by Al Robertson
[ I might be able to do something about that, once I’ve absorbed this lot,] replied Fist.
[ I’d like that.]
The three guardian animals stayed still as the puppet’s ghost creatures prowled around them. The trio had lost animation, now seeming more like still images.
[ I’m cracking them,] crowed Fist.
[ You’ve got about a minute left.]
[ We’ll be fine!]
A panther leapt at the bear and vanished into it. The bear shape shimmered and disappeared. Then Fist took the tiger and the lion. One last cat remained, prowling watchfully around the glade.
[ They’re ours now?]
[Oh yes. They work for me.]
[ No extra strain on your processors?]
[ No – they’re still running on the block servers. I’ve just rebuilt their command structures so they listen to me too. A bit more tweaking and they’ll be able to manifest anywhere. We can summon them whenever we need them.]
[ No chance we’ll be spotted?]
[ Nope. I’ve put datablocks up to mask anything unusual. And …] Fist was silent for a moment. In the distance, a virtual dog howled at an imagined moon. [Got it. Lots of choice in the block’s visual templates. When I’ve got a moment, I can change how the panthers look. No more big cats to scare you!]
[ Thank you,] said Jack. [And there’s one more thing we need to do before Ato gets back. We have to talk to Harry.]
[ That psychopath? You’re crazy.]
[ We need to understand more about him. It could help us break Yamata.]
[ But they’re the same as each other. What if he’s on her side?]
[ You saw how they went at each other. There’s not much chance of that.]
[ Hmmph.]
[Can you summon him?]
[Suppose so.]
[ Then do it.]
Fist grumbled as he complied.
‘You call – and here I am!’ smiled Harry, strolling casually out of the darkness. He was wearing a suit and a long, dark overcoat. Fist snapped into full defensive mode. The panthers reappeared, ringing Harry. A harsh, low growl rolled across the clearing. ‘Lovely pets,’ he said, stretching a hand out to one of them. It snapped at him. Harry took a step back, pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wrapped it tightly round a bloody finger. ‘Sharp teeth, eh?’
[ He’s contained,] Fist told Jack. [ It’s safe to talk.]
‘Hello Jack,’ said Harry. ‘Good to see you.’
[Scanning him too?]
[ Yes, Jack. Now I know what I’m looking for – human mind, Totality architecture, identical to Yamata.]
‘Of course I’m happy to be scanned, Jack. After all, we’re old friends, aren’t we? Nothing to hide.’
‘You’ve hidden quite a lot, Harry. It’s about time you were straight with us.’
‘I’ve always been as straight with you as you have with me.’ That seemed barbed, but Harry’s expression was entirely innocent. Jack let it pass. ‘Besides,’ continued Harry, ‘we both want the same thing – Kingdom’s head on a plate, and Yamata’s with it.’
‘Bullshit, Harry. We know what you are now. It’s very different from what you pretend to be.’
Harry was suddenly holding a cigar and a box of matches. Each panther took a pace towards him. ‘No need to worry,’ he said reassuringly. ‘This really is just a smoke. Or rather, the memory of one.’ A little flame from a match suckled at the cigar’s tip, chasing shadows from his face.
‘But you’re not the memory of Harry, are you?’ replied Jack. ‘You were never a fetch. You’re something very different.’
[ I can take him, Jack. Let me try!]
[ Hush, Fist. Not now. Not if we don’t have to.]
‘That’s right, I’m not a memory. I am Harry. Always have been, always will be. I really shouldn’t be here, you know. But I’m a very lucky man.’
‘What happened to you?’ said Jack.
‘Can you get rid of this lot?’ Harry indicated the panthers. ‘So much easier to talk when you’re not surrounded.’
‘The muscle stays,’ Fist spat.
Harry took a long, slow draw on his cigar. The end of it flared orange-pink. The rich smell of smoke filled the glade.
[ Very impressive simulation,] commented Fist. [Serious processor power behind it.]
[ We’re definitely safe?]
[Completely.]
‘All right if I sit?’ wondered Harry. Jack looked to Fist, who nodded. ‘Taking orders from a puppet?’ he asked, with a look Jack chose to ignore. A chair appeared and he sat down, carefully pulling his overcoat out from beneath him.
