What do I have to say about Chicago? I don’t know, its about as real as New York seemed. So basically, it felt fake as well. But let me tell you about Frank and Sherry and the other people I met. Maybe that will give you a better picture of what I was dealing with. Or maybe who they were dealing with?

Frank had his Tesla shipped to Chicago. I am serious, he really did! He would not part with that car even though he could have just bought another one as soon as we were on the ground in the windy city. He had the money and the means. Hell, he could have had it delivered to him, air freshener hanging off the mirror and all! If you had that kind of money, wouldn’t you? Why deal with inconvenience if you don’t have to. But I guess Frank wasn’t like that. He didn’t like change or having to deal with anything new. He wasn’t like me or you, right?

So instead, Frank paid some service he found on the internet to drive his roadster to our hotel in downtown Chicago. And all this after telling me we could just walk away and leave everything behind. Which, by the way, I did… kind of. I sort of had a service box up my apartment and put it all in a local storage facility. Hey, you never really know the future, right? Always have a plan B, am I right? Trust me you’ll get it the more you read this. Contingency plans are important.

“I called them, don’t worry,” Frank said to me as we drove over to the High Castle Corporation in his Tesla. He had that uncanny smile that said, hey kid we’re okay! But were we?

We had flown in Tuesday night. They could not meet with us Wednesday, but Frank assured me that we could swing by Thursday. Someone would talk to us about applying for a job. It was a pretty nice day in Chicago, a little windy, buy you know… it’s Chicago!

“What was her name?” I quizzed him. You never knew with Frank. He could have just been pacifying me, so I wanted to make sure everything was on the level.

“Her name is Sherry,” his smile was so slick. “Don’t worry JR, you’ll like her!”

I think a bug got in my hair. I hated convertibles. It was too nice of a day and Frank refused to put the top up. “I don’t like this town. It’s too windy.”

“You’re so cynical!” Frank said. “You’ll grow to love it.”

“Not the wind!” I was determined to hold on to that one.

“Yes, even the wind!” He had to yell because of the rushing wind. “I love it already! To Hell with New York! Am I right?”

“You’re easy Frank. You love everything,” I sulked.

“Give it time, you’ll love it! Trust me!”

“The sun always shines for you, doesn’t it!?” I told him.

“It’s all up here my friend,” he said tapping his temple. His sunglasses hid his crow’s feet. His smile never faded. “It’s all up here!”

I stared up at the sky. The strange blue sky and thought that nothing had been real since I woke up the other day. I didn’t feel like myself. This world seemed outlandishly perfect and outrageously flawed at the same time.

What the heck! I said to myself. Just go with it! Do as Frank does and just go with it! It would feel good to be that free from the paranoia and anxiety.

I noticed that we were heading into the south side, the neighbourhood was going downhill fast. There seemed to be a lot of empty buildings, housing units and warehouses, even a burned out and boarded up strip mall! Where was this place? I began to wonder when suddenly a building rose before us.

“This is the place,” Frank stated.

It was a stout sprawling five story building that looked like it pushed its way up through the surrounding concrete and shouldered the other buildings aside violently. They cantered away frightened by the presents of such a surprising building. It wasn’t built as much as it grew in place. The other structures looked like they were about to crumble, while The High Castle Corporation looked vibrant and out of place compared to its environs.

Somehow it looked both old and new at the same time. The building itself was at least a hundred years old, but someone had taken care to restore it properly giving it a whole new glass facade. The parking lot looked freshly paved with its crisp clear lines. The whole building looked alive in a barren landscape.

“This can’t be it!?” I questioned. I looked over at Frank in all seriousness.

“This is it,” Frank reassured me that smarmy smile of his wasn’t going anywhere.

“Look at this!? Everything else around here is dead. How can this be the place?” I questioned. I think my anxiety level had reached an all-time high. Somebody please, take my blood pressure! I think I’m having a stroke!

“I’ve been here before. This is definitely the place,” Frank said confidently.

