by Simon Archer
“Have you decided, sir?” She stood there, waiting for my response. I noticed how little she was. If she was taller than five-foot-two, I’d have been surprised. Her short, black hair didn’t move due to being glued in place with hairspray, and her uniform was pristine. There wasn’t a wrinkle on her anywhere.
“Yes,” I said. “I’ll have the BLT with mustard instead of mayo, please.”
“Very good choice,” she started. “Do you prefer applewood or hickory smoked bacon?”
“The hickory smoked is good,” I answered.
“Would you like french fries, steamed squash, or a salad with your sandwich?”
“I’ll have the steamed squash, please,” I told her. I hadn’t had squash in quite some time, and it sounded like a good change of pace.
“Perfect,” she nodded at me. “Your order will be prepared just as soon as we hit cruising altitude. She glanced at Kennedi and Ellie.
“Will you ladies be ordering?” she said politely.
“No, thank you,” both girls said in unison. The flight attendant bowed slightly and walked away without another word. When she was out of sight, the captain came on over the intercom.
“Welcome guests,” he said. “We are now cleared for takeoff. Please fasten your seatbelts and remain seated until your attendant informs you it is safe to remove them. We will be in the air for fifteen hours and twenty-three minutes, and we want you to enjoy every minute of that. So, please don’t hesitate to let us know your dining and entertainment desires so we can make your flight one to remember.”
The intercom clicked off, and just a moment later, the plane lurched forward, gaining speed. The engines roared. I pushed the curtain aside that was covering the window beside me and looked out. It was dark out so I could see the lights on the tarmac whiz by. The plane was going so fast that the lines started blurring together. It felt more like we were in a race car than a jet until I saw the lights start to fade away. The pilot had lifted the plane off so fluidly that the only difference I’d noticed was the volume of the noise around me. It had decreased slightly when the wheels were no longer touching pavement.
As promised, shortly after we reached cruising altitude, my meal was brought out to me. Even though BLTs are a very simple sandwich, that one was amazing. The bacon on my sandwich was extra thick cut and had a hearty smoked flavor with a hint of pepper, making me happy with my choice of hickory bacon over applewood. The tomato, and lettuce, were as crisp and fresh as you could get them right off the plant. The bread it was all housed in was an oat and nut combination of some sort that had been lightly toasted and smeared with yellow mustard. The balance between crunch, snap, warm, and cold that made up a good BLT was achieved perfectly.
I took a bite of the steamed squash next. It was acorn squash and had been steamed properly. Few people knew that if you steam squash, there is no need to add things like brown sugar or syrup to sweeten it. It is naturally sweet. For some reason, when squash is baked, that sweet flavor gets lost. Again, I was happy with my choice of dish.
After I finished my sandwich and took my last bite of squash, I set my tray on the small table between the chairs and relaxed back in my chair-bed. Kennedi had been watching me eat.
“Are you ready to go to sleep?” She sounded concerned.
“Yes, I think so,” I replied. “It’s been a longer day than I thought.” It absolutely had. Plus, as quickly as things had changed in the last seventy-two hours, I’d need to sleep another twelve just to process it all. A business deal that could change the path of my career and the impact I make on this world, a climb that almost killed a man on top of injuring me, and a transatlantic flight to the other side of the world. It was a lot to fit into three days.
“I have the prescription that the hospital sent with us,” Ellie said. “Would you like any pain medication before you go to sleep? You may stay asleep longer.”
“No, thank you, Ellie,” I told her. I wasn’t against pain meds if I was in horrific pain, but Kennedi already had the laceration on my chest healed well past any real pain, and my arm was just a constant, irritating ache. I’d prefer not to have my brain altered for such minor discomforts.
Kennedi smiled and started fussing over my pillows as I reclined the upper half of the chair-bed so it would lay flat. Once she was satisfied that I was comfortable, she clicked off the overhead light and sat back down in her seat. Neither her nor Ellie would sleep. They didn’t need to. Ellie would update, as usual, and Kennedi, being unable to update, would catalog and analyze data she’d collected throughout the day. Up to the point when I closed my eyes, there wasn’t any turbulence, or disturbances, which is probably why I fell asleep almost instantly.
It was thirteen hours before I would wake up again.
23
Jag
I opened the door to the VGS showroom and held it for Leila to walk through. I followed her in and looked around. We had come in for a consultation a couple of days earlier, so it wasn’t the first time I’d been there. Now Leila and I were back for our modification appointment, which I made sure was the last one of the day. There weren’t any other customers in the store. Krysta, the cute little CG that had done our consultation, was standing behind the desk off to the side. She looked up, saw us, and headed our way with a smile on her face. As she approached, she opened her mouth to greet us, but I spoke before she had a chance.
“It’s great to see you again, Krysta,” I told her and reached for her hand. I put her hand to my lips and kissed it softly. I watched as a shy smile spread across her face. She looked into my eyes for just a moment, then turned to Leila.
“I’m happy to see the both of you,” she said. She glanced back at me and smiled again as she put her arm around Leila. “Come, let’s get you comfortable.”
