[ WP ] A visit to the black market of Philosophy .

The good thing about titty bars is that they provide their own excuse. Why are a criminal and an FBI agent in a titty bar at the same time? Because of the tits, of course. 
 
 Red took a drink and stared fixedly at the tits in front of him. “ I ’ m in. They ’ re taking me down on Saturday. ” 
 
 Jenkins stared at tits with severe intensity. “ We ’ ll get a wire on you. ” 
 
 “ No wire. It won ’ t work. ” 
 
 “ I fail to see what the point is if you ’ re not wearing a wire. ” 
 
 “ This place isn ’ t like what we thought it was. It ’ s like a bunker, like a fortress. They have guys on it who aren ’ t fucking around. They look ex-military. ” 
 
 “ Then we have to know what ’ s in there. We need a wire. ” 
 
 Red put his drink down. “ No wire. ” 
 
 Jenkins ’ eyes followed some tits across the room. 
 
 “ Take your clothes off. Everything. ” The guy ’ s whole thing allowed for no argument, right down to his movie bad-guy European accent. So Red got naked. When he was done the guy was wearing gloves. “ Turn around, bend over. ” And there was no argument there either. Gus stood against the wall and watched the whole thing with a grin on his long ugly face. 
 
 “ You enjoy that? ” Red muttered, as he pulled his pants back on. 
 
 “ I think he ’ s blushing! ” Gus jerked his head towards the elevator doors. “ It ’ ll be a minute before they send it up. ” The guard had resumed staring down the corridor behind them, an unlit cigarette clamped between his oversized lips. 
 
 “ This place ain ’ t exactly inconspicuous, you know what I mean? All these guys with guns, it ’ s like some kind of fortress. ” 
 
 “ It isn ’ t at all inconspicuous. We get undercover cops, FBI, even CIA and DIA guys trying to get down here. ” 
 
 Red smirked, calculating his chances. Chances were, Gus was bullshiting. He was a white collar embezzler turned pornographer and flesh smuggler. He was probably bullshitting. If he wasn ’ t, then it made no difference. “ You fucking with me? CIA? ” 
 
 Gus nodded like it was no big deal. The elevator doors slid silently open and he went in. Red came after, his senses stretching for sign of a trap. Gus leaned against the back wall, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. There were no buttons inside the elevator. The doors slid closed and they descended. There was no floor indicator either. 
 
 Red tried to moisten his lips. “ So who am I meeting? ” 
 
 Gus opened his eyes lazily. “ You ’ re not meeting nobody. ” 
 
 “ I thought -- ” 
 
 “ Fuck what you thought. If it were up to me you ’ d have a hole in your head right now. ” He closed his eyes again. “ Just so we ’ re clear on that. ” 
 
 They rode the rest of the way in silence. The elevator felt like it was moving fast, and did so for five solid minutes. It slowed and stopped and the doors opened onto a corridor identical to the one they had left, only empty of large Europeans. Gus pushed himself off the wall and gestured ahead. 
 
 “ Let ’ s go. ” 
 
 He went first and Red followed. He watched the back of Gus ’ s head and considered his options for killing him and escaping. It didn ’ t seem quite right though. His chances seemed close to zero, but something told him they weren ’ t quite entirely zero. That instinct had kept him alive undercover for years, and he held onto it tightly. The rest of him was screaming, but he kept his mouth shut and kept walking. 
 
 They went through the double doors at the end of the corridor, but instead of a loading bay at the back of a warehouse they were in another corridor, lined on either side with metal doors. There were windows in the doors. Gus turned and grinned back at him, gesturing him forward. 
 
 “ Take a look. ” 
 
 Inside the room was a scene that made no sense. Two enormously fat women, one dark and one pale, sat at metal desks in an otherwise bare concrete room lit with a single bulb hanging from a wire in the ceiling. On the desks were old fashioned rotary telephones, and the women held the handsets to their ears and appeared to be listening intently but saying nothing. Both the women were entirely naked and smeared from head to toe with some red greasy liquid. It was dripping off them and puddling on the floor. 
 
 “ Weird, huh? ” said Gus, and moved away without offering any explanation. “ Come look at this one down here. ” He walked quickly past two or three other doors, and Red, following, only got a glance inside. The rooms were all identical featureless cubes, apart from their contents. In one, an old man stood stock-still and grim faced, staring at a picture of something taped to the wall. In the next there was nothing but an empty antique metal birdcage. In another, a video camera on a tripod was pointed at a large flatscreen television showing a football game. Either the television was silent or the doors blocked all noise. Apart from Gus ’ s footsteps, the only sound was the slight whisper of air conditioning. 
 
 “ Look at this one, ” said Gus, stopping and glancing in at a window. He moved aside for Red. “ This one is really messed up. ” 
 
 Inside was a girl, very young, suspending from the ceiling by a chain and leather harness. Her skull had been cut open and there were wires coming out. She had a tube taped in her mouth, and electrodes all over her body. The wires and tubes lead nowhere, just dangled in mid air. She was naked except for a filthy diaper. There were tears crusted around her eyes, screwed tight in pain. 
 
 Red stepped back. “ Holy fuck! ” He turned around to Gus, who was peering over his shoulder into the room, unusually pensive. 
 
 “ I know, ” he said. “ She ’ s like a lab monkey. She has more wires going into her every time I ’ m here. ” 
 
 “ I mean, Gus, man, Jesus. We have to do something, she ’ s a fucking child! ” 
 
 “ The doors don ’ t open, ” he replied, simply. “ Not unless it ’ s your door. Come on, we ’ re wasting time. ” When Red made a move to push the door, Gus grabbed his arm and pulled him. “ I ’ m not messing around. Come on. It ’ s a waste of time. ” Red shoved him off and pushed the door. There was no handle to pull and nowhere to get a grip, and pushing did nothing. Gus made a disgusted noise and walked away. Red stepped back and kicked the door. It might as well have been a wall. 
 
 Red didn ’ t look in any more windows. He followed Gus three or four meters behind, his head down and images of SWAT teams in his head. They walked for a long time, passing endless doors. They turned corners, left and right, without any sense to them. Other corridors branched off, filled with more and more doors. It was a maze and he was completely lost. Then without any signal or warning, Gus stopped and turned back to him. He gestured at a door that looked identical to all the others. 
 
 “ This is you. I ’ ll be back in an hour. ” He got close in to Red ’ s face. “ Get your fucking balls back on. ” Without another word or look, he walked back the way they had come. Red watched him until he vanished around a corner, and he was alone. 
 
 The room through the window of his door was dark, but he could see from the light from the corridor that it was empty. Another concrete box, waiting for him. He calculated his chances, and found no answers at all. The door swung open easily, and swung closed behind him. 
 
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