* * *
“Well, that sucked,” I said as I staggered and sat down on the bench.
Doc Bern hurried across the park when he saw my reaction.
“I thought they were going to overwrite that.”
“Too many people trying to do a good deed, Doc.”
“What do you mean?”
“The major had General Kilroy there when the body was brought back in. My guess is they’re discussing what just happened. I put a recording of the whole thing in a folder for Gina to deliver to them. That’s about all I can do without revealing too much about the workings inside the construct.”
“That’s still pretty dangerous.”
“Can’t sit back and do nothing.” I shrugged. “Tell me, Doc, how much can you do with your access from in here?”
“I can do a lot. Why?”
I smiled. “I got an idea.”
“Is it a better idea than taking Chu’s place as a torture victim?”
“I gotta say, Doc. Any plan is better than that one.”
He nodded. “Let’s hear it.”
“It all comes down to you, Doc.”
I outlined my plan, and he nodded. “Yes, I can arrange that. I will have to be careful. Can’t let it be traced back to us.”
“It’s a worthy cause, Doc.”
“It certainly is,” he said. “I’ll get on it immediately.”
As Bern hurried away to his own virtual terminal, I sat and thought about the latest upload. I had no idea what was going on at the upper levels of Management. Was this widespread, or was Rosalyn just one of a few?
* * *
I was downloaded another twenty times before any of them were uploaded back into the computer. Over a period of a month, twelve of them had returned, and it was understood that the rest wouldn’t be returning. I’d spent years of my life dying for Obsidian so they could do any twisted thing they wanted to their own people.
On the outside, it had been a month, but I had absorbed a year of life memories as twelve of me had gone on different missions around the world. What they had discovered troubled me. The war with Teledyne was hot in almost every country. It had been bloody. The bigger population centers were suffering. I remembered the Food Riots while the JalCom war was going on, and it looked like they would happen again, but on a larger scale this time.
This was going to be a tougher war than the last one, and it had been a rough one. Not as bloody as the DU, perhaps. But Teledyne was looking to be even worse. Agents and Specialists against regular soldiers tended to be one-sided affairs, and the common soldiers on both sides of the conflict suffered for it. I had done my share of hitting JalCom forces and was no stranger to it, but lately? Lately, I was having trouble with it.
Then an upload came that surprised me. It wasn’t from one of my downloads, and I thought it was a mistake until I watched this young man’s life as it occurred. And where it stopped. Next came the download that went out.
“That’s going to be interesting,” I said and entered the huge town square I had created for all of us.
Standing in the center of the square, near the park benches I had placed around the giant oak tree, was a twenty year old with slightly Asian features. He was looking around in wonder.
“Welcome, Lee. As far as POW camps go, this is one of the nicer ones.”
“I’m not dreaming, then.” His voice was filled with disappointment.
“No, kid. You’re not dreaming. And the last thing you remember did happen.”
He sat, heavily, on the bench behind him.
“They grabbed me from my car,” he said.
“I know, kid. You’re not the first. You are the first that was uploaded like this, though.”
“Like what?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “You’re here, and you, the you that’s standing right there, are never leaving. The one in the data bank? I’m not sure, but I think they’ll delete it before too long. That’s why I pulled you out. It’s not the life you deserve, but it’s the life I can provide for…”
“What?”
“Yeah, they just deleted the one they uploaded.”
“What do you mean?”
“I guess I can tell you a story about the guy who became immortal. Then I can introduce you to some of the others I pulled before they were deleted. You’ll like Lucy. She’s always in the gardens.” I motioned for him to join me. “Walk with me.”
Whatever they had in mind for my latest download involved this kid who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
* * *
I opened my eyes; my head hurt.
“That’s different,” I said as I sat up. It was much more difficult than usual. “No nanites.”
“Just take a minute, sir.”
I looked around for Gina, but she wasn’t at her console. “Where’s Gina?”
“She was reassigned, sir,” the young man who greeted me said.
He was small framed with blond hair and blue eyes. His voice was soft and had a northeast accent. I hated him already.
“She’s been here for over a decade,” I said. “Reassigned?”
“I actually think she is retiring, sir. She was moved down to Charlotte for debriefing before her retirement.”
“I see,” I said and rose from the imprinter. It felt so strange being in a body with no nanites. I had spent decades in the Agent program and had never been downloaded into a regular body. At least, not that I knew of.
“I am Simon, Simon Gravely.”
“Well, hi, Simon. Any idea why I’m in a regular body this time?”
“None, sir. If you’ll hold on a minute, I’ll escort you to the locker room. I just have one more thing to do…” He punched a code into the console. “Just deleting a file.”
I was glad I had initiated the construct to pull the kid out. I had a feeling I knew what file he was deleting. I knew it wasn’t mine. It would take much longer than the time he spent on this one. They would have to burn out the whole damn system to get rid of me.
He joined me and offered support as I walked unsteadily up the ramp. “It will take you a little time to get used to the body, but you will be fine.”
I grunted as we entered the locker room.
“Once you are dressed, report to the major, sir.”
