finish the job.
If she had stuck to valenC’s rules and map, it would have taken her another full day of riding to reach the hideout; going her own way got her there in twenty minutes, just as she was flicking away the butt of the last cigarette from her headband and fishing in her bag for the pack. She only smoked like this when she was really anxious. Or scared. Just now she was both.
The hideout was actually a lush apartment in a newish upscale high rise building in the northwest part of downtown. She didn’t bother putting her fresh cigarette out as she walked in; the husky young man at the front desk glanced at her as she walked past but said nothing. She walked right to the elevator, filling the lobby with smoke all the way, and got in, taking it up sixteen stories with no stops on the way. There was a ding when the button under the 16 lit up.
“A little early, aren’t we?” The man’s voice reached her just as the door began to open.
Skexka jumped and dropped her cigarette, but then, seeing who it was, she sighed and hastily pulled another out and lit it. The man out in the hallway was wearing a neon pink balaclava over his face, the kind that had been passed out by the thousands during the Russian mass-demonstrations. Based on his mask, his immense height and the bulging barrel chest Skexka knew this man was Io, valenC’s right-hand man (or broken lap-dog, depending on your perspective).
“Hello, Io,” she said, stepping out into the hallway. “Didn’t feel like sleeping in garage. Tired of this. And valenC’s rules absurd. Wanted to finish on own terms.”
Io just smiled at her for a while, and then he said, “Still have that unique way of talking, huh? Cute. Hey you’ve got some ash…” He reached a calloused hand out, apparently trying to brush off a bit of cigarette ash that had stuck to her shirt right over her left breast, but she jerked away.
“Fuck off,” she said, brushing the ash away herself.
“You know,” he said, “we could go down the hall to my place before you go see VC. I got some cheap wine and a soft bed.”
“I haven’t showered in a week.”
“So what?” He leaned toward her and inhaled deeply, exaggeratedly. “You smell just the way I want you to smell. And I bet you’re aching for it after all that time alone on the road.”
“I said fuck off,” she said fiercely. But as she looked into his ravenous eyes she knew at that moment that if he was determined she would have no hope of defending herself against his sheer size and strength. In as cold and even a voice as she could manage, she said, “I’m sure valenC will be pleased to know why you kept him from getting delivery for so long.”
The way his beady eyes stared back was so full of disgust she thought he might hit her. In that stare she saw all of the rage and exhaustion of being a mediocre hacker forced to lick the feet of a stronger master in order to avoid drowning in the tide of their changing world.
“Follow,” he said hollowly. He turned and opened the door across from the elevator and she followed him through it.
The apartment was big—the front room’s ceiling was two floors above—but it in no way matched the ornate décor of the lobby; valenC had really made himself at home here. The front room was empty except for a stack of cardboard boxes on one wall and a grime-streaked refrigerator on the opposite one next to a built-in electric stove. In the next room Skexka could see what must have been ten million dollars in servers and high-end computing equipment. Countless LEDs and screen lights lit the dark, and she could see vague movement as AC people worked at whatever important tasks had been assigned to them. Rather than heading for this hacker’s den, Io led her to the stairs on the other side and up towards a closed door.
“In,” a hoarse voice said the moment they reached the landing. The voice appeared to have come from the door itself.
Io opened the door and led the way
If she had stuck to valenC’s rules and map, it would have taken her another full day of riding to reach the hideout; going her own way got her there in twenty minutes, just as she was flicking away the butt of the last cigarette from her headband and fishing in her bag for the pack. She only smoked like this when she was really anxious. Or scared. Just now she was both.
The hideout was actually a lush apartment in a newish upscale high rise building in the northwest part of downtown. She didn’t bother putting her fresh cigarette out as she walked in; the husky young man at the front desk glanced at her as she walked past but said nothing. She walked right to the elevator, filling the lobby with smoke all the way, and got in, taking it up sixteen stories with no stops on the way. There was a ding when the button under the 16 lit up.
“A little early, aren’t we?” The man’s voice reached her just as the door began to open.
Skexka jumped and dropped her cigarette, but then, seeing who it was, she sighed and hastily pulled another out and lit it. The man out in the hallway was wearing a neon pink balaclava over his face, the kind that had been passed out by the thousands during the Russian mass-demonstrations. Based on his mask, his immense height and the bulging barrel chest Skexka knew this man was Io, valenC’s right-hand man (or broken lap-dog, depending on your perspective).
“Hello, Io,” she said, stepping out into the hallway. “Didn’t feel like sleeping in garage. Tired of this. And valenC’s rules absurd. Wanted to finish on own terms.”
Io just smiled at her for a while, and then he said, “Still have that unique way of talking, huh? Cute. Hey you’ve got some ash…” He reached a calloused hand out, apparently trying to brush off a bit of cigarette ash that had stuck to her shirt right over her left breast, but she jerked away.
“Fuck off,” she said, brushing the ash away herself.
“You know,” he said, “we could go down the hall to my place before you go see VC. I got some cheap wine and a soft bed.”
“I haven’t showered in a week.”
“So what?” He leaned toward her and inhaled deeply, exaggeratedly. “You smell just the way I want you to smell. And I bet you’re aching for it after all that time alone on the road.”
“I said fuck off,” she said fiercely. But as she looked into his ravenous eyes she knew at that moment that if he was determined she would have no hope of defending herself against his sheer size and strength. In as cold and even a voice as she could manage, she said, “I’m sure valenC will be pleased to know why you kept him from getting delivery for so long.”
The way his beady eyes stared back was so full of disgust she thought he might hit her. In that stare she saw all of the rage and exhaustion of being a mediocre hacker forced to lick the feet of a stronger master in order to avoid drowning in the tide of their changing world.
“Follow,” he said hollowly. He turned and opened the door across from the elevator and she followed him through it.
The apartment was big—the front room’s ceiling was two floors above—but it in no way matched the ornate décor of the lobby; valenC had really made himself at home here. The front room was empty except for a stack of cardboard boxes on one wall and a grime-streaked refrigerator on the opposite one next to a built-in electric stove. In the next room Skexka could see what must have been ten million dollars in servers and high-end computing equipment. Countless LEDs and screen lights lit the dark, and she could see vague movement as AC people worked at whatever important tasks had been assigned to them. Rather than heading for this hacker’s den, Io led her to the stairs on the other side and up towards a closed door.
“In,” a hoarse voice said the moment they reached the landing. The voice appeared to have come from the door itself.
Io opened the door and led the way
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