Chapter 19
Talon’s ship was a small four-seater cruiser. Lyra took the other front seat, leaving me in the backset to watch Talon do nothing. Once he programmed the destination, the ship’s systems took over, and all he had to do was approve the flight plan.
The ship was so small that the seats reclined into beds, and the only toilet was a receptacle built into the far wall next to the equally small kitchenette. Seeing that proximity, I was glad I’d brought my own food. The two suitcases took up nearly the entire open space near the kitchenette.
“Kynan’s concerned, Lyra. The enforcers are up to something big. All time off has been cancelled, and they’re running drills. We think it might have something to do with your friend here.”
“The enforcers want Cal’s amp bad. We saw that in Solace Station. But there’s no way they’d focus all their guys on Cal. It’s just one amp.”
“A prototype amp,” Talon corrected.
“You’ve got a guy in the squads. What does he say?” she asked.
“Garris hasn’t told them anything. But they think it has to do with Dreswick—the Crawl, specifically—because they’re running some of their drills in the compound’s tunnels.”
“If they’re going to the Crawl… Kynan needs to get out of there.”
“Don’t worry about Kynan. He can get out in time. He’s more worried about everyone else down there.” Talon’s voice lowered. “And if there’s a chance that turning over a single guy can save them, well, then that’s something worth considering.”
“You can’t give them Cal.”
“We’d be giving them the amp, not Cal.”
“It can’t be removed without killing him. Besides, if it’s removed, it’s destroyed, too.”
A slight pause. “How do you know that?”
“Cal told me.”
“Convenient as that would save his bacon.”
“He hasn’t lied to me yet.”
“You sure about that?”
There was a longer pause than I liked. “Yes, I’m sure. You have to tell Kynan that we need to protect Cal.”
“I don’t have to tell Kynan anything.”
She huffed. “With how many enforcers were looking for him on Solace Moon, his amp is obviously a gamechanger. If we can figure out how to copy his amp, we can drive Softbiotics from TerraSoft-11 and turn it into a free world.”
“You really buy that idea hook, line, and sinker.”
“Of course. That’s why we’re in the resistance.”
“I’m in the resistance for Kynan, not for some farfetched fantasy.”
“You always were a pessimist.”
“Realist. The two only look the same when talking about the present. The future always shows which is which. Besides, my realism keeps Kynan’s unbridled optimism in check. If it wasn’t for me, his optimism would be, well, unbridled.”
I wanted to ask exactly what was involved with that optimism, i.e.
what Kynan Kade was hoping to accomplish.
All I’d known of the resistance was that they liked to riot and generally just be a thorn in the enforcers’ collective side.
But from what I’d seen, the resistance was better organized than I’d ever imagined, and they had more money than I thought possible for a noncorporate group.
Lyra had mentioned that Dr. Katz was associated with the resistance—I wondered if she’d also been a donor.
Because low-towners, no matter how many chips they pooled, couldn’t fund a proper resistance effort.
Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to join in. I yawned loudly.
Lyra glanced back at me and smiled. “You’re awake. Good. We’re finally in queue to land.”
“Fifteen minutes out,” Talon announced.
“Good. I’m not used to all this comfort,” I said, rubbing the smooth pleather of the armrest. “How’s the resistance get enough funding to buy a ship like this?”
Talon grunted. “This is my ship, my little Lumen Lu . I got this sweetheart on my sixteenth birthday. No one flies it but me.”
“You’re the first low-towner I’ve met with his own ship,” I blurted.
Talon snorted. “Is there anything about me that makes you think I’m a low-towner?”
I shrugged. Up until this week, I’d assumed the resistance was all low-towners. I was starting to see things differently lately.
Talon continued, “Not a low-towner. I won the lottery in the sense that I was born and raised in Aberdeen. Same as Kynan, same as Lyra here.”
I snapped to Lyra. “But you said your family was disappeared.”
She seemed confused. “Yes. You don’t think low-towners are the only ones who disappear, do you? Enforcers take anyone who gets in their way.”
My brow furrowed as I understood finally the extent of the corporate control. I’d always placed anyone from Aberdeen as part of a special class who could never be touched. They had their own amps and three meals a day, and they were free from fear of the enforcers.
“But you don’t have an amp,” I pointed out.
“That was because my parents hid me,” she said. “It happens more than you think.”
