Criminal Core

by Nick Broad

  Finally she recovered enough to speak. “You seem different from the other Warden,” she said, her eyes closed and her back against the wall.

  “Who, Shay? I don’t think she’s the Warden, exactly. She’s definitely in charge of the place, though.” I gave a little start. “You know Shay?”

  “Only in passing,” Meiko said. She sighed like she’d just finished running a marathon. Her eyes rolled beneath their lids. “She comes down here every now and then when she gets bored. I thought you were following in her footsteps.”

  Of course she’d interacted with Shay. She’d been here at least a year, and Shay had been in charge of the Oubliette for...how long? Two hundred and something years. I made a mental note to ask her for the exact number later.

  “I don’t really know her at all,” I confessed. “She only decanted me a couple of days ago. What’s she like?”

  Meiko’s eyes opened a fraction. “She’s a complete psychopath.”

  I nearly fell out of my chair. “What?”

  “I’m not kidding. That woman is dangerous, Noah. You should be careful around her.”

  “She seems alright to me,” I said slowly, thinking her words over. “Maybe a little stir-crazy from running this place by herself for so long. Did she...she didn’t do something to you, did she, Meiko?”

  It would have explained Meiko’s odd behavior for sure. But she only shook her head. “No, not me. Let’s just say...let’s say we should all be grateful that most prisoners don’t spend any real length of time incarcerated in this prison.”

  “Shay did say something about that,” I remembered, tugging at my collar. “It was something along the lines of an AI having to have a human to approve their decisions, because otherwise they’d turn the place into a gulag and start experimenting on prisoners.”

  “Experimenting? More like vivisecting.” Reiko frowned deeply, which only accentuated her high cheekbones. “You know the woman has a torture chamber, right?”

  I laughed nervously. “She might have mentioned something like that,” I muttered. “I just thought she was trying to scare me to keep me from coming too fast...”

  Meiko sat bolt upright. “You slept with her?”

  I spread my hands out, a helpless look on my face. “I’m a guy,” I said, a little louder than I’d intended. “A guy who’s been dead for fifteen hundred years! And she’s...she’s really hot!”

  Meiko pulled a face. “I’ve been in here for four years,” she said sardonically. “I’ve managed to confine my urges to my own body perfectly well.”

  “Okay, now that thought’s going to be stuck in my head all week,” I blurted out. Meiko’s eyes narrowed to slits. A hot blush rose to my cheeks. “Hey, wait a second! She really can’t do anything to the prisoners!”

  “I don’t follow.”

  “She needs my approval to do anything that might hurt an inmate,” I said, relief flooding my stomach. “It’s why she never cut the power and life support to the Beta and Gamma Spires. It would have given her nine-hundred energy credits a month, but she couldn’t harm the prisoners that were still in those sections of the station...”

  I trailed off. Meiko’s expression had hardened into one of contempt.

  “How wonderful,” she said bitterly. “She’s a real philanthropist. How nice that you’re here to give her the go-ahead on plans like that now.”

  “I would never!” I shot to my feet, eager to prove my innocence. “I just meant it as an example! Honest!”

  “Uh huh,” she said. She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. “Is that the kind of scheme you need my help for, Warden?”

  Crap. She’d stopped using my name. That wasn’t good.

  “No,” I said, using every ounce of command I had to prove my sincerity. “I want you to help me fix this place, Meiko. I can’t do it without you.”

  I couldn’t tell if she believed me or not. Her lips gave a little twitch, and she crossed one leg over the other.

  “Explain,” she said, eyes still shut tight. “Elucidate. How are you going to ‘fix’ things, Noah?”

  Yes! I sat back down, took a moment to collect my thoughts, then began. Over the course of the next few minutes, I explained everything Shay had told me about the Black Oubliette: the damage done to the Beta and Gamma reactors, the lack of a solar sail to direct energy to the solar arrays, and our five credit per month income. I glazed over the parts where Shay and I had fucked, but there were enough times that Meiko cocked an eyebrow or chuckled under her breath that I knew she knew I’d done it more than once.

