Orpheus | Installment Eight – Dreaming

“I have seen the Eternal
interior,
not ocular, vision”

– Ronald Johnson, “Beams 21,22,23: The Song of Orpheus”, 1996

Dreaming

“Which came first, the mind or the idea of the mind? Have you never wondered? They arrived together. The mind is an idea.”
― Bernard Beckett, Genesis

They lay side by side, in bed. Facing each other. The room had no windows, but the clock on the wall signaled that the morning had come and soon they would have to go. Return to their life as they knew it. They hadn’t talked about it, but neither of them wanted to leave that place. The disconnected room, the library, maybe even the level, as imperfect as it was. Holed up as they were now, in a different microcosm where they felt safe and secure, the rest of the world seemed to have lost part of its importance.

They had woken up together and had opened their eyes at the same time, finding the other doing exactly the same thing. Mike had met Lisa’s blue eyes, and she had found his onyx-like irises. They had stared at each other for the longest time, merely existing in the moment. Fixing it in their memory, storing it into their minds forever. Neither of them dared to speak yet, but Mike reached out and touched Lisa’s face gently. Her skin was warm, smooth.

Something had shifted between them. It had changed once again, evolved. And it wasn’t just because of the way their bodies and souls had been entangled for hours, oblivious of time and space.

Mike was still thinking about his dream. Odd and intense, like a vision. Like a memory. But not his memory – because it looked like it had reemerged from the oceanic depth of time. A time that didn’t belong to him. The dream felt like someone else’s reminiscence.

In his mental imagery, Lisa was not the beautiful, darkly sensual woman he had fallen in love with. She was a little blonde girl, quiet and hesitant, probably around six years of age. She was bashfully hiding behind the legs of an adult man in white clothes, perhaps her father, yet Mike’s subjective point of view told him that she was staring back at him. The man spoke, and his deep voice sounded remote and muffled, as if he was talking underwater: “Lisa… Lisa, don’t be shy. Say hi to the boys.”

Mike had watched the little girl like a kid would watch another kid: with immaculate curiosity. He couldn’t see himself, but knew that he was taller than that little girl. A bit older, maybe. In his dream, little Lisa bit her lip and hid further behind her father, and Mike smiled.

And then it was all over.

Right now, as he stared at the woman by his side, the woman he had tirelessly made love to for hours the night before, in a way he would have never imagined making love to anyone, that vision assaulted him with even more force, reappearing like a face from a thick blanket of fog. Mike swallowed, wondering what was in her mind, if she somehow regretted what had gone down earlier that night. Because sure as hell he did not. If anything, he was struggling not to reach out and touch her again, and ask her to stay, to please stay there with him, in that bed, for the rest of the day, for eternity, to love him the way she had loved him in the darkness of the night, to whisper in his ear, to make him feel, again, the never-ending string of emotions and sensations that he felt had changed his life for good.

Lisa didn’t regret a thing. But yes, she was thinking about that. The things they had said. The things they had done together. The things she had let him do to her. The things she had done to him. The absolute, up until that point unimaginable level of sensuality, carnality, and intimacy they had so effortlessly reached. It had been out of this world, agonizing in its sheer and unspeakable beauty. She didn’t regret anything – not a moan, not a kiss, not a touch, not a word they had shared. There was nothing she had denied him. Nothing she felt she could ever deny him, from this point on. Nothing about him she didn’t want or love. The pleasure she had felt, both on a physical and emotional level, had been earth-shattering. Heart-crushing. This was it, for her. He was. Mike was her once in a lifetime chance. The man she didn’t know she had been waiting for had come to her through the oceans of space and time.

After taking her again and again, as if some ancient demon possessed him, Mike had finally dozed off and she had taken a moment to watch him sleep, absorbing his mere presence and every detail that made him, him. She knew that something about her had changed as well, and that – once again – sex had been a means to an end. The bond they had begun to feel was unbreakable, virtually immortal. She wondered if it was because of the room, if being so utterly detached from the outside world had somehow changed even their lovemaking, pushing it even further away from the cold, metal-like mechahumanism that was part of the world they were forced to live in. If the Carpe Librum Library had the power to really get people back in touch with their most intimate and honest selves.

But her mind was exhausted just as much as her body and, within minutes, she too had fallen asleep by Mike’s side, her head resting on his shoulder, her hand on his collarbone. And she, also, had started to dream.

