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  ‘I’m not at liberty to say,’ replied the man looking down at Cameron as he walked forward.

  ‘That’s what the bullshit bouncers always say. You can’t come in here. You can’t take coke in here, it’s all bullshit.’ Cameron quoted in a faux deep voice which tried to mimic the suits. He glanced around the wide chest for some identification, none was to be seen.

  ‘I’m the manager of this building sir, not the bouncer, if you’d like I could call the bouncer?’ the suit replied straightening his tie for effect. The effect worked.

  ‘They’ll be no need captain fuck face.’ Cameron replied, glancing over he’d noticed Mary had covered her mouth which had opened in shock.

  ‘And please sir, do not do coke in our bathrooms. It’s such a low brow drug.’ Captain fuck face replied.

  ‘I won’t be, been clean for two years, in fact I’ve been clean for more than twenty. Bishop out.’ He slapped his chest and beckoned the other two to follow him out.

  ‘What the hell was that about.’ Simon asked as he limped behind him.

  ‘Trust me, just wait, you’ll see. Names are a lot more powerful than you’d ever expect, what am I talking about one of you has to have used their name to get in somewhere you shouldn’t have?’ Cameron explained, the two shook their head.

  ‘Mr. Bishop?’ yelled the suit.

  ‘Fucking knew it.’ He spun on his heels.

  ‘This Michael fellow? If he works here, how do you know him?’ asked the suit.

  ‘Ah the vague, Ness.’ Said Cameron as the word he was looking for escaped him, putting his hands in his pockets he rested on his heels as well as his laurels, whatever they were. Mary stepped forward.

  ‘I’m Mrs Robertson, and let’s be honest here, we have little need to tell you who we are, we’ve made it out to a secret, what I presume is an underground laboratory, so I’ll be frank, in one of your Somnus projects we’ve been in hibernation for slightly over twenty years.’

  ‘Did she say one of?’ Simon whispered to Cameron, who nodded in reply.

  ‘As in more than one?’ Simon asked again.

  ‘I’d say so.’ Cameron broke his silence.

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Ask,’ Mary snapped her fingers at the middle-aged woman who’d held back her tears for a few minutes now.

  ‘Tiffany.’ The old nurse responded.

  ‘Tiffany here used to work at Somnus one.’

  ‘Three and eight.’ She corrected.

  ‘There’s eight?’ Mary asked tiffany, tiffany just shrugged in reply. Even Mary was shocked by that news.

  ‘That’s very distressing news,’ said the suit, putting his arms behind his back, he didn’t look too worried about the bulletin.

  ‘There was four of us,’ Cameron bounced in to try and stop the suits dry demeanor.

  ‘Allen Shield. The comedian, he’s been shot. We don’t know who by or why. But he’s dead.’ Simon and Mary looked at Cameron as he spoke, pulling faces of confusion, they knew who had shot Allen, it was his son.

  ‘The plot thickens.’ The suited man said, gently putting his hands into his trouser pockets. There was a sarcastic tone to his voice, one which was barely noticeable as everything the man said sounded ironic.

  ‘The names Todd Ingram, I’m the manager of Somnus nine.’ He thrusted out his hand. Simon grabbed Todd’s hand without thought, it was still second nature to him, Mary and Cameron did nothing but watch, with faces contorted with anger.

  ‘There’s nine Somnus?’ Mary asked confused.

  ‘This is what I meant, you can’t just go around stealing technology, without someone fully trained to run it, there will be more issues than ours, I can’t imagine what problems you might have.’ Mary explained, Todd turned without answering her and walked to wards the door behind the desk, with one hand he typed in some digits and pushed the door open, turning to the gang as he did.

  ‘We have someone very versed in this technology, the same man I believe you came here to meet. If you’d like to follow me, I’m sure we can look after you, protecting you from this mad man on the loose.’ Todd held the door open with his right arm and beckoned them in with the other.

  ‘I’ve never trusted anybody called Todd.’ Cameron whispered to Mary as they followed, Simon as usual following behind them.

  ‘I’d thought you’d of gotten rid of him by now.’ Cameron said to Mary as they walked through the beautifully white facility of Somnus nine, Simon was too far behind to hear anybody talking about him.

