[The Game] The Message

Chapter 14

"I prefer the company of women, and I have deep respect for them. I'm buzzed by the female mystique. I always tell young men there are three rules: they hate us, we hate them; they're stronger, they're smarter; and, most important, they don't play fair."
- Jack Nicholson

Press play

Cardenio, Dublin. Present day.

Michael sat on a chair, Victoria dabbing at his face with a cloth.
'Ouch' he yelped as she worked at the sizeable black eye that was forming.
'Don't be such a baby' she said softly, working at the cut on the corner of his mouth.
He grimaced and looked at Gabriel who was standing on the other side of the room, leaning on a table with his arms folded.
'You gonna shout at me?' Michael asked.
'Nope.'
'Cool.'
'It's not me you have to explain yourself to.'
Michael said nothing and simply looked at Victoria who was now sticking a plastic stitch over his left eye. She met his gaze for a second and studiously went back to what she was doing.
'Okay.' Michael said. 'Who's that then?'
'The Director'
'The Director?'
'The Director. The main man. You're going to explain yourself to him'
Victoria straightened up. 'We're done here' she said, wiping her hands with a cloth and throwing it into the bin.
'Come with me' Gabriel said, standing up and walking to the door.

Michael followed him out, turning onto a narrow gallery passageway. Gabriel moved quickly, sprinting up a stairs, making no allowances for any injuries that Michael might be carrying. Michael limped after him, wincing. His left knee was giving him hell. Gabriel reached the top of the stairs and set off at a pace, striding purposefully away. Michael half-ran, half-walked behind, grimacing and muttering. Another twisting staircase upwards and they made it to the top floor. At the end of the top gallery, just beyond a seemingly never-ending wall of glass-mounted bookshelves, Gabriel stopped at a large oak door and paused. He glanced over his shoulder, allowing Michael to catch up.
'Don't even think about trying to bullshit him, ok?'
Michael thought of something smart-arsed to say, but stopped himself and just nodded. Gabriel let his eyes linger on his face for a moment and then turned to knock on the door.
After a few moments, the door began to open, silently sweeping backwards into a dimly-lit room.
'Come in' said a chirpy voice from within.
Michael looked to Gabriel. He said nothing and simply tilted his head towards the open door, motioning for Michael to go in. Swallowing, Michael took a step inside, his eyes adjusting to the lowered light. The room was large, perhaps thirty metres by thirty. Tables and desks were swamped under piles of papers and objects, the walls filled from floor to roof with leather-bound tomes and raggedy sheafs of paper. At the far end of the room was an enormous desk, lit by a Tiffany lamp. Sitting behind it, peering down into an open book was a large, dark-skinned man.
Michael heard the door close behind him.
'Come in Michael, take a seat' he said, without looking up. His voice was deep, a resonating mid-western American accent. His hair was greying, white in patches, eyeglasses hanging off the end of a broad African nose.
Michael walked over, his feet sinking into the deep pile carpet. He slid himself into a leather seat, a loud squeak as he did so.
'You made quite the mess of your first job, didn't you?' said the man with a smile, his eyes still peering at the book before him. Michael now noticed the white gloves he was wearing, his long fingers carefully turning a page.
Michael said nothing for a moment, mulling his words. 'I suppose I did, yes'
The man looked up, and met Michael's eyes. 'You suppose?'
Michael coughed. 'So. You're the boss?'
He looked up again, smiling slightly. 'They told me you were a cheeky little shit. Yes, you could say that yes. But "Boss" isn't really a very accurate term. My title is "Director". You can make of that what you will. Michael, why did you try to speak to Claudia?'
Again, Michael paused before answering, his eyes shifting from the man behind the desk to his own hands and back to the peering face opposite him.
'I don't know really'
'You don't know?' he said with a small laugh.
Michael shifted in his chair. 'I don't know. I thought I could get her to talk to me'
'Why did you want to talk to her? You were warned how dangerous she is'
'Yes, I know, but, I mean, she didn't kill me...'
'Not from a lack of trying from what I can see' said the man, his finger pointing to the stitch above Michael's eyes.
'True. We did have something of a scrap.' Michael said with a grim expression.
The man considered Michael for a moment, letting the book rest on the desk before him.
'You have questions, yes?'
Michael shifted, thinking carefully. 'About a thousand. What was in that bag? Why was she willing to fight for it like that?'
