The Tenth Chapter

            Gib stared silently at the techpad in front of him, sighing. He scrolled through the white bracketed schedule in front of him, like sifting through uninteresting channels. The week was ending and Gib felt he had worked none of it. Vikal had been scheduled for off time for most of the week, and private meetings that Gib was not required to attend. Though, Vikal seemed to require him not to. So, for the past week Gib largely sat around the office attempting to sort and organize legislature that Vikal may have missed so they could be easily viewed the following week. That list, however, was short and took Gib only a day to complete.

            Gib would be lying if he did not say that he had spent most of his time daydreaming, and mostly about Wyan. Gib blushed faintly, the thought of Wyan was attractive but the strangeness of his character seemed to draw him in the most. He felt conflicted about him, there was an air about Wyan that had almost made him feel uncomfortable, yet it felt so right, pushing the eerie feeling on the building itself.

            A light vibration on Gib’s wrist interrupted his thoughts. He pushed up his white sleeve and looked at the message on the display.

            “WGOT?!” The message read under the initials SH.

            Gib smirked and placed his thumb on the message, and a small holographic keyboard projected itself in response.

            “Yeah! I’ve been bored all week and need a good drink!” Gib typed out and sent the reply.

            “Me too! Let me know when you’re ready!” SH replied.

            “Sounds good!” Gib typed, then placed his thumb on the wrist screen again and the keyboard disappeared.

            Gib stood up from the couch in Senator Toros’s office and walked to the door. He exited and waved to the office receptionist before walking through the office space into the elevator. Most of the office was empty, except for a few stragglers. As he looked on the office cubicles, Gib remembered his own time as one of the office drones. Most of the people employed in the office were smaller legislature trackers, case observers, and economists. Everything that took place on Axiom needed to be tracked for the benefit of the Senator, and each Senator had a similar set up. Every level of the building dedicated to tracking activity on every still operating layer on Axiom, every political or economic change tracked. The managers of each level were allowed an allotment of power so that they might be able to act as representatives of the Senator, if need be, but such occurrences were rare.

Gib’s previous job was tracking local police activity. He did not miss it. He had felt more like a production line employee, an assembly line for politics.

            The elevator hummed to the ground floor, the doors sliding open and allowing Gib to depart. He walked through the empty lobby to the sidewalk, an array of hover vehicles gliding by and into the distance. Walking a few feet to the right of the building, Gib stood behind a blue line marking the sidewalk. A few minutes later a transport flew through the traffic overhead and parked in front of him, its lean curvatures giving it a stylish grey metal look, which Gib boarded. The transport was heavily packed, so Gib took a standing slot and grasped the hanging brace, the transport shaking lightly as it took off.

            Gib glanced at the other passengers around him, hiding his curiousness by looking at his holo-band. The only occupants in this sector of the world were office workers, yet not all were the same. A man directly to his left had no visible bionics, and Gib was not sure if he had any. If the man did have an augment, it was not obvious – which meant it was a more expensive variant. The woman next to him had a grey bionic eye, attached from the left side of her head. He scanned around more, seeing augments ranging from legs to arms, hands, knees, eyes, and parts of skulls. He tensed up slightly, feeling a few curious eyes on him looking for his augments, though, they would not find it. Gib had only one augment, his right foot. The foot had not grown right when he was baby, and thus he had gotten a bionic one in its place.

            Gib looked at the man again. If he did have the less intrusive variant, he would not be riding a public transport. More than likely, the man had a bionic like his own; feeling a bit guilty having assumed. Everyone had an augmentation, overpopulation and disease saw to that. Only the rich could afford genetics.

The transport hummed to a stop a few blocks from the Senator’s office, and Gib slotted off with a handful of people. He glanced at the towering building in front of him, the top a shadow in the setting sun. Plastered in white metal above the entrance “Hab 351A”, the building looked just like most of its occupants, clean and proper on the surface. He took a breath, taking in a breath of clean air. He had been standing outside the entrance far longer than he had meant to, feeling the wandering eyes of onlookers, and walked inside.

