Neural Wraith, page 25
Not that they had when he had spent much time in the doll district. A lot of security dolls tended to think he was a child or pretend he didn’t exist. Lucas’s dolls had been different, but Nick wondered if they were programmed to recognize him.
Rie frowned. “I am unsure. We… that is, the Host does not rely on the police mainframes. Other than for archival purposes, we rely entirely on distributed processing.”
“Even you?” he asked.
She smiled. “Fishing for classified information? You should consider the answer to be yes.”
Figures.
The Custodian raised a gauntleted hand toward Nick. “We require biometric authentication before you may proceed. Commissioner Kim has placed multiple levels on lockdown.”
“You can—” Rie began to say.
“It’s fine,” he said, unbuttoning a sleeve cuff. “I think this is the first time I’ve been harassed by a Custodian like this. Even the Liberators rarely asked for biometrics.”
“Harassed,” she repeated flatly.
“I say it like it is.”
Once he’d raised his sleeve, the Custodian pressed a bulky finger against his wrist. Her armored gauntlets had a stiff reflective material on one side, but a sleek polymer on the other. Her touch was cool.
“Identity confirmed. Thank you for your cooperation, detective.” The Custodian gave Rie a pointed look.
Despite the complete lack of emotion in her voice, the doll had sass. Rie huffed and strode past them.
The Custodians farther inside didn’t stop them, although they watched Nick closely as he passed.
Their destination was marked by a pair of Mark 1s. Both carried bulky combat shotguns and nodded at them as they approached.
“Is the Commissioner expecting someone to attack us?” Nick asked.
“I raised the alert level, actually,” Captain Lieu said, stepping out from an alcove. Nick had missed him due to all the reflective tiles and glass on this level.
“So are you expecting—”
“No. I’m merely responding to events I’m seeing unfold.” Lieu rocked back and forth on his heels, his hands behind his back. “I’m the captain of the Autonomous Crime Management and Prevention Bureau. Emphasis on the ‘prevention.’ The military are getting antsy, we’ve launched multiple raids, there’s a terrorist group that’s evaded us for too long, and apparently foreign mercenaries are loose.”
Nick blinked. “You got up to speed fast.”
“I like to stay employed. If the commissioner is concerned, then I need to answer those concerns.” Lieu smiled, then gestured at the closed door behind the Mark 1s. “Shall we say hello?”
Nick didn’t move. “Where’s Paul?”
“Detective Hammond works half-days on Saturdays. He’s ensuring that the memories of good people don’t fade.” Lieu’s expression tightened for a moment. “What about you? Seems you’ve been busy, despite apparently taking the day off.”
Nick looked at Juliet and Rosa, who pointedly ignored his gaze.
Lieu laughed. “This sort of stuff gets recorded automatically. It’s like their investigative reports. The Archangels file tons of paperwork. Normally, I’d chip you for not being across it, but the days of the desk jockey Cipher are gone anyway.”
“You expect Ciphers to be reading paperwork?”
“I expect detectives to be on top of the investigations and patrol activity of their subordinates,” Lieu corrected. “But like I said, that doesn’t seem to matter anymore. Results speak for themselves.”
“That they do.”
Nick felt for the poor bastards who’d worked as Ciphers here. No wonder the Archangels had such a negative opinion of the police Ciphers if they were just glorified office drones drowning in autogenerated reports.
How the hell were those guys supposed to find new jobs? Nick couldn’t imagine a company that would touch them. Travis had been fairly mediocre, but he’d been miles ahead of the experience he was hearing from Lieu.
Lieu approached the door. He pressed a small button on the side, then waited.
After a few seconds, it opened. The interior was dark, but light shined within.
Nick, Rie, and Lieu stepped inside. The other Archangels remained outside.
Commissioner Kim stood in the center of a board room. A large board table had been pushed to the side of the room. Electronically primed glass on the far wall glowed, revealing nine separate faces. Nick stopped momentarily, certain that he had accidentally stepped into an alternate universe.
Had he somehow slipped into the augmented reality that everyone else saw? Because he struggled to explain how he saw the faces on the wall.
He looked at Rie in shock, and she shook her head.
“Board meetings are held using a separate secure connection outside the Altnet,” she whispered.
Apparently, the Spires didn’t trust their own creation when it came to secure communications.
The door closed behind them, shrouding them in darkness. Only the dim light of the meeting wall illuminated them.
None of the faces looked quite right. It took Nick a few moments to realize these were the equivalent of Altnet avatars.
Video chat wasn’t popular on the Altnet. It required a separate camera, so instead users had 3D avatars. Most Altnet spaces enforced photorealistic recreations of the user—even Nick had one of these, and data collected through the city’s innumerable monitoring systems was used to update them constantly.
But a few of these avatars were just slightly off. Maybe it was the vibrant pink hair, enlarged eyes, and cel-shaded look of one board member that gave it away.
Nick looked at Lieu, who simply shrugged and smiled.
The Spires were truly a different place.