Her dream looked worn out and choppy, like an old camera film.

She was in a city she had never been to, and she knew it was Paris. She was also way older, possibly around seventy. In her vision, she was sitting at a small, round table, in a tiny bistro, with Mike. He, too, was older but she knew it was him – his eyes were unmistakable. They were holding hands, and she had noticed the wedding rings on their fingers. Mike’s skin was cold, and he was smiling at her, pointing at the Tour Eiffel. His contours were evanescent and Lisa had wondered if he was really there, with her, or hers was a dream’s dream.

Whatever it was, it felt like the reaching point of a long, content life lived together as a couple. And it felt like a memory – only, not hers. However, what mattered to Lisa was that it all felt authentic. When, in the back of her mind, the creeping feeling of something being very wrong had started to tickle her senses, she had simply pushed it back into oblivion. She didn’t want to spoil that perfect moment. It didn’t matter that the Eiffel Tower no longer existed in the real world. In her dream, it did.

The moment she had opened her eyes, finding Mike’s dark gaze staring back at her, Lisa had wondered if her dream was hope in disguise, a possible future set in the past. Because her heart knew that, given a chance, she would spend the rest of her life with this man. With or without Paris, with or without the Tour Eiffel.

Because she loved him.

“I love you.”

Her thought turned into words. Barely breathed out in the utter silence of the room. Mike moved, and the rustle of the sheets counterbalanced the tick-tock, tick-tock of the old clock on the wall. He scooted closer, his face only inches away from hers. He studied her intently, then kissed her gently on the lips for a long, tender moment.

When he pulled back, she followed him and found his mouth again, the quiet urgency of her kiss stopping him mid-track, pushing his world off its axis. He reached out, his fingers in her hair, the scent of her skin wrapping itself around him like a comforting tide.

“I love you too… so much.”

Silence.

Then Lisa blinked, breaking the spell, and took a deep breath. “I am going to take a shower… and then…”

“Yeah… and then we’re gonna have to leave.”

Mike watched her as she sat up and stilled, lost in thought for a moment. Then she got up, the sheets slipping away, revealing her naked body. She was his own personal goddess, and his lips parted.

“Want some company?”

She turned her head slightly, looked at him from over her shoulder.

“Definitely.”

With much commitment, Michael and Lisa managed to make their shower quicker than initially expected. As usual, their level of desire was sky-high and their chemistry was undeniable. A nuclear reactor in constant activity. But time was of the essence, and they knew they could not allow themselves to fool around. However, just being close like that, skin against skin, fingers running over each other’s body, was more than enough to keep the flame alive. Lisa admired Mike’s iron control over his own impulses – his eyes soft, soulful despite the backdrop of pure lust. His firm, solid body betraying him in its reactions as he tried to ignore what was obvious at a glance. She, too, was anything but immune by his proximity – and yet they were able to make it out of the shower without any major damage.

While they got dressed quietly, they heard a knock on the door. Mike frowned, glanced up at Lisa and then walked over to the small foyer, pushing the door handle down, sure he would find Miss Oshi or someone from her team waiting for them, telling them they were overstaying their welcome.

But no. Nobody was there. The hallway was empty and whoever had knocked had disappeared after leaving a tray on the floor, by the door. Coffee and some cookies. A plastic orchid in a small glass vase. It was a sweet, wordless good morning message. Mike relaxed.

“Guess what…”

He stepped back into the bedroom and noticed that Lisa was zipping up her dress.

“What?”

“Looks like they don’t care if we stay here a bit longer…” He held out the tray, smiling. “Maybe they think this is a honeymoon for us… or something.”

Lisa took a coffee cup from the tray, brought it to her lips and took a sip. Her eyes were mysterious.

“A honeymoon?”

It sure felt like it.

“…Or something.”

His lopsided smirk made her smile.

“Well, then… whatever this is, breakfast is a good idea. I’m starving.”

She sat on the bed and Mike watched her intently as she munched on a cookie. Looking so young and sweet. Untouched, unscarred, devoid of any fault or error. He shook his head lightly, took a handful of old, crumpled magazines from the small table nearby, and then sat down next to Lisa. Slowly drinking his coffee, he began flipping through the pages, finding faces and names he had barely ever heard of. All coming from the past.

