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Brady headed up to Los Banos. Whenever an area passed over to the Greens, he would usually be a little quicker off the mark as he didn’t like searching the houses once the Greens had sprayed their Green goo over everything. But he figured that there would be little activity in the run-up to New Year, as they put a lot of store in the New Year as the focus of their celebrations. He had noticed that Christmas and other religious festivities hadn’t been banned as such, but they were frowned upon as festivals of nostalgia. They also celebrated the material production age. The New Year was considered a future-forward event, and a time of renewal and therefore officially sanctioned, which meant the Green Communities could let their hair down without guilt. The fact wasn’t lost on Brady that the New Year marked the birthday of a certain Xavier Kane or Bodhi Sattva as he liked to be known, though in an act of faux humility, he had stated to his people that the New Year’s Day had nothing to do with him and was a mere coincidence - a statement which only endeared him even more to his people.
When Brady reached Los Banos, he was a little dismayed to hear the Green Clean-up crews already working. In the past few years, Brady liked this place and spent many a peaceful hour up here with his sketchbooks. It had waterfowl reserves, and he loved to draw the birds in exquisite detail and give them to Amie. It was a more peaceful account of the outside world. Sometimes, he would spot other exotic wildlife, and these he collected with his drawings like kids would collect baseball cards from so many years ago.
The town was a similar size to McFarland, but the climate was different, it had stronger winds and a distinctly colder winter, even though it wasn’t that much further north from his hometown. He had wrapped up warm and had fingerless gloves for picking through any found product and a black beanie hat to keep his head warm. Otherwise, he still had his jeans, T-shirt, sneakers and his long Poachers Coat with its many pockets, to carry his treasures. He figured he’d take what he could from the place throughout January, after that the Green goo would begin to degrade anything worth reclaiming.
He kept away from the Green Workers and searched the houses. He found a few hundred old CDs and DVDs - some of which had been well cared for over the decades. He headed back to his cream-coloured hearse shaped FusionCar™. He emptied his pockets and put his newfound stock away before beginning his next round of searches.
He tried to figure out why this town had succumbed to the Greens, whereas East McFarland had survived as a Trad Area. I suppose it’s the waterfowl and wildlife parks, it would have attracted the Greens even before the Revolution in ’84. He had spotted a couple of remaining Trads in his search of the houses who had pleaded with him not to give them up. ‘Brady Mahone doesn’t snitch on anyone,’ he informed them, but he knew he didn’t have to - the Greens had their methods of detection, and these last Trads didn’t stand a chance. It softened the blow that he knew they would only be moved on to other Trad areas and nothing worse would happen to them.
For the next couple of days, he had filled his Hearse and taken his stock back to McFarland, and then made the return journey to Los Banos to begin his search of the most likely places to acquire more DVDs and CDs. He began to believe he had developed a kind of sixth sense - or maybe it was the years of practice - to employ on picking out the most likely homes to creep into or break into, if necessary, and have a high chance of finding what he was searching for.
Brady decided to have a well-deserved break from scouring abandoned family homes and wandered around the local park. He listened, contentedly to the many different birds singing in the trees. He then heard a voice call out, ‘You must be Brady Mahone. Come, join me for lunch, I have food to spare, as the Good Lord has over-provided for one such as I.’ The guy was waving at him as if they were already friends.
Brady spied the black man, who was even bigger than himself. Even though the man was sitting down with his back to a tree, he could tell that much. He’s all muscle under that Green Workers uniform, Brady noted.
Brady said warily as if he might be dealing with the law, ‘Who’s asking?’
‘Please friend, let me introduce myself, my full name is Samuel Beardon the Third, some of my colleagues call me the Bear Down, as in I bear down on evil, but most of my friends simply refer to me as the Bear.’
Brady approached. If this guy stands up, then I’m ready. He looked all around him, as this felt like a trap. The Bear looked up and reached out his big right hand. Brady shook it, firmly. ‘Why are you talking to me? You Green Workers usually try and pretend I’m not here.’
