Sector Four Clean-Up

Ray flopped into a faux-leather armchair, mentally exhausted from walking up and down the rows of planters. He had recognized some of the plants in the nursery by their synthetic versions that he had pried from molds at the Farm, but others were completely alien to him. There had even been a section labeled as bio-engineered, something that might have meant more to Ray if the plants in that section hadn’t been equally as strange-looking as others that Watane had said grew naturally.

“We call ourselves Green Thumb,” Ade said, taking the seat across from him, “and this is our work. We grow as much as we can without alerting the ORA and distribute it to people who need it in the lower ring. Right now, we can’t serve more than two sectors, but it’s my dream to feed the entire city.”

“Of course,” Yves said, having joined them with Watane on a long, low couch, “that dream was never within our reach. I’m sure you can see the limitation we face here. We’re underground with a small space to work in, and the plants grow slowly. Even if we harvest a few times a year, that food can’t stretch very far.”

“You said ‘was’.” Ray was beginning to understand where he fit into Green Thumb’s plans.

“Indeed, I did,” Yves said, grinning. “If you are to be trusted—and if Watane says you are, that’s good enough for me—then that dream isn’t as far out of reach as we once thought it to be.”

“If this woman you describe is real,” Ade said, “she solves a lot of our problems. Somebody who can grow a full apple tree that bears fruit in a single night would allow us to increase production a hundredfold, maybe more. We wouldn’t be constrained to this underground nursery either, we could grow anywhere across the city. Lives that we could never touch, we could change overnight.”

Ray knew that, if anything, she was underselling the importance that the woman could have. Any idiot could see that somebody with her power was a perfect fit for Green Thumb, and the vision that Ade described was a beautiful one. After years of living on the streets of the lower ring, hoarding every bit of his wages just to give away, Ray understood exactly how she felt. If only he could touch one more life, give back just a little bit more.

“I want to help,” he said, “but there’s one problem. I don’t know how to find this woman. She appeared to me in that alley and was gone before I could even get her name. Actually, she refused to give me her name. Even if we could track her down, I’m not sure she would be eager to join up.”

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try,” Ade said. “Do you have nothing for us to start with?”

Ray shook his head. “I could describe her, but that’s about it. Maybe Watane could sniff her out.”

“That’s beyond my capabilities,” Watane said, though he let out a small chuckle.

“What are your capabilities, then?” Ray asked. “How did you find me?”

“We were listening,” Yves said. “A few months back, our little genius Ade managed to hack into the clean-up channel of the ORA comms system, so we heard the agent call for a crew after he dealt with you.”

Ade shook a hand at the big man’s smile. “Don’t listen to him. I just found an old ORA comms unit and that channel was the lowest security one. The passcode never changes. We only hear about incidents after they happen, so we have to be reactionary, but it’s the best source of information we have.”

“Would we be able to find her through that?” Ray asked.

“Not until after she’s dead,” Watane replied. “You’re the only exception to that so far.”

“So where does that leave us?” Ray asked, and the room fell silent.

Yves was the first to speak. “I can go back to the alley and see if there are any clues there. The clean-up crews are pretty thorough, but there’s always a chance they missed something.”

“I’ll come with!” Ray said, perking up at the idea, but his offer was met with three shaking heads.

“Not a chance,” Watane said. “It’s dangerous out there, and there’s no guarantee you can cheat death twice. You should lay low for a while.”

“Why?” Ray asked. “The ORA already thinks I’m dead, so they won’t be looking for me. I can even wear a gas mask and change my clothes.”

“I’m not worried about you being recognized,” Yves said. “I’m going back into a crime scene. You nearly died in that alley.”

“All the more reason for me to go. My stash is nearby, so I’ve walked through that alley hundreds of times. You might not spot a clue if it spit in your face, but I would recognize anything out of order. And, I have to go back there anyway.”

“And why is that?” Yves asked.

“To retrieve my stash. All the money I’ve saved up is there along with everything I own in the world. Also, if you’re looking for seeds, I have a large bag of apples hidden away.”

“I can retrieve that for you, just tell me where it is.”

Ray met Yves’s eyes and smiled. “No,” he said. “You’re going to have to take me with you.”

Ade spoke up. “Ray, if you’re going to join Green Thumb, you’re going to have to trust us.”

“Is that an invitation? Ray asked, moving his smile to Ade.

“It can be,” she said. “Are you going to tell Yves where your stash is?”

Ray shrugged. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. If I’m going to join your group, you’re going to have to trust me, too. I won’t lay low in your nursery while you go off and clean up my messes. I want to help.”

Yves rolled his eyes, but Ade seemed to be thinking over Ray’s words.

“Fine,” she said. “You can go. Watane will get you a mask and some new clothes. Be ready in ten minutes.”

***

Even at a walk, Yves moved quickly, and Ray had to work to keep up. His new clothes were loose as he moved—Watane, who was the closest to Ray’s size among the three Green Thumb members, was still a bit bigger.