“Will do.”
I watched the new imprinter tech leave and opened the locker marked Lee Yen.
“Poor kid,” I said under my breath. “Hope he can find some solace in the Construct.”
When I was done, I walked a little steadier. At the top of the ramp that circled the facility, I entered Gloria’s office.
“Mathew,” she said. “Have a seat.”
I sat across from her and looked around at the boxes in the office.
She shrugged when my gaze returned to her. “No good deed goes unpunished.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t do this,” she said. “You told me what was going to happen, and I did what I could. Not enough for that poor girl, but at least we had that update to put into her body so she wouldn’t have to live it.”
I looked at her with my eyebrows raised.
“We all did what we thought was right, Mathew. I know what you did, and I saw the price you paid. No one else realizes Chu is still an innocent after that performance. Mysteriously, she was retired shortly after the incident. I don’t know how you do half the things you do, but you need to be very careful after the replacement arrives. They’re cleaning house, and I don’t want this to come down on you.”
“I reckon they are,” I said, with a nod. “I covered myself. If I’d known what you had planned, I could have done things a little different.”
“And I know you would have stuck your neck out even further than you did, Mathew. But you’ll need to tread lightly from here on out.”
“You too, Gloria. It’s been a pleasure working with you.” I looked around the office again. “So, what’s the deal with this new job?”
“We’ve lost a lot of Agents to Teledyne’s Specialists. We need to know how they do what they do. We need an inside man.”
“This guy?”
“He’s just been accepted into the Specialist program. He thinks it’s an—”
“Intern job with Invicta Securities,” I said.
“That is why you’re the man for this job,” she said. “None of the other imprints can take that file and incorporate it into themself. You’re unique.”
“That’s why I’m still here,” I said. “They’d have purged me a long time ago if I wasn’t useful.”
She nodded.
“Frankly, I’m surprised they trust me after what I’ve seen.”
“No one knows what you’ve seen, Mathew. The only ones who’ve seen the footage are transferring out. Kilroy’s investigation has been halted, and the sharks are circling. Even Bern was sent south. They’re cleaning house. If you keep your head down, you’ll just be another imprint to them.”
“And Red?” I asked.
“She accepted early retirement.”
“What’s to keep me from disappearing while I’m on the west coast? Why would you put that sort of opportunity in front of me?”
“Choices, Mathew. We all deserve our choices.”
I nodded. “It has been a pleasure, Gloria.”
“We made some history here, Mathew Kade.”
“We may not be finished yet,” I said. “Time will tell.”
“I fear we have some dark days ahead of us,” she said. “It’s been an honor to work with you, sir.”
“None of that sir crap; I work for a living.”
“You should outrank any officer in the OAS on seniority alone. No one has served Obsidian as long as you. I’ll sir you if I want.” She tapped the insignia on her uniform. “These say I can.”
I chuckled. “Officers.”
“Good luck, Mathew. If you make it back, I wish you the best. If you don’t, I still wish you the best. Your transport is waiting on the roof. It will deposit you back at your…or more accurately…his home in Oakland. The car is already there, and Agents have been sent to keep the illusion he’s been home over the weekend. You report to Invicta Tuesday morning.”
I stood and nodded to Gloria. It was probably the last time I would see her. I was uncertain whether her transfer involved disappearing, and I worried that Gina was retired in a more permanent fashion than the new tech had mentioned. Now, I had found out that Bern was on his way south, too? Just who was Rosalyn Danforth? And how did she wield that much power?
* * *
I could see why they had accepted Yen into the Specialist program. Unlike Agents, they couldn’t be loaded with imprints. Yen was a patriot of sorts. A nation hadn’t earned that patriotism. He believed in Teledyne. He believed Obsidian was the Devil on Earth, and he believed Agents were the demons. I wasn’t sure he was wrong.
I had been disillusioned before I met Danforth. What she had done was a travesty. I knew Gloria had sent me here as a way out if I wanted to disappear, and I wasn’t sure it wouldn’t happen. Whatever I decided, I would proceed with the mission until I was sure. The me in the machine was still there, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about deserting him/me.
I drove Lee’s car onto the freeway and initiated the cruise control. It left me free to do some thinking. The sun shone through the smog in several places. The last ten years, and the advancements in electric motors, had been good for the environment. At least, good in the smog-covered west coast. Some of the places where that technology had been used weren’t doing as well. But there was always a cost. The east coast was making advancements in electric motors too, but there were a lot more gasoline-powered vehicles there.
The fuel-powered vehicles were here, but the regulations had become pretty harsh, even before the Corporate takeover. You’d find more gas burners in the rural areas than you would in the urban sprawl.
I took a deep breath as I stopped the car in front of a skyscraper three hours later. I’m pretty sure traffic would always suck in the city.
“Last chance to walk away and disappear,” I said. “Nobody would come looking.”
If I chose to leave after joining the Specialists, I figured they would come looking.
I shook my head. “Not yet. I need to know if I was fighting on the right side.”
I had a feeling the answer would be painful. If Obsidian was run by people like Rosalyn…
I let the thought drift away and walked into the building.