‘Many are afraid that you will lead them into temptation, whereas I am comfortable with what the Lord provides.’
‘I thought that Bodhi Sattva was your Lord.’
The Bear laughed warmly, ‘I prefer to see him as a spirit guide on Earth, but my Lord is the one who will judge me at the end.’
Brady scoffed, ‘Take a look around, Buddy. I don’t think anybody’s Lord is going to forgive you for this.’
‘I understand your distress, brother. However, I take comfort in my duties with the words in the Good Book.’
‘And where does it say you can ethnically cleanse billions of people. That’s how a lot of clever people describe what you’re doing.’
The Bear smiled, ‘I haven’t witnessed any killings, or even harm upon another living thing. The Bible says, “You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I the Lord dwell.” He is with us now.’
Brady said, ‘That doesn’t make any sense to me, just sounds like it could mean anything you want it to.’
‘I’ll try something a little simpler, for the Good Book has many teachings, how about, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” The Trads wrecked the garden, but we are restoring it to its former glory.’ He added, ‘I don’t want to debate with you, my friend, I only ask for your company. I’m keen to know more about you. You are a sense of much wonder and consternation. Come, sit, and let us break bread together.’
Brady sat down and accepted the Bear’s offer. He tucked into the soft brown bread sandwiches filled with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes, and drank the piping hot coffee which the Bear poured him from his thermos flask. Brady soon relaxed, and the thought of traps receded. Brady asked, ‘What’s your job?’
‘I am an Environment Sprayer. It pays well because of the potentially distressing scenes one may encounter.’
‘I’ve seen that. You have one of those tanks on your back and spray Green goo over everything.’
‘Yes. We don’t call it Green goo, though.’ He laughed as if he had heard the punchline from a brilliant joke. ‘We return everything back to its elemental level and return it to God’s green land. However, we have to leave the streets and highways for recycling and re-purposing - but that’s a job for the Highways crews equipped with NanoFixant™ and NanoRepair™.’
Brady said, ‘I don’t want to argue with you, live and let live is my philosophy.’ Unless they get in my way.
The Bear interrupted, ‘A fine philosophy indeed, and one in which I concur.’
‘But surely you are not happy about the destruction of the churches.’
‘You are correct, brother. It does not fill my soul with joy. However, if we all decided on what we would want to save, nothing would change. I believed in my Lord, and not in the organised religions who coveted treasures and lands. The churches, in many instances, were memorials to their benefactors, rather than to God.’ Brady was about to interrupt him, but the Bear raised his big right hand, ‘I have to believe that - as my faith will always trump clever arguments. The Lord is behind all of this. This is His will, and I will put all of my strength into enacting it. The words of any man will not change that.’
‘Not even the words of Bodhi?’
‘He is doing the Lord’s bidding, my friend. You will witness the New Eden. I can feel it. You are sent unto me. As many of my friends believe, you might undermine the Prophet, but you will not undermine the Lord. This is what I believe.’ He looked at his watch. He said, ‘It’s two o’clock. I must return to my work.’ The Bear looked into Brady’s eyes as if he was searching his soul, ‘I know you are searching out DVDs and CDs, but it’s common knowledge that you need those old Blank Files. If you come along with me, while I work this afternoon, then I can ask my friends to get them for you.’
‘How many Blank Files?’
‘Thousands.’
Brady could hardly believe his luck. He didn’t believe his luck. ‘Where are they?’
The Bear smiled kindly. ‘In the vaults of the old Library on Seventh Street. My good friends have the keys, but it’s due to be sprayed tomorrow. After that, all the contents will start their decaying process.’
‘And why are you doing this - for me?’
‘I’m just helping a friend in need, as I would for any other Green friend.’
‘But you know I’m not Green.’
‘If Bodhi says that it is permitted to help Brady Mahone, if we encounter him, then that is Green enough for me. What do you say? I think you and I could be great friends if you allow yourself to get to know me better.’
