Chapter 32- Questions
Lupe stuck her bottom out and peered into the mirror. Life drawing had never been her strong suit, but why pay for an artist – or a model – when she herself was both things. She had settled on a flirty and risqué poster to advertise her shop, Kitty's Purr-fect Pleasure Boutique, and was painting it in the spare room of their new home in Elpis Close. 'Room' was a bit generous, it was more like a large closet, but it had nice lighting from the large white and yellow neon sign for the grocery store across the street. Almost like sunlight, she thought while outlining the plumpness of her bottom. Still not right! I'm a very good amateur, not a professional. She frowned and erased the line again.
They had moved into 21F Elpis Close over a week ago. The apartment was still sparsely furnished – a bed, one wardrobe stuffed full of many of Richard's suits as he could fit, another with the more modest collection of clothing Lupe had, a dining table with two chairs, a refrigerator, some sitting chairs, a truly charming Persian rug, some less than charming lamps, and a huge Ficus. Other things would be collected in due time. At present, Lupe was concerned with her new business.
She had been hoping that Madame Mimi was honestly remorseful over the incident with security as well as business savvy. Lupe's offer had been simple – sell Madame Mimi's stock at double the prices that she sold them in her shop to women who didn't dare visit Rapture's truly seedy side. Madame Mimi would get half of what Lupe sold, or the full price of her goods, and Lupe would get the half remaining. At least for now. If it was a successful venture Lupe would explore other production avenues.
For the past two days, Lupe had been lounging outside at a nearby bistro, watching the foot traffic pattern in Little Eden. She was not a total stranger to running a business – her parents had run a restaurant for years in downtown Los Angeles and she knew a thing or two about getting people in the door. Her tenants – my tenants! – appeared doomed. They sold soap, and only soap. It was nice soap, certainly, with many pleasing smells like lavender and vanilla, and cut into little hearts and stars and such, but it was just soap.
When Lupe informed that she was their new landlady the owners, a man and woman both younger than Lupe, looked concerned. They told her they didn't have the money for the rent due in a week. Lupe told them that she was more than willing to let them break their contract, penalty-free, at the end of the month. They happily accepted her offer and Lupe had a week to get everything ready. The poster, for now, was going up only in the window – everything else would be blacked out to tantalize and inspire curiosity in the potential shopper. Since she didn't have to worry about procuring inventory or paying rent, the first money she made would go to buying advertising space in Olympus Heights and Adranos Place.
Every woman's gonna want what I'm selling. Lupe, true to her word, had given her one and only interview with the Rapture Tribune. The whole thing had been a misunderstanding between Richard and Robert. Some words had been hotly exchanged, Robert had been drinking, got a bit too handsy – but nothing Lupe hadn't experienced before – and pow! Down he went. Richard felt bad about it, but he had boxed in the army and could throw a mean right hook! Lupe also felt bad about it, it was also so unpleasant, and oh, it was a shame about Dorothy too, really, but she and Richard just happened so fast! And by the way, she was opening up a shop in Little Eden, if any of their readers wanted things to happen 'quickly' as well.
The woman in the post was wearing a coy cat mask, originally because Lupe wasn't also great at drawing faces, but now that she thought about it, the more it seemed like a brilliant marketing idea. Every woman can imagine themselves behind that mask, Lupe celebrated herself for the stroke of laziness cum genius.
The doorbell rang and Lupe put down her pencil. Richard had been lying on the bed, reading a magazine when she had seen him an hour or so ago. He's probably fallen asleep, I best get that door.
"Oh, I figured you'd be napping," Lupe commented as she stepped into the hall and bumped into Richard.
"Nope," he shortly answered while moving towards the door.
Probably neighbors curious about us, Lupe absently considered. She wasn't really in the mood to chat but she supposed she could be polite for a few minutes. There are some cookies in the cabinet, but I'll be dipped if they are getting their hands on my expensive coffee.
Richard unlatched the door and Lupe was more than a little surprised to see that odd German doctor. Tenenbaum!
