That is correct.
And then, days later, hit New York as Arianna gets off her flight, along with three attacks throughout LA.
Yes.
As for the attacks here, they were Arianna’s parent’s home, the SWAT armory where a gunship just magically vanished, and … Where else?
Geoffrey sent her the answers, the address to an apartment tower downtown in the human-only district. A slideshow of photos of the place moved from left to right across her eyes. This is the address, the third location the IWs assaulted.
And they saw none of the Bald Skulls?
Police are still investigating as are AIT, but currently, they were not. The last reported Bald Skulls incident was the Witches Brew bar.
Where they snatched that unregistered telepath, Portia. She thought about that for a moment. Okay, so. The Bald Skulls want unregistered IW telepaths, and Nobuo who’s working with the IW terrorists, want the skulls.
That is the correct theory.
Then why hit New York, the Kounias residence, the SWAT armory, and some random apartment, when none of the skulls were there? And what about Munich? There’s a secondary aim we’re missing.
Perhaps I found it.
She beamed. Hit me. Ray Partington’s ID profile appeared in her left eye. It listed his address at the bottom. It was the same address as the apartment the IWs hit. Estrella grinned at the exact match. Bin-fucking-go, I was right.
Nobuo and the IW terrorists may have been searching for Ray as well. Though, according to his report, he was in New York.
Then they hit the Kounias’ knowing he was the last person to visit them, put a bullet in Maria, tried and failed to get Norris, who’s missing. Meanwhile, they had a team hit the airport to get Arianna and missed Ray. Now Arianna and her father are missing.
According to Yoshida, Arianna was away on business in the EU.
Let me guess, Munich?
That is correct.
Now … where does Ray fit into all this?
Perhaps—
Wait.
Estrella stood from the couch and jacked out from the pad. A connection lost prompt flashed, and the minimized screen on the pad vanished. She went for her phone that lay idle on her bed, dialing the number of her rival.
The pixie kiwi picked up the call, her face on the screen was delighted to see Estrella’s. “Hey, Piper you home?”
“Not for long, I’ll be heading out in a few.”
“Ah, so you’ll be on duty?”
“Yes, still need to search Partington’s place.”
Not if I get there first!
Get where first?
Shush! Let me finish this call!
Piper’s head slanted to the side. “Why do you ask?”
“Uh, well.”
Estrella tripped over her words. She got what she wanted from the call and didn’t plan how to end it without giving herself away.
Piper’s warm smile made it hard to think. “You wanted to hang out, didn’t you?”
And so, Estrella said the first thing that came to mind. “Uh, yeah.”
“You’re such a bashful little thing, new girl. Well then, what are you doing tonight?”
“Not much. All finished unpacking ‘n’ shit.”
“Do you want to grab some drinks when I’m free?”
“Uh, sure.”
Assuming they weren’t enemies by the end of the day.
After the expected goodbyes, the call ended. Estrella sighed. The last part of the call wasn’t supposed to happen, but it got her out of the situation she jumped into with no exit plan. She hoped Piper wasn’t thinking what Estrella was plotting.
Is it really necessary to do this? Geoffrey asked.
Yes. Estrella went for her keys, biker helmet, and suit. She’s supposed to be searching Ray’s place today, right? And according to that call, she hasn’t left home yet.
That is correct.
We got a head start on this. I don’t trust her to reveal any evidence she collects if she’s really a Federation RW spy. This is our chance to see if the IWs left behind something we could use at Ray’s place. Or if Ray did.
Twenty-Six
Ray
New York City. It was the Yoshida Corporation’s poster child, the city that was ravaged during the third world war, when the New Soviet Union invaded it and the east coast of what was once known as the United States. You couldn’t see just by looking, but Yoshida constructed every arching high building after the war ended, and you certainly couldn’t tell that the statue of liberty wasn’t the original one that got toppled over by Soviet forces during the war. Yoshida came in and restored the city with its army of drones, robots, and nanotechnology.
