‘Well, it’s all very impressive, Dallas,’ King allowed. ‘Very impressive indeed.’
‘I haven’t finished yet,’ Dallas told him. ‘Assuming you were somehow to get past the infrasound generator with your guts still intact, and you could stay out of the transgenics’ way, there’s a little extra something to make the multicursal route more interesting. To keep you off balance so to speak. You see, as soon as the sensors detect an unauthorized entry, an airborne delivery system covers all the floors, stairs, ramps, and walkways with an antitraction lubricant. It’s called Attack Frost, and it makes all surfaces impossible to walk on for a substantial period. Stuff’s four or five times slippier than ice.’
‘That’s a nice touch,’ said King.
‘It’s cheap too. Just like the infrasound generator.’
King gathered his dark beard and pulled it through the palm of his brownish hand. ‘You’ve done well,’ he said thoughtfully.
‘Thanks.’
King glanced around him one last time and then removed the glasses, putting an end to the insight into the Rational Environment Dallas had created for the German bankers.
Removing his own glasses Dallas waited for King to make some criticism of what he had seen. He usually had something to add. But instead, he leaned back comfortably in his leather chair, folded his hands behind his head, and smiled warmly at Dallas, like an indulgent father contemplating a favorite son.
‘So,’ he said finally. ‘How is everything?’
‘Just fine,’ said Dallas.
King nodded slowly.
‘Aria okay?’
‘Yeah, she’s fine too.’
‘And how about that daughter of yours? What’s her name?’
‘Caro. Well, they finally figured out what was wrong with her. She’s having treatment. But I think she’s going to be fine.’
‘Good, good.’ After a moment or two, King narrowed his eyes and said, ‘You’re very important to us, Dallas. Perhaps the most important man in Terotechnology, after myself. I like to think there’s nothing we wouldn’t do to make sure that you were happy. And nothing you didn’t think you could ask for. That’s right. All you have to do is ask. Whatever you want, it’s up to me to make sure that you get it. If it’s in my power, of course. Because one day, Dallas, you’ll be in charge of this company. And that’s quite a responsibility. A lot of important people trust us with their life’s blood. Whole economies are based on the security that we provide. Yes, you’ll have that trust one day yourself. Oh, I know what you think about that, and I don’t blame you for being a little wary of it. I was the same myself. But sometimes we have to face up to these duties, whether we really want them or not.’
Dallas nodded silently. This was in no way an unusual conversation. The Terotechnology boss was merely going through the motions of reminding Dallas where his loyalties lay. And Dallas would no more have told King about his problems than he would have suggested that the whole blood banking business was perverse and immoral. Whatever the director said, Dallas knew him well enough to realize that he did not invite confidences.
‘How long have you been with us, Dallas?’
‘Twenty years.’
‘That’s a long time.’
‘Yes, I suppose it is.’
‘In all that time, you’ve never thought of working elsewhere?’
‘Where could I go?’
‘You could have set up on your own.’
‘Why? I’m happy where I am.’
King nodded. ‘You’ll let us know if we do anything to change that situation, won’t you?’
‘Of course, director. But it’s hardly likely.’
‘Tell me, Dallas, do you sometimes wonder about the afflicted world that exists outside autologous donation programs? Beyond the Zone?’
‘Not really,’ said Dallas. But the fact was, since his daughter had started her treatment, he’d thought about little else. For years, almost as long as he’d worked for Terotechnology, he’d dismissed the outside, pestilent world as something foul and unmentionable and had wished it destroyed. Of late he found he actually felt sorry for people who had P2. He was even half prepared to admit their humanity.
‘Should I?’ he added.
King laughed out loud. ‘Well, it’s not something I do myself,’ he said. ‘But then I’m not a thinker, like you. I’m a manager. I can’t afford to sit around in silent contemplation of the world and its faults.’
‘Is that what I do?’
‘In a way. You’re a problem solver. It’s what you’re good at.’
Dallas considered that Aria might no longer have agreed with this assessment of his character.
‘I just wondered how far that might go.’
‘Rational Environments are very different from the real world, director,’ said Dallas. ‘They’re limited contexts, free of chaos, wherein total control is easily achieved. It seems to me that there’s very little that’s rational about the sick world in which we live. That’s what makes it sick, I suppose. Perhaps if it was more rational we might be able to cure it. But it’s not. It’s sick and it’s probably going to stay that way for the foreseeable future. All we can do is try and coexist alongside it.’
‘You don’t have a very optimistic view of the future, do you, Dallas?’
‘I’m not sure the future exists in any proper sense of what we mean by existence. We can talk about the present and the past and that’s about it. While the future’s still the future, we can never really know it to talk about. Optimism becomes irrelevant.’
King nodded thoughtfully. Then he looked at his watch and smiled. ‘Well, I’ve enjoyed our little talk. It’s been interesting to see the workings of your mind, Dallas. But I really ought to be getting along.’
The two men stood up.
‘I’m very impressed with what you’ve created for the Deutsche Seidlungs Blutbank. I think they’ll be pleased with the results.’
‘Thank you, director.’
King left the Stereoscopic Theater and returned to his office, where Rimmer, Terotechnology’s head of security, awaited his arrival, his feet resting on a valuable antique Japanese table.
With his watery blue eyes, pale skin, and lifeless yellow hair, Rimmer did not seem a very healthy person. Even less salubrious was his personality — when he wasn’t sniggering at the misfortunes of others, he was sneering jealously at their successes. There were some in Terotechnology who even thought him disturbed, with some justification. Rimmer knew this and encouraged the idea, with the result that most people in the company were afraid of him. Even those who weren’t thought it wise to stay out of his way. King regarded him as a necessary evil, like a guard dog, and treated him accordingly.
‘What are you doing here?’ he demanded.
‘You asked me to come,’ replied Rimmer.
‘Did I say you could make yourself at home in my office? Take your feet off that table.’ King made a show of sniffing the air. ‘You’ve made it stink in here.’
‘Have I?’ Rimmer grinned. ‘What was I thinking of? But then, being considerate of others has never been one of my strengths.’ Rimmer sniffed the air critically. ‘Even so, I can’t smell anything.’
‘It stinks,’ repeated King. ‘It stinks of your ghastly aftershave and your underarm perspiration and your grubby little mind. You’re the most offensive person I know, Rimmer. How someone like you has managed to remain RES Class One, I’ll never know. Just looking at you makes me feel I’m in danger of catching some kind of ghastly virus.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with me,’ Rimmer insisted.
‘Don’t talk nonsense. If there was nothing wrong with you, Rimmer, then there would be no point to your existence. You’d be surplus to this company’s more nefarious requirements. It’s fortunate for you that your mind is as twisted as your shoelaces and that you lack any sense of personal morality. Except for those particular character defects you’d be quite useless to me.’