749632- 10. the gamblers

by red jones

part ten of ?

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the man in the brown coat and yellow straw hat went down the stairs - he did not trust elevators or other closed spaces and avoided them as much as possible - and out into the street. he checked his phone. the car being sent for him was eleven blocks and approximately two minutes away. meanwhile, the man in the blue suit , who had left the house he had been in and waited in the street for five minutes and then gone back inside the house and called line 4, reemerged from that house and began walking down the street toward the center of the city. the city was a large one, and inhabited by many people. although it had been constructed relatively recently, it was now listed by the central authority as the twenty-ninth largest city in the world. it had a bustling and burgeoning economy, centered on sports betting. the man in the blue suit did not himself have much interest in either sports or gambling. the car that had passed the house that the man in the blue suit had occupied, after he had gone back inside after his first five minute emergence, was parked by the curb three blocks away. it appeared empty of human occupants. sunlight glinted on its rear window. the man in the blue suit passed it. the man in the blue suit began humming a simple tune - a quaint habit he had picked up in a previous life. the car being sent to pick up the man in the brown coat and yellow straw hat, going in the same direction as the man in the blue suit, passed the man in the blue suit as he walked along humming his simple tune. next

749632- 9. the man in the brown coat

by red jones

part nine of ?

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line 4 lit up. a man answered it. proceed. they did not show up. did you wait the full five minutes? yes i did. are you sure? of course i am sure. no need to get testy. proceed with plan 2. acknowledged, line 4 went off. the man who had answered it got up and looked out the window, he was a strange man. and this was the first day of the rest of his life. he put on a brown coat. and a yellow straw hat. even though he hated hats and thought they looked old-fashioned. because he always followed orders. (the man followed orders, not the straw hats) next

utopian grit, part 2

by bofa xesjum

part 2 of ?

ignatius sunset and 830-7 went back a long way. they had both been recruited into the movement by ahmed ying. of the twelve people summoned to the boardroom by 713-5, how many do you think were in the movement? i do not know, why don’t you tell me? i will keep you guessing a little longer. i can’t wait. number 5 actually wrote a book about loyalty. then i guess she is the number one suspect. mister blue worked harder than anybody, and let everybody know it. maria wang always seemed to be on vacation, or attending a conference somewhere. very suspicious. what would you say if i told you all twelve people in the boardroom were in the movement? but not 713-5 himself? probably not. i would ask why they would not just do what they were going to do, whatever it was? like shoot 713-5? something like that, yes. did you hear any shots? no. what do you deduce from that? 713-5 is really in charge, because he is quite a guy. wrong. ok, explain to me what i got wrong. who is 713-5, really? that is not an explanation, it is a question. you are right. i generally am.

749632- 8. the man in the blue suit

by red jones

part eight of ?

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the street was empty. a man walked out of a house and the street was not empty any more. a cloud passed over the sun. the man stood on the sidewalk. he seemed to be waiting for something. he took his phone out of his pocket but only checked the time on it and put it back in his pocket. he was wearing a blue suit with a white shirt and a red and blue tie. he had a name but he was not wearing a name tag. he had carefully combed brown hair. he was white. he did not look particularly impatient. what was he waiting for? five minutes passed. he went back into the house. the street was empty again. a car came down the street but did not slow down when it passed the house that the man in the blue suit and white shirt and red and blue tie had emerged from. next

749632- 7. al's place

by red jones

part seven of ?

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where are we going? larry asked the woman in the black suit with gray stripes, as they got into a long black car with no headlights or tail lights. on a long trip. how far is long? just down the road a piece. oh. they rode in silence. the country road turned into a broad empty highway with no lights. then into another, even countrier road. larry finally broke the silence. this really is a long trip, he said. what did i tell you? do i know you from someplace? no. oh, i thought i might have. you do not. the second country road ended. now they were on a small interstate. we are almost there, the woman told larry. they came to a small town. all the buildings were dark except one. the faded sign over the small building with a light in its ground floor window read - al’s place. a man could be seen in the window sitting alone at a counter. he was wearing a blue suit. the black car pulled into the small parking lot in front of al’s place. the man in the blue suit did not turn his head to look at the black car or its two passengers. do you see that man? the woman in the black suit with gray stripes asked larry. yes, i see him. what do you notice about him? he is wearing a blue suit. next

749632 -6. the woman in the road

by red jones

part six of ?

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larry was walking down a country road, past the old mill stream. he saw a woman walking toward him. at first he thought it was the same woman he saw so often in his streams, the one who looked like bette davis. but she was not wearing a trench coat or a fedora. she was wearing a black business suit with gray stripes and carrying a black briefcase, and larry thought she looked familiar. did she live in the building? had he seen her in one of his rare trips outside his room, in the corridors or even in the elevator? whoever she was, she approached forthrightly, swinging her black briefcase nonchalantly and getting right down to business. are you larry payne, she asked, number 7609-7854-3381-0606, who hates the whole human race? i am indeed he, larry replied promptly, but i am tired of my lonely existence and wish desperately to find love. i am happy to hear that, the woman replied, as it will save valuable time. come with me, i have an assignment for you. next

749632- 5. omar and julie

by red jones

part five of ?

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the auditing of the consolidation of the inhabitants of building 749632 was assigned to technician omar khayyam, t-7495-4385-3294-563, and undertechnician julie johnson, u-5399-5712-9042-323. the process went smoothly at first. too smoothly for julie’s liking. julie wanted desperately for omar to flub up, so that she could report him and gain points toward becoming a full grade technician herself, as she felt she had been an undertechnician too long and was not getting any younger. julie had an unspectacular career but had worked her way patiently up from drone status. although she was unaware of the fact, she had long ago been marked as “nfp” - no further promotion. omar had been classified as a two in his earliest incarnation - “extremely promising”, but his upward path had stalled and he suspected it was because he had enemies in high places. omar had been flagged as paranoid level 3. neither julie nor omar would ever be considered for any sensitive assignments. only assignments such as the consolidation of building 749632. next