BEYOND THE PALE: ( The Outlander ) (18 page)

River was being held
under restraint. He was strapped down to a medical inspection table. A medical
assistant wearing scrubs was attaching various pads to different parts of his
body and caps with attached wires were being placed on his fingers. The room
was lit only by a central overhead set of spots which only illuminated the
table and kept the rest of the room in shadow. He could make out a large
viewing chamber with dark glass which allowed him only to make out the possible
outline of three persons behind it. He thought that there were three because he
was being questioned by them, and he could tell the difference between their
voices. River declined to answer most of their questions; there were also many
questions that made no sense to him. He was determined not to succumb to fear,
and he secretly altered his breathing with the intention of entering an alpha
state. Then all the lights went on and the room became astoundingly bright as
the door was forcibly opened.

Major Nathan Carlson
marched into the medical room flanked by two Internal Security guards. He
started to unfasten the bindings and straps holding River to the table as he
talked to the black glass window of the viewing chamber.

“Dr. Mercer, Dr.
Tullis, and Citizen Naighal; I am Major Nathan Carlson of Security Operations
and Organised Crime. You are holding this man without due authority. If you
check your warrant now you will find that it has been updated and he has now
been placed under my direct custody. I don’t take kindly to your department
interfering with an asset of my departments. If you approach him again without
going through me first, you will find yourself in hot water with the Director
of Operations,” Nathan was on a buzz although anger still showed in his tone.
However he really enjoyed sticking it to these bastards and creeps. The Major
like many others in the CPS couldn’t even understand why these Dr.
Frankensteins were tolerated in the Interior Office.

 When River was on his
feet, Nathan walked him out of the medical section and off B6 floor with his
escort of security guards under his command. The lift only went up from this
floor. They didn’t even get off when the lift reached B3. Nathan would call
David later, but right now he wanted to get River out of this building.

It wasn’t until they
reached home, that they were both able to relax. It had turned into a stressful
day just as Nathan had anticipated in the morning, except worse. River had
asked Nathan why he had been detained and who the mysterious doctors and
medical officers of level B6 were. Nathan just told River that his detention
was a mistake, and that those people wanted to study him on account of his
medical rejection of the implants. What Nathan declined to mention to River was
that he had seen Dr Khan’s hospital notes as being listed as the evidential
reason for their warrant. They wanted to turn him in to a lab rat and find out
how and why his physiology was different. The thought of it made him feel sick.

Nathan was happy to
explain the benefits of River’s new identity bracelet though. He exclaimed that
the days of chaperoning him were over. He was his own man again, free to access
and roam the metropolis at his pleasure. This news was warmly received by
everyone. However River was a little sad once he realised that he would no
longer be accompanying anyone to their work place. On the whole, he had really
enjoyed those chaperoning experiences. Right now River wanted a break from the
subject of technology, and he knew just where to find that oasis. He waited for
an opportune time, and then slipped inside Audrina’s room. When he told Audrina
all about the medical examination being conducted on him in level B6, her
imagination became inspired and she decided to relive it by playing doctor and
nurses with him. She searched through her wardrobe for the closest
approximation of a nurse’s outfit and then began her examination of his body.
This time River really enjoyed the experience.

The price of freedom
was loneliness. Although River now had his own identity, money credits on his
account and the ability to spend it; he had no one to spend it on, and nobody
to hang out with during the day. On his first day of his new freedom, he had
taken the Metro elevated monorail to the central zone. He had really enjoyed
his evening there before with the restaurant meal and the fireworks show. He
was hoping to recapture some of that thrill, but it wasn’t the same walking
around alone in the day time. Now he found himself wandering aimlessly around
expensive shopping plazas not really interested in buying and not really
interested in window shopping. Everywhere he went, he felt inundated with
advertising which appeared at every opportunity and in all different mediums.
Initially when he set off, he was wearing his communicator glasses in case he
needed to phone anyone. The map overlay proved to be a really useful tool
helping him find his way around. Although once he had entered the main shopping
precincts, he had to take them off on account of the welter of personalised
advertising popping up on his display. He sought refuge in a mall coffee shop
and enjoyed a large cappuccino and piece of cake whilst sitting in a
comfortable recliner. However once he had finished and ready to leave, he found
that he had no where to go. He started meandering in the general direction of
the rail station that he had arrived at earlier. His intention was to go home,
but he discovered a signpost for the Central zone’s main park and decided to
venture there.

