Chapter 43 #2
He slams his fist on the table. “Zorg-fucking-damnit!” How has he landed himself in this situation?
He can’t think of a single person to call besides the inspector—which is a terrible idea because she’ll just take Electra to Camp Reincarnate.
But even if he called Wanda, what do they have to go on?
An image and a reasonable guess that the man in the cabinet’s reflection is his former employee.
Plus, he’ll have to admit Electra’s nature and why she exists. Maybe Wanda wouldn’t take her in light of all his help. Is he willing to find out? No, too risky. He could call Tommy, but the man’s particular moral compass means he’ll encourage Res6 to contact the authorities.
Sable’s dark eyes and full, smirking lips appear in his mind. James said Sable is his friend. He picks up his device, staring at it for a moment. Can he count on her?
It’s worth a shot. Maybe she’ll see something he’s missing. Before he can change his mind, he thinks the command: Message Sable. There’s been an emergency. I need you to come to my office ASAP.
This is the whole point of having friends, isn’t it?
A second later she responds, On the way. If this is a setup for Inspector Wanda, I’m going to be pissed.
GROW’s headquarters is in the same industrial quadrant, and she’s been working extra, trying to appear like the dedicated employee she isn’t for the inspector’s benefit. It only takes Sable eleven minutes, making it 19:25 when she throws his door open.
“They’ve got Electra,” he says.
“When did this happen?” Sable asks, breezing through his door and around his desk. No hello or anything. She is truly the perfect friend for him.
“Around 16:30. I got this message as soon as I got here.” He shows her the image of Electra, pointing out the gene scanner, then the snip of the orange-haired scientist. Finally, the image of the men outside the simulation chamber’s emergency exit.
Sable frowns and her eyes go distant for a moment. “DumBot says the first seventy-two hours after an abduction are critical. If that’s true, we have approximately sixty-nine hours to get her back and solve the case that your inspector friend has yet to crack.”
He leans back in his chair. “So it seems.” He explains his hypothesis, and she listens intently.
She wordlessly requests control of his system, which he grants. She enlarges the image on the screen, so Electra’s curled-up form fills it. “She seems to be in one piece. It doesn’t look like they’ve hurt her. They didn’t send any demands?”
Right as he says, “Not yet,” his device pings. It’s a lengthy message from the same sender as the photo. He pulls it up on his system. Sable crowds his space and they scan it.
It’s a demand for a list of highly classified information from his company, including intellectual property, methods, and formulations.
He runs his hands through his hair, his worry for Electra stunting his ability to think clearly. “It has to be the same people behind the robbery.”
Sable moves to lean on the wall behind him. “So if they’re working with your former scientist, why do they need Electra? And wouldn’t Lextr know the bulk of that information?”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Well, I think we can safely rule out GROW’s involvement. Their accidental reincarnates probably gave whoever is behind this the idea.” As she speaks, the images on the screen move, then a new window opens. It’s a portal to a part of the network he’s never accessed.
“Don’t worry, this is encrypted.”
For a second, he questions the wisdom of giving her access to his system. “Is that BLACKOUT?”
“Yes,” she says nonchalantly. “Untraceable.” A message opens. She drops the files into it and fills in a username.
“What are you doing?”
“That’s Oro1’s handle. You met him, remember?”
“Of course I remember.” He specifically remembers Electra’s pretty blush when the man kissed her hand. “Why are you sending this to him? I think the fewer people who know, the better.”
“Unless they’re one of MSP’s top hackers with access to the same facial recognition program as Inspector Wanda?” she asks, raising a brow.
“Fine.”
“So what do we do now?” She walks around the desk and takes a seat.
“Waiting doesn’t feel right, but I don’t know what else to do,” he admits.
“We could run a few simulated clone experiments for your twin project,” she suggests.
He shakes his head, not remotely tempted. “I’ve put that on hold.”
Her brow twitches. “Any particular reason?”
He narrows his eyes as he assesses her. “Are we friends, Sable?”
“Why do you ask?” she shrugs.
“You said our relationship was transactional, but James said we were friends. I was curious about what you thought.” He looks away as if uninterested in her answer, but secretly hoping it will be yes.
The story’s hero always has a quirky sidekick, and Sable is definitely quirky. Well, perhaps not quirky.
“Do you want us to be friends?” She doesn’t flinch as her stare meets his.
Saying yes feels incredibly vulnerable. Risky. Out of character. He swallows. “Yes.” Electra would be so proud.
Sable’s grin is , and he wonders if she knows how she comes across. “OK then. We’re friends.”
“But why are you smiling like that?” He figured since they’re friends now, he has the right to ask.
“K8 keeps saying human connection is dead, but given our straightforward transaction, making friends doesn’t seem so difficult.” She picks at her perfectly manicured nails. “Speaking of, does this mean I’m obligated to come to this group dinner of yours?”
There’s a subtle edge of vulnerability in her tone that contradicts her words. Something about it causes him to feel a twinge of affection. “It’s a requirement.”
“If I must.”
His device pings. He glances at where it sits on his desk, the clear glass illuminated bright blue.
They both stare at it.
“Another message?” She asks.
