AN EXCERPT FROM THE LOUD BOYS
As Van made preparations, his new business partner, Fake Face, attended a charity event in a well-guarded suburban enclave, repository of most of the area’s remaining wealth, much of it held by the progeny of deceased industrialists. His smiling rubber mask fit well with the artificial smiles and insincere greetings of other donors. The fundraiser was at a local art gallery. The gallery’s current exhibition was titled “Connectivity”– partly financed by a grant from a Fake Face tax shelter. Fitting the theme, electrical cables spread across the floor like black snakes, connected to strange-looking purple steel machines and giant video monitors displaying the latest in certified NFT art.
“EMBRACE THE CHAOS”
flashed on and off in lime-green letters on a large electronic screen in the ceiling. “We’ve blown the building’s circuits three times already!” the gallery’s curator in a near corner bragged to a circle of wealthy patrons.
“Oh! So glad to meet you again!” a wealthy blonde matron of fifty gushed to Fake Face– they’d met previously at a fundraiser for an animal shelter.
The woman’s ninety year-old husband had recently died, leaving her his fortune. Money to spend and time on her hands. She’d had plastic surgery– her cheekbones were ridiculously pronounced, turning her unobservable eyes into narrow slits. Her lips were swollen balloons. Her skin had the consistency of wax. Both obscenely rich individuals who’d made their wealth in mercenary ways peered dutifully at slabs of AI-generated artworks adorning the walls: either meaningless black-and-white blips and blots, or colorful scenes from unproduced cartoons, with the exaggerated glowing plastic quality of all such AI concoctions. Images of inhuman red-purple-blue figures with distended forms and exaggerated eyes. Illustrations for a madhouse. Mirror reflections of the crowd.
The pricey gallery was an island of insanity in a sea of tragedy.
When Fake Face turned to speak to the woman, she saw his shifting eyes and sensed his real face behind the rubber facade, smelling his sweaty intensity.
!!!
(Based on real happenings? The Loud Boys is now available via Nook, Kobo, and Kindle. A paperback version is coming.)
