Ten Years Ago

Draining the vitamin water Seeker softly cursed Valkyr. The man had shown up to the Skin Drum again last night and they had whiled away the evening and early morning drinking and smoking.

At some point Seeker had mentioned the House of Levi and Valkyr had jumped at the chance. Once, Valkyr had played a detective in a forgettable, straight to TV special and so in their drunken stupor the idea of being hard boiled private dicks trying to crack the case of the mystery Prime had sounded like a great idea.

The Sun bored straight through his eyes and begun cooking the back of his brain, Seeker regretted everything he had ever done. Valkyr strode next to him, not showing a flicker of being ill despite literally drinking himself under the table not six hours ago.

They were headed to the flop house that Handsy Pete had told them Steve liked to crash at.

“Hrrrnn arnt yu not sick?” Seeker managed to gargle at Valkyr. The sentence become more English by the time he slurred his way through it.

Valkyr kept walking but turned his head with a smile. “My ravishing good looks my friend. I cannot afford to look like…” He gestured vaguely at the Seeker.

“Hrrnnn shut it.” Seeker managed “Actually, do you even know where we are going? For some reason I don’t remember much of what Handsy Pete had to say.” Heaving a deep breathe after such a long sentence.

The taller man shrugged “Not really. The man with roaming hands said that Steve did not really have a place to stay in general but there is one house for transients that he likes to frequent. Down in Foxwood somewhere.”

“Uhhhh” Seeker intelligently added.

They continued through the streets towards Foxwood. It was a brilliantly bright day. People were taking their time walking around, enjoying the heat. As they walked Seeker saw a handful of copies out and about as well, the city was crawling with him. There had not been the mass exodus he kept expecting. Most of them seemed happy to go about whatever their private Missions were and be left alone.

The more he dwelt on it the more the House of Levi did seem like a self help group for the copies that needed something to belong too. What better way to find a group of like minded individuals than people with literally the same mind? Look how trying to forge his own identity had worked out so far. A constant headache, eyes that would not stop watering and a hacking cough that refuses to leave him alone.

He managed another glance up at Valkyr. He had a friend though, as unlikely as it seemed, someone who didn’t see the Levi in him. Who saw what he was trying to do and seemed to be trying to help in his own way even if that was just getting tanked each night. At least he was not doing it alone any more. As Seeker watched Valkyr he realised that the man didn’t look at other Levi copies as they walked. Sure, there had only been the three. One in a business suit hustling along, another cycled past in spandex (which only confirmed that Seeker should never wear that) and the last was just ahead with what looked like a meat pie cart, hawking his wares.

Valkyr’s eyes seemed to pass over them. Was he uncomfortable with seeing other copies or trying to be sensitive to Seeker, not gawking at them? Considering that the Seeker was already starting to look different than them. Not in a good way more like the haggard uncle at Christmas with no personal space and questionable ethics.

Suddenly Valkyr stopped and stared at a noise from ahead. The Seeker followed his gaze and felt ill all over again. The lithe man in the dark blue and green trim running towards them was unmistakable. It was the same man who always showed up in Seekers dreams when he was sober enough to have them.

Levi Prime.

Levi Prime skidded into the intersection and cast about him, obviously searching for something or someone. Valkyr and Seeker were close enough to hear Levi Prime say to himself “Where the hell could he hide around here?”.

Of course Levi Prime would not come down into this area of town of his own choice. Too run down, too dirty for him, Seeker thought with a snarl. Must be playing at the hero, chasing some poor bastard who has gone to ground. Could be anyone. Could be another copy who had already finished his Mission and didn’t want to be disappeared.

Levi Prime was still searching around but was now looking at the faces of all the people near him. Most people were head down, exuding the ‘don’t look at me, leave me the fuck alone’ vibe usually reserved for beggars. No one in this area wanted to stand out.

Seeker felt a jolt run through him as his eyes met Levi Prime however there was no flash of recognition. How much had he damaged himself, Seeker thought, if he doesn’t even realise who I am? It would have been a liberating thought if it was not blown clear out of his head by what he saw next.

Levi Prime clapped eyes on the meat pie man, the copy who obviously knew this place. The man stood there in shock of the contact, he didn’t move even when Levi Prime strode towards him.

Valkyr whispered “What does he want?”

The Seeker’s soaked brain was racing ahead, he knew in a flash what was happening but couldn’t bring himself to do anything. What could he do? Cry out and draw attention to him? How would that help?

Levi Prime stopped in front of the pie man “You know this area right?” and the man hesitated. In that moment he sealed his fate. The Seeker was mentally screaming at him “Lie you idiot! How can you be so stupid?”

It was too late, Levi Prime saw the truth in the man’s eyes. With a casual, almost sensual gesture, the Prime reached over and laid his hand on the pie man’s shoulder. With that simple gesture; the pie man who ran his own business, ran his own life, who was trying to make it in this fucked up new world he had found himself in, was gone.

With his new found knowledge, Levi Prime grinned and was off running. He was gone in seconds.

Seeker threw up.

Valkyr stood there stunned.

Slowly everyone else went back to normal, ignoring the two men and trying to pretend that nothing had happened.

Maybe to them, nothing had.

Valkyr managed to find the words Seeker was hoping he would.

“I need another fucking drink.”