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Chapter 2

Richard Sobel's day began like every other for the past ten years – in the lap of luxury. He awoke in an oversized bed beside his beautiful wife, got up, put on a clean silk robe and padded to the bathroom. Then it was a long look in a huge mirror to admire his chiseled features before jumping in the shower. After that was a gourmet breakfast prepared by his chef, a bit of wrestling with his two young boys and off to work.

This started with a fast ride into the city. A blur made possible by his Ferrari. First stop was the gym – a cavernous space below a squat grey office building in the downtown core. Clientele was Locum specific and invitation only.

Richard wound the car along the parking ramp, passing a line of equally expensive vehicles before arriving at a spot marked with his name. He parked, cut the engine, jumped out with a gym bag in hand and entered the building.

The lobby was sparse and finished in beige. There was a steel door straight ahead, a plastic desk to the left and a chair to the right. A cord hung from the wall behind it.

"Good afternoon Dr. Sobel," said a young, blonde woman in a grey warm up suit. She entered from a door beside the desk and sat.

"Nurse Wilks," Richard replied. He gave her a wink and nod. Wilks paid no attention. She pressed a button on the desk and a thin monitor rose from its surface.

"Please have a seat," she said. Her full attention was on the screen. A number of bar graphs were displayed – all were black.

Richard sat. "Nice day," he said.

Wilks ignored the small talk. "You can plug in the Hotwire."

"You're way too serious," he added with a grin.

"If you don't comply in thirty seconds access will be denied for the day."

Richard rolled his eyes, reached back and grabbed the end of the cord. With his free hand he ran his fingers along his neck until they touched a round socket. This is where he plugged in the cable.

The graphs on the monitor jumped to life. Some became red, others green and one yellow. Wilks raised an eyebrow, glanced over at Richard, then tapped one of the red bars in the middle. This brought its level down and changed the colour to green.

"Please state your name."

"Richard Aaron Sobel," Richard replied. His eyes were distant and unfocused, his body limp.

Wilks tapped a yellow bar. It changed to green. Richard twitched. "What is your call name?"

"Locum 57126"

A red bar flashed twice then shifted to blue.

"Pass phrase please."

"Revolver."

Wilks placed a finger on the final red bar and brought the level to midway. When it turned green Richard sprang back to life. He unplugged the cable from his head and stood.

"All clear to enter Dr. Sobel. I adjusted your heart rate, core temp and blood pressure. Some were higher than normal. Keep an eye on your BP in particular."

The steel door hissed and slid open. Wilks never looked up from the screen. Without a word Richard entered the gym.

The space was huge - filled with gleaming equipment and impressive bodies. It looked like an advertisement, a slice of life that shouldn't exist outside someone's imagination - and it was close. There was nowhere else in the world even similar.

Richard surveyed the room. The buzz of conversation that rippled beneath piped in music and the clank of weights was forced and not unusual. Most members would rather do anything but talk to someone else – unless it was about themselves. This never failed to create a circular problem.