Chapter 50 – Suicide King
Earth, 24 hours later…
The streets of the Bronx Borough were far different than that of Manhattan's clean glimmer and fresh air. Grit, grime, and the smell of overfilled garbage cans filled the air as people went about their business. A mixture of smog and cloud cover made for a perpetual gray sky overhead. Some people walked in the real world and some only the virtual world but most relied on both known as the augmented world. The smothering presence of humanity was everywhere and so was the sensory overload of the augmented world as it attempted to cover the borough's pervasive squalor.
Detective Patrick Rouber could remember the history lessons of his youth. In those days, all of New York City was polluted and Manhattan was far worse than any of the other Boroughs, but all that was changed now. Today, it was RDA's example of the future according to their relentless advertisements. However, like most creatures of habit and with a healthy dose of paranoia inherent to most city dwellers, New Yorkers didn't change. Only the super rich could actually enjoy the reality of this "new" Manhattan, everyone else visited it from a distance through the augmented world and it's many virtual portals. The bottom line was simple, it was safer and much cheaper to remain home among the sprawling suburbs and commute to work virtually. Many people even enjoyed their vacations inside one of the augmented world's many virtual destinations and in complete safety.
On the other side of the coin, people rich and poor alike still yearned to be social. Whether it be for good or bad reasons, in digital or flesh, it always brought forth the masses in both worlds. He recognized his destination in the distance. It occurred to him. The unobtanium might eventually fix our world but it won't change people. Just then, his law enforcement issued spectacles observed a group of pickpockets working the crowd ahead of him. He chuckled to himself as he reflected on his duties. Until the magic rock cures crime, at least I'll have a job.
He walked up to the sliding door of a café, lifted his dark glasses, and gave one of the petty thieves that special cop grin that expressed, 'I know what you're doing kid, but I got bigger fish to fry today.' Patrick strolled inside the café. Over the bar was a neon sign that read 'Never Night Café.' He glanced at his instructions to confirm this was the right place. This was it.
A woman behind the counter yelled out with a distinct Bronx accent, "Seat yourself, hun and I'll be right with you!" Patrick nodded as he looked around and then it caught his eye. It was only in the augmented world but it was no doubt a black top hat with a quill embedded in it. The man appeared to be following at least three newscasts all about the same story and sipping on a cup of coffee. Patrick walked down the aisle toward him and stopped at his booth. The man seemed to ignore him but then Patrick sat down at the booth and bumped the table. The man's face jerked as he reached up and pulled one lens aside to look at Patrick.
Oliver Hawthorne said, "Oh, it's just you. I've been waiting for you."
Patrick replied, "Now that's a bloody cold reception and I'm on time."
Oliver reached up and motioned across the news broadcasts that hovered in the air between them and they vanished. "I know. I'm early because I needed to catch up on some work and the news. Rumor has it the word 'Vigilance' is going to become a household name in about 15 minutes. I also wanted to see the rest of Miss Langston's big news conference about the discovery of the lost I.S.V. Noble Star. Imagine that. I guess the news folks are having a field day." He chuckled under his breath before he continued, "and it kept the coffee coming."
Patrick snickered but abruptly stopped as the waitress appeared as if from nowhere around the corner with a cup of coffee for him. "Here ya go, hun. Try some of our house brew."
Patrick nodded, "Thank you, miss." She smirked at him and walked off. "This was a nice place to meet, I suppose."
Oliver nodded as he took a sip of his coffee. "It's not too bad. The judge and I have met here once or twice for a hot beverage and bagel." He grinned and took another sip of his coffee. Oliver continued, "My to-do-list is done. How about you?"
Patrick nodded, "I'm ready mate. I just hope they don't bollix it up. It tends to happen when too many shields are in the mix."
Oliver grinned, "I know. That's why it's just you and me and a hand full of officers. My people have already secured the building's A.I. and…" Oliver glanced at his antique wristwatch and added, "The warrants and other details landed on the board members' desks about thirty minutes ago."
The waitress came by again, "Would you fellas like a refill on the coffee?"
Both Patrick and Oliver placed a hand over their cups. Oliver said, "Put his coffee on my tab, sweetheart." He winked at her.
She gave him a big smile, "Sure thing, hun," as she moved on to the next table.
Oliver asked, "You ready to make the biggest arrest of your career?
Patrick laughed under his breath, "Funny, no one mentioned that when I got woke up in the middle of the night to carry out a search warrant on the RDA London office. As I recall, they said I was the only detective available that evening." Both men laughed as they finished their coffee and made their way to the exit. On their way out Oliver commented, "Fate and destiny are twin brothers and they both have a wicked sense of humor."