“So…” He cleared his throat and kept his eyes on the pages. “What was your dream about?”

Lisa’s eyes flew up to him. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

“What dream?”

“Look… I know we didn’t sleep much…” He shrugged and blushed. “But I know you were dreaming again. You were mumbling something. And I had a weird dream, too.”

“I was mumbling? What did I say?”

“I am not sure. At one point, you asked someone if they were happy… Are you happy? That’s what you said…”

“Yeah? How did I say it? Was I being sarcastic?”

She didn’t remember that part. She didn’t remember talking at all, in her dream. Her dream didn’t have any sound at all, only complete silence. As if someone had turned the volume down to zero.

Mike scrunched his forehead, his eyes narrowing.

“No… it sounded like an honest question. Like you really wanted to know, and then… then you said a name.”

“What name?” A feeling she could not pinpoint weighted on her chest.

He looked pensive. His gaze fell once again on the crumpled magazines in his hands. He noticed that several pages were missing in all of them. They had been ripped off. His mind barely registered, and he put the thought aside for the time being.

“…Michael. That was the name.”

Lisa held her breath for a second, her heartbeat suddenly racing.

“Michael? I was calling you?”

“Well, not really…” He finally looked up at her. “My name is Mike. Mike Jackson, and nothing else.”

The sensation was weird. In her dream, she knew it had been him. Mike – the way he knew him. His face, his eyes. He looked older, but there was no doubt in her mind that it was him. She wondered why she had called him by another name. She had never called him anything but Mike.

“I don’t know what to say…” She sighed. “I dreamed about you. It was you, in my dream. I’m sure of that.”

“Yeah?” Mike looked genuinely curious. “So, were you asking me if I was happy?”

“I don’t remember speaking at all. But it was just you and me, and if you heard me talk, then… I guess I was talking to you, yeah.”

“And was I? Happy, that is.”

“You looked like it.” She suddenly felt embarrassed. Vulnerable. Exposed.

A long silence followed before he spoke again.

“When I’m awake… you take the shape of everything I’ve ever dreamed of. And when I’m asleep… you are the reality I wanna find when I wake up. You become my dream.”

His words took her breath away. Apparently, Mike was braver than she was when it came to baring his own feelings. Lisa opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out of it. In her peripheral vision she saw him studying her again, his eyes dark and deep.

“There’s something I wanna tell you, Lise. About this, I mean…” He paused. “I started dreaming about you the night before I met you for the first time. I only heard your voice, and then I recreated it from scratch in my lab. At first I thought my mind had just made it up, but then during that counseling session, when you started to talk I realized that it was real… It was your voice… And last night, I had another dream. You were just a little kid, and I know I was a kid, too. It felt like meeting you for the first time, but also a very long time ago. I don’t know how else to put it. It makes me feel very confused.”

Lisa had to place her cup of coffee back on the tray, on the floor. What was he talking about?

“Mike… What are you saying?”

“I have no idea. Just that. And then… you know, and then my dreams became even more intense when we started making love, and after last night…”

He pursed his lips and she knew how hard all of this was. Talking in the bright light of day wasn’t as easy as when they were protected by darkness, and entangled. At least part of their identity was very much entwined with the world they lived in. A world that considered what Michael and Lisa did not only unpopular but dirty, even. Yet, the very idea of transgressing the rules was tempting, tantalizing, irresistible. Deep down, everyone wanted a bite of the forbidden fruit. It was human nature.

“After last night something changed.” Lisa ended the sentence at his place.

Mike nodded.

“Your dreams… How frequent are they?”

“I wouldn’t know. I don’t always remember them. But this one was powerful, that much I can say. It felt so authentic. As real as the feelings and flashes I sometimes have when I’m with you.”

That detail put him in a state of alert. He forgot about being embarrassed and turned to her fully.

“What do you mean, flashes?”

She scoffed, pinching the bridge of her nose as if a sudden headache had invaded her.

“I don’t really know how else to call them… or to explain them. There are things you do, things you say, that trigger something in me. And sometimes they hurt.”

“The flashes?”

“Yeah…”

“That’s what you meant yesterday, right? When you said that sometimes reality hurts more than your dreams?”

Oh, so he remembered. Lisa didn’t know if she should feel relieved or worried.

“Yeah. I don’t know if it’s just my imagination or if I’m losing my mind. But what I do know is that the less guarded I am, the more I discover.”

