by Jones, Raya
‘You reacted so fast, like lightning,’ Fred remarked.
‘I’ve practised the drill.’
He didn’t ask why.
Before long, only the mangled remains of my pockets’ contents were on the charred carpet, and presently the robot cleared them up too. The Nanotronics CEO switched off her camera. I told her, ‘You could tell Calvin Cray that the whole process took 11 minutes and 17 seconds. That’s an improvement on the official record which is 21 minutes.’ She glanced at me strangely and went away.
Fred said, ‘Good grief, you counted the seconds?’
‘There’s a…’
‘A clock on the wall, yes, I see it. In the middle of all that, you took note of the precise time. What was going on in your head, “What a splendid opportunity to update Calvin Cray”?’
‘Yes. That was one thing. Another thing was wondering who had me spiked.’
The barman came back. His gaze shifted between us as if unsure whom to address. ‘I’m the manager, my name’s Santa Rosa. Sorry to bring this up, but there’s damage.’
Fred told him to claim damages from Nanotronics. It was their fault that their product was susceptible to spiking.
‘What was it?’ asked Santa Rosa, staring at me. Close up, an old scar was visible on his left cheek. I said nothing.
Fred answered, ‘A nano virus that eats through the fabric and gets into your brain. If he didn’t take off the infected garment right away, he’d be in a seizure right now and dead within the hour. What’s worse for him, the virus would have infected his sites through his implants and killed him in cyberspace too. He had to destroy the biosuit because this virus can stay viable for a few days. Someone might have touched it and got infected.’
It was top secret information. What Fred didn’t tell Santa Rosa was that the skiz virus had come on the market less than six months earlier and was peddled only to military CEOs. Mu Tashi Nanotronics hired me to find out who was behind it. They worried that their clientele—those able to afford expensive techno-wear—were the prime target for this sophisticated weapon. Or so they said.
Santa Rosa stared at me, his hand involuntarily touching his scar. I couldn’t take my eyes off it.
Fred nudged me. ‘Let’s see if there’s a black biosuit for you in the boutique.’
Santa Rosa said, ‘I’ll be with you over there in a moment. There are biosuits, but we don’t stock black. I could check the catalogue. I somehow doubt that they design in black.’ It was the colour of cheap uniforms and the choice of youths with vulgar taste. Nobody in that lounge wore black.
‘Do you do everything around here?’ I asked him.
‘No, androids do everything.’ He told us that fourteen humans used to be employed in the lounge, but when August became available Gold Leaf fired everyone except him and another manager. ‘They keep us for the so-called Human Touch. If we didn’t need to sleep, they’d keep only one of us.’
‘They can’t do that to people!’ I protested.
‘We are not proper people as far as they’re concerned. I’ll probably get fired for letting you sit here in a bathrobe.’
I jumped off the barstool, pulling the bathrobe tighter around me. ‘Sorry. I’ll go to one of your private rooms out of sight.’
‘Stay here. I want you to. I’ve had enough taking shit.’ There was something very familiar about the way he said that. ‘Have another drink. I’ll send August to fetch you something from the boutique. What’s your next favourite colour?’
‘It’s not the colour. It’s the customised add-ons. I have a replacement waiting. Where are those private rooms? I need to use my portable portal to get it sent here.’
‘Yes, your mat,’ he nodded knowingly. ‘You can only teleport into those rooms.’ He took out his own pert and set the coordinates, then went to greet customers who arrived further down the bar.
Fred asked me what was going on between that man and me.
‘I’m trying to remember his name,’ I replied. ‘You gave him classified information that has a strict need-to-know status.’
‘You shouted it at the top your voice. Now everyone feels they need to know. Shall we go somewhere warmer for you? Are you going to let me copy the coordinates?’
I didn’t want him coming along. ‘I’ll be right back.’ But he put his hand on mine so that I couldn’t teleport without him.
We materialised in a softly lit windowless hotel room. Fred continued talking as if without a pause. ‘Being naked in public doesn’t bother you, does it?’