“Detective Waite, Uriel, I’m glad you made it,” Commissioner Kim said, turning to face them. “Board members, you should be able to see Detective Nicholas Waite, Archangel Uriel, and Captain Andrew Lieu. I have recently placed the detective in charge of Uriel’s Oversight Task Force and he—”
“Just stirred up one hell of a hornet’s nest,” a board member growled. “First Tartarus, now random black companies in Alcatraz. What next? Are you going to start kicking down doors in the doll district? Or blow up the Labor Zone?”
Kim’s expression vanished. He looked like a man who was trying very hard not to say something career limiting.
“That isn’t the issue,” another face said, her avatar scowling on-screen. “I don’t care how many terrorists we blow up. But I want to know how they managed to operate in RTM factories for so long! This is an insult to the entire Assembly!”
The entire board swiftly fell into chaos, as they began arguing over one another. Nick had to compliment the speaker system of the room, as he truly felt as though he was sitting in the middle of a shouting match between several angry teenagers.
Kim ran a hand through his silvered hair and turned toward Nick and Rie. The volume of the speakers lowered abruptly.
“They can’t hear or see us right now,” Kim said. “You should assume they haven’t read or understood anything about your investigation. What they need is an exceedingly brief report that makes the situation clear—particularly how safe things are.”
Nick looked at the raging board members in front of him. He felt a lot better about himself all of a sudden.
For all his fears about briefing them, this was a situation he understood. A bunch of powerful men and women panicking about a situation they barely understood. Even if the board didn’t agree on why they were angry, all of them were upset about something.
Fear penetrated the entire room. Nick could work with that. This reminded him of the times he’d presented to Tartarus execs.
He nodded at Kim. The speaker volume rose again.
“Ladies and gentlemen, enough,” Kim said, his voice cracking like a whip.
While his tone was impressive, it probably helped that he muted everyone else at the same time.
“Detective Waite will brief you on the investigation. I would appreciate if you save your concerns until you understand the situation, as the situation has developed considerably.”
Nick stepped forward. This was probably pointless, given the entire room would be mic’d up, but he felt better doing it.
“I’ll assume everyone on the board is aware of the Neural Spike incident,” he said.
The furious faces of the board suddenly turned into a mixture of serious or concerned expressions. Nick had set the tone for what he was about to say by bringing up one of the biggest raids in the city’s history.
“Tartarus inherited a lot of baggage from its parent. That included an experimental mainframe, termed EMOTE-H by the military,” he continued. “During the police raid, the NLF and an unknown third-party seized that mainframe. Today’s raid on the NLF safe houses was part of our efforts to find her.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” one of the board members said, somehow unmuting. “I thought this was about the bomb scares and the illegal weaponry used in the dockyards? What the hell is all this?”
Kim’s expression remained impassive. If he had an opinion of Nick’s explanation, he kept it well hidden. Lieu looked between everyone with his teeth buried into his lower lip. Rie simply plastered on a fake smile.
“This is the actual purpose of the investigation and the reason I’m involved,” Nick answered. “It’s also the reason the Oversight Task Force is responsible. The NLF are fully aware of EMOTE-H’s capabilities. They exploited a gap during the police raid on Tartarus. And now we know they fraudulently used the financial resources of RTM Strategic. We aren’t kicking down the doors of random black companies. We’re dealing with a complex scheme utilizing classified intel that shouldn’t have ever left the Spires.”
“You’re suggesting corruption.”
“It is a possibility we are investigating.”
Nobody responded. The anger from earlier had dried up. No doubt many of the board members were processing what they’d heard, and trying to work out how they should react.
In Tartarus, this would be where somebody would ask him what it would take to make the problem go away. How long did he need to fix the disaster? Did they need to bring in external Ciphers? How long before things went nuclear? The usual questions when an IT catastrophe was pending, and the execs needed to be scared into doing something about it.
Unfortunately, the board seemed paralyzed.
Which was where Kim stepped in. “Although the potential for catastrophe was high, that is precisely why you took today’s action. Correct, Detective Waite?”
Despite Kim’s impassive expression, the look in his eyes told Nick that denying this would be a mistake.
“Yes,” he said. “We crippled the NLF and gathered significant information from them. The situation is under control, but we need time to use this evidence to find the experimental mainframe.”
The board seemed to come back to life at these words.
“What is the risk that you’re too late?” one member asked. “If this mainframe is so dangerous, can’t they threaten the entire city? Dennis, use your authority to order the troops to—”
“That is beyond the scope of this meeting and the board’s authority,” Kim snapped. He paused, then brushed invisible dirt off his suit. “Actions involving the military are discussed with them, and them alone.”
Nick cleared his throat, drawing attention to himself. “EMOTE-H is well known to the military. They should be able to act in advance of any problems she might cause.”
Hopefully it never came to that.
Kim nodded. “Indeed. Allow me to remind the board that highly informed decisions were made about what resources were left behind in Tartarus. Although the current incident is dangerous, we are talking about criminal activity, not genuine threats to the Spires.”
The meeting swiftly wound down after that. The board appeared satisfied—and cowed—which left Kim room to maneuver the conversation to resourcing. As he discussed how the RTM breach by the NLF shouldn’t hamper negotiations for the Liberator replacement, Nick zoned out.
