The Man the system forgot to Name

Chapter 8: Containment Is a Conversation.

Elias did not run.

All his body was urging him to, but an instinct still more rudimentary, though refined, kept him still. This would make running a chase. And chases only ended one way.

With him losing.

The man waited, and was patient, and his hands showed, and he was relaxed in his posture. Too relaxed.

You know you do not look like going out there and getting, Elias, said thoughtfully.

The man smiled faintly. "That's because I'm not."

The pressure stirred, uneasy.

"What are you, then?"

A person who sweeps up in advance does not see that there is a mess.

Elias exhaled slowly. "And I'm the mess."

"For now."

Such a response made him more chilled than an outburst would have.

The man made a gesture towards the sidewalk. "We can talk here. Or we may speak where there are fewer people. Anyhow, this dialogue is taking place.

Elias glanced around. People were walking with their heads in the gadgets. There was a flashing of cameras in their mounts.

The pressure talked of urgency, but it gave no order.

"Here," Elias said. "I'm not going anywhere."

The man looked at him a little, and nodded. "Fair."

"My name's Calder," he said. "I work in anomaly management."

"That's a real job now?" Elias muttered.

Calder's smile returned, thin. It is not as long a job as it seems to you.

The pressure responded to the word aberration--vibration of uneasiness.

Hunting glitches, you are, said Elias. "System errors."

"People," Calder corrected. Systems do not malfunction freely.

Elias felt his jaw tighten. "I didn't ask for this."

"No one ever does."

Calder brought out a little bit of equipment in his pocket. Not a weapon. Not quite a phone either. Its surface was shining dimly.

Elias's chest tightened.

"Easy," Calder said. "This is just a recorder. Transparency matters."

"That's funny," Elias replied. "Coming from you."

Calder chuckled once. Oh, you would think how many times I have heard that.

The device hummed quietly.

Well, we had better begin with something easy, Calder said. "When did it begin?"

The alley, answered Elias without reflecting. Then stopped. "You already know that."

"Yes," Calder said. "But I need your version."

Elias hesitated. The strain was pushed there--observant, unresponsive.

He spoke anyway.

He told him about the voice. The warnings. The rules. The pain. He omitted no detail, including those that put him in an unsteady position.

Calder made no reply.

The silence was protracted when Elias was through.

A little sooner than I thought: that that is, said Calder.

"Expected by who?"

Calder did not give a direct response. You have passed three portals within a week.

Elias frowned. "That's bad, I assume."

Never before, I told you, Calder, said. The majority of the subjects will not pass the first without cracking.

"Breaking how?"

"Psychologically. Physically. Sometimes both."

The strained pressure was indignant.

Elias felt a flare of anger. "I'm not a subject."

Calder met his gaze. "Not officially."

The term formally sunk in the form of a threat.

"So what happens now?" Elias asked.

Calder considered him. Now, we can decide whether you are containable or not.

The pressure spiked--hard.

Elias winced.

Calder's eyes flicked to him. O, it is pain, when you fight against it.

"Yes," Elias snapped. "You knew that too?"

"We suspected," Calder said. Pain will accelerate compliance.

"Then tell it to stop."

Calder shook his head. "I can't."

"Won't?"

"Can't," he repeated. The system does not get instructions on our side.

The latter sank more than anything.

"Then why are you here?" Elias demanded.

The face of Calder became serious. "Since we can not control it, but we negotiate with it.

Pressure--stinging, indignant.

You are talking, Stokesie, said Elias slowly. "Right now."

Calder raised an eyebrow. "You can feel that?"

"Yes."

"That's... concerning."

"Funny," Elias said bitterly. "That's what I keep hearing."

Calder pocketed the device.

"Here's the truth," he said. "The system is adaptive. It learns. It corrects. And here and there it meets something it can not categorise.

"Me."

"You," Calder agreed. People such as you do not break the system. They force it to evolve."

Elias swallowed. "At what cost?"

Calder did not reply automatically.

He instead glanced beyond Elias, into the skyline where glass towers pierced the sky.

It is cities, built on the promise of being stable, he said to himself. Anything that jeopardises that pledge is dealt with.

"Handled how?"

"Carefully," Calder said. "At first."

The pressure jumped up again--unchastened, fright, desperation thickened one upon the other.

Carefully does not take time, Elias said.

"No," Calder agreed. "It never does."

Footsteps echoed nearby. At the end of the street two figures, dressed in dark jackets, came along. Not rushing. Not hiding.

Calder straightened.

"We're out of time," he said. they saw you sooner than I would have liked.

"Who's they?" Elias asked.

Calder met his eyes. The non-negotiating people.

The pressure screamed.

Run.

Elias swung--and the city bent its way towards him--following him, and awaiting to discover what rule he would violate this time.