'I can't be sure, but if I'm right, and I generally am, it was a story. One of a collection of stories which were gathered together during the 1970's'
'Stories? What kind of stories?'
'Stories from the future. Stories, which when put together, constituted a history of the 21st century. They were collected by your father into one volume'
Michael considered what he had heard an instant. 'How is that possible? I thought it was impossible to move forward'
The Director laughed a little. 'Well, so did we. But your father found a way - and kept it from us until it was too late for us to help. White got to him before we could. Before I could help him...'
Michael paused a moment. 'You knew him?'
'Yes. He was a good friend'
'Right. And this book is what got him killed?'
'Yep. Do you know why?'
'Well, because a history of the 21st century could give whoever had it unimaginable power...'
'Precisely. That book, in the wrong hands, could be catastrophic'
'You mean White's hands'
'Yes, I do'
'Okay' Michael said, sitting up straight in his chair, 'how do we get it back?'
'By finding something we've been looking for for a long time...'
'Which is?'
'The missing section of the Bayeux Tapestry'
'It has a missing section?'
'Oh yes. Been missing since the medieval period in fact. Many men have died trying to recover it. We don't know what it shows, but legends tell us of a great secret in that missing panel. Something so shocking that it was torn off and hidden almost as soon as it was made. The stories in the book your father collected were split up into separate sections. Initially we thought it was Claudia who had done it, because we know that the bag your father was carrying at the time of his death was, at one point, in her posession. But it seems some sections are still missing. And she's trying to find them.'
'Why? Why does she want them?'
'Truthfully, we don't know. But, we think that the missing section of the tapestry may tell us how to get to the book. And she seems as determined as we are to find it. We were hoping that you might be able to help us resolve this'
'Me?'
'You have a certain connection to her'
'Odd. She didn't exactly see it that way'
The Director grinned. 'Well, whether she likes it or not, you are connected.'
'How?'
'Show me your hand please Michael'
Michael lifted up his left hand, opening the palm to reveal the black, single spiral tattoo burned into his skin.
'Through that.'
'I'm lost'
'Aren't we all? A spiral mark is part of what we are. Everyone gets one after their first or second shift. But, with you and Claudia, well, there's something a little different there'
'What's that?' Michael asked, leaning forward slightly.
'Well, prior to your arrival here, we'd only ever seen one person with the mark on their hand. That was her. I mean, we all have one. Mine is on my back. Gabriel's is on his left leg. I gather you've seen where Victoria's is?'
Michael said nothing, merely going slightly red.
'That's what I thought. Anyway, Claudia's is on her hand. And so is yours.'
'And why is that important?'
'Because of this book' the man said, his head nodding down towards it. 'I won't bore you with what it is exactly, but sufficeth to say it's very old, very odd and very dangerous. And it contains a prediction. About a person with a spiral mark. On their hand. The one who would become the most powerful of all of us. The person who could release the stolen souls.'
'The what?'
'One thing at a time. Naturally, when we first encountered Claudia we assumed this was her. And when she left, well, it almost tore this place apart. There were some here who thought she was the messiah Michael. Others thought she was the Anti-Christ. Turns out she was something else entirely. The truth is that her leaving Cardenio was considered one of the greatest failures in our considerable history. We'd never seen anyone with her abilities, that is, until we found you. I consider it more than a coincidence how the two of you keep banging into one and other. It's obvious that there is a connection of some kind between you.'
'I don't understand'
'Neither do I' said the man with a chuckle. 'At least not fully. But, I think there may be a way of shedding some light on all of this'
'Which is?'
'Downstairs' he said, rising to his feet. 'Follow me please'. He turned his back to Michael and walked to the wall behind him. Michael followed. The Director stopped at a bookshelf and pulled out a volume on the third shelf. Almost predictably, the shelf beside it made a hissing sound and began to pop out. After a few seconds, it slid aside, revealing a metal door. The Director pressed his hand to a clear panel on the surface and the door split in the middle to reveal an empty lift. He stepped inside, Michael following behind him. They turned around to face the closing doors and began moving down. They descended for ten seconds, a faint sound of floors rushing by the only noise. Coming to a stop, the doors slid open to reveal a huge, cavernous space. Guessing by the ancient stonework, Michael guessed they were somewhere deep underground. Spreading out before them were miles and miles of storage shelves, each one sealed with a glass panel. Each glass panel carried a number and letter sequence. The Director started walking briskly. Michael's jaw hung down as they made their way through the space, amazement overcoming him with every second case he saw.