The lobby glittered in polished white metal and furnished with crimson chairs and sofas; the red hues reflecting off the marble floor. Statues of polished angels sat on the sides of the reception desk, softly absorbing the white lights overhead, surrounded by paintings of fictional landscapes accredited with bronze name plates. Behind the receptionist desk, a painting of the Senate Building – casting a shadow even in art.

Gib crossed the lobby, passing through the weaving lines of moving people, and entered the left elevator. Packed inside, the elevator shot downwards intensely. Gib felt his entire being shoot upwards with the motion but bounced back to normality. The elevator stopped quickly, letting out a few people. With every stop, Gib slowly moved further back in the elevator. It took only seconds to reach his floor, the numbers floating across the top of the elevator in orange like an advertisement “351B F-51”. He pushed through the remaining passengers and stepped through the door. The doorway closed behind him and he walked the long dimly lit grey hallway. He stopped in front of “A-31” plastered over a grey doorway, swiping his hand on the left panel, and walked inside.

“I’m home.” Gib pronounced quietly as the lights flickered on, as if expecting someone would hear him.

            Gib sighed and took off his shoes. He loosened the black tie around his neck, walking straight ahead and into the small living room. A single couch directed toward a holo-tv on a metal stand, along with a small coffee table at the center of the arrangement, beyond, a large window completely blacked out. Gib walked over to the window, pressing on the left panel beside it, and uncovered the shadow.

            Replacing the shadow was darkness, but just below a dazzling city of lights that stretched on for miles and miles, the light stretching upwards like grasping hands. He looked over at the other upside-down buildings, humming in dim yellow light, then again to the city below. The second layer, a distant collection of pleasure. Yet, also a layer of habitation, like people preferred living in it. However, when they looked up – all they could see were the hanging remnants of a world above them.

            Tonight, Gib wanted to descend into that world below. He turned from the window and walked into his room just beyond on the left. He removed his work clothes, his black khakis and white shirt resting in a clump on the floor with his underwear and entered his built-in modular shower. The heat caressed his skin, washing away the day in a stream of water and draining below. His right foot thunked as the water dripped and sprayed on it, glistening. Every toe mirrored the other foot, like a normal foot but instead grey. Gib stared at it, the water flowing over his hair and dripping down his face. He shook his head, shaking off the trance, and finished washing himself before turning off the shower.

            Gib dried himself off with a towel and prepared his outfit for the night - a pair of pressed dark grey pants and a black long sleeve shirt. Dressing, he looked in the mirror over his sink.

            “Looking good.” Gib said smiling.

            Not long after a beep rang from his door. He finished dressing and walked out into the hall to his door. He opened the door.

            “Damn! Looking good!” A young woman said prancing through the doorway, as if she had heard his earlier remark.

            “You look fantastic as well, Shogo. You’re also fashionably early, as always.” Gib said smirking.

            Shogo walked into the living room, and Gib closed the door as he followed her. She glanced out the window before sitting down on the couch; her purple jumpsuit balancing well with a pair of black stilettoes.

            “If I come earlier then I might accidently walk in on you. Though, clearly I didn’t come early enough.” Shogo said smiling, and then laughed.

            Gib laughed, leaning on the wall separating his room.

            “So, Miss Shogo, where would you like to go tonight?” Gib asked.

            “There’s this club I heard about through the grape vine. Apparently, it’s super-secret -ultra VIP.” Shogo said still smiling.

            “Let me guess, someone at work mentioned this?” Gib said with a disappointed tone.

            “Now, Gib, not everything I do is related to work. But, yes.” She slyly said.

            Gib sighed deeply.

            “You’re lucky you’re my friend. Remember what happened last time we went somewhere one of your coworkers recommended?” Gib said.

            “Oh, come on, Gib! How long are you going to hold that one over me? It was a couple of years ago and your left arm is fine.” Shogo said.

            “It hasn’t ever quite moved the same since that round vaporized through it.” Gib said, moving the arm in circles.

            Shogo stood, her brown hair glistening in the light. She moved closer to him, moving her hands over his forearms.

            “I’m sorry.” Shogo said, her brown eyes reflecting in puppy like innocence.

            Gib watched her, and then laughed shaking his head.

            “You are trying so hard.” Gib said.

