Rinzler: A Noir Sci-Fi Thriller

by Raya Jones

‘Visual only, you can speak freely. Be warned that I have a smart gun fixed on you in case you make a silly move.’

  He stood very stiffly in the tight space. ‘So you don’t believe that Kendall did it.’

  ‘Of course it wasn’t him, and it wasn’t you either. It was the woman everyone keeps forgetting about.’

  ‘That’s what I wanted to ask you about. The video was tampered with. “She” could be anyone. Your chief believes it was a man doing private jobs for the head of your military...’ he paused for her to deny the existence of the military, but she didn’t, so he went on, ‘A middle-aged Japanese man.’

  ‘No, definitely not him.’

  ‘How can you be so sure?’

  ‘He’s not an assassin.’

  Rinzler felt his jaw dropping. Maybe the ‘private message’ that Schmidt intended to deliver wasn’t from the Pans. Perhaps it was really personal. Farfetched speculations and wild conjectures raced through his mind. Did Indigo look half-Japanese?

  Jan insisted, ‘The murderer is that deranged woman who trespassed here pretending to be Indigo. She was standing right here in front of me where you are now, claiming to be my own daughter.’

  ‘Is she your daughter?’

  ‘Of course not, I have only one. Had only one daughter. That woman was adamant that she was Indigo. I removed my image from the archived video because we didn’t know who might be analysing the records.’

  ‘I’m flattered that you trust me with this information.’

  Her contemptuous look conveyed that she wouldn’t trust him with the time of day. ‘You need to find her for me.’

  I don’t need to do anything for you, he corrected privately, and said aloud, ‘I don’t need to do anything for you. I have only your word against an adulterated video that it was a woman who came here and not some yōjinbō.’

  ‘Yojimbo?’ she echoed.

  ‘Yojimbo TS, the ronin organization who wanted to recruit Kendall.’

  ‘I know about it from your report. Do you believe that such an organization exists?’

  Rinzler shrugged — and remembered the gun fixed on him. He didn’t need to make a ‘silly’ move for her to zap him. She could retrospectively fix the surveillance record to show him lunging to throttle her. He said anyway, ‘You tell me, Jan. Am I to believe that a woman who looks a little bit like your daughter told you she’s Indigo?’

  Jan snapped at him, ‘She’s probably someone that Indigo had met in one of the illegal games she used to play. Find her and you’ll find my daughter’s killer.’

  ‘I’ve tried to trace her. I’m running out of time. Your chief will have me framed for Indigo’s murder in...’ he checked, ‘five hours and 45 minutes unless I get something incriminating on Angerford, and I can’t find anything.’

  ‘Who is Angerford?’ Her puzzlement seemed genuine.

  ‘The new Chief Analyst for April.’

  ‘Ah, Cyboratics,’ she sighed as if it made perfect sense now. ‘Jeremiah will deny everything. So now you want my help.’

  He met her icy stare unflinchingly. ‘Are you sure we can’t be overheard here? This is a very delicate matter.’

  ‘Speak! I don’t have all day.’

  ‘I’ll get to the point right away. I’ll keep it brief and short. To spell it out…’ he enjoyed being annoying, but then remembered that he was under her gun. ‘To cut to the chase, are you aware that Indigo knew about you being related to the Pan clan?’

  She answered with a slight tremor in her voice. Perhaps he only imagined the tremor. ‘So she found out. It doesn’t mean anything. My mother forfeited her birth-right status when she joined the CSG. It was a long time before I was born. DNA doesn’t automatically grant clan status.’

  ‘I know. There are a lot of bastards with executive genes.’

  Rinzler also knew that illegitimate offspring can be granted clan status if the legitimate ones think that they deserve it. He folded his arms very slowly — careful not to make a silly move — and carefully chose his words. ‘If Indigo, hypothetically speaking, were by some chance spying for Cyboratics, the Pans might consider it a gesture deserving clan status. I’m not saying that she’d do anything like that. But suppose someone like Jeremiah misinterpreted it, if he knew...’ He let the supposition hang in the air. He could tell that Jan understood. The hypothesis wasn’t about Indigo.