[ Now he’s just showing off,] said Fist.
‘So, what do you want to know?’ asked Harry.
‘The truth,’ Jack replied.
Harry sighed. ‘All right, Jack. I’m not a fetch. Yamata came for me when I reopened the Penderville case. By then she wasn’t human any more. She burned my mind into a Totality hive, then tossed my body away and let everyone think I’d been shot by some Docklands lowlife.’
‘Why did she bother doing that?’
‘I was straight with you about the Penderville case. She wanted to stop me finding out why she’d killed him. And that gave her an opportunity to seize all the knowledge I had.’ Harry tapped his forehead. ‘In here. And directly integrate it with her own systems. Of course, to do that she had to turn me into something just like her.’
‘That would take a lot of hardware. Where did she hide it all?’
‘I was sitting around somewhere in Homelands. Yamata dug through my mind, pulled out everything I knew about InSec. That meant she was ahead of them every step of the way. They couldn’t touch her. And she used everything I knew on Docklands crime syndicates, too. All my old contacts work for her now.’
‘What was she doing?’
‘She was behind the terrorist attacks on Station. I should have realised she’d be working for Kingdom. He could blame them on the Totality, and use them to take down Grey and anyone else who was anti-war. Helped him keep the Soft War going too. Classic gambler, keeps on losing, always takes another punt and hopes he’ll win it all back.’
‘For fuck’s sake, Harry. Why didn’t you tell me this before?’
‘My investigation, Jack, like I always told you. You knew what you needed to know to get the job done. And I’ve never trusted that puppet of yours.’
‘YOU? Worried about trusting ME? Fucking hell, Devlin,’ snarled Fist.
‘So they were false flag attacks,’ Jack said. ‘But you helped them happen. Why didn’t you fight back? Refuse to work with Yamata?’
‘She never woke me up enough. It was like living in a dream. She’d use a bit of me here, a bit of me there. But I began to realise that the dream was real. After the Panther Czar fiasco you were sent out-system, but I was only moved across departments. I always worried that someone would make my lack of involvement more permanent. So, I put some countermeasures in place in case someone killed me or tried to screw with me once I was dead. They woke up – and they started to wake me up, too.’
‘What then?’
‘Well, most of me was usually shut away from her. I didn’t know exactly how powerful she was. I certainly wasn’t in a position to take her on directly.’
‘You did a pretty good job the other day,’ Fist said.
‘I was ready for her. And I’ve been rebuilding myself. It’s been quite a few years since I escaped. Besides, back then, I had other problems. I needed to get the Totality hardware she was storing me on away from her.’
‘You could have just jumped into the Coffin Drives.’
‘No way. Once you’re on them, you’re trapped. Besides, I quite like running on Totality hardware. You should feel it, your mind just sings. So I had to move myself physically. Easily done, she didn’t know how awake I really was. A little bit of looking around, some alterations to a transport docket, smoke and mirrors around the document trail, and Bob’s your uncle! I was out of my little Homelands
warehouse and free.’
‘And you’ve done nothing to try and stop her.’
‘Too risky. Haven’t found anyone I could trust. And besides, even if I did manage to go public, who’d believe me? A ghost, accusing the Pantheon of staging a war for their own ends. At best, I’d get found and wiped. At worst, I’d go straight back to being Yamata’s bitch.’
‘So where are you now?’
‘Oh, that would be telling, wouldn’t it? Somewhere safe from her – and from your contacts, too. The Pantheon doesn’t like competition much, you know.’
[Off-Station,] commented Fist. [Lag time says he’s still in Earth orbit, bouncing his signal off comms satellites.]
‘You make getting away sound very easy,’ said Jack.
‘Yamata was overconfident. That made her easy to fool. She’s not any more. That’s why you need my help.’
‘You’ve got to be kidding.’
‘I know how she works. I am what she is. I can help you crack her defences. I threw her out of TrueShield, and I chased her back to the heart of Kingdom. I can get your puppet deep inside her.’
‘We can already do that, Harry.’
‘Fist’s good, but he’s sloppy.’
