Thrill switch, p.29
Thrill Switch, page 29
‘You’re not my father,’ I whispered, no longer straining to get away. ‘You’re a monster. A troll.’
Entown’s smile faltered on dad’s face then. But then he grinned again.
‘Very smart,’ he said. ‘But no matter. I’ll rape you with this face on and you’ll never be able to get it out of your head. You’ll know your friends betrayed you. Joon hasn’t contacted us to give up the file for you. He’s left you to die. That analyst of yours, Cline, let me use your avatar for this. He gave me your personal history so I could torture you better. He abandoned you like the reject you are. You’re alone in this world and you’ll die that way.’
That should have hurt. It didn’t. Because I wouldn’t die today. I’d never told Cline about what my avatar could do. Had kept that to myself. And this cretin had no idea either.
I started laughing harder.
I laughed as I twisted my right hand in its bonds to face my tormentor. Laughed as his grin turned to impotent rage. Laughed as he moved to pull down his pants and get his revenge.
I welcomed the effort. Beckoned it with the index finger on my left hand, curling it back. Once. Twice.
‘Set the body free and the spirit will soar,’ I said.
The Spider’s looked turned to confusion. He had no idea what was about to happen.
One final curl of the finger.
A blast of light shuddered out of my avatar. The bolt of destruction ripped Entown to oblivion. It melted the strap off my wrist as it seared through its code too. A chunk of my thigh rent off as well. I didn’t care. Didn’t feel it. All I felt was dark satisfaction of seeing my father’s imposter split to dust. Dad could rest now, forever. I’d never let Entown ever bring him up from the grave again. Dad could rest because I would never give up. Not until this was finished.
As quickly as it started, the beam cut off. I was left alone. Blessedly alone, on the table with my right hand free. I lay there panting for a moment until I realized this wasn’t really over. I wasn’t out of this yet.
I ripped my left wrist loose, unclasped my head, my feet, and swung off the table. My avatar had been cut to shreds and stuck back together again. My leg was a smoking ruin, but I didn’t care. Somehow, knowing my true body was intact gave me the strength to press forward.
I limped toward the torture chamber door. It swung open easily. The next room beyond was a simple space. A jack-out port there all ready to go. Entown’s portal to real-world murder. My portal to bring real justice to all worlds.
63
MY EYES SNAPPED open. My visor flipped upward. Cords swam around me, sticking out from the concrete walls and roof. I had a drip in my arm. Digital displays lit the room in a green and red glow. The room reeked of body odor and mildew. Of wonderful, boring reality.
Entown convulsed on the floor, still plugged in. His body was in full Stockholm Effect from his avatar being shattered. Blood oozed from his nostrils.
Suck a fat one, I thought.
I was tethered to the wall. A great harness was locked around my body, with tether straps on the roof as well—a way to fly or fall in virtual to stunning effect. This creep had taken precautions to keep my virtual prison real and my real prison secure. I turned and rattled the tethers. They were long enough for me to walk around a few feet in either direction if I wanted, but no further. Long enough to get to the end of my run disk. The end of my virtual prison. Frantically, I searched around for something to use as leverage. Something to snap the bolt around my harness. Nothing within reach.
Then Entown stopped shaking. He gasped. Groaned. Growled.
I struggled to slip out of my harness. It was too tight.
Entown heaved himself upright. He took his display helmet off. Shook his head clear. Looked my way. His real blue eyes bored a hole in my soul. Pure hate and loathing.
I backed up as far as I could. The tether on the roof forced me onto my tiptoes before I could get back right into the wall.
Slowly, Entown stood. He unhooked his cords, trembling. Drew a real knife from his belt. A real blade there would be no coming back from.
I backed up further.
‘You’ll pay for that, bitch,’ he sneered and rushed in.
I yelled with rage. Instead of backing up again, I sprinted forward to meet him.
The advance took Entown by surprise. I swung on the harness, up in a sweeping arc above the swipe of his blade. He staggered as his blow met air.