  ‘No, I couldn’t imagine it.’ Mary replied.

  ‘Well once or twice I could, but I certainly couldn’t go through with it.’ She corrected.

  This Somnus seemed much more up to date, the one they’d woke from was brown and murky even before the twenty-year long slumber, now in comparison this Somnus was a hospital.

  ‘Can I ask, what happened to our vases, why were they shut off?’ Cameron rushed forward to Todd,

  ‘We kind of presumed the whole place had shut down but now, there’s more than even the creator knew about, so it’s not that you ran out of dough.’ Continued Cameron.

  ‘I’m not sure I’m able to say, best ask doctor Hassan.’ Todd replied without looking back. Bishop stepped back in line with Mary again.

  ‘I knew not to trust people called Todd, Todd’s are tossers.’ He whispered in the hopes Todd wouldn’t hear him.

  ‘Todd, you got a change of clothes for me, I feel like a shower might be order too.’ Cameron yelled this time, Mary put her hand in front of her mouth to discreetly giggle. There was something she found funny in Cameron that only women could spot.

  ‘I’m sure we can sort something for you out.’ Todd replied, never turning to look at Cameron, this time, instead of going up stairs, where the vases were in Somnus one, the four went down spiraled stairs, into the earth, it was cold, and the air was dry to taste.

  ‘Could I ask a question,’ Mary ran forward a few steps.

  ‘I don’t see why not.’ Todd replied, turning his head to see Mary.

  ‘My chambers, how did you build your own? I was the only one savvy on the building and working process.’ She asked with a little stress in her voice.

  ‘We somewhat decommissioned Somnus one, Somnus two was shut down shortly after. Doctor Hassan, began working on using Somnus two tech, pulling it apart seeing how it ticked. Todd replied, he felt the need to answer all of Mary’s questions, in a roundabout way, she was his boss.

  ‘This is my life’s work, you can’t just pull it apart and put your name on it.’ Mary stopped in her tracks, Todd stopped too, everybody stopped around them, Simon and Cameron kept their mouths shut.

  ‘To be honest Mrs Robertson. We thought you’d passed away.’ Todd began to explain

  ‘Ms. Robertson. My husband has died, but with no help from your facility my chamber had been kept running, somebody was paying the bills, you cannot just knock somebody off, and control their assets. That is not how this world works.’ She’d pushed firmly on Todd’s collar with her finger, pressing into his chest.

  ‘I’m sad to say that’s exactly how this works, in all senses of the world you were and in the eyes of the law are still, dead. Furthermore, I have a sense who may have been keeping the lights on so to speak, at Somnus one, and this is the man I’d much like to speak to, and whom I’m taking you to right now. So, if you’d just like to continue to follow me, I’d like to have the first round with Doctor Hassan.’ Todd walked on.

  ‘Fuck me,’ Cameron said to Simon,

  ‘Indeed.’ Replied Simon, they looked at each other.

  ‘Not like that.’ They followed on.

  chapter 10

  Doors past by the four, led by Todd they walked fast and rarely stopped, Mary paused a few times to look through windows set in doors, to see what they held, most of which was scientific equipment, which Simon and Cameron had little care for. Left, right, left, left right, they went in what felt like circles, at points Todd seemed lost but he would breath through
his teeth and set off again.

  ‘Here we go, Doctor Michael Hassan, PhD.’ Todd read as if he was told to do so every time he had people outside the door. Todd knocked three times.

  ‘Come in,’ the rough voice yelled out, it sounded familiar to the three of them, something twigged in the back of Simons mind, the nurse he once knew could be working in this very building, he didn’t know why the voice reminded him of this, it just did.

  Todd twisted the door knob, and pushed open the door, sat on a little grey stool, a white lab coat stretched over a small back, which belonged to a small Asian man, not small because of his age, he’d always been small, he’d been promised a growth spurt which now at forty had never arrived. The man swiveled on his stool, it was Michael, now with a beard which had been peppered with grey, and a few crow’s feet, he looked the same, just as if somebody had aged him up for a film role.

  ‘Long time no see.’ Mikey said with a smug face over his own.

  ‘You knew this was going to happen.’ Simon said, jumping to a conclusion which wasn’t completely wrong.

