Reaktor EP by Ghostmemory
The data spike is removed and I regain full consciousness. I open my eyes to see the Dr.; I can’t recall his name.
He smiles. You’re all set Mr Jang. We will trigger the upload at 3am as instructed. Will there be anything else?
I try to say something but my mind falls over itself. I shake my head instead and sit up.
Just remember Mr Jang, that data cannot be moved, only copied, and when data this complex gets copied there is always degradation. The more it moves the quicker it fades. Godspeed Mr Jang.
With that the Dr. leaves the room and my life.
I splash water on my face in the carbon basin by the door and head into the warm spring night, pleased I won’t be dying in the winter. I fucking hate the cold.
The clinic is less than 10 minutes walk away from the Spire.
<<Dance, dance, I want to dance.>>
I tip the 10 caps of SuperBlue from my lucky pill box into my hand, put five back in and dry swallow the rest. Then I change my mind and down the other 5. I can feel them dissolving in my gullet so I score a can of sugar coffee from a vending machine and get them where they need to be.
<<Dance dance, I wanna dance.>>
The queue at the south gate of the Spire is insane, triple what it usually is on a Monday. I walk on to gate 9 where Marcel spots me and beckons me over.
God bless you JJ, I’m gonna miss the fuck out of you. He gives me a gentle hug but his giant frame still feels like it’s about to crush my ribs. He puts something in my back pocket.
A little something from me and the boys, to see you out on a good one huh?
He beams at me again and as I head into the Spire I hear him howling - Dance, dance I wanna dance huh JJ?
I fucking hate that song.
I give him the thumbs up without turning around. I’m laughing, he’s laughing. I run to a mass elevator and head to the 43rd floor of the Spire Tower 6; the greatest place on earth with a belly full of SuperBlue - GhostMemory.
I pass Go and collect 200 big ones, no queue for this dancer; my annual membership gets me straight onto the floor. The techno washes over me and I inhale the sweat and madness that hangs so densely in the air. The SuperBlues are kicking in and I remember Marcel’s parting gift. I look inside the case and see 10 Kryos caps; enough to kill me. Marcel always was a funny fucker. I spot some girls and share the Kryos with them, washing the deep red caps down with their unnamed cocktails full of half dissolved powers. The different drugs intermingle, clash, make good and then explode in my head. I flow through the club like a Jin, dancing, talking, laughing, hugging. I feel myself dissipating into pure energy, pure joy.
The data spike is removed and I regain consciousness. I sit up in the darkened clinic and gather myself. <<Dance, dance I wanna dance>>. God I hate that bloody song. I hop off the bed and head out into the night, the doors of the deserted clinic opening before me. The streets are packed, the usual Monday night crown swarming on the Spire. I check my pockets for SuperBlues but my pockets are empty. I pass through the crowds and head to entrance 9. Marcel is there but he doesn’t see me. I board a mass elevator and head for the 43rd floor and GhostMemory.
As I enter I feel faint, reality blurs and mixes with white noise. I sit down next to a group of girls enjoying their own company. They ignore me. I feel less faint but somehow more hollow. I join the masses and dance, my joy slowly returning. The techno feels more pure than ever, I am becoming whole again. A commotion, someone is on the floor. A pale gaunt man with blood from his ears and his smiling mouth pooling on the floor. I look closely and see he is me. As planned, the exertion and drugs finished my disease ridden body off; it was a good death I think.
I float back into the throngs of the crowd, people passing through me. I let the techno take me again. Moving, degenerating, fading.
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Ghostmemory
https://linktr.ee/ghostmemory2002
