‘All too aware,’ Frankie muttered.
‘I left the company, and I left your dad. I couldn’t stay. I did my best to cover my tracks when I went hunting through those files, but someone would discover what I had seen at some point, and then those men in black would be knocking on my office door. That’s when I started to look for you. It took a while, but eventually I found and met with Isaac Hughes, who I think you know,’ she said.
Frankie nodded.
‘He invited me to meet him at Westminster Palace, and well, you know the rest,’ she said.
‘So, you’ve not seen Dad since you left?’
‘Sorry, no. I miss him, but I think he might be a lost cause. I tried to convince him, I tried to get him to see the truth, but he wasn’t interested. I don’t know. I keep hoping that my leaving him will make him see the truth. I keep hoping that he’ll call and declare that I was right. Sometimes it takes time, and people need to come to these realisations by themselves, you know? Like I did.’
Frankie nodded. She’d always known that her dad was more of a Corporate stooge than her mum was. She’d wanted to convince them of the truth herself, but had never really pushed it with them. She’d just left. She wondered if she had stayed, could she have reached her mum eventually? Maybe her Dad, too? Maybe not. Maybe her leaving had started that process, planted those seeds and made her mother think things through some more? Maybe her mum leaving her dad would do the same for him, too?
‘Well, I’m glad you came to find me. At least, we can protect you here,’ Frankie said.
Ω
Frankie stood in the shower and enjoyed the sensation of the water running through her hair and rinsing the shampoo away. She didn’t know if the shampoo she used worked in the way it used to when she was fully organic, but Xenox had mentioned that she could shower and wash normally.
She’d been washing like this for weeks with no adverse effects that she had noticed, and anyway, the feeling of the water hammering against her skin was just as soothing and relaxing as it had always been.
It had been good to talk to her mum and find out what had happened. She could tell that she was upset over leaving her dad, which was totally understandable. She would be willing to bet that her mum still loved him, but recent events had made it impossible for her to stay in the family home.
She wondered how her dad would be taking this. How upset would he be? He could still contact her mother if he wanted to, but maybe he was going through something of a crisis himself. It certainly sounded like things were more than a little crazy in Nano Technic recently. She was willing to bet that her mother was safe from being hunted down by the Corporation now, though. Nano Technic was under government control now, and their paramilitary arm had been completely removed, meaning they would not be able to hurt those who left like they used to do.
Still, making herself known to her dad and by extension, the Corporation, would still be a scary thing after seeing the lengths they used to go to to protect themselves.
She’d stayed with her mum for a while, but in the end, she had to leave her because she had other plans for tonight. She was due to go and see Oliver and head out on a date with him. It was funny; she felt almost like a kid again. She was feeling nervous as hell and had been fussing over her appearance for a while, wondering if the dress she had bought was alright or not.
She eventually stepped out of the shower and dried herself, and as she wrapped her towel around her body, she had a sudden need for a drink. Just water or something, but she just really wanted one. She checked her fridge and realised she’d run out of bottled water.
‘Damn it,’ she muttered. She knew there were more bottles out in the communal kitchen, though. She glanced at the sink, but she never really liked the taste of the water from the tap.
With a muttered grumble, Frankie headed out of her quarters and walked up the corridor to the communal area. No one was out here, much to her relief. She didn’t want to meet anyone and have to explain what she was up to tonight. She ducked into the kitchen and hunted for the bottles, finding them in a bottom cupboard. She reached down and picked a pack of six out.
‘Hey there,’ Gibson said behind her.
Frankie stood up quick, being very aware she’d been bending over in front of him in a towel that barely covered her behind. ‘Oh, hi,’ she said, trying not to look flustered.
‘You going out somewhere?’ he asked.
‘Sorry, what?’ she said. She’d heard him, of course, but wondered why he’d made the assumption, only for her to remember that she was currently dressed in a towel. ‘Oh, yeah,’ she said, feeling a little embarrassed.
‘Anywhere special?’
Frankie eyed Gibson for a moment, weighing up her options. Should she tell him what she was doing? It wasn’t a secret, really, and although it wasn’t any of his business, she was hard pressed to think of a good reason why she shouldn’t just be honest with him.
‘Actually, I’m going out on a date,’ she said.
‘Oh, really? That’s great,’ he said.
‘You think so?’
‘Yeah, that’s awesome, I’m happy for you. Anyone I know or…?’
‘My old neighbour. His name’s Oliver,’ she said.
‘Going anywhere nice?’
‘No idea, I’m leaving that up to him,’ she said. ‘How about you, are you taking Vi out anytime soon?’
Gibson smiled and looked away for a moment. ‘You know what, I don’t know. Maybe we should make it official?’ he mused.
‘Why not? You guys are basically dating anyway, right?’
‘Kind of, I suppose. I know I said I wasn’t ready for a new relationship a while back, but, this has kind of happened organically, and, I kind of like it.’
‘Do it. Ask her out. You only have one life,’ she said with a smile. Besides, she thought, it would make her feel better if he were dating someone else right now anyway.
‘Yeah, I might,’ he said as she moved towards the kitchen door.
‘I’ll see you later, okay?’
