by Shawn Keys
She spat on the ground, glaring at the empty space where the women had disappeared into. “not yet. I’m going to call up the files on those girls and take apart their whole life when I have a few spare minutes. See how smart they think they are once I’m through with them. Until then, we have more important fish to fry.”
Jack agreed. “Yeah, you’re right.” He consulted his computer. “They’re out of range. That means Hutchings is long gone as well.”
The nearest door rattled, and someone outside called out, “Hey, is everything alright in there?”
Jill frowned. “Come on. We need to walk before a crowd is in here asking questions.”
“What now?”
“Hopefully we can read Hutchings once we’re back online. Whatever he’s using to block the signal, it can’t be perfect. The satellites will catch blips now and then, I’m sure. Especially now that he’s out of this stupid barn. We should have just waited for him in the first place.”
“And if we can’t?”
Jill scowled. “That means he’s deliberately hiding his implant transmissions. Which means he is breaking the law. Gives us a little more latitude. Back to old school investigation. We check his house. His friends. We hunt the bastard down. No more soft touch. I’m going to hold him down myself and jam a CRAGG needle into him, then put a little fear of God into the little shit for ducking us like this. If the sterilization doesn’t take, I’ll neuter him.”
Chapter 7
Kyle didn’t stop running until he couldn’t hear the carnival. Trudging into a walk, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. A part of him wondered if he should shut it off. After all, the implant might be disrupted, but couldn’t the government track him on the phone or something? Or was that made up in the movies?
He swiped open his screen and was surprised to see Laura’s name as the sender. Perhaps a little too eagerly, he tapped open the message:
Laura || Do not take that shield off!
That was abrupt. Kyle’s concern rose a little. Up until now, this had been a bit of a game. He didn’t owe those creepy agents anything, especially after the way they broke up their sexy fun. He wasn’t going to lose any sleep over that. But why was Laura so frantic?
He tapped out a reply:
Kyle || Are you two alright?
Laura’s answer came fast, though the rest came at broken intervals, as if she was answering whenever she could while running from cover to cover:
Laura || They pulled a gun on us!
Kyle || What??? Serious???
Laura || Don’t think they cared about us. They kept asking about you. Not friendly!
Kyle || Are you alright?
Laura || Fine, Sweetie. But you won’t be if they find you! We’re trying to find some something to block our implants, but we have no idea what will work.
Kyle || I’m not even sure mine is working!
Laura || Think it is. I can’t see you when I search on the guy finder app…
Oh, there you are…
Gone again. You’re coming and going. That’s not safe!
Kyle cursed. If Laura’s app was picking him up, then the agents were going to be able to get a sniff. He seriously debated letting them find him. After all, if they were going to be assholes about this just to have a talk with him, what was the harm?
But they had pulled a gun on the girls! What was that about? More and more, he was beginning to think he only had half the story.
Moving a little more slowly, he made sure the impromptu shield was in place over his implant. Every time it slipped, the agents would probably get a fix on him. Better to go a little slower and stay more invisible. He angled off the road and started to cut across an open field. Better to stay where cars can’t get to me.
He texted Laura again:
Kyle || I need to find out if I broke any laws or something. Maybe they told my parents.
Laura || Don’t go home yet!
Kyle || I won’t. Just going to call. Find a safe spot. I’ll call you when I figure out what I’m going to do.
Laura || Stay safe! *kiss*
The kiss emoji gave him a small thrill, but Kyle didn’t have time to think about that sort of thing right now. He thumbed over to his phone app and dialed his mother’s cell.
She picked up after a couple rings. Neither urgent nor absent. Her voice was the same; no stress, but happy enough to hear from him. Normal. “Hi, Kyle.”
“Mom! I think I might be in a bit of trouble.” He blurted the answer, definitely not feeling normal.
“What happened?”
Kyle frowned. His Mom wasn’t a great actress and didn’t have a poker face. She wore her heart on her sleeve, and he thought that was great. He always knew where he stood with her. Unfortunately, this time it meant she probably didn’t have any answers. He asked anyway, “Did some FDPC agents stop by the house?”
“Oh, yes, a couple hours ago. They were looking to have that first chat with you. Did you meet up with them?”
Kyle answered fast, “Sort of.”
“Sort of? Kyle, you can’t mess around with the FDPC. They won’t tell you anything we haven’t told you a hundred times. Be careful. Fertility does not eliminate sexual diseases. It’s nothing!”
Kyle debated telling them about the guns. He believed Laura, but what would his mother say? Anybody in their right mind would tell him to stop and listen to what the agents had to say. But something in his gut was screaming at him that it was dangerous. Instead, he said, “I know, Mom. I get it. Look, I just wanted to know if they told you anything. Am I in any trouble? Did they look weird to you? Like… in a panic to talk to me? Or about to arrest me?”
His mother paused, remembering, then said, “They looked a little out of sorts, like they’d had a hard day. But they didn’t say anything about any trouble. They asked about you. About the family. Felt normal… though, I guess I’ve never been part of that sort of thing before, so I don’t know what normal would be. Steve was there, and he didn’t say anything about it afterward.”