There was an information desk just across the lobby. Or, more accurately, a security desk. The pretty brunette behind the desk could have snapped my body into pieces. If you knew what to look for, you could always pick out the enhanced. They were like coiled springs. They were stiller than most people because they had to consciously make sure their moves were slower. So, they actually moved less than a normal person.
“May I help you?” she asked as I approached.
I handed her the letter I carried. “I’m supposed to have an interview today.”
“Name?”
“Yen, Lee Yen.”
She nodded. “I have you down for an interview with Mister Galley. Take a seat over there, and I’ll tell him you’re here.”
I sat and watched the Specialist get up and exit the lobby. She wouldn’t leave me there alone without surveillance of some sort, so I played the part of the anxious young man waiting for an interview. The papers in my hand bounced as I fidgeted. I had almost forgotten a time when I fidgeted. You train yourself to be still. The movements of the enhanced could be much more dangerous than those of a regular person.
She was suddenly right there. “He’ll see you now.”
I jumped. Everything was swimming as though it were covered in molasses. My body was not as fast as I was used to. This was what it was like to face one of us. I had gotten so used to being Superman, I had forgotten what it was like to be Jimmy Olsen. It was a little intimidating.
She chuckled as I stood up.
“Surprised me,” I said. “Guess I was lost in my head.” I snorted. “Maybe you’re just really fast.”
“You have no idea, kid.” She grinned and headed back to her desk.
“Really? Kid?” I said under my breath. “You’re, maybe, a biscuit older than me.”
“Aren’t you sweet? I’m touched you think so.” She pointed to a door on the left side of the lobby. “Galley’s in there.”
I let my hands shake a little with nervousness, much like a normal person would if someone heard them mutter something from twenty feet away.
“Don’t worry, honey, you’ll do just fine. Welcome to Invicta Securities.”
“Thank you,” I said as I passed her desk on my way to the door.
The office I entered was sparse. A man in his sixties sat behind a desk. He was obviously not a Specialist, but Lee wouldn’t know what a Specialist was.
“Take a seat, Mister Yen.”
The man’s voice was gruff, and his huge mustache waved as he spoke. He reminded me of an actor from a long time ago, one who did commercials about diabetes.
“Something amusing, Mister Yen?”
“No, sir.” I sat down in the chair opposite him.
“I’m Jerrod Galley. I’ll be the one deciding whether you are Invicta material.”
“Yes, sir.”
“As you know, entry into any of the major branches of our military is through the various security firms. We’re what people used to consider basic training. Some of our people never move up into the TAF. And we do need people right here. My first question is, what are your intentions? Are you looking for a security job, or are you looking for a service job?”
“I’m looking for a service job, sir.”
“Good, good. We need soldiers as bad as ever.”
“I’m ready to serve, sir.”
With his next questions, he probed the history of Lee Yen. All were facts known to them, but they were ascertaining whether any of those facts were inco
rrect. Most involved his lack of family or friends. I understood the probing. Bern had recruited me for the same reasons. There was no one who would miss me if I disappeared.
Three hours after I sat in the chair, he asked, “Have you heard of the Specialists?”
Rumors had been floating around, and Lee had heard them, just like everyone else.
“Rumors. Not sure if I believe some of the claims.”
“The program is very real, and we would like to have you. Before we go into specifics, you’ll need to sign the nondisclosure agreement. To sign the NDA, you’ll have to sign these.”
He pulled a stack of papers and a tablet from the desk. “First, you’ll sign the paperwork, then you’ll sign again on the tablet. Welcome to Invicta Securities, Mister Yen.”
“Thank you, sir.”
* * *
I wasn’t prepared for the pain. I’d never actually gone through the nanite process.
“I warned you,” said Doctor Li. “It hurts. The nanites’ first task is to replicate themselves until they saturate the body. That is the painful part. Eat the rations.”
I chewed a dried fruit bar that tasted like shit.
“Once they achieve saturation, the pain will lessen. Then they will begin to build. You must eat. The more you eat, the faster the nanites work. Your next few days will be spent…” She paused and shrugged. “…eating.”
I groaned as another wave of pain washed over me.
“Eat faster, Mister Yen. If the nanites don’t have fuel, they will use you as their fuel. That’s the pain you feel. If you eat enough, it will be minimal.”
I could deal with the pain; Rosalyn had done far worse. But Lee Yen had never felt that level of pain before, and I was him.
I ate the fruit bar and opened another.
“Good,” Li said as she rose from the stool across from me. “Continue. I will be observing from the office. Eat.”
I spent three hours eating the shitty ration bars, but they staved off the worst of the pain as the nanites Li had injected into me did their job.
“You may stop eating, Mister Yen. The nanites have reached saturation, and they will now begin to build. For this part, we will periodically hook you up to an IV, and we will supply you with the supplements they will need to do the structuring. Every six hours, you will report here for an IV. Anytime you feel hungry, you will need to eat. The pills you are receiving will need to be taken every two hours for the next twenty-four.”
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