Awakened

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  “Are you sure?” Joel looked concerned. He wasn’t hearing the technobabble. He was listening to the level of certainty in her voice…and she was not certain.

  Molly reached up and pushed her hands into her hair, her head hanging over her mocha like she’d just pulled an all-nighter.

  “Almost,” she confessed.

  “Okay, so now at least I know there is a possibility that the military is going to put it together and you—or we—are potentially going to be a target.”

  “Yep.” Molly didn’t know what else to add.

  Maybe I can be of assistance in this matter?

  Shoot.

  Joel grabbed his cup of mocha and sat down opposite her at the table, unaware she was now talking with Oz.

  I may be able to set up some…er…early warning signals that they’re onto us.

  I’m listening.

  Well, I don’t have access to anything inside the base—though we could peek, if we ever needed to. But if they start scanning the XtraNET for any intel on you or your whereabouts, at least then we’ll know they’re coming after you.

  Okay—do it. Something is better than nothing. And in the meantime, we should probably make some plans that will get us off-world.

  She focused back on Joel. “What do you think about taking this ‘fight for the good fight’ off-world…out of military jurisdiction?”

  “You mean, leave the system?” He asked as he took his first sip.

  Molly shrugged. “Yeah, eventually.”

  Joel took his mug and waved it back and forth. “I think it will have benefits. But then, we’ll also be isolated. We’ll need access to resources...I mean, just what do you have in mind?”

  “I dunno yet.” She took a sip, “But the only way to be safe from the government is to either control it, or be beyond its grasp and concern.”

  Oz could feel a change in Molly’s brain. She’d taken control of most of the processing power he had been harnessing. It was like he had just gotten kicked out.

  Joel looked at her as she took her head out of her hands. She had a glimmer in her eye, like she had an idea that had given her a sense of…purpose.

  “We’re going to need money. And people. And ships. Which means, we’re going to need more jobs. Can you start hitting up your contacts and letting them know we’re for hire?”

  Joel nodded and shrugged. “Sure.” His face brightened. It looked like this was going to be the beginning of something he’d been waiting for. He knew that Molly showing up was going to shake things up for him. Deep down, she was a leader.

  She just didn’t know it yet.

  “Oz,” she said out loud, for Joel’s benefit. “Let’s start scanning for opportunities. We want more clients with problems that we can fix with our special skill set. And if the jobs help to make the System a better place for all, then that’s great. Let’s automatically rule out anything that makes arseholes richer or more powerful.”

  Understood. But I’ll need some of that processing power back. Whatever just happened, it’s like you started using more of your synapses.

  Oh. Right. Well, don't you worry about that. I’m hitting the sack now.

  She stood up, mocha in hand. “I’ll see you in the morning, Joel.”

  And with that, she ambled out of the kitchen and disappeared into her sleeping quarters.

  Joel wasn’t quite sure what he’d agreed to, but as he lifted his own mocha to his lips and took a sip, he allowed a small smile to grace his face.

  He had a mission.

  Safe house, the next morning

  Molly closed down the old handheld holo device and shuffled off the bed. She needed to pee, and the sun was coming up. The dull blue of first light was spilling into the room.

  She felt bad about taking the ergonomically designed bed, but Joel had seemed happy on the foldout in what was probably a living room before they had commandeered it as operations central.

  It was a nice little property in a convenient location; far enough from the city to be private, but close enough for their mission. She toyed with the idea of making it a more permanent base. Sure, it needed work, and she wasn’t the domestic type…but as a functioning operations base, it ticked a number of boxes.

  She padded through to the bathroom.

  It wasn’t plush, but it was better than most of the shared facilities she’d become accustomed to on the base. Unisex and unispecies showering was something she’d had to become used to when she joined the military. She’d tried to ready herself for the cultural shift, but she had still felt self-conscious showering in front of her teammates. At least here it was private; Joel wasn’t about to walk in on her, no matter how ingrained the military was in him.

  She looked at her pale face in the fading mirror. Even though the reflection wasn’t crisp, she still noticed that her skin sagged. Mom would have said that this is what happens when you stay up half the night glued to a holoscreen. Of course, she was right. She shook the thought from her head.