This turned out to be
his best decision so far on this day. The park was as vibrant as the rest of
the central zone, but in another way. It was awash with vivid natural colours,
and lush and blooming as you might expect from the height of summer. The fact
that it was an artificial construct on a vast raised platform didn’t take away
from the beauty of the landscaped features. It had a shallow boating lake,
ponds, bridges and mixed terrain. River had been here once before to watch the
night carnival and firework show. However he had entered the park at a
different location and in daylight and now could appreciate the majesty of its
features and size. There was a maze, sporting facilities, secluded woods, and
ornate gardens. Topiary features and flower beds were arranged along all the
walk ways. The balance was maintained as expansive lawns. It was hard to
comprehend that this immense park was an artificial construct built on top of
acres of vehicle parking spaces and main transportation stations. That was only
the tip of the iceberg too. Underneath that, there were many other identically
sized platform levels housing service bays and warehouses, power stations and
utility enterprises. And under that were the goods and service transport links
to the downtown sectors. The whole central zone was of course built on an
immense raised platform and River had of course witnessed the jaw dropping
sight of it suspended high above the real ground level by minimal structural
supports. He remembered how it blocked out much of the natural daylight in the
downtown area when he was previously on his ride along with Nathan and Ray
Scott. He was in awe of this feat of architecture. Perhaps it was down to the
influence of his friendship with Anton. After all he always seemed to have some
construction plans open on his desk at home.

River noted that most
of the other park users were usually engaged in some activity. Some were
playing sports; some families were having picnics and outings. Many people were
just congregating at the numerous open air cafes located throughout the park.
He hadn’t noticed many other single people strolling about or just enjoying a
peaceful moment amongst the park’s beauty. Those that were appeared to be just
using the park as a short cut to the other side or maybe taking a lunch break
on a bench. This made him feel a bit self conscious, and he decided to sit down
close to a skating facility and phone Audrina for company. It was great to see
her on the display of his communicator glasses, and he wished she was with him
in the park. She looked so business-like and he recognised her desk in the
background and remembered his day at her work place. She wasn’t in the right
frame of mind to chat with him as she seemed busy as usual. She told him that
she would see him later on and closed the call.   

The glasses provided a
useful function of recognising your exact location and offering prompts for
nearby facilities and places of interest. He had put his glasses on only to
make his call to Audrina. Whilst talking with her, he had noticed a location of
interest prompt come up on display. It was for the main Metropolis Museum and
he decided that this would be his next venue. It was easy to find the correct
exit from the park and a direct route to the museum using the glasses for directions.

At the Museum, he paid
his entrance fee and spent the next couple of hours walking around the various
exhibits on display. He was disappointed that the subjects that most interested
him were not really represented. There were some interesting holographic
reconstructions of the old cities of Denver and Boulder as well as the
international airport which was once situated where New Denver now stood. There
was very little about any other metropolis other than a list of their names and
some artists’ impressions and holographic models. There were no maps at all
other than those of New Denver and very little accounts of history. There was
an interesting exhibit chronicling the break up of old world order. It referred
to a period of climatic and geographical upheavals and disasters which everyone
knew about. However he felt the entries were cursory and misleading. There were
no exhibits relating to the old world religions or philosophies, and nothing
about the history of those previous civilisations. There was only a brief
outline of financial collapse which started the slide to anarchy and preceded
the period of natural disasters. Perhaps it was because no one was interested;
these sections were probably small because very few people seemed interested in
view them. On the other hand, the sections relating to new science and
technology were very busy. Those sections had a lot of interactive exhibits,
and top gear virtual reality simulators which was where most people seemed to
be queuing. All in all, the Museum was a little disappointing, and River
decided to head for home.