Kyle thought that over. It only made the whole situation more confusing. Steve was already older than 20 when Persterim spread, so he wasn’t much help. Not to mention, his tests were positive and any interview he had would have been to break the news he would never have children. Not the same thing at all. That would have been long before the FDPC was created.
Neither of them had been told about Kyle breaking any law or being in trouble. If he was, the agents would have told them. It would make sense. Have his parents call him and try to talk him into surrendering himself. Maybe haul him away peacefully. Hell, if his mother said the right thing, Kyle might have agreed!
What the hell is going on?
“Alright, Mom. Thanks.” He hung up, and then just to be sure, he powered down his phone. He was really starting to get paranoid.
He was no social activist, and certainly had never chafed at being tracked every minute of his life. But right then, he would have chewed his arm off to be rid of the implant for a while. At least to figure out his options! He didn’t even care that it would cost him the chance to be marked as available to every woman he came across.
Which meant his options were limited, because there was only one person he knew who could offer a solution to this.
Or at least, she was the only one who would know who he could ask.
* * *
Jack rolled the FDPC SUV slowly down the road. There was no traffic on the side-street, so he was able to creep along while their eyes swept back and forth. “This was the location of the last ping. And his phone showed him walking through the park when it switched off.”
Jill nodded, peering out into the dark. “He’s obviously long gone. Alright, keep circling the area. We could stumble on him. I’ll keep combing the files for places he could hole up. I doubt he’ll go home. If he’s still blocking the implant, that means he actively trying to hide from us now. We’ve spooked him. But eventually, he’s going to get sloppy. He has no reason to think
his life is in danger, so he’ll let his guard down.”
The dash console lit up, and the sound of an incoming phone call chimed at them.
Jack glanced at the number. “It’s the boss.” The way he said it, he didn’t have to clarify which one. They had already sent off an operations report to their FDPC division chief regarding the afternoon shooting. There was no reason that chief would be calling.
Plus, there was the note of fear in Jack’s tone.
Jill tapped the ‘accept’ button, not about to keep their true boss waiting. “Good evening, Sir.”
“What, pray tell, is good about it, Niles?”
She would have objected, except she pretty much felt the same way herself. “We’ve had a few set-backs, Sir. But I anticipate within a couple hours, we’ll have tied up all the loose ends.”
“A couple hours? This was a simple baseline processing! You get one of these a month, maybe not even that often. We expect these to be handled quietly, even when lethal measures are required.”
Jill swore under her breath. No-one had seen them leaving the scene at the carnival, but apparently the gun shot had been reported after all. Jill said, “This is a small town in a generally liberal state, Sir. Anything that involves gunfire gets picked up pretty fast. The first target opened fire on us and gave no chance to de-escalate. As for the second, there have been some complications we didn’t expect. But we should be able to keep a lid on it.”
“See that you do. We’re at a sensitive time.”
Confused, Jack asked, “Sir?”
“I’m being pressured to insist on 100% lethal resolution of non-baseline anomalies. We knew it was coming.”
Jack growled, “If Persterim would be a little pickier, this wouldn’t be necessary.”
“Unfortunately, that is not yet an option. Our community’s leaders are not willing to be that patient. Your actions at the farm earlier have resonated a little higher than me. Some factions prefer to make bolder moves to scrape out the undesirable elements. I’ve been ordered to direct you to handle your other case with a little more finality.”
“We haven’t administered the baseline yet, Sir. And we do have CRAGG doses.”
“What part of my instructions did you not understand? Is it… or is it not… your assessment that this ‘Kyle Hutching’ will fail baseline?”
Jill gave the matter serious thought. As much as she was irritated with the kid, and half of her wanted to put a bullet in him the moment she saw him, her next words really would be sentencing him to death. She didn’t want to make a mistake.
But she believed in what they were doing. That was the only thing that mattered. And she knew what she had seen in his file. She wasn’t wrong. “At best, there is a 20% chance he’d pass based on random factors that we can’t see on the surface. He won’t make it.”
“Then make a statement. Try not to be wasteful, but you have my permission to use your discretion for levels of violence along the way. Cut out this cancer quickly. Top cover will be provided for your actions. Call me when it’s done.” The line went dead.
Jill sighed, then checked her weapon to make sure the tumble in the barn hadn’t done it any damage. “That makes things a lot easier.”
Chapter 8
Kyle hopped over the garden bushes and hoisted himself up on the front porch of Dazz’s family’s home. The veranda was large, extending across the whole front of their house. As he walked past the huge windows looking into the sitting room, he saw both of her parents sitting on their couch watching TV. This late at night, they wouldn’t be able to see much outside, but he was under the porch lights they left on. He waved, making sure they saw who it was to avoid startling them.
He tromped over to the front door and delivered a simple knock. No need for the doorbell; he heard their soft voices already coming for the front door.
