Thrill switch, p.24
Thrill Switch, page 24
‘What you got is footage of you beating a suspect. Who cares if it’s in virtual? We’re supposed to uphold justice. How do you think this would play out in court? Do you think you’ll look like a hero? And you,’ he turned to me. ‘What do you think Mendez will say when she sees this? She told you to act with integrity after your last virtual stunt. It’s not just about the law. It’s about being a fucking professional.
‘We didn’t…’ I said.
‘Clean out your locker, Byron, you’re done. Get out.’
Fear flared inside me. This couldn’t be how it finished. I hadn’t done anything wrong. Had I?
‘No, I…’
‘Out!’ Gibson roared, taking a step toward me.
I fell silent. He was serious. Deadly serious. All heat left my body. I felt suddenly cold.
Joon shuffled to the side of me. He tapped his wrist-comm. He’d totally screwed me and now he was sending text messages? I clenched my jaw wanting to say something. Gibson gave me a shove toward the door.
‘Now, Byron,’ he said. ‘I never want to see you again.’
He turned on Joon then. ‘As for you. I can’t wait to show the FBI this.’
‘Neither can I,’ Joon snapped. ‘They’ll actually watch the whole thing.’
I didn’t wait for the rest of the conversation. Numb, I left. I took one last look at Cline who watched me with sad eyes. Gibson turned and grabbed the door, slamming it in my face. I was finished. My life as a cop was over. Everything I thought I was—gone.
47
I LEFT THE station in a daze. The whole world seemed surreal. I drifted through the streets, walking without direction. Nothing seemed tangible—like a waking dream. Next thing I knew I was sitting in my apartment alone with my head in my hands. I wasn’t even sure how I got there. I looked around at my place. Tidy furniture. Organized benchtops. The picture of Dad and me. Clean windows looked out onto our building’s garden. I used to feel safe here. Centered. Now I couldn’t even think of it as real. It was just something I’d manufactured over the years. A cubicle to live in that meant nothing. The last weeks had pulled the entire fabric of reality out from under me. Could I still be in the Holos somehow and have everything twisted? Was I really in my apartment, or was I somewhere else jacked in? No. My fingers went to my thumb where dad’s wedding ring sat. Cold metal like his cold body. Like my cold soul. I spun it on my thumb and stared at the deep scratch in the side of it. How had I gotten to this point? I’d been so excited when getting assigned a murder case. I thought that I’d start making a real difference as a detective. Then it had turned to Switch. Always Switch. She poisoned everything in my world. But then, hadn’t I made my whole world about her? About trying to understand her? About bringing sense to what she’d done? About stopping anyone like her from tearing other family’s lives apart? And where had that gotten me? My own life in ruins, confused about the nature of things, totally unable to grab onto anything. My wrist-comm buzzed, scaring me. Joon was calling. I ripped the thing off and threw it against the wall where it kept buzzing. I held my breath, waiting for the noise to stop. Finally, it fell silent but my mind didn’t. A jumble of self-loathing and regret flooded through me, tearing me further from the banks of sanity and order.
I slapped myself in the face, hard, just to feel something real. It stung. I slapped again. Again. Again. The physical sensation was something to cling to.
Or was it?
Wasn’t that pathetic pain just something else you could make up in the Holos? The Stockholm Effect writ large?
I was sweating, my hands clammy. My cheeks burned. My hair was wild. The wrist-comm buzzed for a while again, then stilled. I went to the drawer where I kept my Colt and unlocked it. Drew the gun out. The chill of its metal kiss felt solid against my palm. Now this was real, wasn’t it? A vintage. A classic. An original. I turned the gun over in my hands, studying the barrel. Just another creation of the human mind. A creation that could also destroy, though. The ability to turn ones into zeros. I sat down again, staring at the weapon. Was this the ultimate reality in front of me? A way to log out of everything and truly see what was on the other side. A way to escape thought. A way to escape the Holos. A way to escape life. A way to escape Switch. Was darkness the only true reality? Or was there something else there on the other side?