A half hour later at RDA Headquarters in lower Manhattan New York City…
RDA's Chief Executive Officer Terry Chu was alone in his office as he watched the day's breaking news unfold on his office wall monitors. In front of him on his desk were six shot glasses, a bottle of single malt scotch, and a half empty bottle of Kentucky bourbon. He sat at his desk and drank shot after shot until the bourbon was gone and then he started in on the scotch. He mumbled, "Thankfully the damned computer doesn't drink." He glared at the mini bar where the liquor had come from.
With exception to a long-winded memorandum from his board of directors that essentially said he was 'fired' on his desk's holo screen, the rest of his office controls were locked as well as the doors. Moni, the RDA headquarters A.I. refused to answer his commands since it had been directed by RDA security to detain him until the authorities arrived. At this point, the rest of his backup plans were worthless. There would be no happy ending for him today. He was a prisoner in his own office while he waited for the authorities to show up and arrest him. That left him with only one way out as a free man.
Terry wasn't sure but he assumed there were guards outside his door by now. They were probably waiting for the authorities to show up with the arrest warrant. He chuckled and glanced at the chairs he had braced against the door. He swallowed another shot and muttered aloud, "They can kiss my ass if they think I'll go easy."
The wall monitors on any other day would have been tuned to business news. Instead they played several different news channels' take on the breaking Pandora story. Terry watched the pundits and their experts discuss the implications of the government announcement regarding the existence of the UNSS Vigilance and its mission to Pandora. Unfortunately, he had to hear about the fate of the Blackjack and the rest via the news since he'd been cut off from Porter.
With slurred speech he muttered again, "I bet they'd love to have an exclusive with me right about now, but that's not in the cards." He lightly giggled as he pulled out a small, shiny object and a bottle of pills from his pant's pocket and placed them on the desk next to the scotch. "The 'Shell Game' is over and so is my part in its righteous agenda.
One of the news anchors brought up the amazing discovery of the lost I.S.V. Noble Star. Terry spun in his chair and finished the shot glass of whiskey he'd been sipping. "That damned old man must have known about the Noble Star!" He tossed the empty shot glass at the monitor. It smashed against it breaking both, as glass shards scattered across the floor. "The son of a bitch had to know…" his voice trailed off.
Terry sat there a few moments mumbling to himself. The alcohol had made its way into his bloodstream. He was drunk. Finally, he reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a folded paper letter. He unfolded it and carefully placed it on the desk in front of him. He glanced at the bottle of pills and then read the letter one last time. When he finished, he pulled out an antique pen from his coat pocket and placed a sloppy signature on it. He glared at his signature for a moment and finally pushed both the pen and paper across the desk.
The alcohol had taken its toll by numbing his senses; "At least I'll be feeling gooood when I blink out." He grinned and arranged the five remaining shot glasses in front of him. Then, with great effort, he opened the bottle and spilled about a dozen pills out on the desk. He carefully placed one pill in each glass. He paused a moment when he thought he heard noises in the hallway outside his office. He yelled, "I'm not ready for you bastards yet!"
Slowly he reached over, grabbed the remaining bottle of scotch, turned it on end, and sluggishly passed it over the shot glasses. The scotch poured out of the bottle and into the glasses on the desk and even in his lap. Then he tossed the bottle over his shoulder where it bounced off an office window and landed on the floor behind him. He heard the doors of his office shutter as if someone just tried to open them. He realized his time was up.
From the hallway outside his office came voices that demanded he open the doors or they'd be broken down. Terry just laughed and spun his chair around so he could look out his window one last time. He mumbled, "The city is so beautiful, so clean, so perfect just like the old pictures in the museum. I hope God will forgive us for what we're about to do." He spun back around just as he heard the first bang against the door. He took the first shot glass with a pill in it and drank it down in one gulp. He reached over with his right hand and picked up the small shiny object off the desk. He pressed his thumb down on a recessed button on the object and a tiny red light began to flash and then he braced his hand between his leg and the edge of his chair so his thumb would stay depressed on the button.
Again there was a second bang on the door. This time the chairs came lose and fell to the floor. Not long now, he thought as he began to lose feeling in his extremities. He reached over with his left hand and grabbed a second shot glass filled with scotch and a pill. He drank it down and quickly followed it up with a third.
The sound of gunshots rang out. Terry glanced at the door even as his eyes became heavy and hard to keep open. He started to reach over for the fourth shot glass but his hands couldn't grasp it. He was finished.
