Intelligence Block

by Kit Falbo

  “Okay.” He gives me a funny look but does as I ask. I let him use me as a crutch as we enter the area, closing the door after us.

  I take a deep breath. “Well, it goes like this…”

  A little guilty, I leave out the part where I am Wizard Joontal. It lets him keep the special ops fantasy he’s built up for me, and because of the gear I’m looking for, this makes more sense for that type of thing, and it might make him more inclined to get it for me. Might as well be top secret anyway, with the number of restrictions and possible penalties the AMU has put on me or anyone else if me being Joontal spreads around. Lily knows, Mistress Mallory Knows, Certain members of the association know and our UI do as well, and that is it. I get dark thoughts remembering Lily's dad, and Franklin used to be on that list.

  “So modern UIs are compromised and can be made to explode. You want to go after those you think are responsible for it? This some kind of joke? Why would you be coming to me, and why go by yourself?”

  “This isn’t a joke. We have a test that you can see yourself. We also have a fix and and a code that if attempted will cause catastrophic failure. You can verify that yourself with reasonable precautions. With UIs compromised we don’t know what would happen if this news gets widespread and word gets back to whoever is in charge. I have my reasons for wanting to take care of this myself. You can help get me what I need and the fewer that know, the better.”

  “This is related to what happened to your girl’s family?” I don’t answer. “You’re just a kid though why send you?” I’m not a kid, and I’m sending myself. I’ll not dissuade Ubb of the notion I’m under someone else's mysterious orders. Me he can argue with, some imaginary government not so much.

  “You willing to help me get the supplies I need? I can pay.” Some of what I want is illegal and won’t be found at his business, but I know he knows people. I produce a list.

  He lets out a long bit of grumpy mumbling while reading it. “I’ll need to use your UI, and it’s techniques to verify what you are telling me. If everything checks out, I’ll help. To get everything you want I may have to tell Madigan as well.” I have to keep myself from groaning. Madigan is the most eccentric of all uncles customers. He’s also the one who made it his goal to ‘get’ me whenever we were on opposite sides for war games.

  “No further than Madigan. Make him swear his life on it. The man is crazy enough to stick to that.”

  Uncle Ubb shrugs. “He’ll want to hear it from you. Come on, help me put Betsy back on. You’ll have your final answer as soon as I do some evaluations of my own. “

  My password to the business server still works, allowing me to check the surplus and salvage records to see what matched with my want list and anything else that might be maybes. A couple of hours later Uncle Ubb is back, with Eld my terrier UI walking calmly by his side. Ubb has a look on his face I’d never seen on him before, fear.

  “You’ll have my help. That dog of yours fixed up my Betsy, so we won’t have any more worries there. I don’t know what your bosses have planned, but I would like some information and the fix in case your operation goes south. You give me a timeline, and if I don’t hear back from you on that date, I will need to do somethings my way. Otherwise no deal.”

  Guilt again. I have no bosses to talk too. “That can be arranged.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Madigan lives in a hole. Literally. As part of getting this planet settled, a few giant pit mines to get some resources for the settlement were created. Madigan bought and lives at the bottom of one. He calls it the best defensible situation. Probably feels vindicated after what happened to the Lowman estate. I’ve been here three other times while living with Uncle Ubb and none of them were the best experiences.

  Ubb eases the shuttle down into the hole. I frown while looking over his shoulders. “The shuttle says he has a weapon lock onto us.” I say.

  “You know Madigan. He’s extra paranoid.” paranoid he may be, I don’t remember him locking a real weapon onto us, ever. Ubb never hung out with anyone very long, if they didn’t follow the don’t aim at something you’re not willing to shoot credo.

  I say nothing since any sudden change of plans might spook the man. Down we go to the small landing area at the bottom. The shuttle lands with a shudder, and we step off into the dim, dusty bottom. “I find this place unacceptable.” Eld tells me while sticking close to my side.

  “You and me both.” I subvocalize back while wondering if this might not be the best of decisions.

