by Tony Corden
“Is there anything you can do?”
“Their evidence is circumstantial but weighty. You can prove you didn’t kill him yourself, but it will be almost impossible to prove you didn’t order him killed. At the same time, it will be impossible to prove you did order him killed. If we contest the charges, I think you will be acquitted in the end, and you would have a strong case to claim some compensation. That being the case, I’m confident the charges will be dropped before it gets to an actual trial, but the damage to your reputation will be done by then. Your only hope to avoid the damage is to convince them, at an interview, that you are innocent. I’m sorry, but I think that’s not very likely.”
“So what is the timeline? I’ve the Merkize contest in Dunyanin this afternoon and have some other things in the works.”
“I can postpone the interview until tomorrow afternoon without too much trouble. They’ll slap a no travel ban on you at that time. After that, I think they’ll prefer to act slowly in an attempt to show that they’re examining every avenue carefully. Expect a warrant to be issued late on Tuesday or early Wednesday. Trials normally take one week at the most so you’ll probably be back here by the weekend at the latest.”
“Is there anything at all that can be done?”
“I’d love to say there is, but I can’t. With what I know, it appears that you have the whole system lined up against you and I can’t see a way out. My suggestion is you be as compliant as you can and work with me and your PR consultant to minimise the damage and then get some payback, financial or otherwise after you are set free.”
“Could they convict?”
“I don’t see how. They’d need to manufacture actual feed of you ordering the hit and the independent feed-analysis AIs are too competent to be fooled with manufactured data. If they can somehow corrupt the integrity of the AI, then it is possible they could get a conviction. If that happened, I would line up some independent experts to review the data, and I think that would be enough to prevent a conviction.”
“What can I do to prepare?”
“I’ll send you a list of questions I think they’ll ask. On the list, I’ll outline the suggested answers. John has shared the detail of what’s happened to you and except for one or two blank areas regarding your PAI implant, the rescue of your mother, and how you survived being shot, I think I’m up to date. The police shouldn’t question you about those events. I am still mostly in the dark concerning the specific details of your previous work for Jimmy, but they shouldn’t bring that up either. If they do, then I’ll insist they refer only to the issue at hand. The issue of that boy’s broken bones last year may come up, but there is nothing I can do about that except say it was never investigated.”
Leah looked at John, who gave an infinitesimal nod of his head. Olivia said, “I don’t need to know what that was about, but I suggest whatever it was about, it should be done without leaving any evidence.”
Leah said, “I assure you, Olivia—I haven’t left evidence at a crime scene for years, and John is even tidier than I am. If people know about what happened to that boy, then it was because, at the time, I didn’t mind the word getting out.”
“I understand, John has explained what happened.”
John said, “Olivia, I’ve just processed what you said about Leah being shot and was wondering what sort of physical they might give Leah if she’s arrested?”
“She’ll get a general health check with more intensive investigations if they find something out of the ordinary.”
“Will they investigate further because of her wounds?”
“I hadn’t considered that, but yes, almost certainly. I imagine they’ll find evidence to conclude they are the result of a gunshot. So far they haven’t given any indication that the victim was anything except possibly a sexual predator. If they can show he was involved in the attempt on Leah’s life, then that may be a strong enough motive to carry a conviction, even if it’s only manslaughter.”
Leah’s face became hard as flint, and for once Olivia didn’t read her correctly at all. Olivia said, “Don’t worry yet, Leah. I can’t imagine anyone will want to connect the victim to an attempt on your life. It has too much potential for questions about whoever hired him, and it could lead to them. Everyone knows who you have been feuding with.”
“That doesn’t worry me at all, Olivia. I’ve too many other things to worry about between now and then. What upsets me is that an attempt on my life is considered sufficient motive whereas exploiting me sexually isn’t. There is something seriously skewed with the system.”
“But they don’t consider it exploiting you. It was only your image.”
“I’m seriously disturbed that people still think like that. I’m not going to rave at you, but I’ll need to process this a bit more so I don’t lose it and tell a judge their logic is screwy and that I’m much more likely to have killed him for stealing my scans than for trying to shoot me.”
John burst out laughing, but Olivia looked horrified. Leah smiled and continued, “Don’t worry Olivia. I’m not going to embarrass you if it gets to court. I’m impressed by all you’ve done and plan on taking your advice. I’ll keep calm.”
Olivia was quiet for a moment, then said, “While I appreciate that, I want you to understand that I do realise how artificial the system is. At the start of my career, I thought I was dedicating my life to help people get justice. I don’t think that any more. I’ve come to realise that in reality, I’ve dedicated my life to helping people navigate a system which is fundamentally designed to reach a conclusion which is acceptable both politically and socially to either the majority, or to the people in power. Justice, truth, guilt, innocence, victim, crime, and other such words no longer have an objective basis but are relative words which change depending on power differentials, political climate, and current societal relevancies. Having said that, I do think they have enough evidence to justify getting a warrant. I know it’s been planted, but they don’t. A trial is appropriate, and if the system works, you should be acquitted. What I can’t approve of is the machinations behind all of this and the fact that they will still achieve their end game—to destroy your reputation.”