Brady defaulted back to his usual criminal perspective. ‘Sure, why not?’ I’ve got nothing to lose, and if there are thousands of Files, then it’s more than worth it for an afternoon of my time. He still didn’t trust this Samuel Beardon the third, but equally, he was likeable enough.
The Bear put away his Tupperware boxes, thermos and spare cups into his duffle bag and left this on the floor while he readied himself for work. He picked up his substantial cream-coloured ceramic cylinder with its Sattva Systems™ logo and threaded the attached hose down the length of his right arm until the nozzle snugly fitted into his big right hand. He slung his duffle bag over his left shoulder and then walked away. Brady followed him. Brady couldn’t remember the last time he followed anybody.
At the edge of the park, he went to a Sattva Systems™ FusionMiniBus™ and dropped off his duffle bag and then came back out with the air of a man determined to put a good shift in at work. They marched purposefully into a side street. Brady asked, ‘How does the tank thing on your back work?’
‘It contains compartments of Self-Replicating NanoBots™, and each compartment has a different function. If I click on the nozzle, I can change the settings.’
They strolled down the alleyway. There were overturned bins and dumpsters, which had been rifled through for anything of use. Brady accidentally trod in a black and slimy pile of rotting food. He shouted, ‘Fuck this, man, these are top-notch sneakers.’
The Bear said, ‘Sssh.’ He whispered, ‘I’ve pressed it five times to put it into pest control mode.’
‘Why?’
‘Because of the rats, brother.’
‘So, you are going to kill them.’
‘Of course not. We don’t hurt God’s creatures. I will spray them with steriliser, that way they can live out their lives but not ruin it for the other sentient beings by over-populating the area.’ They both heard movement. Brady froze, but the Bear tiptoed his way to the back of a stinking dumpster.
Brady heard the hiss of spraying and then watched in horror as hundreds of rats raced past him. He tried not to sound scared, but he was shaken, ‘Did you get them all?’
‘I think so. They only have to catch a tiny amount of the spray for it to work, as even a speck of it contains billions of NanoBots™.’
For the next couple of hours, the Bear was in pest-control mode, and Brady could understand why this job would be a big Greenback earner in the Green Communities. ‘Do you have to do this work full-time?’
‘Not at all. We are all freelance. I could choose to do something gentler, like wildlife census, but I would have to do much longer hours. With this job, I get to spend more time with my friends. You would be welcome to join us.’
‘I don’t know...’
‘There’s wholesome food and coffee, and we like to laugh and tell tall-tales.’
In the old days, we would have got drunk and hit the nightclubs, but this is what passes for good entertainment, these days. ‘Ok, why not? I was only planning to stay overnight in the Hearse.’
The Bear roared with laughter, ‘I’m sure we can provide better entertainment than sleeping a Hearse my friend.’
In another alley, they heard a dog barking. They moved in to investigate. A teenage girl was lying on the ground, she was barely breathing, but rats were crawling over her prostate body. Brady spotted a lead tied around the girl’s hand, and behind her, the dog was barking at a hole in the wall where the rats were pouring out. The dog’s hind leg was bleeding, and its fur was covered in blood. Brady couldn’t determine whether the dog was distressed because of protecting its owner or trying to fight off the rats.
He watched the Bear spray the rats and then he stepped over the girl to see to the dog. ‘There’s a good boy.’ He stroked the dog and tried to calm him down. ‘There’s a brave boy. Calm down. I’m here to help. There’s a good boy. Now, let me tend to that nasty wound.’ He sprayed the dog’s injured leg, and the dog jumped up and licked the Bear’s face as if the effect of the NanoHealing™ had been instantaneous. The Bear untied the dog and set him free, but the dog went straight over to the girl and licked her face and then began to whine.
Brady said, ‘Can’t you use some of that spray on the girl?’
‘No, my friend. I cannot interfere with the Trads. I shouldn’t acknowledge her, at all.’ Brady was just about to argue, when the Bear added, ‘Nothing is stopping you attending to her. She only has moments left, in my humble opinion. However, I’ve seen thousands like her, and I haven’t got the time to spare, but maybe, you have?’
