by Kit Falbo
Then the real game starts. Three-dimensional puzzles appear floating in front of the competitors. This match is a mental challenge, with some hand dexterity required as well. Each of them must manipulate the shape to solve the puzzle first. I know Lily didn’t have a lot of time to practice for the match since she was helping me to get ready. She claimed that planning and working with all that tech was practice enough.
With a swipe she sets one piece to be spinning in the air as she manipulates two others into place. Reflectolye has his puzzle pieces floating a few feet apart so that he could look at each one individually. After a few moments, he starts hooking them together. He grabs the last one. It’s too late, as Lily grabs the spinning piece and shoves it into place.
Victory has her completed puzzle grow and turn into a small planet, dominated by a tree growing out of it. Reflectolye’s crumbles into a ball of ash. Lily gets to make a visual attack on her opponent and apply a sticking image on 5% of her opponent's body. Booker lets out a roar, and a fireball flies from his mouth striking the boy. She opts for spreading out the 5% effect, as a web of cracks covers most of the mirrors now.
That done, there is only a brief breather before the next puzzle comes. Whoever can solve three first, wins. I wince when I see Lily make a mistake on the second puzzle. They fit together, but so would other pieces in the same way. By the time she realizes her mistake, it is too late. Reflectolye’s victory attack is a thrown jagged piece of mirror. It leaves a jagged silverish gash running across her body.
Like when she was my apprentice, Lily doesn’t make the same mistake twice, even if each round has increased difficulty. The next puzzle is based around connecting the right parts to get a pulse of energy through the numbered gates along a path. In some ways it has similarity to how we are building setups in the warehouse, making sure tech toys work how we want them, step by step. The real-life practice lets her leave her opponent in the dust. This time a bolt of lightning streaks across the field from the tip of her staff and removes a patch of mirrors, leaving only empty blackness.
What looks like an archaic language floats in front of both competitors. It is both a puzzle, as you can rearrange the words, but also a cryptological test, as you have to figure out the code as well. It’s dressed up bullshit mumbo-jumbo with a fantasy bent. Which is precisely the kind of work I gave Lily when she first wanted to be my apprentice, and I was stressing out about all the work I needed to do for next week's party or a dinner show, and I just needed something that would eat her time up. No matter the amount of practice Reflectolye has put in, it can’t match the amount of work I threw at her just trying to get a young, eager teenage girl off my back as she tried to get me to break character early on.
Using a display to Zoom in, I can see the smile on her lips. She deftly rearranges the words." Temleh fo Etaf, laever flesruoy!" She projects her voice out, solving the puzzle.
In the finishing move, pre-approved of by her opponent, the mirrors of his outfit are ripped apart to float in the air for a moment before shattering to littering dust that floats to the ground. A black formless man stands there before he fades away. “Victory Lily Lowman!” Calls the judge.
There is applause from the crowd, with Dimi and me joining in. “She veally is good!” Dimi tells me.
My smile widens, but my heart aches as I know I’ll be away soon. All the UI, me and Lily have postulated that me going has the least catastrophic possibility. Passing it onto authorities and having the information get out, has worlds ending potential. The tradeoff is that the most significant risk is to me, to us. Dimi is pulling me out of my seat and my thoughts, moving me towards the field and my girl.
Other fans make it there before us, and she’s already signing autographs. “You’re so strong!” I hear a girl tell her. Most likely about keeping with this type of work after the tragedy that happened to her father and family staff.
Once the crowd clears some, I come up and hug her. “Great job.”
She lets out a small sigh. “Too bad you’ll miss my next few while your away.”
Dimi frowns. “Vhere are you going Talos?” he asks, having listened in.
“He’s going to some of the outer planets, for some tech training and just the experience. He’s never been off-planet you know.” Lily says deflecting.
“Ve careful, many in space think using tech as magic disrespects the science that keeps us all alive.” Dimi warns.