I kicked downward, sending his knife clattering to the ground. Spinning around mid-flight, I then lashed out at his face. He expertly ducked underneath and I hit only air. My swing hit the top of its arc and I sailed back toward him. He wobbled to the side but my lead thigh caught him on the shoulder. Sensing an advantage, I scissored both of my legs into a pincer grip around his neck. I locked my knees together tight. He struggled. Punched my thighs. Tried to get an arm through to break the lock. No chance. I’d never let that happen. He tore his fingers into my skin and ripped down. After the cutting of his blades in the Holos it felt like nothing. I wasn’t letting go for all the donuts in cop heaven. I gripped onto the roof harness to keep me up. Pulled his weight off the ground so he couldn’t get a purchase on the ground.
Entown had fed my body fluids through that drip while I was out. Kept me healthy for trading. For torturing. Now that I was free of the Stockholm Effect, my body surged with strength. I heaved him fully off the ground, his feet kicking free air.
Entown’s punches and scratches grew weaker. My grip grew tighter. I wrenched my thighs around his throat, squeezing off his grunts of effort. His hits became slaps. The slaps became grasping fingers. I roared with the effort it took to hold him up. Finally, he went slack beneath me. Still, I held on, making sure he was out cold. I squeezed tighter still until my legs shook.
Finally, I couldn’t hold on any longer and let him go. He splatted on the floor like the sack of shit he was. I followed him down, letting go of my harness straps and finding my feet. I searched Entown for weapons, pulling every blade from his pockets and tossing them away. Except one. I picked up the knife he’d dropped after my kick. Big. Sharp. Serrated. I used it to cut my harness off. The relief as each cord fell away must be what a butterfly feels breaking free of its chrysalis.
Then a noise from outside the room made me turn. Someone was rushing down the stairs outside. Toward this room. I swung around and held my knife high, ready to behead whoever stuck their neck in the door.
It swung open and I froze. Switch. Her face unmistakable. The features of a predator. I screamed then. Thrust my knife right at her eyes.
A hand from behind Switch surged up to meet mine, grabbing my wrist. A familiar head came into view. Joon.
‘Stop!’ he panted. ‘Ada. It’s alright.’
I struggled, not quite believing it. Was this another trick? Was I still in the Holos? Had I been duped to think I had jacked out when I hadn’t?
‘We’ve come to rescue you,’ Joon soothed. ‘This is Corpus, not Switch. Remember?’
I looked at Corpus. She met my gaze. There was warmth in her eyes. Understanding. Not the megalodon stare of her sister. It was still hard to believe it with all the adrenaline coursing through my system. This wasn’t Switch.
‘Looks like Detective Byron rescued herself,’ Corpus said, smiling at me and looking down at Entown’s body. ‘Maybe we’d better concentrate on locking up the others.’
Others? What others? My head spun.
Joon bent down to Entown, flipping him over. He wasted no time, tying the killer up with the harness straps I’d cut to the ground. Joon checked Entown’s vitals, all precision and professionalism.
‘Did I kill him?’ I asked, hopeful.
‘No,’ Joon said. ‘He’s alive. Just. A good thing too. He’ll make a good witness once he realizes how he’s been manipulated.’
I didn’t understand. Sense was slowly returning to me but anxiety continued its grip on my system. I was waiting for the rug to be pulled out and the veil to lift into torture once more.
Then I did understand. The file. Corpus. They’d cracked it. They knew who was involved. Had evidence to prove it. This thing was over. It was really over.
I’d done it. We’d done it. The Specter Conspiracy would come crashing down.
64
TURMOIL GRIPPED THE station. Corrupt police filled the holding cells. Cline mumbled some weak apology as I walked him to lockup. I ignored his words for the pathetic excuses they were and shoved him into his cage. The door snapped shut and I walked away. He was dead to me now. I could have ranted and raved. Called him a traitor. Spat on him. No one would have looked sideways at me. I didn’t need to though. There was no closure in stepping on a squirming rat. He was finished. I had bigger vermin to crush. There was no time to worry about the darkness and anxiety that still churned deep inside me. I had purpose to drive me forward. With shaking hands yet a driven mind, I continued on my way.
