{SANDMANCLOSECALL.MOV}

The beer hisses upon opening

Cold and refreshing

I sip it slowly

Not a comfort I was used to

I watch the feed hiss and stutter

I saw a man in black

Confident stride

Something predatory in the gait

‘Doesn’t mean he’s coming here…’

I lie to myself

Then he stopped to look in a window

I saw what he carried

Like a briefcase spilling out with wires

‘Fuck… fuck me…’

I remember what Novak had said

“If they send someone

And you see them coming

Leave the window open

And make sure you leave the feed running

Then press the button and leave”

This is fine

This is okay

“Fuck fuck fuck”

I slide open the window

Winter crawling in

Like a cat

Then run to the desk

Reach beneath

Finding micro switch

Click

“Fuck me fuck fuck…”

I pull up cloth

And grab jacket

“Fucking Sandman

Of all the fucking…”

The door closes softly behind me

I strut quickly down

Two floors

Straight for the front door

The door opens

I collide with him

And my heart stops

‘Oh I’m fucking dead’

His face contorts

In killer rage

“Oh soz darl!”

I chime as cheerily as I can

My heart pounding in my ears

“Watch yer fuckin’ step!”

That is not the accent

I had anticipated

He reigns in that killer instinct

I can see it cool slightly

“Get

Out”

He snaps

and gestures

I slip past

And run

I run so fast

So hard

Harder than I thought I could

Then it happens

A blast of heat and air

Far off now

But for sure the apartment

Gone in a wave of fire and smoke

“Fuck everything fuck fuck!”

I don’t stop running for hours

I am so scared

Did he notice?

Did he realize?

Or did Novak’s deception work?

I stop beneath an overpass

A few others are down here

Sipping something from tin cans

Around a barrel fire

Almost Dickens-esque

I breath slowly

Deliberate

Slow my heart rate

I press a finger to my temple

Accessing the public library

Dickens is exactly what I need

I pull up A Christmas Carol

And feel my whole body relax

The only thing I need is internet access

‘I’ll talk to Novak tomorrow…’

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HlcIndFeedSndMnDEC13.AVI

I stop beside a window

Eyeing my suit

Crisp and clean

Sharp

I’m sharper

Like knife

Like razor

Like oh so many wonderful things

I rake my hair with fingers

Pulled back

Taught to scalp

Bryl shine

I check my wrist

Display crawling over skin

21:11

Good

The case hangs heavy

At my side

All my dreams

So many scenarios

Delightfully wicked

Wonderfully realized

Packed into this little bundle

I continue

The snow shfffing softly beneath shoes

Black too and polished shine

I turn sharp

Eyes flicking up a moment

To CCTV camera

Over entrance

I grab hold of handle

Something inside it sizzles

Releases

I ease open the door

Collision

I stumble back

Fire

Black

Anger

“Oh soz darl!”

Her voice like sandpaper

Grating

Waifish little dreg

Black cloth over mouth

Hair orange flash

“Watch yer fuckin’ step!”

I snap hard

Eyes widen

I breath in harder

Slowly exhale

I gesture out door

“Get

Out”

She slips by

Soundless

Sidestepped

I smooth out my suit

And stomp up

Step by step

To second floor

216

Tenant: Novak

I kick in the door

A mess assaults my eyes

Wires crawling over floor

Ceiling bare save Coreboard

Lights LED and bright

And it’s empty

No Novak

The window stands open

Snowflakes drifting in

The air is cold

But that could be Aircon

On the desk

A beer

Dew pools on sides

Rolling down

Cold

Freshly so

On computer screen

The feed

From the camera

Downstairs

I curse

Moments too late

If only that little brat–

Wait…

Sulfur

The apartment erupts

I am thrown

Out the front door

Catapulted into wall

“Fuckin’ Runner…”

Play> Babysitter-Surveillance:DEC12/21:12

Feed cuts in

Fuzzy for a moment

Then snapping into focus

She was bound to the chair

Arms at her sides

Several wires lead from her head

Down

Over

And into a device

Sitting before a man dressed in black

He cleared his throat

In that way one does

When they know

They already have your attention

“Miss Liska are you with us?”

