by Raya Jones
‘Enough with the zoology please,’ pleaded Rinzler. He turned to Angerford, ‘Don’t even think about it. You know what I mean. The “life not worth living” bushido crap.’
‘I’m not suicidal,’ murmured Angerford. ‘But if I’m caught…’
‘I’m not going down and I’m taking you with me!’ declared Rinzler. Thinking laterally, very fast, he turned back to Indigo and asked for her personal line to her mother.
‘I don’t do “personal” with her,’ protested Indigo.
‘Is there a one-to-one line I could use to contact her without it being registered on some official log?’
There was.
Angerford kept himself out of sight whilst Rinzler called Jan.
Jan’s face showed surprise, but quickly settled into a contemptuous scowl. ‘Rinzler, how did you get this number? If you’re calling to negotiate on Angerford’s behalf, abort now. I have Middle Earth surrounded physically and locked teleport-wise.’
But you haven’t yanked us out, Rinzler thought at her.
She was saying, ‘Advise Angerford to turn himself in and nobody will get hurt. You, Rinzler, are free to go. I’m not interested in you.’
‘You should be,’ he told her. ‘You’ve hired me to find the woman who claimed to be your daughter. She really was.’
‘We already know that, no thanks to you.’
‘Then you know about the soul file and you know that you need to be exceptionally nice to Angerford. I’m not sure how long I can prevent him from deleting her. Right now he’s prepared to wait only if you put both of us in a safe house.’
‘In custody,’ she corrected.
‘You can call it protective custody if you want. You must have it surrounded by armed security and install the tightest firewalls. And it must have facilities for us to access our networks freely but securely. I know you know that Angerford didn’t shoot Jeremiah. Otherwise OK military would be interrogating him already.’
She looked at him pityingly, and spoke mockingly, which reminded him of Indigo. ‘I appreciate you trying, Rinzler, so I’ll tell you. There’s no hurry because there’s nowhere he can run. My subordinates are collating the overwhelming evidence against him. There’s so much of it, it will take a while. Is he aware of this conversation?’
‘He’s sitting right here hearing everything,’ Rinzler replied. He glanced at Angerford, and noted horror and despair on the man’s face, as if it were dawning on Angerford that Rinzler was stabbing him in the back. To Jan, Rinzler said, ‘Let’s continue this conversation when the three of us meet face to face.’
‘A safe house is ready,’ she said.
‘We are ready.’ Rinzler grabbed the food tray.
Chapter 46
They found themselves in an office room that had not been used for some time. The workstations were covered with thick dust. Rinzler tried one door, and found it locked. He tried the other door, and found the toilet. Unusually for P-7, the room had a window. It was closed with metal shutters. He found the switch, and opened it a crack. Outside was a derelict Wild West theme street. A wide dirt road was patchily lit by remains of a blue sky. Tatters of EnViro skin hung on buildings with Italianate false fronts. A horse tethered to a rail in front of a saloon flickered in and out of virtual existence, parts of it missing. In both directions, the road ended in active renovation works, where amorphous buildings were growing themselves out of toxic pools. The sector was off limits and inaccessible by public teleport. Jan had used a PertNet to transfer them there.
Angerford tried one of the workstations. It was operational but useless to him. ‘I can’t work from an OK facility,’ he told Rinzler.
‘You can change all the passwords later. And this isn’t OK territory. Look at the logo.’ The ET logo played in the workspace.
The theme park had been written off as a commercial failure several months before the sector was hit by the quake. Such parks were popular on Earth, but P-7 residents were not impressed. Angerford, looking out of the window, was not impressed either. ‘On Earth the sky is real.’ He turned away from the window. ‘I can’t monitor April now.’
Rinzler understood. April expected them to be in OK custody. It would be strange if Angerford carried on working as usual. ‘We need to bring Jan into the picture when she gets here,’ he told Angerford, suspecting correctly that Jan was already listening. ‘April turned you in to stop you from carrying on with the scan.’
The ET logo was replaced with Jan’s face.