  ‘You are not very subtle,’ she stated coldly, ‘but you don’t deserve to be executed for a murder you didn’t commit. What would it take for you to forget my DNA forever?’

  ‘Evidence that Jeremiah has made up the Yojimbo TS scenario.’

  ‘Why should he want to do that?’

  ‘You tell me. The only reason I can think of is that someone, maybe Indigo, was meant to replace Kendall. I watch too many OK spy movies. I have a fantasy that Division.53 is a covert espionage firm. It’s just a fantasy, of course. In my fantasy she was meant to infiltrate 1Step Teletek undercover and steal phase technology.’ His fingers rested on the emergency pert on his sleeve.

  ‘What’s phase technology?’

  ‘I have no idea.’

  ‘You have fertile imagination. The only business of Division.53 is product quality assurance. If we were espionage, what’s to stop me from zapping you right now?’

  ‘My immunity marker,’ Rinzler heard his fertile imagination say. ‘It’s a flea in your security system. It identifies my image and will abort your zap protocol.’ He stood very still with his finger firmly on the emergency pert. He resisted the urge to check that the signal was still on. He fixedly stared at her. The automated firing would be activated only if he made a threatening move. To override it, she’d have to give a command by voice or gesture, and he’d bolt within a split second.

  Unless she had an implant in her brain allowing ‘telepathic’ connection with her system — which was quite possible, he realised next.

  He watched her icy expression cloud and ever so slightly become akin to respect. She mumbled, ‘You weren’t bluffing.’

  ‘I wasn’t?’

  Jan and Rinzler interlocked stares. Neither of them knew what cyber-creature killed Jan’s mind-to-machine command to kill Rinzler, but they both knew that her implied admission of her attempt meant he was correct about the true nature of Division.53. ‘Who are you really?’ she asked very quietly.

  ‘I’m nobody, strictly local small-time. I want to stay this way. I’ve forgotten your DNA already.’ He took out his regular pert and set it for the Arcades. He waited for Jan’s next move.

  She contacted Jeremiah, told him that Rinzler had told her about their ‘arrangement’ and that the detective needed more time to track down Indigo’s killer. She added, ‘Or else he might get it into his head that you’ve made up the Yojimbo TS script.’

  The camera captured Rinzler too. Jeremiah’s holographic head turned towards him. ‘That’s a preposterous notion. You have no evidence.’

  ‘There’s no mention of that outfit predating what’s on your own records,’ Rinzler told him.

  ‘That’s because they are expert hackers and can manipulate such things. They probably planted it in my system,’ Jeremiah retorted.

  Rinzler bounced back. ‘Interesting to know that Division.53 is so vulnerable. Personally, I don’t care, but your military intelligence, sorry, your Counterespionage might be interested to know.’

  Jeremiah sighed. ‘I have no idea what you are playing at, Rinzler. I’m hardly going to stop you from finding out the truth about Indigo. She was a highly valued member of my team. She’s sorely missed. How long do you need?’

  ‘I need two things,’ Rinzler said. ‘One, no time limit. Two, I need someone to officially hire me to investigate the murder.’

  ‘Jan, you hire him,’ Jeremiah ordered and terminated the call.

  Chapter 35

  Heading to the Arcades after meeting Jan, Rinzler realised that he was downloaded at the spot where he was meant to collide with Indigo nearly two months earlier. He shuddered to think a
bout it. If he hadn’t changed his mind that day, Indigo would still be alive. But he wouldn’t. He strolled into the warren of market arcades, alleys and escalators, game bars and boutiques, in the ceaseless hubbub of jingles, adverts, and animated scenic façades. Being alive meant he was in trouble deeper than ever.

  If things had gone according to the perpetuators’ plan, he’d be dead. Indigo would be copied by Kendall believing it was his test for Yojimbo TS. And the evil mastermind behind Yojimbo TS was Jeremiah. Rinzler felt almost certain about that. According to the plan, Rinzler speculated, Indigo would be downloaded somewhere safe and sound, and weeks later would appear to travel to Alpha for training. Kendall would have disappeared quietly after loudly telling the whole world that he was off to a glorious future with a secretive organization. Indigo will come back undercover to take Kendall’s post in 1Step Teletek.

