Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
As Sin's gun moved downwards, so did Caleb's hands.
Still, the man didn't make a move towards Sin or his Ingénue.
He did glance at the rush of people around them, but the three of them were like a calm spot in the middle of a world falling apart around them.
Caleb's words had been the right ones to make Sin give him a chance.
"What does OutLink know?" he demanded.
"Let's start at the beginning," Caleb said. "Pharmacon sent me to talk to you. I've been trying to track you down for a few days now, since the bombing at Benedict's funeral."
"Wasn't at his funeral," Sin pointed out.
"Yeah," Caleb countered, "it was. The whole point of it was to be seen when the most people were watching, so I think that counts as 'at.'"
Sin grumbled but didn't reply.
So Caleb kept going. "A year ago, Pharmacon created a cure," he explained. "It's a single-dose medication that allows the body to accept enhancements. It's also one of the perks of working there."
Sin nodded. "Knew most of that."
"How?" Caleb asked.
Sin just smiled. "I'm good like that. Keep talking or I'll change my mind about putting a bullet in you."
So Caleb nodded once. "One of the developers stole the chemical formula.
The data breach happened late at night, and the man was able to leave the building before we could respond.
Eventually, we tracked him down, and now he's in jail for theft of proprietary information.
However, he'd already sold the information. "
"Let me guess," Sin said, "to the Censor?"
"Records show it was the Praetor," Caleb said. "But the payment transfer was authorized by Joshua's imprint." Then he grunted. "This all happened before Joshua was moved to Praetor, so bear with me."
"I'm following," Sin promised. "So why can't my Ingénue reset and what the fuck does OutLink know that I don't?"
"I'm getting there," Caleb promised. "When we learned where the chemical went, we realized the Legion—or someone in it—is trying to create the drug first. Pharmacon attempted to intercept the data before it could be sent to manufacturing plants—and then to the patent office.
Our orders were to intimidate the girls, causing them to wipe.
The problem was that they didn't wake up. "
"I know," Sin grumbled.
"I didn't!" Caleb snapped. "The first one, we thought it was an error.
Maybe she had a medical condition. The second one, I pulled back the robes to try first aid.
" He glanced over at Rissa, then back. "Sin, they're barely human under there.
Whatever OutLink is doing to those girls?
Yeah, they're more machine than person now, and that's why they keep them covered up! "
Yeah, Caleb wasn't really helping his case any. Sin felt his grip tighten on his gun. "So you decided that made it ok to keep killing them?" he demanded.
"I tried to call off the assignments," Caleb growled.
"Pharmacon overruled me because they think OutLink is in on it.
Parker carried out a few more before he realized the same thing, but Daniel Briggs knows the girls are smuggling data.
He knows the pieces are being moved to Dhatri Pharmaceuticals!
He's getting kickbacks, we think, and Briggs would rather collect insurance on the dead clones than have to admit he's running illegal data under the table. "
"If Briggs knows," Sin countered, "then why wouldn't he let me dress this one in something else? Why is he making it so easy for your guys to kill them?"
"Because we're not the problem," Caleb insisted.
"My guys press the girls before the data is delivered in the hopes of initiating a wipe.
When I found out they were dying instead of resetting, I told my men to pull back, not threaten them, and not make the girls kill themselves.
Some handlers still called for a wipe the moment we were spotted, though. "
"Mm-hmm," Sin grumbled. "Doesn't make it better."
"Yeah, well, we were walking a fine line," Caleb snapped.
"Why the fuck do you think I followed you to that train?
I wanted to make sure you knew the threat was real.
I also made sure I never gave your girl a reason to fucking wipe!
That's what I'm talking about. We're not the problem.
It's the group hitting after the data was delivered.
They're why Briggs keeps the girls in blue. Makes them an easy target to find."
"But after we make the delivery, there's no data to steal," Rissa said. "Our procedure is to delete it."
Her comment made Caleb's head snap over. Confusion took over his face, yet his question was clearly aimed at Sin. "She talks?"
"Yes, she talks," Sin agreed. "But your story has a few big fucking holes in it. You know, like the priest who attacked us before she delivered her download."
"Wait…" Caleb looked from Sin to Rissa. "We didn't come after your girl. I made it clear to the guys not to fuck with you, that you'd kill them before they even knew they'd been spotted."
"And yet my trial was pretty fucking public," Sin shot back.
"They didn't say it was before!" Caleb snapped. "I thought it was Briggs trying to kill off the girls so no one could trace where they'd been!"
"By who?" Sin demanded. "Who the fuck was attacking the Ingénue after their deliveries?"
Caleb shook his head as if snapping himself out of his shock. "It appears to be select extremists. First precept sorts. Sin, it's not us."
"Fuck you," Sin growled, intending to haul Rissa out of there. "Follow us and I will kill you," he warned Caleb.
"That's why you killed a priest!" Caleb called after him. "The extremists are tied to the Legion. We know that now; we didn't then!"
Which was enough to make Sin stop. "What?"
The foot traffic around them was sparse now, but this sounded like something Sin really needed to know. Glancing at Rissa, he hoped she understood. A slight dip of her head made him thinks she did, or at least she was ok with this, even if this was the dumbest fucking place to do it.
Nodding, Caleb came closer so he didn't have to yell.