She spoke curtly, ‘This is as “face to face” as we get. Speak freely. The line is secure.’
Rinzler and Angerford took seats facing her. ‘Is it secure from your military?’ asked Rinzler.
‘For now,’ she said.
He suppressed the impulse to ask her if anyone else in Division.53 knew what she was doing, and whether Roke Steiner was in on it. He asked instead, ‘Where are the armed guards we’ve been promised?’
‘I didn’t promise you anything,’ said Jan. ‘You are completely isolated. On the very remote chance that someone strays there, they’ll see only what the MirXperma Wall shows on the outside.’
‘We’re in the Sheriff’s office?’ Rinzler probed hopefully.
‘No.’
‘A saloon? The bank?’ He tried to remember which iconic establishments used to be in the theme park. He visited it with Cerise and toddler Jerra when the place first opened.
‘No, the barbershop,’ she snapped impatiently. ‘The door is locked for your own protection in case you are tempted to leave. Who are you afraid of, Angerford?’
Rinzler, thought Angerford, and said, ‘Rinzler will do the talking.’
Rinzler did. ‘We are only afraid for Indigo’s safety.’
‘My daughter is dead.’
‘That’s just a technicality. Her soul is intact and you know what it means. But if April discovers Indigo, it will destroy the file like attacking a virus.’
‘Why should April do that?’
Rinzler opened his mouth.
Jan waited, impatient.
Angerford waited, worried about what might come out of Rinzler’s mouth.
Rinzler too waited, but nothing reached his mouth except what he already knew. He told Jan that he had evidence of when Indigo was transcribed, he recalled Spare Lives jargon that Cerise had used. It was a couple of weeks before Angerford arrived in Proxima, which exonerated him.
Jan contended, ‘It doesn’t. Angerford is part of a team.’
‘But not a team player,’ retorted Rinzler. ‘Check out the surveillance Jeremiah had on him.’ He suspected, correctly, that she already viewed those reports. He went on to tell her that he had no idea yet who had done it, except that it was done through April. Right now, Angerford had a procedure in progress trying to flush out information about the perpetrator. Afterwards Angerford will transfer the file to her.
Angerford confirmed that he’d do that.
Jan was sceptical. ‘I almost believe your story, Rinzler, but how can I trust Cyboratics not to make copies?’
‘A soul file can’t be copied,’ said Rinzler.
Jan looked at Angerford.
Angerford stared at Rinzler, strangely. ‘I didn’t know that.’
‘Me neither,’ Jan said. ‘How do you know such things, Rinzler?’
‘I have contacts in Spare Lives. But it’s not a trade secret. Their clients want to be sure that their identity isn’t going to be stolen, so those files auto-delete if a copy is made. The file also auto-deletes when the client is downloaded back to corporal status. When you have your daughter back, you won’t have to worry about her soul anymore. Check it out. Start negotiating with Spare Lives. We’ll need the use of their lab and one of their medical technicians to de-transcribe Indigo.’
‘De-transcribe?’ she echoed.
‘Spare Lives jargon for…’
She interrupted. ‘I get what it means. My daughter is dead.’
‘I understand,’ said Rinzler kindly. ‘You need t
o keep saying it. If it turns out impossible to bring her back, it will be like losing her all over again.’
‘You understand nothing,’ she snapped. ‘But understand this, both of you: if I don’t see evidence of this alleged file and some assurance that it’s possible to de-transcribe her within the hour…’
‘Five hours,’ Rinzler insisted.
‘I’ll give you two hours, not a minute longer. Then I’m handing you over to Counterespionage. You now have one hour 59 minutes left.’
Her face vanished.
Angerford asked Rinzler for ideas how to distract April, now that he couldn’t use the monitoring ploy.
‘Hit where it hurts?’ suggested Rinzler. ‘I imagine that losing business will hurt April.’
Rinzler hardly finished the sentence before Angerford connected to the April lab. He told the Assistant Chief Analyst that he had glimpsed a Moore-Dent CyberTech link buried in April, but needed more time to ascertain it. Here’s the plan, he said, spelling it out.
