Incarnate- Essence

by Thomas Harper

  Chapter 38

  Three days later we were in in Nashville, Tennessee. Sachi’s team had split off the day after St. Louis, traveling about the CSA’s official regional states to connect with their contacts. Tory Goodwin went to the first official Southeastern Regional Debate. I’d just experienced a split-brain episode that morning while eating, my left hand throwing my plate against the wall and then proceeding to pull my pants down in front of Goodwin as I struggled against it. He was freaked out by the incident, but I explained the situation before we took off, so he seemed to understand.

  With everyone else gone, I finally got some alone time.

  “I need to talk to Christina,” I said aloud, looking at the tech Kali had sent, “and find out what she’s done to it.”

  That’ll only scare her off, Evita said.

  “Maybe…but I don’t see what we need her for, anyway.”

  Besides the fact that she’s your only contact within the AK’s organization, Evita said, you also no longer have Akira. Maybe it’d be nice to have a hacker around?

  “Aveena seems pretty good with that kind of stuff…”

  Maybe you ought to just get good with computers, Evita said, the only way you won’t be needing them in the future is if you fail catastrophically at making the world a better place.

  “That’s true,” I sighed, still fiddling with the tech in my hand as I looked out the hotel window, “maybe then I could actually be useful to someone.”

  And then you could just join the AKs yourself, Evita said, and find out why they’re so damn interested in Shift.

  I yawned, rubbing my eyes.

  Finally get some alone time to think and all you can come up with is goint to sleep.

  “I haven’t slept well since…”

  Since being back in Cortez, Evita finished.

  “It’s these damn dreams,” I said, “although I think its finally starting to get better.”

  Maybe you just needed the time away, Evita said, it seemed to help when you stayed in Denver for a while.

  “Maybe,” I sighed, “but it also makes me wonder why I didn’t lose my mind the way NexBioGen’s test subject did.”

  You have lost your mind, Evita said, you think that little performance this morning with the split brain came from a sound mind?

  An alert popped up on the display of my ARs.

  No time to be alone, Evita said.

  The alert was from the hotel. I opened it, seeing that I had a guest. I was about to deny them entry into the room until I saw who it was.

  “This almost seems too convenient,” I said.

  When the knock came at the door, I slowly walked over and opened it. There she was, just like I remembered from India. Kali.

  “Uh, come in,” I said, stepping out of the way.

  She wore a decorative black and violet sari, embroidered with gold. The long pallu draped over her left arm, a matching gold bindi on the center of her forehead, sparkling like a jewel from her dark skin. An elaborate gold and crystal hair comb strung through her thick, black hair. She gave me a wry smile when I signaled to the debugger.

  “Always the paranoid one, aren’t you?” she said, rolling her eyes and letting the jets of air wash over her, the billowing sari flapping in the wind as she held her hands over the decorative hair comb.

  When the debugging was finished, I followed her into the hotel room where she sat down lightly at the foot of a bed, sighing. I leaned back against the wall in front of her, waiting for her to speak.

  “I can only imagine you’re wondering what I’m doing here,” she flashed her pristine, well-rehearsed smile.

  “The thought crossed my mind,” I said in Bengali. She seemed pleased to hear me speaking her native tongue.

  “It’s not enough for me to want to check up on my investment?” she asked.

  I shrugged, “there’s secure channels we can use to do that.”

  She continued regarding me with that immaculate smile, her beauty and charisma making it difficult to tell if she was actually in good humor or just acting. “I’m hoping to be a bit of a morale boost.”

  “You came all the way over here for that?” I asked, “you’re not just making sure I hold up my end of the deal?”

  “Oh, I trust you to keep your word,” she said, “and I talk about this ghastly trade deal too much already. I’m actually here to bring some good news – Tory Goodwin is doing much better in the polls than I anticipated.”

  “He’s doing surprisingly well,” I said, raising an eyebrow, confused why she needed to come all the way around the world to talk about something I was painstakingly observing all day, everyday.

