No, Ryu Shima did not need to be called before his mother this day to discuss how he was sleeping.
‘Ryu Shima, I asked you a question.’
But he could not deny the request because she was the Alpha of the house and he could not afford to be out of her favour.
‘Ryu? You can hear me, can’t you?’
He looked down. She had placed a hand on his knee. She looked at him with such worry.
‘I’m sorry, Mother. I have much on my mind.’
‘What troubles you, my son?’
‘Easier to ask what does not trouble me. For the burdens of the world are the burdens of the Prime.’ She smiled at him, patient, indulgent. ‘I see my weariness pleases you somehow.’
‘First comes the weariness and then comes wisdom.’
‘I have not heard that one before. I fear it may be true.’
‘Can I lighten your burden in any way?’
‘Are you asking as my mother, or as the Alpha of House Shima?’
‘Can I not be both? You will return to the house in time, Ryu san.’
‘But for now my house is bigger than that.’
‘It is. Perhaps you can share the essence of your problem without sharing the details?’
‘Is not the essence of every problem the same? A demand meeting an insufficiency.’
‘I shall get your father to talk with you if you want to speak philosophically. Where is the insufficiency? In you?’
‘Of course, but also in everything. We have insufficient information.’
‘And the demand?’
‘There is a demand to act.’
‘I see the problem.’ His mother nodded. ‘Let us enjoy the tea. It will give me time to think.’
She rang a bell and the tea service was presented. He knew that this was deliberate stalling on her part. Making him take his time. Time to sift through the build-up of unfinished notions that accumulate when one is too hectic to think.
‘As Prime I must appear active, or I will lose my position.’
‘And if you lost the position?’
He could not answer.
‘What is it you fear would happen if you were no longer Prime?’
He could not say that he thought the threat to the world would overtake them. He couldn’t speak his fear that without him there would be no one who could marshal the World Union to do what needed to be done.
The fine lines around her mouth deepened as she tightened her lips. He was just like everyone else. The only fear was that he would no longer be Prime.
‘Your father gave me one piece of advice when I rose to the Primacy. Perhaps it may serve you now. No matter what happens, no matter how much is happening, no matter how they push you: don’t react. If your actions are reactions, that means someone else has control. Respond. Never react.’
‘I understand. Thank you.’
‘I won’t keep you any longer. Your wellbeing is of great importance to me.’
‘I am looking after myself,’ Ryu insisted.
‘You are not. You are isolated and carrying too much of this burden by yourself.’
‘Who else is there?’
‘There is a whole world of people, my son.’
‘No, Mother. There is only me.’
‘You trust Takashi, don’t you? You seem to share everything with him.’
‘I already rely on him too much.’
‘Perhaps you would consider taking him to live with you. He would be a good companion as well as a comrade.’
Ryu smiled. ‘Are you asking this for my benefit or for yours?’
‘Well,’ she spread her hands in mock innocence, ‘there is a charm to striking two birds with one stone. He needs to move out, experience more of the world, break some of his bad habits.’
‘He enjoys himself.’
‘I mention it only for your consideration.’
~ * ~
Bidding his mother goodbye, Ryu took the elevator to Takashi’s floor.
Takashi’s room stank, as always. Ryu’s brother lay sprawled on the floor with a mesh evaporator thrumming by his side. There were more dolls than chairs. They draped themselves over the two large day beds and over each other. A tangle of delectable limbs.
‘How was Mother?’ He wasn’t sure Takashi had noticed him until he spoke. His eyes were concealed behind the oculars he wore to immerse in the Weave.
‘She wants you to move in with me,’ Ryu replied.
‘In the needle? There isn’t enough room for my friends.’
‘No. There isn’t. What are you doing?’
‘Our sister is about to pact with Alderson.’
‘Mother didn’t mention it.’
‘She doesn’t know yet. I’m watching it now.’
Ryu didn’t want to know any more. Takashi had no boundaries. It was a point of pride for him. Ryu could see that his brother was aroused and he looked away. There wasn’t anywhere safe to look in Takashi’s chambers though.
‘You have something for me?’ Ryu asked.
‘What do you need?’
‘Information. You said you had something and — can you turn that thing off? It’s giving me a headache.’ Takashi instead turned the evaporator to a higher and louder setting. ‘Takashi, please.’
His brother sat up and tapped his ears. They might be listening, he meant. ‘Relax, brother. Breathe in and learn to relax.’
‘I can’t have the Weave thinking I’m getting high in your den.’