Mike tilted his head.

“That’s right. That’s what I think, too. The less distracted we are by everything else, the more we focus on one another and our feelings, the more we… connect. And maybe that’s why last night was so intense…” His voice lowered. “…On so many levels.”

“Because we weren’t guarded…”

He reached out, taking her hand.

“No, we were not. We were disconnected.”

Lisa interlaced her fingers with his.

“Right. But we gotta admit it… this is odd, Mike.”

He frowned.

“Us falling in love is not odd.”

“Not that. I mean, us experiencing this stuff. And here, in this place, in this room, it all feels magnified.”

Mike ran his fingertips on the magazine that was still in his lap.

“It does. Everything feels different here. This place is like nothing else I’ve ever seen. Makes me wonder. Just like this…” He glanced up at her. “See this? It’s weird. These newspapers are old, but in pristine condition. Yet it looks like someone took some of the pages. Why? There are so many things we don’t know… So many things we’re discovering together.”

Lisa shook her head slightly, as if to say that she didn’t have an answer to that. But she, too, had noticed the magazines were partial. Mutilated.

“Well, I feel safer here than I felt at your boss’ house, with that creepy fuck watching us. That’s for sure. And I don’t know if we would have ever done what we did last night, had we been anywhere else.”

He smirked.

“Oh, we would have gotten there… eventually.”

That cocky side of him suddenly emerging made her smile. And warmed her in a way that still managed to stupefy her.

“That’s right. Eventually. But not like this. Not this fast. We definitely… forged ahead.”

“And it was breathtaking.”

He was back at being serious now, and when she met his eyes she knew that he wasn’t playing anymore.

“Yes, Mike. It was breathtaking. And maybe that’s what all this is about… Connection. Chemistry, or whatever you wanna call it. Maybe we’re making a big deal out of nothing, you know? There’s a good chance that this is all random, and that’s just how people feel when they fall in love… Dreams, flashes of the future… maybe are nothing but hopes and expectations. Maybe it’s just what the heart wants.”

“I wouldn’t know, Lisa. This is my first time. You, on the other hand, have been in love before… or so you told me.” Again, that look. Searching inside of her, making her feel naked. Heating her up.

Right. She had believed she was in love with another man, before meeting Mike. She had also been willing to marry the guy. And now she could barely remember his face.

“I thought I was.” She murmured, and all the while she came to sit astride him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “But now I know, I didn’t know shit about love.”

Her lips rested on Mike’s forehead and he closed his eyes, his hands running over her back. She felt his deep intake of breath. She knew it was relief washing through him; she knew he wanted to be the one. Because his genuinely gentle, kind personality had an edge, and it was possessive and jealous. If anything, the night they had spent together in the disconnected room had made something clear: this man with the brightest smile and the softest eyes was not willing to compromise about certain things.

Lisa’s kisses trailed on the side of his face, over his jawline, then dipped lower, on his beautiful neck. His grip on her hips tightened, his muscles tensed, his body reacted. When he spoke again, his voice sounded slightly hoarse.

“Maybe you’re right… or maybe not…” His warm hand slid over her dress, finding the naked skin of her back. Scorching it with his touch. “…We should try again. Later, tonight. We should come back down here… spend the night in this room… and see what happens.”

He moved his mouth closer to her ear. “It’s just so hard not to start again right now. You gotta know this, girl… You gotta know what you do to me.”

Lisa didn’t say anything, but her teeth grazed his neck and he shivered. The mere idea of having him again that way, of letting him take her again like he had done, made her feel like quicksilver. Liquid and solid at the same time, ready to change her shape for him, with him.

[Jewel++: Project Orpheus tuning complete, boss. Monitoring process reactivated.]

“Finally. How much data did we lose so far?”

A long sigh. Exasperation. Tension. Frustration.

[Jewel++: CLL does not allow complete virtual control. The central artificial intelligence can follow the subjects only around the perimeter of the building. Borealis cannot break through.]

“I noticed. The suit wasn’t working.”

[Jewel++: It was disconnected.]

“Well, obviously. Again, how much data did we lose so far?”

[Jewel++: 28.850,58 Terabytes in 7 hours and 12 minutes.]

“This is not good… Are they planning to go back there anytime soon?”

