2100, Year of Criminals
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“Mr. Beane?” The voice on the other end was a woman’s, but it sounded as though she had trouble speaking. It wasn’t quite hoarse – at least he didn’t think so; something about her tone reminded him vaguely of a recording of his own speech that had been looped back and forth to avoid losing its edge. “Is this Mr. Beane?”
Ilya shrugged inside his coat. He hated having people call him by his first name. They never did it when they were trying not to be overheard. She knew what he wanted without asking. And she’d used the right terminology: he worked for them now.
So if he wasn’t careful, things would get complicated between him and the Committee soon enough… but the thought brought no comfort whatever.
“No,” Ilya said brusquely into the mouthpiece of the telephone in front of him. “This is Peter Tung.” His hand curled around the phone cord like a serpent looking out from under its rock. Would you know me? If you still existed? I hope you do.
This is only going to take seconds. Just long enough to pull your strings once again. “The man who stole everything from you will meet you tonight, at midnight.” And then I’ll have to leave. Is it too late to come with me? Or is there somewhere else where we can find peace? In another place where everyone works off their sins?
She fell silent while Ilya waited, listening to the rustle of paper or fabric coming down the line. Maybe he could cut himself loose and go after her. A couple of hours would do for that, surely? But that wouldn’t help much against any group like hers.
There were dozens of factions within just one of them, let alone all of them combined. And even if she joined up, she’d be killed instantly in moments. And if not her… What’s happening? He saw someone on the other side of the glass. Oh God, please don’t let it be them!
But the person walking away down the corridor was dressed in black, which meant they hadn’t seen him yet – at least, nothing suggested that they had. That would change very quickly should he draw his gun.
Ilya considered waiting for them outside the building instead before setting fire to it himself. But he couldn’t risk burning anyone alive…
A soft cough came over the line beside him, making Ilya turn sharply. They’re here already. For some reason he found the fact comforting; it made all the difference in the world.
He grabbed the receiver with both hands, but he already knew what kind of response he was going to hear. “What’s happened?” said the woman in the low voice he recognized. “I’m getting a lot of chatter online…” Her accent told him more than her words.
This wasn’t Russia – and neither was Canada, America, or Mexico. All three of those countries had a Russian presence that rivaled any nation-state in the world today. But none of them came close to matching her level of fluency. Perhaps she was Chinese.
“Nothing,” Ilya lied smoothly. “Just an old acquaintance running late. Do you trust your sources? Can you be sure?”
As far as he knew, no one in their organization had ever actually met each other. It helped preserve the illusion of mystery. And made them less likely to kill each other. Especially since they weren’t doing anything illegal. Not strictly speaking, anyway …
The woman grunted faintly and passed him along. Someone called Hakeem took control of the line itself, the sound of his breath heavy enough that Ilya suspected him of being nearby instead of thousands of miles away in China like Ilya had expected. “You want us to send in a strike team to stop him?”
Who is he? No, that’s impossible. He wouldn’t tell me. Was she supposed to guess? What makes the most sense? The part of Ilya’s mind he kept locked away tried to claw out from under its stone and panic at the same time. He gritted his teeth tightly together until the pain became unbearable.
Hakeem laughed through the mouthpiece. “Can you even begin to understand how fast our technology has become these days? How many satellites and drones we’ve got flying overhead every day? Every minute? We’re watching you twenty-four hours a day. You might as well walk around naked except for those stupid fucking sunglasses.”
Ilya held his tongue as best he could. His eyes went dark again. He wondered briefly whether he should feel exposed when so few others knew who he truly was. He decided not to bother asking why they would need to monitor him personally either way…
“We’ll wait for confirmation,” Hakeem said finally. He sighed. “And if he comes inside again like last night…”
What did he want to say? And does he think he deserves to die? Or is something bigger going on now?
“If he goes home, get the hell out,” Ilya warned Hakeem carefully, still holding onto the phone handset tightly. “That’s the first thing I asked them to do. Make sure no one knows about this or they’ll set the dogs on you the same way they do me…”
***
“Ryu!” said Ruby abruptly, interrupting her thoughts. She struggled to keep her expression neutral; despite everything, she wanted to smile wide in delight. If only he could see her right now.
His call hadn’t been unexpected – in fact, he seemed to have moved even faster than the last time they’d spoken. As soon as she put the receiver back into place, she felt it vibrating almost immediately and picked it up, opening a new message window on her virtual desktop.
She was delighted to see a number attached to the text that popped up next, but as her fingers hovered over the keypad she hesitated slightly. What do I say? Do I make plans to meet up somewhere tonight, or give myself another excuse not to face him directly?
Or perhaps do what she did yesterday, and just hang out at the bar all evening without even bothering to go upstairs? No matter how much she told herself that she didn’t care what he thought of her anymore, there were times when she wished she had someone like him to talk to instead of avoiding people altogether…
She looked around at the small office behind her again, feeling suddenly trapped in some strange limbo between work and personal life. And she really needed to take better care of it. The walls stared silently accusingly down at her from the opposite side of the room – probably waiting until she stopped to pee so they could stare longer at the bits she’d missed. Like right about now!
But despite everything she was relieved beyond measure that Ryu had bothered to contact her after she failed to respond to his calls. And not because he’d chosen to go straight to her when things fell apart…
Her fingers trembled slightly as she typed, careful not to look too hard at anyone else passing by in the corridor outside her door. In reality, her computer was already logged into his account, but she wasn’t quite sure how to bring the two messages together. How can I describe my feelings in words that don’t come easily to me?
