Station, стр. 50
Hadder looked into the man's eyes, convinced that hewould see agony there, a silent call to set him free. But as hestared, Hadder only saw confused ecstasy staring back at him, withan oddball sense of pride lurking beneath.
Shaking his head, Hadder walked through the opendoors that led to the "Biomass," shaking his head. Whether frompity, discomfort, or anger, Hadder wasn't sure.
If the main exhibit hall was disturbing, then the"Biomass" room was genuinely confusing. The entire back ofBiomass was comprised of one long, thin room. As Hadderentered, he saw that soft benches ran down both directions, facingthe most beautiful garden Hadder had ever seen. While the gardensscattered around Station and tended to by the manikins werewondrous, this was beyond description. Flowers the size ofumbrellas and supported by stalks as large as thin women werepeppered throughout the display. Massive chunks of colorful pollenwere spit out by one flower to be gobbled up by another. Belowthese behemoths, equally exotic plants played out similar scenes inshades of purple, blue, orange, and red.
Hadder thought it impossible that such a diversityof plant life could exist in one location. It indeed was a"Biomass," as all the shapes of nature were in full display - bellsand funnels, trumpets and bowls, saucers and tubulars, andsphericals. For several minutes, Hadder lost himself in thatwondrous garden, for every square yard held a vastness of naturalbeauty that would take years to note and accurately describe inwords. How could the man responsible for the wickedness in the roombehind him also have created such beauty? This thought plaguedHadder as he relished in his recognition of the garden'sperfection.
As Hadder stood appreciating, he noticed thatseveral other residents had entered the "Biomass" exhibit. Unlikehimself, however, they paid little mind to the lush garden beforethem, giving it minimal attention before descending stairs thatappeared at the long room's opposite ends. Curious, Hadder bidadieu to the nursery and walked down the stairs to his right.
Upon reaching the bottom, Hadder's eyes widened, andhis stomach churned with increased bile as he discovered the real"Biomass" exhibit. Against the back wall, directly below the gardenabove, was a glass enclosure of soil, some of it classic black andbrown, but the majority of which was a clear substance that hadobviously been added to give the audience an improved view of theactual "Biomass."
Within the soil swam nearly a dozen Elevatedresidents. Their limbs had been removed, their bodies thinned andelongated, and their mouths enlarged, making them essentially largeworms who wove their way through the dirt. Hadder watched in shockas they devoured soil as they made forward progress, simultaneouslyexpelling dark material from their open anuses and leaving blacktrails in their wake. Without thinking, Hadder stepped forward,closely approaching the glass, a perverse curiosity overtaking hisdisgust as he studied the human worm farm.
A voice coming from beside Hadder wasn't enough totear his attention from the bizarre scene. "True art doesn't existwithout sacrifice. Would you sacrifice that which is most preciousto you, namely your humanity, to create a beauty not foundelsewhere in this universe? These brave souls have just done that.Their vermicast, or humicast if you will, can only be produced oneway, and is absolutely essential in creating the enchanting gardenfound above. To have that kind of dedication, that kind of spirit,that kind of courage - that is what true art is all about."
Hadder didn't need to turn his head towards theeffeminate, dramatic voice to know who he was talking to. "I noticeyou didn't rush to butcher your own body to join them, Lester."
"I concede your point, darling, but allow me toretort. Because of their sacrifice, they are now helplesscreatures, only living in the now, only surviving in the name ofart. Their shit is responsible for endless, unparalleled beauty.What's your shit responsible for?"
"Bad smells."
"The question was rhetorical, darling. Anyways,someone must remain to care for them, to make sure that theirsacrifices continue with purpose. Without the beauty of the gardenabove, this is just an experiment in biology, is it not?"
Hadder finally looked over at Lester Midnight,taking the man in for the first time. The man was tall and moremuscled than Hadder anticipated. He had dark black skin, shortwhite hair, white painted lips and nails. Lester wore a suit ofmolten gold, reminding Hadder of his friend Goldie, withankle-length pants that showed off crystal loafers. He wore fiveearrings in each ear, five severed fingers that had been dipped ingold and swung freely like a morbid mobile. Rings adorned eachfinger, and his eyes were white on white, with flecks of gold thatdrifted through his irises. In his right hand, Lester held a solidgold cane, atop of which, cast in crystal, sat a human eye,complete with dangling nerve endings. "And what do you call thatfreak show in the main exhibit hall?"
Lester laughed gently and smiled. "Experiments inbiology, of course. Come, enough of my art, darling, I want to hearof your own. Or maybe you have something else to discuss, newresident Marlin Hadder? Yes, I know who you are. There is verylittle that happens in Station that escapes my attention. Somewheremore private, perhaps?"
Hadder nodded and followed Lester Midnight back upto the garden, through the main exhibit hall, and up some stairs toan expansive office. During their walk, Lester regularly stopped tobask in the adoration of visiting residents, some stating theirdesires to be the subjects of future projects. Hadder looked aroundas they entered the large room. Sketches were scattered throughoutthe room, many which looked like early renderings of H.R. Giger,foretelling the horror of later artistic endeavors. Lester walkedto his enormous desk, made seemingly of gold resin and white humanbones, spun around dramatically and sat on its edge. "So tell me,Marlin Hadder, why are you here, fellow artiste?"
There was an obvious sarcasm, an outright challengein those last two words.