‘Sure, see ya,’ he said.
Frankie smiled and trotted back to her quarters. She’d hoped not to meet anyone, least of all Gibson. But at least it was out in the open now. He knew what she was doing, and it was actually a weight off her shoulders. She felt much better about things now.
She freed a bottle from the pack in her little kitchenette and savoured the cool liquid as she drank it before looking over at the little black dress on her bed. She wandered over and eyed it critically. Well, she didn’t have many other options, she thought, and quickly pulled it on and looked at herself in the mirror. It was strange. She was so used to wearing her stealth suit with its belts and webbing and the weapons she carried around, that standing here in this thin fitted fabric was kind of strange. She felt basically naked.
But she couldn’t exactly go on a date with her assault rifle. It would probably make Oliver nervous.
But that was the strange thing, she felt more nervous now, moments before going on a date, than she ever did putting her life on the line and going on one of her high-risk missions.
4.11
Frankie ambled along the hallway in her old apartment building towards Oliver’s place, trying to walk as slowly as possible. She was early; way too early. She didn’t see being early as a bad thing, but her journey over here hadn’t taken anywhere near as long as she had thought it might.
Now she was trying to waste time and walk as slowly as possible, but not to a ridiculous degree. She made it to the final stretch and soon found herself approaching her old apartment door with Oliver’s just beyond it.
She paused outside her old place, noting the new door again and the small electronic screen outside with its flashing “For Sale” sign. No one had bought it yet.
She glanced down at the small electronic key lock and suddenly had an urge to see inside her old place. She could hack the lock easily enough. It would only take a moment.
Frankie glanced lef
t and right, but saw no one in either direction. She looked back at the door and scanned for access ports and signals, quickly finding the one for the lock. She connected to it and sent in one of her cracking programs. The code ran, and a moment later, she suddenly had access to the incredibly simple processor in there. She flicked it to unlocked and smiled as the bolts in the door slid back into their housings.
Frankie gingerly reached for the door handle and opened the door. Luckily, no alarm went off and she stepped inside, closing the door behind her as quietly as she could.
She looked around and raised her eyebrows. The whole place had been completely redone. Whereas it used to look lived in and a bit dark in here, now it was light and airy with sleek, clean lines, a fresh carpet, and a new paint job.
It was still small, with its single main room that served as both a living space and bed room and her tiny kitchenette in one corner. The only other room was her old bathroom, which was also little, just behind where the kitchen was located.
She wandered over to her old window and remembered when she’d thrown the Psytech agent through it.
Her landlord would not have been happy that day. They’d gutted the place during that attack. There’d been bullet holes everywhere, the door had been blown off, the window smashed, and a dead agent left inside.
Mrs Scrivens would have been interviewed several times during the investigation, probably by both the police and the Corporation. They would have wanted to know everything about Frankie and what had happened.
She felt bad that she’d put Janet through that, but it wasn’t really her fault. She’d just done what she’d thought was right, after all. Part of her wanted to go and see her old landlord. She wanted to go and apologise to her. But she knew it wouldn’t really achieve anything.
She could hear music through the wall coming from Oliver’s apartment and smiled. She wondered if he were ready yet. She checked the time and concluded it was close enough to when she said she’d arrive now, so she left the apartment, closing the door behind her, and walked the three meters down the corridor.
Oliver answered seconds after she’d pressed the buzzer.
‘Hey. Oh, wow; you look stunning,’ he said.
Frankie would have blushed had her body allowed. ‘Thanks, you scrub up nicely yourself,’ she quipped.
He winked. ‘One second, let me grab my stuff,’ he said, before disappearing for a moment. He returned seconds later and stepped out into the corridor. ‘It’s lovely to see you again,’ he said. ‘Thanks for coming out with me.’
‘No problem,’ she said. ‘I’ve been looking forward to it. So, where are we going?’
‘I have somewhere in mind,’ he answered her mysteriously. ‘I think you’ll like it.’
‘Oooh, a surprise,’ she said as he locked the door.
Oliver smiled at her.
‘My apartment’s not been sold yet,’ she said, looking at her old front door.
‘Yeah. Scrivens has had trouble shifting it. She really hates you, you know? She’s come up with all sorts of conspiracy theories about you.’
‘She has?’
‘Oh, yeah. She bounces between thinking you’re working for the police or the government or the Corporations to thinking you’re some kind of criminal or something. That and the Nano Liberation has got her seeing conspiracy everywhere. She even thought you were behind the Liberation at one point,’ he laughed.
‘Heh, yeah, funny,’ she answered.
‘The interviews didn’t help. We both had the police and Psytech agents coming to speak with us. That wasn’t exactly fun,’ he said.
‘Oh, shit, they spoke with you, too?’ She hadn’t even thought that Oliver would be questioned, but it made a lot of sense. He was her closest neighbour. Of course, he would be questioned.
‘Yeah, the police were fine, they just asked a few questions, but the Psytech guys were just bullies. It got a bit scary, to be honest,’ he said.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she said, feeling worse than ever for what she had put him through.
‘I mean, I didn’t know anything, so…’
‘I know,’ she said, feeling terrible.
