Once the feeling of prickling and itching subsided, she slouched back into the sofa and glanced at Eve. “I’m… okay. Go with the police woman, Eve.”
“’Kay.” She let go of the wall and the officer pulled her out of sight.
“So,” said Delacruz. “Do you feel up to making a statement about what happened?”
Katya nodded. “Yeah. Leg is numb now.”
“That’s us.” Rachelle winked. “The nanobots in the gel are delivering painkillers direct to your nerves. Looks like you lucked out again. Missed the bone, some minor nerve damage, but the sleeve can take care of that.” She tapped two buttons on a holo-panel above the case. “You may experience incidences of subdermal paresthesia or numbness for up to a week after. Don’t worry, it should clear up on its own.”
Courtney applied a sticky rubber patch to the inside of her left arm, an inch above the elbow. A thin grey hose connected it to another port on the case. “This is going to help regenerate your blood supply. Try to relax as much as you can.”
“Right…” She stared at the swollen gel-filled thing on her leg. Bits of sweat pant fabric and couch cushion floated out of the hole in her thigh. “Well, these three hacked the door. They had a signal jammer, which tipped me off that they were on the way.”
“Implant,” said Delacruz. “If these three were spies, wouldn’t they have known you’d see it go offline?”
“I’m betting they didn’t care so much about giving me ten seconds of warning as they did of me setting off a panic signal when the door opened. That one came in first.” Katya pointed at ‘Raúl.’ “I shot him three times in the chest, but he had a decent subderm weave. One of them got me in the arm, and they were on me before I could recover.”
Delacruz nodded, evidently recording her as he didn’t type anything by hand.
“They wanted to know how I found Zack, even though he found me. They didn’t believe me when I said it was luck. Of course, the only possible explanation to them was that I’d discovered the ACC had operatives in West City and I was working for you guys to find them.”
“That true?” asked Delacruz.
“No.” Katya shook her head. “Though I did make my friend in Division 9 aware of Zack’s existence, I’m not working for them.”
Delacruz glanced at ‘Raúl.’ “All right. What happened next?”
Courtney prodded her finger around Katya’s shoulder. “Does this hurt or feel tender?”
Katya glanced at her. “No pain. It feels normal.”
“Excellent,” said Courtney.
“They shot me in the leg as a motivational technique… My daughter was hiding in her room and came out when I screamed. That one”―she pointed at ‘Julio’―”grabbed her and put a gun to her head. She got scared and wet herself, which got on his leg and made him flinch. That’s when I went for another weapon I had under the sofa cushion.”
Delacruz twisted to his left, stared at the three bodies for a few seconds, and looked back at her. “You took all three out fast enough not to get killed or have the one holding your kid shoot her?”
“I shot that fucker first,” muttered Katya.
Delacruz’s expression shifted away from concern to suspicion. His right hand slid a little closer to his weapon. “That seems a little implausible to me. Your right arm was disabled, and you don’t have neural accelerators.”
“And there’s a bullet hole in the ceiling,” said a female officer near where ‘Julio’ lay. “This man was shot from a low angle almost straight up through his head.”
Katya grimaced inside. “Eve… umm.”
“Looks like there was a weapon concealed in some kind of stuffed animal.” The female officer raised a hand in pause, with a bit of fluff pinched between her fingers. “I think this was probably a self-defense situation, but it’s suspicious that you’re not giving us the truth.”
All three officers glanced up at the same time. Katya twisted her head to look over her shoulder at two men stepping in the door. Both wore long black coats and dark glasses. One appeared Hispanic, the other pale with ginger hair. They went around the right side of the couch and stopped between the medtechs and Delacruz, as close to in front of Katya as possible.
“Nine?” asked Delacruz.
Both men held out ID wallets.
“Senior Operative Espinosa,” said the black-haired man. “This is S-O Carroll.”
They flipped their IDs closed at the same instant.
Katya grabbed the cushions on either side of her legs as a twinge clenched her thigh. Penetrating pain deepened, feeling like someone took their sweet time extracting an icepick. “Ooh, that hurts.”
