Fadeout

Chapter 22: Jamar

  The week after the riot was filled with oppressive silence, a disappointing silence for Jamar. He didn’t really blame Silas. Cars were a volcano that Lemuel poked with a stick and there was no way to hold back the tide. Their roars in the yard would have set a panic in Jamar’s heart if it wasn’t for the fact that he knew Lemuel would have a plan for any contingency. Jamar had watched them scale the 20 foot walls like they were nothing and break down a double reinforced, hardened plastic door in less than two minutes. Even though Jamar had heard of how terrible it was to see the Carillians in battle, it was only now that he began to realize his ancestors weren’t exaggerating.

  When the guards were clearing the yard Jamar saw one of them bend over to pick Silas up. Before the guard could get a wheeled stretcher under Silas, someone distracted him and Silas collapsed face first into the dirt. Like all the Cars, Silas was still drugged and lay where he fell, not even moving an inch so he could breathe better. The guard didn’t notice or care and it grated against Jamar like a rubber cloth pulled against his arm hair. Rolling Silas onto the stretcher, the guard pushed him back into the boys ward. That was the last glimpse Jamar had of Silas.

  He had seen the list of Cars to be harvested and Silas’ number wasn’t on it, so Jamar wasn’t concerned with the Machine running non-stop. He’d also checked for Silas’ sister and her number was at the bottom of the list. There was time to figure out how to keep her at the bottom. Still he had a hard time concentrating on his work when the lights would brighten and dim every few minutes. It made him wonder what Silas was doing and if he was okay after being dropped. As far as the other Cars were concerned, they deserved to be drained if they were so easy to manipulate.

  Jamar spent his hours catching up on homework and listening to Carlyle drone on about this or that time in history. He refused to take his meals in the main dining hall for fear that he would see Lemuel. At the same time he secretly wished his father would send for him, yet day after long, boring day ended, seemingly without Lemuel even thinking about him. Jamar tried to console himself with the fact that Lemuel was busy with the harvest, but he knew that his father hadn’t called him to observe simply to punish him.

  It left Jamar with no one to talk to and nothing special to look forward to. He realized he missed spending time with Silas. Carlyle was distant. Busy thinking about something else whenever he was with Jamar, which made Carlyle even worse to train with. Once Jamar even switched to holding his sword with his left hand and he still beat Carlyle. Worse was that Carlyle didn’t even notice he’d changed hands.

  Jamar was tired of the quiet. He was tired of being ignored by Lemuel. So he left his room and took the back stairs that came out closer to the Machine room. The hum of electricity left a charge in the air that tickled the hairs on Jamar’s neck. The door to the building with the Machine was heavy and silent. The bright halogen lights made the white walls and shiny tiled floor seem sterile.

  As much as Jamar wanted to see what Lemuel was doing in the Machine room, he didn’t feel up to a confrontation at the moment. Instead he walked down the hall to the boys ward. Aside from the Machine there was no other noise. Jamar noticed an open observation room and saw two guards passed out on couches with empty beer cans, liquor bottles and pizza boxes littering the floor. This must have been as close to a vacation as they would get while at work and they were clearly taking advantage of it.

  Jamar pulled open the door to the boys ward and walked down the hall. It was the first time he’d been in the Car living area before. The hallway was an old, faded brown, even the wooden doors were so weathered they appeared gray. There were glass windows in each door that allowed him to see the occupants of the cell. All the cells had a bunk bed and most of the beds had a sleeping boy lying on them. Some beds were empty and it looked as though more were empty than there used to be. Jamar didn’t recognize them, but most Cars looked alike so it would be hard to tell. He walked to the end of the hall without seeing Silas, although there were three boys whose faces he couldn’t see and two who looked similar to Silas’, but not enough for Jamar to be sure it was him.

  He walked back to the closest cell that might have Silas in it and tried the door. The bolt was heavy, but Jamar pulled on it anyway and almost felt it budge.

  “Master Pelacroix,” a man said from the far end of the hall. Jamar turned to see Foxworth.

  Jamar lifted his chin and asked, “What?” He had every right to be here.

  “Your father wants to see you,” Foxworth said. His tone gave nothing away. Not whether his father wanted to see him because it had been a while, or if he wanted to see him because Jamar was in trouble, or if he just wanted to see him for no reason at all. Jamar followed Foxworth out of the boys ward and into the Machine room.

  Lemuel looked up when the door closed and his eyes met Jamar, but Jamar couldn’t see anything in them that would indicate why his father had called for him.

  “Bring the next one.” Lemuel said to Foxworth. Then he turned to Jamar. “Come with me.” The wooden stairs to the control room creaked and flexed under his feet. Once they were inside Lemuel closed the door and switched off the control panel.

  “Have you had enough time to think about what you did?” Lemuel asked.

  Jamar glared back at him. Whatever his father wanted from him, Jamar was not going to give it to him. He’d been abandoned and crushed by his father. Silas was his only concern now.

  For a moment Lemuel didn’t say anything. If he was waiting for Jamar to speak he would wait until the sun died. Lemuel let out a gruff sigh. “I realize I may have been too tough on you. I never spent much time with my father, but my mother was around more than I have been for you these past few months.”

  Jamar frowned. This was not what he expected.

  “I am willing to give you another chance to prove yourself. Do this and you will be all I ever wanted in a son.”

  “What do you want me to do?” the words slipped out, quiet and tense. Jamar hated how eager he felt to have his father’s approval. He still needed to make his father pay.

