by Hugo Huesca
“Sounds great. Mai can bypass the firewall easily,” Walpurgis said. It was a necessary first step: Hospitals don’t take kindly to people racking up the Internet bill to play video games.
“Lovely,” Mai said. “You just signed me up for a crime. I could get all of you arrested, you know?”
“I’m pretty sure you can’t,” Van said with a smile. “We have family in the police now. We have clout. We’re in the system now. I bet I can kick-start a career in politics from here.”
“The world is not ready for that,” I declared. At the same time, Irene tugged my arm to get my attention:
“Do you have a minute?” she asked and gestured at the door. “It’s important.”
While the rest kept arguing about hacking and political careers, Irene and I left the room. We walked down the corridor until their voices couldn’t be heard anymore.
“What’s up?” I asked her.
She handed me her smartphone, a sleek white and silver thing that was almost a fashion accessory. “It’s my father. He wants to talk to us. He says it’s a matter of life or death.”
I stared at the empty screen of the phone before turning to my girlfriend with a raised eyebrow. “Your father? What does he want with me?”
It was the understatement of the century that Monferrer Senior didn’t like me. Truth was, we had never spoken. His own daughter had barely acknowledged his presence since his involvement with Sleipnir had come to light last year.
From his perspective, though…Irene had spent a while pretending to work with Sleipnir in order to stop them at the last second. She was the one who betrayed him, and then proceeded to leave the paternal mansion to go and live on a military base with her street rat boyfriend.
So yes, we had never spoken. It was best if we both pretended the other didn’t exist.
And now he was breaking that pretense.
“I don’t know,” Irene said, eyes downcast. “But it’s important. He refused to speak with me until us both were together.”
“Any chance it’s a trap?”
“Ah, it is for sure. My father wouldn’t move a finger if it didn’t benefit him, somehow. But I don’t think he would straight-up lie to us. He knows we’ll be suspicious, so he’ll try and lie by only telling us the truth.”
That line made me smile tentatively, thinking Irene may just be joking. But her expression was serious. Worried.
I’m starting to lose count of how many people want to manipulate us, I thought.
All in all, Monferrer was Irene’s father, so I couldn’t just ignore him. Deep down, I knew she still cared about him, even if she didn’t want to. Families can be a double-edged sword.
“Whatever he wants, I’m sure you can outsmart him,” I told her.
His contact number was on top of the screen, waiting for us. Monferrer picked up the phone on the first ring, and the screen went into projection mode, casting out a small, grainy hologram half the size of my hand.
Monferrer looked like his daughter only tangentially. His eyes were dark and mocking, the lines of his face sharp and slightly delicate. He had the face of a trickster, and the goatee of an evil vizier. His long, black hair was pulled back in a taut ponytail.
But Irene parentage was unmistakable. Same cheekbones, same delicate hands, the kind you’d expect in a pianist, not in a corporate shark.
When he saw me, Monferrer grinned in a way that was somehow more scowl than smile. “Dorsett. I see that you’ve survived the attack. You and yours are unharmed, I assume?”
So much for introductions. “Yes,” I said cautiously.
“I did what you wanted,” Irene told the hologram and flashed it the same grinning scowl of his. “What now?”
“That’s no way to speak to your father,” Monferrer scolded her without any real anger or sternness behind his words. He was pretending to be a hurt parent with his dignity battered by his rebellious daughter. “I was so worried about you, Irene. When news of the attack reached me, I was beside myself. My hair went almost completely white imagining you in the middle of that terrorist attack.”
Strange thing was, I could tell he was being honest, past his pompous words and inflection. His eyes were glued on Irene in an almost possessive kind of way.
He’ll find a way to lie by speaking the truth, Irene had warned me.
“I see that you weren’t worried enough to actually leave your desk,” Irene pointed out coldly. The desk itself was the kind of woodwork one would see in the Oval Office.
“What was I to do? My own daughter shuns me. Even if I had rushed toward the PDF base to fight the drones off myself, as was my first instinct…I knew my help wouldn’t have been appreciated.”
“Right,” Irene said.
This is not awkward at all, I thought in dismay.
“That’s not a reason to turn my back on my fatherly duties,” Monferrer went on smoothly, as if he hadn’t heard the scorn in Irene’s voice. “After I confirmed you were safe, I focused on using my considerable influence to gather as much information on the nature of the attack as possible. I know the man—the terrorist—involved is a former associate of yours, Irene.”
What the fuck?
“That’s not true,” I almost yelled at the hologram. “You’re twisting reality. Keles was more an ally of yours than Irene’s!”
He raised an eyebrow at me while his grin became just a bit faker. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Dorsett. Savin Keles and the Church of the Intangible Lord have never been associated with Odin, Sleipnir, or any other related branches. In fact, the only connection between them is my daughter.”
“And Charli Dervaux,” Irene said in a hushed tone. “Who you put me in contact with.”
My girlfriend’s face was grim and pale, like someone who was watching her own funeral.
“So, you’re not satisfied with betraying the woman who took you under her wing, you’re now slandering them?” Monferrer went on. “I’m disappointed. I admit I thought I raised you better, Irene.”