He glances at it, noting the same user. He casts the message onto the largest of his screens. There is another image showing a visor-scrambled man holding Electra up against the wall by her neck. Another figure holds a sparkler at her temple.
“They’re wearing those ID Scrambler Visors,” Sable observes.
“I see that.” Does she think he is that much of an idiot?
“The man in the cabinet’s reflection wasn’t altered. If that really is Lextr, is it possible he’s also a captive?”
Before he has time to consider it, another message arrives. It’s a block of text and a link.
We require you to upload the above list of requirements to the following link by 08:00. Once our team has assessed the validity of the information, we will release the hostage. If the information is not received, she will be recycled.
The next image is of a silver tray with two ominous syringes on it, which does more to send a message than any weapon they might send ever would.
“Have you got anything?” Sable asks.
He looks away from the message to see her pacing. He opens his mouth, but she holds a finger up and points to her m-volt.
“From where? . . . Really? . . . Impossible.”
She continues speaking, presumably to Oro1.
The longer the conversation goes on, the more ominous it feels until she finally says, “This is worse than we thought. Send the files over. We’ll let you know if we need anything else.
” She hesitates. “Actually, do you think we could get our hands on a few sparklers?”
His stomach twists into an impossible knot. “What’s worse than we thought?”
She moves around the desk again, taking back control of his system. She goes to the BLACKOUT window, where her messages are still open. There is a document containing several pictures of the man who stared directly into the camera before abducting Electra.
“We have a lead.”
“Sable, what’s worse than we thought?”
“Perhaps I should have said this is bigger than we thought. The man in the image is a low-level lab tech for ManuMATE in their product research division. He got transferred from another municipality after some undisclosed legal issues were resolved. He started working for the company as soon as he arrived, which is odd considering the hiring process at ManuMATE is notoriously strenuous.”
Res6 buries his head in his hands, which seems to be all he can do lately. “So does this mean ManuMATE is trying to bring back reincarnates too? But why would they need Electra when they can just find another reincarnate on BLACKOUT? Can Oro1 find out if Lextr is working for them now, too?”
She pauses to send a message. “Oro1 is on it. As far as ManuMATE’s involvement, I highly doubt the company knows about it. Wouldn’t it make more sense that a few employees have gone rogue?”
“Good point. But what about Electra?”
She shrugs. “Since NHOS is publicly hunting down reincarnates, maybe they’re harder to find. Tracking your and Electra’s whereabouts was easier?”
But that would mean he’d put her in danger again. “Fuck. And somehow this is connected to the robbery?”
“You said they stole the pre-2050 DNA and got Electra’s remaining samples?” she asks.
“Yeah.”
She grins. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
He shakes his head. “Sable, I’m certain we’re never thinking the same thing.”
She laughs, brushing off his comment. “What if they weren’t after Electra’s DNA? What if they were looking for someone else and CHOICElover just happened to have it in their catalogue?”
“But who?”
A message quickly appears on the screen, and she sends it before he can even read it.
Her brows furrow. “No idea. Someone who died pre-2050. Do you think they have her at ManuMATE’s headquarters?”
His stomach dips. “I don’t know, but we need to figure out something to send to them. Zorg, it’ll take me hours to pull all of this together.”
“We have all night,” she reassures. “There’s no need to give them your proprietary information. The last thing we need is for them to figure out how to bring back people from the past intentionally—I’m assuming that’s what this is about.”
“Sable, this is Electra’s life we are talking about. I would risk anything. Give up anything to save her.”
She shakes her head. “What is it with reincarnates that makes sensible modern humans fall so recklessly in love? Zephyr, I hope I never get stuck with one.”
A message from Oro1 pops up on screen. Can’t find any untraceable sparklers.
Res6 stands, clutching his stomach as he begins pacing.
“What’s wrong with you? You need to start compiling documents so we can send them to Oro1 to falsify.” She points to his chair.
He obediently sits and gets to work. Time flies by as he collects and organizes the required data. Several hours later, when he finally has the files packaged, he glances up from his screen. His intense focus shielded him from his panic, but now that he’s finished with his task, dread floods in.
“What if it doesn’t work? What if they’re lying?
What if they discover we tried to trick them?
What if we give them everything and they kill her anyway?
” He reaches up, brushing his damp cheeks.
Fuck. The last thing he needs to do is start crying in front of his reluctant new friend.
Somehow, he can’t stop the overwhelming urge to double over and collapse to the floor.
Sheer will is the only thing keeping his spine straight.
The prospect of losing Electra is too similar to losing Jerme all those years ago.
If they kill her, he isn’t sure he’ll survive it. “I can’t lose her.”
Sable’s eyes are wide as she cautiously approaches him, like he’s a prey animal. She gingerly pats his arm. “It’s OK. Everything is going to be OK. If you don’t like my plan, what do you think we need to do?”
His vision blurs as he stares past her, quickly calculating the possibilities.
He can’t come up with a solution that would guarantee her safety.
The best option he can come up with scares him almost as much as the prospect of losing her.
Because it could mean revealing the truth about Electra and losing the only other thing that he cares about.
The thing that has given his life meaning for nearly a hundred years: CHOICElover.
He takes a deep breath, steeling himself. “I think we need to call Inspector Wanda.”