“That’s true,” Emma agreed. “Surprising that you came to that conclusion as an organic being, but true nonetheless.”
“How do you know my brother’s coming?”
“The aforementioned public records and news searches,” Emma explained.
Several data windows appeared in front of Erik. One article announced a major upcoming conference for industrial chemical manufacturers. Another window displayed a subset of a list of conference attendees.
Damien Blackwell, Senior Vice-President of Distribution, Flamel Universal
An image of a gray-haired man with a weathered copy of Erik’s face was displayed above the listing. He’d thought about contacting his older brother since coming back to Earth, but he’d always come up with a reason why it was a bad idea.
“Yeah.” Erik let out a quiet half-sigh, half-growl. “That’s him. So, is this what you were talking about a month ago when you mentioned doing wide-net searches?”
“Mostly.” Emma’s hologram appeared. She folded her arms and stood next to the coffee table. “I’m monitoring a lot of information related to both you and Detective Lin. I’m avoiding any security intrusions that might draw unnecessary attention, governmental, corporate, or otherwise. I’m the superior pinnacle of human technology, but even I have my limits. With all that admitted, I still feel that by doing this, I can detect unusual patterns that might relate to the conspiracy. I’m attempting to connect otherwise disparate information as an early warning system.”
“I like the sound of that.” He tapped a finger on his leg. “One question before we go on about my brother. Have you heard anything weird about the Scar?”
Emma furrowed her brow, her displeasure clear on her face. “I’m limited in this endeavor by the information made available for consumption. The Shadow Zone might not be the lawless hell-hole some claim it is, but the level of news and information that is coming out of the Zone remains less than optimal for my purposes. However, I will note there were some recent reassignments of some Militia units in that area. Everything seems to suggest a standard change, and the timing is consistent with that explanation. I didn’t think it was worth bringing to your attention, despite what Alicia said. Excessive information won’t help you.”
“True. While it might not be helpful, it’s good to know anyway,” Erik answered. “Keep pushing. Things are too quiet on that front, and it might be up to you to find the trail we need to follow. I’m pretty sure my brother coming for a business conference isn’t part of a conspiracy. If they know anything about me, they know I haven’t spoken to the guy in years.”
Emma nodded. “That is one possible conclusion.”
He eyed her. “You don’t agree?”
“The conference, as best I can tell, has been scheduled to be in held Neo SoCal for over a year, even before your arrival on Earth. His participation at such conferences is common, but I do wonder. When we consider everything in aggregate, we have unusual activity in the Zone and the Scar, and your brother coming into town. That might be mere coincidence, or it might be overly fortuitous timing, indicative of a plot.”
Erik flipped his fingers through one of the virtual holographic windows and skimmed the list of conference participants. “Lots of heavy hitters, including Ceres Galactic subdivisions.” He continued scanning the list. “Any news articles mention security for the conference?”
“Several,” Emma related. “Would you like to read them, or would you prefer I summarize them?”
“I’ll take the summary, thanks.”
“Many local conferences and events are keenly aware of their potential as terrorist targets from a variety of ideological organizations. Security investments, both in technology and personnel, have been increased accordingly and publicly stressed. There’s even a statement in your brother’s conference brochure extolling the high level of armed security that will be present.” Emma shrugged. “It’s not impossible that it’d be targeted, but they’re well prepared for it.”
Erik grinned. “Then you’re just being a paranoid AI.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “My time with you has been characterized by swarms of cultist terrorists, hordes of gun junkies, and waves of repurposed murderous security bots. It’s important that you stay alive. I’m not paranoid.” She sniffed. “I’m aggressively cautious.”
He turned to eye her hologram. “You’re that worried about me dying? I didn’t know you cared so much.”
She pointed at him. “You are my shield against the DD. I would rather not take drastic actions. I would like to think they’re afraid to make a move independent of you, but I’m not an idiot. After all, while I’m vastly superior to a mere human, it’s obvious your unique relationship with Colonel Adeyemi and his shared desire for vengeance are the driving factors keeping the military from coming after me. If you die, it’s highly likely my comfortable status quo would be disrupted.” She made a face, not unlike a highbrow lady speaking to an unwanted suitor. “I’d rather that not occur. I find my current lifestyle satisfying and amusing.”
“I’m trying not to die.” He chuckled. “But there are no guarantees. I don’t think my brother has anything to do with a conspiracy, and I should just leave him alone.”
Emma’s mouth quirked into a tight smile. “Now, this is interesting. Very interesting.”
“What?” He shrugged. “It’s not like you didn’t already know I had my issues with my brother.”
“I understand, but I am not used to seeing you avoid a conflict.”
“I’m trying to not waste my time.” Erik frowned. “We both said what we needed to say to each other a long time ago. Hell, that was a long time before you existed.”
Emma walked through the table, her image shimmering. She stood in front of Erik, scowling at him. “Detective Blackwell, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were afraid.”