The scars of the third world war were washed away and replaced with a city that was ten times more beautiful than it was before the war, winning the respect and hearts of everyone in the Alliance. Except for the street market strip Ray walked through. That place was a shithole before the war and remained that way after it.
He maintained a low-key appearance. Shades, coat, baseball cap, and his face down when walking. Nobody gave him a second look during his stroll through the busy street markets of New York. Merchants chirped their ultra-low prices for goods, stem cell grown protein, and tofu so tasty you’d think you’re eating the real thing. It tempted him to grab a beyond meat made hotdog, but the sound of his phone beeping took his mind off his gut.
A notification informed him a third party had hacked and accessed his email account recently. It didn’t look like they sent messages or did anything malicious. Hell, they didn’t even bother to change the password or security settings. Amateur shit, probably a bunch of script kiddies. Or the Alliance digging up dirt on him. He wasn’t worried, though, a change of the password was in order. He’d track the origin of that third party too if his source wasn’t waving to him off in the distance.
It was Jax, well, that was his screen name at least. Jax was young, probably sixteen or seventeen. He reminded Ray of when he was that age, hacking his way to good grades, and exposing dirty secrets high school teachers had, well, the ones that gave him low marks. Jax sat at the steps to a building with a radiant sign flashing the words ‘Girls, girls, girls!’ next to a pink neon figure of a bare-breasted pole dancing woman.
Ray was curious why the bouncers didn’t tell Jax to fuck off. It takes more than a leather jacket, torn blue jeans, and chains dangling around his neck to look eighteen plus. He sighed. Ray knew damn well what systems Jax manipulated to change his facial scan profile.
“Hey, D’sam!” Jax exclaimed with arms open for a greeting. “Back in the hacker realm, I see?”
Ray shook his head, keeping his hands in his pockets. “Not really.”
“A shame. Heard you were something else before you went legit.”
“I’ve grown up and moved on.”
“Yeah, fucking right.” Ray stepped forward, past the club, through the markets, past people that paid the two no mind. Jax followed. “Look, if you need back in, just say so and we’ll forget about how you left us.”
“Don’t. I just need access to—”
“Hold up.” Jax held his hands ahead of Ray, stopping him in place. “First, let’s eat. Want anything to eat? It’s on me.”
Ray’s eyes narrowed. “Seriously?”
Jax led him to a merchant selling street food. Two women with purple and green hair walked away with bowls full of rice and sushi.
“This dude’s got a fancy new food printer,” Jax said, pointing at the street food vendor. “Been meaning to try food made with one, that and, my empty stomach’s killin’ me bro.”
“Speaking of killing,” Ray said and looked at the device sitting on the back counter behind the vendor. “I need to kill something with my teeth and then swallow it.”
The two met as the vendor gave them a nod. Electronic beats boomed from his radio off to the side. “What you like?”
Ray ordered first. “Cheeseburger.”
“Tofu h
otdog please,” Jax ordered next.
The vendor approached the food printer. It looked like an oversized coffee maker with six needles full of goo. The food printer responded, adjusted its nozzles, and built the required items out of thin air. After five seconds, a steaming cheeseburger was ready, sitting next to a juicy tofu hotdog sitting in a golden-brown bun.
He was presented both items. Ray was impressed at the fact they were goo and protein seconds earlier. Jax forked over fifteen Alliance dollars for the food. With their lunch in hand, the two ate and walked. Ray indulged in his food, the first meal he had all day. His belly stopped making noise, and he didn’t even realize it had been doing that. The fear of death was distracting his appetite. Jax looked at him disgusted.
“How can you eat that?” Jax asked Ray.
Ray patted his mouth clean, focusing on the burger’s aftertaste. “It’s delicious.”
“It’s not real …”
“Could have fooled me … and my taste buds, and stomach.”
“When was the last time you saw a real cow?”
“Stem cell grown meat isn’t any different from slaughtered meat.”