A few seconds later, the doors burst open and several RDA security officers entered the room, weapons drawn and prepared for anything. They were quickly followed by Detective Patrick Rouber, Senior Regulator Oliver Hawthorne and RDA's Corporate Chief of Security.
The scene was anticlimactic. Terry Chu sat slumped down in his executive chair unconscious or dead. Patrick said, "Damn, I knew it was a bad idea to leave this guy in here by himself for so long."
Oliver nodded as he walked up to the desk and looked down at the letter. A medical technician ran to check Terry's vitals. Oliver didn't pick up the letter but he noticed it was hand written on very fine, very rare quality paper. He read it aloud.
My Confession
I did not act alone because I am not the only one who believes that history must repeat itself if we are to survive.
I believe our human nature will not allow us to become extinct when we have the means to prevent it.
The miracle that has taken place outside the windows of this office has set the example for others to follow. I have no doubt that they will follow…
Sincerely,
Terrance Chu
After Oliver read it he looked up at Terry's near lifeless body. The medical tech said, "Sir, I have a weak pulse." Just as he adjusted his body in the chair Oliver noticed a small shiny object fall out of Terry's hand and onto the floor. As the medical tech worked to revive Terry, Oliver stepped around the desk to see what the object was that had fallen out of Terry's hand.
Without warning, Moni's voice came over the building intercom, "Warning! An exotic energy source has been detected on the executive floor, CEO's office. Please evacuate immediately."
The RDA security chief asked, "What kind of energy source?"
Moni replied, "Antimatter. There is a 98.2% chance the source is a PID."
The security chief yelled, "Oh shit!"
Oliver yelled, "I agree. Everyone out right now!"
Oliver jumped back from behind the desk as the security guards retreated from the room. The medical tech was caught off guard by the rapid retreat from the room as he yelled, "What about Mr. Chu?"
Moni said, "Energy source has reached critical mass, implosion is immanent." Patrick leaned forward to grab the medical tech by the arm and pull him away from Terry Chu. The tech didn't resist as he stumbled backward.
Suddenly. Every piece of electronics, including the wall monitors all violently short-circuited in the room. In the blink of an eye a focused implosion reached out from the device on the floor right beneath Terry's body and engulfed him, his chair, and part of his oak desk and floor under him. Everything inside the sphere was annihilated as the antimatter and matter destroyed one another. Nothing remained of former CEO Terry Chu.
A few moments later Patrick and Oliver cautiously reentered the room. Patrick said, "My phone and spectacles are dead."
Oliver replied, "I'm not surprised after that electromagnetic pulse." Moni's voice could be heard in the hallway, "Energy levels on the executive floor have returned to normal."
Oliver commented, "We noticed," as he walked up to what was left of the desk. The letter was still there, but the writing pen had been closer to Terry. It hadn't moved a bit but only half of it still existed. The rest was gone, along with three of the five shot glasses.
Patrick slowly walked around the desk and looked down through the hole made by the implosion. "How appropriate that there would be a lavatory right below the CEO's office." A nearby security officer that overheard him snickered, "Makes perfect sense to me, sir." Patrick nodded at the officer's remark.
Oliver walked over to the window and stared out at the city skyline. Patrick joined him, "You have to admit it is a nice view of the city."
Oliver nodded as he turned to look at the RDA security chief. "Chief, what the hell is a PID?"
"It stands for 'Personal Implosion Device.' RDA developed them for special military applications."
Patrick commented, "How original. Let me guess, you have no idea how Mr. Chu got his hands on one."
The Chief replied, "No. He might have been the CEO but even he didn't have the authority to bring something that dangerous into the building."
Oliver nodded, "He had help, no doubt."
Patrick shook is head in frustration; "I guess we can skip the post mortem memory scan."
Oliver sarcastically replied, "Consider it a savings for the taxpayer."
Patrick almost laughed but stopped short. "It's a bloody peculiar way to die, don't you think?"
Oliver glanced back at the hole where the chair had been, "Indeed. The forensic team will be up here any minute, but I don't think they'll find much."
"With exception to the letter, you're probably right. As strange as this sounds I feel like we just witnessed some kind of show."
Oliver nodded, "It did seem like a well orchestrated suicide. Perhaps there's a message in the act as well."
"I would agree." Patrick's facial expression took on a cooler, more devious smirk as he mumbled, "…but checkmate for today."
Patrick, with a hint of frustration in his tone, turned to Oliver and stated, "I'm obviously not arresting anyone today so I could do with another cup of coffee. This time with ice and I'm buying."
Oliver started to grin as he glared at Patrick from the corner of his eye, "No argument here my friend." On the way out Patrick bagged the letter for evidence and placed it in his coat pocket.