‘My den. I like that. Lucinda? Come here, would you?’ One of the dolls activated and crossed the room to kneel by her master. ‘Open your mouth.’
‘Takashi, that’s enough. I have to go.’
‘Wait, you’ve got to see what she can do with her tongue.’ Takashi fingered under her lip and took a tiny disk from the doll’s mouth and passed it to Ryu.
‘Takashi, what —’
‘Okay. Go. Don’t play with me. Some things are better kept private.’
‘I’m going. Let me know if you find anything useful.’
Ryu left, feeling the effects of the steam, and fumbling his normal stride as he took the outer walk up to the roof to clear his head. What could be so important that Takashi felt the need for this sort of charade? It must be too dangerous to transmit, even behind his walls.
~ * ~
Since he had become Prime, Ryu’s immediate circle of contact had shrunk dramatically. Besides the shifts of anonymous bodyguards, there were only four people he had regular face-to-face contact with: his mother and father, Takashi and his secretary, Gladys.
Most of his day was spent in his null office. It was a semicircle that had two entrances, one to his bedroom and the other to the corridor that lead to the lounge area. He could sit at his desk and see the whole of northern Yantz stretching its blocky islands to the horizon, dotted with needles and the looming Shima Palace.
Or he could have the whole window opaque to work on. He liked to have the option of being able to pace before a giant screen of data and inputs.
To make his day manageable, he broke it up into six blocks of four hours, to be flexible to the needs of the Primacy. Around the globe he was co-ordinating with the other members of the council, briefing and debriefing the teams in the field, pushing for progress in tech development, holding closed sessions with other world leaders, as well as monitoring and working through the material required to keep the hunt for Pierre Jnr on track.
Ten minutes later Ryu sealed the needle and took an unconnected handscreen into his bedroom. The window darkened and a lightshield rolled down; in this configuration, his room was a black box, though without recording abilities. He touched the disk from his brother to the screen, hesitated, then climbed into his bed and pulled the blanket over his head.
The data played automatically, beginning with a tap from Takashi.
Ryu, this was out there, accessible, but no one has compiled it yet. I’ve deleted w
hat I could. You don’t want this getting into the wrong hands.
~ * ~
The first footage was from Kyushu.
The markets were a press of skin and a mob of sound. Everyone had to shove their way from vendor to vendor. Everything was for sale in a place like this, but there was never enough everything to go around and people yelled to get what they needed, and sellers shouted about their bargains and shouted at their helpers.
A boy of thigh-height in a neat suit of ivory linen walked slowly through the lanes, the crowd parting unthinkingly to clear him a path.
As he passed, people handed items from the tables to him without looking. In this way the boy wandered the busy avenues, grazing on apricots and pastries before leaving the area and disappearing from the passive surveillance.
Ryu watched it twice.
The next was from a private home. There was no indication as to why there was a recording. It may have been for a religious sharing.
A balding man prostrated himself before a painting he had mounted on a side table. It was one of those artist sketches of the Pierre Jnr manifestation.
The same boy from the Kyushu market sat on a junktique footstool, chewing grapes one at a time and watching the man bow to the picture. A woman came into view and gave the boy a glass of water before joining the man in supplication before the picture.
Neither adult seemed to really see the child in their room.
The third clip was taken from a STOC Services post. The boy stepped in through the automatic doors and the woman at the desk didn’t look up. He wandered behind the bench and waited as she came to open the door for him.
She walked in front of him the whole time as he ambled through the corridors and back rooms as if inspecting for a report.
~ * ~
There were dozens of clips just the same. Everyday people going about their daily activities with the boy watching them.
Takashi’s present disturbed him greatly. Pierre Jnr was real.
Each recording made him feel sicker and sicker. His stomach melted. His own heartbeat made him jumpy. He watched Pierre Jnr walking through city streets ... listening to presentations in boardrooms ... sitting with a co-ord in a 720° watching the trajectories of thousands of inbound vehicles ... attending classes and raising his hand to answer and ask questions ...
He did not hide, but none saw him. He seemed to be doing no harm, but people fetched and carried, stepped out of his way and even held their umbrellas over him when it rained. All without any communication or recognition of their own actions.
Ryu couldn’t move.
He sat under his cover for half an hour until there was a knock at the door. His heart paused. Nobody should be able to gain access to the needle, let alone his bedroom. The needle was locked down. His symb should have warned him. The door handle of his room shook once, then silently it clicked to unlock.