  ‘Huh?’ Cameron asked confused by what he meant.

  ‘Look at him, this is all set up, it’s like an interview, he knew we were coming.’ Simon explained,

  ‘Well I kind of did expect somebody to show up at one point, I had a pretty good feeling it would be you three, I kept you alive after all. Although I’m sure I’d signed shields documents too.’ Mikey stood up, there was a slight look of pain on his face as he did so, and it did seem slower than it should have. Todd whispered something in Michaels ear, he nodded in and reply and Todd Ingram left.

  ‘You kept us frozen? Why?’ Mary stepped forward, talking directly at the doctor.

  ‘I didn’t keep the lot of you frozen, the system did that, I just sort of fiddled the numbers from here, till somebody noticed,’ Mickey explained.

  ‘And you! The great Cameron Bishop, rock and roll legend, you are the reason I’m still here, well not you and not here, you’re the reason I’m here at Somnus nine, not one, and the reason Somnus one is closed for business.’

  ‘Me? What did I do?’ Cameron stepped forward now, they were getting closer and closer together as each person stepped in front of each other, and Doctor Hassan made his way toward them.

  ‘Your lady friend, the barmaid? She went snooping, didn’t she, she had to find out where you ended up, well she found you, not a great secret facility when somebody knows the secret, so we had to sort that out didn’t we.’

  ‘You killed her?’ Cameron started to allow his temper to get the best of himself once more.

  ‘No, we keep people alive, not go around killing them, we paid her off, closed Somnus one, fenced it off, made up a ghost story and had to start from scratch, after that we closed Somnus two so we could redeveloped the Tech. opened all the other Somnus.’ Explained Michael.

  ‘People bought a ghost story?’ Cameron asked.

  ‘Just as much as they bought you shooting yourself, your old manager was a great help with getting the word out, Jerry? Look at me rambling like the bad guy in a movie, lunch, coffee, a change of clothing perhaps?’ Mikey stepped towards the door, passing past the three of them, opening the door, he checked his pockets.

  ‘Are you coming?’ He turned back to the group, they followed him, fiddling around in the pocket he’d checked, Mikey pulled out a set of four or five keys.

  ‘I wouldn’t trust these guys as far as I could throw them, and there’s a lot of them, I don’t think I could throw them far at all.’

  ‘There’s a nice coffee bit on this floor, I asked for my office to be near it, a mind thrives on coffee, don’t you think Mary?’ Mikey walked on, Mary following close behind them Simon and Cameron, who glanced at each other at odd times.

  ‘Sadly, wasn’t a big coffee person in my time, Tea and sherry, really.’ Mary explained.

  ‘A nurse worked here called Sherry once, a nurse, she’s gone now, no one ever stays here long, just me. They don’t have the patients you might say.’ The doctor said to the other doctor, like it was some sort of joke, Mary laughed, the jokes doctors share are sadly only funny to those who are doctors, and real doctor jokes are never funny.

  ‘Could I trouble you again to ask, why did you keep us alive?’ Mary probed again, this time coyer than the last.

  ‘Ah, yes, that’s a funny story, the four of you, sort of a happy accident, was really just trying to keep yourself alive, these two were just on the same cycle as you. Allen also. Happy coincidence if you’d like.’ Mikey looked back with a I’m sorry face only British people could do.

  ‘But why keep me in long term hibernation. More so we don’t know what the long-term effects are, people have passed away in those chambers, long term projections were never good. In fact, as I say, they died, that the opposite of good projections.’ Mary spoke faster and faster, suddenly a hand appeared on her shoulder, she jumped, it was Simon, calming her down, Mary had to take a really deep breath to settle herself, she nodded at him.

  ‘Thank you.’ She mouthed. Simon replied with a little smile, they all stopped, in front of a small black machine.

  ‘The coffee.’ Mikey half yelled, he grabbed a cup, and offered one to the two guys, knowing Mary would accept it. They both politely declined. Mikey clicked his fingers.

  ‘Shower, change of clothes, got it. End of the hall second door on the left.’ He poured a coffee.

  ‘There not going to be a lift that opens with blood spilling out is there?’ Cameron asked in jest, everybody replied with confused faces.

