The High Cost of Better Living Episode 5
Title: The High Cost of Better Living
Author: chemical_stripe
Pairing: Ray/ Mikey
Summary: Keep your eyes open. Listen closely. Your freedom will be where you least expect it.
POV: Third person, omniscient
Warnings:NC-17 sexual situations, violence,
Author's Note: My own take on the Killjoys Universe. Chapters will be posted as they are written.
Disclaimer: I do not own any member of My Chemical Romance and I am not affiliated with them. Names, places, and events from the Killjoys Universe are properties of My Chemical Romance.
Moments after their introduction, Ray found himself in another room sitting in front of a battered table. The storyteller, who introduced himself only as Party Poison, handed Ray a chipped mug of black coffee and sat behind the table with his feet propped up. Cherry and Kobra stood on opposite sides behind him.
“Sorry we don’t have much to offer,” Party said, congenially, motioning to the mug in Ray’s hand. “As you can imagine, we don’t entertain much.”
“It’s fine, thanks.” Ray sniffed at the coffee before taking a sip. He never drank coffee anywhere but at home, not after the one cup he had at the office gave him a crippling migraine. “Look, I don’t mean to be an ungracious guest, but…” He glanced around the room. “What the hell?”
Party smiled. “Indeed.” He took a deep swig of his own coffee. “You want to know why you’re here. And who we are.”
For starters. “You’ve been watching me?”
“Some of us more closely than others,“ Party said, glancing sideways at Kobra.
“Why?” Ray asked while Kobra held himself perfectly still, avoided Ray’s curiosity.
“Because you’re fearless,” Party said. “And you’ve got the scars to prove it.”
Ray crossed his arms over his chest. He forgot he was wearing a tee shirt for the first time since it happened.
He’d tended to the wounds himself as best he could. They’ve finally scabbed over. No ever saw them. He felt no shame when he looked at them, only fear.
He was a marked man in more ways than one.
There was no pity or concern in Party’s eyes when he looked at Ray, but admiration. Ray flushed when he saw it in Kobra’s eyes too.
“We’ve hacked into Better Living’s mainframe. It’s given us access to Citation Lists and Code Enforcement Reports,” Party explained. “It helps us keep tabs on who’s getting in trouble for what and how often. But we rarely see infractions that blow our skirts up as much as yours did. You’re a brave man, Ray Toro.”
Funny, Ray didn’t feel very brave. “You hacked into Better Living’s mainframe?”
“The mainframe, the PA system, the security cameras, phone lines, radio and television stations…” Party gave Ray a knowing smile. “Personal computers.”
Ray squirmed in his seat.
“There’s no need to be embarrassed, Ray,” Party said. “We all have our needs, our desires. Isn’t that right, Kobra?”
Kobra shot Party the dirtiest of looks. Cherry giggled to herself.
“But you need to exercise caution,” Party said, his tone much more serious. “Just because the powers that be haven’t said anything about your unconventional - and illegal - appetites yet doesn’t mean the won’t when they find out you have something they want.”
“But I don’t have anything they want.”
Party spread his arms and motioned to the people at his side. “You do now. You got it the moment you followed our White Rabbit down the hole.”
Ray looked at Cherry, who gave herself bunny ears and wiggled her nose at him. Panic jolted through him when he thought of her, the other children. “Why are these kids here?“
“They’re here because Better Living in it’s infinite wisdom decided they weren’t worth keeping,” Party said. “And when they were tossed aside, we caught them. I love each and every one of them as if they were my own.”
“Is that right?” Ray asked, doubtfully. “Do you know how much danger you’re putting them in? If you’re hacking into the mainframe it’s not going to take them long to figure out you’re doing it. They have control over everything.”
Party shook his head. “That’s what they want you to think. But no one can have complete control over anything, not even themselves. They can only instill enough fear to create the illusion.”
“You’re crazy.” Illusions didn’t leave deep lacerations over two-thirds of someone’s body.
“Damn straight he is.”
Ray turned in his seat at the sound of a familiar voice. Two men entered the room behind him. One was the bearded man he saw watching the television monitors. He pulled up to Ray in a rusty, motorized wheelchair and greeted him with a smile and a handshake. The other man was younger, with long dark hair and scowl on his face.
“So this is Dr. Ray Toro,” the younger man said with an air of disapproval. He lit a cigarette and sent a smirk Kobra’s way. “Is he everything you dreamed he would be?”
Kobra sidled up to Party Poison and slid his arm around him in a way which made Ray’s insides burn and the younger man’s smirk disappear.