Lupe froze in her tracks, but Richard snorted a laugh. "I was wondering when you'd show up," he greeted her and gestured for her to come in. "You doubtless read all about my recent exploits and have some questions, I'm sure."
"An accurate assumption," Tenenbaum muttered and entered the living room.
Lupe suddenly felt very awkward and slightly concerned. What if she recognizes me from when I hid in her dirty lab? She honestly didn't know the answer. Lupe hadn't been doing anything illegal exactly, at least not to Tenenbaum, but she had given a fake name.
Richard sat down on a dusky rose velvet armchair, and Tenenbaum sat in the moss green one across from him. "Before you ask me anything, you've got to know there's a price. I want information. Those doctors told me blast all nothing about this, so if I am going to answer your questions you're going to answer mine."
Tenenbaum nodded slowly. "I will share with you what I can."
Lupe was standing towards the back of the room still. Tenenbaum hadn't acknowledged her, and neither had Richard for that matter. It would probably be wisest to return to her tiny art studio and finish her poster, but she was also very, very curious as to what questions and answers would be doled out.
"Fire away," Richard said.
Tenenbaum's eye's flicked towards Lupe momentarily. "I have questions for her, as well."
Lupe cocked her head. "In what capacity?"
"Firstly, why did you give me a false name when you came to my laboratory in Epimetheus Park?" Tenenbaum directly asked her.
"It had nothing to do with you, I swear," Lupe rushed to explain. "I was looking for someone who had disappeared and I was worried that she had gotten mixed up with criminals, and I was trying to keep a low profile. Honest."
Tenenbaum regarded Lupe in silence for a few moments. "You did not come there to spy on me?"
"No, no, of course not, I had no idea you were there, I was looking for a place to hide, I had some guys on my trail. Epimetheus Park is a rough place, you've been there, you know."
Tenenbaum leaned back in her chair. "Who went missing?"
"My friend and old bunkmate. The police said that she robbed someone, but I didn't know if she'd really do such a thing. She lived around there and I was looking for her, that's all!"
Tenenbaum evidently believed Lupe's story so she turned her attention back to Richard. "Have you ever been in a fight before, Mr. Stone?"
Richard shook his head. "Not before I came here and got that slug in me. I had a bit of an unpleasant conversation with Lupe's old boss not too long ago either, gave him a bop, didn't knock him out though. I guess I wasn't that mad."
"And you have no training in boxing or other fighting styles?"
"Nothing more than the basics you get in the army, no," Richard answered. "Now we've answered lots of your questions, you answer mine. What happens if this slug inside me dies?"
Tenenbaum did not hesitate in replying. "I have only theories, guesses, for most of what you will ask me. This is not just a new avenue of research, this is a whole new science, and there are very few people advancing it. But based upon many experiments I have performed, if the slug inside of you dies, I believe you would also die. Not immediately, but within a few hours. Your cells will collapse without the constant ADAM they receive from the sea slug. Exposure to ADAM in its injectable form creates a dependency, but at this point, your body's reliance is far deeper and more intricate than that of injected ADAM."
Richard sighed heavily. "How long do these slugs live for?"
"I cannot say. There is not a great deal of research on sea slugs as a whole to begin with, at least not that I have access to. Most of what we call sea slugs live only for a year, but I do not believe they are gastropods, as most sea slugs are. They differ in many vital ways and their taxonomy suggests something as of yet unclassified by science. Over the past two years, none of them have died of natural causes in captivity. I cannot give you an answer as to how long you will live from this day forward."
"So these slugs could live for ages, right?" Lupe optimistically probed. "I read somewhere that lobsters can live for a hundred years! Maybe they are like lobsters!"
"They are not lobsters," Tenenbaum corrected her. "They are not crustaceans at all."
"But the point is you don't know, they could live for a very long time. Some things in the ocean live longer than people even," Lupe said, keeping her eye on Richard's face. He didn't react to her optimism, however, and stared past Tenenbaum at the wall.
"If she doesn't know, Lupe, she doesn't know," he said flatly after a moment. "It does us no good to wildly speculate. Neither does it do us any good to brood about it either. Go on, ask another question then, doctor."
