encountered, we strongly advise retreat or immediate termination."
I shook my head and backed out to the main page. I wanted more information on him if groups like the Illuminati considered him so dangerous. I clicked over to the page with information about their founding.
My eyes flicked immediately to a familiar word. Establishment. "Todd Green, having disagreements with the leadership of the Establishment for Psionic Order, withdrew from the organization unexpectedly and remained out of public contact for the next six years." I leaned toward the screen. My first thought had been wrong. He split from the Establishment. Why? What disagreements? I spun around in my chair before opening another window to PSInet and searching for his name. Unsurprisingly, the only links I found led back to the Illuminati data.
The part that interested me was the lack of data from the Establishment. Nothing public, nothing from our internal data stores. Either I didn't have sufficient access, or we held no data on him. I considered those options, then searched for Absynthe. Nothing came up for her, nor for Shade. It didn't give me much to go on. I didn't know if there was a list of active agents I could access. I tapped my fingers lightly on the space bar and tried to come up with another option to find more information.
"Fuck it," I mumbled and went back to the page about the founding of the Resistance. The only new information regarded their recent area of operations, almost exclusively West Coast. They occasionally pushed a cell out east. I knew that part. What was I missing?
The door opened. I tabbed back to my normal browser and looked over my shoulder. Max lurched in and draped himself over his chair. "Kev."
"Max."
"Studying?"
"Yeah. You?"
He laughed. "I wish. I'm done with this shit."
"What do you mean?"
Max hooked his leg over the arm of his chair and leaned back. "I'm failing this shit, Kev. I am fucked in triplicate. They're going to kick my lazy ass out of school and my parents are going to disown me. I don't know what to do. Maybe I should embezzle as much money from my family as possible and get a one way ticket to a third world country. Fuck this shit."
"Hold on. What the hell is going on? Start from the beginning."
He rubbed his face. "This is supposed to be my last year, right?"
"Right." I had been avoiding that thought. Both my roommates could graduate by the end of the year and be gone.
"So, I've flipped through three or four majors since I started. My credits are all over the place. The only way I can graduate this year is by busting ass and passing every single class while overloading, and taking classes over the breaks. I've had it. Fucking shit, Kev, this is fucked up."
"Tell me what actually happened," I said.
"I'm taking five classes right now. Four of them, barely passing but under control. Last one, I can't get it. I don't even need a high grade, just a seventy-five or so on the final. Not too bad, I know, but I can't retain anything about the damn subject. I try to study, it goes in and out. I go for a smoke, come back, it's all gone. I go bother Jess, she tells me to get my shit together, it's even worse. It's the pressure to perform, man. Know what I mean?"
"I don't," I said. "Though there are pills for that."
"I'd be all over those pills but I'm fried. If I fail this class, I can't graduate on time. They might even boot my ass out of the program, maybe the school. Well, that's not likely, but I need to graduate on time. Non-negotiable. Must happen."
"Why?" I asked before answering my own question. "Jess."
"Thank you," he said. "Someone figured it out."
"She's all set, isn't she?"
"She's got informal offers already and she's still a year out. She's got internships if she wants them, while I'm just this giant fuckup." He rubbed his face again and for a moment, I thought he was on the verge of tears. "Look, man, I don't know what to do. I don't suppose you have any magic up your sleeve to help me
I shook my head and backed out to the main page. I wanted more information on him if groups like the Illuminati considered him so dangerous. I clicked over to the page with information about their founding.
My eyes flicked immediately to a familiar word. Establishment. "Todd Green, having disagreements with the leadership of the Establishment for Psionic Order, withdrew from the organization unexpectedly and remained out of public contact for the next six years." I leaned toward the screen. My first thought had been wrong. He split from the Establishment. Why? What disagreements? I spun around in my chair before opening another window to PSInet and searching for his name. Unsurprisingly, the only links I found led back to the Illuminati data.
The part that interested me was the lack of data from the Establishment. Nothing public, nothing from our internal data stores. Either I didn't have sufficient access, or we held no data on him. I considered those options, then searched for Absynthe. Nothing came up for her, nor for Shade. It didn't give me much to go on. I didn't know if there was a list of active agents I could access. I tapped my fingers lightly on the space bar and tried to come up with another option to find more information.
"Fuck it," I mumbled and went back to the page about the founding of the Resistance. The only new information regarded their recent area of operations, almost exclusively West Coast. They occasionally pushed a cell out east. I knew that part. What was I missing?
The door opened. I tabbed back to my normal browser and looked over my shoulder. Max lurched in and draped himself over his chair. "Kev."
"Max."
"Studying?"
"Yeah. You?"
He laughed. "I wish. I'm done with this shit."
"What do you mean?"
Max hooked his leg over the arm of his chair and leaned back. "I'm failing this shit, Kev. I am fucked in triplicate. They're going to kick my lazy ass out of school and my parents are going to disown me. I don't know what to do. Maybe I should embezzle as much money from my family as possible and get a one way ticket to a third world country. Fuck this shit."
"Hold on. What the hell is going on? Start from the beginning."
He rubbed his face. "This is supposed to be my last year, right?"
"Right." I had been avoiding that thought. Both my roommates could graduate by the end of the year and be gone.
"So, I've flipped through three or four majors since I started. My credits are all over the place. The only way I can graduate this year is by busting ass and passing every single class while overloading, and taking classes over the breaks. I've had it. Fucking shit, Kev, this is fucked up."
"Tell me what actually happened," I said.
"I'm taking five classes right now. Four of them, barely passing but under control. Last one, I can't get it. I don't even need a high grade, just a seventy-five or so on the final. Not too bad, I know, but I can't retain anything about the damn subject. I try to study, it goes in and out. I go for a smoke, come back, it's all gone. I go bother Jess, she tells me to get my shit together, it's even worse. It's the pressure to perform, man. Know what I mean?"
"I don't," I said. "Though there are pills for that."
"I'd be all over those pills but I'm fried. If I fail this class, I can't graduate on time. They might even boot my ass out of the program, maybe the school. Well, that's not likely, but I need to graduate on time. Non-negotiable. Must happen."
"Why?" I asked before answering my own question. "Jess."
"Thank you," he said. "Someone figured it out."
"She's all set, isn't she?"
"She's got informal offers already and she's still a year out. She's got internships if she wants them, while I'm just this giant fuckup." He rubbed his face again and for a moment, I thought he was on the verge of tears. "Look, man, I don't know what to do. I don't suppose you have any magic up your sleeve to help me
Similar Books