‘Dying a horrible death bothers me more. What implants do I have?’
‘How am I supposed to know? I told him what the brochure says. Do you have any implants?’
‘Not to my knowledge.’
He nodded, agreeing. ‘You don’t. I had you scanned in Section-9 when we went to the restaurant. Don’t look at me like that. I had to make sure. Field agents have implants.’
‘I’m not a field agent.’
The room was furnished with a low bed at one end and a sitting area at the other. I couldn’t scan for surveillance. Guessing my apprehension, Fred said, ‘It’s supposed to be secure, but I don’t trust “total privacy” guarantees. They must be watching you to ensure you’re getting your total privacy.’
There was a door but it led to a bathroom. ‘It’s one of those places,’ I told him, panic rising. A room with no exit. Who needs manual doors in the age of teleportation? Rooms without connecting corridors can be dispersed all over town. ‘I don’t want to be in a room like this ever again, Fred. It’s my worst nightmare.’
‘My worst nightmare is being stuck with you in a room like this. Do your thing and let’s get out of here.’ He sat down on the nearest chair.
The room was warmer than the lounge, but I was shivering. I stepped on the mat and logged on. ‘Was it you, Fred?’
‘Trying to kill you? No, you’re more fun alive, never a dull moment.’ Then he changed his tone and spoke solemnly, ‘It’s nobody from OK. You are my project. Anyone who tries to sabotage it will be fired for treason. That’s the death penalty. I’ll make you a promise, Al. If I must eliminate you, I’ll shoot you myself point blank. I won’t delegate and won’t make you suffer.’
‘Thanks. I guess.’
I carried out some routines, meanwhile telling him that I was surprised to learn who my sponsor was. Perseverance Suzuki had only one aunt, who passed away several years earlier. My mother’s parents were still alive in Sol. ‘Will I meet my grandparents?’
‘Suzie’s parents are not your grandparents.’ He became agitated, ‘Forget biology! The only family you ever had was your mother. Whatever you do, don’t contact her parents. They believe she died in the terrorist attack and don’t know that you exist.’
‘But they must know, since her aunt...’
‘No! My guess is that she agreed to sponsor you so that they don’t find out. It’s bloody Wye Stan. At the funeral we agreed that nobody but the two of us should know Suzie was alive.’ I pointed out that his men knew. He replied that they didn’t know who she was. And even he didn’t know about me. ‘If our paths didn’t cross in Terminal 37, Al, I’d still be none the wiser. I wasn’t even supposed to be there that evening, go figure.’
Before leaving Sol to embark upon his career as a history professor in Ronda, Freedom Cordova visited Phoenix-3 on a nostalgic whim. He decided to see the sunrise for the last time. For all he knew, this might be the last sunrise he’d ever see. ‘I miss the sunlight so much,’ he told me. ‘It was worth blowing up my home for an excuse to go back. I know, I know. I could have relocated back anytime anyway, but where’s the drama in that?’
After seeing his last sunrise he inadvertently missed the noon shuttle to Terra. ‘At first I thought it was because I couldn’t bring myself to leave whilst there’s still daylight. But then I realised it was the pull of darkness… Are you okay?’
There was a tightening in my stomach, a sense of dread. I couldn’t speak. I nodded.
Watching me with concern, Fred continued. Amber May had kept him posted about my progress in the academy during the three years of his journey to Ronda. Then she told him that I finished ahead of time. From her reluctance to say any more, he surmised that I was assimilated into the agency in some special capacity.
‘She fed you misinformation,’ I managed to murmur, ill at ease.
‘I wouldn’t put it past her, but she could have said that you dropped out if she wanted to stop me from suspecting your real role. Al, you’re shaking.’
‘This room gives me the creeps.’ I logged out.
‘We’ll go, but first I need to tell you something. Do you know that Calvin Cray has distributed the skiz memo to all military intelligences?’
‘All of them?’
‘You’ll see his distribution list when you check your mail. I sent you a copy…’
It hit me from nowhere.
