Snowden finally told him to show up at the Pentagon in ten days. Mission said he wanted a neutral site and they eventually agreed on Paradox. Unfortunately, Chandler Hunt said he would have Mission arrested if he set foot on the premises. Fortunately, Professor Matlin felt differently and set aside a room for him.
Mission sat in the room and considered it's interior. A nice enough place, a conference table for eight, and a medium sized vue screen. More than adequate. The door opened and Matlin's assistant showed General Snowden in along with two other military types. The General did not offer his hand, but nodded in his direction and said, "Mission. These are two of my staff, Captain Rainey and Lieutenant Priest."
Mission nodded at the two of them. Both of them displayed the proud carriage of a professional soldier. Rainey went out of her way to de-emphasize the fact that she was a woman. Her expression was severe. She carried a notebook and seemed impatient that the meeting hadn't started yet. Priest looked to be the young, energetic type, eager to do things right, eager to seek advancement, eager to see some combat. His head was virtually shaved and Mission bet he worked out twice a day. Boo-yah!
They sat down with Mission on one side of the table and the three officers on the other. Snowden sat in the center of his side of the table and Rainey and Priest flanked him.. They each scooted their chairs away from Snowden. Uneasiness flagged Mission's consciousness, but he had a meeting to conduct.
The General looked at him and said, "Well? This is your meeting. What the hell do you want?"
Mission looked at him for several seconds and said, "First of all, I want you to tell me that Carson's not a part of all this."
"You're really going to have to back up, Mission. What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying that you commissioned the combat syns. Your own little idea about securing Planet's Row?"
Snowden shook his head. "Mission, I know things are going badly for you right now, but you ... "
"You know what put me on the trail? Tanya. Why would she panic in the boardroom? She's a calm, logical syn. It's because you knew her secret and she knew you had the proof. She thought you were going to serve her up as a sacrifice. But that wouldn't be enough to make a case, until I remembered what you said. About this being of the utmost urgency. That's really strange. Utmost urgency, but you let one officer struggle with it for six months with no help at all. That's why I figure Carson to be innocent. He kept tugging at it and you knew you couldn't get him to stop."
Snowden smiled. "What a wonderful line of conjecture. Who in the hell would believe this crap?"
Mission smiled even more. "You mentioned that things aren't going my way. So bad in fact, that I'm willing to risk it all. I'll send reports to your superior Major General Steele, the President, and all the international news services. Some info might get me charged with treason. But some will be fit for public dissemination. Enough I think to see you rot in military prison and to see your whole operation exposed. Call my bluff. I have nothing to lose."
Snowden leaned across the table. "You didn't come here to accuse me. What do you want out of this?"
"I want the Army to make a monetary settlement to Pioneer and turn over the custom video chips and combat programming. All within a week. Concurrent with that, you retire and everyone walks away fat and happy."
Snowden shook his head. "You really are insane. You need help before you pull a life sentence for treason."
As Mission leaned back from the table, he noticed that Rainey and Priest moved even further away from the General. The uneasiness resurfaced to explode into his mind. He recognized the maneuver that made it impossible to cover both of them at the same time. Mission jumped out of his seat as the two of them made their move.
Mission, taking a page from Tanya Ricci, brought the table up with him and flipped it to the right to blanket Priest, but he used a single thrust of his right hand to cut the table in half. At the same time, Rainey slung a chair out of her way and into the wall to disintegrate on impact. They were both syns. Mission wheeled in a near 180 as he snapped off two shots. The first hit Rainey square on the bridge of her nose. The impact threw her against the wall and her face burned as she screamed. The second shot, directly into his right eye, caught Priest as he charged. The ion shot touched his brain and he flew across the room, directly into Rainey, slamming her back into the wall. Priest's motor systems went crazy, digging the skin off Rainey and tearing up the wall behind her.
Priest stopped still and Rainey, her eyes scorched blind, cut him in half with one swing of her arm to step free back into the room. She screamed intense rhythmic bursts of high pitched mayhem. She swung her arms madly and Mission moved back and forth, trying to position himself for a final shot.
Rainey moved closer to Snowden and as he tried to move away, her right arm caught him at the juncture of his neck and jawline. The force threw him to the ground, a broken and lifeless doll.
She moved closer to Mission as he fired shot after shot. He burned the hell out of her, but didn't stop her. In desperation, her dove under her arms and snatched her ankle with his left hand. The 20,000 volts completed their circuit and Rainey's life along with it.
Mission stood up and wondered what in the hell was happening. Then he realized the smoke from the burning skin set off the sprinklers in the room. He couldn't believe it. Two killer syns down and he didn't suffer a scratch. He looked at Snowden's blank eyes and broken neck. Bastard. Probably better for everyone. Better than the disgrace of a court martial. Better for the Army. They would release a PR statement and come away smelling like roses. But now he needed to talk to General Steele. No! Even worse! Now he needed to talk to Chandler Hunt.
62
Chandler Hunt gnashed his teeth and they showed strikingly white against his purple face. He stabbed his finger at the Professor and said, "I told you I never wanted him at Paradox again. So naturally you lend him our conference room. Which he shoots a dozen times with a blaster. What in the hell is going on here?"