  When I was done, I leaned back in my seat and let out a big whoosh of air. I felt like I’d just had to give a speech in public - I was drained in a way no physical activity could drain me. Meiko watched me thoughtfully, cocking her head to the side in a way I was already starting to associate with her.

  “Interesting,” she finally said. “It’s a decent enough plan. Or the bones of one.” She pursed her lips in thought and put a finger to her chin. “All you would need to make a new solar sail is get one of the two reactors working for a little bit.”

  “Then you and the other prisoner would need to install it,” I said, nodding eagerly. “Once we start getting regular infusions of energy into the coffers, everything changes. We can start fixing things around here - remodel these busted cells, have a functioning station for once. And we can put actual locks on the doors!” I swallowed hard, bracing myself. “Are you in?”

  I waited, terrified of the answer. If Meiko wouldn’t help me, then it would be all up to the other prisoner - who I’d never even met. If they turned me down, I’d be completely out of luck. I was desperate.

  “I believe you,” Meiko said. “I think your heart is in the right place. And your motives are pure.”

  My heart was no longer in the right place, because it had just jumped into my neck. “So you’ll help me?”

  “However,” she added, holding up a finger. “What you’re asking me to do is treason.”

  “Treason?” I was brought up short. “How?”

  “I would be a collaborator,” she purred, cocking her head to the side. “With the ownership class.”

  I had no idea what point she was trying to get across. “I’m not part of any class,” I said, feeling frustrated. “All I want is for you to help me get this place up and running again.”

  “I know. As I said, I know your motives are pure. But what you are asking me to do is a betrayal. I am a prisoner, Noah. You are a Warden. If I assist you - if I collaborate - I am making things worse for my fellow prisoners. I am enriching myself at their expense.”

  My teeth clenched. “Those prisoners are here because they did crimes,” I growled. “They’re supposed to be in prison! They deserve it!”

  “Oh?” Meiko crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “Do I deserve it, Warden?”

  I sputtered on my spit. She had me there. “I have no idea what it is that you’ve done,” I admitted. “Frankly, I don’t really care-”

  “It was murder,” she whispered.

  What I was going to say died in my mouth. Meiko looked down at the floor, sadder than a kicked puppy.

  I couldn’t think of anything good to say. “Oh. Well. Did they at least deserve it?”

  She locked eyes with me. There was something fiercer than a she-cat in her gaze.

  “Absolutely,” she said, her voice sharper than steel. “More than anyone.”

  I made a quick mental calculation. “Then it’s fine,” I said. “Maybe you can tell me about it some day. When you’re ready.”

  It cut through her bleak expression. “If I decide to join you,” she reminded me.

  “Yeah,” I grunted. “If.”

  “I have to make a decision,” Meiko said, a faint, teasing smile playing on her features. “You’ve given me quite the dilemma, Noah. Almost like the very famous one.”

  “The what now?”

  “Have you really never heard of the Prisoner’s Dilemma?” she asked. �
��It’s a very famous theory about the ethics of collaborating with one’s jailers.”

  “It sounds...kind of familiar,” I admitted, wracking my brain for some memory of it. “I might have heard about it in college or something...”

  Meiko leaned back in her chair, almost disappearing into the darkness. “A policeman has two criminals under arrest,” she said, hands folded in her lap. “Each are kept in a separate interrogation chamber, with no way of conversing or signaling to each other. Both of them have worked together to commit a crime. But the policeman does not have enough evidence to convict them of this crime - only enough to send them to jail for a lesser offense. So he makes each of them a bargain.”

  “That’s not the bargain I’m trying to make you,” I said, raising a finger. “Just so we’re clear.”

  She smiled gently at that. “Just so. He says to each of them ‘snitch on your accomplice, and you will be set free.’”

  I hissed through my teeth. “Snitch, really? You’ve got to use a word like that to describe it?”