            “Ugh, fine.” Shogo said, her head flopping backwards as she walked back to the couch.

            Gib walked by her to the window, watching the lights streaking below.

            “What’s this place called?” Gib said sighing.

            “Lidless Gaze, it’s down on the second layer. Like I said, super-secret and super exclusive.” Shogo said suddenly excited at his renewed interest.

            She stood from the couch and walked over to the window beside him.

            “I swear it’s from a reliable source. A coworker friend mentioned it and it’s apparently amazing. She got us passes!” Shogo said smiling and flashing the silver chip passes in her hands.

            “Lidless Gaze? That sounds more than creepy.” Gib said, the choice mulling through his head.

            “C’mon, please! It was really hard for my friend to get these for us.” Shogo pleaded.

            Gib stood silently for a moment, gazing at the streams of vehicles flying over the city below. He wondered, curiously, if the ocean looked like that. Schools of fish wading in the deep dark water, waiting to be eaten. If the club did not work out, he would have salmon tonight.

            “Fine. But, first sign of trouble – we leave. Okay?” Gib said sighing.

            “Thank you!” Shogo said hugging him.

            Shogo then walked to the door, already practicing her dance moves, and waited for him.

            “I’m going to regret this.” Gib said under his breath.

            Gib walked over to the prancing Shogo and shook his head while laughing.

            “I know you have to do your warmup before we go in, but can you at least wait until we’re down there.” Gib joked.

            Gib opened the door, and they walked out into the hallway. The lights in his apartment turning off as the door slid close behind them.

            The sidewalk was just as bland and metallic as before, but only darker. The night sky took over, and a cold breeze swept through in its wake. Gib followed beside Shogo, though he knew where he was going, he preferred she led them, she is after all the only of them that knew any form of self-defense.

            Gib remembered the first time he met Shogo. He was still working for Senator Toros at the time, but as a faceless police monitor. It was the first time he had been out in any field work, as most of his work was behind a desk. Shogo was, and still does, working at Piefer Genetics, a company that grows the future generations of Axiom. Gib had been instructed to investigate a break-in reported to police at the time, though, the term investigation may be a stretch for what Gib did - he took statements from police and relayed them back to the Senator’s office. The official statement was it was a hit and run. When he went to get a statement from Shogo, who was a security guard, she told him a mother was looking for her child. The mother could not make payments for the child, so the company refused to give the child to her. The mother was arrested, and Gib later found out the mother fried her brain with a chip. Out of everyone Gib questioned, Shogo had been the only one who was honest with him.

            Shogo strut across the sidewalk to a crowded station, swaths of people walking to and from, that hid itself inside a building. Gib could hear the whirling air that shot upwards and stopped suddenly with the elevators, and the doors that so casually opened after. He followed Shogo through the crowds, navigating the maze of pedestrians, and made their way to one of the elevators. An elevator on the far right, one of six, disembarked its passengers and allowed them to board with ease and space – few others following them into the now closing elevator. They walked to the back of the elevator, a tube of plexiglass and metal, which allowed Gib a momentary view of the back of the shaft.

The elevator snapped, but only slightly, as it shot downwards at an intense speed. The metal backdrop of the shaft cleared almost immediately and revealed the open air of the second layer. No tubing restricted the elevator, as it homed in on the station below, free falling or descending rapidly on purpose. This allowed them to view their surroundings entirely, watching the lights shoot past them like meteorites, the towers of buildings from above sticking out like a hanging city of its own. They covered the entirety of the ceiling of the second layer, spreading out for hundreds of miles, and drooping down for thousands of feet. Gib glimpsed upon the approaching rainbow of the second layer, a city of pleasurable decadence, where someone could get lost in a fog of consumption. The yellow smog of the eternally lit city filtered through the elevator as the colors changed to hues of violet and purples, with reds and tings of blues. Every cornerstone an advertisement that hung high in the sky, flotillas of a brand of whisky or new widespread songs that vibrated in low hums, and of course the occasional advertisement for a club or brothel.

            The scenery covered itself quickly as the elevator came to a jolting stop at the station, the trip taking less than five minutes to clear miles and miles of open space. As the doors of the elevator opened, a wave of smells slammed into Gib, repugnant odors of nicotine and strong alcohol lingered as replacement clouds that hovered just above; laughing and the clattering of feet that stumbled into bars, clubs, and other people.

