Cathedral of Dreams (28 page)

“He wants to be exonerated.” Rene shook her head at the doctor.

Rodger cut in again. “Bradley knew about the escapees and set up to have someone cut the chips out of their arms. We have no idea how he figured out where the escapees would go. They're met at a different place every time. Either that or he has people planted all over the city.”

“You couldn't go get him?” Keith said.

“Beside the point,” Rodger said. “We got so used to the people in here that we started to let things go a little. Charles handles security, but most of that's been internally: minor problems. You see them on the news. He's good at keeping the peace and keeping people inside, most of the time, but…”

“We're vulnerable,” Rene said.

“Enough,” Rodger again slapped a hand on the table. “That's it for now.” He obviously didn't like the fact that Rene exposed them as vulnerable.

Keith let the facts sink in as he waited to see what they would do with him next.

Rene objected verbally, but Rodger would have none of it. He went to the door and called someone to lead Keith out. “There's a terminal in the room where you'll be staying,” Rodger said. “If you get any inspiration about what's going on, let us know.”

As they led Keith away, he heard one of the other terminal-watchers tell Rodger that they rounded up thirty women. One was named Nellie.

Chapter 20

T
he room they placed Keith in looked like every other apartment in Newcity except that it had a full set of newly installed cameras. The familiarity of the furniture and layout, though, had changed for him emotionally. Where he would have expected to feel comfortable and peaceful, he felt trapped and imprisoned instead. He took a quick inventory and found all the usual things, including a stocked refrigerator, extra linen, and a terminal in several places so that he could order what he wanted – or contact Rodger when he came up with an answer.

He paced the room for a short while, then sat on the sofa facing the television. He worried for Nellie. He should have taken her with him the first time. It couldn't be good that they found her. He only hoped that didn't mean they found the others.

Time passed slowly, and before he knew it the door to the apartment clicked and opened. Two men dragged Nellie into the room.

Keith jumped up and ran to her. “Are you all right?”

The men let her go and she straightened her clothes. “I'm fine for now, but I'm not sure how either one of us will be later.”

The men backed out the door and closed it again, the latch clicking into place.

That was the other thing Keith noticed, a lock on the door. They were prisoners.

“What happened? Where did they find you?” Keith asked.

Nellie pointed to one of the cameras. “What can I say? I was treated like a queen.”

“Don't worry about the cameras. Talk with me.”

“I was still working when several men – not your normal security – came to get me. They knew exactly who I was and called my name as they approached,” she said.

“They didn't know it was you. They only knew your name. I'm sorry.”

She touched his cheek. “Don't be.” She turned her head to look squarely at one of the cameras. “This is going to end soon anyway.”

“Don't antagonize them,” Keith said. “It's not their fault.”

“What do you mean?” She turned back to glare at him. “They're in charge here.”

“It's some sort of natural order. They're caught in it, too.”

Nellie pushed away and walked toward the kitchen before she stopped, her eyes staring at something on the ground. She waited, then swung back to give Keith an inquisitive look. “They're caught in their own trap,” she said.

“You might say that. They built a place that provided peace and security in exchange for cheap labor. They were able to maintain control of their workers and only had to deliver the minimum in living conditions.” He took in the room. “Nothing lavish here. But who cared? Along with stable emotions there were no emotional outbursts or needs.”

“Then why escape?” Nellie asked.

“Why do you want out?”

“Isn't it obvious? There's nothing here but the same thing over and over.”

Keith nodded. “With or without the chips. That's all they have, too.” He went to her. “There is nothing else. You go from one system to another. You're either emotionally dull or emotionally peaked.”

“Or anywhere in between,” she said. “But you have a choice.”

“That's it, then. Choice. That's what this is all about. The truth is that everyone has different needs or wants, and in order to follow through on those, they need choice.” He reached for her hands and held them. “Without choice none of the systems will work. Not Newcity's and not Bradley's.”

“That doesn't explain what's happening here.”

“It's a beginning. I hope. At the moment it's just a theory I have.” He jerked his head toward a camera. “I think I need more information from them. In the mean time, it's great to see you. And I'll never leave without you again.”

Nellie came to him and kissed him. “I don't know why I feel the way I do about you. You're such a push-over.”

Keith narrowed his eyes. “Not any more.” He held her hand and led her to the sofa. “Ignore their intrusion as much as you can. I need you to tell me what you know about this place. Your perspective. They need me to figure this out. As you said, this is going to end soon if they don't cooperate.”

She shook her head. “I have no idea what you mean.”

“That's all right. Just tell me how you met the others. I know how you lost your chip.”

“They knew where to find me. The system knows when someone goes off line, but it's programmed to fulfill goals. That's what one of the guys told me. So, my understanding is that if it sends people to clean up after a death and the place is already cleaned up, it drops the name from the list. If an apartment is occupied, it accepts the data.”

“Why? Wouldn't the system need to follow through somehow? Make sure it knew where the body went? Reassign the apartment?”