  She’d spent the wee hours scanning the XtraNET and thinking about all the pieces she would have to bring into play if she was going to be able to operate off-world and out of reach of the Central Systems government.

  The whole idea had its drawbacks, but it was probably going to be the best way forward for a number of reasons.

  After all, it’s what she-who-cannot-be-named would have done, she thought to herself, forgetting that Oz could hear everything.

  Yes, but she hasn’t been seen for a long time.

  That’s not to say she’s not out there somewhere. And, dammit, Oz—private thoughts!

  You’re hoping that if you take up the good fight somehow Bethany Anne is going to show up, give you her seal of approval, and make your life mean something.

  Molly was silent in her head, just doing her business.

  You realize she’s a monster to some. Especially in this system.

  They’re mostly just silly rumors. None of these races have seen any of the archives on her.

  None of these races nearly got people killed poking their nose where it shouldn’t be.

  Enough. You’re not meant to know about that. Just shut up, Oz. Just. Shut. Up.

  Oz fell quiet. He felt her system overload when he touched the subject. And besides, he’d already extrapolated what he could; he wasn’t going to understand it with the intel and limited human context he had right now.

  Molly washed her hands and face, and finished in the bathroom. She could smell pancakes. Like a drone following instructions to locate an enemy base, her nose pointed her in the direction of breakfast.

  Joel was in the kitchen, on the phone, gabbing away to someone while cooking. Molly leaned against the doorframe, watching him for a moment.

  The kitchen was a long room with an extension on the back. There was clutter and stacked-up furniture at the far end. She’d moved in so quickly with just the bare essentials that she had had in the military that she almost felt like she was squatting.

  Still, with Joel cooking, the news on in the background, and the table set, they’d managed to normalize the half of the room where the appliances were. In fact, it was feeling almost homey.

  Catching sight of her, Joel motioned for her to sit at the table. He’d laid out plates and foodstuffs, and even had mocha dripping into a mug for her. She felt ravenous.

  She sat down as instructed.

  He tossed a pancake onto her plate and waved for her to start eating. Moments later he bid his caller thanks and goodbye, promising to call him back when he found out.

  “Client?” Molly asked, over her steaming cup of wakeup juice.

  “Could be. We need to decide which jobs we want to take.” Joel threw a fresh pancake onto his plate, and sat down with her.

  “Jobs? Plural?”

  “Yup. I made a bunch of calls this morning, and we’ve got options.” Joel was looking pleased.

  “That’s good.”

  Turn the holoscreen up.

  Why?

/>   Something you need to see.

  “Joel, can you turn the volume up on the holoscreen? Oz says we need to see it….”

  The news had been churning in the background. Joel reached down to his wrist holo and upped the volume, and the projected screen in the kitchen came into view against the cupboard doors.

  Joel watched it for a few moments.

  “Looks like half the stock of that Health Corp company we were at last night has been dumped onto the market. That wasn’t us, was it?”

  “Not directly. Our algorithm was designed to just reset the pricing to market levels. Unless…” Molly started to have another conversation in her head.

  “Out loud, Molly. You need to do this so that I can hear, and you don’t have to keep catching me up.”

  “Right. I was just saying…unless Oz altered my code. Well, Oz? Did you?”

  Maybe.

  “Maybe? What did you do?”

  I might have added a line, which said that if the pricing were set to outside of 3% of the market value of the drug, then 20% of the shareholders’ stock would be dumped onto the market. They must have tried to reset a bunch of the prices a number of times to get to 50%.

  Molly caught Joel up with Oz’s confession.

  “Well, that’s more than Mac bargained for. I daresay he’s going to have some explaining to do, if this gets out.” Joel chuckled as he shoved pancake and a piece of local meat into his mouth, chewing through a grin.

  Molly swallowed a piece of pancake. “Next time, you need to consult with me, Oz. We haven’t thought through the consequences of this, and Mac was one of the good guys. If the company folds, he and a bunch of others will lose their jobs.”

