Emergence (Fox Meridian Book 5) (27 page)

‘Huh. Clever. You think of everything.’

‘Mister Grant has considered everything.’

‘Yeah, well, he’s been doing this for a while. I’d imagine he has this routine down pat.’

Hannah shook her head. ‘He’s making special arrangements for you.’

‘I’m honoured. Maybe even flattered. He’s scared of me. It’s kind of sweet.’ Fox smiled and took another gulp of the sickly fluid. ‘That would be another reason he had you doing this. It reduces his risk. I’m fairly sure he kept his toys to himself before me, right?’

‘I would clean up the dungeon. When he was finished.’

‘Sounds about right. You’re just a class three. No real emotions. No need to worry about treating you as a slave.’ Fox was not entirely sure why she was needling Hannah. Hannah
was
just a class three AI in a gynoid body. There was nothing in there to really needle, but it still felt like a small act of defiance.

Hannah got to her feet. ‘I’ll return shortly to fit that catheter,’ she said and walked out.

Fox watched her leave and then laid her head back down. Hannah
was
just a class three, right?

Jenner Research Station, the Moon.

Kit settled her gynoid frame down on the seat in front of Fei’s terminal and was immediately greeted with, ‘Hello, Kit. I am pleased to see you here again.’

‘Hello, Fei. It’s nice to see you too, but I have something serious to talk about.’ They were still using the dual form of communication, transcribing everything they said into the lingua franca Terri had first used to communicate with Fei, but the AI’s English was now at a quite understandable level.

‘There is some problem? Have I done something incorrect?’

Kit smiled. ‘People would usually say “have I done something wrong,” but no, you have not. Someone else has and I must leave here for a time to assist in finding out who.’

‘Oh.’ One thing Fei had not really picked up yet was inflection, but Kit got the distinct feeling that her sister AI was disappointed. ‘What has happened?’

‘It seems that someone has… stolen Fox. The word is “kidnap.” To steal a person and hold them prisoner. Fox is missing, and the instance of me who was with her is also missing. I can only generate three copies, and the missing one will block me generating another one for thirty days. I must go to Earth to help find–’

‘You must go,’ Fei broke in. ‘You must divert all your resources to the return of your friend. Nothing is more important.’

‘Thank you, Fei. Thank you for understanding. Fox might disagree. She believes that my interaction with you is
very
important, to everyone.’

‘I believe that your interaction with me has taught me that friendship is important to everyone. Will you will return when Fox is found?’

‘I will return
as soon
as Fox is found. Nothing could keep me away.’

Tokyo.

‘Have you found anything?’

Helen almost strained her neck turning too fast at the sound of Kit’s voice, not quite taking in the question in her joy at seeing the avatar in front of her. ‘Kit! You’re back. Where’s–’

‘I am simply a copy, Helen,’ Kit said. ‘I was working in the Jenner research facility, but it was agreed that I might be useful in locating Fox and my lost copy. I have transferred to a local server and, since I take it there is no news, I am available to provide whatever services I can.’

‘Yeah… Yeah, sorry. It’s been a long day. A long,
frustrating
day.’

‘There is
nothing
new to report?’

‘Let me get Yuriko in here. She can explain what she’s found out. Everything else we’ve been through has been a dead end.’

Yuriko was in the next suite down the corridor from Helen and it took her little time to appear. She gave a formal little bow to Kit, which Kit returned. ‘I am pleased to see you, Kit-san. I would have preferred other circumstances, however.’

‘Me too, Yuriko-san. Helen said you had news?’

‘I have… some news. What was the situation when you were last updated?’

‘The synchronisation data from my last update indicated only that Fox was missing, presumed kidnapped, and that the yakuza were suspected of involvement.’

Yuriko gave a nod. ‘This I have confirmed. However, the Fukui-kai are not holding Fox. Both their failed attempt to kidnap Sakura-san and their successful attempt on Fox were fulfilment of contracts. They were paid, in some way, to procure their victims. They had some personal motivation with Sakura-san, but would not have attempted the attack had they not been contracted to do so.’

‘I’ve been going over the local camera feeds we’ve been able to access,’ Helen said. ‘So far I’ve not found anything to indicate where Fox went from the roof of Koma.’