“That's where everything is breaking down. The nearest thing we've been able to figure is that it hands the job over to another aspect of the computer complex and then forgets it. That program does the same thing. Goal accomplished, move on.”

“It has learned to let go,” Keith said.

“What?” Nellie shook her head emphatically. “No. It can't let go. It's a computer system. You're saying that figuratively, right?”

“Is there an umbrella program of some kind that monitors the big picture?”

“There used to be, but my understanding is that it's become so large that it doesn't really operate very well any more. It sort of runs off on its own sometimes,” she said. “Look, I don't understand it well enough to explain it completely. You really should talk with the guys.”

“It plays,” Keith said. He smiled and stood. When he turned around, the angel was standing behind the kitchen counter, her elbows on the countertop with her chin cradled in her hands. “I'm free,” the angel said.

Just as she appeared, she disappeared. The door clicked and opened and Rene stepped inside. “They've agreed to let me talk with you alone,” she said.

Nellie pointed to the observation cameras. “We're never alone,” she said.

“They're off-line for now,” Rene said.

“Don't believe it,” Nellie said to Keith.

Keith looked at the two of them. “I don't know if it matters anymore. I just saw the angel. She said that she was free.”

“Ask her what she means by that,” Rene said.

“What angel?” Nellie said.

“Couldn't if I wanted to. She disappeared when you came in,” Keith told Rene. He turned to Nellie. “I see this one-winged angel sometimes, too. Rene here was there when she appeared the last time.”

“She's never shown up in the system video,” Nellie said, “so how can you see her?” She reached for his arm and turned it. “And you're not chipped. You shouldn't be able to see any of the images. I can't.”

Rene took a seat in a side chair and leaned toward them. “You know what she means, don't you? The angel, I mean.”

When Nellie began to talk again, Rene shushed her by waving a hand at her. “If that computer stops for any reason, we won't be able to monitor anyone,” Rene said. “If the angel is part of the computer system and she's free, we're in real trouble.”

“So what?” Keith said. “The chips will still regulate everyone's chemical balance. The residents will do what they've been doing for years.”

“The system will turn off the chips.” Rene said. “It's a safety system in case of a major disaster.” Rene put her hands to her face and rubbed it as though wiping something from it. “Boundaries will be reestablished. The residents will go through several stages of paranoia, dependence, and independence.” She looked up at them. “They'll become dangerous.”

Keith listened to Rene speak about the residents as though she had seen them go through the stages. He turned to Nellie. “How did you manage the transition, Nell?”

“I was taken in and nurtured. We create a family unit. Two volunteers usually. And they care for you, make you feel secure and loved. You get through it pretty easily that way. But…”

“I know,” Keith said. “You.” He pointed to Rene.

She sat straight up and shook her head. “You don't know anything,” she said.

“You're in this with Bradley. You faked his psychological test, didn't you? And now you're trying to destroy Newcity from the inside,” Keith accused.

“It's not like that.”

“What's it like, Rene? You can't stand living here either?” Nellie stood and put her arm around Keith's waist.

Rene looked up at one of the cameras as though she wasn't positive that they had actually turned them off. She lowered her voice and said, “You have to understand. The new chips provide additional features that allow residents to do more complex jobs. Don't you see what's going on? Eventually, we'd be chipped too.” There was fear in her eyes. Being chipped horrified her. “I couldn't let that happen.”

“So you destroy the whole complex?” Nellie said.

“No. Bradley was going to knock out the labs. That's all. By the time they were able to put them back together, it would be years. We'd have time to negotiate, maybe change their minds.” She looked frazzled. “It wasn't the best plan. But it was all we had.” She glanced back and forth between them and the cameras. “But Keith's right. It may be too late. It's been getting worse lately. More residents are escaping. The system is unstable.” She glared at Nellie. “It could be you and your people, interfering with the system somehow.”

“All we do is monitor,” Nellie said. “We capture data and read it. Once in a while we change a name or delete an order. Like when I came to see you,” she said to Keith. “Simple stuff.”

“Well it's messing up the system,” Rene said. “That and the new chips. We'll have all the Sleepers running loose.”

“Sleepers?” Keith said.

Rene stood and swung around the chair to leave. “I'm sorry,” she said. “I've got to go.”

Nellie tackled her. The two of them struggled for only a moment, Rene swatting at Nellie to get her to let go. But Nellie hung on, and eventually dragged Rene into a sitting position, her hand tight around Rene's forearm. “You're staying until we're finished.”

“I'll scream.”

“We'll tell them what you and Bradley are up to,” Nellie said. She turned to look at Keith.

She wanted guidance. He could see that. But he had none. He stared at them huddled on the floor together. There were too many things going on at once. He tried to focus on the two women. Each of them had fear in their eyes, Nellie for what Rene might do, and Rene for what her cohorts might learn about her. He felt it too. The heightened uncertainty of the situation, the growing number of choices, and with them, decisions. Standing there, he got what could only be described as an epiphany, at which moment his fear dropped away. “It's afraid,” he said.