It did not answer my question, but Frank never would. We would have to go inside and see for ourselves. We parked up front, like we had our own spot reserved. I got out and looked up at the building, still somewhat impressed. The building just didn’t seem real, more like a mirage and we were crossing a large desert. Now that I thought about… I was thirst.

“Will there be drinks?” I questioned.

“There will be our whole future in there,” Frank assured me.

“You didn’t answer the question,” I pointed out.

“There will be drinks, if you wish it!” Frank chuckled.

“Don’t you ever give straight answers?” I demanded.

Frank laughed some more. We went in through the front doors.

Frank had been right. Sherry was very nice… and she had drinks! She was a short strawberry blonde, but she had this smile on her that just set you at total ease. She was polite and pleasant. If I had to guess, I would have said she wasn’t a day over thirty. The perfect face for a corporate introduction. She made you trust the company and everything they were doing.

We started the interview right there at the front desk. They had a large open hall filled with light from the massive windows that fronted the building’s entrance. There were a couple of leather sofas arrange so everyone could sit and talk. Sherry stood in the center of them, awaiting us. Bottled water sat on the table. If we were late, she never mentioned it. Neither had Frank.

Did I say this was an interview? That was completely wrong of me. It was obvious from the beginning that we already had the jobs. I did not even know what mine was exactly, but I had it. This whole process was more of an introduction and not even a formal one at that. I wore a suit and tie, an expensive one, but I felt overdressed. Frank had worn kakis and a buttoned polo shirt. He had a roguish smile. Sherry had a winning smile and I? Well, I just looked uneasy.

“The company owns the whole building. All five floors and all the businesses in this building are branches of the corporate enterprise,” Sherry explained. “No outside companies are allowed on the premises. Security is a top priority here.”

She took us on a tour after the initial introductions. The first two floors were the human genetics research facility and did it ever impress. It was like something straight out of the movies with state-of-the-art equipment everywhere. It was like they had an unlimited budget… or a really good props department!

Two floors of cutting-edge genetic science. When people came in, government inspector, investors, whoever; this was what they saw. I got the feeling it was designed to astound people. Not that the equipment sat idle. There were people in lab coats everywhere and they looked busy.

“Is this the company’s only location?” I asked. I hadn’t said much. I felt like I needed to engage in some sort of conversation or Frank would dominate. Besides, I knew only what Frank had told me, which amounted to diddly squat.

“Oh no,” Sherry replied with that winning smile again. I could get lost in that smile. “We have five other locations.” She thought for a second to recall them. Then ticked them off on her fingers. “There is Miami, L.A., Toronto, New York and Mexico City.”

“They are an international company,” Frank added.

“Wait! Did you say, New York?” I spoke to Sherry, but I looked to Frank, expectantly.

“Yes,” Sherry replied she held up her hands in mock defense. “I know what you are thinking. It’s one of our smaller labs and it doesn’t have the pharmaceutical wing as this one does. Sorry guys, but we just didn’t have any opening at that facility for you.”

She sounded sincerely apologetic. I swear! It was so surreal she seemed honestly disappointed that we had to come all the way to Chicago to take the job. What a PR rep she could be! I actually felt bad I had said anything. Of course, the term pharmaceutical is how they referred to the controlled substances lab.

“I assure you, Chicago is exactly where we want to be,” Frank told her.

“Yes, of course,” I chimed in.

“I think you will both like it here,” Sherry said. “Once you get accustomed to the place.”

Her twinkling eyes and pearl white teeth were all I need to know that leaving New York had been the right choice.

“Why don’t I show you some more of the building,” she suggested. “The genetic lab is so technical and boring. Let’s move onto the third floor shall we.”

Reaching the end of a long hallway we had found an elevator which took us up to the third floor. She had not told us what was on the other floors, so I was completely surprised by what we found.

The third floor was a series of modern apartment. I kid you not, Apartments! About eighteen in all, nine on each side of the building. I thought I saw balconies halfway up the building from the outside, but I was sure I must have been having a delusion of some kind. I had not been, go figure.

