Kill Screen by Benjamin Reeves

Author:Benjamin Reeves [Reeves, Benjamin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2012-07-02T04:00:00+00:00

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE GOLDEN SEA

“A strip club?” Shinji said as we pulled into the parking lot of a yellow stained building. “This is where we’re meeting this professor?”

The sign on the roof read: The Golden Saucer – A Premier Gentleman’s Club. I was surprised myself. I hadn’t heard of The Golden Saucer until I’d called up Professor Hojo. Even then, he’d made it sound like a bar.

After the events with the movers, I knew that I’d eventually have to confront Mr. Hayward. He’d sent his assistant to break into his son’s home, and then seized all of ESP’s computers. Somehow he must have known about Evi, but I needed more information about the program before I confronted one of California’s most powerful men.

The club’s fridge-shaped bouncer welcomed us in with a gracious smile. A female bartender with spunky hair and dark makeup served a few drunks lining the bar, but most of the scattered tables were unoccupied. Only one of the three stages was in use. The building’s interior remained as dark as an underground garage despite the hundreds of Christmas lights dangling from the walls. This place was a dive.

“You know,” Shinji said, “You can tell a lot about a guy based on where he sits in a place like this.”

“How so?”

“Well if he sits up front, by the stage, he’s interested in the women.”

“We’re in a strip club, Shinji. Everyone is interested in the women.”

“You mean not everyone is here for a covert meeting about secret AI projects?” Shinji responded with perfect comedic speed.

I probably would have laughed, but I was so surprised he’d even made a joke that I didn’t know how to react. I was beginning to realize that I knew very little about my lead programmer.

“If you sit by the stage, your main focus is the girls,” Shinji continued. “You come here to stimulate fantasies. If you sit at the bar, you’re more interested in the alcohol. You have sorrows to drown.”

Shinji pointed at me as though I was one of these hypothetical people.

“That’s why it’s darker by the bar. That makes it easier to hide,” Shinji added. “Then there are the coasters. The guys who used to come here because it was fun, but life changed on them. These guys used to sit at the bar or the stage. They lived it up with drinks and dances, but then something terrible happened. Slowly the comfort of this place wore itself thin. Now they just come here because they don’t know what else to do.”

Shinji pointed to a man in the darkest corner of the club.

“That kind of guy,” he finished.

It was the Professor. He was sitting alone, far from the stage, but not too far from the bar. His head hung as he gazed into an empty glass.

We approached him.

“Professor Hironobu Hojo?” I asked.

Hiro looked up defensively.

“Remember me? Jack, from the other day.”

Hiro gave a vague nod then stared down his drink. Shinji and I pulled up a couple chairs. A cocktail waitress approached to take our order.

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