River arrived home an
hour or so before Audrina. He was looking forward to seeing her as he had been
missing her company all day. He had a yearning to revisit the Central zones
park with her when she had some free time. Valerie had been home since midday
as usual, and Anton was home early as he had been at University today. They
both took an active interest in River’s day and he built up the experience to
make his day seem more enjoyable. When Audrina arrived home, she appeared to be
quite depressed in spirits. She didn’t explain her forlorn state to anyone
despite both River and Valerie enquiring about her day. Both Audrina and River
had agreed to keep their romance secret from her parents at least for the
meanwhile. Obviously Anton had been a witness to their mutual affection, but
since that evening of River’s return, they had not openly demonstrated their
relationship in front of him. This made it easier for Anton disregard what he
had seen and not challenge them. The down side of this equation was the secrecy
involved and the inability to simply show affection for each other openly.
River could see that Audrina was unhappy but he was not able to find the
opportunity to go and cuddle her and talk. He had to wait until she retired
early to her room, and he followed her there shortly afterwards. However
despite the privacy of her room Audrina was still in no mood for his company.
She asked him if he would mind allowing her some space for the evening. River
of course was more than willing to oblige, but he didn’t want to leave her
unless she told him what was wrong.

“It is not about you
River; you haven’t done anything wrong. I just have things on my mind.”

“What things. Tell me
something please,” implored River.

“Well for one thing, I
have my full medical tomorrow morning. That involves inoculations and a full
internal. For a woman, that is not a pleasant experience.”

“Can’t you put if off?”

“It is mandatory River.
I don’t have that option,” she explained to him as if he was a five year old.

 “Okay, I understand,”
River said whilst obviously not understanding. “Maybe I can meet you afterwards
and we can do something together.”

“I am going to work
straight afterwards,” corrected Audrina. “Look maybe you can meet me after work,”
she said as if throwing him a bone. River’s mistake was in not realising that
she was not really up for this. “If you don’t mind, can you leave me alone
now?” This message was clear enough and so he exited her bedroom.

He awoke the next
morning realising that he had another day in his own company. He made a drink
and returned to his room waiting for everyone to set off for work. He was
feeling a bit rejected after the events of yesterday and this was fuelling his
growing sense of loneliness and isolation. He didn’t want to stay at home, and
neither did he want to spend another day in Central. He opted instead to spend
half a day downtown. This time he wouldn’t have a running commentary supplied
by Ray Scott, but he would have much more freedom to blend in and have a look
around.  

He chose District 18 as
his destination and headed to the nearest Metro station. This journey was
clearly going to require a number of interchanges. There were no direct routes
to Downtown on the elevated lines, so he had to get off at a main terminus that
provided a descent service. This was a large box lift where each lift car was
about the size of a freight container. The station he chose only had two such
lifts and yet this service was overly subscribed. He had to join a queue and
wait for a space on a descending lift. He didn’t manage to get a seat and he
had to hold on to an overhead support and hold his balance until the lift
reached ground level four hundred yards below. He then followed directions
supplied by the readout on his glasses to find a tram stop on the relevant tram
line which would take him into the heart of District 18.

Holly Bush was the
closest precinct to the tram terminus, and it was as good a place as any to get
off and have a look around. The first impression that struck River was the
garish and tawdry overtone to the place. Unlike the Central Zone, there were no
personalised adverts appearing on the display of his glasses, but in place of
that was a welter of conspicuous and obtrusive advertising on everything from
flyers to animated billboards, shop fronts and any rentable space. There was
little variety in their messages. There were brazenly sexual in their imagery,
or they were pertaining to the culture of gambling that was so pervasive here.
The implication was that an instant purchase of something or other could
provide an instant payout or offer a lottery chance of a life changing win. All
the small independent shops used a prolific amount of neon which had to stand
out to compete with each other and against the bigger purveyors of neon like
the clubs, casinos and arcades. There was a spectrum of colours, much of it
flashing and some animated which illuminated the streets making up for the lack
of natural light. Holographic projectors placed life-size imagery in the middle
of pavements and walk ways. The images were of exotic dancers or salesmen
presenting their products. They would appear realistic apart from the blue or
green hues and their semi transparency.  River would step around them but he
noticed that other pedestrians walked right through them as if they didn’t
register.

There were many more
ex-natives amongst the people here; maybe twenty percent. In the central zone,
he had rarely seen another ex-native and when he did they were usually a sales
assistant or a caterer. Despite feeling a small satisfaction of being amongst
his own, River did not really feel any more at home here than he did in the
central zone. Both cultures alienated him, and he wondered how these other
ex-natives seemed so pre-determined to living in this seedy culture. He wasn’t
being high-minded, he did try and lose his reserve, and he even visited a table
dancing bar.

