House of Cards Contributions Log

Dreams and Reality

posted by Blake at 12:24 AM, February 22, 2004 | Filed under : Fiction | Comments and Followups

During the early years of Eric’s reign…

“He’s not real.” Terrell hissed, nodded towards the pair on the other side of the room, at present oblivious to Jerod and his companion. “That’s not Burke and you know it.”

“Would you keep your voice down.” Jerod replied quietly, the tone stern enough to warn Terrell that his patience with the whining had finally begun to wear thin. “It is Burke. It’s just not her Burke. I’ve explained that to you already.”

“He’s a fake. He’s not the real thing. We disposed of the real one, remember?” Terrell continued. Whether he recognized the risk he was in or just chose to ignore it, Jerod could not figure.

“Yes, I remember. I also know that she doesn’t. And that’s going to stay the way it is, isn’t it.” Jerod said, taking a moment to look at Terrell directly.

Terrell paused, digested Jerod’s expression. After all that he had seen, he knew better than to oppose him. “You can’t be serious about leaving them together. She’ll figure it out.”

“Not if we did everything right.” Jerod replied. “We just have to wait and see.”

****

“Full confront.” the dealer proclaimed, motioned to Jerod’s hand as the remaining players grumbled, tossed their cards on the table. Jerod smiled politely, raked the chips in before he tossed suitable gratuities to the dealer and pit bosses. Another set to the waiters and one to that very attentive brunette who had been so vigilant in serving him his drinks. He smiled as he handed her the tip, wondered whether her boss would be displeased with her. It wasn’t like she knew he could drink most of the casino under the table and still be able to fight off the bouncers when they arrived.

He picked up the large packet of winnings offered to him by the dealer, made his way casually to the cash-out window. The Armani suit was a nice touch he decided, noted the appreciative looks of certain ladies as he passed though he was sure the packet had something to do with their attention as well. As he waited patiently for the cashier to tabulate his winnings, he looked around, a suitably bored expression on his face. As he had anticipated, the casino goons were in position. They would make their move once he had the winnings in hand. You don’t break the bank of Cantini’s without drawing attention.

“Mr. Christov.” a voice inquired behind him as the cashier moved forward in the till window to pay him.

Jerod smiled to himself for only a second before turning. “Yes?”, he asked, slide the cred chip into his pocket as he turned. He noted the main goon with a casual eye. Large, well equipped. Probably cybered given the bulk. Cantini could afford to wire up his personal muscle. We’ll call this one Big Boy, Jerod thought.

“Mr. Christov. On behalf of the establishment, Mr. Cantini would like to offer to you his personal congratulations for your exceptional winning streak. I’ve been asked to escort you to the penthouse so Mr. Cantini can speak with you himself.” Big Boy said.

“Well, that is very generous of Mr. Cantini.” Jerod replied, a suitably gushing tone added to his voice. “But I wouldn’t want to waste the time of such an important individual. Besides, I’ve really got to be going. Business trip tomorrow and all, you understand.” as he began to move forward, noting the secondary positions of the support troops. Four in all. Not bad. He had been worried they might have as many as eight. The suit must have done the trick. That and the hair braid. He was glad he hadn’t been forced to cut it. It took so long to grow back. Let’s hope they bought the image, Jerod thought.

A hand came up as Big Boy smiled, the shark smile that Jerod recognized from other times, other places. Big Boy’s partner moved up as well, the jacket strategically unbuttoned to show off the hardware under the jacket. Large calibre and well-slung. More than enough to get someone’s attention.

“Mr. Cantini is a very generous man, and he had very generously set aside this time just for you Mr. Christov.” Big Boy said, clamped a hand on Jerod’s bicep. “It’s a very unfortunate thing to insult such a distinguished man by declining his offer. It won’t take very long I’m sure.” as he began to guide Jerod over to the elevator.

“Well, when you put it that way.” Jerod said, stumbled just enough to make appear to be reluctant. Once they got to the elevator and were inside, Big Boy let go and Jerod shifted his jacket slightly, a nervous expression on his face as the pod ascended to the top.

****

“So what happened then?” Terrell asked, handed Jerod the glass.

“How do you think it went?” Jerod growled, took a drink. “You told me you had Burke under surveillance. That your girlfriend would notify you if he wandered off. Well she didn’t, did she. I walked in and found Terese there just as we had figured. Cantini was slavering all over her. You’d have thought the guy had never gotten laid before. If I hadn’t cracked his little casino there’s no way we’d have ever gotten his attention.”