Rachelle checked on the display. “You’re feeling the last of the muscle tissue closing together. It’s almost finished.”
“Okay… I’m only trying to protect my daughter.” Katya held her hands over her leg, wanting to grab on and hold her thigh, but didn’t dare touch the sleeve.
Carroll looked over the dead. “Arnold Fischer, Klaus Mueller, and Gamed Tupolev.”
Delacruz stood. His concern for Katya’s wellbeing appeared to come back to a point, though he still gave her a look of guarded suspicion.
“You can dispense with the cover story.” Espinosa turned his head in a slow pan, taking in the scene. “We’ll eventually put the pieces together.”
Katya pursed her lips. “I’ll assume you read my file.”
The Senior Operatives nodded in unison.
“You probably know already then. Eve… we found her at that project site out in the Badlands. She’s closer to twenty-one years old, but her body wasn’t growing. She’s probably had more combat training than you boys.”
Delacruz raised both eyebrows.
“Hey, kid!” yelled the female officer in the kitchen.
Eve ran into the living room, halting at the sofa arm. She stared worry at Katya.
“It’s all right, Eve. These two already know.” Katya indicated the Division 9 men with a nod. “So, ‘Julio’ over there… Gamed?”
Carroll nodded.
“Gamed grabbed Eve and put a gun at her head.”
“You didn’t shoot them, did you?” asked Delacruz.
Rachelle did something at the case, which caused it to pump the nanobot-laced gel out of the sleeve.
Katya stared at the large body of ‘Raúl,’ rather Klaus Mueller. “She distracted him by pissing on his leg―”
“I wasn’t scared,” said Eve. “He had a PSP12 jammed in the side of my head. I had a weapon concealed in Mr. Bear, and when he jumped back, I shot him, then the big one, then the last guy.”
Carroll’s eyebrows climbed when she said ‘Mr. Bear.’
“This kid recognized a DTF from having it against her head?” asked the female officer by the bodies.
“No.” Eve looked at her. “I saw it after. They all had the same weapons. ACC would be used to Deutsche Technik Firma hardware, and it wouldn’t stand out over here because they’re high-end enthusiast weapons as well. That one”―she pointed at the formerly unnamed man who Division 9 called Arnold Fischer―”wasn’t used to it. He pushed the gun when he shot Mom in the leg. He’s probably accustomed to a Kodiak P96 that kicks like a drunk ’borg.”
“You took out all three of them with a teddy bear fast enough for them not to get off another shot?” asked Delacruz.
“Yes.” Eve pointed at the two nearest the couch. “They dropped where they were standing. I don’t think they were expecting me to have a weapon.”
“Or be able to make shots like this with it rammed up a teddy bear’s ass.” The female cop by the bodies pointed at the side of Klaus’s head. “One on either side of the ear.”
“That was luck.” Eve ground her right big toe into the carpet. “I was just trying to hit him in the head to get around his subdermal. I’ve been training with weapons for eighteen years. I can hit targets at short range without using iron sights. It’s a ‘feel’ thing.”
Katya squirmed as the medtechs pulled the goopy sleev
e off her leg.
“Can you move your toes?” asked Courtney.
Katya did so. “Yeah.”
Delacruz, and the other Division 1 officers stared at Eve, open-mouthed.
“She’s been alive for twenty years and training for most of it.” Katya spat to the side. “Sick bastards.”
“We’re aware of the facility and the experiment you encountered out there.” Espinosa frowned at the dead men. “I understand you are trying to keep the girl’s true age hidden to minimize issues she may have reintegrating with society.”
The medtechs offered comforting pats and a handshake before taking the case and walking out.
Katya chuckled. “Didn’t you record this whole mess? You’re watching me, right?”
Carroll looked at Delacruz. “We’ve got this from here. The events as described match what we have on video.”
“Whoa, you’re already surveilling her?” asked Delacruz.
“After her encounter with the other operative, we had some concerns.” Carroll showed zero emotion on his face.
“It’s fine.” Katya rubbed her slimy thigh. “I am not working for the ACC. I want nothing whatsoever to do with them. Record all you like. I have nothing to hide. Bring in a telepath if you want.”