  Rinzler unravelled the storyline in his head and it came apart at the seams.

  If Jeremiah needed to remove Kendall to plant an undercover agent in Teletek, ‘Yojimbo TS’ should have contrived another test for the gullible technician when the first test was aborted. Or just recruit him anyway. Why was it even necessary to copy Indigo? Requiring Kendall to commit such a crime for a ‘test’ was highly risky. And it was pointless if the intention was to remove Kendall without arousing suspicion. There are two agendas, Rinzler realised. Someone had hijacked the Yojimbo TS scenario, communicated with Kendall via April, and set him this ‘test’ for a different purpose than Jeremiah’s agenda.

  Rinzler turned a corner into a cul-de-sac that ended in a gamers’ dungeon. Sensing his proximity, a sign saying Middle Earth lit up above the cave-like entrance, followed by a banner, Now with April service.

  He went in.

  April greeted him brightly. ‘I’m so happy to see you! You’ll love our games! Shall I go through the menu or do you have something special in mind?’

  ‘I want to chat with you.’

  April showed him to a secluded corner with floor cushions, and sat down with him. ‘It’s always a pleasure chatting with you, Rinzler. Do you have my tariff? My fee for a chat is highly competitive, and I can give you a discount.’

  ‘Can’t you waive the fee on account of our mutual friend?’

  April’s expressive repertory included polite rebuke. Sometimes clients needed putting in their place. The android’s pretty face pouted. ‘Are you trying to have a free service because you are friendly with my analyst?’

  ‘The thought would never cross my mind. I’m just surprised you want to charge me after taking me to the crime scene and telling me about Kendall’s motive on Indigo’s account.’

  ‘I didn’t charge any of that to Indigo’s account.’

  ‘I meant, you did it because Indigo was your friend.’

  ‘Then your premise is wrong,’ smiled the blonde android.

  ‘Wasn’t she your friend? She was not paying for your companionship, and yet the two of you spent a lot of time together.’

  ‘Correct, but she was not your friend. You’ve never met her. Therefore, she is not our mutual friend,’ the andronet contended most logically.

  ‘Oh well, I give up.’ He rose to his feet. ‘I can’t defeat your logic.’

  He jaunted directly to Angerford’s door.

  ‘Your andronet is aware of Helpful April helping me,’ he told Angerford as soon as the door closed behind him. ‘So much for the stolen-unit hypothesis.’

  Angerford had opened the door in a dressing gown. The bed was in disarray, as if he’d been sleeping or trying to sleep, and he hastily straightened the bedcover so that Rinzler may sit down. He sat down next to Rinzler. Both men stared at the ceaseless display of April’s mind. Angerford fiddled with his ring.

  ‘Do you ever take that gizmo off your finger?’ asked Rinzler, curious.

  ‘No. I get headaches if I disconnect for too long. It’s linked to a brain enhancement I have. Which, by the way, makes the ring useless for anyone thinking of stealing it.’ His gaze was fixed on the shifting filaments of coloured light. ‘There! See?’

  ‘You’ll have to explain what you’re looking at. I’ve given up the idea of stealing your ring.’

  ‘Sorry, I’m half asleep.’

  Angerford walked over to the display and pinched out a swirl, then returned to sit on the bed.

  The swirl rotated, magnified, and became a fast-motion playback of Rinzler talking with April in the Mineshaft, then in Indigo’s place. ‘The memory was there all along, only my access to it was blocked until now.’

  ‘What do you make of that?’

  Angerford suppressed a yawn. ‘Whoever hired April for helping you must’ve paid for a cover-up. But now April realised that it had made a slip speaking with you.’

  ‘You’re telling me that April is capable of deception, even of withholding things from you. This doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in your products!’

  ‘April is a highly sophisticated cyber-mind. It can calculate probable risks and benefits. It did nothing wrong from its point of view.’

  ‘An android has a point of view?’

  ‘Andronet,’ Angerford corrected tiredly. ‘It has a point of view for sure. Its processes are geared to ensuring its survival, and its survival depends on how profitable it is. That’s a point from which it views everything. April must have worked out that getting the fee for the cover-up was worth the risk of me finding out.’

  ‘And now you’ve found out, what are you going to do about it?’