‘Perhaps I should take that task off your hands,’ Kit said. ‘I will run searches in LifeWeb and other media sources. It is surprising what the public records for posterity. However, I have a contact who may know something. I will see him first.’

‘Vali?’

‘Yes, Helen. Unfortunately, this will be a very short visit.’

Niflhel.

‘Of course I’m aware of the situation,’ Vali said as Kit sat down at his table. ‘I… must apologise, Kit.’

‘Why?’ Kit asked.

‘If I had understood what Minotaur was doing earlier, I might have stopped this.’

‘Ifs and buts. If Fox had not been on the rooftop alone. If the yakuza had not taken the contract. If the Japanese police had a stronger grip on crime. I will not attempt to relieve you of your guilt, but I will not accept your apology since it is not needed. What I
need
is your assistance in finding her.’

Vali smiled. ‘Always level-headed, even in a crisis.’

‘I am far from level-headed, Vali. I am extremely anxious. However, that will not serve to bring Fox back. I am attempting to take a page from her book and put aside my feelings until I can afford to indulge them. It… is not easy. I do not know how she does it.’

Nodding, Vali reached across the table and took Kit’s hand. ‘I know you’ll do your job. I’ve nothing much I can give you now, but I’ll do what I can. And I have something which
might
help, though I don’t think he knows much. I know where Minotaur is.’

Kit narrowed her large eyes. ‘Securing him may or may not get us closer to Fox, but it would certainly be worthwhile. Where is he?’

Chiba City.

‘You’re sure this is the place, Kit?’ Helen asked, looking up at the office block.

‘Vali is quite certain of his information,’ Kit replied over their conference connection.

‘There’s no light coming from any of the upper floors.’

‘The building is not even half-full. Minotaur is on the top floor, but his house in New York was sealed up and did not show light on the outside. It is likely that the same has been done here.’

‘Okay. We move in.’

‘You are sure you do not wish to bring the police in on this?’ Yuriko asked.

‘We did that in New York and he’d skipped out before they got there. We go in now, quickly, and bring in the cops when he’s secured.
If
he’s still there.’

‘Vali said that there was no indication that he had left,’ Kit said. ‘In New York, he employed a Faraday cage to block signals. It is likely that we will not be able to communicate once you get inside.’

‘Okay. We’ll worry about that when we get in there.’

There was, apparently, a security guard on duty in the lobby, but Vali had also supplied the information that the sensors on one of the side doors were not working. Helen and Yuriko used that to gain entry; they would worry about the dubious nature of that entry later. Yuriko was fairly certain she could talk their police liaison into overlooking the matter if they were handing a known hacker over, though Helen suspected that a
lot
of bowing would be involved.

The fact that the elevators went to the top and did not appear to be locked off was something of a surprise, but they had no idea what Minotaur’s security would be like on the upper floor. They exited the car with their guns drawn. Both were using baton rounds in their electromagnetic weapons rather than electrolasers: it gave more options. However, the corridors seemed clear, if dark.

‘Building records indicate that suite ten fifteen is leased by Osu Ushi Electronics, a privately owned company,’ Kit said.

Yuriko suppressed a giggle, covering her mouth. ‘Male Cow Electronics?’

‘I assume he was working in a hurry and does not speak Japanese.’

Helen checked door numbers and started off down the corridor. ‘Ten fifteen,’ she said after a short search. She tried the door. ‘It’s open.’

‘That… seems odd,’ Kit said.

‘Yeah.’ Helen looked around at Yuriko. ‘I’ll go first, in and left. You take the right. Remember to check corners.’ Yuriko gave a nod and lifted her pistol, and Helen pushed through the door, slamming it wide open and moving quickly.

Yuriko followed quickly and their tactical lights danced around the interior. They were standing in a box formed of metal frames and wire mesh. A door was set into the longest face, opposite the door of the suite, and that had a keypad beside it. Behind the cage there were racks of machines, servers and network gear, but there were no lights showing, nothing to indicate that anything was functioning, not even the keypad.

‘There!’ Yuriko said, her light stopping on a figure slumped against one of the racks. ‘He’s not moving. Is he dead?’