"Yeah… That hearing was the talk of New Cincinnati for a bit, but they only said you got jumped, not that it was before the dump.
One priest, dressed as a common street thug, and what, five other assailants?
They were good too, I'm betting. Dressed like hoodlums but attacked like mercenaries? "
That was a little too good of a guess to be coincidence. "They were," Sin agreed.
"Members of the mercenary gang called the Freex.
They're working for the Devoted. I have videos showing four different groups like that, and all have banking data that goes right back to the Devoted, who now lead to your new Praetor.
Well, three groups plus the one you tangled with.
All of them include a single priest who seems to be calling the shots.
All of them had their faces and other identifying features concealed.
One of the other groups managed to get one of the girls—but she wiped. "
Which were the videos the technician had given Sin. Fuck, the pieces were starting to fall together, and in the worst way. Right about now, though, the only important thing was getting Rissa and her damned kill-me-now blue robes out of sight.
"Which means we need to go," Sin said. "I have to get this girl out of here before someone tries to jump us." But another boom cut off the rest of his words.
The three of them turned towards the sound, but the Exa-Com building was between them. That didn't stop the shower of dust from the buildings. It seemed the impact of that blast was just enough to shake everything around them - which meant it was much too close.
However, the area was starting to grow quiet.
Most people had made it out of here already.
They hadn't been dumb enough to stand around talking, but Sin didn't exactly want Caleb following them.
Then again, what difference did it make now?
Worst case, if this asshole tried to stop him, Sin would put a bullet in the fucker's head.
But Caleb was busy tapping at the side of his head and his eyes began to scan the ground. It was the same look Rissa got when she was connected to data. Sin made one more check of Rissa, not shocked to see her still standing there calmly, then he looked towards the Market District.
There would be cameras all along the path, and without the crowds to cover them, that meant Rissa would be seen. Shit! Somehow, Sin had to get her away with no trail to follow, and fucking Caleb was screwing this up.
"Shit," Caleb breathed, pointing the direction they were going.
"That was VeriSys-Global. They handle the server storage for City Hall!
Means our patent application is now gone.
Fuck! We need to get to the trains. The blasts are getting closer and every potential business target is on this side of the bridge. "
"I have to go to the Market District first," Sin said, making his decision. "You can follow me or not, Caleb. Don't really care, but if you try to stop us, I will put you down."
Caleb pulled his own weapon. "Or I can cover your back, Brother Sin. Right about now, I don't give a shit what you're doing. I just have a feeling making it to the train won't be as easy as we hope."
Sin nodded, accepting his help. "Princess, you still good to do this? We've got three buildings down, and I do not want you in the open any longer."
"I can do this," she promised, grabbing his arm as the three of them started moving.
And yet Caleb wasn't done talking. "News is reporting the Devoted are taking credit for these attacks. They say there are more bombs still to go off, and there are reports of vigilante groups roaming with weapons. Could be gangs. Could be terrorists."
"Shit," Sin growled. "Riss, fuck the money."
"This won't take long," she promised. "The Market District is the fastest path to the train station, and the trains are delayed today. We can either wait at the station or do this."
Caleb just thrust a hand out at her. "What the fuck, Sin? She's…"
"She's a goddamned person!" Sin snapped.
Which made Caleb's feet falter. "Shit. She's the one they're looking for.
" Then he jogged to catch up when no one else slowed at all.
"Sin, those priests are taking the girls.
Doesn't matter if they are alive or dead.
When the Devoted make a hit, they do everything they can to take the Ingénue's body with them.
Once, they managed to snag a girl who was awake.
The video makes it look like they sedated her before she could wipe. "
"But why?" Sin asked.
"Why would the damned church want an Ingénue?" Caleb countered. "Because I have no fucking idea."
"Not the church," Sin realized. "Joshua. He's fucking looking for you, Riss."
"Why her?" Caleb demanded just as they reached the Market District.
Sin simply smiled at him, but the look was definitely a threat. "Because she's the one who woke up after a wipe."
"Oh shit," Caleb breathed.
Sin just grunted and kept walking. "Which is why I'm getting her out. If you try to stop me, I will kill you, Caleb. You know that, right?"
"Pharmacon just lost Stabiltrol production," the man snapped. "Maybe it hasn't hit you yet, but that means no more Stabiltrol. It'll take months before that shit's being produced again."
"Why do you care?" Sin demanded. "You're cured."
"My three-year-old son isn't," Caleb shot back.
"Seems my heart defect is genetic, and he got it.
Right about now, you're my best shot. The one priest who seems to be untouchable, right?
That's why Pharmacon told me to find you.
We wanted to know why the Legion's doing this, and you're the only priest they trust to give us an honest answer. Now this?"
"Joshua is making a move for power, and I'm being pushed out of it because of my enhancements," Sin told him as they finally reached their destination. "I'm about to be replaced as Imperator any day now. I can't save your ass, and right now, I need to be focused on my fucking angel. Not your shit."
"Which is why you need my help," Caleb said. "Think of this as my penance."
"Sure." Sin turned for the closest connection booth, visible across the open Market District. "Make this fast, Riss. We need to move before the police shut off traffic. We need to be on the other side of town, like now."
"Yes, Legate," she agreed, and both men moved to flank her, their guns at the ready.