A smile spread over his lips

Slug like and unappealing

She grumbled lowly

Looked up with her eyes

Without moving her head

Eyes glum pools

Despair set in

Resignation

The only thing left to her

She knew what was to come

“Good good

Now let me see here…

You are in charge of…

Personnel intake at Ignis

Well here in the city at least.”

He flipped casually

Methodically

Through a file

Information printed upon

Pale papers

Fabricated from rice most likely

“Your recent interview

Interview ten-thirty-two”

Enunciating his words

With exaggerated elegance

Reminiscent of street thugs

Playing at posh

“You saw a mister…

Novak”

His eyes flicked to her

Scanning

Watching

Eyeing her for a tick

Recognition

He goes back to reading

“Quite the catch

For you

And yours…”

He said with something

Predatory

Biting

Behind his voice

“Why…

He singlehandedly

Decimated Tartarus…”

Slowly he closed the file

“Imagine…

What he could do

If unleashed…

On something…

Someone…

More valuable”

His eyes sharpened then

Stiletto stare

Cutting the distance between them

“Imagine the havoc

The chaos

Someone like that could inflict!”

He tossed the file on the floor

“Imagine how much money

That could cost someone…

And what those people…

Would do…

To him…”

He leaned over the device before him

Practically spitting the words at her

Venom shot through air

“And who they might hire…

To…

Locate such a man”

The smile returned

With some vinegar

Soured and surly

She said nothing

Stoic

Hard

She’d been through worse

It was plain on her face

“… That’s fine

You’ll talk”

He pressed a button

Screen light bouncing off of him

Cerulean effluence

Fingers fluttering over keys

Then a pause

Pregnant and ponderous

Then one last key

Branislava shook

Trembling full body

Eyes rolling back

Lids fluttering

Uncontrollable

Fists clenched hard

He let this go

For a minute

Then casually

Clicked

One more key

Her eyes flew open

Screams

She screamed so loud

Speakers peaking

Eyes filled with terror

Unbridled

Unhinged

She screamed

And screamed

And screamed

“Hey!”

He stood up and walked to her

Snapping fingers

Her head lolled side

To side

Eyes unfocused

He gave her a slap

Hard

Single clap

She gasped and breathed hard

Lungfuls

Sucking in

Exhaling fast

He grasped the sides of her face

“Where

Does

He

Live?”

Her mouth moved

Silent to me

He smiled

Yanking cords out

From external jack

Beneath her skull

“Was that so hard?”

He patted her cheek

“We’ll make it quick…”

I pause the video

Breathing slowly in

Staring at the screen

Stunned into silence

And out

{LITTLEACTSOFVIOLENCE.MOV}

The board buzzes far above

BUY STIMU-LAX TODAY

I press my hand to the pole

Cold metal buzzes under touch

My sight blurs out

And command prompt appears

Within my eyes

I work my magic

Language archaic on these

The oldest electronic boards

Very little security

Their fault really

Moments of waiting

Then I have access

I upload my own board

And confirm changes

Above it flickers

Shifts

Then is replaced by something else

WHO ARE THE BŁAZEN COURT FIVE?

And below faces

Five folks

Buried by the companies

Lost in the wires

But I remember

And now they will too

I pull up hood

Tap my face cloth cover

It lights up

Sharp teeth displayed

In dazzling blues

One more tonight

Then I’ll go home

I walk a few more blocks

Deeper into the commercial district

Smiling faces

Different races

Different sexes

Some indistinguishable

All beautiful

But something wrong

Something off

Too perfect

Too-tight lips

Too-big eyes

I stop before one ad

A woman enwreathed in light

Smile porcelain perfection

ŁANIA SMILE TODAY!

ONLY 630099R!!!

