"She's a computer specialist," Banks admitted. "That's more or less how she got in trouble in the first place. Those are in short supply around the Zoo so they try to pick up as many of them as possible."
"Don't mess with me, Banks," he said, his voice a little lower than usual in an attempt to keep this part of the conversation private. "She's a hacker who broke in somewhere she didn't belong, and that meant she was signed off to head to the Zoo until you stepped in. Now, you want me to employ that special kind of annoying menace in my little fledgling company? She doesn't even have the right kind of skill set."
"She knows computers," she retorted and made a visible effort to match his low tone. "I know for a fact that the suits you work on have a ton of development put into the electronics, and she would know a thing or two in that area."
He stepped back a little, surprised by the response. Then, he glanced at the girl and rubbed a hand through his hair. "It's more or less in the ballpark, but there's a considerable difference between being able to break through a bank's firewall and writing the code those firewalls need, much less keeping track of the top-of-the-line coding that went into designing the software that runs these suits.”
"And I'll guess that neither of you knows how to work or tinker with the software in the suits," Banks asked him and raised an eyebrow.
"Be that as it may, we don't know if she does either." He wasn’t willing to concede the point yet.
"Hey, guys. You know it's rude to talk about someone behind their back, right?" Vickie called from where she leaned against the SUV and inspected her fingernails. "I'm not saying I can hear what you’re saying but I obviously know it's me you're talking about."
"This is what you want to put on my team." He gestured to Vickie.
"I merely thought that since I have to keep an eye on you, I might as well do the same with her while I'm at it and I only have to look in one place.”
"Yeah, because that shit puts me at ease," he replied and shook his head as he strode to the SUV. The newcomer merely watched his approach with an expression that was both defiant and a little curious. He noticed that she made no effort to straighten her casual pose, though.
He wasn't at all sure what he wanted to say and sure as hell hoped the right words came when he needed them.
She didn't have the look of a petulant teenager, despite that being how he pictured her at first. There were none of the traditional signs of any substance abuse, although that was easy to fabricate. She was short and barely reached his chest, and her lean build and pale skin would normally have suggested a sense of fragility she would have fought to overcome.
Surprisingly, though, she exuded a calm confidence. He couldn't put his finger on what it was in particular about her that gave him that feeling, but it wasn't something he could simply shrug off.
Vickie seemed to be sizing him up in the same way he scrutinized her, but he couldn't tell what she thought as her face had now settled into an emotionless mask.
Maybe that was what made her seem so damned sure of herself.
"I'm Taylor McFadden." He extended his hand to her. "I own these premises and the business that operates here. I've been told you're looking for a job."
She straightened from the SUV, squared her shoulders, and took his hand in a surprisingly firm grasp. "Nice to meet you, McFadden. Niki over there had a fair amount to say about you on the ride over, not much of it nice."
"I'd be disappointed if I heard otherwise." He glanced over to where Banks stood and scowled fiercely.
"You own this place, huh?" the woman asked and made a show of examining the shop with a critical expression. "I really hope it's a work in progress because it looks like shit."
"That’s hurtful"
"It's fair, though," Bobby interjected. Taylor turned his head to give his friend a sour look before he faced his prospective employee again.
"Sure, it's fair, and yes, this is all a work in progress," he admitted. "But it’s still hurtful."
"Yes," Vickie continued from her previous point. "Niki did me a solid by getting me out of the mess I got myself into so I'm really not in a position to turn down any offers from her. If you'll have me, I'd be willing to work with you."
"For me," he corrected. "We work repairing mech suits that merc companies use in the Zoo, so it'll be a taste of what you avoided, thanks to Banks. I'm not sure what you know about the mechanics of mech suits—"
"Not all that much," Vickie confessed but showed no inclination to back down. "I’ve never worked with the suits, not even the software they've developed for the modern ones, but I am familiar with the basic principles and am willing to learn."
"Good," Taylor said. "We work hard around here, which means there's a huge demand for the kind of work we do. Almost too much, honestly, which is why we're looking to boost the employee count around here. Regarding salary…I think somewhere along the lines of forty-two thousand a year, plus bonuses for jobs done and room for improvement."
"Oh, there was another thing I wanted to ask about—" Banks started but he raised a hand to stop her.
"Let me guess, she also needs a place to stay, right?" He directed the question to Vickie.
"Yeah," the woman said. "I was staying with a friend, but when the feds trashed the place…well, let's say I'm not welcome there anymore."
"I have a couple of rooms upstairs you can use," he said. "Like you pointed out here, they're still in the process of improvement and are a little under-furnished, but it's a roof over your head and you'll have electricity, running and warm water, and a bed. Oh, and Wi-Fi."
"I was about to ask," she said with a smile.
"That's the only offer you’ll get. And it's not negotiable."
"Those mechs look cool and I'd like to learn to use them." Vickie honestly looked like she meant every word. "Considering that it's this or the Zoo, you won't regret having me on board."
"I don't think I will. But you're not hired yet."