He stuck to his earlier
conviction not to drink anymore alcohol and ordered a few sodas. When the bar
tender realised that he wouldn’t be drinking, he pulled out another more
discreet menu that offered a number of different narcotics. River declined his selection,
despite having to listen to the bar tenders spiel promoting the best narcotic
offer of the day. The man wasn’t impressed. It became apparent to River that
his time in this bar would be very limited unless he could find something more
expensive than soda to spend his credits on. The problem was that there was
literally nothing on offer that appealed to him. He wasn’t interested in a
personal erotic dance supplied by one of the dancers, or sex upstairs in a
mezzanine chill out zone, that appeared from his current view point to be just
a mass of heaving couples. River declined those offers as well. There was
something quite unappealing for him about the sexually liberal culture that
pervaded the Metropolis despite whatever social class you belonged to. It was
like sex had no meaning other than erotic titillation or sexual stimulation.
There was no passion or love involved at all. It was if the emotions which he
associated with sex had been removed. Perhaps this explained a lot about
Audrina’s attitude to sex. It was no wonder that most conception in the
metropolis was performed through in vitro fertilisation. Sex and love were like
antonyms of each other.

River decided to just
tuff it out and leave his purchase history at two sodas. He looked around admiring
a few of the table dancers and noticed that one girl was an ex-native. For some
inexplicable reason he found it difficult to look at her; maybe she reminded
him of his sister. What he did see of interest however, was an action
documentary showing in the background on one of the wall mounted screens.
Although the sound was off, the show seemed to be an expose of the daily regime
of Environment Rangers. A scene came on display in which a platoon was being
dropped off at an insertion point, and they were securing the area against
hostile threats. River recognised the backdrop. It was Lizard Ridge and he
immediately got excited and left his seat to get a closer look. As he did, a
dancer gyrated her way along the counter responding to his interest. This was
upsetting to River because she was now obscuring his view of the wall screen.
When he moved to the side, the dancer mirrored his move continuously blocking
his view. He elected to approach the counter and ask her if she would mind
moving somewhere else. However as he got closer to her, she squatted on her
heels with her legs spread wide thrusting her g-string closer to him so that he
might swipe a few credits on an attached money reader. River did no such thing.
He politely asked the girl if she would mind dancing somewhere else so that he
could see the rest of the TV show. This did not go down well at all, and she
stepped off the counter and walked over to have a word with the bar tender. He
in turn called over the doorman and River was summarily asked to leave.

River had arranged to
meet Audrina in the foyer of Gold Shield Securities at five-thirty. Despite the
complex and arduous journey, he reached the financial zone in plenty of time.
He wasn’t really in the right frame of mind for his up town date with Audrina.
It had been a mistake visiting downtown earlier in the day. He had found that
experience in the underbelly of the citadel draining. He had been looking
forward to meeting some naturalised or second generation natives, but all he
had got was disappointing encounters. Those that he had talked to had all but
forgotten their roots. They had become just another street underclass and their
native morality had been usurped by a certain street life savvy.

With the time getting
closer to five-thirty, River walked into the grand foyer of Gold Shields.
Audrina wasn’t there yet, so he phoned her to confirm that she would be soon
coming down.

“Didn’t you get my text
message,” she rebuked him over his communicator. “I said that I had to work
late, and that you should meet me at six-thirty instead.”

“Damn I got here early;
I guess I can wait for you though.”

“No don’t wait here”
she insisted. “Go down the block towards the metro station. There is a bar
called ‘
Whispers’
nearby; wait for me there. River followed her
instructions and found the bar. It was a cocktail bar which served as an after
work meeting place for financial types. Lots of diffuse wall lighting that gave
the place an intimate glow. Today’s clientele were mostly large parties of work
colleagues and a few couples. He was the only person on his own there, so he
sat at the bar counter and ordered soda. River spent the remaining time
watching a financial news channel that was showing on a wall screen with
subtitles only.

Audrina walked in
closer to seven o’clock. Her morning medical, and a shitty day at work had not
lent itself to putting her in the right frame of mind either. She didn’t even
apologise or explain why she was late but did complain that River should have
secured a wall snug to sit down in instead of the bar counter. They surveyed
what was left, but they were all taken now.

