by J P Carver
“Great,” I said and gritted my teeth as he poured some across my stomach. The stench of it burned my nose, and I hissed in pain as he roughly wiped it away and began to apply the glue. He worked quickly, fingers nimble but not gentle as there wasn’t time. After a few minutes he stopped with a heavy sigh.
“Best I can do here. It should hold as long as we don’t do any more falling.”
I let out a breath and nodded. My teeth ached from all the clenching. “Not on my to-do list. We can’t really wait now, we need to find a way out.”
“Was thinking the same, I don’t actually expect Kay to come back for us.”
I shook my head. “No, she probably will try, but I think Lawrence is going to convince her otherwise. I don’t want to be waiting and then they never show.”
Marcus nodded and stood. “Okay, you ever seen a place like this?” He held out a hand to me and I took it. “It’s old, whatever it is.”
“Your powers of observation are astounding,” I said and got a shrug in response. “You said your neural is up?”
“Yeah, but like I said, not getting anywhere with it. Too basic.” He began to walk the circle of light and made his way to a pit of black in front of us. “We’re in part of the subway.”
“Probably abandoned, they’ve been restructuring the subway for years now.” I turned in place. “What shape are the tracks in?”
“Flooded.” He tossed a chunk of concrete in and a splash echoed in the tunnel. “Check the bag, see if there is a flashlight in it.”
I went to the bag and dug out the flashlight I saw before. I clicked it on and shined it down the dark areas of the room. It showed that both sides of the tracks were caved in and completely filled with water. The surrounding walls were peeling tile, piles of the broken white ceramic littered the floor. The only option I could see was a large gated stairwell. I walked over to it and peered up the stairs. It looked clear, save for other gates that glimmered in the faint light. “Looks like this is our way out.”
Marcus jogged over and pulled on the gate. It didn’t budge. “Unless you got a plasma torch or something, I don’t see how we’re getting out this way.”
“There’s an electronic lock.” I pointed to the little pad inset into the tile. “We can try cracking it.”
"With what? My neural won’t handle that and yours…" He fixed his gaze on me. "You’re not thinking of booting it now, are you?"
“I’m considering it,” I said and went to the panel. “Gonna be tough without my wire, but I think I can get into it still.”
“You remember what Merigold said?”
I nodded. “Of course, but I have to try something. What’s the worse that could happen?”
He didn’t laugh, and I didn’t really expect him to. “You already know.”
“Yeah, but I’m gonna do it anyway. Otherwise we wait and see if the rats decide to become our new best friends.”
“Ragan.”
“Don’t try it, buck-o. You don’t get to tell me what to do just because we kissed a bit.” He looked hurt, and I felt my entire body soften. “Look, I know you’re worried and I appreciate that, but what choice do we have?”
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do, I just want you to consider what you’re doing.”
“I have.”
He shook his head and licked his lips as he turned from me. “All right. Let’s do it over under the lights so I can try to save you if shit goes wrong.”
I placed a hand to his shoulder. “It’ll be fine.”
“I hope so.”
“You’re supposed to be the positive one, Marcus.” I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and walked off to the light. “We both can’t only see the bad in everything.”
“Guess I’m hanging around you too much, you’ve colored my perspective.”
“Ha-ha,” I said and gave him the finger.
Eight
Reboot
“Ready?” I asked. Marcus sat across from me, worry wrinkling the skin round his eyes. He wanted to argue again, but he just nodded. “Okay, then here we go.”
I reached to my neck and found the tiny bridge they had inserted there. With a tug it popped out and a shock ran through my nerves. My muscles seemed to contract on their own until they became pained and my limbs shook. This lasted for maybe fifteen seconds, but it felt like hours as the shock worked its way through my body. When it settled I opened my eyes to see Marcus cradling me in his arms.
“So?”
“Just removed the block. Still gotta try booting,” I said and sat up. “I’ll start with the super basic stuff, if that goes to shit then there is nothing else to do.”
I accessed the boot controller and my eyes watered as the text appeared across them. Status check came back nominal. I bit my lip and set it to boot into the OS and watched as text scrolled across the lens. No errors appeared and in a blink the user interface of my neural blurred into existence. I couldn’t help the grin. “Basics are up and running.”
"So you're good?"
he asked, his hands tightening on me.
“Mostly, the next test is the implants.” I booted them one by one. The entire process took almost a half an hour and felt like it took years off my life. Every time I started a new implant I was sure it would be the one that fried everything. Booting the connection interface caused a host of errors to scroll across my vision, but the neural could compensate and removed references for the missing wire.
My medical implant kicked in and dosed me because of the loss of blood and the open wounds. The status readout appeared, and it pointed to my stomach and arm with bullet points on both. Marcus was completely right according to the medi-implant, the wound on my stomach had started to pull apart, but his work was holding. The implant complained about a bunch of smaller stuff and once it finished having its say I could move on from it.