“Then before Cantini can start his tough guy routine on me, another of his goon squads comes in. They’ve got Burke in tow and Terese started freaking out. Cantini got itchy, Burke put up a fight and all hell broke loose.” Jerod said. “I’ve never seen so much gunplay in five seconds. Don’t you people realize your ammo clips actually do run out?”

“Well, you got out of there in one piece at least.” Terell offered wanly, but failed to dodge as Jerod lashed out with a hand, dragged Terrell towards him by the throat.

“That’s not what I’d consider compensation, you moron!” Jerod thundered. “In case you forgot we just fed what’s left of my friend to a trash compactor. And his girlfriend is still out cold with a bullet in her skull and a permanent set of shadows watching her room waiting for her to wake up.” Despite his best efforts of control, Jerod continued to throttle Terell and only at the last moment tossed him to one side, watched as the man landed in a pile, choking for air.

“It’s a toss-up whether Cantini’s guys will get to her first once she wakes up, or the Central Authority does. Either way it’s not going to be pretty.” Jerod said, grabbed at the glass of scotch, barely noticed the burn as it went down.

“I just meant…” Terrell began, struggled into a sitting position. “…you’re still around to come up with plan B. You know? Look, I’m sorry about the screw-up. Jackie’s real bummed about it, she is. Honest. She liked Terese a lot and this is breaking her up real bad. But Burke’s not bad on the streets, you know that. He knows the in’s and out’s real good. Especially how to disappear into the Downside parts. You need to be when you’re shacking the daughter of local boss. Jackie’s been away too long though, living Upside. But she wanted to help. And you told me to keep it in company.” he offered.

“I told you to keep it in company, yes.” Jerod agreed. “I also told you why he had to be kept away. If you couldn’t figure out that your girlfriend wouldn’t cut it, then I’ve got to wonder just how good a fixer you are.” He shook his head. “How the hell have you survived all this time? The way you screwed up there, you should be dead by now.”

“Hey, it’s not whether you make the mistakes.” Terrell said. “It’s how you make up for it. Well, that and how well you beg and kiss ass too. Just so happens I can do all of them really well.”

“Then why don’t you tell me how you’re going to survive me killing you for screwing up.” Jerod said.

“Cloning.” Terrell countered.

Jerod snorted. “Don’t waste my time.”

“Hey, it’s a real deal. I know this guy over at Complex Three. He’s with the bio-research division, medical transplant group. They’re doing all sorts of unusual stuff with bio-organism replication. He told me they’ve got some serious cloning efforts ongoing.” Terrell said.

“And how do you know this?” Jerod inquired.

“I’ve got a supply for him of 43-D.” Terrell said. “He can’t use synthetic stuff. He’s got some kind of resistance to it. Can’t pull a high from it. Needs real stuff, totally organic. Well, turns out I got the supply. And since the Authority is busy pulling shifts trying to find the synthetics cause it’s so cheap, they ignore me. I’m a safe source.”

“Well, don’t let me burst your bubble too fast, but the cloning idea won’t work.” Jerod said, found a form chair and sat down. “Even at their best replication rate, it would take years to clone a new Burke. And he wouldn’t have the original’s memories. They still haven’t gotten past that little hurdle, nor are they likely to anytime in the next few thousand millenia. The best they can do is close approximation tissue regeneration.”

“Well, I don’t hear you coming up with any brilliant ideas.” Terrell said angrily.

“I don’t know; that comment about me killing you sounded pretty decent.” Jerod said. “Fortunately for you I’m tired. Tired enough that even smacking you is just a bit too much work right now.” and he leaned back rubbing his temples.

“Well, here’s to small miracles.” Terrell said, climbed to his feet and collected a glass at the bar, poured a stiff shot of rum into a glass before he added a dose of something silvery from a vial. He downed it quickly, took a deep breath.

“Look man, if I knew a way to bring him back, I’d do it. I liked Burke too. He was decent. He was stupid for sure, chasing Terese, but still decent. But I don’t have a pocket dimension in my pocket or else I’d hop over and get a quick time cloning machine. Or even better yet, find another copy of Burke himself.” Terrell said. “That would solve all our problems, now wouldn’t it?”