Shogo strode forward, however, looking back at Gib to make sure she was still with him, her quick smile a light in the haze. Gib hurried along, attempting to stay as close to her as possible, their shoulders rubbing lightly. The occasional bump pushed him closer, as the crowds hobbled together shoulder to shoulder – the streets littered in unseen debris. Shogo took his left hand, leading him through the crowds as it got even more crowded, forcing their way through. They passed a whole section of naked and parading individuals advertising for their brothel or club, a stretch of red-light buildings hueing the streets. Shogo pulled Gib through the crowds and into a side alley, where the stench of human waste filled his nostrils so profusely, he raised a hand to his nostrils to try to block it. Shogo tapped on her wrist, navigating a guide that would lead them to their destination.

“It’s this way, c’mon.” Shogo said back to him.

“Couldn’t we take the street?” Gib asked, almost choking on the stench.

“We will, this is just a short cut.” Shogo said.

            Gib followed behind her, stepping over a pile of something he could not identify. Shogo followed the detailed holo-guide, stepping over any obstacles like they were not even there.

            “So, just a heads up – this place isn’t actually on the map. The map will take us to close location, then we’ll have to find it.” Shogo said.

            “Great.” Gib grunted.

            They came to an intersection of back alleys, taking a left, and then an immediate right down another alley. Out of the shadows of the luminescent lights, a man staggered forward. A pale green cap set atop over a bushy brown beard, his eyes as dark as the shadows, and oozing despair. His clothes were torn, but wearable - a heavy coat with ripped pants.

            “Spare any Zux?” The man stammered out, his voice hoarse and burly, yet gurgling as if suffocating. He extended a dirty pale machined hand.

            Shogo paid him only a glance, before taking the hand and bending one of the fingers backwards. The man howled in pain, and she kicked him behind his right knee. The man faltered to the ground, and Shogo kept walking. Gib watched the man as he passed, his eyes glued.

            “I’m sorry.” The man sobbed softly, repeating the words over and over, covering his face, and the words became distant.

            Gib jogged to catch up to Shogo, who was dead set on her mission of finding the elusive club. The street quickly filled his senses, the crowds of people becoming everything around. Shogo again took his hand, like leading a child, and dragged them both into the crowds walking to their right. The crowds streamed into the distance, between rows of towering buildings illuminated with glowing signs, and Shogo guided them between flocks of overly drunk or implanted individuals. Music overhead boomed between the flying vehicles that broke and yet rhymed different tunes.

            Shogo stopped them at a cross walk, the shooting automated hover cars showing no signs of stopping. Gib, still holding Shogo’s hand, wondered why ground traffic was still practiced. This was not the first, nor would it probably be the last, time he wondered such a thing. But, as he came up with a response, the automated cars stopped and allowed them to pass through the wide street, barely missing the scrapping crowded shoulders of the crosswalk.

            Shogo led them straight ahead from the crosswalk, again walking down a street surrounded by towering buildings, but the time they walked from the crosswalk lengthened. They followed the street, and Shogo made no deviations.

            “Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Gib asked, a nervousness beginning to build within him.

            “Yeah! Of course!” Shogo answered confidently, her gaze flicking between the guide and the crowds.

            Her answer, however, built no confidence in Gib. Whether or not he was confident in the guide she was using was unquestionable, the guide was always right, however, the distance bothered him. Gib had never strayed far from the elevators that took him home, this was the furthest. They had walked for several minutes, the towering buildings had begun to change – while still being large, they were no longer hundreds of floors high. The sparkling illuminations of the previous district became scarce, while still holding a large amount of advertisements, and the dirt, such dazzling display had hidden, became more obvious.

            The large crowds dispersed the further they went, allowing Shogo to release Gib’s hand, no longer fearing getting separated. While the crowds dispersed, the homelessness became more obvious, hiding between buildings in alleys. Yet not all were human, even machines gathered in such dark places – thrust into obsoleteness and forsaken, not even given the mercy of being dismantled. Gib, as he tried to look away, figured out they must be in a buffer zone – the residential areas between large pleasure districts. They are darker places, places where the workers lived, and where the forgotten gathered without trouble.

