Chapter 9: Popcorn

PART ONE

Jazz reaches for the cardboard container, pushing the flat-packed edges inwards until it forms a solid box, and scooping it through a sea of popcorn, filling it to the brim in one strangely graceful motion. She stands back from the counter to look at the young man on the other side. He has a spread of acne along his hairline and is wearing so much aftershave she has to force herself not to gag as she places the container on the ledge in front of her. She smiles a big fake grin which she has practiced an uncountable number of times, once in front of a mirror and billions of others in front of customers. She sighs silently to herself.

"Butter?"

She counts the change given to her in her right hand, grimacing a little when she realises that some of the coins are a little sticky, and clicks open the till, almost ignoring the unmistakable ping as it flips forward. She drops the money into the plastic tray, pushes it closed securely, and turns to face the large clock which sits mounted on the back wall.

Only five more minutes to go. She thinks with an embarrassing amount of glee. Just five more minutes until she can take off that stupid red and white pinstriped hat that the dick-hole of a manager insists she wears day after day, wash her hands of the awfully clingy scent of salt of grease, and go out back, into the fresh air, and finally, Jesus-fucking-Christ-finally have a smoke. It is her little secret. Her husband doesn't know. She feels both guilty and excited when she thinks this, turning to face another customer. Casablanca is playing on screen five tonight and a flurry of fresh faced couples have flocked through the small cinema lobby within the last fifteen minutes, hand in hand or arm in arm. She feels a little jealous. She has another three hours on shift and that's another three hours until she can go home, run herself a bath, dab on a little of James's favourite perfume, the one with the heady vanilla and musk, and surprise him when he gets home after work.

The back door swings open as another employee, fresh from school, comes in from her break, the odour of the garbage bags and cigarette smoke following her. She smiles at Jazz as she passes her, pulling on her hat and Jazz takes the cue and leaves through the way she came, out into the open air, breathing a sigh of relief. She fumbles through her breast pocket for her Marlborough slims, pulling one from the soft carton and finding her lighter tucked inside the packet. She smiles a little to herself as she lights the end, inhaling, exhaling, letting her shoulders relax and thinking of nothing in particular. She's vaguely aware that someone is standing beside her, their large box-like shadow looms at the edge of her vision, and it is not until she hears her name being called in a low voice, strange, almost mechanical like in tone, that she turns around to face the figure. She has a moment to process the image she sees, before she is consumed by darkness. Her cigarette, half-finished, burns silently on the pavement.

A voice is crying somewhere. Soft sobs echo around her, and she cannot tell if the person is close by. A bright yellow light burns behind her eyelids and slowly, she opens her eyes. A lightbulb is shining brightly above her and she moves her arms to try to shelter her face from its glare to find that they are bound by something hard and metal. She looks to her side, to try and find the owner of the voice but she sees nothing. She shakes her head, confused, she was smoking and then…nothing.

A voice, robotic and cold, speaks in a calm low voice to her then, and she remembers with a silent shudder who it was she saw before she blacked out. A Noise-Tank. She hadn't thought she would ever see one again after the fall of Rokkaku. She tries to focus on the voice but her head in swimming, she only gets words. "Rudie. Retalliate. The others. Our plan." She tries to speak but only murmers come out. She takes a deep breath and tries again, struggling, closing her eyes against the bright light.

"Why am I here? Who are you working for?" She shakes her head, clearing the mist in her mind a little. She hears the Noise-Tank chuckle, a hair raising sound. "I thought you were all dead." She finishes, looking to her right. She sees a shadow of a figure among the brightness, a human figure, she tries to focus her eyes as the figure moves towards her. She squints her eyes, looking, not believing.

"Oh." She shudders. "No…It can't be." She has time to say, before she falls back into the darkness.

PART TWO

Felix stooped on the edge of the skyscraper, clutching both knees in his gloved hands, out of breath and tired. He had been searching the rooftops of the abandoned district for the last few hours and had so far found no signs of life up there. He gazed out at the plaza below, watching beams of light dance around the square, muttering curse words under his breath. Yoyo had been right; wherever Rush was, she wasn't up here. Cursing under his breath, fuck that little prick for being right…just fuck him, he turns around, realising how tired he is and how far he has to skate back to the Garage. And how on Earth can he return there after what he said to Yoyo and the others? Just as he's contemplating this he hears the unmistakable sounds of skates in the distance. He spins around instinctively, despite being tired he is still fast on his feet, being on the streets for so long teaches you to trust no one, and he peers into the darkness, scanning for a figure.

As he hears the skates approaching he ducks behind a metal plank which jutted out of the skyscraper at an odd angle, hoping it would adequately shield him from whoever is coming. He grabs a spray can and places his finger steadily over the trigger. Half a minute passes and a figure comes into view; boxy and metallic. He hadn't seen it earlier but he was sure that whatever it was, it had taken Rush from the Garage. The robotic figure paused at it reached the clearing, peering, or seeming to peer, out at the skyscrapers below. Felix got to his feet slowly, careful not to draw attention to himself until he was ready. He steps out from behind the plank and draws in a deep breath.

"You're the bastard who took Rush." He says calmly, holding out the paint can, preparing to spray as soon as the thing turns to face him. To his surprise the metallic Noise Tank replies is a cold voice "Master needed her."

Catching Felix off guard, he lowers his can as the creature turns around. Dead black slots peer out in space of eyes, and LED lights flash on and off discordantly from its metal breast.

"What do you mean master?" Felix snaps. "Who are you working for? What do you want with Rush? She's just a girl…what could you possibly want?"

The machine seems to consider this for a moment before replying, monotonously. "We needed her…she was on the list."

"What list?" He bellows. "What are you talking about?"

The machine slowly opens a claw of a hand, its joints rusting at the edges and making an unpleasant grating sound as they reveal a scrap of paper. It waits without moving and after a moment Felix tentatively skates forward, all the while keeping his eyes on those black slits, and takes the paper. He peers at it, equally curious and enraged, as he reads the names on the sheet. Besides each name is a two digit number, a time and a Tokyo address.

"What is this?" Felix spits in disgust. "These names…they all sound like rudie names."

"All rudies…yes." The machine says.

"But they aren't all rudies!" Felix replies, still staring at the paper with disbelief. "I know every rudie in Tokyo, and half of these names I don't recognise!" He noted several names crossed out at the top of the paper, including Rush's and felt his face glowing red with rage.

"All rudies." The robot said monotonously.

"And where is Rush?" He turned back to the Noise Tank, his chesks glowing, and finally remembering the can of spray paint, he raises it in a threat. "Where the hell are you keeping her?"

The robot doesn't move an inch. "You can have your rudie back." It replies in that dead voice. "But you have to do something for us."

"What?" Felix says automatically, the anger leaving his voice.

"An exchange." The robot lowers its head with a groan to look down at the scrap of paper in Felix's right hand. "Bring me one of the names and you can have the rudie. Be here by dawn and it's a deal."

Felix looks up in disbelief. "But how can you be sure that they will be a this address?" He looks down at the first name and the Chuo street address beside it. Sandwhiched in the middle is the number 21.

"They will be there." The machine replies easily. "Bring the name here at dawn and you will have your rudie back."

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