[Jewel++: They are talking about it on their way to the station. The lexical analysis confirms a 93.2% probability that they will back down to Level 1 later today. If you want, I can revoke their AA pass.]

Another sigh.

“No. We don’t want to stop them. We just want to watch them. Just make sure they don’t get damaged. They have some measure of free will… Let’s wait and see what happens. Intervene only if they are in danger.”

[Jewel++ : Order recorded. Monitoring process in progress.]

“Oh… and fix that damn ID issue. That was a gross error. It shouldn’t have happened and it almost got Jackson arrested.”

[Jewel++: It was not our error. We cannot update every single computer on the lower levels. Not all machines are up to date with our technology. Not all of them are receptive.]

“I don’t care what the reason is. Define which computers the subjects can run into and try to update those… at least.”

[Jewel++ : Order recorded.]

He bumped into Maddix while walking down one of the bright, white halls near the labs. His colleague looked pale and more nervous than usual.

“There you are! Where have you been?”

Mike stopped mid-step, squaring his shoulders. Watching him with a worried look.

“I am a bit late, but I don’t see the problem. We have no deadlines today and I’m here now, right?”

“Mike, I didn’t see you leave last night, but… people were talking about you guys, wondering where you were, and…”

“Where? At the party?”

Maddix looked uneasy.

“Yes, at the party. I mean, you and Miss Lisa left without anyone noticing. I didn’t know what to think.”

“That’s bullshit!” Mike frowned. “Plenty of people saw us leave. In fact, something happened while we were heading out and I need to speak to Sydney about that. I want her to know what went on.”

The old man in the parking lot. Offering money, begging to watch them as they got it on. Grabbing his dick through his very neat, very expensive pants.

“What happened?” Madd pushed his glasses up his nose and smoothed down his lab coat, fidgeting. “Is Miss… Lisa alright? I haven’t seen her yet.”

The mere mention of her name generated the usual thrill in the pit of Mike’s stomach.

“Yeah, she’s fine. She’s in her office now. It’s not about her, I…” He trailed off and sighed. “Look, I don’t wanna talk about it now. Why are you so aggravated, anyway? Is there something you wanna tell me?”

“No, I just… I was worried, that’s all. The bit of PDA you and Miss Lisa exchanged last night didn’t go unnoticed, and I thought, well… I thought someone had asked you to leave.”

“What? No!” Mike chuckled. “We just wanted to go someplace else. Nobody kicked us out. Look, Madd – I know a lot’s going on lately and I’m behaving differently than usual, but I need you to keep calm and stop fussing when we don’t follow our usual coffee break, work, lunch break, work routine. OK?”

Maddix let out a long sigh and giggled nervously.

“I know. I am sorry. It’s weird how your… love story is messing me all up.”

Mike smiled.

“Hey, maybe you’re in love with me and you don’t know it…”

Madd made a face. “I doubt it.”

“Yeah. Me too. Thank goodness. So, anyway – I’ll see you later, OK? I gotta go talk to Sydney.”

“Alright. Sure. I mean, no problem. Just… can you please tell me once again about your ethnic heritage, Mike?”

Mike closed his eyes for a moment.

Gosh. Alright. He could do this. His odd, somewhat wired friend had his panties all in a bunch over a relationship that didn’t even involve him. Well, it didn’t matter. If that was the little reassurance Maddix needed to keep himself in check, it could be done – as usual. He licked his lips.

“OK.. I’m a black American… part of my DNA probably comes from Ivory Coast… my parents also had some Caucasian and Native American ancestry… Blackfoot, Choctaw, and…” A long, suspended pause. He frowned, holding his breath without even realizing it. “I’m… my mother’s great-grandmother… She…”

A sudden pang of pain hit the back of his head, like an invisible jolt coming from the inside. Mike bent his head to a side, grabbing the nape of his neck and flinched. His vision blurred for a moment – he saw red. He heard Maddix’s voice, but it was just a distant echo. He felt his hand on his elbow, steadying him as his knees went weak.

“Mike… hey, you OK? What’s going on? You feel faint? I mean, you look very pale. What’s happening?”

Mike shook his head and held out his hand. Keeping his eyes closed, gulping down mouthfuls of oxygen.

“It’s fine. I’m OK. It’s getting better…” The pang subsided, not suddenly, but gradually. Like waves getting weaker and weaker against the shore as they retreated back to the sea. He finally managed to open his eyes again. For a moment, he struggled to focus. Then he finally saw Maddix’s face. It was serious. Concerned. Very calm.