Mendez led a tight ship rounding everyone up. She felt responsible that this happened under her watch. She showed no mercy to anyone, even those who had minor roles. They’d done it for money. Broken their vows as law enforcers in order to expand their influence into the virtual world. I was still breathless at the scope of it.
The FBI had been infiltrated as well. Joon had spearheaded the skewering of that side. Had teamed up with a few he trusted to help. There was more he had to do there but, for now, he was here. We had some questions that needed answering. Gaps that needed filling. There were three people who had those gaps in their heads. The first two were in adjoining questioning rooms.
I strode into the first room. Senator Sheila Rommel sat there in cuffs. There was no fight in her, just resignation. She’d seen the news reports; knew it was a matter of time until we’d proven everything beyond doubt. Jail would be a blessing. If she was let loose to roam into the real world, Holos zealots would find her and kill her.
I settled into the seat across from the senator. Joon stood behind me. I steepled my fingers, ready for interrogation.
‘Senator,’ I said steadily, ‘you know what charges have been leveled at you. You entered a conspiracy with Filton Fukami to manipulate cryptocurrency markets for your gain. You told Fukami early on about the inclusion of Mercury into your bill so he could buy it at a low price and get rich as the popularity of the bill spread. He in turn agreed to say on record that the exemption of the virtual murder, rape, and torture of AI-powered avatars was progress. It was a way to have his supporters feel like they’d won at least something. Better business for everyone. More Mercury-tracked tax for the government. Laws passed for you. You killed Christos Rama when he uncovered the conspiracy and was set to blow it open. You killed Lilith when she told you that she would never back Mercury. That she would use all her influence to keep the Holos anonymous with SureCoin. You had Entown Stephenson generate fear around the Specter killings to initially blow out the odds on your policy before the public used the reality of those killings as fuel to get behind new laws. Stephenson thought he was keeping the Holos totally free, when really you used him to do the opposite. It was working too. I saw the polling numbers. After you released that blurred footage of him and made adjustments to your policy, the odds for the bill dropped like a stone. Your laws were much more attractive with the ability to track killers and other criminals through their Mercury accounts. Even the civil unrest caused by the trolls’ threats worked in your favor. People don’t respond well to threats. You knew that. They’d swing back to support law and order for safety once it was offered after the chaos of riots.’
Senator Rommel was silent, so I continued.
‘You know the evidence against you has been supported by your master file. How it was all mapped out. Corpus cracked it open for us. You can now choose to make things easy, confess fully and get secure detention at a fortified facility for life, or risk the death penalty for being instrumental in the murders. Ironic you brought that back into Nevada law, isn’t it?’
The Senator was still for quite a while. She then slowly nodded.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I was part of this conspiracy. But I was not the mastermind.’
I glanced toward the mirror on the wall. I hoped the person on the other side was paying close attention.
‘And who is the mastermind then?’ I continued. ‘You’re at the top of the chain in the file.’
Senator Rommel shook her head. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘He’s high up in the military. That’s why I agreed to go along. Our military complex is the only thing that can run this country properly. Bureaucracy is too inefficient. Democracy is dead. I trust a true chain of command more than I trust some parliament.’
‘And why do you think he’s military?’ I asked, not wanting to get drawn into the political argument.
‘Because he told me so,’ she said blankly.
‘And you just accepted that?’ I scoffed. ‘Couldn’t he be lying if you never got a face or name?’
‘No,’ she said, gaining confidence. ‘No one could pull the intel and planning together for this if they weren’t military. No one had that kind of access or knowledge of Entown Stephenson.’
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Let’s assume that’s true for just a moment. Was it you or this ‘mastermind’ that approached Entown to be a part of the plan?’