Terrible blackness
Reaching out in icy tendrils
Making the flesh crawl
Fred was right behind me with a blanket he’d taken off the bed, and wrapped it around me. I stopped trembling. A parcel arrived.
The new biosuit was identical to the infected one except for some new modifications, including a built-in bug detector I agreed to test. For appearance’s sake, I used the conventional handheld device to scan the room for surveillance. There was none except for Fred’s covert recording. He sat on the chair watching me get dressed and check the inventory. The parcel also contained replacements for gizmos I usually kept in my pockets. ‘You didn’t replace your badge,’ he observed.
‘The CSG won’t issue a replacement without proof that the original was destroyed.’
‘Why didn’t you put it in the rucksack since you anticipated the hit?’
‘I always keep it in my pocket.’
‘Who knows what you keep in your pockets apart from me?’
‘Dee Valiant.’
‘Good grief, you are going after your own people.’
‘They are not my people.’ I sat down.
‘You are just a badge-carrying non-CSG, eh?’ It was futile insisting that the badge was a fake by special arrangement, necessary for some jobs I do for the agency. He laughed it away, insisting that my position in the CSG must be very special indeed.
Then, speaking seriously, he revealed something he didn’t want shared with the CSG. After Calvin Cray sent the memo about the skiz, nine corporations decided to collaborate to find out who was behind it. Fred named the big five and four more, including Nanotronics.
I felt as if the Ringmaster had handed me a ‘free’ ringside ticket. There will be a price, I knew.
When we arrived back at the lounge Fred spotted someone behind me. ‘Here’s your pal!’
Ravi, I thought, remembering Santa Rosa’s name at last. But it was only August coming to inquire whether Freedom Cordova required anything. Fred said, amused, ‘Aren’t you worried about Jexu Jiu here? He’s in a bad mood right now.’ The android replied that it didn’t wish to spoil its impeccable record of quality service by neglecting a client. By now Fred was notified that his transport was ready. He asked August to stock the yacht with provisions, and was dictating a shopping list when Santa Rosa walked up to us.
‘Ricardo said you haven’t changed a bit, Al. Too true, you’re weird as ever. Mysterious people are out to get you, you get mad and cause someone grievous bodily harm.’
‘Ravi, you’ve recognised me and didn’t say anything!’ I exclaimed.
‘I was hoping you wouldn’t recognise me,’ he muttered.
‘I’m glad to have this chance to say I’m sorry.’ I remembered yelling at him that I had enough taking shit, and lashing out with the brick that cut open his face. ‘I’m really sorry for what I did. Why didn’t I see you in the yard afterwards?’
‘Because you decided to take on Boss Ben all by yourself before I was allowed out to play again. What you did was nothing compared to the humiliation I had to suffer when the elders found out why you did it. But now I’m ashamed. I have three children and I’ll be as severe with them if they ever treat anyone like that. I was so jealous of you. You lived on your own with nobody bossing you. You used to climb to the roof. We weren’t allowed.’
‘I wasn’t allowed either. You have three children?’
August suddenly spoke loudly in a voice not its own, ‘Santa Rosa, you are fired. Pack up and hand in your uniform at once.’
I turned to the android. ‘Why?’
Ignoring me, the voice said, ‘Santa Rosa, you should know better than to let in your tribe.’
Fred intervened, ‘Hold your horses, I’ve brought him here. Do you know who I am?’
‘Freedom Cordova, sir, Gold Leaf allows escorts with no questions asked, but in return we expect them to be discreet.’
I knew that the speaker saw us through the android, so I looked squarely into the empty eyes and spoke flatly. ‘I’m Jexu Jiu of the CSG. My badge was destroyed, but August will vouch for my identity. Don’t bother to tell me your name. I’ll find out when I open the official inquiry. I’m personally going to keep an eye on this place for a year and a day. If Santa Rosa is fired, Gold Leaf will be struck off the Register for employing non-citizens.’