‘Were you involved in anything? I mean, it sounded like you, you know… …killed some agents or something?’
They’d reached the elevators, and Oliver pressed the button to call a car to them.
‘Okay. Look, yes, you deserve the truth. I’ve put you through a lot. I mean, I had no idea, but it sounds like you’ve had a rough time because of me. But I don’t want to ruin the night,’ she said.
‘Hey, look, I’m fine. Hell, I’m thrilled to see you again. I never thought I would. I want a good night, too,’ he said before looking at her. A look of guilt passed over his face, and he turned more fully to her. ‘Okay, I’m sorry, that’s a bad way to start the night. We can talk about this later, maybe,’ he said.
‘That would be nice,’ she said. ‘And I do promise I will tell you, but let’s get where we’re going first, hey?’
Oliver smiled back at her. ‘I think that’s a good idea,’ he said.
Ω
To his credit, Oliver had successfully changed the subject since bringing up the incident at the apartment, and they had talked about some shows and music and other bits of gossip. They’d giggled at the people they’d seen around them and other inane things, but it was inevitable that the subject would come up again.
Frankie decided she wanted control of this situation, though. She wanted to lead the conversation, and so she waited for the right moment to dive back into it.
They’d finished their meal at the beautiful restaurant they had come to, and were just chatting over wine about something ridiculous. Honestly, Frankie wasn’t sure what it was, but she wanted to get back to the topic of the fight at the apartment and she could sense the current topic of discussion coming to an end, so she’d been laughing along while focusing on what she would say first. By the time she actually got to the moment she would bring it up, she felt like she was about to burst she was so desperate to say something.
‘Okay, we need to address the elephant in the room,’ she said. ‘But I can’t tell you everything. A lot of my work is classified, so, I need to be careful,’ she said.
Oliver’s face lost his smile. He’d been laughing with her about something stupid, but this was a serious moment. ‘I understand,’ he said.
‘Yes, I did kill those agents. I was being hunted because of this,’ she said, pinching her synth-skin, ‘and stupidly, I came back home. Had I been thinking straight, then maybe I would have done something different, but I didn’t. So naturally, they found me. This body gave me certain… …abilities, certain skills so that I could take care of myself. Those agents attacked me; I just defended myself. In the end, I was recruited to work for the government, and that’s where I am today,’ she said.
‘Wow, so you did kill them?’
‘It was them or me, and I didn’t want to die that day,’ she said.
‘Sure, of course. Wow, I had no idea that you were a bad ass,’ he joked.
‘Heh, yeah. It’s taken a while to adjust to it, but I like my new body, and I like my job. I’m able to help more people now that I never could before.’
‘Before?’
‘I used to go to the Undercity,’ she said. ‘I used to go to the camps down there and help those they now call the exiles before their nanobots were liberated. I tried to get the back alley doctors to donate their skills to keep people from dying. I was only somewhat successful, but I did whatever I could,’ she said.
‘Why?’ he asked her.
‘Because of the Corporations,’ she said, keeping her voice low. ‘Because of what these companies did to these people. They were normal people who had fallen on bad times. The Corporations took everything from them, forced them from their homes and onto the streets. They ruined people’s lives, Oliver. I couldn’t stand by and let them do that,’ she said.
‘That’s amazing. You’re amazing. I had
no idea you were doing that. I mean, I know more about the exiles now since the Liberation, but I had no idea that there even was a problem before hand.’
‘Don’t feel bad, most didn’t, and still don’t. The Corporations have been covering this up for decades. There’s a little more open conversation going on now on the independent news networks, but even now it’s still not well known. But, that’s what the Corporations do, they cover this stuff up. They control the media, they exert enormous influence in the government, law enforcement, and the judiciary. It’s not really a surprise that most people have no clue.’
‘I suppose not,’ Oliver said.
They talked some more, but the conversation drifted away from the incident at the apartment and onto more mundane affairs before they headed back to his place.
‘Have you been tempted to knock on Scrivens’ door at all?’ Oliver asked as they approached his apartment.
‘Yeah, I suppose so. I’m just not sure what I’d say and if it would even be worth it,’ she said.
‘It probably wouldn’t be worth it. Also, from my conversations with her, she seems very much on the side of the Corporations and sees what you did as a crime. I wouldn’t be surprised if she reported you to Psytech if she saw you,’ he said.
‘You think?’
‘Oh, yeah. She wouldn’t turn down that reward. She’s just not that loyal to you,’ he answered her.
Frankie looked at her former landlord's door as they passed it, and Oliver's words just sounded correct. She would report it, wouldn’t she.
‘So, here we are,’ Oliver said, as he reached his door and unlocked it. He turned back to her and smiled. ‘I’ve had a great night,’ he said.
‘Really? I’ve not scared you off?’ she asked.
‘No, don’t be ridiculous. I’ve had a great time. I hope you have, too?’
Frankie smiled. She felt an enormous sense of relief that he had enjoyed her company. It felt like a bit of a rocky start to the night, and it could have ended there, but in fact, he had been the perfect gentleman, and she had really enjoyed her time out with him. ‘I have had a wonderful time, yes, thank you,’ she said.
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