“I think… I think we're good,” I said and leaned back against Marcus. “The medi-implant is reporting some damage to nerves, but none that crucial and it gave me the same info you did about my stomach. We should be fine from here.”
“No errors?”
“A few here and there. I’ll get Merigold to look through them and clean them up.” I sat up from him. “I don’t think we need to worry about it.”
He sighed deeply and laid on the ground, an arm going across his eyes. “Oh man, I was sure it’d screw something up.”
I reached over and took his hand that laid next to my leg. “To be honest, I expected something too, which means something else will go to shit. Probably something worse.”
He peaked an eye out. “I think the possibility of you frying your brain is as bad as it could get.”
“It’s up there, but there are lots of other things.”
“I’m not going to ask you tell me what those are.” He rolled to his feet. “Let’s get out of here, huh?”
“Yeah, sounds like a plan.” I got up as he picked up the bag. I followed him to the pad, and he helped me get the case off of it.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I said and tossed the cover across the floor.
“What?”
I grumbled and cursed as I pulled wires and positioned them in different spots on the circuit board. A small spark and the gate rattled open. “They didn’t actually upgrade it, just created a casing that made it look like they did, the bastards.”
Marcus stared at me, mouth open. “You mean… we went through booting up your neural… that you could have died and all we had to do was--”
“Yeah.”
He stared to laugh, so hard that tears streamed down his cheeks as he fell back against the wall, his arms tight across his stomach. I felt my laughter bubble up as I pinched his arm. “What’s so damn funny?”
“No—nothing, just—I don’t know. It’s just so stupid and I was so stressed about you not making it… it’s just funny now.”
I cracked and laughed with him. “Guess it is. Come on, you jackass, let’s get out of here.”
“Noted,” I said and started up the stairs and into the gloom.
We came out in what must have been a ticket station and could hear trains running above us in rumbling waves. The place was eerie; the darkness seemed to cling to walls, creating pits down hallways that our flashlight couldn’t quite break apart. I scanned the area with my neural and got a basic map. There were more gates ahead, but I wasn’t sure where those hallways would lead us.
“Why do we keep ending up in creepy places, doll? First that windmill with all the words in flames, and now an empty subway. I’m waiting for some cat-like creature to burst through the ceiling.”
“Why a cat-like creature?”
“Cats are weird, they’re like owls with those glowing eyes at night. Creeps me out.”
“Good to know,” I said and shined the flashlight on the walls, hoping for some sign to tell us which way was out.
“Great… you’re going to use that against me at some point.”
“Yup,” I said and paused at a dust-covered sign which I wiped off. “Charlotte Ave. That’s near the restaurant, is’t it?”
“Yeah, I think two or three streets over. Makes sense why they closed this one down, probably just put a rail to bypass it.”
Something clanged in the distance, like someone knocked a can over. Marcus and I both froze.
“Goddamnit, you and your giant feet. Gonna make me piss myself if you keep knocking shit over.”
“You know what they say about a guy with big feet.”
“That they trip over everything? Cause that’s all you’ve been doing.”
“It’s dark, girl, and you won’t let me handle the flashlight.”
Marcus looked at me with a grin. “Guess they came back for us.”
“I’m surprised they both came,” I said and pointed my flashlight toward the sound of a gate opening. Two people stood at the top of the stairs, their faces and clothes smudged with dust and dirt. Kay grinned at me and stumbled down the stairs. She regained her footing just before she hit me with a hug that knocked me back into Marcus.
“What are you doing up here?” she asked breathlessly as her arms tighten. “I told you to wait, didn’t you trust me?”
“Sure, but you know me, I hate waiting around.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Marcus said, and I elbowed him. “What happened to the droopers?”
“They’re having a gang-bang in the building, filling vans with addicts and kids that were just around. We got out of there just in time,” Lawrence said. He was still on the stairs, his hands in his pockets. “But that don’t mean there weren’t a risk coming for you. Let’s get going, girl, before they start sweeping the streets for peeps like us.”
"Yeah, yeah, we’re coming." Kay took my hand and pulled me along behind her. "I got another crash spot a few blocks away, should be safe enough until the traffic dies down."
“We ain’t bringing them,” Lawrence said, his brows heavy over his eyes. “We already done enough.”
“Why you think you get a say? It’s my damn place, just like the last one. You don’t like it, Busta, then you go find your own place.”
He sneered and spat on the floor. “Whatever. Your ass if we get caught cause they slow us down.”
“It usually is,” she said as Lawrence started up the steps. “Look, should only be an hour or two before they move on and you guys can get away.”
“I appreciate it, Kay. Really.”
"Nah, we good. But maybe I could get something more for some information I got off Busta on our way here?" She pulled me up the steps, her hand tight around mine. Marcus trailed behind by a few feet.
“What do you want?”
Kay made a show of tapping her chin as we stepped onto the landing. She fought a smile for a few seconds and then nodded. “I know you’re a big time computer cracker now, so I’d like you to crack something for me.”
