by Shawn Keys
“Revision vector 18.4.145 will be released next month. But it will be another three months after before we will have any statistics to show a reversal.”
“If there is a reversal,” Reggie clarified.
Matthew scowled at him. “Thanks for pointing that out. This isn’t ideal, but we’re still within our margins of error. The qualitative edge was always the more important of the two. We can’t keep selecting only for baseline. We need to keep pushing the gradient higher. Anomalies are never going to reach zero. That’s why we have you and Rita.”
“Don’t presume too much. One of those anomalies is giving Rita no end of headaches right now. He’s a real threat to us. Try telling her not to worry while you produce even more like him, which will force her agents to track them all over the country.”
Matthew shook his head, cursing at himself. “Thanks. No, I mean it. I need to think about this. These are the same questions he’s going to ask. I’m going to have to push the revision schedule a little harder.”
“Seems safer to push the evaluation schedule. If you can saturate the population in a week, the real savings will be with analysis.”
Matthew was cautious. “We can only push that so fast. Physical change takes time. Even if a person’s status is reversed, regaining signs of fertility can take months.”
Reggie grunted. “Just don’t kill us all while you’re pushing the boundaries, alright? History’s full of example of bio-warfare gone wrong.”
“If you’re worried about me playing god, you’re in the wrong organization.”
They both laughed, having travelled far enough that they could no longer walk away from other people. It wasn’t a crowd this early in the morning, but sufficient ears were nearby that they couldn’t have a frank discussion any longer.
Their pace never let up, and not long after they were taking brisk steps up the sloping pavement toward the entrance of White House security. Both were taking out passes that indicated they were frequent visitors, already vetted and authorized to security classification levels reserved for a fraction of a percent of people in the country.
Getting through wouldn’t take long, which was all well and good. After all, they had both been summoned, and he wouldn’t appreciate being kept waiting.
Chapter 5
“Your friend Musk_Ox really came through, Dazz. You told me hacking takes time. What does he have against the hotel chains in the area to already have his claws dug into them so deeply?” Kyle wondered.
Dazz shrugged. “Never asked. I’ve gone on a few crusades like that myself. Someone pisses you off, and suddenly you know all their secrets and get to wondering how to mess around with them.” She grinned. “Once in a while, you just can’t help finding your way into something and there isn’t any reason for it at all.”
Glancing over his shoulder, making sure Jackie was still in their hotel room’s restroom, he asked quietly, “Is he really down in Brazil?”
“Nah. He’s local. Might even be in one of the three big cities, here. I.T. support for a broadcast company of some kind. Ain’t right to pry about that sort of shit in my online circles. This is just what I’ve pulled together from what he’s let slip.”
Dazz had made it a point to suggest he should mind his own business, which is more than anyone normally got from her. If Kyle pushed harder, that would change quickly into a more normal ‘fuck off’, so he let it lie. Instead, he peered out the window of their suite at the Alpha Marquee, which was across the street from the Ransburg. The Alpha was the better hotel by a couple grades, which meant their daily cost was going to be higher. They had also drawn a little more attention to themselves than Kyle wanted by paying in cash with a deposit, instead of by credit card like normal, rich people staying at a place like this. Nothing to be done. They didn’t have the skills to fake credit cards, and there was no way they were going to leave that sort of paper trail for the dark-FDPC agents to find.
Kyle grumbled to himself. We need to find a name for them. Not just because I’m sick of thinking about them in weird, non-specific terms. Until we have a name at least, it’s like we know nothing about them. They hadn’t gotten lucky with Lawson’s emails. The translation from the old language into modern terms was difficult at the best of times, and Yvette hadn’t been able to pick any sort of name for this shadow organization out of the random conversations either agent had been having online. It wasn’t like they had signature blocks or anything.