            They approached a dimly lit street corner, a four-way intersection devoid of signs, and a beggar sat against the side of a building, clothed heavily, and darkened by a hood that cast a shadow upon the ground. Shogo approached confidently to the corner, ignoring the beggar as if they did not exist, but as Gib approached, the beggar slid forward a can and pressed together machined hands.

            “Allow us to see, our true being.” The methodically low voice said, as if in prayer.

            Gib looked upon the beggar and noticed the machined head under the hood. Gib, hesitated to move on, feeling for a moment guilt, or a willingness to give to the machine. He, however, did not have any physical Zux chips on him- nor had he in a long time.

            “I’m sorry, I don’t have anything for you.” Gib apologetically said.

            The machine looked up at Gib, its metallic visage in view under the light. A pair of steel struts held up a chin and defined jawline, the entire face intricate in design and painted with manufacture. For a moment, Gib thought it was a person looking up at him, its orange humming eyes glistening in the darkness. What did it matter, Gib thought, if it was a machine or a person? The machine looked down, burying itself again in the shadow of the hood.

            “We have seen, that is enough.” The machine replied quietly.

            “C’mon, Gib.” Shogo said pulling at Gib’s hand.

            They crossed the street directly ahead of them, and Gib looked back momentarily. The beggar had disappeared, only a rusted can remaining under the orange light.

Shogo led them down several blocks, passing by abandoned decrepit buildings, until she came to a stop.

“Okay, it’s supposed to be somewhere around here.” Shogo said looking around.

“Here?” Gib questioned, throwing up his arms at the scenery, “In the middle of nowhere? We’re not even close to a pleasure district.”

“Do the words super-secret mean nothing to you?” Shogo said still scanning the dark buildings.

Gib sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Even this far from a pleasure district, the buildings overhead still vastly covered the ceiling, the dotting yellow lights like stars twinkling in the distance.

“Where does this go?” Shogo asked behind Gib.

Gib turned around and looked at Shogo who stood in front of a door. This door, however, was different from any door Gib had ever seen, a rusted bronze doorknob protruded from the metal door.

“Weird looking door.” Gib said walking up beside Shogo.

Shogo reached out, grasping the knob, and pushed open the door. They both walked through the doorway, and on the other side was an alleyway. This alley, however, appeared to be completely devoid of any garbage, spotless compared to the others.

“Well, at least it’s clean.” Shogo said, sighing.

“I think we should turn around. There’s no telling where this might go, and I don’t want to get mixed up in anything.” Gib said rubbing his right forearm.

Shogo walked further down the alley a few feet, and turned to Gib.

“C’mon, this might actually be the way! We’re in the middle of trash town and this place is spotless. I don’t know what else could possibly be more of a clue!” Shogo said.

Shogo did not wait for Gib to respond and walked further down the alley, and Gib helplessly walked after her. They walked for a few minutes before coming upon a flickering dimly lit light, below it a set of stairs spiraled downwards. Shogo showed no sign of stopping and confidently stepped down the spiraling stairs into the darkness. Gib hesitated for a moment, but quickly followed her.

“I’m really not sure about this, Shogo.” Gib nervously said.

They slowly descended the stairs, pressing their hands against the wall to guide them in the darkness.

“I think I see light up ahead.” Shogo said in the darkness.

Just as Shogo said so, a dark blue hue lightly brushed against the walls of the stairwell, allowing them to see the rest of the descent. Winding down a few more steps, the walls peeled away and a larger hallway basking in dark blue light revealed itself. Shogo stepped off the last step, Gib trailing behind her, and she looked around. The hallway trailed off into two directions, one directly in front of the stairwell’s exit, and another behind it.

Shogo paced in front of Gib, her purple jumpsuit clashing with the dark blue lighting.

“So, what’s the plan?” Gib nervously asked, crossing his arms.

Shogo stopped pacing and looked at Gib with a determined grin.

“We keep going! This way!” Shogo excitedly said and pointing down the hall directly in front of the stairwell’s exit.

Shogo began prancing off down the hall, and Gib deeply sighed, following her.