‘Fuck you too,’ Fist snapped back.
‘That’s a sore point, isn’t it? If I hadn’t been at TrueShield, she’d have fried both of you. You need me, Jack. You and your little helper both.’
‘They caught us off guard. They won’t do that again.’
Harry chuckled. ‘Well, I admire your confidence at any rate.’
Fist became a shimmer in the air, floating before Harry, his still lightly charred face enraged. His voice was quiet and deliberately paced, control lending it menace.
‘You led us right into her house, and you didn’t tell us what we’d find there, or who she was working for.’
‘I didn’t know she’d be there in such force. And I only found out it was Kingdom when you did. She always kept her patron so well hidden.’
‘Listen to me,’ Fist told him. ‘I’ve been cracking systems like you – and her – since the day I was born. I was built to assess them, break into them and then destroy them. There’s nothing you can’t tell me about what they are, and how they work, and how to kill them. I’m going to find the deepest part of her mind, and then I’m going to blow it. And if I get the chance, I’m going to do the same thing to you.’
Harry laughed again. ‘Little puppet,’ he said. ‘She’s been rebuilding herself for almost as long. She’s never been Totality, and she’s certainly not human any more. And even if you do get past her, well, there’s our friend up there’ – he waved up towards Heaven – ‘her own puppet master. Are you ready for a fight with Kingdom, puppet? Are you punching at that weight yet, little Fist?’
[Don’t boast,] warned Jack. [ We can’t let anyone know what you can really do.]
Fist said nothing, shaking visibly with the effort of restraining himself. Harry chuckled. Jack felt Fist’s rage burn. Then – at a deeper level – attack systems rose into life, casting long, savage shadows into his conscious mind. But they didn’t launch as smoothly as they’d once done. As they booted up, there was a faint, broken grinding and the sharp reek of burnt plastic.
[Don’t, Fist. He’s not worth it.]
[ I’ll crack him like a fucking nut.]
[ We’ve got more important battles to fight.]
‘I’m sure your master is warning you not to attack me. It’s very sensible advice. I’m an old dog, but I could still surprise you both. And as for you’ – Harry pointed at Jack – ‘you should know better than to be so confident. It’s a rookie mistake, and you haven’t been a rookie for a long time.’
‘I don’t trust you any more, Harry.’
‘Very wise. But for now remember this – you will need my help. And if you want to summon me, call my name, and you’ll be able to sit back and watch me kill Aud Yamata for you. And I might even have a crack at Kingdom, too. Call it a hostile takeover if you like, I could run things far better than that cunt.’
‘You’re not coming through me again,’ snarled Fist.
Harry laughed, and was gone.
Ato returned an hour or so later. Jack and Fist were sat together in the middle of the glade, watching the night. Black lines carved the air around them, sometimes making abstract shapes, sometimes rolling together to hint at prowling lions and tigers and bears. ‘Oh,’ said Fist, noticing Ato. ‘It’s you. We’re ready for our spacewalk.’
‘And Grandpa’s got good news,’ replied Ato. ‘Mr Stabs is expecting you.’ Fist jigged around with glee. Jack stood up. ‘We’ll get you some food,’ Ato continued, ‘then I’ll take you to the door to Homeland’s outer skin and you’ll fly straight to Heaven.’
Chapter 40
Jack walked in his vacuum suit, the sound of his own breathing loud in his ears. Homelands’ metal skin curved away and down to his left and right. Ahead, a great pillar broke out of it and soared up to Heaven. Beyond it there was a hundred million miles of nothing, then the silent, roaring sun. Its shadow protected him from the sun’s blaze. Fist floated next to him. He sported a vacuum suit too – an affectation, as of course he had no need of one. A little black bow-tie sat jauntily just below its visor. It was simpler to model than his normal clothing, so it was fresh and uncharred.
Fist broke the near-silence. [Do you know,] he said, sounding a little surprised, [ I actually enjoyed sorting out the kids.]