The blind man had replaced Ray’s sweater, which had a massive hole in it from the tusked agent’s blade, with a thick, brown, waterproof coat and had given him pants that weren’t stained with blood. He had also loaned Ray a gas mask, which was an unfamiliar pressure on the new recruit’s face.

“Can you two hear me?” Ade’s voice crackled to life in Ray’s ear as the comms unit in his gas mask activated.

“Loud and clear,” Yves responded, and Ray heard him twice as the words echoed in his ear.

“I can hear you too,” Ray said, pressing the button on the side of his mask as Ade had shown him.

“Perfect,” Ade said. “I’ll be silent, but Watane and I are listening if you have anything to report. I’ve also patched the clean-up channel through, so you’ll hear any updates in real time. If we’re lucky, we’ll hear something useful.”

It was at that moment that a new, unfamiliar voice spoke up in Ray’s ear, and he knew that Ade had spoken too soon.

“This is Incident Review calling Sector Four Clean-Up, please come in.”

Yves stopped in his tracks and motioned for Ray to do the same as they waited for the response.

“Sector Four Clean-Up, what is it?”

“I’m just calling about the report you filed for an organics clean-up earlier today. There are some discrepancies between your report and that of the agent who requested the clean-up. The agent says he disposed of two humans and one tree, but your incident report only mentions one human.”

“Shit,” Yves muttered, and he set off running before the clean-up team could reply. Ray followed as quickly as he could, the ORA’s correspondence still running through his mask.

“There were no numbers mentioned in the request,” the cleaner was saying. “We were asked to remove dead organics, but the agent never specified quantity.”

“That may be, but we can’t leave bodies lying around in the streets. It’s unprofessional. Have any team members in the area return to the scene and locate the second body.”

“They’re already on their way, thank you for bringing this to our attention.” The clean-up channel clicked dead, making it easier for Ray to hear Yves cursing under his breath as they ran.

“Can you keep up?” Yves called back over his shoulder. “This is the danger I didn’t want to put you in.”

“I won’t hold you back,” Ray replied, pushing his legs to their limits as he sprinted after the larger man. He knew that Yves was wearing a combat exoskeleton beneath his bulky black jacket, but even with the added weight, it took all of Ray’s effort to keep up.

“Good,” Yves said. “It’s a race now. If the clean-up crew gets another chance to comb through the alley, there’s no chance they leave a clue for us to find.”

They ran in silence after that, keeping off the main streets where their hurry would stand out among the lethargic, shambling crowds. In the back alleys, they could be ghosts, flying along the streets unseen.

And like ghosts, when they burst around a corner, appearing from nowhere in front of two figures in the gray waste-resistant suits of the ORA Clean-Up Division, they inspired immediate fear. Ray barely had time to register their eyes widening behind their protective goggles before Yves’s fists smashed through the clear plastic.

It was over in seconds—Yves dropped both cleaners with swift strikes to the head and had already started combing through the alley by the time Ray managed to catch his breath.

“How did they beat us here?” Ray asked, trying not to stare at the crumpled forms at his feet. He couldn’t imagine either of the unconscious cleaners traveling faster than Yves had.

“They must have already been in the area,” Yves said. “It’s unfortunate, I didn’t want to have to fight them. Any contact we have with the ORA is a significant risk.”

“I’m not sure I would call that a fight,” Ray said, still in awe at the speed of the big man’s movements. Even with the aid of an exoskeleton, he had attacked with brutal efficiency.

“That’s the best kind of fight,” Yves replied, still scanning the alley. “We’re gardeners at heart, we don’t want to get tied up in any drawn-out skirmishes. Now hurry up and grab your stash while I look for clues. We need to get out of here as soon as we can.”

Ray’s shed was just around the corner, but he hurried there, recognizing the truth in Yves’s words. The lock that he’d reluctantly spent a month’s wages on was still secure on the door, and Ray quickly entered the combination.

It didn’t take long to gather up everything inside. The small wad of money that he hadn’t already given back fit easily in the pocket of his borrowed pants, and his single change of clothes fit easily into the bag that he’d used to gather apples. He pocketed the lock as well, knowing that he would likely never return to the shed, and made his way back to Yves.

“That was quick,” Yves said when he returned.

“I didn’t have much to grab,” Ray replied. “Find anything yet?”

Yves shook his head. “I’m not sure if there’s anything to find. Like I said, the ORA cleaners are very thorough. See if you can spot anything out of place, and then we need to leave.”

Ray scanned the alley, but other than the unconscious cleaners slumped against one of the buildings, everything was as it should have been. It seemed as if the cleaners had even laid down a fresh layer of grime where the tree had been. He was about to tell Yves that the alley was a dead end when the comms unit crackled to life in his ear.

“Gonna need a clean-up crew here in sector four. One tree, already dead, and one human, soon to be. Suspect is female with white hair and bare feet, you won’t be able to miss her, but I sent the coordinates anyway.”