“What?”
"It’s about my little brother, okay? Remember him?" I nodded slowly, her brother was about seven years younger than her and she took care of him all his life. "Well, he got himself caught up with this bitch and… she put him in the hospital for three days last time they had a minor fight. He won’t leave her, but I know her, she was one of my clients and she got a temper even without the drugs. Now she’s come sniffing around me for some freebies and…"
“And you’re worried the next minor fight they have won’t end with him just in the hospital,” I said and she nodded. “I’m sorry, really, but I don’t see how I can help that.”
“You can change stuff, right? Make computers say stuff that ain’t true? The cops don’t do anything, arrested him before when he reported her for attacking him. Get her a warrant for drugs or something. You can do that, can’t you?”
I blew out a breath. “Maybe, the police database isn’t as tight as CES, but I don’t think I can promise anything. Besides, if he loves her he’ll just get back with her when she gets out.”
She shook her head. “Nah, I’m gonna knock sense into him without her around to get him hooked again. That boy ain’t gonna go my route, promised mom that when she died. Even if I gotta put him in the hospital myself, he’ll see reason. He’s gonna finish schooling even if he’s in a full body cast.”
“How would that help anything?” Marcus chimed in and Kay and me both looked over. “Nevermind.”
“I’ll see what I can do, shoot me her info and I’ll do some digging,” I said and Kay clapped her hands with a tiny giggle. “Shh, what did you get out of Busta?”
“This.” She handed over a scrap of paper. Written on it was a sequence of numbers and an email address. “Took it out of his wallet while he was arguing about coming to get you. Had to be a bit persuasive to get him to come, so he didn’t notice.” She rocked on her heels, looking between the paper and me. “It’s something, right?”
I nodded and held it up so Marcus could see. “What do you make of it?”
“Encryption key? They’re usually longer than that,” he said as he scanned the numbers. “No… it looks like it might be a code.”
“A code? For what?” I asked and Marcus snatched the paper from my hand.
“Dunno, I can’t see a pattern. We can search the email address and see if it comes out anywhere.” His lips moved as he read the sequence again. “Why does this feel so familiar?”
“Cause you think you know everything?” I said and Kay chuckled. “Give it back, we can look at it once we’re out of here.”
He handed it over. “I don’t think I know everything.”
“Yes you do, but it’s cute,” I said and caught Kay’s eye.
“She’s right, it’s pretty damn cute since you’re an idiot.”
“Wow,” Marcus said looking between us. “Just… wow. You two are mean when you’re together.”
“I’m mean all the time,” I said.
“I’m not, she just brings out the worst in me,” Kay said and ran off before I could smack her. “Come on, kiddos, let’s get out of this hellhole.”
“After you,” I said to Marcus, and he took a step back.
“Yeah right, like I’m turning my back on you.” He gently shoved me forward. I laughed, and we followed Kay back to the surface.
I glanced toward the sky while following Kay into a building. The clouds were grey and thick and seemed to bring more cold with them. I shivered in my jacket as we climbed the steps toward the third floor. The place was still intact for the moment part, mostly just dust and graffiti. It was damn cold though.
Kay led us down a dark hall, her flashlight the only light. She stopped at one of the rooms near the end of the hall. She pulled a key from under her shirt and unlocked the door with a quick look at Lawrence. We filed into the room and the lights flickered on.
It looked a lot like my place, one large room split into three
by movable partitions. A kitchen with a fridge that could barely be called such was in the corner. A couch, coffee table, and two chairs sat in front of a fireplace that looked like they had actually used it in the last ten years. At the other end, a corner of a bed peeked out from behind the wall, stained and torn and looking surprisingly comfortable after the day we had. I suspected Marcus and I would deal with the couch, which wasn’t so bad.
Kay went to the other side of the living room to where a covered omni system sat. She removed the sheet and sat down at it, tapping a few keys. She leaned back in the chair and looked at us. “They’re sweeping like Busta said. We’re gonna be here for a bit if it snows again.”
“It is,” Lawrence said with a thumb toward the window. “Hate this goddamn time of year.”
“Just because you aren’t a jolly fellow, Busta,” Kay said, but Lawrence ignored her. “You guys hungry? Got some meals here, we can warm them over the fireplace.”
“You have a working fireplace?” Marcus asked.
“Damn straight I do, cutie. You know how romantic it is to bang in front of a fire?”
Marcus tried to fight a smile as his lips went thin. “No, can’t say I do.”
“Oh, you haven’t lived. Maybe you could try later.” The grin she sent me made my skin warm as my thoughts drifted to the idea. I couldn’t look at Marcus and instead focused on her.
“How about we get some food and take it easy? We’ll be out of your hair soon, anyway,” I said.
“Not soon enough,” Lawrence said. He stood at the fridge, pawing his way through the items. “No beer here again?”
“You drank it all last time. You want beer and you can go get it.”
“Bitch,” he said and slammed the fridge door.