9. Mecha-beef #2
Denji stood, arms akimbo, looking rather proud of his creation after Boyband’s admiration for the animatronic meat. “I’ve been uploading your parents’ data since you left. I told you I was close before, but I think I’ve got just about everything now.”
David’s eye centered on Boyband.
Boyband smiled. “He’s looking at me! How are you doing, bud?”
“I am suffering. Are you not merciful enough to end my existence?”
Boyband chuckled. “Zeg, you’re funny.”
Naoma whispered to me. “He knows that thing isn’t joking, right?”
I looked at her, tried to take it seriously to respect that odd little organism, but neither of us could help but laugh. “I hope so.”
“Why are we laughing?” She couldn’t suppress a grin.
Because maybe we Imps feel the same way and this is some sick irony. That thought ended the humor for me. I shrugged, kept the smile for her, and focused back on Boyband.
“Can I leave?” Akna asked, looking anywhere but at David.
“This might be important.” Abbas patted her on the back, his disgust apparent as he looked at David.
“Try him out,” Denji said.
“What do you mean?” Boyband asked.
“He’s got your parents’ research uploaded to his mind, ask him anything you want.”
“Wait,” Ralia asked, covering David from her view with an outstretched hand. “Why did you have to upload their data into that crawling meat pillar? You could have just given it to me.”
“Look, I don’t know you all yet–”
Boyband interrupted Denji. “Yeah you do, we’re right here.”
“I mean… we just met. I’m sure you’re a good person, Ralia, but I can’t just toss all of this data–most of which is Luxist research–to someone I hardly know.
Not only that, but I can’t be sure that your internal storage is secure.
You even said one of your mods is down, which entails that your security is not infallible. ”
“So you trust a meat pillar.”
“Yes. David is mine. I created him and therefore trust is automatic.”
“You’re trusting a meat pillar over me?”
He held his hand out. “I started creating him before I knew you were going to come and settle here–which I must add, I don’t mind.
It gets lonely around here when all the others want to do is meditate, but maybe that’s my problem.
Again, Ralia, it doesn’t mean I won’t trust you.
I think I can, but that isn’t the only reason I uploaded everything to David.
I didn’t even trust myself. David is his own entity.
No neurospace, no neuronet access. While you can access him to extract files, it’s all done with light lines.
David is a safe storage and if he falls into the wrong hands, I doubt they’ll think anything of him. ”
“How can you be sure?” I asked.
“Please, bowl-cut boy, end my life.”
Denji smiled and pointed at him. “Would you want to steal that? I love him, but he’s not the most attractive spoil to take.”
“I gotcha, I gotcha,” Ralia said.
“Why did we have to bring him back again?” Akna asked.
I gave them a brief explanation of our time at Water Hills but deferred their questions about Kalacia to focus on my theory concerning Boyband’s enrollment. Ralia could explain the neurocore thing later
Akna furrowed her brow. “So you think his parents wanted him to find a job as a celebrity to escape the weight of their empire?”
“I don’t know, but I think they had a purpose in sending him to a school that feeds corporations with lackeys.” I looked at David.
“And you think that thing might have an idea?” Abbas asked. “Again, I get that this is important and all, but if we’re just going to toss aside our Reef and Haven connection discoveries, why did we go in the first place?”
“To make sure we’re not being haunted by Haven,” Ralia said.
“We already have too many assassins out for us, but that might change soon. Pet and I are working on that. We also don’t want to cut our ties with the presidency.
If we are going to try and end these ten Beacons and the tide, we’ll need connections to the elite.
So far, three of the Beacons have been among them. ”
“Was Deleon really an elite?”
She laughed. “You’re an invaluable resource right now, Abbas.
” She continued to speak through his smile.
For once, he looked like he felt valued without the sting of his betrayal.
“And if this provides a route for Naoma to use her Reef connections without reaching out to them out of the blue, all the better. You gotta remember, the network the elite use goes beyond the one on the neuronet. You plug?”
He nodded. “I guess so.”
“Good, because we’ll need you and Aknie to keep an eye out while we vermin work in the sewers.”
He and Akna shared a grin, filling me with that rare warmth. The memories of my family were ghosts, but I felt that same love growing here.
Still, that didn’t diminish the ache of missing Matvey. Where had my brother gone? What would he think of me now?
“Back to what we were saying.” Boyband scratched David’s top. “If there is any information on what my parents were hoping to do by sending me to Water Hills, it’ll be in David.”
“Your caressing feels nice.”
Boyband smiled at David’s remark. “Hey! That’s a positive thought!”
“I imagine this is how death feels. Will you please grant it unto me?”
“No, bud, we need some help.”
“Yet I plead for aid and you deny it?”
“Killing you isn’t going to help anyone.” He looked up at Denji. “Maybe tone down the formal talk a bit? I don’t like him acting like he is smarter than me.”
“With your parent’s data in his mind, he kind of is.”
Boyband sighed and shook his head. “Do I just ask him about my parents or do we need to hook up a light line?”
“No,” Denji said. “You should be able to access everything conversationally. More reliable than AI or looking blindly through a system. While his personality might sound like… well… he was made to be a Luxist like me, so he should want nothing more than to help you.”
“David?” Boyband asked.
David eyed him. I sighed when the thing did not reply.
“I need you to look for–no… how about… Why did my parents send me to Water Hills?”
“Because they loved you.”
Boyband looked up at Denji as if to ask, “Really?”
Denji nodded and waved for him to continue.
“Why did my parents care about Water Hills?”
“Be more descriptive,” said Denji. “Almost treat him as if he’s a search engine.”
Boyband nodded. “What does Water Hills have to do with my parents’ Luxist interests? Specifically, the Correction.”
“Water Hills is not connected to the Correction.”
“What? Of course it is. It’s a school for Light’s sake. Right, Denji?”
The monk shrugged. “Look, as far as I know, the other Luxists sent you to the first educational institution that came to mind, noting your parents’ work. Maybe they were pursuing a different avenue and the other monks told you to hit up Water Hills because they figured the two were connected.”
“Were my parents researching the Correction, David?”
“Their research shows they gave it some thought, but much of their interest focused on local pharmaceutical conspiracies and the PTA at Water Hills.”
Ralia laughed. “I always got the ick from PTAs, didn’t all of you?”
“Didn’t have them in Medislavia,” I said.
“Same for West Arabasia,” Abbas added.
“I don’t remember school,” Naoma said.
Ralia rolled her eyes. “They’re a bunch of helicopter parents who want to not only manipulate their kids, but the entire school. I’m sure they used to have good intentions decades ago, but I hated mine. Some mom was always telling me what to do.”
“Focus, Ral,” Boyband said.
She smiled. “That’s a first from you.”
He ignored her and continued to speak with David. “What did the PTA do?”
“According to their conclusion, the PTA is responsible for selecting successful students.”
“The zeg does that mean?” Akna scoffed.
Boyband looked at me. “Du, you think your theory holds up?”
I nodded to David. “Ask him.”
“Does Water Hills make some kids celebrities and toss the others to random corps?”
“I suppose that is similar enough to the truth. Parents bid with a variety of stocks and other forms of bribery for their children’s success, though the amount is hidden from the others.
High tuition does not guarantee success, but the highest bidders earn the best teachers, those who prepare the highest pupils to excel as performers, managers, and other lucrative positions that will put them in the spotlight of society.
Those who fail are seeded to sponsoring corporations to fill unwanted positions needed for corporate success. ”
“Okay, that’s zegged up, but why do my parents care who the school makes it into a celebrity? Did they really want me out of the family business that badly?”
“Playing prerecorded message: the last will and testament of Robierre and Collette Eclaine.”