Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Leaning against the wall at the side of the room, Davis scoffed, shaking his head as if he'd heard a bad joke. Sin looked over, and he wasn't the only one. When Davis realized he was the center of attention, the man simply grunted in contempt.
"What? It's not like she can't just go to the Legion any time she wants," he grumbled.
"She can't," Sin said.
"She could if she actually left her fancy-ass little sanctuary," Davis countered. "I mean, the cathedral is always open. Kinda the whole point of being a place to pray." His eyes jumped over to Rissa. "You just have to be willing to actually do it. Not just think about it."
"Be nice, Davis," Sin warned, unsure if she wanted everyone to know what kind of misery she had to deal with every night.
The man huffed in frustration. "She's a fucking walking enhancement, and all of you are buying this shit she says like it's the word of God."
Rob shrugged. "God works in mysterious ways, Brother. Look at how we all got here."
Rissa said nothing, her eyes unfocused. Sin couldn't be sure if she was offended or thinking, but she didn't look pleased. Unfortunately, he couldn't see enough of her face to read her expression. Besides, the woman seemed to be an expert at keeping her face stoic.
"God isn't gonna work through a damned cyber-whore though," Davis grumbled.
"I'm not a whore!" Rissa snapped, jumping to her feet. "I might be bought and sold, but I'm not a whore! Just get this damned file out of my head, and take me back."
Davis turned to face her. "You fucking have your every whim satisfied in there, and you're wanting me to believe you aren't selling yourself for it?"
"She doesn't," Sin said.
"Every fucking whim?" she all but snarled.
"I walk into that building and have to pass through a sonic cleanser—hence the standard-issue robes.
Once I enter the actual Enclave, I'm not allowed clothes, or anything individualized.
Not even a fucking name. I get hooked into my care bay, which is exactly four feet wide, and left there until another equation is assigned to me. Which fucking whim does that satisfy?"
"Riss," Sin breathed, moving to her side. "It's not his fault. I thought the same thing, remember?"
"But why?" she asked. "What did I do to make everyone hate me so much before I even talk to them?"
"I feel like an ass," Davis said. "I'm sorry, Ingénue."
She turned her eyes to him. "Why would you think that?"
"It's, uh…" He looked to Julie for help.
But it was Zan who answered. "OutLink runs commercials," he said.
"It's all promoting their portfolio of consulting services, but there's a section where they mention Ingénue.
The screen shows a woman in a luxury apartment pulling on a blue robe.
Then there's the price of your services.
Last year, there was a big blowup about human rights, and yeah.
Ingénue were brought up, so OutLink made it clear their team of 'carefully selected cyborg problem-solvers' were pampered. "
"But we're not," Rissa said, looking at each priest in turn. "We're treated like equipment."
"How was I supposed to know that?" Davis asked.
Sin just held up his hand, making it clear the man should stop talking.
"There are stories out there, Riss. People talking about things they've heard an Ingénue say.
I now know that's a load of crap, but with so many things pointing to the same conclusion?
It paints a very vivid picture, and we have no way of knowing otherwise because none of you complain. "
"Because we don't want our minds to be wiped," she whimpered. "Maybe I should. It was easier before. I just did what I was told, and it was ok."
"I'm not letting them wipe you, Riss," he assured her.
"That's why we need this file. Whatever you have in your head is tied to why someone's trying to hurt you.
If we can expose what's going on with that chemical, then maybe we can tell the public about the problems in the Enclave at the same time. "
"I still need a terminal," she said, looking up at him.
"I'll get it," Zan said, hurrying to the door. "Be right back!"
"Are you actually taking her back?" Julie asked, her words falling into the silence that had taken over the room.
Sin rubbed his hands over his face. "We have to. No other option. I figure we can stall about four more hours before we have a problem."
"You gonna be able to make it another day?" Julie asked her.
The corner of Rissa's lip twitched. "I can make it. I just can't have this data in my head. They'll find it."
"We gotta get her out," Trent said. "We protect the weak."
"There's eighty-five more," she reminded him.
"You first," Julie said. "They come next."
The words were barely out of her mouth before the door latch clicked. All five priests pulled guns, lowering them only when Zan pushed inside, the steel sliding closed behind him. He saw and grinned like it was some big joke.
"I said I'd be right back!" he teased. In his hands was a large metal box. "Got some serious old-school stuff here. Just one problem."
"Bio-linked?" Rissa asked.
"Yeah. I'm guessing it's the only thing I have that's gonna hold what you got." He shrugged.
She glanced away and nodded, but Sin knew that one now. She didn't like it.
"What?" he asked.
"She feels the connection," Zan explained. "For her to access this, it's kinda personal."
"Personal?" Sin looked between the two, hoping for a little clarification.
Zan set the case on the floor. "I need a screen and a second polyoptic cable."
"Yeah, in the cabinet," Sin said. "What do you mean, personal?"
"It's fine," Rissa said.
"She's gonna put her mental hands all over my brain," Zan told him, tapping the port at the back of his head.
Then he grabbed the cables and returned his attention to the machine.
Once everything was plugged in, Zan lifted his head and met Sin's eyes.
"The storage is bio-linked, so she has to connect through me—and the connection goes both ways. "
"Do we have another option?" he asked the kid.
Zan just ignored him. "Ok, Rissa. This won't be bad." He pointed at the bed where Sin was still sitting. "Lie down. We're gonna take this nice and slow, and you're in charge. We stop when you want, ok?"
She timidly made her way across the room, tugging at the edge of her sleeves. Sin grabbed her hand and eased her down beside him, helping her get comfortable.
"You don't have to do this," he told her. "You can just delete the file."
"No," she said softly. "This won't stop until you can see it."
"Ok, lie back," Zan told her. "Trust me. Just say stop or no, and we stop."
"I'm ok," she insisted.
"I dunno about this," Sin said, all too aware this woman was so vulnerable lying across his bed. "You aren't making me think this is a good idea, Zan."
The kid shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal for most of us, but it's her first time. She's nervous, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm also willing to bet no one's ever taken it easy with her mind."
"She said it's in her frontal cortex," Trent said.
Zan held up the cable. "I swear I'm not gonna look, ok? You'll know if I do. I'm JXTA bio-linked with that box, so it's not a true peer-to-peer, just a simple network." She nodded and he smiled. "And you know Sin would kill me if I did anything bad to you."
"Are you a priest too?" she asked.
"Nah." Zan chuckled. "I want to be, but these jerks think I should get my degree first, and I'm almost there. I also live next door, and Sin helped me out a while back, so now I kinda handle all of his tech stuff."
"Oh."
"But he's a good guy," Sin assured her. "I trust him, Riss."
She nodded, and looked at the cable. "What now?"
"Plug that in," Zan said. "When you're ready, I'll connect you to the box, since you don't have wireless or..." He paused and looked at Sin. "Can you imagine what she could do with wireless?"
"Right now, we're just worried about that one file," Sin reminded him. "Focus, Zan."