Honestly

The Spire - Lisa

It was odd how cold the room was where Lisa Moreaux was set to conduct her final interview with Vargos serial killer Carter Erikson on the night of his scheduled execution. She had done many of these interviews at Vargos’ various penitentiaries, including one built smack dab in the middle of Smog City’s coolant manufacturing campus, where the surrounding atmosphere maintained a steady ten degrees below average temperature. Even there, the interview room hadn’t been this cold.

She heard the door click several times as two heavily armed Violet corporate guards escorted Carter into the room. Lisa was struck by how ragged he looked after twenty years in Violet custody, lost in the endless maze of the Spire. He didn’t look angry, sad, or even dangerous; rather, he looked like he had maybe an hour of life left in him before he slept forever.

He knew this was his final interview; that much was always communicated beforehand in case the subject wanted to reveal one last secret, knowing they wouldn’t get another chance. But as was standard in Vargos, he was unaware his execution would take place right after. Once a killer was on death row, the date of their execution was never revealed to them until an hour beforehand. Lisa often wondered if this was cruel, but given the nature of their crimes, her viewpoint was frequently disregarded in the larger criminal justice conversation.

Carter was shoved down into the seat opposite her in the pristine, bright white room. The fluorescent lights buzzed loudly, an odd phenomenon in a building so massive and well-maintained that Lisa couldn’t help but wonder if it was a purposeful method of irritating the prisoners. Carter didn’t meet her eyes, staring instead at the table as his hands were cuffed to the bar embedded in its surface.

The man’s pale skin was accentuated by the bright blue jumpsuit and his face was marked by bruises and scars in such volume it almost looked like he’d been born with them. His cybernetic jawline looked rusted and worn, a sign of medical neglect to Lisa’s eye, though whether the facility was avoiding treating him or he was refusing augmentation maintenance was impossible to determine.

The guards stepped back into the corners of the room once he was secured, looking Lisa over from behind their helmets before standing at attention like sentinels guarding a gateway. Violet soldiers were usually disciplined, but these two were particularly stoic and focused. Lisa cleared her throat and introduced herself, activating the audio and visual recorder in her cybereye and cochlear implant as she launched into the interview.

“Hi, Mr. Erikson. My name is Lisa Moreaux. Your attorney and I spoke on the phone. Do you know why you’re here?”

Carter continued staring at his hands before slowly lifting his head to meet her eyes. One of his eyes was milky white, with pus building at its corners. His cybernetic jaw was definitely infected, the rot spreading through his body. Lisa nearly gagged but kept her composure.

“Mr. Erikson?” she asked, unable to take her eyes off his decaying face but holding it together as best she could.

“I’m here to say no when you ask me for more details about the things they say I did.” His voice was tinny and angry, like a cornered animal growling in a deep cave.

“So you still deny your guilt?”

“Yeah, I didn’t do shit. Violet locked me in here because I took a job with Fountainhead instead of them.”

“Why would they do that, Mr. Erikson? It’s not uncommon for desirable candidates to field offers from multiple corporations.”

“Competition in the sector was fierce back then. The fallout from the First Corporate Conflict was still fresh in people’s minds.”

Lisa nodded. Carter wasn’t wrong about that, but it didn’t absolve him of anything. She pressed on.

“Mr. Erikson, during the trial, evidence of your crimes recorded by your own neural implant was presented to the tribunal. The prosecution presented overwhelming proof tying you to more than fifty murders, including videos of your crimes, audio recordings of you bragging about them to friends, and geolocation data placing you at the crime scenes. The evidence against you was staggering.”

“Well, they convicted me on it. I’ve lived in this plastic and titanium box for the last couple of decades. But no one can force me to admit I did anything. That’s the last freedom I have.”

“True, but do you ever worry about the families of your victims–sorry, your alleged victims? Don’t they deserve closure?”

“Closure is a myth, lady. This is Vargos. Horrible things happen to people every day in this city, and nothing changes unless it’s for the worse. Sorry, but you’re not going to get me to confess on tape.”

Lisa sighed and leaned forward. “Then why did you plead guilty halfway through the trial if you now deny any culpability?”

Carter leaned back, glancing sideways at the guards before looking back at Lisa. “Would you protest your innocence while getting beaten every day? Why am I even asking? I know you’d give in too. Everyone gives in to the corpos in this city, one way or another.”

“But you say you’re innocent now. What’s to stop them from beating you or harming you? You’re in custody until the end of your life.”

“Who’s to say they don’t?”

Lisa had to admit, he had a point. Violet private prisons weren’t known for kindness. Carter pressed on.

“The answer is simple. These people beat me every day I was in custody. They fastened old cybernetics to my body, let them fester into painful infections, then removed them and cured the infections just to do it all over again. Once, they pulled me out of bed at one in the morning, threw me into a pool of ice water, and made me sleep in soaked clothes while the AC blasted. That was just one week. After I confessed, it was only beatings. And trust me, that’s the easiest thing to suffer after you get introduced to their creativity.”

Lisa took in the information. His story rang true, even though she suspected lying came easier to him than taking in a breath.

“Well, that segues nicely into my next question. Given the conditions you live in, are you looking forward to your execution?” Carter sighed, drumming his fingers against the table as he processed her question.

“Yeah, I guess I am. I don’t like the idea of dying for something I didn’t do, but it’s not like Violet has given me much to look forward to. They’re executing an innocent man, but that’s their problem, not mine.”

He looked over at a guard, sucking his teeth and clenching his fists. “Hear that, you fucks? The rats in Vargos have more to live for than you.”

The guard remained still as stone. Lisa pressed on.

“Why did you kill Adam Moreaux?”

Carter perked up, his yellowed teeth forming a crooked smile.

“Any relation, Ms. Moreaux?”

“Adam Moreaux was my father.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know why someone killed him. I had nothing to do with it.”

“Then why do you think someone would?” This was her only play. If he wasn’t going to admit fault, she could at least get him to pontificate on the subject. Maybe there’d be a little truth in what he said.

“If I had to guess, he was just there.”

“He was just where?”

“The VR bar. That’s where the news said he got aethered. Two to the head, one to the chest. Someone must have really wanted him dead. Maybe he bumped into the wrong guy on the train and didn’t say sorry. Worst thing you can do, in my opinion: not say sorry when you’ve done something wrong.”

Lisa felt anger boiling, but she kept her cool. “The bar had twenty patrons. Witnesses said the killer walked in and shot him without looking at anyone else.”

“Guess we’ll never know.”

Lisa froze. “Guess we’ll never know?”

She lunged at him before the guards shoved her back. Carter laughed loudly, his grin widening.

“Sorry, sweetie! You’re never gonna know! Guards, take me back to my cell.”

Lisa straightened her clothes, shutting off the neural network. She turned to leave but stopped short of the door, then faced him again.

“Mr. Erikson, I should apologize. You’re right. The worst thing a person can do is not apologize when they’ve done something wrong. So I’m sorry for lunging at you.”

Carter’s grin faltered. “Ok?”

“And I’m sorry your execution won’t be the end of your imprisonment.”

“What?” His face twitched.

“Violet is uploading your neural pattern into a suspended animation network. You’ll live there, in digital confinement.”

His teeth clenched. Lisa memorized the look on his face, then turned and walked out as Carter shrieked and pounded his hands against the table before being tasered by one of the guards.