People prejudiced against entertainers are the least of my worries. Though, something I know I shouldn’t ignore. “I’ll do my best.” I say.
Together we make plans to get lunch and celebrate Lily’s win. I do my best to let myself enjoy the normalcy of college life because soon, win or lose. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get back to it.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Even though it was an hour ago, I can still feel Lily’s goodbye kiss even if it is only a trick of the mind. It is also comforting to be back inside a modified infiltration suit, as the last one saved my life. This time I’ve only added fifteen to ten years to how I look, that way I’m in my early to mid-thirties instead of the striking and memorable Wizard Joontal. I’m the average and forgettable looking JT, a B-ranked AMU tech.
I had to get changed in a train station bathroom during rush hour, while Eld, who is staying behind to help Lily, created a projection of me leaving. Yes, if someone followed the information back, JT will have just magically appeared out of that bathroom, but they will have a devil of a time figuring out how. Belle got to keep her book form, as that is still a highly popular type of UI. Her cover is a copy of an ancient classic, Alice in Wonderland. Tess took more work and is now a silver briefcase filled with tools.
One of the advantages of having that audit was the segmentation of my AMU skills, which is allowing me to use my official paperwork under a pseudonym. The AMU can dig up the real facts in an emergency, but like with Joontal, liked to allow members to have multiple private personas. Membership is also a bit of a cheat for security checks, as you get allowances for having a high level of technology onto you. It’s the same kind of trick that allowed Igni Furnis to sneak in a military weapon to shoot me with at the Lowman estate months ago. Right now, I’m not sure I’m not much better.
I stick with the anonymous nature of interstellar travel. Instead of chartering a private ship or buying one, which would have created a massive amount of traceable paperwork, I’ll be going with commercial mass transit flights to make it to my destination. There is no direct flight to Freedom Station. You have to go to Apaxis and then take a group charter from there. Freedom Station is considered a dangerous place, where they don’t respect safety standards, trade regulations, prohibited material, and technology restrictions. Whenever a vote on maybe easing restrictions on the station happens, it is voted down. The Apaxis members being the loudest voices, as they have the most to lose because private charters are big business for them. Even some areas with active warzones have commercial flights, just not Freedom Station.
At the interstellar terminal, the AMU has their own travel agent for members, both as an extra security precaution and as a way to ease any potential issues. They promise to police and insure their members, and the ships let them ride with the equivalent of a substantial arsenal of technology. A pretty young woman is behind the counter today. My heads-up-display informs me she’s Abigail, a C-ranked AMU representative, she graduated from MAGI college last year. The line is short, as opposed to other lines. “Hi, Abigail or do you prefer Abby? My UI should have forwarded you all the paperwork needed for a commercial flight to Apaxis.”
Her eyes flicker back and forth as she reads what I sent and she starts to frown. It is all murky enough that Tess assures me she will be getting several flags about my travel. A problem we couldn’t figure out a workaround on. “Abigail is fine.” Her frown deepens as I watch her eyes continue to read. I’m a tech with a private persona active and planning to ignore AMU recommendations to leave my UI at home, as well as maxing
the tech I’m bringing with me. “You do know that taking UI to Freedom Station voids the insurance on them?”
I let out a long unhappy sigh. “My employer wishes to test them, as well as have me learn more on the debonding process they do there.”
“If you undergo Humedroid conversion, you will lose all AMU membership status and benefits.”
I hadn’t considered that. Human-UI bonding to create such a being is rare. UI-Fetishists, people who are paid to undergo it, rare medical diseases, and attempts to extend one's lifespan are the main reason people choose to do it. Freedom Station is one of the few places where the technique is done. “No plans on that. My Employer and I are hoping my experiences here can help push me into the A-rankings as a tech in the association.”
“There a reason why you are so heavily covered in tech for this trip?”
“I was ordered to. Freedom Station can be a dangerous place. There are also rare cases involving newly freed UI and their former bonded having unpleasant interactions.” I make like I searching for a quote. “The best kind of paranoia is the kind that can save your life.”
