by Rien Reigns
“So, is Sam too afraid to see me? Is that why she sent her big mean right hand in her place?”
“Sam doesn’t know you’re here, not yet anyway. You should be happy that I found out before she did, otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be standing right now.”
“Says the woman who just knocked me down.”
“I let you get back up though. Trust me, she wouldn’t have. Not after the shit you put her through.”
“The shit I put her through?”
“What are you doing here Travis?”
“My job, and that’s all you need to know.”
“And what exactly is your job?”
“Classified.”
Now Lillian chuckled. “You know what I don’t get?”
“How the earth is spinning at approximately 1,400 km/hr. under your feet, and yet, even though your head if full of mostly air, you’re still able to keep your feet on the ground rather than turning into a weather balloon?”
She landed a left hook to my jaw that sent me stumbling into the wall.
Me and my big mouth.
The curtains were coming down and the stage was going dark. I focused all my attention like a spotlight to keep myself conscious. Somehow I managed to keep myself standing by holding the wall for support, though it took me a moment before I had enough control to open my eyes. When I did finally open them, Lillian was just standing there with her arms crossed like nothing had happened. With how much my jaw hurt, she should have at least been rubbing her fist.
I massaged my jaw. At least no teeth felt loose.
“Everyone’s a fucking critic,” I said, even though it hurt to speak.
“And you’re not as funny as you think you are.”
“Says the woman who only laughs at other’s pain.” I wanted to add a smirk to my remark, but my jaw felt like it was going to fall off any second.
She raised her right fist. “Think you can take another?”
I grabbed my crotch. “Suck it.”
With one giant step she was in striking distance and throwing a right hook, but it was actually a distraction as she raised her right knee in an attempt to make me never say that again, to anyone.
Luckily for me, I’d watched enough of her sparring rounds with Sam to know her dirty tricks. I stepped to my right and kicked the bag at her. It wasn’t heavy enough to hurt her or throw her off balance, but it was enough of a distraction for me to maneuver around to her backside. She was good and transformed the knee into a roundhouse kick.
She didn’t have enough momentum, which made it easy enough for me to grab her leg midair. Kicks are generally stupid in a fight, at least when your opponent is still conscious enough to do something about it. I bear hugged her leg and threw myself to the ground, taking her with me.
Sam had always kicked my ass, but on the plus side, she’d always beat Lil as well. Though Sam’s and my matches never seemed to last as long her and Lil’s. I knew the only real chance I had at beating her was to not fully engage her.
Too late for that.
As we fell, she gracefully extended her arms, like she was simply dropping down to do a pushup. She connected with the ground, her arms acting like shock absorbers. It was impressive.
Me on the other hand, I landed on my back. At least I still had her leg in a firm grip.
Lillian kicked me in the thigh with her free leg.
The thigh is a nice meaty place to take a kick, that is if the person kicking you isn’t wearing heels and using their leg like a spear.
I yelled in agony and let go of her leg as I rolled away out of reach.
“Crazy ass bitch,” I said grabbing my leg where she’d kicked me. “Do you have any idea what kind of fucking trouble you’re in. Assaulting an Inquisitor on assignment. I could have your fucking head.”
“Leave now, and I’ll let you keep yours,” she said.
“I’m not leaving.”
“Isn’t that what you’re good at? Leaving.”
She was already on her feet. I painfully got to mine.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I said, getting into a defensive posture.
“You know what it means, unless you hit your head. Leave now, or-”
“Or what? I see where this is going now,” I said. “You think I don’t know about your feelings for Sam? Have you finally told her? Are you two happy together? I’m starting to think you want me gone because you’re afraid of my history with Sam. Maybe you’ve come to realize that you pale in comparison to what Sam and I had. Am I getting warm?”
“I see you’re still an idiot. Even worse than before. It’s not about you, or me, it’s about Samsara. You broke her heart, now I’m going to break your head.”
“You want to talk about broken hearts. I’m not the one who walked away from the marriage, she did.”
She shook her head. “You walked out emotionally long before she did.”
“Fine, you win, I’m a piece of shit. I’m not here to have anything to do with Sam. You say she doesn’t know I’m here. Fine. Keep it that way. I don’t want to be here just as much as you don’t want me here. Stay out of my way, let me do my job, and I’ll stay out of yours. Neither you nor Sam will ever hear from me again.”
She moved like she was going to kick me, but stopped. Lucky for her. She always liked to kick. So predictable. “If you let Sam know you’re here, next time I’m going to zero you out, understand?”
“Ditto, bitch.”
And that was that. She turned and went back through the door she’d tried to hit me with.
I grabbed my bag, did a quick inspection. Three devices were destroyed but the others were fine. I limped my way to the nearest washroom to inspect the damage she’d done to me.
15: Whining & Dining
In the washroom I dropped my pants and inspected my leg where Lillian had kicked me with her heel. She’d broken the skin and I was bleeding a little. I was assuredly going to have a pretty bruise come tomorrow. Luckily, she hadn’t left me visibly marred. I thought about going to the Lifeguard station in the hotel to get a quick misting, but that would have taken at least a half hour out of my time. I was already late to meet Quentin, which wasn’t good. I could see a lifeguard after dinner.