Something wet dripped down onto the gun. I realized I was crying. My throat clenched in pain. I sobbed, gripping the Colt and flicking off the safety.
My breath shuddered.
I tried to fixate on a thought that might stop me. Any thought.
So many things clambered inside me, it was all just a blur of fear and anxiety and despair and uncertainty. Was there a purpose to all of this? Why was I even alive? Was I alive? Should I just finish it and be sure for once?
Then Switch’s face intruded like it always did. That shark’s look. Her words: ‘Is the solid world real, or just another simulation? The only way to find out, to jack out of the master simulation, is to die and burst up from the darkness.’
I raised the gun, aimed, and squeezed the trigger.
A bullet ripped out of it and slammed into the window of my apartment. The glass shattered. Desert heat flooded inside the climate-controlled space—nature invading the fake.
Fuck Switch. I wouldn’t do it. I’d never kill myself. I wouldn’t let her get to me.
That thought sparked another. My chest constricted. She’d said those exact words to every one of her last interviewers. The only way to find out, to jack out of the master simulation, is to die and burst up from the darkness.
I’d watched those clips again and again. I thought it was repetitive. Was that because Switch had an agenda there? Is that why they’d done it? Killed themselves? Was being in her presence while she said it an extra trigger that made the words sink in even more. Suddenly, I was sure of it. I’d experienced that will of presence when she’d grabbed me. She’d held my arm firmly, despite me knowing I should be able to break free. The combination of her persuasive words and her dominating aura would be a death sentence. Here I was thinking about ending it and I’d only seen the videos.
I clicked the safety of my Colt back on and let it fall to the ground. I wouldn’t let her control me. Not anymore. I needed to be free of her. As long as she sat in that simulated cage, she was still a threat. We needed to catch her for real. Pull her out of the digital world where she held the power. Expose her into the harsh light of day and show everyone she was just flesh and blood like the rest of us. Not a god. Not a devil. Just a sick person. I needed to put her into the past. Embrace the reality of the case I had to solve now. It was so much bigger than my shit. So much bigger than a specter who was now simply haunting my world.
And I had a way to do that. Rommel wanted to let Switch lead us to save her brother, Corpus. I’d been wrong to resist it. I needed to embrace that fear. Cautiously, but clearly.
Yet I’d blown that chance. The thought made the tentacles of despair work to pull me down again. The police would be able to do it without me. Shouldn’t I be happy with that at least? But did I trust them to do it right? I couldn’t just sit by.
My wrist-comm buzzed again. I ignored it, shaking my head clear. How could I convince Gibson and Mendez to keep me on the team? No one was going to do that for me. I had no friends in this. I thought I’d had Joon but he’d turned selfish as soon as his own want for vengeance took over.
A banging on the door made me jump. ‘Ada, you in there?’ Joon’s voice. ‘Ada?!’ Another loud knock.
I stood up to go to the door when a bigger thud sounded. Another. Was he trying to kick the thing in? With his skinny legs?
I strode forward and jerked the door open just as Joon kicked. He stumbled forward as he hit air and fell face-first into my arms. I grabbed him, steadied him. He held my biceps and heaved himself up.
‘Oh, thank God,’ he said.
Then he realized he was hugging me, holding my arms. We both took an awkward step backward to create space between us.
‘I heard the gunshot when I was on the street,’ he said. ‘I thought…’
I turned to the shattered window, glass everywhere. ‘I just needed some space to breathe.’
‘No time,’ he said. ‘Didn’t you see my calls? My messages?’
I thought about the buzzing wrist-comm and shook my head.
‘Rommel has organized to clear a deal with Switch, but she’s insisting you’re on the team.’
‘What?’ I said. ‘But what about Gibson? What about Bleesh and Mendez?’
Joon shook his head, smiling.
‘You left in too much of a rush. That idiot Gibson had no idea what he was talking about. I did have something. I memorized Chip’s master password. I saw the numbers when I was in his head. It unlocked his security software and let Cline log into all Bleesh’s accounts. I refused to leave before they looked. It was the jackpot. It proves he’s both Bleesh and Chance Bradley. He’s been calling for riots in the real world as both personalities. He’s played a big role in what’s been happening on the Vegas Strip, telling people to jack out and seek justice on one hand and spewing full-freedom rhetoric on the other. They’re charging him for inciting violence and for hate speech.’
