“Yes—or something like that. This is a recording.”
“Does anyone from this Narkomfin know about it?”
“Some do, but they’re not telling anyone what they know.”
“Why not?”
“Let me show you.”
The picture on the screen jumped several times. Ivan was searching for something. A dark, distorted pyramid appeared on the screen, a tumbled mound of earth. The picture rewound quickly, stopped, gained clarity, and Eva realized what she was looking at. She gasped, placed one hand to her mouth.
“That’s Stephen,” she whispered. The dark pyramid was revealed to be Stephen Kerry slumped in his wheelchair, drool running from one corner of his mouth to soak the sleeve of his black jacket. “He lives on the floor just below.”
Silver and grey and rust-colored VNMs could be seen gathering around the wheels of Stephen’s chair. They were looking up at him. Stephen was staring back in horror. In the background of the image, orange shapes shuffled ever onwards to the next pylon.
“How did he get down there?” asked Eva.
“There are shafts hidden throughout this whole building,” said Ivan. “This building itself is an outpost of the world below. Every night, the handicapped are carried down to live in the world below.”
“But why?”
“I don’t know. Who can second-guess the Watcher?”
“So it is the Watcher doing this!”
“I don’t know for sure! But who else?”
“But
“I can only guess. But I have often wondered. What if a handicapped person was raised in a world of the handicapped? Would he be normal?”
“Normal? What do you mean by normal?”
Ivan laid his hand on her forehead.
“You’re burning up. I think you have had too much to drink, Eva.”
Eva felt the coolness of his hand. She was having trouble speaking without slurring. Slowly she formed a sentence: “I think you’re right, Ivan. I think we should go outside.”
“Good idea.”
“I’m sorry. After you went to all this trouble preparing the meal.”
“No trouble.”
“It was delicious. But I feel sick. Too much cream in my coffee.”
“Drink some pepper vodka.”
“No. That will curdle it. Let’s go outside. Take a walk.”
She took one last look at the screen, doing her best not to think about what she had witnessed there. Ivan took her hand and led her to the door.
Eva looked up through the tunnels in the clouds to the darkening sky above.
“Do you feel better?” asked Ivan.
