Chapter 13: Louis

Solaris Ring was the heaven of Subterra Core people. It had everything they wanted; a better life, better jobs, better houses, even better salaries… It was everything a child living in Subterra Core could dream of.

As every division, there were terminals to connect one level to the next, creating pathways and managing multiple vehicles that floated; buses that glided silently above the ground, powered by magnetic levitation and anti-gravity tech. Its smooth surface reflected the city's neon glow.

The bus terminal buzzed with the hum of engines, the mechanical rustles of cyborgs patrolling the area and the chatter and movements of humans in its walls.

Among the controlled movements that resembled a burning chaos, a short man was sitting on a battered suitcase, his face lit with secret amusement. His grey eyes were noting those who paid attention to his tricks, smiling when his gaze locked on the small eyes of children.

His outfit was terribly exaggerated. His colorful coat was enough to attract all the attention of the world and his hat was the most ridiculous thing Louis had ever laid eyes upon.

With a dramatic flick of his wrist, the man produced a deck of cards from nowhere, playing with it by making it disappear and appear again.

Aloud, he declared. "Ladies and gentlemen…" the man spent a few seconds looking around. "Scratch that… Kids! Come enjoy my wonderful, colorful show. I'll show you magic you've never seen before. You'll always remember the man with the tricks."

His smile was genuinely radiant. He looked like he enjoyed the eyes of the children that refused to leave him. A handful of children tugged at their parents' coats, pointing with wide-eyed excitement at him while others managed to break free from their mothers' grip and ran to him.

Cards appeared and disappeared, multiplied in his hands and floated around, only to disappear in a show of sparkles and appear again in the man's hand.

Louis stood at a distance, his back against a pillar, his sharp eyes following the man's every move. Something about the scene unsettled him.

The man was right there, bright and peculiar, his antics impossible to miss and yet, the cyborg patrols didn't pay attention to him, even the parents only glanced for a moment before hurrying to their seats.

It was as if he didn't exist.

"How's he doing that?" Louis muttered to himself.

His focus never left the man. Each smile drawn from the children seemed to fuel the magician's energy, lighting him up in a way that felt… human.

And yet, no one noticed him.

If Louis tried to do that, cyborgs would flock around him, fighting to drag him to jail. The man's performance continued with more elaborated tricks. He flipped the cards to show the children that it wasn't a normal deck. It was a deck of cards with flowers and animals in it. The children gasped in surprise and some of them ran to their parents to get one like it.

From a card, a bouquet of paper flowers emerged then in the man's hand, it turned into real flames, only to transform into a flock of tiny mechanical birds that fluttered away, chirping.

The applause from the small audience made the man happier. A little girl, clutching her stuffer toy looked at him with bright eyes full of drams and asked, "Are you made of magic, mister?"

The man crouched down, his grey eyes sparkling with mischief. "Of course I am!" he tapped her nose lightly and a bubble of light popped out of thin air, making her giggle.

"But mister, if you have magic, you belong in jail. You'll turn into a demon and eat us."

"Yeah! Mom says that magic is the work of the devil and anyone doing magic will burn in hell," a small boy joined.

The man winked at the boy but before he could answer, the children's parents pulled the small audience away. The man felt sad for a moment, his brightness dimming as his gaze followed the sparks getting away.

Louis furrowed as he studied the scene. The man wasn't just unnoticed by the adults, he seemed actively ignored, as if he was just a tiny thing there that everyone got used to.

Louis was in the Nexus terminal before and that man certainly wasn't always there. No one should be used to see him. No one should walk by and not look at him. Even the cyborgs, they should be scurrying to get him down and take him to their jail facilities.

When a cyborg's scanner passed over the suitcase the man was sitting on, it beeped and moved on as if there was no one there.

"Look mom! That man has a flower. Is it real?"

Louis looked down and spotted a child as tall as his knee staring at him. His mom was standing not far from where he was, talking in the air. The child tugged at her mother's coat, working to get her to notice Louis' flower. It took a few minutes for the mother to be annoyed. She yelled at her daughter to stop but noticing Louis, her face turned to dark hues.

For a moment, Louis thought the child would cry when he looked at her, like all children did in front of him. Threatened, the mother quickly grabbed her daughter's hand and dragged her away. But not appear impolite, she simply put more distance between them.

"I'm sorry, Sir. She wanders off sometimes."

Louis wondered if he made the child smile, would he feel something like that man in colors?

"Don't worry!" he smiled and gently grabbed the flower from his breast pocket. He cut the distance and crouched in front of the child, handing over the rose. "Here! Don't be shy! I'll entrust it in your capable hands, my friend. I know you'll take care of it better than me."

