Ghostfinders 02 - Ghost of a Smile

overstretched limo.”
    “I never really left,” said Patterson. “I had the driver stop the car once we were safely out of sight round the far corner, got out, came back here, and entered through the back door. Yes, I know you were told there wasn’t one. How remiss of me. And then . . . I used the elevator. That is what it’s for . . . I’ve been ahead of you all along.”
    “Whom do you represent?” said JC.
    “Like I’m going to tell you,” said Patterson. “You don’t need to know. You can all die like you’ve lived, in ignorance.”
    “If you’re not going to hit him, make way for someone who will,” said Melody.
    “Stay right where you are!” said JC, not looking back. His gaze was still fixed on Patterson, who didn’t seem that bothered by the golden glare behind JC’s sunglasses. JC chose his words carefully. “If you and your organisation, whatever it is, are responsible for funding the ReSet drug, then you’re responsible for everything that’s happened here.” His voice was cold and harsh enough to wipe the smile off Patterson’s dark face. JC moved up a step. “All the deaths and all the horror and all the things that might still happen. All down to you. Plus the deaths of the policemen and the security men called to investigate. Am I right?”
    “Of course,” said Patterson, pulling his arrogance around him like a shield. “It wasn’t difficult. They all trusted an obvious authority figure like me, right up to the moment when it became clear that they really shouldn’t have. I killed them all because they were in the way, disposed of the bodies, and held their ghosts here, or what was left of them, to guard the lobby. I knew our revered Boss would be sending a team in soon. I should have known it would be you. You do have a reputation for crashing in where you’re not wanted.”
    “Hold it,” said Happy. “The Boss wanted us here? I thought MSI insisted we be sent in?”
    “Oh please,” said Patterson. “MSI haven’t a clue about what’s been going on in their building. Haven’t known for ages. ReSet was our very own cuckoo’s egg, set in place to force everything else out of the nest. I only told you MSI insisted on your presence to throw you off the scent.”
    “Are you also the one who’s been feeding us information through the building’s computers?” said Melody.
    “Smart girl,” he said. “I’ve been telling you what you needed to know, or what I wanted you to know, so you wouldn’t go looking in places I didn’t want you looking. I’ve been leading you round by the nose, all along.”
    “All right,” said JC. “ReSet was your baby. Let’s jump to the big question. Why?”
    “Human is as human does,” said Patterson. “And frankly, that’s not good enough. What we’ve done with the world so far has been very disappointing. So events were arranged here to lead to the creation of something more than human, better than human. Something that would surpass Humanity and achieve all the things our limited and self-centred species has so signally failed to achieve. Remember poor misunderstood Nietzsche—Man is something to be overcome.”
    “How come secret organisations never want to do anything nice?” Kim said wistfully.
    “The clue is in the description,” said Happy.
    “We’ve been planning this for a very long time,” said Patterson. “And we’re not about to let you butt in and screw it up now. The greatest minds of this generation have been considering a single fundamental question—What if Man was a mistake? What if we were supposed to be so much more, but we fell short of our true potential? We were never meant to be something as small and limited as Man! We were supposed to fly like angels! We were all supposed to be living gods and walk this world in majesty and glory! And it’s not too late. We can all blaze like suns. We can all shine like the stars!”
    “Is this like the sixties?” said Happy. “When people thought that taking lots and lots of LSD would turn them into superheroes? The mind’s true liberation, through frequent frying of your neurons? Trust me—that really didn’t work out too well.”
    “You think so small,” Patterson said coldly. “Little man. Touched with the gift to see the world clearly, and all you’ve ever done is complain about it. Wake up and smell the gravitas! We weren’t supposed to be like this! We weren’t supposed to suffer, to get ill, to get old and die! ReSet will set us