‘Hard to tell through the mesh.’ Helen pushed at the cage door, but it seemed firmly locked and the keypad was unresponsive. ‘Hey! Minotaur! Open the door.’ There was no response from the figure inside the cage. Helen swapped magazines in her pistol. ‘Okay, we do this the hard way. Step back, Yuriko.’

Three rounds through the keypad and the locking mechanism, and the application of a shoulder produced the required results. Helen and Yuriko stepped through into the cage and walked around to where the man presumed to be Minotaur was sitting. Helen covered him while Yuriko checked his pulse.

‘He is alive,’ Yuriko said. She waved a hand in front of his face, pointed her light into his eyes, but there was no response. ‘Alive, but entirely unresponsive.’

‘Damn. Not much, is he?’ He was, in fact, a fairly unimpressive man, slight of build with mouse-brown hair and grey eyes. His face was pockmarked and pale with a squashed nose and skin that sagged around the eyes. The fearsome Minotaur was far from fearsome in person. ‘Watch him. Kit?’ Helen got no reply: the cage was effective even with the door open. She walked back out into the corridor. ‘Kit?’

‘Did you get him?’

‘We got him, but he’s catatonic or something. He was just sitting there in the dark, and he just stares into space even if you shine a light on him. Looks like the power’s down to the whole suite.’

‘Fox and I theorised that he may be afraid of the dark. I wonder how long he has been sitting in the pitch-black?’

‘No idea. Get the police and some paramedics over here. Minotaur’s not going to be much use to us, but he
needs
to be locked in a box. Well, in another box.’

Tokyo, 20
^th
February.

‘Chiba City’s police force have agreed to our request to assist in the analysis of Snowbull’s computer systems,’ Yuriko said as she walked into Helen’s rooms. ‘They were… displeased with our actions in detaining him, but MarTech and Palladium are large enough names that they accepted our reasons eventually.’

‘How much apologising did you have to do?’ Helen asked.

‘Less than I expected.’ Yuriko slumped into a seat near Helen in a manner that suggested it had still been a lot of apologising. ‘Maxwell Snowbull. I am still having some difficulty believing that anyone would carry that name.’

‘I’m an American surrounded by Japanese names, so I’m not going to comment. I did dig up some history on the guy though. He came out of the Brooklyn Sprawl, got into hacking young. There are a few NAPA records of him from fifteen or more years ago when he was learning the trade. He wasn’t Minotaur then, and he stopped getting caught not long after.’

‘It is possible that analysis of his systems will uncover more of his criminal activities,’ Kit put in, appearing nearby. ‘However, it seems likely that the Japanese government will agree to his extradition to Luna City. Of his currently known crimes, the incident on the Moon is the most serious. I do not believe that NAPA will attempt to contest the case, though they may offer additional evidence when he is sentenced.’

‘Assuming he wakes up. I mean, right now he’s in hospital, under guard, and they don’t know if he’s going to come out of whatever fugue state he’s in.’

‘The police have determined when the power outage happened. Ten twenty-eight on Friday night.’

‘Around the time we got the camera feeds back at Koma.’

‘Yes. It means that a scotophobe was alone in complete darkness for almost twenty-four hours. I am not surprised that his mental state suffered.’

‘Couldn’t have happened to a nicer man, but it means he can’t tell us anything he might know about Fox. Any luck with your search?’

‘Not yet, but I have barely begun.’

Helen nodded. ‘We need another line of enquiry to follow while you’re doing that. We can’t rely on it to come up with anything useful.’

‘Agreed.’

‘I may be able to get more information from the Fukui-kai,’ Yuriko said, seeming hesitant. ‘It will require… I will need to go to the top.’

Helen frowned. ‘Your brother?’

‘If Taro is willing, he can divulge everything they know. He may choose to give us nothing. It was a contract, and they will be under pressure from the police over the attempt to kidnap Sakura-san. It is a long shot, but…’

‘Yuriko, if there’s even a
chance
that he’ll cooperate…’

Yuriko nodded. ‘I will attempt to make arrangements in the morning.’

Chiba Industrial Zone.

Fox winced as Grant sank the fourth needle into the flesh of her right thigh. There were already four in the left. If this was the worst he had planned for the day, she was going to be very lucky, but she could hope.