“Doesn’t make it real or natural.” Jax bit into his tofu meal. “At least tofu and soy, you know what you’re getting and where it came from.”
“Still tastes and feels like the real thing.”
“I’d rather the real thing.”
“Nobody raises livestock anymore. Doing that will send you straight to jail.”
“Yeah,” Jax said after taking another bite. “And that’s the problem.”
Their food was devoured, and its paper-wrappers tossed in the recyclers. It was time to get down to business. Jax spoke up first. “So, what’s up?”
“As I was going to say, I need access to your botnet.” Ray kept his face forward and the tone of his voice soft and neutral.
Jax did the complete opposite. “What’s in it for me, man?”
“You won’t have to worry about getting drafted into a war.”
“What war?”
“The one that might start, unless you lend me access.”
“You dug up some shit?”
Ray came to a stop, looking about. Nothing but hustlers shouting to potential shoppers below the neon glow. He regretted not glancing back earlier and more frequently. His editor Steven knew of the secret phone Ray held, just not the number. If someone from the Federation got to Steven, they’d learn why they couldn’t trace Ray further.
“If you can’t or won’t give it to me,” Ray said, facing down at Jax. “I’ll just brute force my way in.”
“With what botnet, D’sam? You’ll just wake up every fucking government spook monitoring the network in the process.” They continued walking, keeping their voices a notch lower.
“Yeah, so don’t put me in the position.”
“Okay, I’ll give you access, five minutes. After that, I’m changing the passwords.”
He patted Jax’s shoulder. “That’s all I need, thanks.”
Ray went to leave, looking for a path to the main streets in the maze of alley markets.
Jax had more to say. “By the way.” Ray turned to face him, Jax gestured for him to come closer. So, he did. “Rumor has it you’re fucking a corporate bitch.”
“Fuck off man!” There was a bite in Ray’s voice. It drew several hustler stares.
“That’s some bad shit bro,” Jax said. “Worse than putting your dick all up inside a witch’s pussy. She’s gonna light your balls on fire if you stick with her. So, if this is her putting you up to it, just walk away now, man. No corporate pussy is worth whatever it is you plan on doing with my botnet.”
A loud grunt and an about-face to the market’s exit, and Ray was gone, leaving Jax behind. Who was Arianna to him he wondered? Days ago, that answer was easy, the woman he loved and planned to marry. Now? He wasn’t sure. Arianna could still be that, she could also be a witch running secret covert ops in the Federation. Or maybe she was just corporate pussy, and he was about to make a grave mistake in pushing forward to learn the truth, thanks to the botnet access Jax was about to give him.
Scratch that, Jax just gave it to him. Ray pulled out his phone and saw the new notification from Jax. It was time to get back to the hotel. Ray whistled for a taxicab, using an app on his phone.
He stood waiting for the cab, and changed the password to his email account, wondering who accessed it.
Twenty-Seven
Estrella
The city of Los Angeles sped past Estrella like someone had been watching a movie on fast-forward. High office towers, condos, apartments, hologram ads, neon signs, all moved past her in a dazzling and mind-blowing blur as she raced cars and trucks on the road. Her long hair escaping from the back of her helmet was like the rapidly flapping wings of a giant crow behind her.
She was jacked into her helmet’s primary computer. She never liked the holo displays it had over its visor. Much easier to have that data relayed into her head, then projected across her synthetic eyes. The speed of her bike appeared in the bottom right corner of her right eye, the estimated battery charge in her left, 87 percent. The top right corner of her eye had a mini-map of the city, a red dot represented her, a blue line was the path she needed to take, and the navi-point at the end? That’s the apartment Ray made his home.
Estrella had to get there before Piper did. Failure to do so would risk evidence vanishing faster than Arianna and her father Norris did. Piper was all sweet kiwi accent talk, and Mona Lisa smiles for a reason. Piper was a woman whose loyalties might have lain with the Federation, who knew what she wanted, and got it with her enthralling appeal. And what did she want? Well, Estrella hoped to find that out by the end of the day.