“I can only hope you didn’t,” she whispered, this time low enough that I was sure the hologram couldn’t hear.
For a second, I considered shutting down the phone and calling it a day. Whatever Monferrer wanted surely wasn’t worth this.
It was like he sensed that both Irene and I were about to peace out of the conversation because Monferrer waved his hand like he was washing away the discussion. “That’s not why I’m calling you, Irene. I’m being stern because I love you, and I know you deserve better. But your safety is more important than anything else, so—”
“You’re a bit late for that,” Irene told him, while her eyes flickered toward me. Her father’s insult had been directed at me. I flashed her a smile to show I didn’t give a fuck what he thought. “I am already safe. If you’ve found out anything about the attack, you should share it with Caputi or the CIA. I can get you in touch if you think they won’t answer a call from you.”
Monferrer’s scowl told me that he may snap at any moment. “You’re not out of danger yet! Put your feelings for me aside for a moment and listen to what I’m saying.”
He isn’t lying, I told myself as I saw the way his eyes glinted. He wasn’t just angry. He was scared, too. I had been misreading him.
“Keles found a vulnerability on modern drones through the Rune Signal,” Monferrer continued after taking a deep breath to collect himself. “That’s how he pulled off the attack. The government has managed to keep it from the public eye so far, but it’s feasible to expect people will panic when they hear about it. So they’ll run the line that it’s only modern drones that are in danger, and they’re already being shut down—”
“They’re right,” Irene said. “Only a few are equipped to use the Signal instead of just the Internet. Normal drones should be fine.”
“Well, I asked around,” Monferrer said, “and maybe the government thinks so, but everyone who is well-connected is selling their stocks at Freya.”
That
’s Doctor Wily’s company, I thought.
“And? All drone manufacturers are going to take a hit,” Irene said. “That’s what panic does. Doesn’t mean anything will happen, it isn’t rational.”
Monferrer nodded. “On its own, it means nothing. But I asked around Freya, too. Corporate has been acting suspiciously for months now.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Internal documents have gone missing. Entire databases expunged. Offices closed overnight, all the computers destroyed. The IRS is all over it, thinking someone is trying to pull some kind of fraud. I think Freya’s higher-ups are covering their bases.”
Irene scratched her chin and bit her lip. “Months before the attack?”
They can’t be in league with Keles, I thought. My body was pouring adrenaline into my veins—as if it expected an attack—which made me jittery. I made an effort to stay still. Keles has been dead for a while. This digital copy of his just recently activated. This means…
“Freya knows something is wrong with their basic drone design,” Monferrer stole the thought out of my head. “Another vulnerability. They make twelve percent of all the supply of drones in the States alone, Irene.”
“But they couldn’t know…” Irene was now talking to herself. “Why now…?”
Monferrer said nothing. Irene answered her own question after a bit. “Because the exploit was harmless until the Signal came along.”
Her father nodded with a glint of pride in his eyes. “That’s exactly my conclusion. Just an hour ago, I contacted the assistant of the vice-president of Freya. Seems like their CEO, Doctor Gerrard Wily, has been out of his mind with worry. He has been moving all his liquid assets into the Caimans and Dubai, while at the same time making his entire programming division work overtime. They’re trying to find a patch.”
That’s the guy I met at the Translation, I thought. The gears in my brain started turning. For all I knew, neither Irene nor her father were aware he had been there trying to convince me to allow a new digital version of me to be put in Freya’s possession. It has to be related.
As it turned out, it was. “Whatever Wily was trying to do to save his hide, it failed,” Monferrer went on. “He’s currently on a private airplane out of the States, headed towards Eastern Europe. No one but his closest friends know about this. He left without taking the bulk of his fortune with him. He’s running for his life.”
The copy, I thought. It was connected with the drones. And with Keles and the attack. How?
Before I could think of it, Monferrer said. “If Freya’s drones are vulnerable to hijacking, the entire country could be in danger. Blood would run through the streets. It’s one thing to attack an armed military base, another very different is to attack civilians.”
“It would be a disaster,” Irene said. “Even if—when—we beat the drones, no one would trust them ever again. The economy would collapse…”
“It would be worse than the last crisis,” Monferrer granted. “But that isn’t important right now. You see? You’re in danger, Irene. How many drones made by Freya do you think are in that hospital alone?”
Cold sweat ran down my spine. The corridor was awfully quiet. If what he was saying was true…
Keles would never pull that punch. He will attack innocents. I know he will.
“Why haven’t you told this to Caputi?” I asked.
His eyes flickered in my direction like one would look at a fly. “You think I haven’t? I spoke to the CIA. They have little reason to believe me. I don’t have any proof, this is all a very convincing conjecture. If they act on it, and people find out… panic could be as bad as the attack itself, even if I’m wrong.”
“And it’s not like they trust you,” Irene pointed out.
Monferrer nodded, conceding the point. “I did what I thought best for my family. For you. Now, please, let me keep you safe. I can have you out of the city before the hour has gone, Irene. You have to leave before it’s too late.”
“No way,” she said. “I’m not going without my friends. Especially on only a conjecture.”