Erik looked at her from his seat. “Being pissed and holding a grudge isn’t the same thing as being afraid. I’m spending all my time hunting the conspiracy, and it’s not because I’m afraid of them. Come on, Emma.” He ran a hand through his hair as he sat back on the sofa. “You know me. Once someone pisses me off, it takes an orbital strike to remove that grudge.”
“I fail to see why it would hurt to at least speak with him.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Why do you even care? My brother’s just another dumb fleshbag to you.”
Emma snickered. “He is, but that fleshbag is related to you. By your own admission, you harbor an extreme and continuing emotional attachment to him.” She raised a hand. “Before you say anything, please note that anger isn’t the opposite of love. Apathy is. Anything that might serve as a potential distraction for you is of interest to me, so I think you should meet him and attempt to resolve your issues. The worst thing that happens is that you continue to hate him.”
“I don’t…hate him.” Erik looked down and shook his head. “I understand that we don’t see eye to eye.” He paused, his face scrunched. “Wait, why should I take family advice from an AI?”
Emma held up a finger. “First reason, I’m brilliant.” She held up a second finger. “Second reason, I’m brilliant.”
“Hmm.” Erik rubbed his chin. “A psychiatrist is a doctor, and what’s a doctor but someone who has learned to ask questions and figure things out based on algorithms? I suppose it’s not that different.”
“There’s another potential use for your brother,” Emma countered. “It’s something I’ve considered based on your rather lightweight personal life.”
Erik snorted. “All right, mini-Jia, what are you getting at?”
“He’s been divorced several times.”
Erik was surprised by this turn in the conversation. “Yeah, I know. What about it?”
Emma smiled. “You could always use him as a resource about marriage. Figure out what he did and avoid making the same mistakes.”
He chuckled. “Marriage isn’t high on my list of concerns at the moment.”
&nb
sp; Emma shrugged. “It’s good to plan for the future. Better overprepared than underprepared. The preponderance of evidence suggests that you should meet with your brother.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Travis shook out his hands as he stood outside the abandoned store. The chill of the night had settled in, and wandering a dark corner of the Shadow Zone didn’t do much to warm his body or his soul.
“This is what I get for taking a job that sounded too good to be true,” he grumbled. He patted his jacket, the weight of his gun the only thing comforting at the moment. “Three times the pay, same danger. Liars.”
Travis reached for his PNIU before pulling his hand back. He had left it at home. That was part of the job. Cops were cracking down everywhere, even in the Zone. A PNIU was a beacon if cops were looking for a specific person, and a man helping to move some of the last Dragon Tear in the area was a man who wanted to stay hidden.
He looked around. “Stupid cops,” Travis muttered. “All the Tear jobs are drying up, you assholes. How am I supposed to make money now?”
He tapped his foot and folded his arms, frowning at the abandoned store. It was taking too long. His buddy Johnny was supposed to have made the drop-off already. Testing should have taken a minute at most.
“Where is that idiot? He better not be pissing again. He can hit the can later.”
Gunfire erupted from inside, and a piercing scream followed.
“What the hell?” Travis yanked out his pistol and rushed inside, calling into the darkness, “Johnny? Where you at?”
Travis couldn’t wait for help. No one was coming. They’d come to this place to avoid police drones and attention.
He was on his own.
His pounding heart was not helping as he crept through the darkened store. Little noises, amplified by his fear, sounded like folks a couple of blocks down the street would hear them.
Would that be such a bad thing?
Without a PNIU, not only did he lack light, but he couldn’t also adjust his smart lenses to low-light mode.
A loud crunch and ripping noise came from the back; the feeling that bone was being ripped out of flesh was uncomfortably real. No holodrama made that sound.
“Johnny?” Travis called, turning left and then right, gun aimed straight…enough. Perhaps it was shaking, but he could hit something in the general direction it was pointed.
“You guys better not hurt him! You have no clue who you’re messing with. We’ve got big connections.” He let his finger hover over his trigger, licking his lips. “This better not be another one of your stupid jokes, Johnny. Not funny, man. Call out!”
He continued toward the back. The door was open and probably had been for decades in the abandoned building. He leapt in front of the door, gun ready to fire at the bastards he was sure had killed his friend.
Travis’ eyes widened. Even in the dim light of the back room, he could make out the blood-splattered walls and his friend’s mangled body. “Oh, God.” His stomach churned, and his resistance disappeared as he bent over, vomiting, perspiration on his forehead.
He wiped it off as he looked around. “I’ve got to get out of here.”
A scratching noise sounded from behind him in the room.
Travis spun to fire. “I’ll see you in hell, you bastards!”
He aimed his gun to the left, then right, then left again, but there was no one in the room. He had a few seconds to think about what had made the noise before his chest blossomed with pain. Something had ripped into his back.
“Johnny?” Travis coughed, blood leaking from his mouth, then looked down, noticing that something had punctured his chest. “Damn.” The agony overwhelmed him. He couldn’t even manage a scream when his killer stabbed him once more.
Chapter Seven
January 12, 2229, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Police Enforcement Zone 122 Station
Jia and Erik stepped off the elevator and into the hallway leading to the bullpen.
“Have fun with your trees on your day off?” Jia asked.