I washed the wound, got it to stop bleeding, and pulled my pants back up. I went to the mirror, straightened my clothes, fixed my hair, and left.
Before I made it to the kitchens I ran into Quentin in the hallway.
“You’re late,” he said, as if I was ignorant of the time.
“Mr. Pierce sent me on a last minute errand that took longer than expected,” I said.
“I hope you’re a quick learner.” He was definitely irritated. “It was troublesome enough getting you put on the serving detail. Mr. Pierce sure must be paranoid to not let the hotel staff wait on him.”
We continued on to the kitchens.
“Well, he has been poisoned several times,” I replied.
Quentin chuckled. “Poisoned? Why would anyone even think of poisoning someone like Mr. Pierce? His mytes have to be up-to-date and calibrated to deal with all known toxins. It’d be utterly insane to think you could poison someone of Mr. Pierce’s standing.”
“They are,” I said. “And you’re absolutely right, and yet, someone keeps trying to do so. Mr. Pierce is afraid that with the continued attempts, someone might develop a toxin which the mytes aren’t calibrated for. Which is why he wants me to oversee the preparation and serving of all his food and beverages.”
Quentin shook his head. “That’s exactly why I don’t want to ever become someone that important. People trying to kill me. Always having to look over my shoulder. It isn’t worth it. I’m surprised he doesn’t have you prepare his meals. He sure seems to trust you. I mean, you threw him into a wall and rather than being outraged about it, he was concerned about you. I was astounded. To be honest, we were prepped for his arrival. From what I was told, well,” he paused, both his words and our walking. It was like he wasn�
�t sure he should continue in either regard. We’d reached the doors to the kitchens.
I knew where he was going though. I was after all supposed to be Alistair.
“That he’s an arrogant asshole who only cares about money, power, and himself,” I finished for him.
Quentin gave a little nod in agreement.
At that moment I decided to tweak the Alistair alias. “That’s what happens when you have a vision of how the world should be, and that vision goes against what others want. It’s somewhat sad to say, but it takes money and power to change things.” I wasn’t sure where all that had come from. I wasn’t even sure where I was going with it.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Quentin said. “What is his vision?”
Always me and my mouth. Speaking before I’d thought things through.
“Well, like any great vision, it’s complicated. But more or less,” I paused. I didn’t know what the fuck to say. “Basically he believes the Chrono tech should be released into the public domain. That if that were to happen, we would have an explosion in its capabilities. Everyone would be better off in the long run.”
“Sounds like E3 philosophy to me,” Quentin said. I couldn’t discern from the way he said it, what he thought in regards to the group. Was he pro or con?
But he was right. What I’d just said did sound like E3 beliefs, minus the pitfalls.
Maybe I could turn my stupidity into an advantage. If I could make it seem like Alistair is, or could be E3, maybe I could get someone to slip up. Maybe I could even get Beit to reveal himself somehow. Hell, I could possibly discover others and get an even bigger bonus.
“Mr. Pierce may share some similar beliefs,” I said. “But in no way does he abide terrorism.”
Quentin started to say something but he stopped himself when the doors to the kitchen opened and a waiter appeared.
“Dirk, there you are,” the waiter said. “Rory wants a final headcount for dinner.”
“Tell him the current standing is at a hundred and seventy-six,” Quentin said. “Charles, this is Ze’ev. He’ll temporarily be joining our staff to serve Mr. Pierce during his stay. I have some matters to attend you, do you think you could show him around and make sure he’s linked into our system?”
“Sure,” he said.
“All right then. I guess I’ll see the two of you later.” Quentin turned and walked down the way we’d just come.
Charles gave me a tour of the kitchens and the banquet hall. He linked me with all the service staff so that I could receive and give instructions as needed.
There were actually several banquet halls of varying sizes according to what functions were going on and how many guests were being served. While the Harlan conference had over four hundred guests in attendance, the dinner service Alistair would be part of was specifically for the shareholders of the project, which had a hundred and eighty-four in number. Quentin said that the current dinner count was for one hundred and seventy-six guests, which meant that for some reason, eight were missing out.
“So, how long have you worked here?” I asked Charles as we went over things.
“I’ve been at the Quest since it’s opening, and I will have worked for the company for thirty-seven years if I can manage to make it another month,” he said.
I found it odd. “Another month?” I questioned.
He looked around. Made sure no one was in earshot, then whispered. “The company hasn’t officially said anything, but there’s been rumors of a conversion to a full robotic service staff. Apparently our sister hotel in Japan has already made the conversion on a trial basis, and has had great success.”
I was shocked. Humanoid robotics had fallen out of favor a quarter century ago when a certain individual went and made himself a robot army, which he used to wreak havoc on the world, wiping Los Angeles off the face of the earth.