Remembering what he’d done to Akhmatov, Jack had asked if the children wanted to be made permanently invisible. They’d all been very excited. Even Fred lifted himself out of his sulk. ‘Do you understand what he’s saying?’ Ato enthused. ‘We’ll be children forever. You can go out again, Fred!’ Fist touched them one by one, dropping his sweathead code into their already customised weaveware. He’d built an on/off switch into it, just for them. Fred tried hard to conceal his excitement. Jack imagined him running through the streets and malls of Homelands, joyously untouchable.
[And now I can’t wait to see Stabs again. Let’s go!]
[ We need to talk to a couple of people first.]
[ Hmph,] grumbled Fist, then: [Going into your weavespace through an external antenna, we’re pretty much untraceable. We could be anywhere in Earth orbit. Right, you’re go.]
They were standing in a moonlit garden, by a statue of Ifor. ‘Get me Lestak,’ Jack commanded.
‘Creating a contact,’ Fist replied. An uncarved stone block appeared next to Ifor’s statue. ‘Searching for her address,’ he continued, then after a moment: ‘Meshing. She’s accepting you.’
Lestak’s avatar emerged from the stone like meaning from a dead language. Jack reached out and took her hard hand. It softened into flesh. She snatched it away and slapped his face. The pain was no less real for being simulated.
‘You’ve caused me far too much trouble, Forster.’
‘I don’t have much time.’
‘None at all – I’m tracing you.’
‘No. Not where I am.’
Lestak was quiet for a moment. Jack imagined her listening to a technician, hastily ordered to find him as she reached to accept his call.
‘Oh, for gods’ sake, Jack.’
‘I’ve seen what lies beneath your world, and now I’ve stepped outside it.’
‘Don’t be so melodramatic.’
‘I’ve met the children of the terrorists.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Jack laughed. ‘Maybe you don’t, at that.’ He turned to Fist. ‘Encrypt us. And share the code with Lestak.’
‘On it.’ Fist trotted over to stand next to Jack. ‘Is Issie there?’ he asked. ‘I need to run this through her.’
She shimmered into being. A white silk scarf hid her skull head. Wisps of hair escaped its top. ‘Hello, Fist!’ she said. ‘Oo! You’re somewhere really interesting. I wish I could travel like you do. Are we going to play again?’
Fist rattled off a str
ing of numbers and letters.
‘Oh’ she said, sounding disappointed. ‘No, we’re not.’
Lestak’s image shimmered briefly, and then returned to apparent wholeness.
‘No one else can hear us now,’ Jack told her.
‘What are you hoping to achieve?’
‘It’s Kingdom. He’s been running Yamata. She was behind the terrorist attacks on Station. He had me sent to war because I was getting too close to uncovering her. And Yamata – she’s something new now. A human mind, running on a Totality platform.’
‘That’s impossible. No one can …’
‘Kingdom’s done it. That’s what Harry Devlin is, too.’
‘Harry’s dead and his fetch is broken.’
‘He’s still around. Yamata used his knowledge to stay one step ahead of InSec, until he escaped.’
‘You have proof of all this?’
‘No. But I’ll find it. I’m going after Yamata. Harry chased her back to Heaven. That’s where her servers are.’
‘You’ll never get in there.’
‘I already have a way. I trust you, Lestak. I don’t think you’re a part of all this. You can’t go after them yourself, they’d probably just kill you. Just watch Kingdom, watch him close. I’m going to give you a chance to break him and I want you to take it.’
‘You’re mad, Jack. Nobody can topple the gods.’
Jack thought of dead snowflakes.
‘I’ve killed angels by the score. It’s not a big step up.’
[ We’re getting some Pantheon interest,] Fist warned. [ It’s Kingdom.]
‘I’m going now,’ said Jack. ‘Goodbye, Lestak. Don’t let me down.’ She was about to say something, and then she was a statue again. ‘How close did he get to us, Fist?’
‘He knew we were there. Wouldn’t have known who we were, what we were saying.’
‘Good. Now for Ifor.’
The mind shimmered into being before them. ‘Jack,’ he began. ‘Well. You have been causing me all sorts of trouble. We talked of discretion? That flash mob has posted your image all over the weave. It has become a fashion to imitate your dress, and now every single one of your groupies pretends to adore the Totality. We cannot move for Forster fans mobbing us.’