“What did you say?” Jerod asked, looked intently at Terrell.

“I said I liked Burke. He was decent.” Terrell said.

“No, no. After that.”

“What? You mean the cloning machine?”

“No, the pocket dimension.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I normally keep one in my pocket for a rainy day but it’s in my other suit at the cleaners today. It was a figure of speech. That’s all. I’m sorry I mentioned it. Should’ve been thinking about what we’re going to about Terese. I’ve got a couple of friends who know a few friends. We can get some muscle and get her out of the hospital I think without too much trouble.” Terrell said, paused when Jerod did not reply, as if lost in thought. “Hey, I said I think we can get her out.”

Jerod looked over at Terrell for a moment, then smiled. “Good. Call your friends. I want to meet them. Make sure they’re going to be able to do the job. Then you and I are going on a trip.”

“What kind of trip?” Terrell asked, suddenly not sure he wanted to know.

“To another dimension. You just might have saved your ass.” Jerod said, pleased with his idea.

****

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” screamed Terrell, shook off the glass that landed on him, the bullets a hail over his head as he hid behind the stone potting stand. Good thing it was solid granite, he thought.

“You never said anything about this!” he yelled, turned to Jerod.

Jerod chuckled as he slid the long clip into the automatic, having already reloaded the other one. “What’s the matter? It was this or me tearing a strip off your ass for screwing up back home.”

“Hey, at least you wouldn’t kill me.” Terrell said, ducking again as chunks of granite began flying off the stand.

“Don’t be so sure, old buddy.” Jerod said, noted the granite chips. “Our friends are getting the range. Roll it.”

“What? At this range? Are you freaking nuts?” Terrell protested. “It’ll fry everything inside a hundred feet.”

“That’s what I’m hoping. Now do it. Or do you prefer getting shot by the other side?”

“Ah hell. We are so screwed.” Terrell said bitterly, grabbing the EM grenade from his satchel. He flicked the safety off, engaging the delay as he moved to the other of the stand.

“Now!”

Terrell rolled out, flinging the grenade towards the plas wall of the enclosed office. He briefly saw as the rounds from Jerod’s automatics hit the side resonance points of the plas. For a fraction of an instant the wall shivered white and Terrell ducked his head, sensed more than felt the dull crump of the EM pulse. The shattering sound of the wall as the plas shivered to pieces filled the room with an eerie sound.

Then the screaming started as Cantini’s goons, all cybered, began flailing about. Terrell looked up briefly before he wished he had not. He had seen a lot in his life, but people bleeding from their eyes was not something you looked forward to. The screaming ended mercifully as shots rang out, each of the thugs dropping to the floor.

As Terrell looked up, he saw Jerod seize Cantini by the arm, hurled him across the room into a wall. Terrell shook his head, a part of him knowing it wasn’t supposed to happen that way. You could do it if you were wired, he knew. He’d seen enough of that, even helped guys get wired up. Big dumb goons with lots of wired muscle. That’s what Cantini’s men were. Until the pulse took out all their hardware. Then they were just meat.

He knew Jerod should not be able to do that. Not without being wired. But he’d seen enough to know things were not what they were supposed to be. Cantini was still alive here, struggling in Jerod’s grip as Jerod questioned him, demanding to know where Burke was. But Cantini was dead. Jerod had killed him already. So he couldn’t be alive. At least, not back where Terrell *had* been.

Terrell knew instinctively, this was his world, yet it wasn’t. He knew because he had seen himself just a few short hours ago. Jerod had met him, or rather, his copy, his…whatever, he thought. There weren’t two of him in the world, yet there were. They had bartered a deal for equipment, information. It was him, but it wasn’t. Terrell shook his head, trying to clear the confusion. He was Terrell, but part of him wondered if he was anymore.

Jerod dropped Cantini onto the floor from where he had been throttling him, debated putting a bullet into him but decided against it. There was no need and he had the information he needed. He turned back as Terrell picked himself up off the floor. “Burke’s over in the Central Authority East Med. Took a pulse round a close range. Short term amnesia. Terese is dead though. This is going to work out it seems. Come on.”

“What about him?” Terrell said, motioned to Cantini as he stirred. “He’ll cause problems for me. I mean, the other me.”

Jerod looked back then tapped the gun in Terrell’s shoulder rig. “Then deal with it.”