Erik chuckled. “You act like you don’t have an indoor garden. Where’s all this smugness coming from?”
“I do,” Jia admitted, “but they aren’t all in…miniature. I did have a nice date with Corbin the other day.”
There was no good reason to admit that she’d called Corbin for a spontaneous date just to prove to herself that she was into him and not Erik. She’d challenged herself to not mention Erik once during the entire date.
There was no reason to admit she’d failed that challenge, but at least she’d kept it to one incident.
“Date, huh?” Erik smiled. “Did you do something else boring?”
“Boring is relative. We didn’t go to a sphere ball match if that’s what you’re asking.” Jia offered him a playful grin. “I’d say we should have another dating bet, but I’d feel bad if you were paying for my beer and beignets for the rest of the year. You’d have no chance.”
Erik scoffed. “I can win. I just have to care enough. I hit up a coffee place that might even give me a strong start.”
“Huh?” She pursed her lips. “What does coffee have to do with dating?”
“There was a woman there, a barista,” Erik explained. “She was pretty attractive.”
“Are you excited because of her or her coffee?” Jia asked. She did her best to keep her tone light and playful despite her tightening stomach. It shouldn’t bother her that Erik was interested in someone. She’d set him up not that long ago, after all.
Erik considered the question. “The way to a man’s heart starts with good food and drinks, and I drink coffee every day.”
“A barista, though? That’s just…” Jia shrugged. “She’s probably pretty young. I thought you wanted someone a little more mature?”
“No, what I said was, I don’t want a fangirl drooling over me,” Erik explained. His gaze ticked over to her and lingered. “And like I’ve said before, being young and being mature aren’t mutually exclusive.”
Jia’s breath caught. She nodded to acknowledge the hit and continued walking as the noise coming from down the hall increased.
They turned the corner and stepped into the main bullpen. Uniformed officers sat at their desks, data windows and coffee in front of them.
Nathan leaned over the desk of a patrol officer. “I’m just saying, I’m glad we only have to go down there once in a while. I’m not saying the local EZs shouldn’t do more, but the Zone is messed up in a big way.” He glanced Erik’s way. “Then again, you got Erik and Jia on the Shadow Zone Task Force. The rate they’re going, they might have it cleaned up in six months.”
Erik grinned. “All the fun’s down there. Uptown’s boring half the time.”
“Except for when terrorists are attacking,” Nathan pointed out.
Jia glanced at the data window over the desk. It was an article on sphere ball league rankings, nothing related to crime.
“Is there something going on in the Shadow Zone we should know about?” Jia asked.
“I’m sure you’ll see the reports once you check your mail,” Nathan explained. “But I’ll give you the preview. There a missing person report down there. They’re pushing it to all the departments like it’s a big deal. John Neemoknik. He’s a corporate insurance assessor who was doing some work in one of the rougher parts of the zone. Something about analysis for possible reclamation in the future by the council.” He scoffed. “He should have waited a few more years while things got cleaned up. Poor bastard.”
“He might be okay,” Jia suggested, her tone betraying her doubt.
Nathan shrugged. “Sure. Sometimes people get lucky. You two going to have to investigate that?”
Erik shook his head. “Probably not. Being on the task force mostly just means we can go in and out without special permission. There’s way too much crime down there for a handful of detectives, and technically, the local EZs still have primary jurisdiction.”
“Lucky you, then.�
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Erik nodded. “Thanks. Talk to you later.”
Jia and Erik left the chatty cop and continued to their office. A pensive look lingered on Erik’s face.
“Problem?” Jia asked as she took a seat and brought up data windows to float above her desk.
“I don’t know. Alicia mentioned trouble in the Zone, and now this.” Erik shrugged. “Something’s probably coming if it’s not already here.”
“It might be aftershocks of the Dragon Tear raid.” Jia scanned her high-priority mail, but there weren’t any Shadow Zone-related case assignments.
“Maybe.” Erik brought up his own data window, and his eyes shifted back and forth as he read a few messages. “I know it’s not just us holding back the tide, but sometimes it feels that way.”
She lifted a hand, swiping left to get rid of a window. “If Captain Ragnar has reason to believe we can be of assistance, he’ll send us down there.”
Erik nodded and took a sip of cold coffee. “Yeah. Maybe I’m just on edge because of personal crap.”
“Is something wrong?” Jia hoped she hadn’t hurt his feelings with the dating jokes, but she doubted Erik was very fragile. She would be disappointed if he were.
His eyes flicked to her. “So, the other day, Emma told me my brother is coming to town…”
Erik finished his explanation, along with his conclusion that he wasn’t interested in seeing his brother.
Jia sighed, the back of her hand rubbing her forehead. “I’m the wrong person to talk to about this.”
Erik eyed her. “Why do you say that?”
“I might find my family frustrating,” she started, “but they are still very important to me. I’m much happier now that my parents and sister have accepted my career. I think Emma might be right. It might not hurt you to meet with him and try to work things out.”
Emma’s snickers came through their PNIUs. Jia eyed hers, frowning.
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