6.12  ·  Red is Go

Alia hugged her knees as she sat against the wall in this small, bare room in the Holbrook Systems warehouse. On the opposite wall, Thames sat, shackled and staring back at her with a resigned expression.

“This room isn’t very stimulating to the senses,” he said, his eyelids drifting down. “I might die of boredom.”

Alia glared at him silently, her eyebrows slowly elevating, and he finally caught on to her signal.

“She isn’t here,” he said. “For now.”

Alia let out a breath. “Thank you. We have to keep you in an otherwise empty room so she can’t be hiding somewhere and listening.”

Thames sighed heavily, letting his head fall against the wall. The two of them sat silently for a few minutes, as Alia’s mind raced with questions.

“So, I…” she hesitated, looking away from him.

“Go on,” Thames coaxed. “Time’s a-wasting. Spill.”

“Last time I saw you, you seemed to be enjoying coming after me,” she said. “What changed?”

Thames shifted positions, as he thought of his answer.

“Well, as I said, I was put under Z-Dog’s thumb ’cause she had–” he rolled his eyes, “–chronic pain, which made her ineffective as a leaper. Word was spreading about what happened to you, and it seemed like something was brewing. Pity for me, ’cause I’m stranded.”

He frowned. “I’m sure you’re aware that I’ve been here well over 48 hours.”

“The retrieval deadline,” Alia murmured. 48 hours was the maximum time window for a guaranteed retrieval by Lothos.

“A while back, I exceeded the deadline, and ended up not making it back. Instead I got stuck in a loop of leaping. So, when this job came up, requiring a potentially long-term infiltration, I was the one they directed here.

“Thing is, though, the longer I’ve been away from base, the more I could think for myself. So I started testing the limits.” He shifted positions again. “Like, what if I just pretend I’m a little more swiss cheesed than I am? What if I deliberately mess things up?”

“To what ends?” Alia asked.

His shoulders slumped. “Alia, there are things I know about Lothos that I don’t think you were ever told. About his plans.”

Alia leaned forward, eyes wide. “You know his end goal?”

Thames gave her a knowing look. “Yeah, but you might find yourself a bit enraged at the shitty reason behind it all.”

Alia glared. “Just tell me.”

But instead of continuing on, Thames’s gaze flicked to the right.

“Mugunghwa kkoci pieot seumnida,” he sang, a half smile on his face, triggering a memory in Alia.

Squid Game?

The little children’s song from the Korean version of Red Light, Green Light, sung in the TV series before the doll turned to catch people still moving.

He’s telling me to shut up, because Zoey’s here.

Meeting Thames’s eye, she gave the slightest hint of a nod. “Huh? What is that you’re singing?” she asked, playing dumb.

Thames shrugged. “Some children’s song.”

“Well, stop trying to get on my nerves.”

Red light, green light…

The train of thought sparked an idea, and she climbed to her feet.

“I’m going to the ladies room. Remember there are guards posted outside this door, so don’t try anything.”

She hurried out, and produced her cell phone, quickly tapping out a message as she covered the screen with her other hand, just in case Zoey had followed.

*          *          *

It had taken Colin three hours from receipt of the text, to completion of his small device, which was now in his pocket as he and Alia entered the room where Thames waited.

So, is Zoey here?

He felt like a ghost hunter, looking for signs of activity.

“Oh, hey Colin,” Thames said, Rembrandt’s voice making Colin shiver as he entered. He gave a quick look to Alia, with a faint twitch of his eyebrow, before returning his gaze to Colin. “My compliments on the workmanship on that Reality Lens. It was a bitch to sabotage.”

Colin threw him a sour look. “That’s enough, Thames6969,” he said, leaning against the wall.

Alia took her seat back on the floor, staring silently at Thames.

Colin crossed his arms. “That’s quite a screen name. Though I’m one to talk; mine’s 420FarmBoy.”

With curious amusement, he searched Thames’s eyes, as they widened.

“Oh shit, that was one of my internet besties when I was a teenager. Are you kidding me right now?!”

Colin shrugged casually. “Remember last year when we cracked those student loan records and wiped out millions in debt? That was a fun afternoon.”

He felt Alia’s eyes on him, and he glanced down at her. She was looking at him with surprise.

“What?”

“I didn’t know you were a hacker.”

He grinned. “You have to be to get around the government firewall downstairs.”

“You really did that? Isn’t it a crime?”

“The crime is the amount colleges charge for access to knowledge,” Colin countered. “And haven’t you committed lots of crimes?”

Alia went silent, mulling over his words, as Colin moved to Thames, and took a seat on the floor beside him.

Thames looked to a blank corner of the room.

“Zoey wants me to kick you in the head and see if you have a weapon I can use.” He laughed. “But I know you’re not that stupid.”

Colin looked at the space where Zoey presumably stood, and winked at her. “I am not.”

He turned his attention back to Thames.

Maybe if I bore Zoey, she’ll go away.

“So, apart from the whole Lothos thing, how’d things turn out for you?”

Thames stared at his hands. “Spent twelve years in prison for fraud, so it could have turned out better.”

Colin gave him a pat on the knee. “That sucks, man.”

“On the bright side, that’s twelve years I didn’t give a landlord any money.”

He glanced towards Zoey again, giving her a frustrated look. “I am chained to a wall. What do you expect me to accomplish? …Yes, I already told them that… Okay, fine, you do that. I’m not going anywhere, now am I?”

After a moment, he breathed a deep sigh. “Endora’s finally ridden her broomstick outta here.”

He rolled his head to Colin.

“You didn’t come here to reminisce, did you?”

Colin shook his head, and reached into his pocket. He produced a small car key fob, with a green lock and red unlock button.

“Think you can hide this from the wicked witch?”

Thames furrowed his brow. “Yeah, no sweat. But… I assume it’s not actually what it looks like, is it?”

“You gave me the idea: Red Light, Green Light,” Alia said. “You can use it to signal to us when Zoey is with you or not.”

“It’s connected to some binary LED switches I’ll be attaching to the security cameras around the warehouse. So if she’s with you, we’ll know for sure that she isn’t spying on one of us, and if she’s not with you, we’ll know we can talk to you freely.”

Thames gave Colin an impressed look.

“Nice job, Farm Boy.”

Colin felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, hearing Rembrandt’s voice calling him that name. The nickname only existed as detached memories now, but hearing it in that voice felt like putting a tongue to a battery. He shook off the discomfort.

“So keep it well hidden, and make sure to use it whenever she comes and goes. Red if she’s with you, green if she’s not.”

He placed the fob in Thames’s shackled hand, and climbed to his feet, producing another component of his creation. He moved to the camera on the ceiling that was trained on Thames, and stuck the LED strip to the side. It blended in well with the existing lights on the camera in a way that wouldn’t be noticeable unless you knew what you were looking for.

He pressed a small switch at the side, powering it up, and the green light came on.

“When the light’s red, I’ll start putting up the rest outside.”

“So for anyone outside this room, green means ‘stop’ and red means ‘go?’” Thames asked, amused. “In what universe does that make sense?”

Colin chuckled. “At least one, I’ve heard.”