  “This makes me very happy,” she said.

  “He’s still behind Mitchell by an enormous margin,” I said, “most of his numbers were taken from the other challengers.”

  “That’s true,” she said, standing up from the bed and walking gracefully to the window, “but it tells me that people are receptive to the message. And that’s really what this is about. Because they’ll need to be receptive when we expose what this deal is really for.”

  “Is that what it’s really about?” I asked, walking up beside her, both of us looking out at the busy city, more cops than usual patrolling on account of the debate in town.

  “You’re still searching for sinister motives in me,” Kali said, keeping her gaze out the window, “I’m simply a patriot who is excited about India finally coming into its own on the world stage. I don’t want the GPFTA to ruin it for my people.”

  “How far would you go to stop the GPFTA?” I asked, “pay off corrupt officials in a foreign country? Fake the death of your half-brother? Manipulate me using a scrambled voice?”

  Kali looked amused at my accusations. “I never harbored any illusions that you would not be suspicious of my motives. Or my way of doing things.”

  “So, all those things are true?”

  Kali giggled, “I have never talked to you with anything other than my true voice. And I am not lying about my half brother.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Every time you ask me that,” Kali said, turning to look at me, “the next thing you say is always such a surprise.”

  “If your half brother wasn’t the target, who do you think was really behind the bombings?” I asked, “back in the LoC?”

  She nodded slowly, “the tragedy has never been far from my mind.”

  “All the people bombed had some connection to the Indian Nationalist Party,” I said.

  “Yes,” Kali said, “we are not all that well liked, even in our own country.”

  I said nothing. Our gaze remained locked for almost twenty seconds before she smiled again with a subtle nod.

  “You already have an answer to your question, don’t you?”

  “NexBioGen,” I said.

  “I only first heard about them because of you.”

  “They had dossiers on all the perpetrators,” I said, “all of whom were kidnapped Benecorp employees.”

  “That’s strange indeed.”

  “Have you heard of Angela Garcia? Georg Ivanovic? Abu Nassar? Nguyen Ho Diem?”

  “Nguyen Ho Dem…he sounds familiar.”

  “He’s from Vietnam,” I said, pulling up the bio I made for him on my ARs, “but he’s the COO of an Indian company that designs processors. MaikronSiliko. CEO is an Indian man named Indranil Chander.”

  “I have heard of MaikronSiliko, but I’ve never met any of these people,” Kali said, “what does this have to do with NexBioGen?”

  “All these mid-sized companies,” I said, “from around the world, seem to have some connection. Aside from sending each other money and encrypted information, they don’t seem to like Benecorp and they don’t seem to like you and your BRP friends.”

  “Are you accusing me of something?”

  I sighed. “No. I’m just…puzzled, is all. I was hoping maybe you knew something.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, “I wish I d
id. It was my business that it targeted. My friends.”

  “That it targeted?” I raised an eyebrow.

  A quick, almost imperceptible look of panic flashed over her expression before she flashed her trademark smile again.

  “Yes,” she said, “it. Them. Whatever organization is behind this.”

  “Right,” I said, knowing I wasn’t going to get any more information about this from her without some kind of proof. “I do have to warn you of something…”

  “Oh?”

  “One of my contacts,” I said, “from the Anonymous Knights…she may have tampered with the tech you sent me.”

  “The Anonymous Knights,” she said, furrowing her brows, “ah, yes,” her eyes widened, “that fanatical hacker group. They’re starting to pop up in India, as well.”

  “I think if I plug it into one of their Global Prosperity Network nodes,” I said, “it’s going to upload the virus they use to attack mesh networks.”

  “Is that right?” she said, “that…might actually be even better than what I had planned.”

  “I thought you might say that,” I said, “so you want me to continue as planned?”

  “Yes, I think that would be prudent.” She smiled for a moment before her expression became serious. I said nothing, keeping our gaze locked again until she turned around to look out the window.