“I thought humanoid robotics have been outlawed in the United Republics as well as, oh, ninety percent of the world,” I said. “I can understand why Japan would do something so stupid. They’ve always had the greatest fascination with the things. In no way did I foresee things changing in the Republics anytime in the next century, especially in Texas.”
“You’re not from here, are you?” Charles said.
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“You do know Texas has strong ties with Japan, some would even go so far as to say, stronger ties than with most of the other Republics. With the construction of Harlan, Texas is looking to make itself the leading nation in technology. We’ve already got the energy market cornered thanks to our advanced PV systems. It’s opened the flood gates in what technology can do. Harlan is geared to become the first fully fledged sustainable city, as well as the most civilian friendly. All of that can ultimately be attributed to the use of technological integration.” Quentin shook his head. “Why the hell am I telling you all this, your boss is financing the place, I’m sure you know more than I do.”
I knew about as much as a few hours of cramming and what Kali could instruct me on in a second as needed. Speaking of.
‹“Kali, prep me a memory flash regarding relations between Texas and Japan, especially pertaining to Harlan.”›
‹As you wish, sir.›
“Business matters aren’t really my specialty,” I said. “Service and security is. I’ve picked up on a few things here and there, but I’ve never heard anything about robots making a comeback anywhere in the Republics.”
“Well that’s about to change,” Charles said. “President Collins has just signed a bill removing the ban on them in Texas.”
“And you’re afraid that you’ll be replaced by them next month?” I asked.
“Japan has been primarily using them for the last two years. Well, two weeks ago we got a large shipment here at the Quest. Management was very hush-hush about the whole thing, offering no explanation. Of course this stirred the rumor mill. Well, everything got taken to the bottom basement. Long story short, I know a guy in security, he says that they’re the new robot staff and that they are part of the conference. On the last day, six days from now, they’ll be unveiled. He told me that tomorrow morning, nearly the entire staff will officially be informed, and that we’ll be given a two month fully paid vacation effective immediately once the conference is over.”
“Ah, I see,” I said. “You’re afraid that during your vacation you’ll be informed that your services are no longer needed.”
He nodded. “Thirty-seven years I’ve done my duty. I have thirteen more to go on my contract before I’m able to retire for thirty-five years with full benefits. There’s only a few loopholes in the contract which render it void. If the hotel decides to switch over to a primarily robotic staff they are required to maintain a thirty percent human to robot ratio. I’ve spent the last few days running the numbers. I’m just barely on the chopping block when it comes to seniority and importance. I might be kept on, I might not. I like my job. I’m good at it. There hasn’t ever been a day in which I woke up and found myself unsatisfied.”
I understood Charles’s problem sufficiently. In places such as the Quest, positions like his were hard to come by. Over the years I’d learned that such a position was essentially voluntary slavery, but if a person could manage to put up with the shit and not get themselves let go, after fifty years of servitude they would be given a very happy retirement period.
“I don’t know why I’m telling you all this,” he said. “Forget I mentioned anything. It’s not like it concerns you in anyway.”
He was right. It didn’t concern me. But the fact that he’d instinctually decided to confide in me was a step in the right direction.
“You’re wrong,” I replied. “It does concern me. Not as immediately as it does you, but nonetheless, if the Quest thinks they can replace staff with robots, it’s just a matter of time before everyone else starts thinking the same thing. Then we’ll both be out of a job. But that’s the least of my worries. I already fought one war a
gainst machines. I’ll be damned if I have to fight another.”
We let the discussion slip away and turned to less serious matters. I was glad Quentin had passed me off to Charles. As it turned out, he was the server assigned to the table where Beit would be sitting.
I helped set the tables and in doing so, managed to place a few micro surveillance devices in the process.
Dinner went off without a hitch and was absolutely divine, but then of course no less could be expected from the Quest hotel. It was a good thing I’d been forced to go to hospitality school as part of my undercover training. I think most people don’t realize how anal the service industry can be, especially in places like the Quest. But then again, most people never got the chance to be served by actual trained professionals, who’d dedicated their lives to servicing other’s needs.
Once dinner had been served to the shareholders, the help got to take turns enjoying the same meal in the staff dining hall. I was part of the first group who got to eat. It was just as good as what the shareholders got, maybe even better because the chefs had to eat with the staff.
For the first time in over a year I had a steak that had been raised au naturale, and it was the tastiest slice of heaven I could remember having ever stimulated my taste buds. I decided then that if I could have that same meal every night for dinner, I’d put up with living in such sickening extravagance.
Of course if I did such a thing, it’d eventually lose its divinity. Still, it’d be a long while before that would happen, and during that time I would be a very happy man.
After dinner there was a two hour window for socializing before a late night presentation. When I finished eating I had the opportunity to serve drinks to all the guests in the main banquet hall, which had been cleared out to allow everyone to attend.
Paxton exceeded my expectations, both during dinner and the mixer. He’d only needed my input a couple of times throughout. Apparently, he’d spent enough time around Van Horne, and had managed to pick up a few things about how to act in such situations. He’d also studied my notes extensively and what he didn’t know he’d improvised within reason.