  The door to the Machine room opened and closed as another Carillian was brought in.

  “I want you to take the lead on harvesting this one.”

  Instantly suspicion filled Jamar like a gas. “Really?”

  Lemuel nodded his head once. It was an honor to harvest a Car and it meant that Jamar was taking another big step toward adulthood and the responsibility of the company. The only reason Jamar could think that Lemuel would offer such a prize was that it was a trick. His father played mind games with everyone and Jamar knew he wouldn’t be an exception, but could he play his father’s game and still come out on top?

  With his heart pounding, he glanced down for a closer look at this Car. A frozen hand grabbed his heart. It was Silas. He was obviously still drugged, his eyes were staring at nothing and he was slouched in a wheelchair with small rubber wheels. His father wanted him to harvest the one person left in this world that he was connected to, the one person he had sworn to protect. Raw bitterness flooded his soul. It was a game. For a moment he had been willing to do anything to get back into his father’s good graces, anything but that.

  “Are you ready?” Lemuel asked. He walked to the door and opened it.

  Jamar reluctantly took a step and then stopped. He could not, would not participate in draining Silas. It went against everything Jamar believed and was a violation of his code. Lemuel held the door open for Jamar to go down first and Jamar slowly walked to the stairs. Each step brought him closer to a decision he did not know how to get out of. Even the air around him seemed to hold him back.

  “Take him off,” Lemuel called from behind Jamar. Foxworth stood at the side of the room and nodded to Dr. Yeager, the overseeing scientist for the Cartiam. It took less time for Dr. Yeager to inject Silas than it took for Jamar to travel down three steps.

  “What was he given?” Jamar asked.

  “O.L.O. It’s a drug that knocks a Car out
and keeps them in the emotional state they were in. All of the Cars are still experiencing the heat of their failure. They don’t need food or drink while they are under, but they can’t stay under to be harvested. We have to take them off one by one. Thus far Project High has increased the prior estimated harvest for all individuals.” Lemuel clasped his hands behind his back.

  “Won’t they wake up on their own?”

  “No, the drug will keep them under indefinitely,” Foxworth answered when Lemuel was quiet for too long. Lemuel must have glanced at the aide because Jamar heard Foxworth take a step back into the shadows.

  “Will we need the guards for it?” Dr. Yeager asked up at Lemuel.

  “Ask my son, he’s taking point on this one,” Lemuel said. He started going down the stairs faster and Jamar had to get out of the way.

  Dr. Yeager focused on Jamar. There was nothing about the way he did it that made Jamar feel inferior. In fact, if it had been under any other circumstance Jamar would have been flying high. They were including him, letting him make decisions, listening to what he had to say. Yet his dream was soured by Silas’ presence. Silas blinked and his breathing was more controlled. Soon he would be completely coherent. Then he would realize where he was and what Jamar might do to him.

  Jamar swallowed. “No, he will be fine.”

  Dr. Yeager placed his hand on Silas’ back and led him toward the table. Silas was still too foggy to know what was happening and stumbled willingly to the Machine. A fog of its own clamored in Jamar head. Was he going to let this happen? Was he going to do nothing? But what could he do. His thoughts swirled inside his head and he couldn’t think.

  “Wait,” Jamar said. Dr. Yeager jerked up to look at him and Jamar gathered that he’d spoken louder than he should have. Lemuel whole body tightened as if he’d been slapped.

  “We should test him first,” Jamar said. He looked back at his father. “I’ve read his file. There was a note that said he might be worth a lot if his emotions are high.”

  Lemuel’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded in Dr. Yeager’s direction. Dr. Yeager slapped Silas across the face and for the first time Silas looked alert. His eyes widened and his breath caught at the sight of the Machine. Dr. Yeager snatched his scanner from a nearby desk and held it up to Silas’ eyes and forehead. There was a beep and Dr. Yeager did it again.

  With a slight frown, Dr. Yeager walked over to Lemuel.

  “This is the one without an emotional registry. He doesn’t even make a blip on the screen. If we try to harvest him now, we may not get much.”

  Jamar pursed his lips at that and tried to ignore the fact that he was smiling on the inside.

  Lemuel was silent.

  “Test him again,” Jamar said. He wasn’t going to give his father a reason to doubt him.

  “I tested him twice,” Dr. Yeager said.

  “When would he be ready?” Jamar let some of his frustration over his situation leak out into his voice.

  Dr. Yeager shrugged. “There’s no way to tell. It could be months or years.”

  Silas was looking at them now.

  “Do it anyway,” Lemuel said. His tone was careless, but Jamar caught a hint of an edge below the surface.

  “How much could we lose?” Jamar asked. He shifted his gaze to his father. “How much?”

  His father took a moment as if he were considering whether to tell the truth or not. The hard glint in his eyes never diminished, but he said, “Perhaps a million.”

  Jamar pretended to think a moment. Then he said, “Father I appreciate your gesture, but I can’t allow you or the company to lose a million for my sake. If this Car were ready right now I would press the button in an instant, but...I can wait until his emotions are ready.”

  “You would harvest him?” Lemuel asked.

  “Of course, the Car means nothing to me,” Jamar said with a small laugh. He could feel Silas looking at him.

  “I will hold you to it on that day.”

  “Until then.” Jamar nodded.

  Lemuel nodded in return. “Take the Car back to his cell,” he said to Foxworth.

  Jamar turned to go.

  “Just know this,” Lemuel said to Jamar’s back. “I expect to test your promise soon, very soon.”