“Play nice, boys,” Party said, he gestured to the younger of the two strangers. “Ray, I’d like you to meet Fun Ghoul. And you’ve already met Dr. Death Defying.”
Ray looked at the man in the wheelchair. “I have?”
“Indeed you have, friend,” he said in a voice that sent chills up Ray’s spine. “In a manner of speaking.”
“It was you I heard over the PA system.”
Dr. Death Defying nodded. Ray laughed with relief. “I thought I was going nuts. I was the only one who heard you.”
“That’s because you were the only one who was listening.”
“What Dr. Death means is,” Party said. “The people of Battery City have gone deaf, dumb, and blind. They eat the genetically engineered food, believe the censored and scripted news reports, swallow the medication they’ve been convinced they need. They’ve accepted what’s been handed to them for so long they don’t know anything else. But not you.” He straightened up in his chair and looked upon Ray with respect. “Oh we’ve been watching you all right. You’re not in the Medication of the Month Club. You’ve never once been to a Retinal Resort. No, you look up at the Pseudo-Sphere and wish you could see past it. You turn off the radio and play your old CD’s. You’re a strong one Ray Toro. You haven’t let them break you.”
Maybe not, but it wasn’t for their lack of trying. And Ray was beginning to see the cracks form. “What do you want from me?”
“There are forty-seven children down here and that number keeps growing more every week. It’s getting crowded. More supplies have to be stolen. It won’t be long before Better Living realizes the adults who escaped and the children who were thrown away have joined forces.” Party leaned forward and met Ray’s eyes. “We have to get out of here.”
“And go where?” Ray asked, swallowing the lump in his throat.
The strangers around him exchanged looks. Then Party answered, “The Zones.”
Ray’s head swam with the notion. “There’s no way. Even if you could manage to get forty-seven kids - babies - out of the city without getting caught, they‘d never make it. They’d starve to death or die of heat exhaustion during the day or freeze at night.”
“You’re right. They could,” Party said, solemnly. “It would take a lot of planning. We’d need every available resource; food, water, shelter… a doctor.”
Ray began to sweat under so many hopeful gazes. He felt the weight of every one of them press down on his shoulders.
Party rose from his chair, taking Ray’s indecision as a cue to end the discussion. “It’s late. We need to get you back up.”
“But-”
“Kobra will see you out. It’ll give you two a chance to get better acquainted.”
Kobra left the room without acknowledging Party, or Ray.
Ray got to his feet slowly. Party Poison stood before him. “Think about it, if you need to, but we don’t have much time. The sooner we do this, the better.”
Ray nodded, still unable to process all the ways his life had changed in one night. “How will I find you again?”
“Draw something.”
“Draw something?”
“Art is your weapon. Draw on your window, your wall, with your computer, you decide. We’ll see it and come to you. In the meantime, stay strong. Don’t give any of yourself away. Don’t accept anything you’re offered.”
“I won’t.”
Ray and Kobra walked through the tunnels in silence, Kobra in the lead. “Is he serious about leaving the city?” Ray asked, not really expecting an answer.
“He’s always serious.”
“How did you guys end up down here? I mean, did you come together or…” Are you together?
Kobra stopped when he reached the ladder, turned to face him. “My turn to ask a question.”
“Okay.”
“You flinched when I touched your back,” Kobra said, his hazel eyes wandering over Ray’s shoulders, down his arms. “They still hurt, don’t they?”
“I’m not used to being touched,” Ray said. He tried not to think of the places Kobra’s hand had lingered a second too long. Oh, how he tried.
“You knew that boy’s family didn’t have any money. So why did you help him?”
The last time someone asked Ray that question, he sat under white hot lights in the presence of people he’d seen every day for years and lied. But here in the dark, with a man he moments ago, he knew didn’t have to.
It wasn’t a question of not having time to think about the consequences. In Ray’s mind, there was nothing to think about.
“He would’ve died if I hadn’t helped him,” Ray said. “It was the right thing to do.”
Kobra tilted his head slightly, narrowed his eyes, and stared at Ray like he was a puzzle with a missing piece. Ray thought he wasn’t too far off the mark.
“Is it my turn now?” Ray asked.
“Go ahead.”
“What’s your real name?”
Kobra climbed up the ladder, moved the manhole cover, and climbed back down. “We can only scramble one security camera at a time for a minute each so you’ll have to hurry.”
Ray didn’t move. He felt he was owed another question, considering his last one - the one he really wanted to know - went unanswered. “Will I see you again?”
“That’s up to you.”
Okay then.
Ray climbed the ladder into the darkness of Battery City and saw it in a whole new light.