  “As I said,” she spoke in a soft, yet somehow commanding voice, “my reason for being here is to try and boost morale on the campaign trail. I understand how stressful things have been for you lately.”

  She turned to look at me again, “I truly hope you know just how much I appreciate all of your help. With everything.” Her smile came back as she took a step toward me, “I’ve talked with Goodwin and he told me that you’ve been having trouble sleeping. You toss and turn and moan, waking up early in the morning and looking tired all day.”

  She stood right in front of me, bringing her right hand up to my cheek. She lightly brushed my skin with fingers bound in lavish rings, long nails intricately decorated, and stared into my eyes. “You poor child. Your eyes…you look like you’ve been to war. Someone your age should be thinking about going off to college and attending parties. Road trips and all-nighters. Not corporate shenanigans and global politics.” She tsked, “Perhaps I should not have had you go along for this.”

  I gave a wry grin, “where I come from, college isn’t usually an option. If anything, I’ve gotten off easy compared to the people I was born with.”

  Kali gave a reassuring smile, slowly taking her hand from my face, “Yes. The DRC. So much unpleasantness. The things going on there right now…”

  She paused a moment and then turned and started walking toward the door as she said, “There is little I can do to directly affect the outcome of this election, no matter how much of my…influence, I expend. But what I can do is make sure the people helping me are working as effectively as they can,” she reached the door, putting a hand on the door handle and looking over her shoulder, “that’s why I wanted to do something special to boost your morale.”

  She opened the door and stepped out of the way with the grace of a good showman. Standing in the doorway was Laura, lifting her gaze toward me. My eyes widened, seeing her thin figure standing there, blocked by a LoC Security agent.

  “You brought her along?” I asked, looking to Kali.

  “She practically begged me,” Kali said, “now be a gentleman and invite her in.”

  I called to the agent, telling him to allow Laura into the room. She strode in, allowing the debugger to wash air over her short, blonde hair, baggy t-shirt and faded jeans. When the debugger was done, Laura stepped all the way in, looking to Kali, who smiled at her. I walked swiftly across the room, throwing my arms around Laura. She stood stiff for a moment, but then wrapped her own scrawny arms around me.

  “What’re you doing here?” I asked, still hugging her.

  “I got bored,” she said, “and Aveena has some of her transgenic friends over to help rebuild our lab. The music they listen to is worse than death.”

  I stepped back, holding Laura’s wrists in my hands, her right feeling like cold, hard plastic. Her face was still scarred from the burns, red streaks running across the right side. But from up close I could see she was wearing makeup, which helped to conceal the blemishes somewhat. Her hair was just long enough to be combed forward, the light blonde barely concealing the scars on top of her head. The rings around her eyes were faded from application of makeup, but even that couldn’t remove the red of bloodshot from her sclera. She gave me a crooked smile, lips a delicate pink from lipstick. I glanced back to Kali, seeing a subtle hint of deviousness in her expression, but when I glanced a second time, it was gone.

  “Not that it isn’t nice to have you here…” I said, letting go of Laura’s wrists, “I’m glad to see you on your feet again.”

  “We’ll see how long that lasts,” she said, “I hear if I get blown up again, the second arm will be half price.”

  I grinned, “You must be exhausted from the trip.”

  “I’m exhausted from not sleeping in three years,” she said.

  “Did you want anything to eat?” I asked, “I have protein bars.”

  She only shrugged.

  I turned back to Kali, who seemed genuinely pleased to see us together. “I can already see you feeling better,” she said, “you two make such an adorable couple. Better than anyone I could have found for you.”

  “Oh, God,” Laura said, “is my translator working right? It sounded like she just said we’re adorable.”

  Kali giggled, “I absolutely adore seeing two young people falling in love with each other. How could I live with myself if I sent Eshe off by himself, splitting the two of you apart during the best time of a relationship?”

  I stood silent, not knowing whether to thank her or reproach her.