She raises an eyebrow at me. People who treat tech as magic are usually eccentric. There are always those who are on the weirder end of that scale. Even with all the flags that have popped up, my position is still in good standing with the AMU. There is no reason not to let me go through. She hands me an orange square with clips. “This is your AMU member badge, keep it on and visible at all times. Not having it on you can create serious legal issues for you.”
I attach it just over my heart. “Thank you for your time.”
Travel is not as fast as messages, where those can be sent through entangled particles vast distances away, moving matter vast distances by compressed space shunts takes hours to hop from one location to the next. I have plenty of layovers between here and Apaxis. It is easy to play the part of a bored and weary traveler when you become one. Not to say there are not some incidents on the way.
In Paradiso, the local government sat me down for an hour and lectured me on the impermanence of the AMU and how they let the free flow of dangerous technology happen. Not enough to make me miss my flight, but just enough to miss my chance at lunch before getting onto my next one.
In Fellwick someone brushed up against me, and I don’t know who was more surprised, him or me, that his hand gripped my AMU badge and it wouldn’t budge. The little shock he had given it should have released the mechanism it came with to adhere to me. He didn’t expect that I had also bonded it using the nanites in my infiltration suit. I gripped his wrist hard enough to give him a pained look and called security. I feel like they had more questions for me than my would-be thief.
Mostly it is boring. I review the plan, the back-up plan, and the back-up plans to the back-up plan. The basics boil down to, get to Freedom Station, Investigate leads while staying in character, deal with the problem if the opportunity arrives, or finally make sure my file gets where it needs to go.
I exit the interstellar flight terminal at Apaxis. Apaxis is a dry planet, as I take a breath in, I can already feel the air removing the moisture from my mouth. The air tastes funny too, like cheese. I know it is just me not being used to the differing biome. A man is holding a sign ‘JT B-ranked Tech’ and standing in front of a car. “Association?” he nods, and I get in.
I look out the window. Yellows and browns dominate the landscape, even the plants and the buildings have that color palette. We go through a security gate and into a parking garage, where I am let out. Tess lets me know this is the AMU headquarters on Apaxis. An older man is waiting; he’s in a white suit with red cufflinks. His mostly black hair is slicked back with only some white on the sides. Tess runs an identity check, Arthur Gratis AMU ambassador and S-ranked administrator. I give him a slight nod and offer my hand. “Arthur.”
He takes it and shakes. “JT. Come with me to my office.”
There is no waiting for a response from me, he walks, and I follow. An elevator takes us inside the building, and we walk through a hall with many doors until we get to the one at the end. Stepping inside, it is a very nice office. Comfy high-end chairs, a detailed spiraling carpet, an intricate desk, all this to say this is a man of importance.
The door clicks behind me, and Tess informs me the room has gone private, blocking signals incoming and out. “Talos, have a seat.” Arthur states, breaking all pretense of me being JT a lowly B-ranked tech.
I sit down, and the chair feels divine after all the mass transit flights. Even a full body suit can only cushion me so much. “Won’t someone find it unusual that you are hosting a B-ranked Tech?”
“I make it my business to see several incoming members a day of various rankings. This type of meeting is pretty regular. My issue is you being here is not regular. I can’t figure out why you are choosing to come to Apaxis and onward to Freedom Station. Let alone bring UIs with you. I was on the Audit committee evaluating you, so I would like to believe I know how you think.”
“Eld won this bet.” I mutter under my breath.
I wasn’t quiet enough, or his UI informed him what I just said. “Who?”
“My latest UI, Eld. He’s not going on this trip. My UIs couldn’t decide how this would happen. Most agreed I would be pulled aside by the association in some manner. Eld insisted it would be someone high ranking, who will know all my details to put pressure on me.”
“Pretty smart of it.” Arthur replies not wanting to use gender associations for UI.
