C James - Dome Six

Yeah, okay. Dek remembered that now. He rushed the guard who was roughing up his sister. Couldn’t blame a guy for that. A neurobullet was ample punishment. At the moment, other than being sweaty and smelly again, he felt almost normal.

“What do you mean, ‘for starters?’”

“I mean, I think you know the real reason you’re here, Hideki. The Exchangers.”

The Exchangers. Luther came down in the service elevator while Dek was tripping on a yellow. Luther knew he was in the Stores because IDA knew. And now Hideki would be his scapegoat. Even he had to admit that was smart.

“I didn’t do anything,” Dek said.

“IDA disagrees. In fact, the data says you were down there the entire time. And you weren’t sitting still. In fact, you were quite busy, weren’t you? I mean, stealing parts and getting high while everyone feared for their lives? Not cool.”

“What do you want?” Dek hissed. The small dose of antidote was already starting to wear off. He felt a rising heat in his fingers and toes.

“I was thinking a public confession might be nice. Take the pressure off us and put a face to this awful sense of dread. It’s starting to cut into production and we really can’t have that.”

Dek guffawed. “Confess to something I didn’t do to make your life easier? Tempting, but I think I’ll pass.”

Downing smiled. “Ah, well. Can’t blame a guy for trying, right? So how about I sweeten the pot? If you confess, the evidence supports the idea that you acted alone. If you don’t, it implicates everyone you care about.”

The burning crept up to his elbows and knees. He squirmed and tugged against his restraints, fantasizing about pouncing on Downing like a monkey and ripping his throat out with his teeth. Whatever really happened to his parents, Downing was behind it. He felt this revelation as acutely as the pain regrouping in his limbs.

Downing fingered the woven hemp cord around Dek’s neck and found the small metal ring that hung from it.

“What the hell is this?” Downing asked.

“It’s a bearing ring from the FPC. It was with my father’s things.”

“A bearing. Shall I add theft to the list of charges against you?”

“You can have it if you’d like. My gift to you.”

Downing smirked and let the bearing drop. “No thanks. It has your stink on it.”

“What’s your problem with my family, Downing?”

“You used to be a pretty important guy around here. You had access to secure areas. Presumably a little self-respect. Then all of a sudden you just go off the rails and become… this. I don’t even want to know what you’ve got crawling around inside you.”

“I’m no angel,” said Hideki. “But I’m no saboteur.” The pain reached his shoulders and groin, climbing like ivy.

“Do you know the story of the weapon that shot you?” Downing asked. “The original director of security here was a guy named Hackbarth. Handled physical security at Cytocorp for years before they moved him to the Dome. I’ve talked to his Legacy. A real man’s man. Anyway, he reviews the security protocols and sees no guns are allowed in the Charter. Says if they want him, they need weapons. Cytocorp offers to make a nonlethal but effective weapon. He’s skeptical but agrees.

“This was what they came up with,” he continued, caressing the finish of the fat pistol like an antique. “They analyzed people’s pain response while various parts of their body were burned. They used that research to develop a synthetic neurotoxin that simulates being slowly burned alive. It acts instantly but takes days to fully metabolize. Of course, no one’s made it that long.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to just have a normal-sized penis?” Dek said, wincing. Only the center of his chest wasn’t in flames again. He stared longingly at the injector on the table, less than a meter away.

Downing fell to a crouch with surprising speed and shot his hand out to close around Dek’s throat. Now he felt like he was burning alive and choking at the same time. He gasped for air and fought against the restraints, but it was no use. Whatever line defined the edge of sanity, he was nearing it.

“I’ve seen that defiant look before on your old man. I gave him the antidote, but you? I’m not so sure.”

Dek’s eyes widened even as he struggled to breathe. His whole body was on fire now. He could almost feel flames licking at his face and eyes. He just wanted it to be over, but he wouldn’t let it end the way Downing wanted. He’d rather die than confess to something he didn’t do. The Yamamuras had suffered enough. His vision narrowed to a pinpoint.

“Fuck you,” he spat.

Just then the door opened to the little room. Downing whirled and dropped his hand. Dek moaned, willing his field of vision to widen.

Elle.

“What’s going on?” she said. It took her a moment to recognize him. “Hideki?”

“I’m interrogating our primary suspect,” Downing said calmly, rising to face her fully.

“Under duress,” she pointed out.

He replied casually. “He assaulted a guard at a Quietus. But that’s not all he’s been up to, is it, Yamamura?”

“Give him the antidote now,” Elle said, drawing close to him. “All of it.”

Downing smirked and turned to pick up the injector. He took his sweet time, too. “Fine. We’ll let the evidence speak for itself.” He crouched down next to Dek and leaned into his ear. “ You had your chance .”

Downing pressed the injector into Dek’s shoulder and pulled the trigger. The pain dissolved almost instantly, and his breathing slowed. He’d never been so thirsty in his life.

“Give him his bottle,” Elle commanded. Downing chuckled, shaking his head, and handed Dek’s bottle back to him. He could barely lift it high enough to drink, but he managed a cool gulp. “Remove his restraints.”

“Perhaps a pillow, too?” he said, and he undid the thick plastic straps that folded him tightly to the wall.

Dek knew a thing or two about euphoria, but the combination of antidote, water, and freedom was incomparable.

“Hideki, you’re free to go,” she said.

“Free?” Downing said.

“You think he’s a flight risk?”

Dek could tell that Downing had an answer to that, but he bit his lip before saying it out loud. “I suppose you’re right,” he said. “He’s not going anywhere.”

The moment she dismissed class for the day, Tosh worried that her way out of the school would be blocked by a retinue of Authority guards with their weapons drawn. At a minimum, she expected Randy to be standing there with a grim look on his face, ready to introduce her replacement or a new classroom monitor, but there was nothing of the sort. Perhaps her little philosophy exercise didn’t raise any flags with IDA.

She raced down Rad 6, caught the train to the Agora, and made her way to Dek’s place on the other side of town. To her great relief, he answered the door. She threw her arms around him like he was a life preserver.

“Dek, thank god! Are you okay?”

“I’m okay.”

“How bad was it?”

“Bad. Close the door.”

She pushed the door closed behind her. Dek’s place looked and smelled the same as it ever had, but there was something new. Fear.

“What happened?” she asked. “I came as soon as I could.”

“Downing was waiting for me at the Authority.”

“What did he do to you?” Tosh asked.

“Gave me just enough antidote to show he had power over me. He wanted me to confess to the Exchangers.”

“And did you?” Tosh asked. Given Dek’s history, it wasn’t exactly crazy talk.

“Did I do it or did I confess?”