  A roller comes out to greet us, a waist-high metallic ball that is controlled by one of Madigan’s many UI. It is dusty, dinged up, and in desperate need of a paint job, as it’s once red and blue colors have gouges in them. Madigan seldom leaves his compound deep in the mines. Only a special order or an auction ever brought him to the surplus or scrap yards. The war games seemed to be the only other exception when I knew him.

  My systems tell me the roller is actively scanning us. A light flickers briefly on its surface, through the dirt and shines in my direction. “This one has too much dangerous tech and a questionable UI.” Its voice has a winy tune like its audio output needs repair.

  “Tell Madigan it’s Talos. I can be as paranoid as he is about keeping my tech. I may want some help and resources from him, but he’s not the only one I can go to.” I might not be able to get everything I want elsewhere, but I’m already weary of involving this kook. “He’ll find what I have to offer more than worth it.”

  The UI twitches in its spot, having a hard time both communicating and maintaining proper balance at the same time. “You may follow me.” The roller reverses direction and starts back down the tunnel.

  We follow. I activate a ball of light to float ahead of us as a simple trick. Madigan hadn’t set up any lighting for guests. The uneven rocky ground crunches under our feet with every step.

  It’s obvious when we get there, as the tunnel opens up to an enormous pile of clutter. Not typical clutter, like garbage or random boxes. Pallets of ammunition, crates of weapons. Mechs, some fully built, but most in pieces. In many ways, it is a more dangerous version of uncle Ubb’s scrap yard, and surplus store rolled into one. Just under the ground. I can see dozens of UI in various forms performing small tasks. Madigan is an abolitionists nightmare. When I had last seen him, he had over fifty to his name and working at his whim. All of this weaponry is just what he chooses to keep outside of the solid metal wall dividing the cavern. Enough to equip a decent sized army and would be scary if you didn’t realize it was just one man who had it.

  At the wall, Madigan communicates through a speaker. “Put your hand on the scanner and prove it is you. You could be a clone or a replicant.”

  I roll my eyes and place my hand on the pad. It pinches, and I get a prick of blood on my palm. After a few moments the door rolls open and me, Ubb and Eld go inside.

  Madigan is there waiting for us. He’s tall, wiry with hair that if clean would look like someone set his head on fire. “Junes! It’s been forever.” He wipes his dirty hand on his dirty one-piece work suit, and I’m not sure either got any cleaner, but offers it up anyway.

  “Madigan.” Ubb replies, taking it.

  I shake as well. “I don’t think I had finished growing yet last time I was here.”

  The crazy redhead flashes me a smile. “I think you might be right. I was a little surprised you all came calling. Your uncle and I had a little tiff the last time we were on more than business terms.”

  He gives Ubb a long stare, and there is some tense silence. Ubb coughs a little. “I’m sorry Madigan for how I behaved when I was last here. I was wrong, and I hope you forgive me.”

  Madigan gives a dust cloud producing pat to Ubbs large shoulder. “See, that wasn’t so hard. I just needed a nice apology from you. The message you sent was cryptic about a trade of information for some of my stock number only supplies. Must be valuable information, my unlabeled supplies are not cheap. Not the type of cloak and dagger I woul
d expect from you.”

  I step forward. “I’m the one that needs the supplies. Going to go up against something dangerous and I want to be prepared for well anything, with anything.”

  He moves his eyes to me, and the green eyes glint with some amusement and what I can only assume is more than a little bit of insanity. “Not surprising, with your girl and all.” I groan a little inwardly. I suppose everyone will know that in less than five seconds of looking me up.

  “It’s not unrelated.”

  “What’s to stop me from taking the information and deciding that it’s not worth trading anything for?” Madigan asks.

  I wouldn’t put that past him. “A few reasons. You know me. Now that I have your curiosity, I will want some things in order to tell you what I know.” I have Eld forward him a list. “It also wouldn’t be good for any future relationship.” I look at the dozens of UIs working behind him. “Just trust me, you will find this particularly valuable, even with some caveats to its use.”

