanting taxis to dice games or hookers. He'd planned to visit that special girl from Himeji tonight, special because she could get him hard with just her feet, though the whiskey was making him tired, maybe even too tired to gamble. He watched Tomoko for a moment, a short skirt showing her legs.

  Jimmy said, 'How much do you think this young thing would pay?'

  Saigo took a drink from his bottle. 'For me? I don't know. How much is a famous corpse worth?'

  'Two million for a famous rock star like Billy Jade. I sold him to a collector in Malaka last week.'

  'How many has he got?' asked Saigo.

  'No idea. Told me he'd bought others from Europe.'

  'You get any from America?'

  'Too difficult. No one's interested.'

  'Selling corpses.' Saigo was shaking his head. 'Whatever next. We keep trying to hang on to the past, that's the problem, we should let it go.'

  'We have to survive, Saigo.'

  'You survive well enough.'

  The bar made a lot of money, then there were all the side deals Jimmy had going. Black market goods and gambling, the famous bodies from deserted graveyards, the numerous kickbacks. Jimmy supposed he did survive better than most, then again so did Saigo.

  'That's true,' said Jimmy. He lit a cigarette and let the yellow flame from the gold lighter burn for a few extra seconds. 'I've got everything I want, so why do I wake up every morning feeling like everyday will be the same as the next. Even the gambling has been shit recently. There hasn't been anything to get me excited in months.'

  Saigo turned to his old friend, drawing closer. 'How about I set something up?'

  'Like what?'

  'A little game.'