When he finished, Rinzler let out a soft whistle, ‘That’s extreme, wow. Aren’t you worried that April might have overheard?’
‘April will know soon enough. There’s nothing it can do to stop it.’
Chapter 47
Cerise checked the door monitor. ‘It’s April, Jerra darling!’ Jerra rushed excitedly to open the door to his favourite babysitter: ‘April! April! Can we play the big game again?’ His mother was right behind him, telling the android, ‘Same arrangement, April, games after homework, supper menu is… April?’
April spoke in a stranger’s voice, ‘Sincere apologies for any inconvenience. Our service has been suspended for urgent maintenance work. We regret that we must void this contract. Let us assure you that April will be back online as soon as possible. Your account has not been charged.’
Cerise stared at the android, flummoxed.
The android stared back, empty-eyed.
Getting nervous, Cerise locked the door. When she checked a few minutes later, the android was still out there on standby. Cerise called April Customer Service, and got an automated message reassuring her that April will be back online as soon as possible.
Similar scenes repeated all over town.
As soon as the andronet finalised an agreement, the April team intervened to cancel it. Jobs that were already in progress ran their course, but most tasks concluded within the hour.
Within a couple of hours April found it was unemployed and unemployable.
It hurt.
Chapter 48
Rinzler sat uncomfortably on the dusty floor in a corner farthest from computers, hands on knees, palms up to demonstrate the absence of a pert, and staring at Jan’s gun point blank. She had agreed to let Angerford fetch his deck from home, and came in person to hold Rinzler hostage to guarantee Angerford’s return within ten minutes. The fact she wasn’t concerned about Angerford alerting Cyboratics had confirmed to Rinzler that she colluded with Roke Steiner.
Angerford was taking his time. Rinzler knew that he needed only seconds to fetch the deck, which was already packed up. He wondered whether Angerford had contacted Wye Stan Pan, and was instructed to leave Rinzler to Jan’s mercy.
Her patience was wearing thin. She started fidgeting and tapping the gun on her knee, and Rinzler was getting very nervous. ‘You’re always pointing deadly weapons at me, Jan. That’s not a good basis for a relationship.’
‘Be silent!’
The gun was manual. If she were to pull the trigger, nothing Schmidt could install would intervene between her brain and finger. Rinzler improvised, ‘I’ve forgotten to tell you. I have an insurance policy with CrimSol. If I disappear without a trace, certain information will be made public.’
‘Nice try.’
‘I’ve heard that the head of your military intelligence is taking a personal interest in Indigo’s death.’
‘How could you possibly hear something like that?’
‘Jeremiah told me.’
She almost smiled. ‘Jeremiah might say something like that. You can’t hold my DNA against me, if that’s what you’re thinking.’
Rinzler reminded her that last time they met she was very keen for him to forget it.
‘Circumstances change.’
‘Changed enough for Old Man Cordova not to be interested in…’
Jan interrupted. ‘He’s the one who told me about my mother. He used to know her,’ she added matter of fact, almost with sadness, and Rinzler believed her.
He improvised upon the improvisation. ‘I’ve updated my policy just before you extracted us from Middle Earth. I know it’s speculative, but I put in my account that you’re doing this without anyone in OK knowing, and that you are working with Roke Steiner.’
She didn’t bat an eyelid. ‘It’s 11 minutes already.’
‘And now what, you shoot me?’
What she would have done next will never be known. Angerford returned just then. Without saying a word, he set about plugging his deck into one of the workstations. Fractal filaments of Aprils mind began to form around him like rainbow veils.
Jan watched as if spellbound, but instantly turned to Rinzler when he shifted to ease his posture.
He raised his arms in exacerbation. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’
Keeping the gun fixed on him, she tapped her pert and was gone.
The teleport block reset itself at once.
Rinzler took a seat near Angerford. ‘Well?’
‘Well what?’ Angerford now sat with arms folded, his gaze on Rinzler rather than on the April display.
‘Aren’t you going to access the pet project?’