  I see a little bit of steel in Madigan. Maybe he will send us away. He lets out a big laugh, and I nearly jump. “You always have been too smart Tal. You fixed that projection converter that all my UIs said was unfixable. Lost some money betting you couldn’t do it. Begged your dad to let me have you for my cause after schooling. Ubb actually broke in here thinking I might be hiding you after you disappeared.”

  I looked at Ubb. Him breaking into someplace, let alone as crazy as Madigan’s shocks me. Uncle looks suitably embarrassed. “And I apologize for that. I wouldn’t be going to you if this wasn’t something that benefited us all.”

  I can see Madigan’s eyes skimming back and forth as he’s reading what Eld sent him.“You’re asking for a lot, just to let me hear the information. But I’ll admit, my curiosity has me hooked. And Tal here, away so long and already defying expectations.”

  “We’ll need to go into a safety room to discuss this. I also want you to leave your UI out of it.” I say.

  “I can assure you boy, no place is more secure.” I give him a hard look. “Fine.” He mutters.

  Once Eld, Ubb, Madigan, and I are safely inside the safety area, Eld double checks that it is secure. I give Madigan an even shorter description of the situation. The bug, the retaliation, the exploding UI. I can see the pale skinned man pale even more under his dirt, just thinking of all his dozens of UI that hang out around his munitions. “I’ll need you to make sure this doesn’t get out for a couple of months so that I can do my thing. But you can see how the bug, the traps, and the fix would be of particular interest to you.”

  “This all seems rather farfetched. If it were anyone else trying to pitch me this story, I would probably throw them out. You Talos June have always been elbow deep into stretching what is possible. You wouldn’t happen to throw in the information about your missing years as well?”

  “No…” Eld flashes a warning.

  “Right corner there’s a…” A small UI in a stealth shell. It is vibrating hot in the corner. Activating the safety room would kill Eld and Betsy, as well as leaving Ubb without his leg and me without my tech. I go through my spells fast, selecting a defensive containment.

  “Behind me!” I bark, activating my tech.

  They do as I say, the former military men they are responding to authority. The UI I have contained flashes, then flairs in a blast. The circuits controlling the containment sizzle under strain and the smell of burnt electronics waft up from my forearms. Thankfully the backups take their place seamlessly. Slowly, I bleed off the contained force. “What?” Ubb whispers.

  “I told you, no outside UI Madigan!” I tell him with a glare. I didn’t even realize our conversation could trigger a UI like that. How close had I gotten to that happening with any of the ones around me?

  “You both had yours. I didn’t want to go in empty-handed. Let’s say I certainly believe you now.” There is too much amusement in the kook's voice.

  “You fuck this up for me, and I’ll come back and fill your hole in with you still in it.” My anger surprises me, but I strongly dislike nearly being blown up.

  Madigan zips his lips and turns an imaginary key. “I’ll keep this a secret for the length you asked for. I have sixty-seven, well sixty-six now UI that I’ll need to fix and that will take me a while as it is.” He lets out a little laugh. “This is valuable. I’ll make sure you have everything you need from me. May we have more such successful business dealings in the future.”

  The crazed look in Madigan’s eyes has me wondering if this was a mistake. Too late now though. I brought him into this, and there is no going back.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The best thing about a mostly automated society is that you say the time, place, and specific location you want something, and it happens, assuming you pay the right price. It is one thing to get what I want from Madigan. It is a whole another deal to turn it into equipment that will be suitable for this outing. The base of operations is so overwhelmed. I have to rent out a warehouse and set up privacy screens. It’s a good thing UI don’t need sleep, as we worked to put everything together.

  “The last package is off.” There is pride in my voice as this was a lot of work. Still, it is one step closer to me actually doing this. Pre-show jitters I tell myself, even though this won’t be a show.

