thirty minutes from the new city and my stomach is roiling with nausea when she disappears. The cramps almost make me veer off the road. "Where'd you go, HOUSE?"
She flashes back. "I'm tired." She even rubs her eyes for emphasis. Where did she pick up all these human mannerisms? I don't recall her being so child-like before. "I want to go to sleep."
"What's that mean, HOUSE? Sleep? Where do you go?"
"I need rest, Junco. I'm tired. I don't know where I just was or where I go and I don't want to talk about it. I've never been a body this long before. It makes me tired."
Hmmmm. This might be a problem. She blinks out again and the cramping in my stomach returns with a throbbing headache to match.
I make the first checkpoint with no problems. It's just an automated station that scans for vehicle credentials and since this is a government truck, we cruise right through. The second checkpoint requires a personal scan by a real human and HOUSE has to rig the tags coded into the truck so we're not linked to the asshole I left in that sleazy hotel in Trinidad.
We park the truck in the structure reserved for workers, then grab my pack and hike to the hotel HOUSE procured through the sphere. HOUSE says she's got us covered as far as security goes, and frankly, I'm exhausted and if you can't trust your AI to keep things secure, well, who the fuck else is there?
We check in remotely and by the time we enter our room codes and walk through the door, it is well past noon.
"Oh, shit! HOUSE, what did you do?"
She stands there and says nothing but when she turns around to look at me she's got a cheesy smile that is nothing but trouble. "I love it! Can we shop here?"
I let the door slam behind me and bend down to her. "Look, I'm fucking tired right now and I'm not in the goddamn mood, OK? So, tell me right now, how did you get us this suite?"
She sighs and frowns at the same time, then turns her head. "We are important people as far as the hotel is concerned, we had to have a nice room. Besides, if this is my only chance to see Peak City, I'm gonna see it right."
The place is huge. The living room is bigger than the one at my old house in Council 3, the terrace is massive, and the faint smell of chlorine tells me there's a pool in here somewhere.
"You're gonna get us caught."
"I promise, I'll keep an eye out, OK? We won't get caught. I promise." She crosses her heart with a fingertip.
I'm really too tired to argue with her so I drop it. "I'm taking a shower," I say, dumping my pack of weapons on the dining room table, then fish around until I find what I need.
I grab the little black box I took from the bunker and go into the bathroom. The weapons inside clank back and forth as I move and I feel my heart rate speed up. I don't control it. It's exciting and I want to experience it the way it's supposed to be.
I open the lid and smile.
Inside are two small wands.
One blue and one black.
I slip the blue SEAR knife into the dock on my belly and wait for the charge to take hold. I feel the electrical current and breathe a sigh of relief. There was no telling if it would work after my extensive transformation. But now to the really critical part. The test to see if it's still coded to me. I find the little plastic baggie hidden away under Gideon's SEAR and pull out the small metal tabs. One end has a minuscule pricker and I prick my thumb and allow the blood to pool inside a glass chamber filled with biomarkers made specifically for this SEAR, then wait for it to coagulate. I peel off the clear coating holding the blood in place and say a little prayer as I remove my SEAR and flick the small imperfection near the top.
I touch the SEAR to the hardened blood.
Purple smoke puffs into existence.
"Fuck!"
I fall to my knees and count the tiles on the floor to stop the tears.
Count or cry, Junco. You can't do both. It's count or cry.
I don't cry.
I know I'm exhausted and the rational part of me never expected it to still be
She flashes back. "I'm tired." She even rubs her eyes for emphasis. Where did she pick up all these human mannerisms? I don't recall her being so child-like before. "I want to go to sleep."
"What's that mean, HOUSE? Sleep? Where do you go?"
"I need rest, Junco. I'm tired. I don't know where I just was or where I go and I don't want to talk about it. I've never been a body this long before. It makes me tired."
Hmmmm. This might be a problem. She blinks out again and the cramping in my stomach returns with a throbbing headache to match.
I make the first checkpoint with no problems. It's just an automated station that scans for vehicle credentials and since this is a government truck, we cruise right through. The second checkpoint requires a personal scan by a real human and HOUSE has to rig the tags coded into the truck so we're not linked to the asshole I left in that sleazy hotel in Trinidad.
We park the truck in the structure reserved for workers, then grab my pack and hike to the hotel HOUSE procured through the sphere. HOUSE says she's got us covered as far as security goes, and frankly, I'm exhausted and if you can't trust your AI to keep things secure, well, who the fuck else is there?
We check in remotely and by the time we enter our room codes and walk through the door, it is well past noon.
"Oh, shit! HOUSE, what did you do?"
She stands there and says nothing but when she turns around to look at me she's got a cheesy smile that is nothing but trouble. "I love it! Can we shop here?"
I let the door slam behind me and bend down to her. "Look, I'm fucking tired right now and I'm not in the goddamn mood, OK? So, tell me right now, how did you get us this suite?"
She sighs and frowns at the same time, then turns her head. "We are important people as far as the hotel is concerned, we had to have a nice room. Besides, if this is my only chance to see Peak City, I'm gonna see it right."
The place is huge. The living room is bigger than the one at my old house in Council 3, the terrace is massive, and the faint smell of chlorine tells me there's a pool in here somewhere.
"You're gonna get us caught."
"I promise, I'll keep an eye out, OK? We won't get caught. I promise." She crosses her heart with a fingertip.
I'm really too tired to argue with her so I drop it. "I'm taking a shower," I say, dumping my pack of weapons on the dining room table, then fish around until I find what I need.
I grab the little black box I took from the bunker and go into the bathroom. The weapons inside clank back and forth as I move and I feel my heart rate speed up. I don't control it. It's exciting and I want to experience it the way it's supposed to be.
I open the lid and smile.
Inside are two small wands.
One blue and one black.
I slip the blue SEAR knife into the dock on my belly and wait for the charge to take hold. I feel the electrical current and breathe a sigh of relief. There was no telling if it would work after my extensive transformation. But now to the really critical part. The test to see if it's still coded to me. I find the little plastic baggie hidden away under Gideon's SEAR and pull out the small metal tabs. One end has a minuscule pricker and I prick my thumb and allow the blood to pool inside a glass chamber filled with biomarkers made specifically for this SEAR, then wait for it to coagulate. I peel off the clear coating holding the blood in place and say a little prayer as I remove my SEAR and flick the small imperfection near the top.
I touch the SEAR to the hardened blood.
Purple smoke puffs into existence.
"Fuck!"
I fall to my knees and count the tiles on the floor to stop the tears.
Count or cry, Junco. You can't do both. It's count or cry.
I don't cry.
I know I'm exhausted and the rational part of me never expected it to still be
Similar Books