“Aren’t they all?" I’m sure they are the ones that flagged my travel and had me directed here now. "As much as they think they’ve got us figured out, Humans are still confusing and illogical to them. Why do they think I’m going to Freedom Station?"
Arthur gives me a look showing he’s not exactly happy with the fact that I’m not outright telling him why I am making this trip. Belle is managing the suits facial tics and movements, making sure I’m not giving too much away. “Because of your close relationship with UI, and that you are bringing some to Freedom Station, they think there is a twenty percent chance you will try to become a Humedroid. I disagree, Association status is too important to you. Some think there is a fifteen percent chance that this is related to the attack on you or on the Lowman estate, how they don’t know. A ten percent chance you are here to do what you stated. Explore new technology, UI bonds, work on your tech skills and are just doing it secretly.”
“Humedroid? Really?”
“You’re in a suit. I can’t read if that skepticism is real. As you said, UIs are pretty good at figuring things out. Are you willing to tell me why you are going to Freedom Station?”
We’d game planned this. It might be the perfect time to let a high ranking AMU official in on the issues I’ve discovered. He could help me, or he could bar me from traveling, or doing so will set off a catastrophe that would be my fault. Lily was torn on it, she wanted me safe, but she also knew the risks. “No. You wouldn’t believe me. No matter what I said, you wouldn’t believe me right now. I could strip out of this suit, and you could scan my brain and test my vitals and then you might mostly believe what I tell you. But that is just rude and something I’ve never heard about the AMU doing before.”
I can see the anger in his face. I think he expected a lie rather than outright refusal. “I can have your membership stripped away!”
“You can but you won’t. I’m not a complete nobody, and it would cause a hassle. As you said, you did my audit, do you think that I am going to do anything truly crazy and put my career at risk? Or that I haven’t planned out what I am doing to a very high detail?”
Arthur lets out a defeated sigh. “You performers are all crazy. I was impressed with how you stayed in character as Wizard Joontal for five years. Then when I thought about it, I realized you were crazy to do that. I wanted to rank you higher, but some of the others felt you were too young. I will believe you if you tell me why you are going.”
The best lies have a little truth
to them. “Research. I need to come up with a new act. Blowing myself up for peoples amusement has become a little tasteless after what happened to Mr. Lowman and his staff. There is something to be said about being as far away as possible from that type of memory as well.”
I do see a little bit of sympathy on his face. “But Freedom Station?” I give a small shrug that says, I am a little crazy after all.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The charter flight is an UT-47b that is so old, that if it has a built-in UI, I don’t need to worry about it having the core code problem on this one. The chrome on it has patches of rust from all the times it has been in the atmosphere. “You sure this is the best option.” I subvocalize to my UI.
“It has a spotless inspection record and has experience with AMU members, meaning no issues with the amount of tech you are bringing.” Tess informs me.
“More importantly, they allow UIs to travel to the station with you. Most charters, even AMU friendly ones don’t allow that.” Belle adds, her voice almost sounds cheerful that she is going.
“I’m sure all it took to ignore my tech and the fact I’m bringing UIs is a hefty amount of cash.” My UIs did not dissuade me of this statement.
I’m not the only one to pick this flight because they allow UI. The shuttle seats about thirty and I see twenty gathered, almost all of them have UI and non-standard ones as well. A wrinkled old man has about ten all around him, that mostly seem to be lower level ones. A Twelve-inch doll, a floating speak n play projection tablet, Two patched up orbs that float rather unsteadily next to him. He sees me looking. “You going to free some of our electronic brethren from bondage?” He asks.
Ugh, more abolitionists. Almost all of those will end up in the meat grinder that is the station, taken for parts. It would be kinder to deactivate the ones he has. I’ve made sure my UI have money, so if they need to, they can survive without me. “No. “ I say confidently. The UIs say they plan to stick with the plan, even if it doesn’t match the odds. But that is what everyone who goes to freedom station hopes, isn’t it.
