The soldiers rushed me onto one of their tank-like cars. Sunrise was just around the corner and their gear wouldn't protect them from the smoldering temperatures.
The back of the paddy wagon had no windows, so it was impossible to know how fast we were moving or if the sun had already come up. The three Authority soldiers that sat in the back with me didn't seem to mind as they swapped their stories of the evening.
One of them bragged about killing ten or more of the Enlightened while another laughed that he'd shot down the entire band.
Their rendition of shop talk made me sick to my stomach.
I felt the car stop after what I guessed was about a half an hour. That meant the sun would be up, and I dreaded them opening the door. My skin still sensitive from my last encounter with morning, I wished I had more clothing to cover myself with.
There were two knocks on the back door, one of the guards on the
The hospital was in a state of complete pandemonium. Sitting in the waiting room for three hours in agonizing pain allowed me the opportunity to listen in on the nurses and doctors as they hurried about, trying to make sense of the madness."We've got more Authority officers." One nurse said as she jogged from one room to another."They said the infirmary is full and they've got more coming." A doctor told a receptionist."I've got strong vitals on all of them, but they're completely unresponsive. Kansas City is reporting the same."If it hadn't been for the blinding pain that came from breathing, I might have been able to soak in the gravity of the situation.Every single Authority soldier had suffered the same fate as Senator Hernandez.I finally had a nurse show me to my room. She went through the usual routine, and after doing my blood work found that I failed a drug test for bo
The rain poured down on me like a hot shower. The wet drops brought a slight relief to the heat that had beat down on the city during the day, but it wasn't much; not to mention that as much as I had prayed for rain over the past few weeks, tonight was not the night I wanted it to finally break.I stood on the sidewalk, clinging to a light post like I had it in a headlock so that the ocean of moving bodies wouldn't sweep me up and carry me away with the current. My eyes were fixed on the sidewalk opposite me, and I was focused in on one person in particular.Monique Helsiner moved with the flow on her side of the street, bumping and shoving past people as she made her way east. She had a distinguished green jacket and little black dress on with fishnets that showed rips and tears below the knees. She was a fish out of water.To anyone else, she might have just looked
I pushed through the door to my living quarters and pulled myself up a chair at my desk. I clicked the tabletop light on, and dove into the bottom drawer.My hand came back with a small baggy filled with the purple powder that I had purchased earlier in the week."Just a little", I told myself out loud.I had been trying to wing myself off the boost for about a month. One line a day, three times a week was the limit that I had set for myself.So far, I was failing.I poured a line out on the table top, closed one nostril with my finger, and took it directly with the other nostril.Instantly I felt the cool rush just under my skin. There was an electric buzz that started at the top of my skull and moved all the way down to my feet. My head sto
I awoke with the sun still up. The heat tore through my blacked out windows and into my office, making it feel like a furnace.I reached around and unplugged my head from the modem, reluctantly.The night's dreams had made it possible for me to move forward. Knowing that there was something better than the life that I was living was all I needed to tell Jaymes about the indiscretions of his wife.I got myself out of bed and dressed myself in the usual; gray button-down shirt, black jeans, black hat with two white stripes that had been worn to the point of donation, and I left out my usual coat.I pulled myself over to my desk and started a dialogue with Paige.Pull up the pictures of Monique.I said.I wait
Mr. Helsiner responded the way that most uppers respond to news of cheating lovers, thieving partners, or boosting housewives.He started with denial. There were accusations that gutter scum like me were just a spiteful little men that attempted to ruin successful mens' lives. There was a moment where he raised his fist with the promise of a physical attack, but then he thought better of it.After a few minutes of shaking his head no, screaming at me, and pacing his luxurious living room, he broke down in tears. His uncontrollable sobbing was my cue to leave, but he begged me to stay."Please, Kaiser. What do I do? How can I get her off the drugs?""Not my field, Mr. Helsiner. I just provide the information that you pay me for, nothing more and nothing less." I had to have this conversation more times that I could coun
The elevator door opened and revealed that the entire top floor was set aside for Mr. Hernandez.It appeared that we had at least one thing in common: we both worked and lived in the same place.I was certain that this wasn't the senator's only place of business, nor residence, but there was no way for me to know that for sure. I truthfully knew very little about the new politics of the reformed Republic of North America, and didn't care to learn.I wasn't sure if the senators still met in Washington D.C. like they did before the reform, or if they just met via the government domain through sync. Again, these things didn't concern me.The main chamber of the room, what I had to guess was the office, was exceptionally empty. It was a large room, just as white as the lobby, with a single desk in the middle, al
I filled Mr. Hernandez in on how little I knew about computer hacking.The extent of my knowledge was that it had been extremely popular when the net was in its primitive stages, there was an extreme hacking war about five years before I was born, and that it was virtually nonexistent in the present due to modern firewalls being impossible to penetrate."Fair enough, Mr. Vrix. Allow me to brief you on the case that I will be hiring you for."I wasn't sure if the senator was aware of it or not, but the sun would be rising in about two hours, and I had no intention on being caught outside during the daytime. I would give him one hour, and then I didn't care if he was a senator, I was leaving. He could finish up with me via videomail."A little over two years ago, the Republic employed a young man by the name of Ed Shulister. He was exceptionally talented at engineering, and his skills were required for a series of tas
The shuttle pulled up just as the sun started to break the horizon. The top sliver of the orange orb brought a promise of unbearable heat and skin blistering light. My heart sped up a few beats when my eyes took in the reds and yellows coming over to our side of the world.I was thankful that traffic had kept a steady pace, and the high-end droid driver had taken back roads that I hadn't even known existed.I made my way into my building, already feeling the heat of the day beating down on the nape of my neck.But the sun was only one part of the reason that I was moving with the speed of a panic.My hands were slick with sweat, my shirt soaked through, my head was pounding, and my eyes were having trouble focusing.I needed a hit of purple.I took the