****

“You’re sure she’s okay.” Burke asked Jerod as they rode the hospital elevator pod.

“She’s okay. Her memory might be a bit sketchy but that’s to be expected. You guys have been through a rough ride.”

“If you say so.” Burke said, shook his head. “Things are still fuzzy. I’m sorry to say I still don’t remember you.”

Jerod smiled. “It’s the effect of the pulse round. It’ll come back in a few days. Don’t worry about it. Just let it come on it’s own. What’s important is that you’re here and so is she. You’ll have some time with her as she comes out from the meds. It’ll be good for her to see you again.”

Burke smiled now. “Yeah, it would. It seems like it’s been ages.” he said as the pod opened and Jerod motioned down the corridor, stopped at a door. “In you go.”

Terrell watched silently as Burke entered the room, the door closed behind him. He followed Jerod as he made his way to a waiting area a short distance away, grabbed a vid-mag from the pile before Jerod said down to wait. Terrell continued to watch Jerod as he thumbed the forward key, glanced idly at the infomercials.

“What is it?” Jerod asked, looked up from the mag.

Terrell looked back at Jerod for a long moment, a cautious, defensive look in his gaze. “What are you?”

Jerod frowned, tossed the mag onto the table. “What kind of question is that?”

“A pretty good one I’d say.” Terrell responded, surprised at his directness. “I’m not sure what you are, but you’re not who you say you are.”

“I told you. My name is Jerod. I’m a friend of Burke.” Jerod began.

“Yeah, yeah, and we both know that’s not my question.” Terrell said. “You’re not…you’re not human, are you?”

Jerod smiled. “What? You think I’m a little green man from outer space?” he asked.

“Don’t bullshit me!” Terrell growled. “I know what I know. You couldn’t be normal, not with everything I’ve seen.”

Terrell paused, took a deep breath. “That trip out, to find Burke, and the one bringing him back. When I drove, I was going through places I’d never seen before. Hell, just going to get Burke was a bullshit trip. He was dead. We both knew it. But instead we head off to somewhere, to find it looks like home? Only Burke is alive and his girlfriend ends up dead. And I see myself there. You talked to me, I mean, him.”

“And that fight. In Cantini’s place, the second time. You tossed those guys around like they were paper. I was sure you were wired. But there’s a not a flicker of charge anywhere on you. And that pulse grenade would’ve taken care of it if you were. It was good enough even for military cyber, so you’re not some secret agent or any of that crap. If you were wired, you would have been bleeding through your eyeballs just like those poor bastards were.”

Jerod started to talk but stopped, cut off by Terrell. “And then, the little magic act. The medkit. Remember that. I’ve only just noticed, you’ve been pulling stuff out of your ass left and right. But that medkit stuck it to me. I looked in that drawer before you got into the room. I tossed the entire damn room looking for stuff. No medkit. Then you come waltzing in and tell me to go look there. Sure enough, there’s a kit, fully equipped. Would have cost twenty thousand creds on the market. You don’t miss that when you open a drawer. And that safe code. You just conveniently knew where to find it. Well, I tossed the room, remember?”

“It’s all been there and I’ve been ignoring it, trying to survive from one minute to the next. Wondering if I was still going to be around. These last three days have been so nuts I haven’t been able to think straight. But now I am and I want to know. What the hell are you?”

Jerod looked at Terrell, let the moment continue before he replied. “I’m nothing you can understand.”

“Oh, don’t bullshit me.” Terrell said. “I’ve heard that crap from pissant street artists and they do it better than you. You can do shit no one can. So make me understand. Explain it. I’ve been through major crap the last three days and you bloody well owe me.”

Jerod looked at Terrell, watched the little man as the realization of the situation settled in for Terrell. He knew he was pushing at a subject that could get him killed, yet he continued. This little fixer, an amateur in the black market who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and got stuck helping Jerod. Jerod didn’t like Terrell and they both knew it. But Jerod knew that Terrell was right. Jerod did owe him.

“My name is Jerod.” he said. “My family, and I, come from a place a long way from here. It’s called Amber. You’ve never heard of it, I’m sure.”

“And what you can do?” Terrell asked.

“That’s part of what we are. We’re stronger, faster than you. Smarter as well. We’re more resistant to injury. We heal fast and we generally do things a lot better than most others.”