I never understood the need for humans to operate vehicles at unsafe velocities.
Estrella smirked, her white teeth obscured behind the helmet. I’m not human, Geoffrey.
You were born human and operate their vehicles. And currently, we are traveling 22.6 percent over the recommended speed limit of these roads.
Just keep scanning for cops.
And Piper?
Yeah, her car too.
Though, as Estrella recalled, she had a head start on the race to Ray’s apartment. She should be good. She just needed to get in and out before Piper arrived.
When Estrella was two minutes out. Alert, I have detected Piper’s car.
Location? Geoffrey updated the mini-map. Piper was traveling on the parallel street which had slightly less traffic than the one Estrella was on. Fuck sakes!
She will arrive before us.
No, the fuck she won’t.
Estrella increased speed, swerving around cars like they were obstacles on an obstacle course. A four-way intersection neared, but she didn’t wait for the lights to change. She plowed through and then made a hard turn to the right. Her body and the bike leaned forty-five degrees to the side. Her knees lightly grazed the streets during the tilt turn. Cars honked their horns in disapproval. She didn’t give a fuck, especially after she leveled off and sped up between multiple buses and cars. The nice thing about riding a bike, one could fit it in tight spaces that cars on the road couldn’t.
She was on the final stretch, meaning Piper wasn’t far off. Sweet drenched her brows. She had to get there first. The adrenaline mixing with her life support nanites pushed her to continue.
Estrella’s bike came to a screeching halt outside the apartment. Fluttering palm trees rustled their leaves above her as she rushed to the entrance, looking back for signs of Piper’s car. There were none, yet.
The NC gauntlet flashed blue, spraying nanites across her suit and helmet. They melted into gray goo, unwrapping Estrella’s form in her black skirt and black lace halter top that lay under it. The gray goo that was once her helmet and leather suit pooled up inside the storage compartment of her synthetic arm that split open, then closed shut when the goo entered.
Gone was the biker girl look. In was the cyber witch look
.
The lobby’s glass door entrance was locked. Only a biometric scanner let tenants in or buzzer computer screen. Estrella placed her gauntleted hand on the scanner.
Geoffrey, will you do the honors?
Of course, Estrella.
A small swarm of nanites left the gauntlet, entering the scanner, and accessing its core operational systems. They worked as a bridge, linking Geoffrey and the scanner together. Computer code rained across Estrella’s eyes, when the rain finished, the hand scanner flashed green. The glass sliding doors opened.
Access granted, Estrella.
Estrella entered, escaping from the daytime heat. The air-conditioned breeze hit her, slowly removing the sweat buildup on her forehead. She pushed forward to the elevator, summoning it with a push of a button on the wall. The mini-map in her right eye updated, Piper’s car decelerated near the apartment. Estrella was running out of time.
She vanished beyond the elevator doors as it opened, pushing the floor number to Ray’s unit. They slid shut, blocking out the lobby’s view. She imagined Piper would move in to speak with the landlord first, making it look like she was here on official LAPD work. That meant Estrella had at best five minutes before Piper made her way up.
In and out, nothing more.
I would recommend that as well.
Wasn’t talking to you, Geoffrey.
Oh.
She was on his floor when the elevator stopped and went sprinting out of it when the doors opened. The hallway was long, possibly the longest apartment hall she’d ever seen. There were intersections linking it to other parts of the building, and halls leading to overhanging walk bridges, those too connected to adjacent buildings. She was in a maze where the walls were closed doors with biometric scanners and keycard panels.
Geoffrey pulled up a list of the tenants, collected during the hack earlier. Her mini-map changed to a floor plan of the current floor, and Ray’s unit was highlighted green. She found the door after a long run down the halls, and her NC gauntlet hand rested upon the door. Once again, the nanite hack ability was selected from her menu.
Cyber Witch Page 21