Professor Matlin said, "Now Chandler, you need to reevaluate your entire attitude toward this ... "
Mission stood up, soaking wet from the sprinklers and said, "Professor, if I may. I know this is an emotionally charged moment, so if we could all just step back and I’ll try to set the tone for this meeting. Chandler, I say this from the bottom of my heart. Fuck you!"
Chandler rose to his feet screaming, but he couldn't shout over Mission who yelled, "You sold me out, you whiney little bitch! As long as I bailed your ass out of an ugly situation, I was your man. Then the minute the Army squeezed the least little bit, you threw me in the garbage heap and asked if anyone knew who I was."
He sat down and wiped off some water trickling down his forehead. He pointed at Chandler and said, "You owe me $60,000 a piece for those syns and I want the transfer effected before I leave this building." He patted his shirt pocket and said, "Mini-cam. Been dying to try it out. The headlines will look great. Paradox Synthetics Murder General Jeremy Snowden."
Chandler said, "Fine. Walk to accounting, get your blood money and get out right now."
Mission's stare narrowed to the focus of a laser beam. "You idiot, you just don't get it. This is my meeting, and if you don't sit down and play by my rules, I'll take this company away from you and push it into the ocean. I'll drink beer and laugh while it sinks under the tide."
Mission pushed his chair back and propped his feet up on the table. He extended his index finger. "First, I want Montag back here to help by tomorrow morning. Second, he and your assistant Paul will search the financials until they uncover the links between the military expenditures and the combat syn modifications."
"Third, I will settle the matter of the renegade synthetic commune in the Free Zone for compensation from Paradox which I will enumerate. Fourth, I will propose and then negotiate terms of a final and binding settlement between Paradox, Pioneer, New Angeles, and the United States Army."
He stood up to leave and said, "And Chandler. If I fe
el like it, I'll park in your space. Now walk me to accounting."
Chandler started to speak and Mission cut him off, shaking his head. He patted his shirt pocket for effect. “Synthetics assassinate Army General. How far up in government and industry does the trail lead? How much did Chandler Hunt know and when? Again, walk me to accounting.”
That evening, Mission reclined on the sofa with a beer in his hand. He heard the computer make a query but Susan handled it and he paid no further attention. Then the doorbell rang and Susan called from the other room, asking Mission to open the door.
As he turned the knob, he saw Carson standing there, then his right cross exploding in his face, and finally, Carson jumping on top of him, banging his head rather methodically against the floor.
"You son of a bitch. You set him up behind my back and then killed him in cold blood."
Susan snaked her arm around Carson's neck and with a violent twist she pulled him off Mission and onto the floor. She screamed, "What the hell is it with you two? Didn't you get enough phys-ed in grammar school?"
Carson brushed himself off and pointed at Mission. "He murdered the General."
Mission screamed. "You know me Car. You know I don't do it that way. Sit down and I'll tell you what happened."
Once Mission went through the narrative, Carson said, "And to think I called you a friend. Don't you think this would be a lot easier to believe if you had come to me up front?"
"You're an investigator, Carson. If the roles were reversed, would you come to me? You know you wouldn't. One, because I might be involved. Two, because I'm so damned loyal to my boss that I might tip him off, just because I'm positive he's innocent."
Mission thumped the coffee table for emphasis. "You know you would have played it the way I did."
You're a bastard, Mission."
"Yeah, well luckily the situation called for one. I didn't want him to die. I asked him to retire, which really let him off too easy.” Mission felt his nose to see if it was broken. It wasn’t but it still made him wince.
Carson had his head in his hands. “It makes no sense.”
He looked up and his expression begged for understanding. “You guys saw him in the meetings. He was aggressive in forcing Paradox to admit that a combat model was possible, in identifying the trail of the 300 altered syns. He pushed for us to build the team to investigate NA.”
They were all silent. Then Susan looked up. “The teacher. The General commissioned the combat models, but he never counted on a teacher that turned them rogue.”
Now Mission looked up. “Could be. Now he has a situation, these super assassins that he can’t control. The three of us were his ticket out. We handle the mess for him.”
He looked at Carson and nodded. “It fits.”
Carson had his face back in his hands. “…Maybe. I don’t know….Maybe.”
They watched him for a few moments. Mission nodded toward Carson and said, “ I still call you my friend."
Carson rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Yeah, well maybe someday, I can say the same about you."
"I still need you for the Winwood."
"Don't worry about that one. I'll do that for selfish reasons."
Susan wore a look of suspicion. "What's this about the Winwood? You've discovered the connection with the combat models."
Mission looked at her and said, "Yes, but there's unfinished business there. Business that I’ll settle."
Susan shook her head. "I suppose I'd take this personally if I didn't know you've always carried a death wish. When did you plan to talk this over with me?"
"Well, a little bit later than right now."
She got up and started out of the room. "Carson's right, you are a bastard."
As she reached the door to the bedroom she whirled around and said, "Suddenly my day at work makes sense. Chandler burst into my office with the Professor trailing behind. Hunt told me that if I didn't put you on a leash and keep you the hell away from Paradox, I could look for another job."