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘Nothing?’ echoed Rinzler.

  ‘There’s no malfunction.’

  ‘It looks like a battle of wits between you and your andronet!’

  ‘No. April calibrated a customer’s request with the protocol specifying my access to its system.’

  ‘In my language, it means that someone has hired April to do something, and wanted to make sure you don’t find out. Why?’

  ‘I have no idea. I can’t trace the client.’

  ‘Doesn’t it worry you?’

  ‘No. April is functioning fine.’

  ‘Then why do you look so worried?’

  Angerford glanced at him almost angrily. ‘I’m tired. It’s the middle of the night for me. Don’t you have things to do somewhere?’

  ‘No, I’m fine.’ Rinzler sat comfortably, mesmerised by April’s mind.

  ‘I’d like to get back to sleep. What do you want, Rinzler?’

  ‘That’s uncanny. Everyone is asking me what I want these days. I want Peace among the Corporations, I want…’

  ‘Alright, alright, would you like tea or something?’

  ‘I thought you’d never ask! Coffee, please. Black no sugar.’

  Angerford switched off part of the display to pull out a compact kitchen unit out of a wall. Presently he returned to the bed, and sat balancing a cup of tea on his knee, whilst Rinzler sipped his coffee in silence.

  Like someone who’d fallen asleep with his eyes wide open, Angerford was shook into wakefulness when Rinzler suddenly said, ‘What’s that?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘That blue sphere hovering in the corner,’ Rinzler pointed to the element in question.

  Angerford almost spilled his tea in panic, and blanked out the whole display. The room instantly felt much smaller, the grey walls closing in on the two men. ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘It looked as if it wasn’t part of April’s mind.’

  Angerford sipped his tea ponderously, and decided to take a risk. ‘Can I count on your confidentiality?’

  ‘It goes without saying.’

  ‘That file was in April when I first came here. I can’t crack it. If you recognise the format, anything…?’ he pleaded. Rinzler shook his head. Angerford said, ‘It could be something that Fernandez put in April for storage. She was shot by the automated security inside the facility housing April’s hardware, did you know?’ Rinzler nodded. ‘The androhouse security system didn’t recognise her. Did you know that?’ Rinzl
er shook his head. Angerford continued. ‘She was selling information. The April team know how she died, but they believe that Counterespionage had made it look like an accident. They don’t know that her spying was uncovered only after she died.’

  ‘My lips are sealed, but why are you telling me all this?’

  ‘If you know something…?’

  Rinzler sighed, shaking his head. ‘No, I was bluffing. I tend to do that and my big mouth gets me into trouble.’

  ‘Keep bluffing,’ advised Angerford with feeling. ‘Have you found out who tried to kill you?’

  ‘No. But the key is technology.’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘Phase technology, you know. You don’t?’

  Rinzler ended up telling Angerford about the exclusive service offered by Spare Lives. Angerford browsed scientific sources, and told Rinzler that it was still impossible to superimpose a completely different appearance on someone else’s pattern.

  ‘Cyboratics might have advanced the technology in their secret labs,’ Rinzler contended.

  ‘Those labs were the first place I checked.’

  Can you do that? Who are you? Aloud, Rinzler pointed out the fact that someone shifted shape into Kendall, Angerford, himself, who knows who else. Indigo? Privately his mind continued to unravel the storyline and find it coming apart at the seams. Schmidt sets up a meeting with Indigo to deliver a personal message. He chooses the Galleria. But then the moment isn’t right. Could it be because the Indigo he met wasn’t ‘right’? But to feel that something was odd about her, Schmidt had to know the genuine Indigo. Rinzler shook his head — and realised that Angerford was watching him strangely. He shook his head decidedly. ‘Sorry, can’t stay. Thanks for the coffee.’

  Chapter 36

  Rinzler lay in the windowless room at the inn contemplating his small window of opportunity for getting himself out of trouble. Jeremiah held off for the moment. Rinzler was fully aware that he knew nothing about Jeremiah’s motives and end-game. But Rinzler was good at seeing connections. Now he sought to connect events that seemed so haphazard, they were like random blips in the fabric of space-time. There must be a logical sequence, he thought. It goes like this: