Contents
2. Kid Afrika
Overview
Kid Afrika arrives at Dog Solitude with Cherry Chesterfield and a comatose, jacked-in man, asking Slick Henry to hide the patient for two to three weeks. Slick refuses, then agrees, bound by an old debt. Cherry sets up the equipment in Slick’s space as tensions rise with Little Bird and the absent Gentry.
Summary
On the last day of November, Kid Afrika arrives at Dog Solitude in a vintage Dodge driven by Cherry Chesterfield, interrupting Slick Henry and Little Bird as they dismantle the Judge’s buzzsaw arm. Little Bird reacts with hostility and retreats to arm himself, while Slick goes to meet Kid Afrika.
Kid Afrika, dressed flamboyantly, hints he needs a favor and introduces Cherry. Slick glimpses medical gear in the hover. Inside, Kid reveals a patient in the back: an emaciated, comatose man strapped to a stretcher, hooked to pumps, bags, and a neural interface. Cherry notes the man isn’t dying but is “under,” requiring quiet.
Kid asks Slick to keep the man hidden for two to three weeks, with Cherry providing care. Slick resists, citing his work on the Judge and Gentry’s aversion to people, but Kid reminds him of a past rescue in Atlantic City. Pressed by the debt, Slick agrees on a two-week maximum and asks Kid to help square it with Gentry; he also requests drugs for the patient.
After Kid departs, Little Bird edges back, while Slick and Cherry set up in an upstairs room crowded with Slick’s drawings and machinery. Cherry confirms the patient’s REM remains high, indicating continuous dreaming, and explains Kid is being paid to keep the man hidden and maintained. The source of the threat remains unknown.
As the machines hum and the man breathes steadily through tubes and a trode-net, Slick confronts the strangeness of the arrangement, anticipating Gentry’s return and the potential fallout, while Cherry focuses on power and monitoring to keep the patient stable.
Who Appears
- Slick HenryArtist and builder at the Factory; reluctantly agrees to hide a comatose, jacked-in man for Kid Afrika.
- Kid AfrikaArrives seeking a favor; brings a comatose client to hide in the Factory for weeks.
- Cherry ChesterfieldKid’s driver and med-tech; sets up and tends the comatose man’s life-support and monitoring.
- Little BirdSlick’s edgy associate; hostile to Kid Afrika and wary of the situation, briefly arms himself.
- Comatose manUnknown client strapped to medical gear and neural interface; continuously dreaming, hidden at the Factory.
- GentryFactory resident, absent in Boston; expected to disapprove of newcomers and intrusion.