  ‘Okay, I’m the only one getting shining vibes.’ Cameron set off down the hall.

  ‘You guys need anything?’

  Cameron walked through the halls, each stretch had the feel of a new hospital, one which had a lot of money sunk into it, a far stretch from the browns and metal grills of the Somus building.

  ‘These swanky bastards.’ At the end of the hall, second door on the left a huge room sat, beautiful white tiles lay wall to wall, ceiling and floor, a massive shower room.

  ‘Groovy.’ Cameron stepped in, all the lights flicked on at once, a second later the showers jetted out water two at a time.

  ‘I, I just died in your arms to night.’ Cameron sang out.

  ‘Squeaky clean, Billy Jean.’ Cameron said pulling the towel from the inside of his ear, he’d found a bath robe with the letter IX stitched to the breast, the doors which lined the hallway each had a small black window, some were labelled, Lab, Enzyme manufactory. Protein Creation, WC. The one room which really caught his eye was the one which wasn’t sign posted at all.

  The door handle rattled, it was locked.

  ‘Who locks a door in a secret underground science lab?’ Cameron asked himself out loud, he peered through the window, the darkness blanketed the whole room, hiding the content from Camron.

  ‘Who puts in a window in a room and then locks it.’ He said trying to stare through the window.

  ‘Na that wouldn’t work, surely.’ Cameron did a small jump, the lights flickered into life.

  ‘Come on sweet cheeks, just like at the mall.’ He peered through the tiny window.

  ‘Holy mother or Mary.’

  Cameron rocketed through the hallways, his bathrobe flowing in the wind, the rope of the robe having to be pulled tight multiple times, as they always came loose at the most intense.

  ‘For fucks sake man.’ He pulled the robe tight around him again, the cold hard floors hurt his heels and made it hard to run at full speed.

  The feeling of an odd dread washed over him like hot custard, he’d put one and one together and came up with a warm apple pie, which would have gone well with the custard.

  What he’d saw in the room had connected Allen’s death to the Somnus facility, by his own evaluation Cameron would say the connection was thin but there was a connection.

  ‘Put some clothes on man!’ bellowed Simon, covering his eyes but peering from the crack he left between his fingers.

&nbs
p; ‘Guns, a fuck ton of guns. Like lots of them, with eye bits, the big eye things that let you see far.’ Cameron cried between breaths.

  ‘You’re not making sense Cameron.’ Mary stared holding him by the shoulders ignoring the fact Bishop was partly nude.

  ‘Sorry, my knowledge of guns and gun paraphernalia isn’t up to scratch.’ He said mockingly now he’d begun to center himself.

  ‘Get dressed, we’ll find out why, there’s probably a perfectly reasonable explanation.’ Mary explained pushing Cameron towards a room which held his new clothes.

  Cameron pulled his belt tight around his waist when it hit him like a bag of used concrete.

  ‘There’s no ice boxes,’ He ran from the huge changing room, passing door after door, before coming to the room, Mary had said they’d wait for him, Mikey sat his feet up on a huge wooden desk.

  ‘Here’s the is the man of the moment,’ he held his hand out as if to be welcomed on stage, which reminded Cameron of that time he’d won a music award, he thought for a second where that bit of glass and metal would be, probably in some land fill by now. Cameron was confused by what he meant,

  ‘The whole reason, Somus one went down the drain,’ Mikey pulled his feet from the table and jumped to his feet, at this point Cameron noticed both Mary and Simon sat down.

  ‘I don’t know what you meant?’ Cameron’s face filled with fear.

  ‘You’re the reason we shut down Somnus one, did I stutter? It was down to you man, you were frosted and your little lady friend had to try and find you, I warned you remember, I told you, the barmaid, tried to get a cleaning job?’ Explained Mikey, gesturing with his hands as he did so.

  This wasn’t the same shy kid from a few days ago, this was now a jaded old man, Cameron had to remind himself of that.

  ‘You said you’d sorted it, turned her away or whatever.’ Cameron looked over to the other two, they seemed stone faced.

  ‘Well we had, and she was very tenacious. More than the last ones.’ Mikey passively described the account, as if he’d practiced it repeatedly.