John said, “I’m sorry Olivia, but while that might be their end game it isn’t going to be the, in inverted commas, ‘end game’. I know Leah doesn’t want to hear this, but you both have to understand. She’s become the focus, the hero even, that people have been looking for. Arresting her may ruin her reputation among the rich and the powerful, but among the downtrodden, it’ll make her a martyr. Her reputation will be blown out of all proportion and people will do stupid things. They will look for any excuse to get vengeance for the hurts they’ve experienced over the years, regardless of whose fault it is. What’s worse is that they’ll do it for Leah, and they’ll do it in her name.
“You can see the horror on Leah’s face but what she doesn’t know is that if you were to visit the pub in any negative-tax community in almost any city in Australia, you'd find people toasting Atherleah. Visit communities off the grid, communities like the one at the meatworks near here, and you’ll discover the latest stories and songs are about a one-eyed vampire queen. Every person who is released has a story to tell and they’re being shared at light speed around the country. All over the country the fresh graffiti is almost entirely filled with imagery that points to Leah. I know this investigation wasn’t instigated by the government, but they are crazy if they can’t see the danger.”
Leah and Olivia were silent. Leah opened her mouth to say something and John said, “Leah, we’ve discussed this. It isn’t your fault, you’ve done nothing wrong. If you apologise or suggest you should have, or could have, done anything differently, then you’re being unrealistic. I believe they’re right to look up to you and I’m still hopeful we’ll find a way through this. Note, I said, ‘we’—you aren’t alone. But if I’m honest, then I don’t think there is any going back. Change is coming, and either you lead the change, albeit wit
h lots of help, or it’ll happen on its own. I’m not naive enough to think the change will be totally peaceful either way, but I’m certain it’ll be violent and bloody without someone like you to lead it.”
Leah shook her head from side to side but waited for a full minute of silence before saying, “I don’t like what you’re saying, and I don’t know enough to agree or disagree about what’s happening out there. I don’t want the responsibility. Having said that, I’m not going to step away from what’s happening. All I want is the freedom to become whatever I can. I don’t expect people to give me stuff I don’t earn, but I don’t want them holding me back or forcing me to live as a second class member of society. Things have gotten out of control in the last month, and I know I’ve seen things I can’t un-see and done things I can’t undo. Honestly, even if I could, I wouldn’t want to. Sorry, I know I’m rambling; it's just that I’m scared.”
John smiled and said, “Good. If you weren’t scared then I’d be worried. Don’t worry too much though, you’ve got a lot of people on your side.”
Leah shook her head and gave a wry grin, “You don’t understand, John. I’m not scared about that. I’m scared because you’re the one I depend on to give me good advice.”
Olivia’s burst of laughter was quickly followed by John’s. The humour effectively put an end to the conversation. Olivia stood and said, “I’d best get moving. I want to line up some consultants and get all my work done before midday. I'm looking forward to watching the Merkize contest get underway. Leah, do you have any tips?”
“No. I’m still floundering and haven’t even watched the other contestants’ playing styles yet.”
John and Olivia wished her the best of luck and disappeared.
11
Chapter 11
December 17, 2073 - Early Morning - Part 2
STORK TOWER
Gèng entered the gazebo and said, “Tesfaye will be here soon. Kevin would prefer to see you before your sleep period and highly recommends another day without muscle stimulation.”
“Thank you, Gèng.”
“You’re welcome. Do you want me to bring Tesfaye here?”
“No, I’ll come and greet him. It’s only polite.”
Leah rose and walked with Gèng to the entry portal. When Tesfaye arrived, he stopped and looked around before stepping down. “I knew you had serious skills, Leah, but this is something else.”
“Thank you, Tesfaye, but it's more Gèng than myself. She keeps adding and improving things. I’d probably be living in a single room if it was left to me. I’m glad she’s made the changes though because I find it relaxing. It’s become my home.”
They’d been walking as they talked and had reached the gazebo. Leah waved Tesfaye toward a chair and sat down. She said, “I’m sorry to rush but today is going to be a busy one for me. What is your plan for Alan Hopper?”
“Nothing’s changed except the first clue. Gèng thought it unlikely that you’d want to wait until next Friday. Gèng didn’t share what was is in the clues only that you wanted a way to get Alan to look at his youngest grandchild’s report card and that only you can leave the last clue. I spent some time reviewing the background material Reed provided. Alan is a member of a whole range of different worlds. I know which one he’ll be visiting a couple of hours from now and should be able to leave a message where he’ll be if you can leave the final message before then. I’m certain he’ll move quickly when he gets the first clue.”
“I should be able to leave it sometime in the next half an hour or so. How do you know where he’ll be? I wasn’t able to discern any pattern in his playing habits, at least not in the material Reed provided.”