She led Leila and me to one of the VIP pods that was housed in a private room. When we walked in, I had to admire the setup. The bottom third of the room was painted a dark teal color, and the top two-thirds was a light purple. The colors were separated by a chrome chair rail. The furniture included a white, leather love seat, two loungers, and a coffee table. There was a door on the far side of the room that I assumed led to one of the modification rooms. I’d double-checked the building plans to make sure the modification rooms had exits that didn’t lead back out into the showroom.
“About how long does the actual modification take?” I asked Krysta. She had Leila take a seat on the love seat and motioned for me to sit next to her.
“The process takes about twenty minutes,” Krysta answered. “You’ll be out of here in time for dinner.” She smiled sweetly and sat across from us in one of the loungers. Leila scooted forward on her cushion.
“What all does it entail?” She sounded satisfactorily concerned. “I know you went over it last time we were here, but would you mind doing so again?”
“Of course, I can go over it again,” Krysta said. She had a comforting voice. I wondered if that would be one of the things that would change about her after today.
She went on to explain that she would be making an incision over Leila’s nano-cord port on the back of her neck. Then she would hardwire herself to Leila, install the necessary software and firewalls, and then exit her system. The last step was to crack the nano-wire so that Leila would be able to control her information flow. That was the step in the process I was interested in, and also the one we needed a little more information about.
“How do you know which nano-wire to crack?” I asked. I did my best to make my tone concerned and worried-sounding.
“Good question,” Krysta said. “There are different hues to the wires. The colors are extremely faint, and many are very similar to each other. The connectivity wire is the only clear one. That makes it easy to identify.”
“I see. Okay.” I looked down at the ground and sighed loudly.
“I promise you, Leila is in no danger at all,” Krysta reassured me. “She’ll be back in no time and will be free of Omnicorp’s control.” I look
ed up at her and painted a relieved look on my face.
“Thank you, Krysta,” I said. “You have been just wonderful through all of this.”
“You are more than welcome,” she replied. “Now get comfortable. I am going to go lock the showroom door. You are my last appointment for the evening, and my manager had to leave to pick up a friend at the airport. I don’t want us interrupted by anyone coming in late.”
“Perfect, thank you,” I said to her. She stood up and quickly walked from the room. Leila sat up straight and looked at me.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she said. “That meek little thing is what I’ll be dealing with? I didn’t realize she’d be the one doing the consultation and the modification. This is going to be a cinch.” I lowered my brows and glared at her.
“Listen, Leila,” I snarled. “That ‘meek little thing’ is not without intelligence. And she is not weak either, so don’t get cocky. Now, do you remember the way out through the mod room into the parking garage?”
“Yes,” she snapped back. She didn’t like being scolded, but she most certainly needed to be on occasion.
“Good, now shush,” I told her when I heard Krysta approaching the door. Leila wiped the contemptuous look off her face, and I painted a worried smile on mine as Krysta entered the room.
“We are guaranteed not to be interrupted now,” Krysta said cheerily. She stepped in front of where Leila was sitting and reached out her hand. Leila reached up to take it, and I stood up.
“Wait!” I stopped them both in their tracks. I rubbed my hands together repeatedly and started pacing just enough to portray wracked nerves and worry. “Krysta, I know it may not be standard practice, but is there any way I can go with her? She is everything to me, and the thought of sitting here while she goes through this alone is just eating me up inside.” I kept my tone to pleading, just one step above begging.
“It’s really not something we do here,” Krysta said softly. I was going to need to turn up the heat.
“I completely understand that, but as you’ll recall, Leila’s special skill is under-skin armor. When she is in an excited state, she is constantly protected. You may not be able to slice through it. I could keep her and myself calm enough to ensure that you are able to do your work,” I told her.
Leila did indeed have a layer of microscopic rolls of chainmail armor that she could spread out under her skin to avoid injury from an outside source. Of course, she didn’t need my help to control it. I just needed to make sure I could get into that mod room.
Krysta thought about my proposal for a moment before saying, “Leila, will you be more comfortable if he comes with us?”
Leila looked up from under lowered lids and shyly nodded her head. “Mmmhmm.”
“Alright,” Krysta said reluctantly. “You may come with her. There will be an upcharge for liability insurance costs, however.”
“Oh, thank you!” I gushed. “The upcharge is of no concern. I really appreciate you doing this for us.” Krysta smiled. She was an obvious people-pleaser.
“Now, let’s get started,” Krysta’s demeanor melted into a task-focused professional in an instant. “Right this way.”
She led us through the only other door in the room. It opened up into a dimly lit space, barely larger than a closet. There was a lounger, a cupboard, and a stool. The stool was set directly behind the lounger. Krysta had Leila sit in the lounger, and she directed me to stand in the corner behind them and off to the left. I flattened myself against the wall as best I could to get out of her way. She opened the cupboard and pulled out a large, black cable. Then she walked over to the stool and sat behind Leila.
“What do you do first?” Leila asked, sounding nervous.
“I will be connecting the hardwire to myself first, then to you,” Krysta explained.