At least we managed to position ourselves to watch them after all, Kyle thought. They had a great view of the main entrance to the Ransburg, a decent swathe of rooms on this side of the building to aim a parabolic microphone at, and a good view up and down the major street running past the front of both buildings, plus a decent view of the nearest intersections. As vantage points were concerned, this wasn’t at all bad.
Jackie emerged, drying her hands on a hotel towel. Chloe was tucked up on a bed reading one of her books, while Dazz was ensconced at her new command center she had built on the dinette set’s table. With all three in earshot, Kyle picked what he hoped was a safer, more appropriate subject matter than Dazz’s hacker connections. “Seems like we’re settled in. Things could get intense pretty quickly, so if we’re going to try and connect with this doctor that Lily suggested, I’d like to handle that sooner rather than later.”
Jackie cautioned him, “Moving from city to city could be risky.”
Kyle held up his own phone where he had been doing a little research. “We need to know how well we can move around the city. Might as well find out. We’re past the initial manhunt window, I think. Been over twenty-four hours since we fought those agents. Hate to say this is useful, but I can see police check-points around the city on this traffic app. Wouldn’t want any drunk drivers getting missed, but it works for us at the moment.”
“The FDPC traitors might establish a few that aren’t marked.”
Kyle shrugged. “Honestly, we’re going to have to be ready to be found by chance as long as we’re here in the city. Whether they are at a checkpoint or just driving around in their cars, if they open my implant marker and look at my picture for any reason, I’m probably fucked. Nothing is going to change that. As long as I don’t get stuck in an official checkpoint where they are specifically looking at everyone’s photo, then my chances are as good as they ever will be. I’ll stay off of any of the major freeways as best I can. No sense tempting fate.”
“You’re taking the car, then?”
Kyle nodded. It had taken a huge cash deposit to make that happen, but they had found a place that rented cars without the need for credit. They could have bought their own car for the price of that deposit, but they wanted the protection of a rental car’s license plates. No trail. Owned cars got registered. Plus, they might even get their deposit back! Kyle immediately laughed at the hopeful thought. Not if our luck doesn’t change. They were already down two vehicles, and they hadn’t been gone from the chalet even for four days yet.
“Anyone else want to go meet a total stranger with a good Samaritan complex?” he asked.
Chloe shook her head. “Could be fun, but I need to slip over there and steal a few uniforms, then take some pictures of all the staff for Jackie’s research.”
Jackie was busy setting up what looked like a portable projector. It was attached to a tablet, and she could draw on it which would then project the result up on the wall. Unlike older technology that used to do the same thing, she could link pictures and data into the sketch. She was already building a relationship web, starting with the onsite manager and the two attendants at the Ransburg counter she had met on her first scouting mission. “We need to start figuring out who is who in that particular zoo.”
“Their move from one hotel to the other helped to confirm the names of the students,” Dazz said. “The group booking gave it away a little. Seeing the two lists match is a good sign. None of them are there yet except for Doug Haskins and Marla Stringer. I’d bet you those are the ass
essors.”
Jackie asked, “Are there pictures on those registrations?”
“Do you want fries with your shake, Agent?” Dazz smirked. “Sorry, I’m all out of miracles on that one. We’re going to have to do it the hard way.”
Jackie frowned. “Odds that they are going to be sweet enough to wear dark suits and make themselves totally obvious so we can mark who they are?”
Kyle debated that. “I don’t think we’ve ever met one of these agents when they were off-duty. I assume they can look like humans once they take a break from trying to sterilize people. But when they are doing their interviews with the students, what else are they going to wear?”
Still not happy with that, Jackie said, “I had hoped to identify them before the students show up.”
“Well, I can tell you which rooms they are staying in,” Dazz offered. “We agreed that we didn’t dare to bug the instructor’s rooms as they will sweep them more often. But one of us could plant a small camera in a light fixture outside their room in the corridor. They’ll have swept that by now. Plus, I can leave it on burst transmissions. We don’t need to track their every movement. At least, not right away. I’ll let it capture for a few hours, then download in one burst. That’ll limit how often they can pick up its broadcast if they do sweep. I can get you their faces.”
