Sam had moved up in the world. From his hovel in the projects, his place as the Go To Man had earned him a penthouse overlooking the squalor and misery that was The Tow.
For the most, he kept his blinds closed.
The only time he looked was when the layer of filth covered the city. A green-grey toxic cloud that sat just beneath his window, tempting him to walk onto it; to see where it would leave him; to just click his heels together three times and say there’s no place like home.
And, indeed. There, wasn’t.
***
He stirred in his sleep and, with thoughts far faster that the written word, processed the following:
The feeling of the room was wrong – there was someone else with him.
Whoever it was had been there for some time.
If this was true, and they had wanted him dead, he wouldn’t be awake to know this.
Therefore – he had some leeway.
His stirring became a half awake yawn.
“If you’ve been here this long, you could have at least made some damn coffee.”
“Good Morning, Samuel. Get up and come to the main room. We shall talk there.” A male voice. Crisp. Clipped.
One that didn’t expect to be kept waiting.
***
Sam walked into the main room, flinched away from the open blinds.
“Yes, Samuel. We feel the same way. That’s why we clothe the ghetto in smog. We have no wish to see it, either.”
The stranger was dressed in a fashion Sam had never seen before. It was a suit – but the fabric, the cut, the way it hung was entirely alien. The owner motioned for Sam to sit opposite him at the table. It was set for a meal but, again, there was nothing on the table that Sam recognised.
“We also don’t eat that filth you call food – or drink that piss that you call coffee.”
***
Breakfast…oh, who are we kidding? The late lunch was strained. Sam played with his food until hunger got the best of him. The food was amazing. Entirely different from anything he had tasted. He wanted to gorge, but the figure opposite ate with control and he took his cues from that behaviour.
Soon the stranger put down his chop sticks. “You have restraint, Samuel. That places you above the animals here. And you have ambition and ability. Which physically placed you above them, in this apartment.” He paused to pick a piece of lint from his suit. “There is concern with your sense of compassion but that will work itself out. After all, only one can ride the elevator.”
If double-takes were the soul of comedy, Sam would have been inducted in the Hall of Fame. “I’m sorry?”
“Only if you have caused me a wasted journey, Samuel.” There was no mirth in that reply. The stranger sighed. “Either you misheard, in which case you would ask me to repeat. Or you do not understand, in which case you would ask me to explain.” A small pause, to let the lesson sink in. Sam felt like a small child being scolded.
Which meant the stranger was doing his job.
“Now, Samuel. Shall we try that again? Blah blah bah.. After all, only one can ride the elevator. And, now, you say…”
“I’m sorry.” Sam couldn’t take the edge of out his voice. “I don’t seem to understand that. Maybe you should explain yourself.”
The two stared at each other.
For a long time.
“Very good, Samuel. You really are the little dog that can. Very well. You are on a list. You might have the chance to come up in the world. However, only one person can ride the elevator. At the moment you are called, you will come to the elevator door. The elevator will descend. The door will open. Inside, there will be a gun. You will kill your crew and step into the elevator, and into your new life.”
There was a pause.
“Go on.” Sam was sipping whatever the guy brought with him for coffee.
“To ensure your compliance we have implanted you -”
“WHAT?”
“With various devices. Everything you see and hear, we do too.”
Sam was on his feet. “YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO-”
“Let me stop you there, Mr Allan. We are in a very controlled environment. And we intend to keep it that way. If you are not…suitable for life on the top, you will not be getting into that elevator. If you warn your associates – you will not be getting into that life. If you tell anyone about this meeting – you will not be getting into that elevator. If you change your behaviour in any way, so as to alert anyone about you potential relocation. You. Will not. Be getting into that elevator. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”
Sam glowered at his guest.
“Good. Then I shall bid you good day, sir. We will watch you for one month, Samuel.” A flick of the wrist.” Keep the food. It’s not like I’d take it back with me.”
And with that Samuel was on his own. He downed his drink and smiled.
“At last.”