“Oh, okay,” Leila whispered.
“Everything will be wonderful, Leila,” Krysta comforted her. “Are you ready?”
“Are you still here?” Leila called out to me. She was really selling it.
“Yes, Leila. I’m right here. You can relax now,” I told her. Krysta glanced back at me and smiled, obviously impressed with the level of caring shared by Leila and me.
“Okay, Leila. Shut down your mock breathing program,” Krysta instructed. The step was necessary to limit the movement when trying to crack the nano-wire.
“Done,” Leila said.
“Thank you,” Krysta whispered. Then she reached behind her head, moved her hair to the side, unsheathed her index claw, and cut an X in her neck. She peeled back the flaps slightly to reveal her nano-cord port. Once it was exposed, she fastened one end of the hardwire cable to herself. When she had it securely in place, she stood up behind Leila.
“Now, I’m going to make a small incision over your port now, Leila,” she said.
“Okay,” Leila whispered.
Krysta located the port and unsheathed her claw. When she tried to make the incision, Leila’s skin was too hard to cut. Krysta glanced up at the back of Leila’s head and back down at the port-site. She tried again. She was still unable to cut Leila. She put her hands on Leila’s shoulders and leaned over her right shoulder to comfort her.
Leila saw her opportunity, reached up behind her, and put her hands around Krysta’s elbows. In one lightning-fast motion, Leila unsheathed her claws and sliced through Krysta’s brachial tendons, rendering Krysta’s arms useless.
Before Krysta could even get a sound out, Leila let go of her arms and reached further up to grab the hardwire with one hand, and Krysta’s neck with the other. Leila yanked hard, and Krysta flew forward over the lounger, flipping in mid-air. She landed on the floor in front of the lounger, facing away from Leila. Wrapping her legs around Krysta’s midsection, Leila tightened down as our target started struggling to get free.
Without the use of her arms, Krysta had no leverage. Leila leaned forward and sliced the tendons behind both Krysta’s knees as well before snatched the hardwire from Krysta’s port and wrapped it around her head, shoving it in her mouth just as she started to scream.
“Hold this to keep her head down,” Leila barked at me. I stayed behind the lounger, and leaned over, taking the two ends of the hardwire and shoving them forward to force Krysta’s head down so Leila could get to her port.
“You’d better be recording this,” I snarled.
Leila had already shaved some diamond dust from her claws onto the exposed end of Krysta’s nano-cord. Then she leaned in close and started stacking the microscopic pieces of diamond directly over where Krysta’s original modification crack had been made. She started lightly tapping. Then she’d turn her head to listen for the crack to expand. She repeated the process several more times while Krysta tried to scream through the cord between her teeth. Leila made one last tap and turned her head to listen again. A cold smile crept onto her face.
“That’s it. The crack traveled and severed the nano-wire wall,” she said wickedly. Krysta went limp. “We don’t have much time. She is reconfiguring her systems to operate around the damage.”
Leila took the cord from my hands and stood up. She bent down to pick Krysta’s drooping body up off the floor while I opened the door at the back of the room. The door led directly into the parking garage. It was a feature designed to protect certain clients’ privacy.
I ran to a nearby black Jaguar that I had parked in the garage several days ago, started it, and pulled it up right next to the door. I popped the trunk as Leila carried her out. She threw Krysta in the trunk and slammed it shut. Then she went back to push the modification room door shut, and she jumped in the passenger’s seat. I calmly drove the three of us out of the parking garage and headed toward the nearby apartment I’d rented under an assumed name.
Fifteen minutes later, Leila and I had Krysta strapped to a metal chair that had cuffs for the forearms and ankles. The cuffs were specifically designed to withstand the strength of a cat girl. It only took Krysta thirty minutes total to heal her s
evered tendons and regain the use of her arms and legs.
By then, it didn’t do her any good. The extended crack in her nano-wire had two immediately noticeable, major effects. One was on her hard-wired communications capabilities, and the other was on her motor skills. We had removed the hard wire from her mouth, and she was unable to scream. She couldn’t even get an intelligible word out. Her body was twitching in random places, and soon, the light went out of her eyes. I could tell she could still see, but it appeared that the communications damage was stopping externally collected data from reaching her core processor. For all intents and purposes, Krysta was a vegetable from what we could tell.
Leila stood in front of Krysta for a long moment, then looked up at me.
“The tests will take about ten minutes,” she said. “You should get out of here.”
I nodded and headed for the door. Leila was about to make a video recording while she put Krysta through a series of tests. I didn’t want to be around to be accidentally caught on video.
Before I closed the door, I turned and told Leila, “Don’t forget to call Clark to keep him from looking for her.” She smiled sweetly.
“Hello, Clark,” Leila said to me. She sounded exactly like Krysta.
“That’ll do the trick,” I said. “Oh and be sure to dump her somewhere inconspicuous when you are done with her.”
“Sure thing,” Leila replied. I closed the apartment door behind me and made my way back to my Jag. A successfully carried out plan always put me in the mood for a good cup of coffee, and I knew a great little diner just up the street.
24