“Only half of the apartments are current occupied, so we can actually tour one if you like?” Sherry queried.

I jumped at the chance. Frank did not seem to care one way or the other, but this place was full of surprises, and I wanted to see just what an apartment here looked like.

“Who actually lives here?” I asked as Sherry open the door to a place at the end of a long lemon-yellow hallway.

The apartment was a large open-concept type place. There was only one large bedroom. The place was already furnished and looked like an expensive designer store had exploded. Overall, it wasn’t as impressive as I thought it might be.

“These apartments are mostly filled by fellow employees, but we reserve a few places for visitors and head office types,” she said.

“This isn’t the head office?” Frank questioned. It was the first time he looked surprised by something she said.

I noted that the balcony was small and had a view of a dilapidated building across the street. I think I had the same view back in New York, minus the balcony of course.

“No,” she said. “L.A. is the actual headquarters. This is a bigger operation though.”

The only thing that impressed me about the apartment was the size. It must have been twelve hundred square feet or more! My apartment in New York was half that and I paid a fortune for it.

“Like I said, we have apartments available, and they are offered only to employees,” Sherry reiterated. “Do you two have a place to stay already?”

I said no and Frank said yes simultaneously.

I stared at him. “How the hell do you have a place already!?”

“I know a guy that has a penthouse available downtown,” Frank said somewhat reluctantly.

“A penthouse!?” I exclaimed. “We don’t even know how much money we will be making!?” I looked to Sherry who looked at everything accept me. “Do we?”

“I was already offered half a million, a year, starting salary,” Frank stated. “Remember, I told you they tried to recruit me once before.”

“What!?” I said stunned. I looked from Frank to Sherry.

She nodded. “Plus, benefits and a pension. Everything is official here.”

“What will I be making as Frank’s assistant?” I asked.

“Well, that’s a little different,” Sherry said delicately. “We only need one cook right now. We got you a job in quality control with one of our new designer drugs.”

“What the hell!?” I exclaimed.

“You’ll be making two hundred and fifty grand. Same as before and you can go places here,” Frank said. “There’s vertical movement.”

“You already knew all this, and you didn’t say anything!?” Some friend! I thought.

Frank just shrugged like it was out of his control. It probably was, although he had worked a pretty sweet deal for himself, I noted.

Sherry nodded and flashed me that smile again. “And you get the same benefits and pension plan as Frank. And it’s all legitimate as far as the government is concern these are real registered jobs. You pay taxes and you have a job in biotech. You don’t need to hide your money, run from the law or live in fear.”

I stormed around the room in silence for a few moments, but I really had nothing be upset about. These people were giving me a high paying job, knowing next to nothing about me accept that I was Frank’s friend. I had to say overall I was very impressed with this company so far.

Finally, I said. “How much is one of these apartments?”

“For our employees, they are only five hundred a month,” Sherry stated.

I was dumbfounded. My apartment back in New York was five times that! I felt like throwing up, but I held back and said in an anger voice. “I’ll take it!”

Sherry merely nodded her approval and marked something down on her clipboard.

Just like that I had a furnished apartment. A little closer to work that I would have liked, but the price was right. New York was looking like garbage compared to this place, which did raise some suspicion for me at least. Still, I had to admit it, if only to myself, that Chicago was looking better and better by the moment. But there was no way I was ever going to tell Frank that.

“You see,” Frank said smoothly. He draped his arm over my shoulder as we walked out of the apartment and headed for the elevator. “I told you, everything was going to work out for us. I have a great feeling about this place!”

“This is too good to be true,” I shot back. I still was not total convinced. “There has to be a catch. There always is!”

“You and your sense of humour!” Frank said jovially.

We entered the elevator and proceeded to the next floor to find out just how strange this place could get. It turned out to be very strange indeed.

This next part you need to pay close attention too, got it? Good.