Espinosa almost smiled. He smacked his lips and his expression became stoic again.
“Right, then.” Delacruz gave the Division 9 men a semi-serious salute. “Guess we’re out.” He looked at Katya for a second and headed for the door, the other officers trailing after.
“Thanks,” said Katya. “For the stims. Sorry for the misdirection.”
Delacruz smiled, pulled his visor down, and walked out.
“What did you tell them?” Carroll gestured at the bodies.
Eve scrunched her snowy eyebrows together. “They’re dead. Does it matter?”
“They might’ve been recording or transmitting,” said Katya. “Nothing more than Anders mistook me for an operative from another cell and wanted to get in my pants. He is a complete idiot.”
A group of men and women in white clean-suits walked in and collected the bodies on hover-gurneys.
“We appreciate your assistance in drawing out Anders Becker and exposing Corporate activity in West City.” Espinosa offered a slight bow. “In the future, you may wish to consider a less expensive brand of tampon.”
Katya’s jaw tightened. “I’ll definitely take that into consideration.”
“We’ll continue monitoring you for some time yet. If you need anything just say something out loud.” Carroll pulled a NetMini out of his coat, tapped a few holographic buttons and flicked a finger in Katya’s direction. Her headware caught the incoming link and redirected it to her NetMini on the coffee table. “That contact is for a place that’s pretty good with getting blood out of fabric.”
“Thanks.” Katya stood on her left leg and gingerly transferred her weight until she balanced even. A band of tightness in her thigh signaled she’d be limping for a few days, but nothing hurt. The cushion she’d been sitting on appeared to be a lost cause, soaked with blood. Light-headed, she hobbled to the far left end of the couch and fell seated. “Little woozy.”
“You should eat something,” said Eve.
The clean suit team exited with the bodies and the spies’ weapons.
“It probably is a good idea to keep her true age a secret.” Espinosa gave Eve a look of mild pity.
Katya kept rubbing her leg, hoping to chase away a blob of numb. “Right. She’s not really a child but not really an adult either. It’s… odd. Twenty years of mental awareness, body chemistry of an eight-year-old.”
Carroll chuckled. “I feel bad for the kid who tries to pick on her.”
“I promise if I get into any fights at school I’ll keep it strictly non-lethal,” said Eve in a childish drone as though she’d agreed to keep her room clean.
The Division 9 men exchanged a glance, and shook their heads.
“We’ll leave you to it then.” Espinosa headed for the door, with Carroll following.
Eve stood close, again holding her teddy bear.
Katya stared at the NetMini, and opened a virtual terminal. She reset the front door security, and the thin plastisteel slab closed with a soft hiss. Whatever emitter the spies had set up in the hallway had ceased functioning, no doubt the Division 9 people took it as well. She tapped the link Carroll sent her and opened the GlobeNet site of ‘Bio-San Residential.’ Below the logo, lettering in silver chrome read: Specialists in biological contamination removal since 2392. Below that, a pop up indicated a deal on gang-related biomatter removal, twenty percent off jobs involving four or more decedents. The second panel offered a ‘brain matter blowout special’ discount on Wednesdays.
That’s a cheery place. She requested an onsite consultation, let the page geotag her login point, and shut the window down. Her vision focused on the room instead of the nonexistent holo-panel inches in front of her face. Eve’s face had gone red, and she sniffled into the teddy bear’s head, teetering on the verge of tears.
“Eve?” Katya reached over and put a hand on the girl’s shoulder.
“It’s ruined.” Eve sniffled. “The bear you gave me… he’s all ripped up.” Her lip quivered and she cried.
“Aww.” Umm. Ooo-kay. “C’mere.” Katya pulled her into a hug.
After a few seconds, Eve chuckled and sniffled. “Wow I guess that’s pretty psychotic of me, huh? Getting emotional over a bear.” She gazed at the hole in its face, and lapsed into crying again. “Wow…” Sniffle. “What the hell is wrong with me?” She wiped at her face. “I can’t stop crying over a stuffed bear.”
“Maybe it’s that pesky body chemistry getting you.” Katya winked. “I hear it happens to some women.”