“…I’m OK. I’m OK now.”

Where am I? At work. I’m at work. It’s all good.

Maddix nodded his head.

“Do you want me to get you a glass of water?”

“No…” Mike still felt a bit dizzy, disoriented. He blinked. “What was I saying?”

His friend stared at him solemnly for what felt like forever.

“…That you were going to talk to Miss Bankmann about something that has happened last night… at the party.”

“Right… right…” It was finally coming back to him. He straightened up, massaging his temples. “I need to talk to Sydney. OK, Maddix – I gotta go. And I see you later, alright?”

“Alright.”

Mike could tell that Madd was still scrutinizing him, but hey – he felt better now. His buddy didn’t need to worry.

Stepping back, disentangling himself from the grasp Maddix still had on his arm, Mike nodded his head one last time and then headed to the elevator and to the top floor of the building.

This time, when Sydney told him to make himself comfortable, he did sit down in the very plushy chair across her desk. He felt exhausted. He was grateful that the office’s usually blinding lights were dimmed down, because the back of his head was still pulsing slightly. He rubbed the nape of his neck.

“Are you OK, Mike? Can I get you anything?” Sydney’s voice sounded concerned. “You don’t look too good.”

“No, I’m OK… I just have a bit of a headache. But I didn’t sleep much last night, so… I’m probably just tired. Thank you, Sydney.”

“Well, despite my best efforts to throw a perfect party, the drinks were so-so. Maybe it’s an after-effect of that cheap wine. I’m sorry about that. I’m going to have a word with the producer.”

Mike smiled at Sydney’s feeble attempt at keeping the atmosphere light.

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t that bad… Anyway, let me apologize for leaving without saying goodbye. Lisa and I were… well, a bit tired and we wanted to head back home. We didn’t see you, otherwise we would have wished you goodnight.”

“It’s fine. There were about a hundred people there, and my property is humongous. If you wanted to leave, I can understand. Corporate parties are boring. You’re young, in love… it’s actually pretty romantic that you left…”

She smiled, and her angular features softened, revealing her wintry beauty.

Mike didn’t know what to say, and felt his cheeks and ears suddenly very warm.

“Thank you.”

“So, are you here to apologize for something you shouldn’t even be sorry for?”

Again, that playful look on her face. Sydney clasped her fingers under her chin, staring at him with her very bright, very ice-blue eyes.

“Well, that, but also something else. I think…” Shit, how could he phrase what had happened in a decent, respectful way? She was in such a good mood, too! “I think it’s important for you to know that something quite… distasteful happened, while Lisa and I were leaving the mansion.”

Sydney’s eyes narrowed. Her face turned serious.

“Go on…”

Mike cleared his throat.

“While Lisa and I were in the parking lot, a man offered us money and asked us to… uh… engage in sexual activities in front of him. He also was, um… touching himself.”

Her eyebrows sprung up in mild surprise.

“Oh.”

A moment of uncomfortable silence followed, and Mike wondered if it had indeed been a great idea to share the information with his boss. Well, as a matter of fact, it was the right thing to do. Sydney needed to know about the old perv.

“Let me guess. He was about seventy, bald, and wore a black tuxedo?”

Now it was Mike’s turn to be surprised.

“Yeah. How do you know?”

Sydney sighed, tilting her head, glancing up at the ceiling as if she had heard the same story over and over again. He could tell that, underneath her cold, neutral veneer, she was annoyed.

“I know because it’s not news. Of all people that were at the party, last night, you ran into Jon Dunmore. I am very sorry about that.”

“Wait – you’re telling me you already know what kind of person he is?” His headache was suddenly forgotten. “And who is he, by the way?”

He knew he probably didn’t have the right to speak to Sydney that way, but this was not about his job. This was personal.

“He owns OOT Services Consolidated… one of our major shareholders.” Sydney shrugged, a bit uncomfortably. “Everyone knows the kind of man Jon is. What his… fixation is. But he is rich and powerful, and if anything… he doesn’t cause too much trouble. He usually asks if he can watch, but if you say no, he just accepts it and moves on without any major drama. I know it’s not a great consolation, but…” She rose from the chair and walked to the window, gazing outside. “…I guess it’s all I can say to make it better.”

