Serafina and the Virtual Man - By Marie Treanor Page 0,24
of his rapid decline had begun.
There were various other stories, including a statement issued to the press in June by Adam himself, that he was seeking help for drink and drug addiction. By August, he’d sold out to Ewan and was in Australia, reportedly clean and talking of a new gaming venture. In October, he’d died of a heroin overdose, complicated by the cocktail of substances already in his stomach.
The man who’d lived in that warm, beautiful flat with all those books and CDs and an exquisite piano.
Had he even played the piano? There was nothing to tell her. The vast majority of information on him was from the last few months as he went so rapidly downhill. Why? Why did a man sink so suddenly from curious, interested genius to drug-addled saddo?
Somewhere, in the mass of stuff she’d just read, Ewan had said that the pressure had got to Adam. That he’d been too curious to try the dangerous as well as the fun, and like many before him had been unable to get out of the cycle. There were quotes from a few celebrities, including, among other well-known rock musicians, the glamorous Roxy May, expressing surprise and sadness at his demise. Friend of rock stars. Well, there was a hint.
Jilly glared at the screen, trying to work out why she felt so angry about the whole thing. Human tragedies like this happened every day, in every walk of life. Look at her own fucked-up family.
On second thoughts, don’t.
Besides, none of this explained what she’d seen in Ewan’s secret test lab. Or how it related to the poltergeist.
Impatiently, Jilly called up the chat program and pinged Exodus.
He answered almost at once with a “Hey.”
And suddenly she was flummoxed. Where the hell did she start? Before she could even decide, he was typing. And stunned her all over again.
Exodus: What’s wrong?
JK: You!
Exodus: No, you look sad.
Jilly’s hands slid off the keyboard. She stared at the screen, listened to the blood singing in her ears, then glanced wildly round the office for visitors—none—and scanned the street outside. The few people around were all moving and in a hurry. There was a sandwich shop across the street, but she doubted you could see into Serafina’s from there. Not without the right equipment.
The computer pinged.
Exodus: I’ve freaked you. Sorry. Your webcam isn’t on but for some reason I can see you through it.
JK: Bollocks.
JK: All right. What colour are the streaks in my hair?
Exodus: I can’t see any streaks. It all looks blonde to me.
Jilly swallowed, and began what she should have done in the first place—tracing him.
JK: Why are you pretending to be Adam?
Exodus: I’m not. Is that why you’re sad?
JK: He was a brilliant man and he’s dead. What kind of a creep gets his jollies from crawling into a dead man’s shoes? So you can imagine the glory? Or do you just like winding people up?
Exodus: Someone’s winding Dale up. And Petra. Playing tricks. He thinks it’s me.
JK: No, he doesn’t. He knows you’re dead.
Exodus: Then he thinks I’m haunting him.
JK: You seem to be haunting both of us. Or is that stalking?
Exodus: I’m sorry. You seem to be my only connection. And you have a kind face.
JK: KIND??
Exodus: You’re laughing. But behind the mask, you’re kind.
JK: Even my best friends wouldn’t agree with you there. So you’re stalking me because I’m kind?
Exodus: No, I’m stalking you because you have an amazing computer system that you might just be able to use to work out what the hell’s going on.
So far, her amazing computer system had worked out that he was in the Lothian area and was narrowing it to the south.
JK: That’s true. What do you think is going on?
Exodus: OK, don’t laugh, but I think I’m in the new VR.
JK: You’re a computer program? I thought you were Genesis Adam.
Exodus: Don’t take the piss. I WAS Adam. What’s left of me is in the new VR system that I was showing Dale the night I died.
JK: In Australia…
Exodus: In Scotland. Dale’s house, where I was shot.
JK: OK, I’ll bite. Who shot you?
Exodus: I don’t know. I didn’t see. It came from behind and I fell. But there was someone else in the house, someone other than Dale and Petra and me.
Yes, that would have been my criminal brothers, before you law-abiding guys got the guns out…
JK: And this unknown person shot you?
Exodus: Maybe.
JK: Well, take heart, you got better and went to Australia.