  “I should leave you two alone,” she said, “to have some time together before having to get back to work.”

  I glanced to Laura, her eyes drowsy, but there was a subtle smile on her face. I reached over, grabbing her hand with mine, feeling the polymer, but squeezing it in my palm anyway. She felt it through the haptic sensors and squeezed back.

  “I guess…thanks,” I said to Kali.

  “Of course,” she said, stepping to the door and putting her ringed fingers on the handle, “I’m going to be out of the country for a while, but I should be back soon…to hold up my end of the bargain.”

  “Uh, yeah, sure,” I said, my mind still reeling too much to come up with anything better to say.

  “Until then,” Kali said, opening the door and walking out.

  When it closed, I looked back to Laura. She glanced over my shoulder at the bed and then gave me a mischievous grin. My eyes widened.

  “So, I guess…welcome, uh, here,” I said.

  Laura strode past me, looking nonchalantly around the room. Her eyes stopped momentarily on the pile of Goodwin’s clothes in the corner, but then kept walking, attempting to be as graceful as she could. I was more endeared by the attempt, striding over and catching up. She turned and smiled, leaning over and pressing her lips against mine.

  Butterflies fluttered through my stomach at the tender gesture, her hands reaching up and grabbing my shoulders, the right robotic and the left gentle. I brought my hands to her hips, pulling her closer to me. She pulled her lips from mine, giving me a wide grin as she felt my growing excitement. I started lifting my hands, pulling the bottom of her t-shirt with them, revealing her stomach.

  Laura’s grin faded, looking down at her right shoulder nervously. I smiled and shook my head. She still appeared nervous, but lifted her arms and let me pull it all the way off, tossing it onto the floor between the beds. She looked away from her right shoulder where the bionic arm attached, the scar tissue still raw in the area. I stepped forward, leaning over and lightly kissing the area where the flesh and polymer came together, working my lips up to the top of her shoulder as I rea
ched around her, undoing the bra.

  Laura exhaled deeply as I removed the peach colored undergarment, letting it drop to the floor between us. There was a mixture of excitement and anxiety in her eyes when I stepped back and removed my own shirt, throwing it on the floor with hers. Both of us stood looking at each other for a moment. She looked down at her small breasts, barely more than mounds on her skinny body and then back to me.

  “I’m ugly,” she said.

  “You’re beautiful,” I smiled, stepping towards her again, grabbing her hips and pulling her close. She breathed hard as I undid her jeans and pulled them down, allowing her to kick them off as I did the same to mine. When both of us were naked, I backed her up to the bed, laying her down and climbing up, straddling her.

  “I’ve never done this…” Laura said.

  “You’re fine,” I smiled, lightly guiding myself inside her. She let out a surprised moan as I sank deeper. I leaned down to kiss her neck as I continued softly gyrating, going deeper each time. It wasn’t long before she started screaming with pleasure, her usually calm demeanor replaced with wild passion as she wrapped her legs around me, pulling me as tightly against her as she could, her entire body trembling with ecstasy as she came, my seed flowing inside her at the same time.

  “Oh, my God,” she panted as I ran a hand through her short hair, seeing her stare up at me with surprise and joy.

  “You were amazing,” I said, rolling onto my side, Laura twisting to face me.

  She said nothing, but couldn’t help from smiling. I reached my hand up, holding it to the side of her face, admiring her. All the drowsiness was gone. Her eyes beamed with an awareness I hadn’t seen even while she was running from danger. She looked like a normal eighteen-year-old girl – almost innocent – not a person who hadn’t slept in over two years and who had been shot, blown up, and modified with a bionic arm.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” I said, pulling her closer and pressing my lips against hers. She returned the kiss right away, reaching her left hand down and gently grabbing me. I was surprised to find myself ready to go again so soon, and Laura couldn’t be more eager, turning me onto my back and lowering herself onto me, a giant grin on her face as she sank down around me, taking charge, this time knowing what to expect.