Hal arrived the following
morning not to the lab as usual but to the main offices of Wolfram and
Hart. She swept through security on a
wave of righteous indignation and asked politely but firmly for an audience
with Nathan Reed. He was more than
happy to see her but it quickly became apparent that the problem was not going
to be reconciled.
“I just don’t see why the
Dexes have to be used in this way.” She
argued.
“My dear, look on it as
experimentation. Everything has to have
trials.”
“You can’t pull that one on
me. This isn’t a trial. If it is, let me set up proper control
groups. There are many things not
currently being monitored. Where are
the individual case studies, notes, observations, nothing is being effectively
measured or recorded and what of the Dex itself. What is happening to the spawn?”
Nathan looked irritated and
then softened his tone, “Listen, Halley, there are many many demons. I think it would be wise for you to take a
break from this one. Take one of the
Dexes, you’ll find the effects quite therapeutic. It’s better than soul-searching guilt trips or even the
confessional. Absolve yourself with
your work and come back to us. You’ll
feel much better, do that for me.”
Hal felt frightened. What had Mike said? ‘Watch that Reed, he’s a real reptile.’ She knew the lengths that the Firm went
to. Swallowing hard, she looked
directly at Reed and said, “Yeah, maybe you’re right, I’ll do that. Thank-you for your time I feel much better
about things.”
She went straight to the lab, behaving as if everything was normal, she went through the morning rituals but instead of beginning work, she went directly to the holding pens and spoke to Mike. Two more Dexes had escaped in the night. Mike just shrugged and caught a grasshopper as it flitted by, when she asked if any were ever returned.
“Saw one once. Real mess it was,” He said in his native
tongue, “They brought one of them lawyers in here. He was on the verge of a nasty breakdown if you ask me. They sat him in there with a Dex and well,
the only word I can think of is, absolution.”
“Clean soul?”
“No soul. They were all very pleased. Said he would be able to work round the
clock without the drugs. The woman in
Special Projects was very interested, something about introducing a Dex to an
Angel. Pass, all I know is that the Dex
wasn’t happy. It looked in pain. I’m guessing here but I wouldn’t be
surprised if they die eventually.”
She pondered on this all
day. She went about her tasks with
unseeing eyes, moving by rote around the lab.
Science had been her whole life.
It was what supported and sustained her. She used it to define the indefinable and explain the
unexplainable, but ultimately it had let her down. Her work had been used to absolve lawyers burdened with their
souls. Well so what if they were? “Don’t do the crime if you don’t want the
time.” She thought.
The Dex allowed staff to
work continuously without drugs. That
meant that the Firm had been drugging its operatives. She thought of Lindsey, he’d wanted her to get out. How much of this did he know? And the lawyers had no physical effects but
the Dex really suffered and was in constant pain. The only outcome could be that the user become soulless and the
Dex died. Why hadn’t she seen this side
effect of an artificial soul? It was
wicked.
By the evening, she was
angry. This was not what it was
for. Hal realised to her horror that
she was actually losing her faith in science.
It was unreal. Lindsey meant
more to her because he was real and her soul was happy with him. She would go out and find the Dexes she
resolved, and then they would both leave LA for good.
She collected her things
including the tracker and headed for the city streets. It wasn’t long before she picked up the
trail of one of the beasts. Logic
dictated the area of the search. After
all where did most sick souls of the city end up? She knew it was afraid and alone. It had a soul and that soul was hurting. Only she had the experience to catch
it. “Hah!” She thought, “Isn’t experience the name men give to their
mistakes? That’s ironic.” This was her mistake and she was compelled
to fix it.
She stared again at the red
blinking light on the display. There
was only one now, damn. She stopped
level with the railings of the Verbum Dei Catholic High School and got her
bearings. Jordan Down Projects seemed
to be the target, for this one at least.
She heaved a great sigh and began to head East of Nickerson. Deep inside the dirty, morbid tenements, she
could hear a baby cry. On the street,
she saw two dogs fighting over a piece of garbage and a drunk singing to the
moon. She felt suddenly lost, detached
as though she was observing life not living it.
A shuffle from behind her
alerted her and brought her back from her reverie. This was a dangerous place to daydream. She looked again at the gauge to find the Dex right on top of
her. Keeping a watchful eye on the
high, blank windows, she crept through the filth of a hidden alleyway and
finally found it. It was dead. Killed by the city’s sins. It was the sordid shame of a great city and
she knew she must leave.