“Neither was I in the beginning. Reed collected the information by hacking a log of Alan’s connections from his multiverse provider. I was impressed because I hadn’t known anyone outside Virtual Security who could actually do that without being detected. What I did was, I used this to search all the public and posted feeds in all the worlds we knew Alan had entered. It took a while, but I eventually located him in a number of those worlds. Each time he was with the same person. She’s someone he met in college, and he reconnected with her after his wife died. I don’t think they want anyone to know they’re involved because she’s in the middle of a messy divorce.”
“OK. So how do you know where he’ll be?”
“Her security is not on the same level as Alan’s, and I asked a friend to do a deep background on her. She doesn’t send messages to Alan directly but leaves them on a public Notice Board service. She leaves something on the board a few times every day, in code, as does he. If she includes the symbol from his last message, then he knows she will be in the virtual world her code mentions and at the time stated. If she has a different symbol, then he waits for her next post. I’ve checked back at her previous posts, and he’s been in every world at the time she says if the symbol is repeated. Five hours ago he posted, ‘MTGY45&th2’ and she posted ‘IAG0rij8&Am15’. Both of them have annual passes to the International Art Galleries world. One of the most visited galleries is the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. They’ll be there at eight fifteen in the morning Central Pacific Time which is just under two hours from now.”
“How will you get the message to him?”
“I was able to review the public feed of the last five times they’ve met in the International Art Galleries world. It works out to approximately once every month or so, and they always meet near the centre of the main entrance hall.”
“How will you communicate the message?”
“I was going to use stylised pictures of his grandchildren.”
“I’m not happy about using pictures of his family. How does he know when his friend sends a message?”
“He most likely receives a notification from the Notice Board.”
“Could you send an untraceable message from her account?”
“Yes. What would I send?”
Leah had been working through options while they talked and at the same time reviewing the notes from Reed about Alan. She paused for a moment as an idea formed and then as one part of her brain finalised the details she said, “As soon as I arrive back from dropping the final clue then send the following messages: POD3$apm010, IKE5^ere665, SBA1@GRC120, EW-6!3tnt539, ORN2#reo262, and HOR4%dom614. I’ve already scrambled the order, but you can mix them as you want. Spread them out to arrive every couple of minutes if you can do it without it leading back to you.”
Tesfaye nodded slowly and then said, “I’ll try and decode it when I get home. How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Worked it out in your head while talking with me.”
“Gèng has super fast processors.”
Tesfaye looked a little unsure for a moment, then said, “Oh. Yeah. She is amazing. How long before you’ll leave the last clue?”
“I’ll go in the next half hour. I wanted to thank you for all your help with this and with Pneumatica the other day. You’re a good friend to have. I know you started helping because of Akia but I’m convinced you’re irreplaceable to some of what I’ve been doing and I appreciate it. Is there any way I can make it up to you?”
“Tell me Vernyx succeeded, and Akia is going to be OK.”
“Vernyx succeeded, and Akia is going to be OK. She has to lay low for a while. Is there anything else?”
“Tell me the truth about how you did the codes so quickly.”
“I didn’t lie.”
“You deflected.”
Leah knew Tesfaye needed some assurance, so she said, “I did. My deflection isn’t a lack of trust. It’s just simple security. How about I agree to tell you when knowing the answer won’t potentially get you or me killed?”
Tesfaye flinched slightly in his chair. His face became thoughtful, then he said, “Thank you for that honesty. You will continue to have my support in whatever way I can give it. Some time I’d like a tour of your world.”
“I wish I could give you one now, but at
the moment I’m too busy. Gèng could give you any time you’re free. Just let her know.”
Tesfay thanked Leah for the offer and had his PAI transfer him back to his own world. Leah spent a few minutes reviewing the invitation from Mr White then said, “Gèng, is there any way to find out more about who this Mr White is?”
Gèng appeared and said, “Not easily. Ideally, the Multiverse Protocol address of origin is attached to any communication and this would identify who sent it. Using a simple routing program would obscure this and whoever sent this has probably scrubbed the information through several public rerouting hubs and almost certainly a few private ones. With enough processing power and unrestricted access to the different routing modules you could retrace the steps, but I’m certain whoever sent the invitation would have used competing hubs to restrict data sharing of any kind.”
“What about the invitation from Ascendent? The person would have to be a member.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if Ascendent’s security rivalled the Vault. I was tempted to delve through Dr Ellis’ contacts and see if I could find a correlation with the name White but determined it would show poor security.”
“I’d best see if I can find a way into Hopper’s conduits, assuming they do actually exist. I’ve assumed you can get me most of the way like the last time. I hope I haven’t assumed too much.”
“No. I can take you most of the way, and possibly all the way because of the lower security. Reed has looked into the situation and found several conduits to get in. I’ll send you the information for you to review. When you’re ready, meet me at the entrance to my space.”
Leah nodded and paused to look through the different options they had found. Reed had discovered several ways into the medium security facility, all of them would be possible with the filter Gèng and Akia had prepared previously. She committed them to memory and then walked slowly up to the Tower’s top level. Gèng was waiting outside the door to her space.