Purgatech: Adrian's Ghost-hunting Angst

Chapter Four: What's He Building In There?

Adrian found it funny, reading over Purgatech’s information to find the various locations that he could go to in order to speak to a representative in person, seeing that the head offices were in New Jersey. Not that he would head out to New Jersey to meet with anyone, but remembering the day he first set eyes on the old hag, he clearly thought he would never care for New Jersey or its inhabitants.

Why would he? As his father would come to call it, the filthiest city, in the dirtiest state. There was no need to make his way out to such a place. It would only be detrimental, wouldn’t it? With all the crime lords, drug dealers, drug dens, and hobos, or the ones he envisioned as his father went another drunken tirade about the city and its inhabitants.

He found that there was a subdivision in Evergreen, on the west coast. He knew the area well enough to know precisely where the building was, the building, however, was in Evergreen Manor. A haunted house, of sorts. He considered it must have been for the tax incentives that came with working out of a place like this. After the Richardson family moved out, due to another peculiar death, there was nothing holding them to the manor.

Driving up to the front gate, Adrian considered his options. This was the house of evil, it seemed, and after all his research it seemed the all various subdivisions of the industry seemed to be stationed similarly. Haunted houses, abandoned hospitals and the odd neglected insane asylum. As much as the tax incentives or benefits that could have come with such an industry, in such a location could bring, Adrian summed it all up to being another gimmick to bring in unsuspecting fools into a charade that would benefit them with great funds, leaving the trial user in a state of awe, due to fancy technological schemes that let them see and believe what they wanted to.

With technology the way it was, this didn’t seem an impossibility. Virtual Reality headsets, bringing video games to life, s*x doll robots (that Adrian would begrudgingly admit to wanting to try) who looked and acted like normal people and plethora of add on’s to cell phones, computers, gaming consoles and the like, that made fiction seem all the more plausible, was it all that hard to believe that this company wouldn’t be able to line their pockets on the dreams of their customers.

Seeing ghosts, something that the world has wanted to do since the invention of ghosts in the first place. Communicating with the dead, reliving old flames with the deceased and so on seemed to play great to the hand of the desperate.

Adrian rolled down his window, keying in 13#. The intercom system was a new touch. When Adrian, Johnny, and Brad came to see their friend Alex the next morning, it was nothing but an old gate that was still operated manually. That was over twenty years ago. A lot could have changed since the last time Adrian came through these gates and into the East Wing of Evergreen Manor.

He drove slowly, taking in the sights of the new property. It seemed that the East Wing was untouched, from when he last saw it, the rest of the manor had been decorated, changed and for the better part upgraded into what looked like a rather swanky establishment. How peculiar that it all came back, for the most part, full circle, he thought, stopping the car at the front offices. It had not been his first bizarre occurrence, coming to Evergreen Manor but Adrian believed that it would be his last time.

Adrian walked in through the front doors, making his way to a receptionist’s desk, just before the grand staircase leading up to what he assumed were the offices. Behind the desk, an entertainment area, which connected through to a kitchen, another living room, a passage leading towards the East Wing, that had been blocked off with concrete at both ends and a waiting area for clients. The inside was furnished, as Adrian imagined, in a roman deco fashion. Old tables, chairs and paintings. Some may have even been the original contents that were a part of the house when the erectors of the establishment, Roger and Alexandra Elias, had built it.

The receptionist held the highest standard of quality for someone that worked in a place like this. A warm, cheery smile on her youthful face, “Hello sir. My name is Cynthia. How may we help you today?” She asked.

“Hi there. Adrian Beck. Here to see Joshua Lorraine.” Adrian said softly, awkwardly. There was a small group of men and women sitting in the waiting zone, that Samuel had observed on his way in, who seemed to look a tad mental. What he had imagined the people of New Jersey looking like. Frizzy, unkempt hair, eyes wide with the dread of apocalypse behind them, a man dressed in a clinical white outfit, serving drinks to those who waited – a spark of Adrian’s old imagination saw him as the drug dealer, who would sedate the patients in some madhouse.

Adrian knew that none of this was true. As time went on, he learned that New Jersey was no different than Los Angeles; that it was no different than his home city of Evergreen. It was just people, being people and trying to come to an end in their own ways. Its reputation may have preceded it, but that didn’t mean New Jersey was really all that of a bad place.

“Mister Beck. Wonderful to have you with us. Mister Lorraine is occupied with another client at the moment,” Adrian checked his watch to find that he was, in fact, fifteen minutes early, “but he will be out shortly. If you wouldn’t mind taking a seat and if you would like, we have an open breakfast buffet to trial members.”

Adrian found that odd. The fact that they were offering an open buffet to clients that may have ended up shutting down the offer. Come to see ghosts, stay for the breakfast. Adrian thought of a possible slogan that could have come with the situation and chuckled, “Thank you, Cynthia.”

Adrian entered the waiting area with a stern confidence that was unbefitting him. He was dressed in his usual shirt and jeans, most were dressed in full suit and tie, or dazzling dress. They no doubt bought into this idea far more than he did, but he wouldn’t let that get to him.

But he knew that wasn’t true, either. The seed of doubt had been planted in him now. What if they were looking for a more professional looking group of individuals? They couldn’t be. They were conducting tests based on items and apps that were meant to see ghosts, so would they even see Adrian again after he walked out of this office?