Monferrer’s self-control broke for only a fraction of a second. There was real anguish in his face. He turned to me. “That’s why I had to talk with you, too, Dorsett. My relationship with my daughter may be too damaged for trust. But you claim to care about her, don’t you?”
“Care about her? I love her, Monferrer,” I said with my teeth clenched together.
“Then you have to do what’s necessary to protect her,” he pleaded. “I can evacuate your entire family and your friends if that’s what it takes for her to agree. But you have to convince her. She’ll listen to you.”
Irene and I exchanged glances filled with meaning. Pearls of sweat on her father’s forehead were now visible through the poor definition of the hologram.
“Get on my helicopters,” he said. No, begged. “All of you. I’ll get you to safety. I’ll drop you off at the countryside, and I’ll give you enough money to live the rest of your lives in luxury. The only thing I ask in exchange…is that Irene comes back to me. And that you never contact her again.”
Irene’s voice went as cold as ice. “What?”
“He’s dangerous!” her father pointed out, sensing correctly that she was about to cut off the connection. “Keles wants him dead, and half the world is scared of what he has done!”
“What we have done,” she pointed out. She was seething with barely contained rage. “I was there too. Remember?”
“That’s not how Keles sees it,” Monferrer said, “and you know it. The man is deranged! An egomaniac. Obsessed with his destiny. He thought Dorsett stole his…spotlight.”
“Then he’s an idiot,” Irene said. “And so are you. This is blackmail. This is how you intend to ‘protect’ me?”
Monferrer darted to me so fast the connection glitched out for a second. The hospital sure lacked a strong connection. “You know I’m right. You’re putting my daughter in danger just by letting her stay near you. You lived on a military base and it was still attacked! Seriously, how do you think this is going to end for you, Dorsett? You’re a living time bomb and the timer is about to go off!”
“ ’Letting her stay with you,’ ” Irene’s rage seemed to reach a level where she didn’t appear to be angry anymore. Just very, very calm. “That’s a way of putting it. Did Dervaux ‘let you stay with her’ while she enriched both of you by fucking half the world over? Remember, Dad, you helped to make this happen. Whatever happens to me is in your hands. Not Cole’s. You chose to work with Dervaux. This is what you get.”
“You have no idea what you’re doing,” Monferrer said. His hands were trembling, and I realized he was pounding on the expensive desk like a child throwing a tantrum. He told me, “You know I’m right! What about your family? If they stay near you, they’ll get dragged down with you. Is that what you want?”
“I’m going to hang up now,” Irene said.
The tantrum was replaced by the same cold rage that his daughter displayed.
“You don’t want me to make decisions for you, but it’s okay to make them for him?” Monferrer spat, his voice dripping with venom. “It’s his family we’re talking about, Irene. Let him speak for himself.”
She froze up. I felt her eyes glued to me, but my own gaze was fixed on Monferrer’s venomous scowl. He was savoring his victory. He knew he had me.
It was like someone was dragging a dagger made of ice through my heart.
He is right. If I can get Irene—and everybody else—out of Keles’ reach…I would be pretty fucking egotistical if I said no just because I wanted her with me. Wasn’t her life more important?
I suddenly understood how Monferrer felt.
In his fucked-up perspective, the man was always doing what he thought best for his family. Political power. Money. Influence. Clout with Charli Dervaux, the former CEO of Odin.
He had done so without worrying about what his actions would do to his relationship with his d
aughter. After all…
Wasn’t her safety more important?
The dagger scratching my heart plunged down through it.
That’s me, I thought, watching the hologram. A different accident of birth. A couple more zeroes on Mom’s bank account when Van had been born. One or two contacts in the corporate ladder when I was three years old.
Wouldn’t my values be different, then? Perhaps I would be more like Monferrer.
Perhaps I already was.
“Cole—” Irene whispered, but I was already speaking to Monferrer:
“Thank you for the offer,” I told him. “But if I accepted, my family would have me drawn and quartered themselves. I can’t decide for them. And I can’t decide for Irene. If she wants to stay, then that’s the end of it.”
“What?” he reeled like somebody had just shot him. “What are you thinking? How can you be so egotistical?”
Then again, I thought grimly. I may see myself in you, but we’re not the same, you fuck.
Different accidents of birth. I had had Rune. And Kipp. And Irene.
Monferrer had none of those.
The dagger in my heart dissipated. It was made of ice, after all, and my blood was burning.
I could think clearly.
“Your offer is shitty. This is all a conjecture, after all. Caputi will answer if I call her, so I’ll talk to her. If there really is an exploit on Freya’s drones, she can evacuate us herself. I’m a member of the PDF, after all.”
“That woman can’t protect you! Not like I can—”
Irene laughed bitterly. “Goodbye, father. Remember. You did this to yourself.”
Her father opened his mouth to speak, but she had already cut the connection.
The last I saw of him was a face contorted by fury and fear.
And guilt.
“You know, for a second there I thought you were actually going to agree,” Irene said. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying. Her breath was ragged and uneven.
Talking to her own father like that must’ve taken a lot out of her, even if he had deserved it.
“To be honest, I thought about it. If he had asked me two years ago, I think I’d have done it.”