Chloe chuckled. “Assuming, of course, they don’t put on their dark suits and go out to a restaurant together and make it easy on us.”
Kyle laughed, too. “Alright, then. Not Chloe. Not Jackie. Dazz?”
“Lots of setup to do.”
He sighed. “You know, you’re all going to benefit from having a surgeon on-hand as much as me, right?”
Chloe blew a kiss at him and grinned. “We believe in you, Kyle. We’ll get this little spy factory up and running while you go recruit our newest member. Figure it’s your name Lily was bandying around with this doctor, any-how.”
Kyle shuffled over and fell onto one of the beds. “Mind if I claim this? We’ve been up all night, so I need a couple hours nap. Then I’ll get on the road.”
Dazz shrugged, “I’m good with the couch.” She had already unpacked much of her stuff on the long sofa, having staked her claim.
Jackie waved at the other queen-sized bed. “Chloe and I can crash on that.”
Chloe nodded at that.
Dazz nibbled on her pen as she worked. “Kyle, you know I can be in your ear while you drive to Olympia, right? No need to be all lonely.”
Already sleepy, Kyle mumbled, “Sounds good. Can chat while I drive. Like old times…” He buried his head in the pillow and concentrated on drifting off.
* * *
The drive down to Olympia proved almost disappointingly mundane. The details on the roadblocks were accurate enough to help him avoid them. He would never know if the marked blockages were all in place. He gave them a wide berth. It cost him an extra forty-five minutes, but well worth it. He had been joking about talking Dazz’s ear off the whole way, but it proved a nice chance to spend time with her in a way that reminded him of their time at school together. She was wandering around on the internet while he was creeping through traffic, both mind-numbing enough tasks that they could have a wandering chat in the dull minutes of waiting for lights and loading screens.
He rolled into the urban interior of the state capitol, checking his GPS a few times in the unfamiliar city. He stayed away from the most direct routes that involved a couple of the larger two-lane streets. If anything was going to be roved and patrolled more frequently, it would be there. Once he was within a few blocks, he shut off his implant. The danger of being noticed as being off-the-grid by a random cop seemed low. The absolutely last thing he needed was to have his ID unknowingly deciphered by the shadow-FDPC, followed by a raid while he was busy indoctrinating someone totally new into his little conspiracy.
Parking a couple of blocks away, he went the last distance on foot, despite the bad neighborhood. A city didn’t put homeless shelters in good areas of town. Sort of defeated the purpose. Kyle had prepared for that. He had a rugged coat, some old jeans and a simple cotton shirt. He had his ID tucked into his pocket but left any money or valuables back at the hotel. The car had enough gas to get halfway to California, so it wasn’t like he intended to stop and splurge on anything. The only thing he had was a 9mm tucked into his waistline, out of sight. Might not be a perfect idea, but he wasn’t walking around unarmed. If an FDPC dog sniffed him out, he wasn’t going down quietly. Maybe it was a stupid way to think about it, but there it was.
There was a half-dozen haggard forms lurking outside the shelter, some men and some women. He didn’t know their stories and he wasn’t there to find out. Not that he lacked for sympathy, but untangling their hardships wasn’t on the menu. He gave a polite nod as he passed, willing them not to start any trouble.
None of them did, and Kyle pushed through into the interior. There was nothing like a foyer. Just a big mudroom to prevent the worst of the street grime from being trudged into the dining hall. The rugs were stiff, bristly, but with an absorbent base. Even if a street wanderer didn’t have the mindfulness to kick dirt off their shoes, the rugs stretching from the door to the eating area would do half the work for them.
Kyle was a little more deliberate about it, not about to leave so much as a footprint on the floors. It was late in the afternoon, not long before the dinner rush would begin. That was probably why there was a crowd forming outside. The floors in the eatery were freshly mopped after the mess made by lunch, ready for the cycle to begin all over again.
