Chapter Four
Criminal Activity Detected
Nine looked from the Cyborg to the boy.
“That . . . that really is the Orgy drug, isn’t it?”
Oh my God . . . the penalties . . . but it saved Twenty-two’s life . . . But the penalty!
“Why is the penalty for using the Orgy drug so high, if it really can cure anything? What percent of its users does it kill?”
“We’ve never had it kill anyone.” The kid looked up at him. “But it dissolves the zivvy.”
“Dis . . . oh. That’s why the death penalty.”
The boy nodded. “A very small dose like this, they’ll just retract a bit. And might start regrowing. We’ll keep an eye on him, make sure he can use the arm and ocular, and if it’s showing signs of growing, turn it off again.”
Sam nodded. “De-cyborging? Takes a month of treatments.”
“A month?”
Another nod. “A dose every other night, hangover cure in the morning—you’ll need it—until we’re sure that all the zivvy’s, gone, then switch to just Stitches and Bullets until the plate is loose. Then it comes off, and we take out the power collectors, remove the arm.”
“Can I faint at the very idea?”
Gogi snickered, but looked sympathetic. “There’s no rush.”
Sam held out his hands, the left smoother than the right. “I was the first one. Almost five years ago. The kid was brave, doing, well, by that point it really is fairly minor surgery. With me telling him what to do, while I watched in a bunch of mirrors.
“But you knew what to do?”
“I was a medical student when my father died in debt. I volunteered to save my little brother and sister.”
“Oh.”
Gogi nodded. “Sam taught me a lot about the Medical applications of Power.”
“Like I said, Medical Student. I thought they’d give me an Exec plate to take advantage of my education. It was a shock to find out that they only saw my size.” He snorted. “Fourteen years later, I had a plate infection, and as soon as they cured it, they threw me on the board.”
“That was on Home.” The kid piped up. “I had just turned twelve, just hacked the recompense account, just made my plans, when I spotted a KHR Cyborg created that year, on the Board.”
“He hid me in the attic of Vogel House until he’d found everything I needed for the final surgery and rented an old dentist’s office . . .”
“Can I faint, now?”
“Nope. Come on, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the guys.” The kid led the way back out, nodding to Sam. “I’ll come spell you in a couple of hours.”
The Inn was small, two strips of rooms, at right angles, looked like fifty rooms total, with parking right outside their doors. In the center, the office. The boy led him through, past a laundry, and into a little cafe at the back.
Really, too casual to even call it a restaurant. Half the seating outside. And all the rooms had back patios, with furniture.
“The northern strip’s rented out long term. Men too young to need assistance, but without family support. C’mon around, I’ll introduce you.”
Fifteen men. Middle-aged, left arms of variable length.
And two Cyborgs. They’d consolidated their patios into a long outdoor .
. . multipurpose room? The late afternoon sun giving it all a mellow glow.
Some of the men were kicked back with books.
Two chatting while lifting weights, board games under way, computers out . . .
One guy with a nearly equal sized left arm, looked over and grinned. “Hey, Gogi! Found another, eh?”
“Yep. This is Nine Thirty-five. Room Three’s open, right?”
“Right. Welcome, Brother!”
“Fresh meat to beat at cards!”
“Favorite sport? Favorite team?”
Nine grinned. “So, are all you guys retired?”
“We think of it as taking three years to retrain. I’m Feodosiy Kalbach.”
“Bj?rn Burger. I’m going to college.” A grin. “Finally. Civil Engineering.”
“I’m writing. Adventures, fighting, exploring . . . Two more years and I might actually make some public appearances. I’m writing as Sevastian Kant. Might make it my legal name.” A casual wave of a baby size left arm.
Nine blinked. “Dear God. This is so unbelievable.”
Nods all around.
“Rescued by a little kid. I don’t know whether to hope he finds his uncle . . . or doesn’t. Wes Ledovskoy.” Who looked over his shoulder as Gogi walked back, carrying a box.
“Nine? Room three is yours and here’s a comp to get into trouble with. A company, and account with starter funds. And it’s all up to you now, what you want to do. The guys will fill you in, and I need to go see how Sam’s patient is doing.”
Keys, box, printout . . . And the kid was off again.
“He’s awfully trusting. Hasn’t he ever gotten a real rotter of a Cyborg?”
“Not yet. So . . . you have any special training?”
Nine started laughing. “Dear God. I’m an aged-out cop. My training keeps screaming ‘that’s a felony! That’s three misdemeanors in a row! Oh my God, CAPITAL Crime! Eep!’
“I’m in a state of awe for the sheer indifference that kid’s got for the letter of the law.”
He looked at all the alarmed looks being exchanged. “And no. I’m not turning anyone in. I’m . . . dear God, going to commit a felony every night for as long as it takes.” And his legs gave out slowly and he sat on the ground, tears running down his face. “I can, I can . . . be a human being again.”
“And it’s not actually illegal here, as it hasn’t turned up .
. . as far as the authorities know. Mind you, the Inquisition might consider it an Alliance-wide offence.
And, umm, none of us are going to ask.” Kalbach thumped his shoulder.
“And we all know that we’re human. No matter how we’ve been treated. ”
“Yeah, sorry . . . I just, I just spent a quarter century trying to . . . pretending to accept, to come to terms with . . .”
“We all did. And then a miracle named Gogi turned up.”