River took the
opportunity to look her up and down. She had changed clothes at work and was
wearing clothes suitable to party in. Her dress looked really expensive but the
hemline was really short showing off her attractive long legs. He was just
about to tell her that she looked nice, when she beat his compliment off the
starting blocks with some criticisms of her own.

“So what
did
you
want to do on this date,” her emphasis was on the word ‘did’.

“I thought I would take
the monorail to central zone and visit the Park there and watch the sunset
together, and then maybe have a meal.”

“Yes, sounds
interesting,” she said sarcastically. “I think I better make our arrangements
tonight. And by the way, people don’t usually call it the monorail. They call
it the ‘elevated’ or the ‘Metro’. You sound like a greenhorn. Anyway, what I
need you to do now is to go and freshen up a bit in the gentlemen’s rest room;
you smell frowsy. Lord knows what you have been up to. I want you looking
dapper and spruced up if you are going to be hanging with me and my friends
tonight. I can’t do much about your clothes, but you can fix your hair.”

This had probably been
the most put downs and insults River had experienced for a long while. He got
up and went to the rest room as she suggested. He didn’t want to argue, after
all he had come here to cheer her up, but now he wished he hadn’t. He checked
himself over in the mirror. He did look a bit dishevelled especially
considering how nice Audrina was looking. Once he realised he was alone, he
used some of the scented soap to wash under his arms and his crotch. He also
took some wax to style his hair and some cologne to smell nice. A sign by the
dispensary asked for a contribution but seeing as River had no idea as to what
the price of those products was, he didn’t bother to swipe any credits. Audrina
did approve when she saw him and she let him know that he looked handsome which
went a long way to making him feel more comfortable.

“Okay handsome, here’s
the plan for tonight,” she said assertively. “We leave here and head over to
Style-Seekers, which is a club over in District 5. And, we are not getting the
monorail
,
we are getting a taxi,” saying the word ‘monorail’ in an accent similar to
River’s. He realised she was making fun of him, and he reciprocated by tilting
his head and crossing his legs in an imitation of the distinct way that she
did. She laughed, “Come on. Chop chop,” as she stood up and waited for him.  

A taxi rank was always
close by in the financial district. They got in the cab as it pulled up and
Audrina tapped in the south western sector destination which bordered the
financial zone at the southern perimeter of the metropolis. She swiped payment
which would be a premium rate in this part of the citadel. Audrina was used to
paying for River; it didn’t seem to register with her that he had his own
credits. Of course those had been kindly donated to him from Nathan’s account.
The automated taxi found its way through District 5 which seemed like a
crossover between the recreational area in the financial zone and the uptown
sector of the central zone. It dropped them right opposite Style Seekers. The
building looked like a large black gemstone. It was an ostentatious 4 storey
black glass building architecturally designed in the shape of a multi-sided cut
diamond. The ground floor was a networking bar which was free to enter, but
expensive to drink in. There were many revellers congregating outside, but the
door security were not letting drinks pass outside. Audrina led and River
followed her as they thread their way through the dense crowd inside. She was
spotting people that she knew all the time and saying hello but continuing her
path to the bar counter. She pushed forward to squeeze through a gap at the
tightly packed bar counter and seductively but assertively beckoned a bar
tender. In a relatively short space of time, she had procured two tall drinks;
both cocktails. River held on to these for her, wondering where his soda was,
as she now set off towards the wide and ornate staircase. River noticed how
well she navigated through dense crowds by pressing her body sensually against
the men in a group. They always cleared a space for her and tried to flirt with
her. This was usually scuppered by River using his brawn to push past them
after her. She acted like the sharp end of a wedge and River was the blunt end.
The bottom of the wide stairwell had been sectioned off with an ornate black
and gold rope barrier. Security stood behind this together with a cashier who
scanned anyone who wanted to pay to go upstairs to and enter the night club.
Once again Audrina paid, and they made their way up past the security and into the
club. The club had a split level floor, in which the higher raised area served
as the dance floor. The lower sections were different in size and shape and
served as seating areas. They recesses were situated randomly around the main
dance floor like the indents in a chesterfield chair. Audrina led River about
the dance floor whilst she investigated each little island of seating looking
for her friends. He followed her like a lamb completely over awed by the loud
high energy music, the impassioned dancers and the array of attractive girls
dressed very provocatively.