‘What?’ I could barely believe it.
‘The announcement is going to go out tonight to pull attention away from the fact we’re closing in on the killer. As long as you help us get terms with Switch.’
‘But the interrogation footage,’ I said. ‘Didn’t Mendez see it?’
Now Joon really smiled. ‘Cline “accidentally” deleted it,’ he said. ‘You know, he’s not really such a bad guy. We didn’t need that footage with the data from Chip’s equipment. Now it’s just his shitty word against ours.’
I was floored. Maybe people did have my back after all. Rommel did certainly. She’d insisted I be part of the team. Cline had saved my skin. Joon had rushed to my place and tried to kick the door down when he thought I was in danger. The thought of it made me well up with sudden emotion. I had friends. Partners. People who took me seriously as a cop. I still didn’t feel proud of what I’d done with Chip, but it did get results. Was that justice? I’d need to make up for it and prove I could do better. That I could solve this thing once and for all. I knew I could.
‘When do we talk to Switch?’ I asked.
‘Rommel is meeting us first thing in the morning at the digital confinement facility,’ he said. ‘She needs us to be ready for a full briefing first. Get as much rest as you can. We’ll need to be as sharp as possible if we’re going to pull this off.’
48
SENATOR ROMMEL STORMED into the digital confinement facility carrying a folder. Joon and I were already waiting with the Sheriff. We stood to attention as Rommel entered. With her were the Chief Justice and the District Attorney of Nevada. Wrinkles from a lifetime of making hard decisions were etched into both their faces. Rommel nodded toward the public surveillance camera in the corner for a moment. I looked up and the red light blinked out, before coming on yellow. I’d never seen that before.
‘Now we can talk,’ Rommel started. ‘Your killer’s name is Entown Stephenson. That doesn’t leave this room.’
The directness of her approach took me off guard. She obviously felt like there wasn’t enough time for pleasantries. Rommel stared hard at both of us to reinforce the importance of what she’d just said. Nothing left this room. But the name meant nothing to me.
‘In government terms,’ Rommel continued, ‘Stephenson is probably the most dangerous man alive.’
She let the words sink in for a moment. The Chief Justice and District Attorney both shifted their feet.
‘So who is he?’ Joon asked.
‘He’s the assassin who brought down the Kim regime in Korea.’
‘The Savior of Seoul?’ Joon gasped. ‘What? But he’s a hero!’ Joon’s confusion deepened as he thought. ‘He died killing Kim Yo-jong, didn’t he?’
‘No such luck,’ Rommel handed me the paper file she was holding. ‘None of this is saved in any drive or database. I had to pull an ungodly number of strings to get the classified clearances. I didn’t even know his identity during the war—and I was a senior officer. This is what we have on him now.’
The folder felt like there was nothing in it. When I opened the thing, there were only two pieces of paper inside.
‘I’ll burn those after reading,’ she said. ‘Don’t say anything more aloud, in case there are extra bugs in here.’
Joon shuffled close and started reading over my shoulder. On the page was a military record of our killer. It was stamped ‘Honorably Discharged’, followed by a list of specialties: Bomb expert. Munitions expert. Poisons expert. Mixed martial arts expert. Master of hostile infiltration. Master of disguise. Adept at enhanced interrogation. Court Martialed for war crimes—murder of civilians, rape and torture to gain intelligence. Pardoned because of extreme, complex PTSD resulting from his successful missions during the Peninsula Unification Wars. Left leg amputated from the hip. Severe body dysmorphia. Possible psychopathy. Put into a virtual rehabilitation program because of the danger he posed to himself and others. Acted out violent fantasies constantly in virtual reality. Attempted same in physical world. After unsuccessful rehabilitation, was imprisoned at a maximum security facility in solitary confinement but allowed to roam in the Holos for services rendered to his country. Became attached to the idea of absolute freedom in both worlds. Escaped confinement but injured during. Last known whereabouts, Las Vegas outer limits. Thought to have perished in the desert. No body recovered.