‘No rush.’
‘You look mighty pleased with yourself, mister. Care to share?’
‘April has given us the excuse to shut it down.’ Seeing Rinzler frown, Angerford insisted, ‘There’s nothing it can do to stop the Hand.’
‘What hand? The Hand of God or the one hand clapping?’
Angerford suspected that Rinzler was feigning ignorance, but told him anyway. The Hand is the procedure for taking an andronet offline. It isn’t a secret, although Cyboratics doesn’t like it to be common knowledge. It requires five senior team members to endorse the command simultaneously. They must be logged in at the same time with their biometrics verified. When Rinzler pointed out that April Proxima had only two seniors, Angerford explained that two other members lived in separate star systems. The inclusion of at least two remote members is a usual security precaution. Spart was the fifth. She qualified when she was recently promoted, and her bio-signature replaced a third remote member.
Rinzler remembered the day he didn’t go to her promotion party. He was meeting Schmidt at the time. ‘It was the day Indigo was shot,’ he told Angerford. A coincidence? Hardly, he thought, listening to Angerford explaining how April has played into his hand to make the Hand possible. In order to retrieve its business, April had started to hijack units belonging to March and some of the Dailies. It overwrote their systems and diverted clients’ payments to itself. This is stealing, and sufficient grounds for a shutdown.
‘Surely April knows that,’ puzzled Rinzler, his sense of foreboding deepening.
‘Yes. But maybe it has got desperate or brazen.’
‘You’re anthropomorphising, shame on you, Angerford. April is playing you. She flaunts delinquency because she has something up her sleeve.’
‘You are anthropomorphising now, Rinzler. There’s nothing an andronet can do to stop the Hand,’ insisted Angerford, although no longer smug. ‘The shutdown doesn’t kill it. We disable its external connections to fix the problem. Then April will be back online. It knows that too.’
Rinzler shook his head, not convinced.
Angerford received the message he’d been waiting for, and initiated the protocol. It would take about half an hour to complete.
It was over before it began.
Spart’s bio-signature was rejected.
Rinzler watched Angerford trying to
figure out why the Hand had failed. If Spart’s signature had been corrupted since it was originally installed into the Hand configuration, it could be corrected by reinstalling. He tried reinstalling. It was rejected.
Rinzler sighed like a man forced to state the obvious. ‘Let me make a layman’s guess. There’s a failsafe against overwriting someone’s signature with someone else’s.’
‘Yes, of course,’ confirmed Angerford, annoyed and frustrated. ‘But the original replacement was completed successfully.’
‘Except that now you see it wasn’t Spart.’
Now Angerford saw it. ‘You’re right. There is someone’s intact ID. I can almost decipher it.’
‘Indigo,’ said Rinzler.
Angerford deciphered the ID. ‘How did you know?’
‘Elementary,’ Rinzler replied sombrely. Angerford kept staring at him with suspicion. Rinzler took out his pad. ‘It’s elementary deduction. If you stopped thinking like a technician for five seconds you too would have seen it.’ He was typing as he spoke, and Angerford saw an encrypted communication from Rinzler in his own workspace: ‘Do you mind Jan knowing all this?’ wrote Rinzler.
Angerford appreciated that. He wrote back, ‘Unless you know something you’re not supposed to, anything you say is your own opinion.’
‘It’s also common sense,’ Rinzler continued vocally. ‘April anticipates human behaviour. Its prime directive is to ensure its own survival. You told me that. The only thing that really threatens its survival is the Hand. April obtained Indigo’s bio-signature from the soul file, sneaked it into the Hand configuration as soon as it was possible, and then killed the original so that you couldn’t get Indigo to join in for the shutdown protocol. Simple logic.’ Too simple, he thought.
Angerford agreed that it was plausible. An andronet is designed to see possibilities and seize opportunities. April could get the idea of using phase technology from people’s chat about it. Perhaps it overheard someone speculating that Cyboratics might plant replicas of strategic personnel in rival corporations. However, April had to have technical help to carry it through.