Brady sighed and shook his head, and then he closed his eyes and heard the rattle of the girl’s last dying breaths. He opened them again. He looked at the dog and felt some kind of empathy for the dog and the girl. He didn’t really know what to do, so he moved in close to the girl and she tried to speak, ‘My dog...My dog.’ In between a few more breaths she uttered, ‘Please, look after my dog.’
Brady thought he was lying when he said, ‘I will. Don’t you worry.’ She attempted to smile but died at that moment. Brady picked up the Jack Russell dog, and thought it was some sort of crossbreed because its paws looked big. I never get why people used to play around with nature and try and create crossbreeds themselves - it’s kinda like playing God in my book.
He picked up the dog and held it to his face and the Jack Russell licked at him - it also, seemed to implore him with sad eyes. It was then that Brady thought of the girl’s age - she was about the same age as Amy. And that’s when he had the idea of taking the dog home and giving him to her.
The Bear said, ‘We don’t agree with keeping domestic animals.’
Brady thought about it. He hadn’t seen anybody in the Green communities with dogs, cats, or anything else for that matter. They had farm animals, but they weren’t for meat, of course - they were for milk or any other functions they could perform. Brady said, ‘I don’t get it, why?’
‘I know where you are coming from, as it caused a lot of consternation in the Green communities before the Revolution, but it was decided that these were Her creatures, and not to be owned by humans. They are not here to serve us and our pleasures. Many of our Green members left the community at that point, but the ones that stayed proved their devotion to Her, and not to their own emotional needs.’ The Bear tried to lighten the subject. ‘What are you going to do with him - our little friend?’
‘I’ve got a girl at home - about her age.’
‘You have a daughter?’
‘No, no. She’s my friend’s girl, and she’s about this girl’s age. I’m gonna give the dog to her.’
‘And have you decided the name for this dog?’
Brady looked at the dog, and the dog was wagging his tail. It was clearly recovering quickly from its injuries. ‘I’m gonna call him Billy Big Paws. It’s kind of a, say what ya see kinda thing.’
‘I can tell you are a no-nonsense kind of guy.’ The Bear said.
The Bear stepped up and sprayed the girl. ‘It will help the decomposition process. Within a day or so, there will be no trace of her.’
Brady noticed that the rats lost interest in the girl. ‘Why aren’t the rats eating her?’
The Nanotech displays no odour, so predators are not attracted to any of the Greens because we are just like lumps of metal to them. We hold no interest to them, whatsoever. The same technology is applied to the dead bodies. From now on, animals will have no interest in her corpse, and pretty soon, she will melt away into the ground. We don’t want the dead to spread diseases, and also, it has the side effect of keeping unpleasant odours away.’
Brady decided he didn’t want to talk about it, anymore.
They walked in silence for a while. Brady struggled with his conscience, and more deeply, his concept of what humanity had become. The Bear finally said something, and Brady was shaken out of his melancholy. ‘My friend. It is of little consolation, but I can offer a practical solution that might help your Trad friends. Especially for those communities which are losing their farming space to cemeteries.’
Brady had no idea what the Bear was talking about. ‘I’m sorry, what?’
‘This is going to sound heartless. I’m truly sorry. And it will generate high paying work for the Green Communities. But your people should consider it.’
‘Why is it high paying work?’
‘Because Trad Body Disposal pays a higher commission. I’m being honest with you. The GreenRevs don’t want to waste valuable land on burying millions of bodies, and the Trad survivors need every green space they can retain for growing crops to continue to feed its people.’
This is the weirdest conversation I’ve ever had, and I spent ten years at Ridgecrest. ‘You’ve completely lost me, man. What are you suggesting?’
‘There are constant patrols from the air which specialise in detecting dead and rotting human flesh. I hate to inform you of this, my friend, but there have been increasing reports of cannibalism in some areas, especially where the food supplies are dwindling.’ He shook his head in disgust, ‘Anyway, these patrols inform workgroups like my own of the location of these carcasses, and we help with the decomposition. It’s all part of Operation Clean-up.’
Brady snapped, ‘Can you get to the point?’
The Bear could see that this was a difficult subject for Brady, ‘Well, if you told the Trad leaders to leave their dead out in the open, at the edge of their districts, then we would dispose of the bodies for them. Then they could use their remaining green spaces for growing crops, instead of for burying their corpses.’
Brady threw his hands up in desperation, ‘Well, that’s fucking marvellous. That sure is going to be good for business, when I casually toss that into the conversation.’ He laughed sarcastically.
‘They trust you. You don’t have to say it’s your idea. Maybe, you could say that you’ve noticed other Trad areas doing this to save the living.’
‘I know I’m a fucking lowlife criminal. I’ve never had delusions of grandeur, but even I can’t answer this one now. I’m going to have to give this a lot of thought.’
‘I won’t mention it again, my friend. Let us talk about happier things. We’ll head to Seventh Street next and meet my daughter and nephew and they also happen to be my co-workers Alicia and Tyrone. You’ll want to meet Tyrone as he found the keys to the Library and has already checked it out.’
Brady desperately wanted to change the subject, as he couldn’t get the images of the dying girl, cannibals and the thought of telling someone like Judge Jefferson of this crazy proposition regarding the East McFarland dead. ‘How did he come across the keys?’
‘Tyrone found them in a nearby home. After a cursory examination, he assumed it belonged to the Head Librarian.’
––––––––
WHEN THEY TURNED INTO Seventh Street, Tyrone and Alicia were already waiting for the Bear. Tyrone was black, tall and skinny with thick tortoiseshell glasses, and Alicia had her hair in a bun, and she looked tough until she beamed a white smile and hugged her Daddy. The Bear introduced them, ‘Alicia is my daughter, and Tyrone is my nephew.’ He held out his right arm to encourage Brady to move in closer, ‘And this, my family, is the legendary Brady Mahone.’
Tyrone said, ‘An honour to meet you, sir. We’ve heard so much about you. The only Trad who can pass through the Green Communities.’
Alicia intervened, ‘Which means you must have some Green in you.’ She said it flatly as if this was a fact that she wouldn’t tolerate being challenged.
The Bear interrupted, ‘We will have plenty of time to hear stories later. I’ve invited Brady to be our guest for dinner - but I’ve also promised him that we will be good company.’
Alicia said, ‘I hear you, Daddy.’
They walked over to the misnamed minibus as it was the size of a tour bus which touring rock royalty might have used in those long-lost days. As Brady followed the family into the bus, he wasn’t surprised to see that all the furnishings were in the Sattva Systems™ company colours of cream and moss green. Brady looked over the driver’s cabin and noted that the controls were similar to his Hearse. There were luxury seats at the front, then there was a central dining area, and to the rear, there was the bathroom area complete with shower cubicles. He saw steps to the side, which he assumed led to the bedrooms on the upper deck.
The Bear said, ‘We’ll shower first as the work we do is not the most hygienic. You’re welcome to use the facilities if you wish.’
‘Thanks. I will.’
Brady was the last to shower, and when he emerged, The Bear and Tyrone were putting food on the table. Brady didn’t ask what it was as it looked appetising and fresh. He sat next to Alicia and opposite the Bear and Tyrone.
The Beardon family closed their eyes and prepared for grace. Out of politeness, Brady did the same. When in Rome... Alicia led the proceedings.
‘Our Mother.
Who art Heaven on Earth.
For what we are about to receive
May we be truly grateful
And lead us not into temptation.
Show us the way.’
The Bear and Tyrone answered, ‘Show us the way.’ The Bear smiled broadly at Brady, ‘Eat up, brother, we have bountiful supplies.’
They ate, heartily and Brady listened to them talk about their respective days at work. He could sense their pride in working hard and completing their tasks to a high standard. He knew Greens of any shape, size, or age, didn’t fear him, but he felt at ease with them. It helped that they weren’t asking him any probing questions.
He expected that they would ask. He was suspicious of the Bear bringing up the subject of body disposals, earlier in the day. Once he had the time to mull over this, he wondered if he had been ordered to give Brady Mahone this information. It was his innate criminality which made him cautious about anybody attempting to befriend him.
The conversations were calm and relaxed, and even Alicia - who Brady had pegged as being uptight - was laughing softly at the stranger aspects of the day. The Bear was even telling them about his meeting with Brady as if he was hardly aware that he was still with them. He talked about Brady as if he was joyous at finding another new friend. Brady almost forgot why he was here in the first place as he drifted into the warmth of this family’s embrace. ‘When do we go and get the Files, you mentioned?’
Tyrone answered, ‘First thing in the morning before I start work, if that’s ok with you? I’ll wake you, unless...’
‘That works for me. How many are there?’
‘I counted ten boxes, and I believe they each hold a thousand. Of course, I haven’t opened them all, and some might not be full.’
‘Amazing. What do you want for them?’
‘Nothing. If they can be of use to you, and it’s not a problem for our employers, then it’ s a good thing that they can be recycled.’ The Bear placed a big hand on Tyrone’s shoulder and smiled, warmly.
The Bear announced, ‘I think we should play a game. I like games.
Alicia intervened, ‘Daddy, I’m a bit tired of games. Couldn’t we do the storyteller round instead?’
He laughed, ‘Only if we tell scary stories.’
Alicia smiled, ‘Ok, Daddy, I’ll need time to think.’
Tyrone said, ‘I’ll sit this out. I don’t like horror stories, and the skies are inky-black tonight. I want to take my telescope out.’
‘If that’s what you want to do. As long as you don’t mind, Mr Mahone? After all, you are our guest.’
Brady checked out Tyrone, and said, ‘You could do me a favour. Could you take Billy Big Paws for a walk while you are out there? I’m just wondering if he’s feeling a little neglected - y’know, having lost his owner.
‘Sure thing. Of course. My pleasure.’
Brady looked back at Alicia and the Bear, ‘No problem with me. I’m just wondering if you could come up with a scary story if you are wearing those fancy RedSuits™. They kinda reduce the thrills and spills.’
‘Well, that’s the challenge for today - to come up with a story that would scare a person, even if they were wearing the Red™.’ Alicia had a puzzled look on her face as if she was already mulling over an idea. Tyrone returned from upstairs with his telescope and then went down the bus’s steps, and the bus doors closed automatically behind him.
Alicia told her story first about the newfound craze among her Green friends who had taken up free-soloing mountain climbing to test the limits of the RedSuit’s™ capabilities. She described the feeling of clinging on to the tiniest fragments of rock, thousands of feet up in the air. And then the sensation of losing her grip, millimetre by millimetre. She paused, to try and increase the tension, and she spoke slipping away and falling into the void, followed by the anticipation of crashing into the rocks beneath her. She lacked timing and her story didn’t trouble Brady.
Brady said, ‘But you knew you wouldn’t die. There was pleasure within the fear - like a theme park ride.’
Alicia said, ‘So, you wouldn’t have been scared?’
‘Maybe, the first time, out of my mistrust that the equipment would work properly. But after that, I’d jump off a cliff just to take a short cut.’ He added, ‘There’s just no jeopardy in living life in a protective shell.’
‘What’s jeopardy to you?
‘It’s a rush.’
‘A rush is just another word for fear.’
‘Maybe. But I think fear is a negative, whereas to me a rush is a positive. It’s a test to the limits of my life.’
The Bear seemed to be enjoying Alicia’s gentle interrogation into the inner workings of Brady Mahone. She said, ‘Give me an example.’
‘I’m a criminal. I have to use my wits to commit a crime - to get away with it - and then, if I’m caught, to survive in prison. Even then, I am tested to the limits. I have to survive and succeed in the most hostile of environments. I have to assess the other convicts, the threat level who is in command, and carefully select my potential allies. Any wrong moves and I’m done for. It excites me. I never felt more alive than when I’m close to death. Whereas those RedSuits™ would take all the fun out of life for me. No offence.’
‘None taken.’ She smiled, ‘When you are first in prison, what’s going on in your head?’
‘I have to own the room. I show no fear to buy myself time. If you are weak, the other inmates would be all over you in no time. But if you can exude a certain threat, then it will buy enough time to establish an alliance.’
‘You mean - join a gang?’
‘Could be, but I have a problem with that.’
‘In what way?’
‘I’m not the right colour. I’m not black, white or yellow. I’m not Latino or Italian. I haven’t got a natural allegiance, and in prison, it’s normal to fall into your colour groups for protection. Just like the Greens.’
Alicia laughed, ‘We are not in prison.’
‘You are encased in your Shells™ and your Suits™.’ Alicia looked angry, and Brady laughed loudly, before adding, ‘I’ve got a talent for spreading doubt and fear - gotcha.’ He was still smiling when he said, ‘That’s what I do in jail. I know that some of my trickiest potential enemies might not be the musclebound thugs - they might be the cunning and intelligent types. I have to throw them off-guard as well, or else they could cause a lot of trouble for Brady Mahone.’
Brady spotted the Bear stroking his chin. He wondered whether he was studying him or thinking about what his story would be. Alicia shook her head, but she asked warmly, ‘What is your ancestry, Brady?’ He seemed not to understand the question, so she asked more directly, ‘What’s your race?’
‘I’m not sure. I was kinda adopted by my Foster Daddy. He was an old-school white man. He saw conspiracies in everything which wasn’t white, from the Blacks and all the way to aliens from outer space.’ Brady laughed at his own joke. ‘He was a little bit embarrassed by my colour - but he did love me. Pops was good to me. He told me to say that I was Hawaiian, that way it was still a part of the good old U S of A.’
Alicia pressed him, ‘When did you go, Green?’
‘I’m not.’
‘It’s blindingly obvious that there is some Green within or about you. This bus wouldn’t let you anywhere near it unless you were Green, It’s an indisputable fact. Something I can witness and avow for with my own eyes.’
‘I am not Green. Period.’
‘Humour me. Let’s say you are, but you don’t know how it came to pass. Let’s be friendly and play this game in a positive manner. We are no threat to you. I find you fascinating and would love to play. You have absolutely nothing to lose.’
Brady looked at the Bear and then back at Alicia. ‘Ok. I’ll go along with this, but I know, that I am not a Green from my soul. I’m a meat-eating survivor. The Greens see me as a threat, whereas the Trads only view me as a man. However, I can see with my own two eyes that I am not ageing much. That’s something I put down to a better diet than the Trads because I eat food from the Green Communities and I work hard, most days.’
Alicia agreed, ‘You have obviously given this matter some thought at some point, and your observations are entirely reasonable. What else is there about you which makes you special? And I’m entirely respectful, as you are a unique man.’
He stroked his chin and looked to the side as if inspiration could be found in another part of the bus, ‘I’ve always healed real quick. I was a rough and tumble kid, always getting into scrapes, but Pops always said my scars didn’t take long to heal over.’
‘And your Mother - what did she think?’
These are the last people I’m going to tell that Moms drunk herself to death because she thought I was the Son of Satan or whatever. ‘Foster Moms was a drinker and died young. I don’t think she thought much deeper than the bottom of a bottle.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘S’alright.’ He shrugged, ‘I’ve heard the stories. Most people think I can travel through both areas because of a coincidence, some piece of one-off timing. I rescued this old broad from a couple of hoodlums, and we both fell through one of those Green barriers at exactly the same time.’
The Bear said, ‘The Lord works in mysterious ways. He forgave you your sins for an act of kindness. You could be Barabbas or the Good Samaritan, but the Lord has chosen you for a reason, brother.’
Alicia said, ‘It doesn’t answer the healing properties from when he was a child.’