All of this info fit with what Fukami had told us. That there was a soldier in one of his programs who wanted to join the Guardians of the Web. That he was a genius, but twisted. Fukami had said he didn’t know his name. He was just a number. Not any more. Our killer had an identity. But was this guy working alone? Or did he have help from somewhere? The uncertainty weighed me down. I didn’t want to rush headlong into this. Normally, full-sprint ahead was my only setting. Perhaps that had to change.
‘So as far as the world knows, he died a hero in Pyongyang?’ I asked.
Rommel simply nodded.
‘And you say you didn’t know him personally?’ Joon asked carefully.
‘No,’ Rommel said blankly. ‘He was part of special forces, not under my command of ground troops. But I had heard about him. He’s a real piece of work. A pit bull that was let off his leash instead of being put down. He’s a stain on our international reputation when it comes to my war. We need to shut him down, immediately.’
Her war? This was personal.
‘We’re willing to negotiate with Switch if it means she can lead us to Corpus,’ Rommel continued. ‘We’ll then set a military-led sting and take Stephenson down when he arrives at Corpus’s location.’
‘Military sting?’ I asked. I wanted to be the one who caught him.
‘That’s part of the deal. No way around it. He’s too dangerous. You know Switch better than anyone, so you can arrest her with your police SWAT team. You’ll get full credit for arresting Switch and also get a commendation for saving Corpus. But we lay the trap for Stephenson. We’ll kill him on sight. There will be no risking him getting away. If it makes you feel better, I’ll let you be there as a witness. Make sure he’s dead as well for your own satisfaction. I owe you that much.’
‘But what about a trial?’ Joon said. ‘What about an explanation for the public?’
‘No trial,’ Rommel said. ‘We know he’s guilty. We have the footage of him at the scene with the murder weapon in his hand. If you’re lucky, you’ll have Corpus crack this file you think he has. That will be explanation enough. Stephenson’s identity will be redacted from all records though. We don’t want him being linked to the government in any way.’
I closed the folder and handed it to Joon. ‘I still don’t like it,’ I said. ‘What if Switch tries to pull something? What if we’re too late to find Corpus?’
‘We’re never releasing Switch from prison after this,’ Rommel replied. ‘It’s an extra win that we’ll have physically caught her after all these years. A silver lining in this whole dirty business. You’ll be one of the most well-regarded detectives in the world for locking her up.’
Still, the idea unsettled me. There was something wrong with this. Perhaps Switch was better off in digital confinement. Even with all her boasting about being able to break out, she hadn’t been able to actually do it in seven long years. The transfer would be a big risk. Did Rommel only want this case wrapped up because her policy was on the brink of being accepted? The motivation wasn’t pure. But did motivations matter if the result was right? I wanted time to run through the case again properly. Tease out all the tangled strands. The file. Fukami. Bleesh. Corpus. Switch. This Spider—Stephenson. It felt like it could all still click without doing this deal. We didn’t have time though. Didn’t I want this anyway? It would mean I’d finally be free of Switch. Finally be able to rest at night knowing I’d done my part. My career would be cemented. I just had to push through my fears to get there.
‘I’ve asked my colleagues here to sign off on any terms Switch might want,’ Rommel interrupted my thoughts, indicating the District Attorney and Chief Justice. ‘You’re plugging in now.’
Joon was already preparing to jack in. He had a specially designed confinement helmet in hand and was pushing the dials. The fact that he wanted to go in gave me much-needed confidence. This had to be our best chance to save Corpus. Joon had the file and no one else knew it. If we got to Corpus and he could hack it, everything would unravel.
Joon handed me my confinement helmet.
‘Right,’ I said to Rommel. ‘We’ll be back shortly.’
49
SWITCH LEAPT UP as soon as we entered. It was unlike all the other times. Rather than feigned indifference, she was fully engaged.
‘Did you find Corpus?’ she asked right away.