‘Ryu?’
‘Taka?’ he replied quietly.
‘Yes, Ryu. It’s only me.’
The Prime pulled the blanket slowly from his head, expecting to see the melon-headed boy standing in the doorway. But it looked like Takashi. Pallid, covered in symbiot and sweating, hastily dressed in a woman’s kimono. ‘Is it really you?’
‘Yes, Ryu.’
‘How do I know?’
‘Have you flipped? Ryu, it’s me.’
‘Takashi never leaves his rooms.’
‘I do when my brother needs me.’ He sat down on the bed beside him, his bulk making it lean toward him.
‘But how did you know?’
‘My simulation did not react well to the new data. I ran it three times and twice resulted in full catatonia.’
‘You have a simulation of me?’
‘Of course. I have simulations of all the family.’
‘Takashi, why would you do that?’
‘To test scenarios. How else would I know what I could and couldn’t get away with?’
‘Behavioural responses? How long have you been doing this?’
‘For seven years now. I refine them every day.’
Ryu was stunned and disturbed. He knew enough of his brother to know that there would be no limits to what he would test. Anything his particular mind could think of.
‘I don’t want to come across as a hypocrite, Ryu, but you need to get out of bed.’
‘I just need time to absorb. I’ll be okay.’
‘I know you will, but you need to look okay faster. The Weave is watching.’
‘How do I go on? This ...’ He held up the screen. ‘Nobody sees him. He could be standing in the corner right now, and we wouldn’t know it.’
‘Yeah, but probably not.’
‘Probably? That’s all you’ve got?’
‘Statistically, he is very unlikely to be here. He seems to like crowds more.’
Ryu sighed. His brother was trying to make him laugh and on the inside he felt a desperate need to, but his shell was so crisp and fragile.
‘Did you say you were deleting these sightings from the Weave? No one else will be able to find them?’
‘Only if they can get through my wall. Do you want to hide it completely?’
‘That is a good question. Does it help for the world to know he exists or not?’
‘Not a question for me, Ryu. You have strategic advisors.’
‘Then for now let’s keep it hidden. What do I have next?’
‘You have a queue to get through and your pet project is ready for your wisdom.’
‘Yes. At least that will improve my mood.’
‘That’s what I thought.’ Takashi patted him on the knee. ‘Mind if I stay around for a while?’
~ * ~
The next morning while Peter was eating breakfast, the elevator slid open and out stepped the psi from yesterday’s collection. File 378. Risom Cawthorne.
‘You?’ Pete leapt to his feet and triggered all the alarms.
Risom put his hands up. ‘Don’t be a stoob, I’m not going to hurt you.’
‘How’d you get in here?’
‘Nice to see you too, traitor. Why don’t you just tap me and move this intro on?’
Pete’s heart sank in his chest. It was a set-up. Risom was an agent, like Tamsin had been, but where Tamsin was the best tapper, this guy was the best kinetic. From origami flowers to squib juggling, Risom was as good as they came. Yesterday’s scene was entirely staged, by Ryu Shima.
‘Hi, I’m Risom. I’m your new partner.’
Pete took a long look at the boy. Lean, thin legs and an angular chest. Hair blond, overall quite preened, even after yesterday’s battle, except for the rash of pubescent hair growing on his chin. Of course, he was botted with a symbiot lock, just like Pete was, and had been since he was four. Services sure did know their business.
‘That was quite a show you put on. I didn’t pick up anything from you yesterday.’
‘Perhaps the excitement confused you.’
‘Have you done that before?’
Risom didn’t answer out loud, but Pete could see that he had.
‘How does that feel, traitor? You fell right into their little trap.’
And you led me into it. You’re the traitor.
Gock came out of his room and was startled to see Risom standing in the needle. ‘You!?’ He fled back into his room. Risom tripped his legs from under him and the proxy fell to the floor.
Risom didn’t care. He found it rather amusing. He took a place on the long couch and put his feet up on the table. ‘So what happens around here?’ he asked, flicking the window to screen and browsing the Weave.
‘Gock? May I speak with the Prime, please?’
Gock shook his head. ‘We are in his queue.’
Drinks and food began floating from the kitchen bench to where Risom was relaxing. He did nothing with his hands except fold them into a cradle for his head. His drink floated to his lips and he lay back while his shoes undid
themselves and dropped to the floor.
‘Why would you do that?’ Pete asked.
‘They treat me well. They give me respect.’
The Hunt for Pierre Jnr Page 23