“So…what are you doing here?” Terrell asked. “And don’t tell me about Burke. I know you like him. Tell me…why are you *here*?”

Jerod motioned around him. “We call this Shadow. In some ways, it’s not real to us. It is to you, you’re part of it. But for us, it’s a shadow of where we are from. A pale imitation you might say. We can travel through Shadow, find places that we like.”

“And you came here?” Terrell asked.

“My father mentioned it to me. He had been here several times in the past. It sounded intriguing so I came here for a couple of months. That’s where I met Burke.” Jerod explained.

Terrell nodded. “And the medkit? The safe code?”

Jerod shrugged. “We can manipulate the substance of Shadow. I can…adjust the probability that something might happen. There was a probability that the owner of the safe would have left a copy of the code in the room. I made sure that probability was met. But you can’t do it too often. There are risks. Life, and the flow of events in life are all a matter of probability. You can nudge things here and there to get a desired result. Nudge them too much though and you can break the hell out of life.”

“Is that what you did, to find Burke?” Terrell asked, motioned to the hospital room.

Jerod shook his head. “No. I can adjust things to find stuff. Inanimate objects. Living things though, they’re different. They’re part of the inherent nature of probability. Once a living creature dies, that element of probability is gone. You can’t nudge it anymore. At least, not in this Shadow. When my friend Burke died, he died for real. That one…” and he motioned to the door. “He’s not my friend. He’s a close copy.”

Terrell frowned, a puzzled expression on his face. “Then why go get him?”

Jerod smiled. “Because Burke loved his woman. With all his heart. He was a tough son of a bitch who dragged himself out of the gutter and made a name for himself. And he still managed to fall in love. You’ve seen people who drag themselves out. Most of them are cold and bitter, heartless bastards who sell anything, anyone, to get ahead. Not Burke. He still had his principles. That’s what Terese loved about him.”

“And this one?” Terrell asked.

Jerod paused. “He’s like the old Burke. Only in his shadow, his Terese died. But he doesn’t know that, just as Terese doesn’t know her Burke died. They’ll both think they’re lucky to get away with some wounds and a few spotty memories. With Cantini dead in this shadow, they’ll have a chance to run, start again. I did it so she’d have something, because my friend would have wanted her to be happy.”

Terrell nodded, then paused. “Wait a minute. You’re not going to stay, to keep an eye out?”

Jerod shook his head. “He’s not my friend. He’s a copy. He might become a friend in time, but he’s not the one who I drank with. He’s not the one I swapped stories with or argued with. I could have found someone like him, who actually remembered me if I had bothered to take the time to do it. But it wouldn’t have been real for me. That’s the crux of what we are…what I am. I know what’s real, and what’s not.”

****

Jerod sat and watched from his vantage point in the hospital room, his attention focussed on the pair. Terese sat up in the bed, Burke on the edge. Their conversation was quiet but the intensity of it reached out even on the other side of the ward.

“And what if we didn’t do it right?” Terrell asked, his tone petulant again, though subdued now.

“Then at least they’re both alive and they’ve both got good memories of their other halves.” Jerod said, hoped against hope. “That counts for something.”

“You want to tell me what it counts for?” Terrell asked, looking at Jerod for a reply, frowned when he did not receive it immediately. He turned to look at Terese and Burke, watched as their embrace ended.

Jerod smiled and rose up from the chair. “It counts for that.” he said quietly, one more look at Burke before he turned to walk out of the room, adjusted the shoulder rig under his jacket.

“And that’s it?” Terrell said, followed Jerod out. “Even if it lasts, it’s still not real. It’s a dream. That’s all it is.”

Jerod paused, looked out through the window to the outside, saw the hovercars flit past, the grime and soot of the outer perimeter buildings evident from this altitude. The reality of Zhu’mar. He thought of Burke and Terese, the odds against them still, though with luck the hunters no longer searched for dead prey. For a little while, they could forget that. He thought for himself of emerald green hair and loving hands, and home. Too long from home he realized. It was time to return.

“Maybe.” Jerod said, turned to Terrell. “Maybe it is just a dream. But that’s not for me to decide now. I’ve done what I can. The rest is up to them.”

He knocked on the fibre-plas window pane, motioned Terrell’s attention there. “As for you, think on this. They have a dream, and you know about reality. May you find your way as pleasant.”

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