The Code of Happiness by David J. Margolis Page A

replicated all over the world.”
    “Thank you for the tea.”
    He is cold fish.
    “Don't disappear.”
    “Goodbye.”
    “You have a choice.”
     
    Indeed he does. He was going from one sham
organization to another. If he was out in the open, easy to find,
what did it matter if he exposed the callous and secretive
practices of XXLI. So what if he'd signed confidentiality
agreements. The public had the right to know, to wake up from their
slumber. He may be sued, but conceded it was more likely no one
would be interested. Ray's truth struck him as pathetic now, almost
benign. All he had wanted him to be was a petty thief—albeit on a
grand scale. He ran through the moments when he could have said no
to Ray. He was growing up; he wouldn't be so manipulated again or
so asleep. His mind returned to the energy he felt from Blaze's
grip, how it etched itself into his very being. He needed to hatch
a plan.
     
    *****
     
    “There's weird shit going down here, Grace.”
    She's in the middle of an interview.
    “Oh, sorry,” he says. He turns to the female
candidate, “Don't take the job.”
    Grace maintains her cool, her professionalism.
    “I haven't offered her one.”
    “What? I'm qualified,” says the prospective employee,
a tad confused.
    “Did she pass?”
    “It's private, Jamie.”
    “Who are you?” asks the woman.
    “Doing you a favor. This place is toxic.” He turns to
Grace. “Can we have talk when you're done?”
    “Why, of course. Please wait outside—where you should
have been in the first place.”
    Jamie fires one more salvo to the stranger, “It's a
mistake.”
     
    Jamie has enough time to think of all the ways Grace
will bury him. He's cold at the thought she might be a spy, a
stooge for XXLI. Trust is a new currency. It was about him as much
as her. The female candidate walks past with an icy stare. He waits
for Grace to follow. It's hard to be patient, but he needs access
to Blaze. He runs through his plea to her. She must know something
smells about project happiness. He's seen her human side, the
approachable and friendly. They had spent the night together
wandering a square of hope, of people coming together—and she
didn't have embedded devices. They had a real connection. All she
had to do was shed the behavior that came with the uniform of
work.
     
    *****
     
    The master awaits ashen-faced for his best and
brightest pupil to grasp the fundamentals. He guides him toward the
real truth he had been searching for. Ray and John Charles Cavour
only had part of the answer. What lay behind the walls of his
office was destiny for all. Jamie's slow to Blaze's truth because
the omnipresent one appears sick and weak. It's hard to vilify a
man so ill. Blaze had wanted Jamie to see him like this. It would
help him understand the power available to him. He slides his hand
up the wall to press a button that opens a door. The gap in the
doorway is filled with an impressive glow. Crimson and gold, a mix
of the divine and the surreal illuminating a section of his office.
Jamie follows Blaze to the edge of the new room but chooses not to
enter.
    “It's not complete, but it works,” says Blaze,
“watch.”
    A giant orange and gold plasma orb hovers above a
dish. Blaze slips his hands into a pair of silver embroidered
gloves and places them inside the dish. The orb stills in
recognition of this connection. Then light bolts from it to the
gloves lighting up Blaze. Blaze, the sun god, whose brightness
blinds Jamie to the point of dropping to the floor. Puzzle pieces
of light float across his damaged retina and the protégé blinks in
an attempt to refocus. He sees a hazy silhouette. Even with the
abnormality he knows it's a rejuvenated Blaze.
    “The new affectus transfigurantes . My
pet project you can help complete.”
    Jamie struggles to his feet, “I've read about people
like you in comic books.”
    “Step back from the comic book—and your games. This
is a chance to change the world for