‘That was the mastermind’s idea,’ Senator Rommel said without pausing. ‘I wasn’t lying when I said Stephenson was a national threat. I supported using him only because I knew it would lure Entown out of hiding. He was a liability to the military. I thought if we could pin this on him, and have him caught once he’d done his job, it would kill two birds with one stone. The mastermind convinced me it would work and that he knew where Entown was hiding in the Holos.’
‘So that’s why you agreed to have Switch released?’ I said. ‘Because you really thought she’d lead us to Corpus, which would lead to catching Entown?’
Rommel nodded. ‘I also thought bringing Switch to justice in the real world might lead to knowing how she carried out her executions. If we know how she killed virtually, there will be security applications for it.’
Rommel looked drained at the admission, like she couldn’t quite believe it hadn’t worked out exactly how she’d hoped.
‘So by learning Switch’s techniques you want more ways to kill America’s enemies?’ Joon said next to me. ‘A way to have ultimate power over the Holos as well?’
‘You have to know, I was thinking of the country when I did this,’ Rommel insisted.
‘Really?’ Joon said flatly. ‘You murdered and planned to get rich for the good of the country.’
‘It’s not murder if it’s war,’ she said, exasperated. ‘The Holos needs laws. You know that as well as I do. It’s chaos in there. Strict laws wouldn’t pass but key ones needed to. The safety of people is paramount. The government needs tax to run. Mercury would allow the tracking of taxes and the tracking of criminals. It was the perfect solution. So what if I made some money in the process? It meant that Filton would get on board more easily. Everyone knows he’s greedier than a fox and more cunning than one too.’
‘You seem to have thought about it a lot,’ I arched an eyebrow. ‘But you didn’t plan this? That’s hard to believe.’
‘I…’
I held up a hand to stop the senator’s reply.
‘I have to say,’ I spoke over her. ‘I’m disappointed in you, Sheila. I thought you had a vision. I thought you had the country’s interests at heart. That you were looking out for me too. Now I know you’re just a selfish bitch who only cares about herself and her ambitions. That you’ll use people and say whatever they want to hear to get them on your side. You’re like Switch. I’ve had enough of your lies.’
Rommel opened her mouth to reply but I nodded toward the mirror. ‘I think he’s had enough of them too.’
Joon clicked his wrist-comm. The glass of the mirror went clear. Behind it, cuffed to a chair, was Entown Stephenson. His monstrous eyes could have melted the glass between him and the room. He kicked out with his metal leg which thudded on the glass. His hands were bound by three separate manacles. His neck was cuffed to the high-backed chair he was in. The door had been triple bolted and an FBI and police guard stood outside.
The senator’s face went white.
‘Now you have a very dangerous enemy there,’ I said. ‘One who knows you betrayed him—by your own admission. We can play it back again if you like.’
The senator looked up at me in panic, then to the now clear mirror.
‘But it wasn’t my plan,’ she stammered. ‘The mastermind was the one who contacted him first. He knows that. I was just following orders.’
‘Right,’ Joon said sarcastically. ‘It was the boogie man who did it. I had the FBI put you under surveillance as soon as you’d been threatened. Not because I thought you were in danger, but because I thought you could be behind it. This whole time you’ve never been in touch with some mastermind. You’ve been in touch with Fukami to talk about the bill—but I passed that off as politicking, not collusion. I should have had my team record all of your discussions with him. Now that we have the whole picture, we know better.’
Rommel looked frantic. She kept glancing at Stephenson, then us, grasping for something to say.
‘But the master hasn’t been in touch since the plan was deployed. He cut ties on purpose. He said he had to make sure the policy market process went smoothly from inside the Senate.’
The words died on her tongue as if she knew the excuse was a weak one.
‘So it’s another senator now, not military?’ Joon asked. ‘This is sounding familiar. You already accused Fukami at the start of the case when he was supposed to be your ally. Did you plan to double-cross him too?’
‘If I’d done this, why would I have listed myself in that file as a player?’ Rommel snapped. ‘Why? I didn’t even know what was in that file. I thought Christos had some of my transaction details as his proof. Truly.’