  Lily pulls me to her height and kisses me on the cheek. “Good. I have another Magic Battle in an hour and want you in the audience.” I’d missed her second one, while I was off talking to my uncle about supplies. She’d won that one by the skin of her teeth by getting one more point from hitting set targets than her opponent.

  “I’ll be there.” A breeze brings my body odor to my attention. “After I get a shower.” The dorms are closer than the house. It’s been weeks since I’d spent much time there, whatever separation I wanted between my life as a Magician and that of a student fell away as I focused on my new life with a mission.

  One aspect of dorm life I’ve never been comfortable with is the public showers. They could have built the rooms big enough to have private bathrooms. But for some reason, be it community, tradition, or just saving a little money, the wide shower area where curtains at elbow distance separate you from other bathers is the option. Better to be uncomfortable than late anyway.

  “Vhere have you been? I’ve been so vorried.” I turn around, and there is Dimi with a towel around his waist. Despite being roommates, this is the first time I’ve seen him without his shirt, and his chest is such a thick wall of hair. I have to question my manliness looking at it.

  After getting over the distracting amount of chest hair, I realize I don’t have a clear answer on that. “Uh… Family stuff.”

  “I vant to apologize. I vas mad after the protest. Then vhat happened to Vily’s family.” Me having disappeared from the dorm and most of college life is obviously bothering Dimi. It is also the type of social situation I’m not comfortable with. Five years as Joontal, who would make a grumpy harrumph at Dimi's feelings instead of responding to his concerns are affecting me. Then before that, I had my life of living with uncle Ubb, and a distinct lack of peer interactions which has left me lacking here.

  I place my hand on Dimi’s arm, getting his attention. “I forgive you. Lily has a magic battle she wants me to watch. I’m sure she would love to see you as well. We’ll have to rush to get there in time.”

  Dimi looks like a weight is off his shoulders. “Yeah, I vill come vith.”

  Dressed and ready we make our way to Applewhite Stadium. The stadium is one of the on-campus dueling grounds reserved for students. Like Lily, a few handfuls of students are already C-ranked Association of Magic User members, able to set up and do ranked matches on school facilities.

  Classes focused on technical skills, design, and landscaping are continually changing how the game's field of battle looks between matches here. Today’s area is a little dreary with cracked earth and blackened, twisted trees. The only color is some glowing clumps of green and white mushrooms
. The viewing seats are starting to fill up, and I make my way to the edge of the field with Dimi in tow to let Lily know I’m here.

  Lily is in her new outfit. Long robes and a staff that are near copies of what I used as Wizard Joontal. She’s honoring her time as his apprentice since that is how most people know her, and because he has passed. Instead of a raven, she has Booker in his red fox form on her shoulder. Heels help add a little bit of height to her, and somehow she manages to make the old Wizards dour outfit into something cute and respectable without taking any of the classic seriousness away. It only took a few minor tweaks to show off her womanly curves, instead of hiding her whole body under the robes, while keeping the look the same. “How do I look?” she asks.

  “I’m sure Wizard Joontal would be proud.”

  “You look great Vily!” Dimi says enthusiastically.

  “There is still time if you want to invite…” I struggle for Dimi’s girlfriend's name for a moment before Belle informs me. “Christina.”

  He lets out a sigh. “She has class, and Vill disapprove of the UI usage.”

  I nod. Even though most types of matches bar the use of UI for the games. Abolitionists have a strained relationship with the AMU scene. “Let’s get some seats.”

  Lily’s opponent is going by the name of Reflectolye, and his outfit is a suit made up of what looks to be lots of small individual pieces of mirrors, as well as a cane and top hat gilded the same way. The only things not mirrored are his hands and face, which are black and featureless.

  The judge is there, invisible. “Competitors ready!” Calls a deep voice out of the sky. “Go!” Both get a quick five-second display of powers before the actual game begins. Reflectolye has all his mirrors flash and sparkle briefly. On Lily’s shoulder, Booker ignites. His form turns into a body made of fire while retaining his fox-like shape.