Station, стр. 29

Together, Hadder and Reed made their way up thestairs leading to Inferno's third level, a banquet hall withrows of long tables and ornate, tall-backed chairs. Many dinerswere already seated and eating, so Hadder and Reed found two seatsnear the end of one of the large tables. Hadder's hunger had grownto the point that his head was spinning, causing him to fall intohis chair unceremoniously.

As soon as Hadder and Reed were seated, a lemmamanikin approached and deposited plates of food before them. Themeat on the plates was unrecognizable, perhaps something of thepropriety variety from Station's organism-rich gardens, but Hadderdidn't care, couldn't care. He dug in with both hands, shovelingfistfuls of mystery meat into his mouth.

As Hadder and Reed finished plates, more werebrought, each more exotic than the ones served before. A turtleshell filled with fried glowing insects was scooped clean. Strangevegetable medleys were presented in the cupped dismembered hands ofmysterious beasts. Thin, flavorful soups swam with sea monkeycreatures that were swallowed whole.

Everything was consumed without question or concernregarding the nature of the food. Eventually, empty plates weretaken up, and no more were delivered. Hadder leaned back in hischair and took a deep breath, glad to be done with the curiousheavy meal. Hadder's stomach had finally fallen silent, but hismind continued to spin dangerously out of control.

Thinking this floor concluded, Hadder began to risebut was restrained by Reed's autonomous dreadlocks on his shoulder."One more," was all that Reed said.

Four hidden doors along the left and righthand wallsopened simultaneously, and wheeled tables being pushed by glumemanikins exited from each. The wheeled tables were positioned sothat each covered roughly one-quarter of the diners. On each table,Hadder was surprised to see a nude lemma manikin, milky eyesstaring blankly at the ceiling's swirling frescos. From somewherein their black skin suits, each of the glume manikins pulled out ascalpel and a carving knife. Hadder's full stomach teased acomplete emptying.

Unable to conceal the panic in his voice, Haddersaid, "Reed, what's this about?"

"This is where shit gets pretty intense, Hadder. I'msorry, man, but there's only forward now. Don't hold on tootight."

Hadder watched in horror, mouth agape, as the glumemanikins cut open their lemma counterparts in unison likesynchronized swimmers. From Hadder's seat, he could see thegruesome show in its entirety, one poor lemma being only feet away.The lemma's sternum was sliced open, and its chest cavity wasopened with a brutal pull by the butcher manikin.

Given the tick-tock nature of the manikins, Hadderhad assumed their internal workings consisted of gears, pistons,and springs. But from his vantage point, it appeared that thelemma's innards very much mirrored those of his own, adding to hisdiscomfort. One significant difference, however, was that where theheart would typically be found, the lemma had a banana-shaped organthat glowed a violent blue. The butcher reached into the gapinghole and viciously ripped out the blue organ, placing it on itstable next to the body. The lemma had no reaction.

The butcher glume then used its carving knife toskillfully portion the blue heart, placing one piece in the centerof each fresh plate that was procured from a hidden shelf under thetable. Other service manikins rushed forward to pick up the finaldishes and deliver them to waiting residents. One was placed infront of Hadder, and another was given to Reed.

"Try not to think about it, Hadder," was all theadvice that Reed could muster. Before Hadder could respond, Reedplucked the heart from his plate, deposited it into his mouth, andbegan chewing loudly.

Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don'tthink about it. The mantra repeated in Hadder's mind as hescooped up the jiggly blue muscle and placed it on his tongue.Closing his eyes, he chewed slowly and was pleasantly surprisedthat the heart had both the texture and flavor of an oversizedgummy bear. He chewed just enough to swallow, then opened hiseyes.

Only to stare directly into the white eyes of thedissected lemma, who had turned its head on the table to lookdirectly at Hadder, throwing silent accusation. Hadder dropped hishead in abashed guilt, reminded of Harlan Ellison's "I Have NoMouth, and I Must Scream," only raising it when Reed gripped himunder his arms.

"Let's go, Hadder. Time for the next floor. And youmay want to prep yourself."

"For what?"

"That thing we just ate packs a real wallop.Everyone is kinda on their own from here; best of luck to you."

With those unhelpful words, McKintosh Reed walkedtowards the back of Inferno level three and up the next setof stairs leading deeper into mania. Hadder started to follow, thenstopped and took one last look at the lemma he had just eaten. Themarble eyes continued to stare at Hadder but were now joined by adevilish smirk that cut into the human's own heart, forcing him totrip on his way out.

The Slink throbbed painfully under his skin. Andthen Marlin Hadder's mind detonated.

The manikin heart ruined Hadder's brain for the nextterrifying hours. Inferno's fourth floor was a sight for theeyes that threatened to burn Hadder's ocular nerves. The entiremain room was made of gold, from the heavily decorated columns tothe side counters that offered potent drinks in crystalgoblets.

The combination of manikin heart, decomposing Slink,and a cornucopia of smoke and drink left Marlin Hadder a mess of aperson, which paired perfectly with level four's other residentswho were equally stoned. Most of his time was spent on the largedance floor, a crystal floor that sparkled with inlaid diamonds andplayed games with the overhead rainbow light.

Gilded pipes that contained intense smoke werepassed around as were baroque crowns that, when placed on the head,sent waves of euphoria directly into the brain. One such crown,with green emeralds encircling the band, was placed on Hadder'shead by a woman with an elongated neck reminiscent of a swan.Shockwaves thundered through Hadder's body, forcing him to thefloor as residents danced like feral beasts around him. Surroundedby crazed mirth, Hadder convulsed and came in his pants beforedarkness overtook him, the laughs above raining down like a summerheat storm.

While darkness had indeed enveloped Marlin Hadder,lose consciousness he did not. Hadder's body began moving onautopilot, the kernel of being