Mike lowered his eyes, staring at his own hands resting in his lap. He felt nauseous.

Apparently, it didn’t matter if you could not keep your own perverted desires in check, as long as you were rich and powerful and lived on Level 5. People were ready to turn a blind eye and pretend that all was peachy. Even if your behavior was disrespectful, illegal and possibly abusive.

The same justice system ignoring this kind of people had been unable to find and stop the man who had killed Mike’s parents. The same justice system was known for prosecuting, in some cases even convicting, innocent people on social, racial, sexual prejudice and ignorance. Mike had never seen first-hand the ugliness that the dominant social class hid behind its fancy veneer. But now the lid was falling off, and what he glanced at was not pretty.

Suddenly, he realized that he was furious thinking about what had happened the night before. The creepy dude, yes, but also the all others – staring at him and Lisa, whispering, scrutinizing. Judging. As if they were not two human beings living their lives, but some animals in a zoo. On display for them to watch.

“I wouldn’t say he didn’t cause much trouble.” His tone was defiant. “In fact, I’d say it’s a pretty nasty thing if you’re the target of his… attention.”

“Do you know who his wife is?”

Sydney ignored his words. Her eyes were still fixed on the skyline.

“I have no idea.”

Mike bit the inside of his cheek.

“She’s an ADA.”

“An Assistant District Attorney?” He lifted his eyebrow. “A prosecutor?”

“Exactly.” She didn’t turn to look at him. “It’s funny, right?”

“The fact that she’s responsible for directing criminal investigations while her husband’s breaking the law? I wouldn’t call it funny. Not at all.”

“Well, if you think about it, it is ironic. Isn’t she the perfect representative of what the state government really is, after all?” Her voice sounded calm, but the sarcasm seeping through was evident. “A beautiful, shiny can… full of worms. You think Jon is an exception? Jon is the rule, Mike.”

Finally, she turned to him.

“Do you have any idea how many crimes get covered up here, just because this is an exclusive level? What kind of things happen, the higher you climb the social scale? The things people discover? The things they have to ignore? You’d be shocked if you knew, believe me.”

Mike didn’t know what to say, but her words sent shivers down his spine. Sydney sounded very much aware of what was going on. Maybe he had been naive thinking that the privileged people living on the upper levels were brainwashed enough to exist in perpetual, blissful ignorance. His boss knew much more than he had ever given her credit for. And people like her – maybe they too knew everything, but either chose to accept the state of affairs or were not in the position to choose at all.

Torturers? Victims? A bit of both?

“I don’t like this, Mike. I know you might not believe me, since I’m part of the same circle, but…” It felt like Sydney had somehow guessed his thoughts. “You have to understand that once you’re part of the machine, either you go with it or you get crushed. There is no other way. The machine always wins. And some things are beyond our control… Some more than others.”

“What do you mean?”

He slowly rose from the chair, his stomach tied in a knot. He needed to leave. He had nothing against Sydney. In fact, he appreciated her honesty, and he perceived her empathy. But the only thing he wanted, at that moment, was to finish his work, find Lisa and drag her back down to Level 1, to the library. Where they had felt safe – much safer than they could ever imagine.

“Just that.” A pale, tired smile. “We’re all alone, Mike. That’s the bottom of it all. I believe this human condition can only rarely be changed. If you look hard enough, you will find that there’s always a long chain of circumstances leading to a seemingly unmotivated behavior. But often, it all comes down to loneliness and estrangement. This world is not nice, Mike. It’s not pure. That’s why I am rooting for you… and Lisa. I am rooting for a successful outcome… You still don’t realize how powerful you two are together, do you?”

Hours later, after work, Mike felt like a loaded weapon. His entire body in full tension. He had looked for Lisa in her office, but she was not there. He had checked the Speakeasy, but had only found Feeney and his obnoxious self, running his mouth as he tried to impress a cute intern.

The moment he stepped out of Electron Enterprises, the pulsing headache that had assaulted him on and off for the entire day finally subsided. He knew it was stress-related – there was no other explanation.

He took his smartphone out of the pocket of his coat, glancing up at the darkening sky, at the steel blue clouds filled with rain ready to be poured over the city. Their daily cleanse.

“Meet me at the station, girl. I need to get away from here. And I need you with me.” He bit his lip. “I miss you.”

Soundtrack