I pull from my pack

A tall tube

One thin slit open

I tap the top and hold it to the wall

Blue light appears

Telling me it is ready

Slowly I move it from left to right

Program dispenses lines of paint

Rapid and precise

Forming my art

A man

Dropped within gears

Churning

Grinding

And the words

THE CORP REQUIRES MORE BLOOD

And below, my tag

GEISHA

In vibrant purples and pinks

I smile beneath my mask

It’s not much

Really

But it makes me feel better

To know

I’ve ruined the day

Of some black suited drone

Featured image source: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Orr1v

cat casebl21.txt

Siren klaxon announcing my arrival

Car quietly whining as it slowed

Electric motor’s gentle purr

I step out into the cold

Snow falling in thick flakes

Cotton covering to all

I pull my cap down

Flat top adorned with badge

Emblazoned with HIPD

As I approach the front door

Officer greets with a simple nod

I flash credentials

Holo-card glimmering in the dark

“Detective Kovar Nepovim

I heard it was suicide

Do we know their name yet?”

The officer nods again

Leading me within

“Her name was Bronislava Liska

And she worked for Ignis…”

I pause a moment

Holding up my hand

“Ignis?

Then why are we here?”

The officer shrugs

Opening the door beside us

“They tell me where to go

And I go”

I sigh and hold up my wrist before me

Display fizzles on

/HalcyOS Select Mode/

I select biological analyzer

Then pull out and pull on

A set of thin white gloves

“A coverup it is then…”

I grumble beneath my breath

The apartment is cramped

Shelves lined with dolls

Synthetic glass eyes glaring

Judging

Above

Silk hangs low

I brush it with my finger

It’s real

“Impressive…”

Expensive…

As I step farther in I spy her feet

Just hanging past the silk

Table toppled nearby

On the floor a reader

Opened to Poe

And a spilled glass

Of Synth-Wine

A bit overdone

A bit too staged

I know what this is

But still

I focus the analyzer on her

Face blue

Lips pale

Tongue bulged

Analyzer makes quick work

Cocktail of antidepressants and Synth-Wine

Some sad literature and there we have it

I sigh again

Sitting on her bed

Looking up at the remains

What remains of her

Little more

Than fertilizer

And some futile fretting

The analyzer blips

Something else

On the shelf

The doll

It has real hair

One eye is real glass

The other

A camera

I quickly pocket the doll

Evidence

I’ll analyze later

Yes

Later

I’ll include it in the report

./Interview-1032.wav

I adjust desk nameplate

The only thing adorning the table

Beside my Polyx 630 PC

Company issue of course

My nameplate reads

Bronislava Liska

Personnel Intake

Hard fought position

Though still fairly low

So many vied for this

Yet here I stand

Testament to my spirit

A knock upon the Coreboard walls

All walls white and glaring

In the fluorescent buzz

“Come in” I smile

Door eases open

Silent and ghostly

In walks a waif

Dressed in dregs

And no bigger than my pinky

But in his eyes

Something fiery

Passionate

Ambitious

“Please take a seat mister Novak”

He slides a hand over chair-back

All of him moving like a dance

I pull up his CV

Empty save for a few things

“You wish to become

An Ignis Corporation Webrunner

Yes?”

He nods curtly

Something flickering in his eye

“No recording during interviews

Mister Novak…”

I chide playfully

His eyebrow raising

He presses finger to temple

And the flicker is gone

“You say you were the one

Who perpetrated

The December security break

In which you leaked

Let me see here…

Thirty thousand confidential files

Of our subsidiary Tartarus LLC…”

He nodded again

A smile playing on his lips

“That would be very impressive

If it could be proven”

He then pulls a small flash drive

From some discrete pocket

Sliding across my desk smoothly

I take out my PDA and insert the drive

A few files including one

I, and all Ignis employees know well

“Freenet.exe”

I unplug the drive

Placing it in my drawer

He holds out a hand questioningly

“We’ll have to verify the veracity

But rest assured

You will have an answer

By end of day”

I smile curtly

If he is really

Who he says he is

Those above me

Would kill for the chance

To turn him out

Against our competitors