"If we're taking a break, how about lunch?" Bobby asked.
"Lunch," he agreed, nodded, and turned to her. "What are you in the mood for?"
"Pizza?" she asked, her eyes narrowed like she thought it was a test.
"Pizza it is."
Chapter Fourteen
Bobby was put in charge of placing their order with a nearby restaurant that made excellent pizza and had distributed a couple of free delivery coupons to celebrate their use of an app. His decision was, predictably, three large pizzas since Banks had elected to stay for lunch.
The selection of meat lover's, pepperoni and olives, and ham and mushrooms meant Vickie would have to settle for one of the free salads that were included with the order if she was a vegetarian, along with one of the sodas that were ordered in.
It was a generous lunch and thankfully, neither Vickie nor Banks was vegetarian and attacked the food with as much gusto as the two men. There were some initial doubts that they would have enough food to feed all four of them, but by the time they were down to half a pizza, most of them were content to merely sip the cool beverages and enjoy being out of the raging heat outside the building.
If there was anything Taylor really liked about prefab buildings, it was that they provided great natural insulation against the elements, either heat or cold. A simple AC system had been installed and it was enough to keep the whole work area livable.
That had been his experience with buildings in the Zoo as well. They had probably redesigned the prefab material with the heat of the Sahara Desert in mind and the new specs would be rolled out to all other users across the world. The material was cheap and easy to transport basically anywhere, which was why it was the first choice when it came to buildings that needed to be put up quickly in difficult locations.
The only downside was that, as Vickie—and everyone else—had pointed out, the boring gray blocks of prefab buildings tended to look like shit. While his property was too old to have the latest improvements, it still did a damn fine job in his opinion.
<
br /> There hadn't been much talking about the business at hand during the meal, of course. All four appeared to realize that this was a break from work and they made no effort to talk about anything work-related while they enjoyed the food.
It was something Taylor had learned from his father and also from his first CO. People tended to work better when they didn’t think about what they had to do all the time. Regular rest and downtime were important.
Of course, he would have to address the situation that had brought the two women there eventually.
He still wasn't sure that Vickie would be a good fit. She had said all the right things but he couldn't tell if she had merely done so in response to the pressure that was put on her by Banks. He needed to find a way to read her more accurately.
"So," he said finally and took another sip of his soda. “Vickie, you mentioned that you knew a thing or two about the software they use in the suits we work on, right?"
"Well, I think I said I didn't know much about it," she replied quickly as if she had anticipated the question. "I know the basics since the root of the code is in many of the modern VR devices that they've sold for gaming, but I'm sure you're aware that there's a difference between gaming and real life. When they work on the design for mech suits, they change it to be more functional at the expense of the user interface, while the VR gaming pods are designed to be all about the UI, so…you have to look into that first."
Taylor leaned forward slightly as an idea began to play at his head. "Do you think you could find a way to work some of the UI upgrades from VR pods into the suits we work on to be able to make them more user-friendly?"
The woman fiddled absently with her nose stud and tilted her head, lost in thought for a moment. "It would take considerable work and I can only guess that you would need to tweak it for each individual mech suit but sure, it's possible. It wouldn’t be particularly easy, though."
He nodded. "Well, let's be honest, I don't know anything about this kind of thing and I don't think Bobby does either. We're knowledgeable on how these suits are physically built and, of course, the electronics to keep them working, but we don't mess around much with the software, mostly because it's what the users are used to. If someone who knew what they were doing were able to design a more user-friendly interface for the mech suits… Well, believe me when I say that the guys in the Zoo need all the help they can get."
Vickie regarded him with a small frown. "What are you thinking—that I would design the software for the suits you guys work on?"
"I think that if you were able to overcome the difficulty of adapting the software to the mechs, you would be able to put your copyright on it and sell it to us and anyone else you please for a profit," he pointed out. "It's not a huge market, but it's starting to grow and as of right now, no one I know of has really explored it. This would be a cutting-edge advancement and it's yours for the taking."
She thought about it for a long while, her expression cautious. "I think I could do that. The biggest issue would be to find a way to keep the suit from getting in the user's way while still providing as much functionality as possible. It can’t work like training wheels—you know, good to help beginners learn but gets in the way of the pros who know what they're doing."
"That sounds like something to think about."
"So, I have to ask," Vickie said and leaned forward. "Your hesitancy in hiring me…does it have anything to do with the whole look?"
Taylor studied her closely before he answered. "No. I’m fairly sure you're past the phase in which it would simply be rebellion against what people might expect of you. I think it's some kind of statement that helps you feel more comfortable in your own skin but wouldn't get in the way of your work ethic."
"What kind of statement do you think I'm making?" she asked him. Banks, he noticed, kept her head down and mouth chewing.
There was a long pause as he weighed and considered his words carefully. "To me, it seems like you have the brains of your average high-powered businesswoman or lawyer and the will to get it done, and you decked yourself out to go against the look people expect from the stereotypical powerful and successful woman. You don't want to be a pinup or an example to little girls around the world. My guess is you want to be your own person with no one dictating who or what you need to be."
