Cognitive Deviance

54. Rabbit Hole Part 2

June 7, 2045 - 11:05 AM

Margo shot her arm out to catch the door before it could close behind her. Her other arm aimed toward the mysterious man in the rabbit costume before her, the outdated Fatemaker shaking in her hand. The longer she stared at the figure, the less intimidating he became, however. It might have been the realization that his attire consisted not of a BufferSuit, but a leather gimp suit. With his hands raised toward the sky, he appeared to be the most harmless creature in the entire club.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice gargling with static, blatantly altered for anonymity.

"Sorry for what?" Margo rasped.

"That you had to be down here."

So much ambiguity behind his response, Margo thought. "What are you talking about?" she said.

"You're a doctor-cop."

"Maybe." She paused, suddenly aware of the harsh roaring of each breath through her mask. "Or maybe I just wanted to have a good time down here."

"This is the Rabbit Hole. No one who's aware of their surroundings ever has fun down here."

"And I'm guessing that's why you feed them that Wonderland shit? And all the other drugs you have down here?"

"I don't make them. I'm just supposed to pass them out. They have the freedom to fill themselves up with it or not."

Margo's finger curled around the trigger. "And you," she growled, "have the freedom not to pass the drugs out. Or do you just tell yourself you're being forced to help you get through your job?"

"I could say the same thing about you working for Psychwatch."

Margo let the door close behind her. No other person entering the room would've mattered to her.

"What makes you think they're forcing me?" she asked.

The man chuckled quietly.

"What's so funny?"

"Congratulations, Sandoval," Mason grumbled.

"What!"

"It was a bluff," the man said. "I had a suspicion you were a doctor-cop, and you just confirmed it. But I guess it all works out. Someone here is looking for you."

Her breathing developed a mind of its own, a hyper, parasitic beast hosted within her body. "Why? I don't mean anything down here."

"You're a doctor-cop. Everyone wants you dead down here. That or silenced into submission, which isn't any different."

"Including you?"

The man in the rabbit suit went silent. She feared the opacity in his eyes. They looked milky, almost as if he was blind. Maybe they were protective lenses linked to the mask itself, she thought. Maybe his own breath was fogging them up. Whatever it was, she wouldn't move any closer to him to find out for herself. At least not until she pulled the trigger.

"Why the hell aren't you saying anything?" Margo demanded. "Just say it. You want to kill me, right? Something worse? Whatever you want, it's not gonna happen. Not while you're on the other side of this gun."

"No," he said. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Then what do you want?"

"Someone here is looking for you."

"You said that already! Just tell me or I'll fucking shoot!"

"Sandoval, you idiot," Mason said. "Have you ever considered taking a minute to think that maybe he's referring to Slater?"