“God damn it.” Adrian mumbled, picking up one of the many Purgatech catalogs that lay on the coffee table. He browsed through it for a few minutes, while like a doctor’s waiting room, one by one the new clients were called into their various offices. The man dressed in his clinical white outfit, walking around the waiting room, bringing coffee, orange juice or various other items to indulge in while the testers waited.

They were definitely going all out on making everyone feel comfortable, Adrian noticed. Almost as if they were buttering up the clients to buy into a timeshare. More red lights came up but still, he waited for his turn and it came sooner than he could have expected. Adrian had only just finished browsing the catalog, taking his phone out and loading into the latest version of some bubble shooter game that he had gotten hooked on, from Eliza, when Cynthia walked up towards the door, announcing the next client.

“Adrian.” Her soft voice called, he looked up at her bright smile and couldn’t help but feel relief, “Mister Lorraine will see you now. If you would follow me.”

“Sure.” Adrian closed the app on his phone and jumped up, almost wanting to shout so long, suckers as he walked towards Cynthia, but he refrained. Among the lot of them, he felt like a king. They were the peasants here, hoping for a better future. He was here to debunk the fake nature that must have come with Purgatech and its wide array of goodies and gadgets.

Cynthia led Adrian up the stairs, turning right at the top and down a hall. From inside a few closed doors, he heard the salesmen trying to pitch Purgatech to their new clients. Behind a door, the door directly beside Joshua Lorraine’s office, Adrian overheard a conversation between a woman who was in tears and a Purgatech representative.

“I just want to see my little baby boy again.” She announced, between bouts of tears.

“We can make that happen.” The representative replied, further building on Adrian’s belief that this place took information offered and gave the client precisely what they wanted to see.

“Here’s mister Lorraine’s office.” Cynthia gestured to an open door, “He will be with you shortly.”

“Thanks.” Adrian walked into the office. Unlike the rest of the house, it was modern, with silver and white decorating the room. A desk, two chairs in the same color and a white comfortable desk chair behind. Apart from a single portrait, which was a family portrait of the original Elias family, with their baby girl I had (before she died) Adrian assumed, but by their grim expressions it may not have been so, and a bright red flower, with an almost translucent green stem in a vase breaking the colour scheme.

Adrian stood around awkwardly, not wanting to sit because he knew he would fumble the handshake when Joshua walked in. So he took the time to inspect the painting, rehashing yet another thought that struck him in his time here, “This place is like a damned hospital.”

“I assure you, Mister Beck, Purgatech is nothing like a hospital.” The voice came from behind, having gotten lost in the painting Adrian didn’t even notice that someone had entered the room.

“You heard that?” Adrian replied, half disappointed that he had said it, not letting up on his surroundings.

“I understand your discomfort. From the information I was given, I believe that you are not swayed on Purgatech and its products. I believe that by the end of this conversation and our in-house trials, you may be persuaded otherwise.” Joshua walked towards Adrian, extending a hand as he did, “Joshua Lorraine.” He announced.

“Adrian Beck,” Adrian took Joshua’s hand with a firm grip, “but you already knew that.”

“Take a seat, Mister Beck.” Joshua gestured over to a seat opposite his own, unbuttoning the top button of his suit, and took a seat himself.

“Call me Adrian,” Adrian replied, sitting down where pointed to.

“I would like to ask you about any concerns you may have in Purgatech before I give you the release forms to sign, before your trial.” Joshua started, straight to the point.

“Concerns? I just want to know what this place is all about. I want to know what you guys are doing. Hell, I need to know if you can actually give me what I want, without me giving you all the information in the world to construct what I’d like to see. I need to know that this is not just another sham, that’s going to dupe the people into believing your propaganda and inevitably having the same shitty life afterward.” Adrian spoke directly. He needed to know that when he came out of this trial, he would have everything he needed to communicate and get rid of the old hag that plagued him.

“I understand. Look, Adrian, we are not here to pull the wool over the eyes of our clients. We want them to experience the world as it really is and how we see it. The in-house trials are going to show that we are a legitimate organization. We supply our early trial users a myriad of equipment to take home so that they can further continue testing the products for another week. You don’t have to tell me a thing about what you’ve seen or what you’ve done, or what you want to speak with the dead for. All we really need is your signature on this piece of paper, taking away any implications that speaking with the dead will bring. You’re a wise man, being skeptical, but this is not just another get rich quick scheme. This is a truly innovative company that would like to watch the world benefit in the same way we have in the past and present.” Joshua replied, a calm, calculative method to his words and actions. Adrian took a moment, going over the waiver. It was another standard piece of paper, indemnifying Purgatech from any injuries or issues that may arise.

Adrian considered it, however. If this was real, his world could be turned upside down. If it was fake, there would be no issues. If it was something in between, it may have left him a little hazy, much like his first attempt at psychedelic drugs, bad trips, nausea and deep resentment for Eliza’s family home.

“Let’s do it then.” Adrian signed the piece of paper, “I can’t take off work for longer than a week, and I read that this was a necessity for the early test users. What happens with the given packages, once I’ve finished using them?”

“You can keep them.” Joshua said, standing up and walking towards the door, opening it for Adrian, “I do urge you, however, to not allow a spouse or loved one use the items. For the benefit of their, and your, piece of mind.”