Dazz’s father answered, though her mother had come to the archway of the sitting room to greet him. Her father was an excessively ordinary man. If you looked up ‘beige’ or ‘guy who sits in cubicle’ on the net, odds were better than average that a picture of Gordon Simmons would pop up. He wore a simple button-up shirt, covered by a thin sweater to ward off the chill inside the house that he kept economically cool. His hairline was receding, though not far enough to make a statement. He was a little thick around the middle, but not enough to be called obese. Even his irritation at having a friend of his daughter show up at this late hour was muted, “Oh, hello Kyle. A little late, isn’t it?”
Sally Simmons was a picture right out of the middle of the last century. Her blue dress was a little poofy, not quite a poodle skirt, and her falsely cheerful smile showed her teeth a little too much. “Isn’t your mother worried where you are?”
Kyle resisted the urge to scowl at her and say No, because I’m 20 and I don’t have a dysfunctionally controlling relationship with her. But that wouldn’t be polite. Instead, he focused on the point of being there. “Is Dazz home?”
Sally gave a little, “Hmmph!”, rolling her eyes. “I certainly hope so!” But there was uncertainty in her eyes. She knew Dazz snuck out pretty much whenever she chose, no matter how many times they threatened her or punished her for it.
Gordon added with a deliberate reminder, “Debra knows what is expected of her on school nights. And visitors are not allowed –”
From the top of the stairs, Dazz cut in. “– oh enough, Dad. Sweet fuck, you’d think he was an axe murderer.” She stomped halfway down the stairs and waved Kyle in. She was still dressed in her same clothes from school, which didn’t help in dealing with her conservative parents, especially her collar with its ‘I’m my own bitch’ motto pretty much spitting in the face of the house’s ‘no profanity’ rule. “Hey, you. You’re out late.”
Kyle shrugged. “Couldn’t be helped.”
Not about to be ignored, her father said grumpily, “I won’t have you swearing! And this is not the time for any visitors!”
Dazz rolled her eyes, then darted down the rest of the stairs and grabbed Kyle’s arm. “Like I said, not an axe murderer. Though he is all kinds of fertile, apparently. Maybe I’ll let him ravish me for a few hours! He can be my ticket out of this madhouse!” She started to drag Kyle toward the stairs.
Her parents traded severe glances, hands braced on their hips, looking extremely ‘parental’ and ready to bring the thunder down. But they also weren’t willing to do that in front of an outsider. That wouldn’t be ‘proper’. So, they let Dazz get away with her stunt, no doubt planning to let her have a blast of shit later.
Dazz hauled Kyle up the stairs and into her room. The transition in décor was rather abrupt. Outside, the hallways were dull brown, with muted off-white trimmings and paintings hung with unthreatening images of flowers and landscapes. Inside, the whole room was a riot of brash purples overlaid with rock band posters, brash slogans and printed-out memes covering every surface. Her bedsheets were covered with ‘Twisted Kitten’ cartoons, and her desk was overflowing with computer hardware that covered almost every conceivable function from hardcore programming to audio sampling to gaming.
Dazz flopped onto her bean-bag chair and waved in invitation at its twin near the center of the room. “Sometimes I wish they’d just scream at me. At least then I’d know they cared.”
Kyle sat down a little more carefully, letting the cushy material take his weight. “At least they noticed you.”
“Oh no! They noticed I was breaking their rules. That’s about the same level as a cat missing the litter box.” She shook her head. It was an old argument, and not going to be solved tonight. “Whatever. One day, they’ll find they have a pulse. Until then, screw ‘em. Why’d you come over? Figured Nathan would have you waist-deep in zombie brains by now.”
“He isn’t playing Toxic Wastelands III anymore.”
She pointed an accusing finger at him. “I already have to deal with the parental units down there. Don’t start up your nitpicking on me, too.”
Kyle smirked.
“He kicked me out.”
“Oh?”
“Chloe was home from Texas.”
“Oh?” A pause. “Oooohhhhhhhhhh…” She faded off, then laughed. “Dude, you can’t do that to him. He’d be right to kill you.”
“I know, I know. You would, too. You had first claim, right? You have had a crush on Chloe for years.”
Dazz sighed. “And I let it go because Nathan is such a good friend!”
“Uh huh. That’s why? I thought it was because what’s-his-name showed up over last summer and distracted you from your little obsession.”
“His name was Jerome, and he was here to learn English for the summer. You went to Europe, but Europe came to me. Just so happens he taught me a little French while he was here, if you get my drift.” She flashed Kyle a smile.
“Uh huh.”
“Speaking French takes a lot of tongue movement.”
“I got it, Dazz, thanks.” Ignoring her teasing grin, he waved that all aside. “Need your help.”
Shifting gears as he got down to business, Dazz pointed at his shoulder. “Does it have something to do with why you’re holding a piece of fucking-old metal painted with lead that you are getting all over my room? If I end up poisoned, I’m coming back to haunt you.”
“I’m surprised your parents didn’t notice.”
She shrugged. “Given the way I dress, I’m not sure they would think metal shoulder boards are all that weird.” She prodded him. “What’s the deal?”
“This is a piece of the walls from those old barns at the carnival. I found out whatever is in this metal disrupts cell signals, including the feed from my implant. Not perfectly, since the signal slips out once in a while if I’m not careful. But it does the trick.”