After a moment she finished typing and waited with mounting suspense while the little icon flashed blue. Then nothing happened. But she kept staring at it anxiously anyway. Now what?
“Ruby,” came a voice from her left, startling her violently. There was an unfamiliar man standing near the coffee table where she’d placed her laptop. The messenger bag slung across one shoulder snapped against her arm as she jerked, trying desperately not to scowl angrily and refuse him entry without thinking twice. He smiled politely and shrugged. “Sorry if I scared you…”
“Not your fault,” she managed to mutter. A more coherent response eluded her entirely. What the hell was he doing here? Who would expect someone like him to show up at her apartment so late on a Sunday afternoon? “So… um, hello?”
He nodded softly. “It’s okay, really. Sorry, I’m not looking for trouble, but there are some things I need to find out.”
In other words, he wants to see inside my head. Her heart began racing painfully inside her chest, and her thoughts turned dangerously blank. No sooner had she opened the keyboard than she froze completely. Damn it…
“You should close that,” suggested the young man gently.
“Why? Don’t you think I know how to use a laptop?” she retorted coldly.
The man shook his head, smiling apologetically. “No, no. It’s just easier if we talk with the screen closed, that’s all.” He reached forward and gently pushed the lid down over its housing before stepping away again. Despite her inner turmoil, his voice sounded calm and reassuring. For someone else perhaps. Maybe. “Do you mind?”
A quick glance at the others in the room proved that none of them had noticed anything odd happening thus far. That was good. At least no one will point fingers if I decide to freak out later on…
She sighed. “Sure. Go ahead.”
Relieved, the stranger pulled both hands through his black hair impatiently before continuing. “I saw a guy with blond hair and green eyes sitting on a bench outside your building. You knew him?”
This time it was Ruby who blinked. Of course, Ryu would sit down somewhere outside if he was truly angry enough. Still, her first impulse was denial: No, he couldn’t be there – why the hell wouldn’t he have come by earlier? But his presence made perfect sense now.
After all, that morning she’d tried to leave without saying goodbye, even though he’d made himself perfectly clear. Then, she’d shut the curtains tightly to hide the fact that she wasn’t leaving at all, and left in the same direction he’d gone. If she refused to meet with him now he might assume something terrible had happened. Couldn’t blame him for wanting answers now.
Before she could finish questioning this possibility, however, the stranger started talking again and startled her further.
“He said nothing to you? Or to the security guards?”
Ryu is dead? She nearly choked on her own breath, staring in disbelief at his face. Unconsciously she rubbed her arms briskly up and down, suddenly chilled to the bone by his bluntness. Had the world turned upside down or did he actually have proof?
His smile never wavered. “That doesn’t matter anymore. Whatever he told them must have convinced them otherwise. They let him pass by unnoticed.”
Again, his voice remained tranquil, devoid of any emotion whatsoever. In response, she felt an icy trickle run down her back. Didn’t feel anything much herself, besides revulsion. Pure and simple, disgust.
***
It didn’t take long for the blood to start boiling inside Ryu. Enough time to reach Shinjuku station, find a cheap place to park his bike and walk to the nearby Starbucks. Thankfully, it hadn’t taken much effort to confirm that their target wasn’t waiting for them inside.
When he passed a few men loitering in front of the entrance, they barely spared him a second glance and immediately returned to whatever it was they were talking about. Why anyone might’ve mistaken him for a street tough. And then there was the old woman behind the counter who stared at him stupidly, obviously failing to recognize his face after only seeing it once.
Once was more than enough to make people look away in silence, as if afraid he might still attack them. And he certainly looked capable enough of it. Tired, grumpy, and fed up, he proceeded into the café proper where his anger was tempered somewhat by the gentle glow of early evening sun coming through the window panes.
Even the waitress couldn’t hide her surprise when she walked past him to take a table by the door.
He dismissed the thought with contempt and sat down across from her, crossing his legs Indian style against the wall. “Can I get an iced tea?”
“Erm, yes, sure!” the girl blurted out, struggling to contain her shock and excitement. He laughed and gave her a small nod. She hurried off, visibly trembling under her dress, before returning shortly thereafter to set down his drink in front of him. With another shaking hand, she refilled the cup almost half full.
“Sorry, I don’t usually tip that well,” Ryu admitted sheepishly, trying to keep a straight face.
“Oh no, please! It’s fine. Really!” she replied quickly before hastily fleeing around the corner. Good God, does everyone here react like that whenever they see me? Too bad the color drains out of her face every time he turns his attention in her general direction.
Although, he has to admit, it is a lot less often than before. Well, he finally had a subject worth paying attention to, albeit accidentally. That makes two today. Pretty high rate of efficiency.
Angrily, he dragged his eyes away from her retreating figure, refusing to acknowledge the renewed tension she created wherever she went. Let him have his moment with her. Plenty of time to kill before I go home. There’ll be other women to play with soon enough; probably a couple of them already lined up right beside my bed…
The ringing chime of the phone cut through his thoughts, breaking the connection instantly. He grabbed it reflexively with both hands and put it to his ear, leaning over the edge of the table. “Yeah, who is it?”
“Hello Ryuji, this is Eliza speaking.” A female voice this time, sounding vaguely familiar but impossible to pinpoint. Why do I know her? Where have we met? He recalled her face clearly but struggled to think of some context, which was unusual for him.
Not because he was uninterested in what she had to say, although that applied too, but rather because everything seemed oddly muffled and indistinct.
The End