Banks shook her head and muttered as much to herself as to the table. "I still don't like this new, sensitive side to you."
"He's not wrong, though," Vickie interjected. "Well, it's a little more complicated than that but he does have the gist of it."
He shrugged. "Look at the likes of Marie Curie. She never let a single facet of herself be the definition of who she was and instead, demanded to be accepted for the full package of who and what she was. Of course, in her case, that happened to include being a woman and a brilliant physicist and chemist, as well as a winner of the Noble Prize twice. Although she did die from exposure to radiation, so I would hold off on that if I were you."
The woman nodded. "I'm not a physicist or a chemist, though."
"That's not the point," he countered. "You know your way around computers in ways that would run circles around Bobby and I, as well as Banks here. I think Desk might have you beat, but that's neither here nor there. My point is that looks are a problem that ends up being a weight around the necks of women who want to be recognized for their accomplishments like researchers and specialists like you. Guys are programmed from a very basic level to react to the looks of a woman first and foremost. I’m not excusing us, but it does explain much of the shit that happens."
Vickie tilted her head and narrowed her eyes like she followed what he was rambling about.
"You'll have to deal with that burden for your whole life," he continued. "The question is whether you will accept the reality of it, rise above it, and learn how to accept it as a part of who you are as a whole. The other option, of course, is to bitch about being pretty and be eaten by non-figurative animals that, ironically enough, won't care about your looks at all other than how much your piercings will add or subtract to your nutritional value before they eventually shit you out."
Banks smirked and Vickie stared at him like she hadn't thought of it from that perspective before.
"The best part, of course," he said, “is that when you have the whole manic pixie dream girl thing going for you, people will consistently underestimate you. If you have the brains for it, you can take advantage of it and them."
"That seems a little dishonest to me," she replied dubiously.
"Sure, that's true. It is in one sense. Or you can think of it as taking advantage of your natural talents. Whichever you choose is up to you, of course."
She nodded, although their attention quickly turned to Bobby. The man had lost interest in the conversation and began to watch something on his phone. It had started out at a low volume but it quickly began to build. Taylor suspected that he had done it on purpose to bring their conversation to an end.
It was also very evident what he was watching without even needing to see it. The sounds were fairly indicative of the monsters of the Zoo—he would never forget those—although he couldn't tell if this was a video that had been uploaded from one of the Zoo bases or if it was one of the so-called real Zoo pieces that involved people putting a ton of CGI on regular animals.
It was odd how those had become more and more popular these days. It was like the world wasn't weird enough already and they needed to add a little something to make it special again. What really bothered him, though, was how people appeared to think of the Zoo as old news and accepted the fact that alien goop had created a jungle full of horrors simply because it was too far away for them to care.
Truly, humans were a weird breed.
Banks inched over to where Bobby sat and tried to catch a glimpse of what he was watching. Lacking Taylor's experience, she had no idea what the sounds could possibly be until she finally saw the screen. Her eyebrows elevated before her eyes narrowed like sh
e tried to process what she was looking at.
"Is that real?" she asked incredulously. "I know insects are kind of the go-to when it comes to horror movie monsters since so many people have a dread for them anyway. But honestly, something that looks like a giant grasshopper but with a scorpion's tail doesn't seem realistic."
"It's a locust," Taylor said he gathered the pizza boxes, plates, cups, and bottles strewn over the table in the common area. "Not a grasshopper. They were the critters that set all of this in motion from the beginning, to hear it told, and they were the first creatures the goop messed with. They’ve mutated any number of times and grown worse with each one."
"But with scorpion tails?" she asked, genuine disbelief in her tone.
"Yes. They call it the scorpion locust. You watched the footage of what we killed in LA so it shouldn't really be that surprising to you." He walked around to see the creature in question. It looked like it was filmed from an angle as if a researcher attempted to study it from afar. "Oh yeah, that one's real. I’ve killed a whole shit-ton of those in my time there."
"You were in the Zoo?" Vickie asked.
He glanced at her, then Banks, and finally met her gaze again. "Yeah, didn't Banks tell you about that?"
"It's not like I had time to fill her in on your whole fucking history," the agent replied with a scowl.
"Fair enough. But it does seem to be the kind of thing one would mention, considering how we know each other and what it is I do for you."
"She actually didn't get into that either," the woman said cheerfully. "She merely said she knew a guy she trusted, more or less, who might have a job open."
"She said she trusted me?" Taylor turned to stare at the FBI agent. "That doesn't sound like you."
"That isn't what I said," Banks retorted. "I said that since I could keep an eye on you I would be able to keep an eye on her too."
"I distinctly remember the word trust being used," Vickie argued.
"Moving right along," Banks said and shook her head. "So, is that a real Zoo monster or do they simply come up with new shit to keep people interested in the jungle th— Oh, shit, did he—"
Silent Death (Cryptid Assassin Book 2) Page 11
