Read Online Shine by Jetse de Vries (ed) - Free Book Online
Authors: Jetse de Vries (ed)
Tags: Science-Fiction, Anthology
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you ask me for a gun."
"And this is the part where you give me one." Capitão was probably the last man in town, except for the military, to have a lethal weapon. Below them, the associates were in frenzy. Electronic waste suddenly became the top priority.
There was a man in a black suit standing at the center of the waste piles. He was looking up in Inácio's direction.
"And this is the part I change the script," Capitão told him. "Write your report anyway you can. But don't mess with the carbon smugglers. They'll kill you."
In a tiny window, Bispo looked nervous, but that could be the result of the video's low resolution or Inácio's own weariness. "Hey, Inácio! Tried to moIP you, but it seems you're offline," said Bispo in the recording. "Look, I found something that might be useful. I decided to nose into Gear4's deals record and there were some contracts with volunteers for research into a new direct control interface for their videogames. And Lúcio was in." Inácio felt the buzz rise to an almost unbearable volume. The man in the black suit waved him an invitation to follow and before Inácio thought about it, he was on the move, going down the stairs, leaving his father and their argument with no further ado.
The lights started to fail. Lúcio waited at the door.
"Am I hallucinating?" Inácio was feeling feverish and completely worn out. He was an arm's distance from a ghost wearing his lover's shell.
"Sort of." Lúcio's voice was most tired, yet his appearance couldn't be more jovial. "Come. There's no time. I can't keep the connection. Come to the market. No one will harm you. They'll bring you to my presence. You must help me die."
And for the third time since they met, he vanished.
A young soldier led Inácio down corridors through the boxes in the very heart of São José's Market. Inside the nineteenth century building, anything could be found. Electronics and herbs, software and food. Live animals, healthcare and personal data centers. But in its center there was a tent, like a circus, where the many types of carbon credits, from sulfates to oxides and dangerous wastes, were sold under the counter. Inácio walked fast, almost faster than his armed guide. The boy picked him up in the market's main entrance. Neither of them spoke. The boy knew, Inácio knew.
Fabric walls divided the space inside the tent, a business center made of cotton and organic polymers. Inácio could see through half-opened curtains some of the businessmen gesticulating over invisible, encrypted AR screens, buying and selling hacked or forged credits. When deals were set, one would slide a hard drive, a physical, wireless cube where data was locked.
The scene repeated itself until the guide stopped in front of a nondescript door-curtain and told Inácio to go in.
"I thought you wouldn't come." Lúcio stood alone in the room, wearing the same suit and the same worn out features. But he smiled, and that made Inácio's heart thump. He felt tears rolling from his eyes. He was confused and tired and probably mad, but hell, was he happy.
"I don't understand," said Inácio still at a safe distance, but willing to ignore his survival instincts and grab Lúcio in his arms. "Are you alive? How?"
"No, I'm not. Yet, I'm dying again." It was Lúcio who ended up making the first move. His feet didn't touch the ground and he stopped just a few inches from Inácio's mouth. "And I need your help to figure out if I should let go."
"What am I supposed to do? What happened?" Inácio went forward, looking for a much longed kiss, but the man he desired dodged his caress.
"Physics engines. Sorry I didn't tell you." They both looked sad and tired. "I'm not here. I'm nowhere near. I'm not anywhere. Not at all. It happened by accident, but now I'm without a single physical form. My body is a wall, your shirts, the space within circuits. And I think I can bring you here soon. But I don't think it is the right thing to do."
Inácio looked around the
"And this is the part where you give me one." Capitão was probably the last man in town, except for the military, to have a lethal weapon. Below them, the associates were in frenzy. Electronic waste suddenly became the top priority.
There was a man in a black suit standing at the center of the waste piles. He was looking up in Inácio's direction.
"And this is the part I change the script," Capitão told him. "Write your report anyway you can. But don't mess with the carbon smugglers. They'll kill you."
In a tiny window, Bispo looked nervous, but that could be the result of the video's low resolution or Inácio's own weariness. "Hey, Inácio! Tried to moIP you, but it seems you're offline," said Bispo in the recording. "Look, I found something that might be useful. I decided to nose into Gear4's deals record and there were some contracts with volunteers for research into a new direct control interface for their videogames. And Lúcio was in." Inácio felt the buzz rise to an almost unbearable volume. The man in the black suit waved him an invitation to follow and before Inácio thought about it, he was on the move, going down the stairs, leaving his father and their argument with no further ado.
The lights started to fail. Lúcio waited at the door.
"Am I hallucinating?" Inácio was feeling feverish and completely worn out. He was an arm's distance from a ghost wearing his lover's shell.
"Sort of." Lúcio's voice was most tired, yet his appearance couldn't be more jovial. "Come. There's no time. I can't keep the connection. Come to the market. No one will harm you. They'll bring you to my presence. You must help me die."
And for the third time since they met, he vanished.
A young soldier led Inácio down corridors through the boxes in the very heart of São José's Market. Inside the nineteenth century building, anything could be found. Electronics and herbs, software and food. Live animals, healthcare and personal data centers. But in its center there was a tent, like a circus, where the many types of carbon credits, from sulfates to oxides and dangerous wastes, were sold under the counter. Inácio walked fast, almost faster than his armed guide. The boy picked him up in the market's main entrance. Neither of them spoke. The boy knew, Inácio knew.
Fabric walls divided the space inside the tent, a business center made of cotton and organic polymers. Inácio could see through half-opened curtains some of the businessmen gesticulating over invisible, encrypted AR screens, buying and selling hacked or forged credits. When deals were set, one would slide a hard drive, a physical, wireless cube where data was locked.
The scene repeated itself until the guide stopped in front of a nondescript door-curtain and told Inácio to go in.
"I thought you wouldn't come." Lúcio stood alone in the room, wearing the same suit and the same worn out features. But he smiled, and that made Inácio's heart thump. He felt tears rolling from his eyes. He was confused and tired and probably mad, but hell, was he happy.
"I don't understand," said Inácio still at a safe distance, but willing to ignore his survival instincts and grab Lúcio in his arms. "Are you alive? How?"
"No, I'm not. Yet, I'm dying again." It was Lúcio who ended up making the first move. His feet didn't touch the ground and he stopped just a few inches from Inácio's mouth. "And I need your help to figure out if I should let go."
"What am I supposed to do? What happened?" Inácio went forward, looking for a much longed kiss, but the man he desired dodged his caress.
"Physics engines. Sorry I didn't tell you." They both looked sad and tired. "I'm not here. I'm nowhere near. I'm not anywhere. Not at all. It happened by accident, but now I'm without a single physical form. My body is a wall, your shirts, the space within circuits. And I think I can bring you here soon. But I don't think it is the right thing to do."
Inácio looked around the
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