Episode 6 - Shadows in Motion
Author: chemical_stripe
Pairing: Ray/ Mikey
Summary: Keep your eyes open. Listen closely. Your freedom will be where you least expect it.
POV: Third person, omniscient
Warnings:NC-17 sexual situations, violence,
Author's Note: My own take on the Killjoys Universe. Chapters will be posted as they are written.
Disclaimer: I do not own any member of My Chemical Romance and I am not affiliated with them. Names, places, and events from the Killjoys Universe are properties of My Chemical Romance.
Moments after their introduction, Ray found himself in another room sitting in front of a battered table. The storyteller, who introduced himself only as Party Poison, handed Ray a chipped mug of black coffee and sat behind the table with his feet propped up. Cherry and Kobra stood on opposite sides behind him.
“Sorry we don’t have much to offer,” Party said, congenially, motioning to the mug in Ray’s hand. “As you can imagine, we don’t entertain much.”
“It’s fine, thanks.” Ray sniffed at the coffee before taking a sip. He never drank coffee anywhere but at home, not after the one cup he had at the office gave him a crippling migraine. “Look, I don’t mean to be an ungracious guest, but…” He glanced around the room. “What the hell?”
Party smiled. “Indeed.” He took a deep swig of his own coffee. “You want to know why you’re here. And who we are.”
For starters. “You’ve been watching me?”
“Some of us more closely than others,“ Party said, glancing sideways at Kobra.
“Why?” Ray asked while Kobra held himself perfectly still, avoided Ray’s curiosity.
“Because you’re fearless,” Party said. “And you’ve got the scars to prove it.”
Ray crossed his arms over his chest. He forgot he was wearing a tee shirt for the first time since it happened.
He’d tended to the wounds himself as best he could. They’ve finally scabbed over. No ever saw them. He felt no shame when he looked at them, only fear.
He was a marked man in more ways than one.
There was no pity or concern in Party’s eyes when he looked at Ray, but admiration. Ray flushed when he saw it in Kobra’s eyes too.
“We’ve hacked into Better Living’s mainframe. It’s given us access to Citation Lists and Code Enforcement Reports,” Party explained. “It helps us keep tabs on who’s getting in trouble for what and how often. But we rarely see infractions that blow our skirts up as much as yours did. You’re a brave man, Ray Toro.”
Funny, Ray didn’t feel very brave. “You hacked into Better Living’s mainframe?”
“The mainframe, the PA system, the security cameras, phone lines, radio and television stations…” Party gave Ray a knowing smile. “Personal computers.”
Ray squirmed in his seat.
“There’s no need to be embarrassed, Ray,” Party said. “We all have our needs, our desires. Isn’t that right, Kobra?”
Kobra shot Party the dirtiest of looks. Cherry giggled to herself.
“But you need to exercise caution,” Party said, his tone much more serious. “Just because the powers that be haven’t said anything about your unconventional - and illegal - appetites yet doesn’t mean the won’t when they find out you have something they want.”
“But I don’t have anything they want.”
Party spread his arms and motioned to the people at his side. “You do now. You got it the moment you followed our White Rabbit down the hole.”
Ray looked at Cherry, who gave herself bunny ears and wiggled her nose at him. Panic jolted through him when he thought of her, the other children. “Why are these kids here?“
“They’re here because Better Living in it’s infinite wisdom decided they weren’t worth keeping,” Party said. “And when they were tossed aside, we caught them. I love each and every one of them as if they were my own.”
“Is that right?” Ray asked, doubtfully. “Do you know how much danger you’re putting them in? If you’re hacking into the mainframe it’s not going to take them long to figure out you’re doing it. They have control over everything.”
Party shook his head. “That’s what they want you to think. But no one can have complete control over anything, not even themselves. They can only instill enough fear to create the illusion.”
“You’re crazy.” Illusions didn’t leave deep lacerations over two-thirds of someone’s body.
“Damn straight he is.”
Ray turned in his seat at the sound of a familiar voice. Two men entered the room behind him. One was the bearded man he saw watching the television monitors. He pulled up to Ray in a rusty, motorized wheelchair and greeted him with a smile and a handshake. The other man was younger, with long dark hair and scowl on his face.
“So this is Dr. Ray Toro,” the younger man said with an air of disapproval. He lit a cigarette and sent a smirk Kobra’s way. “Is he everything you dreamed he would be?”
Kobra sidled up to Party Poison and slid his arm around him in a way which made Ray’s insides burn and the younger man’s smirk disappear.
