Bright City - The Cheddar Lab

“Can you explain that again?” asks Volt. “But slower. As if I was stupid.”

“You’re not stupid, I just haven’t told this story before. I’m getting the words in the wrong order.” I think for a sec. “Okay. The first time we met Harkon was a coincidence. We were doing our thing, he was doing his thing, they just happened at the same place. Maybe the second meeting was a coincidence too? I think he was after Billy. Not sure why. Something about crypto? Harkon hates crypto? Maybe? I haven’t figured that out yet.

“Anywho, at some point he gets wise to our threat detectors. And he wants them, but not here, he wants them in Dark City. But that doesn't really matter, because I only figured that out last night.”

“When she asked for your threat detectors.” clarifies Volt.

“Yes. But that happened later, so it’s not relevant. Just forget it.”

“Alright.”

“Actually, nothing I’ve said is relevant. Forget all of it.”

“Perfect. Done.”

“Okay. Third try. Gimme a sec.” I gather my thoughts. Smoke. Drink. Think. “Remember when we awkwardly stalked Blank?”

“Yes. It was very awkward.”

“Indeed. We did that so we could connect to her Dark City persona. Anyway, it got me thinking about how Harkon relentlessly stalked us. Always showing up with hot nonsense.”

“That’s a strained parallel. Not exactly the same.”

“True. But what if Harkon was a player in Dark City? That would drastically reduce the number of suspects. Only one person in a thousand is awake there.” I pause. “Actually, how is there so few people playing Dark City? What’s everyone else doing in their sleep pods?”

Volt shrugs. “Dunno? We could ask. This is the laboratory that created them. The nerds probably know.”

“Huh. Good point.” I blearily press a button on my desk. It summons nerds. I think. “Anywho, I figured Harkon wasn’t a Trustie. Doesn’t seem like a joiner. Which left the Free Riders. Sorted them for guys who were always asleep when Harkon was active, and was left with only 50 profiles. One of whom was, like, a fake Trustie. A huge dude who crisscrossed the city fixing shit, but wasn’t getting paid for it.”

“Weird.”

“Right?” I pop a beer. “That’s called a lead, son. And it led me to Harkon.”

“Except he wasn’t Harkon.”

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“Well, no. But she lived in the same house. Close enough. I’m taking the win. Huzzah!” I cheers myself. Drain one.

Volt gives a little frown. “Why didn’t you tell me you found Harkon?”

“You would have been down about it.”

“Of course. I thought we hated him?”

“We do. And now that he gave me a drone gun, there’s gonna be a friendly fire incident. Then we can safely open the sleep tubes, preserving the city we just conquered. Criminal. Mastermind.”

Volt shakes her head. “If you kill Harkon in Dark City, he’ll still be alive here. It’s just a game. To kill him in both worlds, you have to kill him here.”

“Fuck. How do I keep forgetting that? Maybe I should be deleted.” I shrug. “Fuck it. I’m killing her anyway. Too annoying not to.”

“You’ll probably need her to find Harkon’s sleep pod.”

I huff. “Fine. But I’m fucking her dad. Gonna be an evil stepmom. Need some revenge.”

Volt nods. “Good compromise. Very mature. Any plans for the city wide riot? The million plus people dehydrating in sleep pods?”

“No. I, uh, thought I had an idea. But no.”

“Pity. Would have been nice to keep the city.”

“Maybe we should kill the sleepers.” says Bear glumly.

“Jesus!” I clutch my chest. “What are you doing here? Sneaking up on us?”

“You called me in. Pressed the button.”

“Did I?”

“Yes.” says Volt. “You wondered why most sleepers weren’t in Dark City.”

“Right. What’s up with that?”

“There’s a bunch of dream games. Dark City isn’t particularly popular.”

“Hmm. That’s unsatisfying. The truth can be boring. Did you hear my plan to become a stepmom?”

“Yes. But I decided to be aggressively incurious about it.”

“Good man.” I slide him a brew. “Sit. Let’s figure out this death trap we’re in.”

We drain a few in the deadly techno-opulence of the Cheddar Lab. Workshop a few ideas for surviving our enemies without killing everybody. Try to anyway. Nothing much comes from it. We have no idea where our enemies are sleeping.

“So we’re stuck here unless we kill everyone in the sleep pods?”

“Oh no. We’re committing mass murder for the opportunity to be stuck here. Even if we slayed Harkon and Big Cheddar, we could never leave the Cheddar Lab. The whole city wants to kill us.”

“If we’re stuck here either way, why do we care about finding Harkon and Big Cheddar?”

“Because we’re not stuck here either way. If Harkon or Big Cheddar wake up, they’ll crack this lab like an egg.” Volt gives me a concerned look. “Do you know what’s going on here?”

“Not really." I finish my fourteenth beer. "Wish I could order a pizza to help me think.”

“I could get a pizza from the cafeteria.” says Bear.

“That’s not… just… no.”

I slump glumly.

“Wait!” I perk up. “What if we avenge their deaths?”

“Whose deaths? We can’t avenge the deaths of anyone we killed. That won’t work.”

I slump again. “Damn. Thought I was on to something there.”

We sit quietly for a bit.

“Fuck this. I’m having a nap.”