Mission shook his head. "He's the one with the death wish. What did you say?"
"I said that you were responsible for your actions and if he has a problem with you, he should talk to you."
Mission beamed and she said, "Wipe that grin off your face or I'll hold you down while Car kicks you.... Then I told him if he presumed to interfere with my private life, he could have my resignation. At that point, the Professor pulled him out of the room. About three hours later, Chandler called and apologized. Profusely."
"And you said?"
"I told him it was perfectly alright, and then I may have said something about little boys and their egos."
Mission looked around the room and sighed, "This has been a very long day. What if I take us out to dinner? We can relax, have some good food, wash it down with a few drinks."
Carson slowly shook his head. "Not tonight."
As they watched Carson walk away, Mission slipped his hand into Susan's and she eventually decided to accept it. As they headed toward Susan's aircar, Mission felt like they finally turned the corner.
63
Things changed dramatically. Now Mission spent thousands of minutes on the com while he sat on the sofa drinking and smoking cigarettes. Susan walked into the kitchen and Mission realized something was out of place.
"Susan? You came home on time tonight and you're still in your power suit even though you've been here two hours. What's up?"
She advanced to the doorway and said, "The Professor is joining us for dinner."
"He is? Did we discuss this?"
She smiled her humorless smile and said, "It would be just as easy to lie and say yes, but how about I tell you I was waiting till you sobered up to talk about it?"
Mission clutched his heart. "Ouch. Why don't you just get the Glock and shoot me? If you gave me advance notice, I would have held back on Jose tonight."
Susan tapped her foot. "I like that. You'll stay sober for a guest, but for me it's one long drinking jag."
Mission rubbed his hair. "I'm sober enough to see a fight coming. Would you feel better if you knew it concerns me too? I'm just trying to turn a corner here. Give me some time to work through this, okay?"
"That's great except I don't see too many smooth spots up ahead where you have the luxury of putting everything else on hold to deal with the alcohol like it's a separate problem. Your logic puts this off for ... "
The computer queried for entry authorization and Mission muttered to himself, "End of Round One."
Professor Matlin stood at the door smiling and holding three bottles of Sake tied together with string. Mission grinned. He would keep drinking tonight in spite of Susan's protests. They sat down around the coffee table and Mission said, "It's good to see you again Professor."
"Yes, it's good to see you Mission. As a matter of fact, it’s the only way I can see you. I'm afraid I'm in the doghouse at the moment for lending you that room, and while you may have free reign of the company, I'm ordered to avoid you. I should have flunked the little smartass in Applied Mathematics when I had the chance."
Mission smiled and said, "Trade your life to teach the same class 32 semesters in a row? I think you're happy with your choices. I'm just sorry that I got you in trouble."
"Nonsense. What you said in the meeting room was true. We did leave you hanging when things turned bad. That's why I hate business. This need to balance morals and responsibilities with profit. Drives me crazy. Anyway, I suppose Susan told you why I'm here?"
Mission glanced over at Susan. "Briefly. Why don't you give it to me in your own words?"
"We divided into two teams, one revising current programming to allow continued sales of current models. The other, headed by Elliot to develop an entirely new language, processing algorithm, and data management suite for the next series of synthetics. Susan and I consult with both teams which is why we've been pulling these 18 hour days."
"I believe I made a fundamental error in categorizing the fi
rst team's objective as purely driven by programming changes. We don't understand enough about how the limbic system allows penetration and alteration of core programming, thus we don't understand how to protect against it."
Mission grunted. "Easiest way is to watch it happen. I suppose the syn Susan and I captured was no help in that the original patterns were changed when core programming changed?"
The Professor nodded. "Exactly."
"I know your testers have capture playback mechanisms to record all the input and all changes to the brain and all output."
"Yes, we do. How do you know about ..."
"Oldest programmer's tool there is. I bet one of your boys built one that runs inside the brain itself to save all the fuss and muss of an external device."
The Professor frowned. "Why no. That would taint the results of ..."
"Any tests performed. Yes, I knew you would see it that way, but a programmer would use an external just long enough to verify the internal wouldn't muck things up and use it from then on."
The Professor considered. "I don't know. Let's assume you’re right to get to your point."
Mission leaned over the table. "A synthetic so equipped could talk to Paine and provide us with the exact logic used to defeat the Paradox programming."
Susan jumped in. "My God Fenwicke, this is exactly what we've been searching for."
She turned to Mission and said, "How can we get him in to see Paine without arousing suspicion?"
"The most preferable is for Paine to contact the syn. Have Montag do some research on renegade rates once Tanya Ricci left us. Obviously the rate went down when they lost their insider. If the rates are climbing again, he may be able to extrapolate the method Paine is using now to get names and addresses of newly produced syns."
Susan said, "And other options?"
"A much less desirable option is to approach Paine directly. Build an airtight history for a syn that lived next door to a syn that went renegade, something like that. Be sure to choose a dead syn as the next door neighbor, or one in New Angeles. Tell Paine that he wants to hear more. See what happens."
Living in Syn Page 28