The child beamed as she accepted the flower. The woman apologized for her attitude and thanked him for his kindness.

Louis thought he would feel something. There was certainly something but it was faint, like echoes from a distant past. He was proud of himself for pulling off an act that made him pass like a human.

He waved at the child when the little kid looked back and smiled. She hugged the rose tightly but Louis knew it wouldn't be for long.

"Attention, individual! My sensors indicate a deviation from your intended path. Require guidance?"

Instead of an android, there was a cyborg in front of Louis. He knew it would be long for one of them to notice him. It was bothersome, since he had to act again and make himself be human, which was why he researched human behaviors.

Louis could hear the pulse and sense the diluted blood in its artificial veins.

When he first woke up from his coffin, Louis wondered why there were two types of humanoid machines. One was made to resemble humans accurately and the other, it was machine-looking. The irony was that the ones looking like humans didn't have any living parts in them while the cyborgs, some of their mechanical parts were switched for living organs.

"No…" Louis hesitated. He wasn't sure how he should react to such an annoying incident. "I'm just waiting for a friend," he smiled. Louis glanced where the blond man was. He was still there, playing with his cards. "I got a question to ask, can't you see that human?"

The cyborg glanced where Louis was pointing but it didn't see anything interesting. Its mechanical eyes zoomed in and froze for a few seconds before turning back to Louis.

"Negative, human. What assistance do you require?"

Louis wondered how the cyborg could understand someone who needed help. Maybe it was the heart inside it. Maybe it was capable of feeling something. He wondered if a cyborg could fall in love with a human. It'd be entertaining to watch the machine fighting to become a full human. How many corpses would it defile to turn into a debauchery of a race it might outline?

"Not really, no. I'm just waiting for someone. But I have another question and I know how much you want to answer my questions. Do you feel what others feel or do you simply guess following what you see?"

"We are connected to System Thethas. It regulates the amount of data all cyborgs are meant to store and use at their disposal. For more information, contact Thethas support center."

Louis thought he would do that later.

"You don't have to stay in my shadows. I'm just waiting for someone. I'm sure that there are others who need more help than me. On the other hand, I've got a third question. I'm itching to know your methods to weed out the bloodsuckers. Is it a sixth sense that comes with your data? Or do you sit tight and wait for the action to unfold?"

Louis was aware that the patrolling cyborgs were the ones that gave the alert in case a vampire was sighted. He was pretty curious how they manage to catch one. What would happen if the cyborg sounded the alert about him being there?

Of course, it would be annoying. The CODEX dogs should still be around and he didn't want to replay what happened earlier. Once their memories of their encounter was gone, they would do the same thing and might say the same words.

More importantly, how long would it take for the cyborg to identify him as a vampire?

Apparently, the cyborg wasn't pleased with the question. Its eyes flashed a hint of red, as if detecting danger.

The magician played with his deck until he received a valuable intel. A smile popped on his face when he caught sight of the vampire. Amusement sank in his being when he saw the cyborg's attitude. If his memories served him right, the vampire would have used the opportunity to push all the wrong buttons.

Another question formed in Louis' head. He was tempted to say it but something happened.

"He was waiting for me," a voice said. "Hope it's not a bother. I figured I'd bring him over for a little chitchat."

The man that was playing with his cards earlier was now next to him, smiling as if he just found the perfect client to use his tricks on.

The magician pulled out a card from his deck and waved it in front of the cyborg, attracting its attention. Its eyes lost the red glow and resumed the peaceful blue color inside.

The cyborg started releasing a strange sound, as if it was calculating the next action to take. It chose to let it go and move on to someone else who needed clear assistance.

"If assistance is required, Cyborg Cloudius is available for support."

It was until it said its name that Louis noticed the tag on its chest. And before long, they were both left alone, each wondering about a lot of matters.

"Whew, that was a bit too close for comfort," the man turned around and gave Louis a genuine smile, as if he was really happy to see him. Louis recognized the expression on the magician's face; it was the same expression his clients showed when their wishes came true. "Just for a sec, I thought he'd dial up the authorities. It would've been a real mess if Mr. Cyborg went ahead with that. You need to be careful of the way you talk. It attracts the flies. Better fix it and adapt to things around here before you're caught. I don't think you'll like being six feet under."

Louis tried to find a reason why the man was happy but he had no idea.

"Why are you happy?"

The man gave him a playful punch on the arm. "Jokes aside," he replied. "It's really great to see a familiar face. Even if you forget me like the rest, I know you'll recognize me."

An idea popped in Louis' head. Earlier, two CODEX agents approached him. Now, this guy should be one too. He was too peculiar to not be one of them. His outfit was witness enough.

"Is this the new way CODEX recruits their potential recruits?"