Eve smiled despite red eyes. “Not you?”
“No. I upgraded my firmware.” Katya frowned.
“He’s a dick. You’re human.” Eve squeezed the bear. “You gave me this.”
Katya smoothed a hand over the girl’s head. “That’s why you’re upset.”
“You’re treating me like a kid.” A trace of grin fought to emerge from her stoic face.
“It’s okay, honey,” said Katya, oozing sweetness. “Mommy will get you a new one.”
Eve scrunched up her face in mock anger and punched Katya in the left shoulder.
After a short staring contest, they both burst out laughing.
“You okay?” asked Eve.
“Sore, but yeah. You?”
“Yeah.” Eve examined her bloody hands, nightdress, and feet. “It’s nice to have a mom who understands that sometimes a girl just needs to kill someone.”
Katya threw her head back and laughed.
“S’pose I should do the school thing and try to act normal. Maybe I’ll grow up not to be a head case.” She set the bear on the coffee table. “Be right back. I need to shower and change.”
Katya eyed the urine stain on the rug. “That’s a good point. Where’s the rug bot?”
Eve froze mid-stride. “Uhh… I kinda shot it two days ago.”
“What?” Katya blinked, chuckling. “Why?”
“It, uhh.” Eve lowered her outstretched leg to the floor, pivoted, and faced Katya with her hands clasped in front of her like a kid in trouble. “Kinda came out of nowhere and scared me.”
“If I get another one, will you try not to shoot it?”
Eve nodded. “Yeah… It was right before I got all wound up about the pain coming. I… should be okay.”
Katya nodded. Eve hurried off to clean herself off and change.
She frowned at her shredded sweat pants and bloody shirt. Ehh, it can wait a few minutes. On another terminal window, she ordered a replacement rug bot, opting for a Ͼ2,700 disc-shaped unit a little above midrange. With that on the way, she switched windows to the job board. The non-subtle warning replayed in her head. Division 9 knew she’d pulled a data nab from LRI, but let her slide on it. Technically, all she did was move said data from po
int A to B, but the law wouldn’t care. They could wind up watching her for years. She couldn’t accept the risk of being deported.
She rubbed her shaking hands back and forth. “I shouldn’t have taken that mission for Alex… I will find a real job.”
The autoshower thrummed to life in the distance, a soft vibration audible only due to the utter stillness in the apartment.
An orb bot appeared at the patio window, displaying a Bio-San logo. She got up and walked with a slight limp to the door, letting it in.
“Hello, I am here to conduct a site survey and provide an estimate as per your request. Please direct me to the source of the biological contamination in question.”
Katya backed away to let it in and pointed. “There on the rug, the sofa, and the kitchen, though that’s all tile and Epoxil… I can probably clean the kitchen myself.”
The orb bowed as if to nod. “Cleaning up after an incident like this presents certain unique hazards. You should consider leaving it to professionals.” Two small hatches on the underside opened exposing powerful, small lights, which it used to examine the rug. She squinted at the brightness in the dark apartment, making the blood harsh and obvious against the beige rug.
This is all I am, isn’t it? My whole life… What else will I ever be able to do?
“Fine…” She sighed. Might as well. It hurts to breathe right now.
A large delivery bot flew up to the window. As soon as it confirmed her NetMini with a chirp, it opened a hatch to reveal a package with an image of her new rug-cleaning unit. Katya unloaded it from the hovering robot and set the box unopened on the coffee table for now. No sense letting it get gummed up with blood.
Katya spent the next twenty minutes paging over employment listings, but only sent her resume to four by the time the autoshower stopped.
Eve let off a squeal from the back of the apartment that made Katya think another spy had just stabbed her.
“Eve?” yelled Katya.
The girl came sprinting out, wearing a clean nightgown. She zoomed up in front of Katya jumping up and down, beaming like the excited little girl she appeared to be.
“What?” Katya’s worry crashed into confusion. “What happened?”
“I just checked the marks.” She jumped up and down again. “I got a millimeter taller! I’m growing!”
The Harmony Paradox Page 41
