Callie’s Last Dance

12.

YOU CAN’T ENTER my office without my knowledge because every office, every wing of Sensory, operates under the highest possible security conditions. Access to my area requires a retinal scan by either me or Lou Kelly, followed by the entry of a personal key code. Since Lou is no longer with us, there are only three methods of entry. One, if I’m with you. Two, if I’m in my office and click the door open. And three, you can demolish a portion of the two-foot thick concrete and steel-reinforced walls.

Because of my position in the company, and tenure, I’ve gained larger chunks of access over the years. But the two areas I have never been permitted access are Lou’s office and Geek City.

Geek City is the area that houses Lou’s Geek Squad, the world’s foremost group of computer experts and researchers. It took years for Lou to assemble and train this team, and he’s the only person they’ve ever worked for at Sensory. These geeks are so valuable they’re the sole reason I allowed Lou to live after he attempted to kill me.

Why didn’t I just kill Lou and run the team myself?

They’re loyalty is to Lou. Had I killed him, they’d have turned on me. But because I spared Lou’s life, I’m hoping we can find a common ground. I can’t do this job without the geeks.

I’ve never met them. For years I’ve pestered Lou about his geeks, but all I’ve managed to glean in all that time is they are five in number, they haven’t left the confines of Geek City for more than ten years, and they’re eunuchs.

That’s right, eunuchs.

I press the button on my desk that unlocks my office door. Cooper enters.

“Ready, sir?”

“Have a seat, Tommy,” I say.

He looks around. “Where, sir?”

There are no chairs in my office. I don’t meet people here. Callie has seen my office, as has Miranda, my favorite hooker, but both were walk-throughs. I did happen to catch Lou Kelly fucking Sherry Cherry on my desk not long ago, but Lou assured me that was a one-time deal. Had Tommy not looked around for a chair just now, I’d wonder if he’d been in here before.

I stand, grab my laptop, and we start walking.

“Has anyone spoken to the geeks since Lou died?”

“Not to my knowledge, sir.”

“What about the people who bring them food?”

“Their supplies are placed on a conveyor. No one sees the geeks.”

“Have you thought of starving them out?”

“No sir.”

“Seems to me you could stop putting food on the conveyor, force them to come out.”

“Apparently they’ve squirreled away enough canned goods and bottled water to survive for many months. But that’s not the issue, sir,” Tommy says.

“What’s the issue?”

“Until you got the job today, no one was authorized to talk to the geeks, nor did anyone have any interest in doing so.”

“Do you know their names?”

“No, sir.”

“Aren’t you curious about them?”

“Not at all.”

He stops us a moment and says, “May I be frank, sir?”

“Please do.”

“I’m not one to spread rumors. But from what I’ve heard, the less contact I have with them the better.”

“What’s the rumor, son?”

“I’ve heard Geek City’s a leper colony.”

I laugh.

He frowns. “They’re not lepers?”

“I can’t say for sure. But wouldn’t lepers have trouble typing on keyboards?”

“I don’t know.”

“They’re not lepers, son. They’re choirboys.”

“Choirboys, sir?”

“That’s all I’m going to say about it.”

“Yes, sir.”