  She gave me an ironic little smirk. “Fine, then. He says to each of them, rat on your accomplice. Better?”

  I stared at her saying, nothing.

  “There are only four possible options. One: both men rat on each other. They are sent away for a very long time. Two: neither men rat on each other. They are put in jail for the lesser crime.”

  “And if one guy turns traitor on the other, he gets to go free,” I finished, ignoring her little attempt to goad me. “While the other guy takes the fall.”

  “As long as he does not rat as well,” Meiko said, raising her head. “I’m surprised you’re not intimately familiar with this thought experiment, Noah. Being the Warden of this prison and all.”

  “Like I said, I’m new,” I told her, clenching my jaw.

  “Hmm,” Meiko hummed, closing her eyes for a long moment. When she opened them, there was a mischievous twinkle in her gaze. “It seems to me you’ve given me my own version of the Prisoner’s Dilemma,” she said.

  Oh shit. I took her meaning instantly. But she was going to explain the trap I’d put myself in anyway.

  “Two prisoners,” she said, gesturing at the wall. “Me in here, and your mystery second in Gamma. Both of whom you are trying to convince to go along with your scheme. If both of us agree, things will go very well for you. It certainly sounds like the same kind of problem, now doesn’t it?”

  “No, no, no,” I said, raising both hands. “This is not some sort of...of logic experiment!”

  “Of course, whenever the Prisoner’s Dilemma was tried in a clinical setting, the prisoners inevitably ended up cooperating,” she mused to herself. “Although that’s in the context of a university or a lab, where the participants know nothing bad is really going to happen to them. Who knows how the taste of fear might change things?”

  “You don’t have anything to be afraid of!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “I’m not some kind of bad guy, Meiko! You told me my heart was pure!”

  Her lips formed a tight little line. “I know,” she said briskly. “It’s your boss I’m worried about. And I said your motives were pure. Your heart remains to be seen.” She stood up, sheathing her sword in a strap along her waist. “The only thing for me to do is give the Dilemma a try, I suppose.”

  “So...this means yes?” I asked, hope rising in my chest.

  “Take me to Gamma,” she said, rising up to her full height. “If this other prisoner listens to what you have to say and agrees to help you, than I shall as well.”

  My stomach fell. “And if she doesn’t?”

  Meiko shrugged. “Then I go back to my cell, with nothing lost or gained. A much better outcome than the prisoners in the logic puzzle got.”

  “Yeah, but not better for me,” I grumbled. “Fine. I guess that’s better than nothing.” My eyes traveled to her blade. “You’re going to bring that sword with you?”

  “It goes where I go,” she said firmly. “You have a problem with this?”

  I shook my head. “Nope. It’s just not going to be much use if we come up against blasters, you know?”

  Again that Mona Lisa smile played over her features. “You might be surprised,” she said, narrowing her eyes secretively. “Blasters are such clumsy, inelegant weapons, after all. You know the way to Gamma?”

  I shook my head. “I had to rely on Chirrup to make my way here,” I told her.

  Meiko stared at me blankly. “Who is Chirrup?”

  A speaker set into the ceiling crackled to life. “I am!” a manic British pixie-girl voice said, just beneath the threshold of screaming.

  “Ah,” Meiko said, in the tone of someone who had suffered long. “The voice.”

  “I know what you mean,” I said with a chuckle. “But she’s alright. She just wants to help.”

  “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions,” Meiko said, smiling at me over her shoulder. “Let’s just hope the path to Gamma isn’t, either.”

  On that point, we could both agree.

  Eight: Leap of Faith

  I was not prepared for the experience of navigating the Gamma tether.

  I thought I was, sure. After all, I’d been to Beta - how much different could it be? Everything on this station looked pretty much the same. It was all the same sleek, futuristic angles, from stem to stern. Or at least I thought.

  Meiko grinned at my obvious discomfort, hand gently wrapped around the pommel of her sword. “Ready to walk?”

  “Hang on,” I said, holding on to the side of the entry port. “Just a minute.”