            “This is the end.” Gib sighed, “You’re going to get me killed.”

            “Where’s your sense of adventure, Gib?!” Shogo giggled.

            “It died in the stairwell.” Gib dryly replied.

            They followed the hallway all the way to the end, which took a left, and they rounded the corner. They were immediately faced with a giant metal door, which menacingly remained closed as they approached.

            “There, see? We have to turn back now.” Gib said.

            Shogo seemed to pay no attention and stepped over to the door. She placed her left hand on the doorway, and it sprang open.

            What appeared in front of them left both speechless. Shops beaming in bright neon lights sat on both sides of the hallway, each in letters of different languages, each attempting to tempt with mechanisms and augments. Groups of people walked the hall, each completely unobstructed unlike the crowds of the pleasure district. Shogo stepped through the doorway, and Gib closely followed her, their initial shock wearing off.

            “Where are we, Shogo?” Gib whispered beside her.

            “I have no idea. Looks like an underground augment market?” Shogo whispered.

            Shogo quietly walked with Gib, attempting to go almost unnoticed among the groups of people who walked the hallway. The air in this place was completely different from the district above, the groups of people appearing more refined in mannerism. However, unlike the surface, and unlike Gib, these people brandished their augments openly and sleekly. Their augments polished in grey steel, some even silver or gold plating, mixing with suits of black or stylized dresses of unknown wealth. No one form of augment was seen, from head to toe, some even completely stylized in sleek silver steel; the neon lights basking off their reflections.

            As they walked, a group passed them, and a woman starkly naked passed Gib. She winked at Gib, perhaps he had been staring, but the contours of her augmented body made it obvious, her private body parts completely masked in skin like material. Gib could not even fathom how much Zux made such an augment possible.

            “This is some heavy shit, Shogo. What if this is an illegal augment market?” Gib whispered loudly in Shogo’s ear.

            Shogo stopped and pointed directly in front of them.

            “I think I found it.” Shogo said.

            At the end of the hallway sat a large sign in the shape of an eye, its iris a light blue, and surrounding it in blazing orange were the words “Lidless Gaze”.

            “Yea, I think you did.” Gib said placing a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s go home.”

            “C’mon, we came all this way. Might as well take a peek.” Shogo said slipping out under Gib’s hand.

            Shogo walked towards the sign, and the entrance became apparent. Covering the walls was an array of tubing pulsing in light blue bursts that reached from the sides and into the ceiling. A door sat at the end of the hallway, draped, and hidden by blue silk, and stoically standing at the entrance was a person. As they grew closer, however, the person was in fact an android. The android’s humanoid appearance was so like that of a human it was almost impossible to tell if not for its metal shell, polished in silver steel, its parts out in full view. The android, with its hands behind its back, stood with its eyes closed. Shogo and Gib approached the android, no sign of a line up area in sight, and Shogo retrieved the passes.

            “Passes.” The android mechanically said as they approached.

            Shogo took the silver chips out and the android fluidly took them from her. The android examined them, however, not with its eyes, pressing them between its fingers. To Gib’s and Shogo’s surprise, the chips squished like sponges between the android’s fingers, and once it was done examining them, returned to normal. The android handed the chips back to Shogo.

            “Augments.” The android again mechanically said.

            “Uh, left foot, sorry, right.” Gib stammered out.

            The android knelt, and then stood after a moment, looking at Shogo.

            “Left eye.” Shogo said.

            The android got closer, close enough that Shogo was breathing against the polished steel, her reflection staring back at her, its eyes still sealed shut. The android then stepped away and to the side, gesturing to the door behind the silk.

            Shogo walked behind the silk and Gib followed.

            “Well, that was something.” Shogo said, but she was not smiling, even appearing nervous.

            “Yea. I had no idea about the eye.” Gib said looking at Shogo.

            “Eyes augments are pretty easy to hide.” Shogo said.

            Shogo looked at Gib and nervously smiled, then looked at the door.

            “Well, I did say we should take a peek, didn’t I?” Shogo asked.

            “Yea, we came all this way.” Gib nervously replied.

            Shogo pressed her hand on the door, and music thumped to life.