“Shortly and inevitably, the situation has changed. Our pill attracted attention. Let me explain.
“The pill succeeded in treating the new patients, but it neither explained the sudden increase in their number, nor it prevented that number from increasing further. We didn’t bother with reasons. Our field was chemistry, not metaphysics. But soon we weren’t able to handle the volume. We needed to expand. The company went public. Our stocks flew off the shelves, so to speak. We were bought immediately. Long story short, two months later the word came we were expanding 500 percent. The size doubled in a year. The name became Freedom Corp. And we didn’t even know who it was that bought us. Nor did we care, to be honest. With the increased demand, our salaries quadrupled. I’m talking close to what you were making recently, Mr. Whales. It was very hard to care, you understand.
“Still, with time, as we worked, and the information trickled down to our basements, rumors we heard began to gnaw at us. I suppose I should say ‘at me.’ I heard the growth of the number of patients was so rapid, that there were no personnel for individual therapy sessions. Eventually, it became known to me that the pill was being distributed as a cure, and the patients were sent home without any treatment at all.
“The news shocked me. The very idea seemed sacrilegious. I realized that instead of helping people, we were now helping someone make money out of nothing, because I was convinced that without individual therapy the pill was useless. Worse, we were making money out of a lie. Finally, I could stand it no longer and confronted the Director, who promptly showed me the error of my ways. That was the first time I heard about the Mass Therapy. You see now? The task media had performed throughout the tumultuous twentieth century, the same take it failed to perform at the beginning of the new millennium, it was able to accomplish again with the help of our pill. And the results, once again, were miraculous. The world became a better place.” Dr. Young fell silent and looked at Iris.
“That’s when I left.”
“Is it addictive?” I asked him. He turned his head.
“You know that better than me, Mr. Whales, no? Well, in case you haven’t quite discerned that yet, no it is not addictive in the sense that heroin is addictive. That’s why it was so easy for you to stop taking it.”
“It wasn’t easy…” I mumbled unhappily. Both Dr. Young and Lloyd laughed.
“No, of course not. Not that easy, in any case. People are reluctant to stop taking pills because they believe their physicians and because they fear. Withdrawals, although relatively mild, can be horrifying for the unprepared. But I am afraid now there are those who think it is too easy to quit. I hear they are modifying the formula in order to remedy that. Stronger side effects, fearful hallucinations, severe lapses, fatigue and so on.”
“What are they doing?” Iris asked.
“Who are ‘they?’” I asked at the same time.
“On, no. Even if I was qualified to explain that briefly, I wouldn’t do it at this time.”
“Look, Doc, it was a great lecture, but I don’t take the stuff anymore. And nothing you said explained to me why I’m sitting in the same room with a murderer who set me up by killing a man…” I stared at the gun in Lloyd’s lap, finally recognizing it. “…with my own gun.”
“Quite right, it did not. But it is related.”
“Related? He killed a man for god’s sake, and you’re just standing there telling stories and sharing chuckles with him, instead of reporting him to the police.”
“I don’t approve of killing human beings for any reason, Mr. Whales. That includes, I believe, the recent attempt on your own life. I prefer no interaction with the so-called ‘authorities’ and I cannot reprimand Mr. Freud myself. I am not his employer. I am his doctor, and sometimes his priest. I have already ‘reported’ him to God, you may be sure of that.”
“I took your gun so you wouldn’t kill anybody. Those were my specific instructions.”
“That makes no sense. Why would I kill anyone?”
“Why did you run to your closet for the gun?” I had a few answers for that, and a question or two also (like “How the hell did he know?”), but none that would eliminate the next question about killing. I didn’t like that and said nothing. Instead, I asked Dr. Young a question.
”How is it related?”
Iris said, “I don’t understand how it ties to Luke, either. I mean, if Lloyd is supposed to protect him from some kind of danger… Why would he be in danger in the first place? Couldn’t be simply because he stopped taking the pills. I know a few people who have, and they never found corpses in their bathrooms.”
“Kitchen,” I corrected dumbly. Iris gave me a comforting smile.
“Were any of those people you knew famous, Ms. Iris?” Dr. Young asked, reaching for a coat that hung on a hook in the corner. She shook her head.
“So is it true that everyone is on the pill?” I asked, when neither of them bothered to elaborate.
“Everyone? Of course not. The numbers are quite substantial nonetheless. As of right now the pill is taken by approximately twenty-five percent of the population in the United States. Other countries… I cannot say.”
I glanced at Iris, who had been wrong for once. Dr. Young noticed.
“Were your estimates much higher, my dear?”
“I guess I thought better of us,” she replied. The old man smiled sadly.
“Yes. Three quarters of ‘us’ are doing just fine without the medicine. As I mentioned, however, the numbers continue to grow.”
“Wait, so it’s bad not to be on the pill now?” I asked.
“That depends on the case, and it depends on who you ask. Ms. Iris seems to think it’s bad not to need a pill, to look around and be perfectly OK with what you see without one. I happen to agree, but I assure you there are plenty of those who do not. In your case, as in, stopping the pills after years or taking them, we shall see, I suppose. Now, as to how the pill is related to your present situation… I don’t precisely know, but I would guess that if you had not stopped the pill, you would not be with us right now. Is that right, Mr. Freud?”
Lloyd looked up at him from his chair with a sour face. “I don’t know, Doc. Never mind that. Listen, what you need to know is that this drafting business was just a cover for something much more serious. I can’t tell you exactly what it was, because I don’t know. All he told me was that if you got drafted, it would start some kind of a chain reaction.”
“Oh, man, are you gonna tell me you’re from the future or something now?”
By the looks of it, Lloyd was going to tell me something else, but Dr. Young stepped in.
“It sounds like Mr. Freud’s employer is in possession of some information not available to us at the moment. There’s no need to discuss the point further.”
“Where do we go from here?” Iris asked.
“Now, that is a good question. Thank you. Mr. Freud, what were your instructions?”
“Keep the kid alive. Keep him away from the cops. Stay in a populated area. Stay indoors at night. Bring him to you, if possible.” Lloyd fell silent.
“I’m certainly flattered,” said Dr. Young, “but you must have more. What is your long-term plan? Are you bringing Mr. Whales to see your employer? Shouldn’t you be looking for a car or something? That would be the easiest way to leave, am I wrong?”
“No car. It can get pretty lonely in between cities, and we can’t have that. We need to try and get on the Mono.”
I laughed. “Great idea! Let’s go right now!”
“Mr. Freud. O’Hare and the Union Station have more surveillance than any other building in Chicago.”
“So I figure, no one’s really expecting a fugitive to try and make it out of the city through there.”