I frowned. “Why would someone not want an amp?”
“Because amps are connected to the amp-link, which means Softbiotics—and therefore, their enforcers—not only can track you but they also spy on you every minute of every day,” Talon said, looking over his shoulder at me. He tapped his temple. “I’ve got one in here.”
My expression must’ve given away my dread because he added, “Relax, it’s dead.
Kynan and I had ours fried with an EMP.” He shrugged.
“Not like I can have it removed. Besides, it comes in handy going through scanners, and they pick up an amp they’re expecting to see in here.
” He turned back to the flight controls.
“I don’t get it,” I said. I mean, I got why Lyra joined the resistance. “Why would enforcers go after high-towners?”
Lyra and Talon shared a knowing look before she turned to me.
“We’re no safer than low-towners. Sure, it might look like life is great fifty miles up the road, but it’s not.
Softbiotics controls every aspect of our lives.
And if you step out of line, like my parents did, then you disappear and your kids end up in one of the service schools depending on your aptitude scores.
I managed to hide in the streets until the resistance found me.
No one’s safe under a government that prioritizes profit over everything else. ”
“Some corporations are better, some are worse,” Talon said. “There are entire systems I’d be sure to avoid. But there is a planet here and there worth visiting. The TerraSoft collection is middle of the road as far as human rights violations go.”
“That’s refreshing to hear,” I said dryly.
“They’re still guilty of horrible crimes, but there are no laws to stop the corporations.
It’s only the corporations that keep each other in check,” Lyra said.
“We’re going to change that. Kynan and Talon have connected with a network of like-minded individuals across the corporate loop.
There are a lot of us out there. If we band together, we could take down the corporations one at a time. ”
“And that’s the fantasy part,” Talon said.
“While other corporations don’t care what happens to any other corporation out there, they make trade agreements all the time—they ally themselves with one another when it makes sense to do so.
If we hit the first corp fast and hard, the others will be ready for us.
We’d have to hit them all at once, and that would be like an ant biting a toe, hoping to make the man run away, when in reality, it’ll just be squished without a second thought. ”
He was right—he’s a realist, I thought to myself. The resistance didn’t have the money, the weapons, or the numbers. They had nothing. It was like sitting down at a high-stakes poker table with a single chip.
The dreaded ping sounded in my head.
I have completed preparing the upgrade. I am proceeding in ten seconds.
“Hold on. We’re just about to land. Wait until we get some downtime,” I rushed out, not pointing out that Byte could’ve upgraded sometime during the last six hours of downtime on this ship.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Talon asked.
“He’s talking to his amp,” Lyra explained, watching me with worry in her eyes.
“He’s a little on the weird side,” Talon muttered.
“Please don’t tell me it’s another update,” Lyra said.
This is a high-priority update. It provides crucial functionality and applies critical patches.
Just as I felt the energy leave my body, I said, “Yeah…” At least I was in a seat this time rather than faceplanting the floor.
About an hour later, Byte returned with my strength. Talon had been busy informing ground control that he was working through a system upgrade—which was the truth of sorts—before opening up his hatch and allowing border patrol to inspect Lumen Lu .
The upgrade is complete. You’ll be glad to know I’m beginning to understand human anatomy enough that I can accelerate future upgrades.
I leaned forward in my seat and spoke quietly. “Just give me more heads-up before you do the next one.”
I initiate upgrades at the earliest convenience upon finalizing updates. It’s difficult to estimate when it will be ready as there are so many variables.
“Wait, you’re using contractions.”
I’m glad you noticed. Every upgrade involves minor improvements as well.
“About time,” Talon said, pacing. “You were out for over two hours. Border patrol is getting antsy out there.”
I rubbed my neck before popping to my feet. I must’ve slept through more of it than I’d realized. “Two hours? I thought it wasn’t even an hour.”
Talon scowled. “That’s because you were enjoying your nap, Princess.”
“Play nice,” Lyra chided, not looking up from scrolling through the screen on her armlet. “He doesn’t have any control over when his amp upgrades.”
“Then he better get control of his amp,” Talon said. “Unless he’s fine with his amp controlling him.”
He’s incorrect. I don’t control you. We have a symbiotic relationship. Inform him that upgrades are crucial to our wellbeing and survival, and, therefore, must take priority over all other activities.