'What is all this?'
'Recovered artefacts. Recovered stories'
They came to a stainless steel doorway. There was no handle, no markings, nothing save a grooved spiral shape carved into the steel.
Michael looked to his companion for an explanation.
'In the short time that Claudia was with us, which was about six months all told, we gave her this room for her own studies. She was something of a genius you see, but deeply troubled. So we set her up down here, where she could have some privacy. We gave her everything we could give her. A private space to work and research in. Truth be told, it was easier for everyone else to have her down here. She scared the hell out of everyone else.'
'This was her room?'
'Yes'
'Can I go in?'
'She sealed it when she left and we've never been able to get back in'
Michael considered the spiral marking on the steel and looked down to his left hand. He looked back up to the Director. 'You think that...'
'I do. Let's find out shall we?'
'Okay' said Michael with a sigh. He stepped forward and carefully placed his hand on the mark. Nothing happened. And then a hissing sound could be heard. Michael yelled in pain as the mark on his hand glowed red hot. Just as he thought he would fall over from the pain, the hissing stopped and a loud crack could be heard. Slowly, noiselessly, the steel door parted in the middle and opened wide.
'Ok. I'll leave you to it for a bit. When you're done you can come back up to me through the lift you came down in. The panels will work with your handprint. '
'Cool'
'Oh and Michael?'
'Yep?'
'Try to keep your wits about you. Be objective and don't let your feelings cloud your judgement. I know how you feel about her, so please try not to fly off the handle'
'I'll try'
'And remember what you're dealing with here'
'Which is what exactly?'
'A complete whack-job'
'I hear you'
'One more thing: whatever you find in here is for you and you only. Do not share what you find with anyone else here at Cardenio. Not Gabriel, not Victoria. Whatever it is that's between you and her has to be resolved between you and her. There are those here that don't feel fondly towards her so speaking of whatever happens will not do you many favours. If you need help however, ask me. Putting it simply, you two are potentially dangerous together. You must be careful. Ok?'
'Ok'
Michael stepped into the room, the door sliding shut behind him. A bed. Pillows and cushions. Two book shelves, filled with novels. Wuthering Heights. Slaughterhouse Five. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The Third Policeman. A shelf of CDs. Depeche Mode. Front 242. Skinny Puppy. Chopin and Beethoven's 7th. A wardrobe, door leaning open, clothes on a rail, dresses hanging limply, shoes neatly placed on the floor. A picture on the wall, Claudia, younger, smiling outside the National Gallery in Dublin. Looking happy, carefree. A Map of Greenland on the wall. A desk with a small leather notebook on top. A piece of paper on top of it. Michael stepped over and looked at the note. It had one word written on it. His name. He lifted the notebook up and opened it. The pages were lined but empty. Puzzled, he flicked through the pages, looking for anything - a word, a line, a dot. There was nothing. He sighed, taking in the room. Nothing obvious sprang out at him. He looked back to the notebook and flicked through it a second time. He stopped. Although he could have sworn it wasn't there when he had first looked, the first page had a rectangular black box on it. Michael paused at the page, his face screwed up in confusion. He moved the notebook around, trying to catch the light to see if there was any hidden text below the black space. Nothing was visible. Then slowly, at first so faint that he thought he was imagining it, small flecks of white appeared in the box, swirling and appearing in different places. The box seemed to crackle a moment and then, from seemingly nowhere a play button appeared in the middle of the black space...

Continue?

Click the cube for more.

Lost?

Go back to the start of The Game.

Subscribe?

Follow the Game every week by subscribing to the feed.

Image

Gravity by Amber

Video

Sweet Dreams by Green Olive Mama

When?

Explore by location in time

Where?

View The Game in a larger map

Also, explore The Game in Google Earth.