  Once, when I was back on Earth, I’d gone to this theme park where they had a glass walkway between two buildings. It was basically a long, perfectly clear box, and when you stepped into it it was impossible not to feel like you were just standing out in the middle of nothing, about to plummet to the concrete below at any minute and go splat. I’d only made it halfway with my eyes open - I’d had to hold onto the guard rail and pray the entire rest of the way, too scared to look down.

  The tether that led to the Gamma Spire was exactly like that walkway, with one horrifying difference. I wouldn’t be looking down at the ground hundreds of feet below. I’d be looking at space.

  “How is this even possible?” I asked, looking all the way down the length of the tether. The patchwork tube played havoc with my sense of space and direction, making my eyes water. “This thing should have broken apart by now. There’s nothing holding it together!”

  “It’s held together with forcefields,” Meiko explained. “So even if all the bulkheads and things were gone, you can still safely move from one part of the station to another. Some space stations don’t even have tethers - just a circular forcefield that shoots you around like a waterslide!”

  God, she actually sounded excited about it. “Remind me to never go to one of those stations,” I replied queasily.

  “Don’t be afraid,” Meiko said after a moment. I think she finally realized I was going to have serious trouble making it across. “It can’t hurt you. Honest.” Her bottom lip disappeared for a moment, replaced by her top two teeth. “Would you like to hold onto me, Noah?”

  I very much would, I thought, sweat breaking out on my forehead. Hell, I’d prefer it if you carry me. But my pride wouldn’t allow me to give in.

  “No,” I said, squaring my shoulders. “I’ve got this. If I’m going to be Warden of this prison, I can’t be afraid of walking from one part of it to the other.” I took one step out onto the tether. “I can do this.”

  “Good,” Meiko said, her voice brimming with respect. “Let’s go.”

  She strode out across the narrow tube like it didn’t bother her in the slightest. I watched her go, my eyes straying just a little bit too long on her ass.

  “Come on, Noah,” I whispered, psyching myself up. “Don’t make yourself look like an idiot in front of this girl...”

  My foot went out into what looked like open space. An instant after my brain
told my body that I was about to plummet into the infinite void, my heel hit something solid - invisible, but solid.

  Okay, I thought, staring straight ahead. This isn’t so bad. Just don’t look down.

  That was decent enough advice for the walkway. The problem with the tether was, I couldn’t look in any direction except straight ahead. There were huge holes in the tube, growing longer and wider as I walked until it felt like I was just striding through open space. Panic flared in my veins.

  Meiko glanced back at me over her shoulder with a grin. I forced down the caveman part of my brain that wanted to start smashing things and waved at her.

  “You’re doing great!” she said, smiling back at me. I’d seen faint, ghostly smiles on her face, and that strange rictus that meant she was about to go completely loopy - I’d never seen a real, genuine smile from her before now. It made her look so pretty my heart skipped a beat.

  So of course that was the moment her face fell.

  Her eyes refocused on something behind me as her expression hardened. “You,” she growled, low in her throat.

  I did not want to turn around. Turning would subject me to all sorts of views of the galaxy I found much more comfortable from the other side of a nice thick screen. But the look on Meiko’s face was so sharp that I whipped around, narrowing my eyes to slits until I could focus on the other entrance of the tether.

  A short blonde figure was striding towards us purposefully. It was Shay.

  She came towards us, moving swiftly. My brain couldn’t make sense of the tableaux: Shay walking through open space, occasionally touching down on a broken piece of the tether. It hurt my eyes, so I kept my focus on her.

  “Shit,” Meiko growled behind me. “Here she comes...”

  “Hey, Shay!” I raised a hand in greeting. “I thought you were going to be waiting for me back in your room?”

  That had been the agreement, but apparently my boss had other plans. “I was,” she said, smiling at me, “but then I noticed two figures leaving Beta spire, not just the one. You really did it, Noah. You convinced a prisoner to work with you. I’m impressed.”