Calan - The Immortality Paradox

Chapter Five: The Hollow Asteroid, Part Three

Where the hell are we going? It took Harpain far too long to realise what PT had in mind. Or, at least, amongst his complicated circuitry. The image of the adolescent corpses was imprinted in her mind's eye. After leaving the devastation of Night of Your Life, PT had led them deeper into the hollow Cunniculum asteroid, beyond the entertainment venues, drug-induced congregations and any sign of life. They had already spiralled three times around the outer crust like hamsters on a wheel. The journey was long enough to discourage the majority of wayfarers. Now, their pathway descended into a makeshift cavern. PT's metal feet clanked all the way, and Harpain had just about had enough.

'You sly bastard. What was the point of taking me to that nightclub if we were coming here the whole time?' PT initially waited to reply. 'Turned your speaker off or something? Spend the journey here patronising me, and now you've nothing to say?'

'My predictive protocol states that I should refrain from answering your question.'

'Well, that explains everything. Did you cause the explosion as well?'

'Negative.'

'But you knew it was happening, didn't you?' Harpain tutted to herself. 'Bloody robots - you know everything. Of course, you knew the bomb was going off before we even stepped inside that place, you knew! You were going to use it as a distraction. But what was the real reason?'

'My logical parameters indicate that you are experiencing paranoia.'

Harpain had an aggressive, albeit brief, urge to decapitate the droid without a second glance. 'Damn right, I'm paranoid. I've been running away from the consequences of my actions on Tabut Ketujuh for over a year. Suddenly, you come along, claiming to be my escort, and I'm subjected to explosions left, right and centre. What do the Shadow Employers really want?' They either want to kill me or, at the very least, they want me to disappear from the known Universe.

'The Shadow Employers wish to repair the damage. The integrity of Penumbra and its outsourcing network is in jeopardy.'

'Oh, the business is in trouble?' Harpain mocked. 'All because of one mistake?'

'The code dictates anonymity. The mission on Tabut Ketujuh was fulfilled without the appropriate requirements.' Harpain observed PT carefully. She had two options: flee into the wilderness of space and hopefully land on her feet, or face the bosses and suffer the consequences. Both had prospects of death, but she had lost the will to survive.

She sighed heavily, allowing her shoulders to relax for the first time in what seemed like forever. 'I thought you and I had a thing going here, PT.' She rapped her knuckle on an exposed plate of metal on his chest. The clanging echoed around them. 'Let's get this over with.' She turned towards the cavern and entered without another word.

As expected of a covert, erring-on-the-side-of-illegal organisation, the Shadow Employer establishment was an undesirable hole in the wall, devoid of charm and intimacy. Frigid, grey backdrops encompassed an agoraphobic chamber populated with glass cabinets. Inside each one was the remnants of former employees, mummified for preservation. Their hollow, gaunt faces stared into oblivion from their decaying thrones. The glass was so clear that Harpain almost mistook the staleness of the room for their putrid flesh. What a way to wait out eternity. Boxed like museum pieces for people to mock. That isn't any way to be remembered.

In truth, Harpain knew very little about the Employers, notorious though they were. Most of her assignments had been sent directly from them, yet she had never encountered an 'employee' face to face. A common joke amongst the bounty hunters was that their hit list was so extensive they might eventually end up on the sticky end of a bounty themselves if their identities were compromised.