“Play nice, boys,” Party said, he gestured to the younger of the two strangers. “Ray, I’d like you to meet Fun Ghoul. And you’ve already met Dr. Death Defying.”
Ray looked at the man in the wheelchair. “I have?”
“Indeed you have, friend,” he said in a voice that sent chills up Ray’s spine. “In a manner of speaking.”
“It was you I heard over the PA system.”
Dr. Death Defying nodded. Ray laughed with relief. “I thought I was going nuts. I was the only one who heard you.”
“That’s because you were the only one who was listening.”
“What Dr. Death means is,” Party said. “The people of Battery City have gone deaf, dumb, and blind. They eat the genetically engineered food, believe the censored and scripted news reports, swallow the medication they’ve been convinced they need. They’ve accepted what’s been handed to them for so long they don’t know anything else. But not you.” He straightened up in his chair and looked upon Ray with respect. “Oh we’ve been watching you all right. You’re not in the Medication of the Month Club. You’ve never once been to a Retinal Resort. No, you look up at the Pseudo-Sphere and wish you could see past it. You turn off the radio and play your old CD’s. You’re a strong one Ray Toro. You haven’t let them break you.”
Maybe not, but it wasn’t for their lack of trying. And Ray was beginning to see the cracks form. “What do you want from me?”
“There are forty-seven children down here and that number keeps growing more every week. It’s getting crowded. More supplies have to be stolen. It won’t be long before Better Living realizes the adults who escaped and the children who were thrown away have joined forces.” Party leaned forward and met Ray’s eyes. “We have to get out of here.”
“And go where?” Ray asked, swallowing the lump in his throat.
The strangers around him exchanged looks. Then Party answered, “The Zones.”
Ray’s head swam with the notion. “There’s no way. Even if you could manage to get forty-seven kids - babies - out of the city without getting caught, they‘d never make it. They’d starve to death or die of heat exhaustion during the day or freeze at night.”
“You’re right. They could,” Party said, solemnly. “It would take a lot of planning. We’d need every available resource; food, water, shelter… a doctor.”
Ray began to sweat under so many hopeful gazes. He felt the weight of every one of them press down on his shoulders.
Party rose from his chair, taking Ray’s indecision as a cue to end the discussion. “It’s late. We need to get you back up.”
“But-”
“Kobra will see you out. It’ll give you two a chance to get better acquainted.”
Kobra left the room without acknowledging Party, or Ray.
Ray got to his feet slowly. Party Poison stood before him. “Think about it, if you need to, but we don’t have much time. The sooner we do this, the better.”
Ray nodded, still unable to process all the ways his life had changed in one night. “How will I find you again?”
“Draw something.”
“Draw something?”
“Art is your weapon. Draw on your window, your wall, with your computer, you decide. We’ll see it and come to you. In the meantime, stay strong. Don’t give any of yourself away. Don’t accept anything you’re offered.”
“I won’t.”
Ray and Kobra walked through the tunnels in silence, Kobra in the lead. “Is he serious about leaving the city?” Ray asked, not really expecting an answer.
“He’s always serious.”
“How did you guys end up down here? I mean, did you come together or…” Are you together?
Kobra stopped when he reached the ladder, turned to face him. “My turn to ask a question.”
“Okay.”
“You flinched when I touched your back,” Kobra said, his hazel eyes wandering over Ray’s shoulders, down his arms. “They still hurt, don’t they?”
“I’m not used to being touched,” Ray said. He tried not to think of the places Kobra’s hand had lingered a second too long. Oh, how he tried.
“You knew that boy’s family didn’t have any money. So why did you help him?”
The last time someone asked Ray that question, he sat under white hot lights in the presence of people he’d seen every day for years and lied. But here in the dark, with a man he moments ago, he knew didn’t have to.
It wasn’t a question of not having time to think about the consequences. In Ray’s mind, there was nothing to think about.
“He would’ve died if I hadn’t helped him,” Ray said. “It was the right thing to do.”
Kobra tilted his head slightly, narrowed his eyes, and stared at Ray like he was a puzzle with a missing piece. Ray thought he wasn’t too far off the mark.
“Is it my turn now?” Ray asked.
“Go ahead.”
“What’s your real name?”
Kobra climbed up the ladder, moved the manhole cover, and climbed back down. “We can only scramble one security camera at a time for a minute each so you’ll have to hurry.”
Ray didn’t move. He felt he was owed another question, considering his last one - the one he really wanted to know - went unanswered. “Will I see you again?”
“That’s up to you.”
Okay then.
Ray climbed the ladder into the darkness of Battery City and saw it in a whole new light.
Episode 6 - Shadows in Motion