‘You can’t do that!’ the voice protested.
‘This is how it works: if you insist on arguing with me, I’ll insist that you cancel the contract with August and re-employ the tribal people who were here before.’
The voice insisted, ‘You can’t do that. Cyboratics will sue us for a breach of contract and the CSG will strike us off for employing non-citizens. That will finish us.’
‘Luckily for you I’m in a good mood today,’ said I. ‘Someone tried to assassinate me in your lounge. I’m going to initiate an inquiry as to how the assassin was able to teleport through your firewalls, and this matter the CSG won’t drop. But I’m prepared to overlook the personnel issue if Santa Rosa keeps his job.’
‘Okay.’ The voice sounded strained. ‘I have a confirmation of your identity. We too want to know how our security was breached… He logged out,’ August informed in its normal voice.
Ravi was grinning like mad.
‘And that was Al in a good mood,’ Fred observed. ‘God help us. Well, I’m going to check my mail. You two young men want to talk about children. See you later.’
Between attending to his duties, Ravi told me how he had come to be in Sol Gate.
That was the first I’ve heard about the clearances of the Edges.
Later, aboard the OK yacht waiting to depart the busy spaceport, I asked Fred whether he knew about the clearances. He was surprised that I didn’t know, and happily started: ‘I can tell you the inside story from the other side. Growing up in Ground Zero affects you in strange ways. It gives you delusions of grandeur and destiny… except you. You have a real destiny. Don’t shake your head. But we execs feel compelled to live up to the circumstances of our birth. With my parents’ generation, it was a peculiar fashion in names for their children. With my generation it was socialism. Do you know about that? Of course you do, you’ve read my lectures. We discovered socialism in our youth, and some kids didn’t grow out of it when they became middle aged. They’ve created the Social Inclusion Initiative with the notion of improving the life of people who live on the margins by integrating them into proper society. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to be a citizen.’
‘Not everyone wants to be a citizen,’ I pointed out.
‘You know that. I know that. But Jane and Jim don’t, and they are the no-good do-gooders behind this exercise in social engineering.’
Gangsters communicated their reluctance to be Socially Included with hostility that escalated to terrorist attacks on the Phoenix towns. The towns retaliated by forming militias. Peaceful people like Ravi’s folk were rounded up and deported for ‘their own good’. I knew from Ravi that families were split up and dispersed throughout the colonies, sent where jobs could be found for ind
ividuals. Many refused citizenship, unwilling to give up their blood ties, although in posts like Sol Gate it was difficult to practise their traditions. When Gold Leaf made most of its employees redundant, some of those who couldn’t find other employment became homeless. People took them in, but sometimes it meant two or more families living illegally in an apartment designed for two occupants.
‘So, Mystic Other, how can you safeguard their souls against the good intentions of the likes of Jane and Jim?’ Fred asked.
‘I can’t fix all the ills of the universe.’
‘I’m so glad to hear that. I wish Jane and Jim had your humility.’
‘Maybe someone could get them to see the other side’s point of view.’
‘Do you think I haven’t tried?’
‘You? Why?’
‘Jane is my sister Justice. Don’t you remember? Pay more attention when I’m telling you my life story, otherwise I don’t know why I bother! You have to understand what it’s like to be born to power. Socialism is great as long we are the ones who control the good of the common people. As far as Jane is concerned, the miserable sods she rescues can’t possibly know what’s good for them because they’re born and bred in the slums. They live in squalor and disease, and don’t get any education.’
‘They are clean-living and educate their children.’
‘It’s not the kind of education that prepares them to devote their lives to making the rich richer. It’s the education that gets someone like Ravi to appreciate why he shouldn’t bully kids. What sort of preparation for life is that? How can citizens claw their way up the management ladder if they have moral qualms about hurting others?’
‘You’re so cynical, Fred.’
‘That’s exactly what my sister said, word for word. I told her that those tribes have survived since before the Apocalypse because of their traditional ways, and she said that it’s their traditional ways that stop them from progress.’