A scruffy woman with three times Kyle’s bulk and a couple extra inches of height stomped out of the kitchen. Her straight, dark hair was drawn back into a bun, leaving her eyes free of any dangling strands. It helped her catch sight of him immediately. He couldn’t help thinking that her jowly face could have looked incredibly cheerful if she was smiling. Unfortunately, a scowl was dragging her face down. He figured from her tanned skin and charcoal eyes that she was First Nations, but he wasn’t savvy enough to pick what local tribe she might belong to.
She ambled over to him, craning her neck left and right as if inspecting him from all angles. “Haven’t seen you around here before.”
Kyle’s eyebrows went up. “Isn’t that kind of the point of this place?”
The woman’s scowl deepened. “Gonna be a smart-ass to start things off, huh? No, it isn’t that kind of place. Work here long enough, and you get to know the faces. More often, we lose one when one of them dies in the cold.”
Kyle raised a hand in a gesture of surrender. “Didn’t mean to piss you off. My fault. I’m looking for someone. I was told she works here.”
“She?”
“Yeah,” Kyle confirmed.
“Well, my name’s Chianne. I’m the only woman on staff here. So, you must be looking for me.”
Immediately, Kyle knew that was impossible. He could see the woman’s hands. Blistered, calloused and hard from a life of manual labor. He could respect that. Those hands belonged to any number of trades. He was no Sherlock Holmes to deduce which one it was, but he wouldn’t be surprised to hear her claim to be a butcher, a farmer, or construction worker.
But a doctor? He wouldn’t buy that. Not that doctors couldn’t have hobbies, but they would take care of their hands better. He couldn’t see Chianne’s powerful, sausage-sized digits sewing flesh and wielding scalpels in the most delicate ways.
He had a name from Lily, but he had half-assumed that the one he was looking for would be using an assumed name. No-one here might know she had been in jail for a while. He wasn’t there to out anyone’s secrets. He had his own fair share, after all.
He decided to hold that information in reserve. “That’s not the name I was hoping to hear. You obviously know your own place better than I could. Hate to ask if you’re sure, but I heard you had a little help when it comes to checking rashes and sewing cuts closed.”
Chianne grew more protective. “Only people
who’d come asking questions like that are lawyers, parole officers and those with an axe to grind. None of them are welcome unless I’m told to expect them.”
Kyle frowned, wondering what would be the right key to turn in this conversation. He needed to get past this gatekeeper. “There are other options. Like I said, I was sent by a friend.”
“Oh? What friend is that?”
Would she know her? Kyle wondered. He shrugged. “Lily Perkins.”
Chianne didn’t lose all her hostility, but there was a major shift under her surface. The biggest change was an element of surprise. “Lily sent you?”
Kyle eyebrows climbed high. “You… know Lily?”
The hospice worker’s scowl deepened again. “Of course, I do! She volunteered here for a meal or two whenever she drove through the area. She’s a sweetie that one.” Her eyes narrowed in a different sort of suspicion. “Why would she send you around asking stupid questions about Soo-Yun?”
Not sure if the woman had slipped up or had decided to trust him, Kyle breathed a little easier to hear the name confirmed back at him. “To ask some less stupid ones once I get the chance to speak with her.”
Another voice interrupted from behind. “Enough, already!” An old man with a pleasant face hidden by a shaggy grey beard stepped from a corridor. “Stop hassling the guy, Chianne. He’s not here to serve papers or anything. You can see that.”
“No, I can’t!” the imposing woman fired back, regaining some of her bluster. “People lie, George. Around here most of all. You know that.” She shot another distrustful glare at Kyle. “She’s had a hard time of it. If Lily told you anything, then you know that much.”
George tried to calm her. “Then maybe we should give him the chance to explain what he wants.” Tilting his head toward Kyle, he said, “And right quick, or I’ll join Chianne in showing you the door.”
Suddenly, Kyle found himself smiling.