The Bear smiled at his daughter, ‘Children aren’t the most reliable of witnesses, you used to play with dragons if I recall...’
She laughed and said warmly, ‘Daddy, thanks for that.’ She turned back to Brady, who was disarmed by the bond between the Bear and his daughter. She asked, ‘Were there any other occasions when you were particularly close to a Green™ Ceremony.’
He laughed, ‘I’ve slept with dozens of Green women if that’s what you’re getting at. You can’t get much closer than that. Sorry sir, but she did ask?’
The Bear laughed, but Alicia didn’t enjoy this latest turn in the conversation. She tried to change the subject, ‘Was there anything else?’
‘Only on that first day. I’ve been cautious since then, once I saw what it could do.’
‘And what was that?’
‘This is daft, but the master criminal here, Brady - Brady Mahone, got caught stealing fruit from a GreenGrocers™ and was covered in SecurityFilm™ for hours.’ He added, ‘And it erased nearly all of my tattoos. I still miss them. It was like they took a part of me with them.’ Brady looked agitated.
Alicia was about to ask another question when the Bear raised his hand, ‘I think our friend has been questioned enough. He is here to receive our good company and hopefully, to enjoy his evening.’
She said, ‘Of course. If I’m not mistaken, it’s your turn to tell a story.’
‘Yes. I have given it some thought.’ In the manner of a showman, he said grandly ‘I will try to weave a tale that will terrify, and horrify our humble guest, Mr Brady Mahone. This is a tale of madness, of a man in a RedSuit™, who wishes he could die.’
Brady was instantly impressed by the persona of the charismatic preacher with the deep booming voice before him. I would have sought you out to be a friend and an ally in Ridgecrest Supermax. You’d have survived.
The Bear preached, ‘There was a man called Rainer. He had a RedSuit™ which could protect him as he cleaned up the oceans. His Suit™ could help him withstand the pressures of the deepest depths of Gods blue depths, and his RedSuit™ helped him breathe underwater. And Rainer loved the ocean. He swam with the dolphins, and he rode on the backs of the Whales. He was the most indestructible creature in all of God’s oceans. Soon, he hardly slept as he dreamed of spending forever in the seas. He asked God to make him able to reprocess his water and food so he could spend all his time in under water. He asked God to grant his wish that he could live forever in the bounty of his oceans. And the Lord God granted him his wish, but Mother Nature had not given any of her creatures the power to live forever. She was angry but couldn’t challenge the will of God. Rainer swam for many years with the fishes and all the wonders of the oceans. He was at peace with the world. The rest of humanity had cleaned all the oceans and rested now that their work was done. Rainer understood his RedSuit™, he no longer needed to surface for air, food, or water, he had evolved into a new God of the Oceans. Creatures came to greet him as a friend, except for one of Her aquatic creations. As Rainer swam under the ocean one day, he saw an enormous Great White shark approach. Rainer was unafraid, he was indestructible in his RedSuit™.
The shark attacked Rainer, it chewed at him with his sharp teeth, Rainer looked on in wonder at this apex predator as twisted and turned, trying to break the figure in half, but Rainer was left without a scratch. He watched with a detached air of puzzlement as the shark’s dead black eye rolled in its socket and turned white. Then the shark backed away, and Rainer was proud of his lack of fear, and the fortitude of his RedSuit™ against such a ferocious attack. But the enormous Great White shark studied his implacable foe in this underwater stand-off, and it powered through the water and swallowed Rainer whole. Rainer was awake as his arms were constrained parallel to his sides, and he felt the waves of rock-hard muscles and tendons pulse and pull him into the belly of the shark, and then he came to rest in the giant predator. He couldn’t move. He wasn’t blinded, and his eyes became adjusted to the darkness, and then he saw the remains of a fresh kill from the shark squeeze passed him. And then he remembered that he was indestructible in his RedSuit™ and that he didn’t need fresh water or food to survive, and within minutes he went completely insane, but he lived forever.’