"Have you noticed a change in your behavior?"
Richard paused, and then nodded. "Yes. I feel less shy. Less afraid of what people will think of me, or what they will do to me. I feel like I can take care of myself in a way I didn't feel before. I think before that if you had told me that I will die when the slug dies and you don't know how long the slugs live I'd be a mess about it, but now?" Richard shrugged. "It is what it is, isn't it?"
", I had noticed more assertive and dominant behavior from animals, I was curious as to how that would manifest in human subjects. What other effects have you noticed?"
"You need to keep this under your hat for various reasons, but they gassed Lupe and me at that hotel, that's what caused the fight. The gas knocked her out cold for the better part of a day, but not me. Gas didn't affect me, intoxicants don't either, I haven't been able to get drunk."
"That fits with my observed data. And your eyes, do they also have a yellow glow?"
"It's not just his eyes," Lupe interjected, eager for some insight on the matter. "It's his, you know, his masculine essence."
"Noted. Not unexpected."
"Will it hurt me, do you think? His regular doctor said it was safe, but I'd like to know your opinion," Lupe asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.
"I do not think it will hurt you directly, no, but you will develop a dependency upon the ADAM as well if you have not already."
"Wait, what? Oh, I have! That explains the cravings! I'll want to…you know, engage romantically, a lot, like every day, at least," Lupe answered, stunned at this revelation. "What would happen if we stopped? Or if Richard, um, dies?"
"Then you would be compelled to seek an alternative source of ADAM. Without ADAM you will be driven into a state of mental and physical deterioration."
Lupe blanched. "What?!" This was no longer a fun little feature. "The hell you mean by that?"
"Darling, please, we'll sort something out," Richard cut her off.
I'm stuck here! Lupe realized with a jolt. If I need this ADAM nonsense to live, or at least stay sane and healthy, I need to be where it is produced! She couldn't rely on Richard as a source as he may die or even leave her for someone else, such things were possible and she wasn't going to delude herself that it was not.
"This guy I knocked into a coma," Richard was now saying beyond the fog of Lupe's sudden mild panic. "Is there any way they can wake him up with ADAM?"
"A coma is significantly more traumatic on the body than a withered limb or failing organ. Neurological damage is complex and challenging. But will they try? Yes, I believe so. As to the results I cannot speak."
Tenenbaum then asked Richard another question, something about his appetite, but Lupe was no longer interested. I can't go to the surface! Ever! Or I will mentally and physically deteriorate, whatever that means! Damn this city! Damn my art dreams! And damn whoever it was that thought that it was okay to implant an additive slug into him! She felt like breaking something, but they had very few cups and plates so she refrained.
Their conversation went on without her while Lupe blankly gazed out the window onto the street below. This watery place will be my grave. Even if I live to be eighty, I can't leave. It was almost a relief, in a sardonic way, to be free from illegal plotting. I have to make this place work for me then. My shop has to work. But Lupe had made several potentially dangerous enemies in Rapture in less than two years, and that was more likely to be an impediment to a long life than an ADAM addiction.
Richard had already started to install a customized security system to keep either the Andersons or Dorothy back, but it wasn't enough. Lupe had started carrying a small handgun in her purse everywhere she went. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of Dorothy since Richard was released from the security office, but they were bound to bump into each other sooner or later. And Lupe had some real dirt on the Andersons as well, and they may decide to shut her up permanently…
"Lupe? Hey," Richard called to her. "Do I do anything unusual in my sleep?"
Lupe was jarred from her thoughts. "No, at least not unusual enough to wake me up."
Tenenbaum handed Richard a business card. "Should anything odd arise, let me know immediately. I do not believe I need to convince you of the importance of scientific monitoring for your condition."
Richard took the card. "Are you going to treat me as a patient or an experiment?"
"An experiment. I am not that sort of doctor. But I am being paid to discover how ADAM can benefit people, so I am motivated to keep you alive and healthy."
Alive. Healthy. Lupe sighed and looked out the window as Tenenbaum left. Are such things even possible here? She was going to have to find out.