Only to be pulled back into the conversation minutes later.
“Uriel, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the Archangel Division this close to complete utilization,” Kim said, his eyes glazed over.
The board seemed to be discussing something among themselves and the volume was lowered.
Rie shrugged in response to the question. “Today involved multiple significant events, given the importance of the investigation. Once we pull back from the factories and NLF interrogations—”
Lieu cleared his throat, inserting himself into the board meeting for the first time. “Is that wise? The board already expressed concern that so many raids could increase tensions. As captain, I’d prefer to keep the Archangels fully deployed, in case of retaliatory attacks by the NLF or other organizations.”
Kim’s lips thinned, but he nodded nonetheless. “Run it by Chief Andrews. But if she approves, then do it.”
“Uh, the chief doesn’t like being bothered on weekends. Should I—”
“Just do it.”
Lieu nodded while rubbing the back of his neck. His face reddened and he looked away. Kim turned back to Rie.
“I assume you’re able to maintain this level of utilization for several days?” he asked.
“With appropriate support from the other bureaus, yes. The Archangels will need significant Liberator reinforcement if we wish to prevent gaps opening when we recharge,” she said.
“Excellent. Then I don’t think we need to brief the board on this.” Kim clapped his hands. “I’ll close out the meeting. You can step outside.” His gaze turned to Nick. “Detective Waite, could you wait for me? I’d appreciate an opportunity to have a one-on-one chat. I feel that it’s important we get to know each other.”
CHAPTER 20
Kim stepped outside after a few minutes. The Archangels stood guard beside Nick, but only Meta remained in reality. When the commissioner joined them, Rie’s eyes regained their natural light.
“Commissioner, I can—” she began to say.
“I imagine you have important duties to attend to, Uriel. While Captain Lieu may be competent enough at wrangling the Ciphers under his command, we all know that the Archangels have become the beating heart of the department.” Kim pulled on the lapel of his suit. “Allow Detective Waite and I some time for a chat. He’ll be down shortly.”
Rie’s objections were plain to see in her eyes, but she merely smiled. Then she left.
But the other Archangels remained with them. Kim ignored them and walked in a different direction. When Meta and the others followed, he didn’t seem bothered, so Nick paid more attention to his boss.
“So, is this a ‘you’re fired’ sort of chat, or the regular sort?” Nick asked, while keeping step. Kim walked fast for his age.
The man snorted and a genuine smile floated to his lips. “If I wanted to fire you, do you think I’d do it myself? I have an entire department to do that for me.”
“You don’t seem like the sort to fire people over a prerecorded message.”
“Oh, no. I wouldn’t stoop that low. But the entire HR division is staffed with dolls that specialize in handling people. They could let you down easy, revoke your access, and flag any potentially threatening behaviors for follow-up.” Kim paused at an intersection and looked at all the Custodians with a raised eyebrow. “Companies have long since worked out how to handle this sort of thing with minimum fuss.”
The Custodians were staring at Nick again, and Kim seemed to have noticed.
Shrugging at the strange look he received, Nick said, “Is that how you’ll handle Chief Andrews when the time comes?”
Kim pursed his lips. He began walking around, but not toward the elevators. Instead, he led them to a reinforced door similar to the one used for the task force office. Kim used the hand and eye scanners, which opened the door, then gestured for Nick and the Archangels to go through. The Custodians eyed them, but did nothing.
If Nick thought the rest of the floor had been impressive, he hadn’t seen anything yet.
Water flowed along the walls, and into small channels along the edges of the wooden floorboards. Greenery thrived in the open, presumably maintained by the domestic doll hiding in the corner. All the furnishings were crafted from stone and wood.
The effect was ruined by the glass paneling peeking out from every nook and cranny, unfortunately.
But even so, this section of the office felt like a chamber from a past era that had been updated to modern sensibilities. Nick could only imagine the expense involved.
Kim walked through this reception area without pausing. There weren’t any Custodians or Archangels to be seen. Did they even have access to this area?
“Carolyn is different,” Kim said. “She is an exemplar of her position, even if she has become a casualty of the whims of politics. A transfer back to the military has already been arranged. But times are difficult, and they are worsening rather than improving. I can’t approve that transfer until I can replace her with someone who won’t ruin decades of progress.”
Nick did his best to maintain a straight face. This was not the “chat” he had expected.
When Kim paused outside an office, he looked pointedly at the Archangels. “We should continue this in private. Please keep watch, ladies.”
“Yes, commissioner,” Meta and the others said.
He nodded and the door to the office opened. The floor-to-ceiling windowpanes lightened, allowing Nick to see inside.
The office was bigger than his apartment, and probably worth more, too. An extravagant steel and glass executive desk filled one corner of the room, and was completely bare. Steel bookcases filled with physical tomes lined one wall. The center of the room was dedicated to an expansive set of recliners, plus a glass coffee table with a built-in water feature.
Kim strode over to a featureless wall, only for it to slide open and reveal the largest liquor collection that Nick had ever seen. He’d been in bars with fewer spirits.
“Come in. Take a seat.” The commissioner gestured to one of the leather recliners. “What’s your preference?”