  Mac isn’t one of the good guys.

  She stopped her fork halfway to her mouth, “What do you mean?” Joel looked at her, one eyebrow raised.

  Well, he isn’t who he said he is. I have had a search running since I heard you and Joel talking about the key card. It came back during the night. Turns out he is working for another corporation. Amtel, Health Corp’s competitors.

  You’re kidding? So we were hired by Health Corp’s competition to fuck them over?

  Looks like it.

  She pressed her lips together. “Looks like I need to pay Mac a visit later today. Joel, you can drive. I’ll be walking in the front door, but we’ll probably need the option of a sharp exit, if things get heated.”

  “What are you planning to do?” Joel’s face showing his concern.

  “Don’t know yet. But it’s going to start with a conversation…”

  Just then, Joel’s holo beeped.

  He glanced down. “Three more messages from potential clients. Looks like word of our effectiveness has gotten out.” He just hoped their new little breakfast club was ready for what this would mean in the great scheme of things. These weren’t little PI jobs anymore….

  Mac Kerr’s Office, Health Corp Building, Downtown Uptarlung

  Striding through the white space of the foyer, Molly felt like she was getting some direction in her life. It had been a long time since she had worn actual street clothes. Clothing in the military was either a uniform, or her scrubs for sitting around her quarters.

  Getting out was a novelty.

  Please remind me. I’ll need to buy some new clothes, since I won’t be spending my days in uniform anymore.

  I’ll have to write myself some new algorithms to be able to assist with that.

  Okay. Later, though. Focus now. Is that patch ready to activate?

  Affirmative.

  Leaving her name and retinal print at the main reception, she was directed up to the 20th floor. Oz had done a good job at getting her an actual appointment with their former client.

  Finding his office in the maze of manicured corridors and mocha-scented waiting rooms, Molly headed straight past his assistant’s desk and through the open door. There she found the Estarian, Mac Kerr, sitting at his desk.

  “Greetings of the day to you,” she started politely.

  “Greetings be bestowed on you, too,” he responded, looking confused as to why a somewhat preppy-looking human girl had walked casually into his office. He was sure there wasn’t anything on his schedule right now. He was about to glance down at his holo when Molly spoke again.

  “Let me save you the trouble of checking your schedule.” She took a step towards his desk. “My name is Molly Bates. You hired my team on behalf of Amtel Corporation, to sabotage Health Corp’s price-hiking antics.”

  He looked around, aware that there were cameras and recording devices in the room.

  Molly shook her head. “It’s okay. We’ve disabled security for a few moments, so that we can have a very clear conversation.”

  She paused to make sure she had his full attention. His eyes came back to her, now aware that the camera in the corner wasn’t going to betray him…or help him.

  Molly continued. “I don’t take kindly to being lied to. And we are not guns for hire to assist in corporate battles. We took the job, understanding that we would be helping those who were being screwed over by the company who pays for your lifestyle out of the proceeds of said screwing. This now appears not to be the case.”

  The Estarian replied. “Well, to be fair, the effect was the same. You have saved those people from paying the higher prices, and have ensured that they get the medical aid they need.” Mac had already thought through his argument.

  Molly raised her hand to silence him. She surprised herself with the effect she was having on him. He looked genuinely afraid.

  As he should be…

  “This is a warning to you, and to any other worms who think they are going to use our skills for their own selfish ends. Try anything again, and you will find out just how strongly we believe in doing the right thing for the right reasons.” She cocked her head to the side, “You really don’t want to wake up one morning to find all your assets ‘reallocated’ to a charitable fund, do you?”

  The Estarian shook his head.

  If he wasn’t such a stupid weasel, he might be attractive. Estarians were taller than humans, and more clinical looking. Humans, in comparison, were hairier, and were perceived to be apelike distant cousins. The Estarians’ thick, smooth skin, with a blue tinge and an underlying effervescent glow would often make other species a little envious of their almost magnetic charisma. Molly shook the thought from her head and gave him her best glare.

  “We’re watching you, Mac Kerr,” she warned.

  With that, she turned and stalked out of his office.