The Killing Jar (32 page)

CPI-RQ2-06, NEW YORK

AUGUST 26, 2232

It wasn’t the worst she’d ever looked. Mable’s head was shaved on one side and a thin white scar ran from her temple to several inches behind her ear. It was pretty impressive. She had little doubt Arrenstein would make her go back to cleaning and have it removed.

Once washed, her hair fell smooth and the skin of her face looked less dull. It was actually an improvement over her usual look.

She pulled a loose long-sleeved tee over her shoulders when she heard a knock at her door. She slipped into a pair of drawstring pants and opened it.

She hadn’t expected Theo, though she probably should have. He was bound to show up sooner or later.

“Hey,” she said as she tied the string of her pants.

“Hey, uh, Dasia said you were up. I don’t want to bother you or anything—”

“That’s okay. You can come in.”

“Uh, Dr. Arrenstein was pretty clear that I should stay away from you. I don’t want to get in trouble or anything. I just—”

He stood stammering in the doorway, so nervous she almost felt bad for him. He probably felt guilty for what happened.

“Just come in.” Mable had to grab his hand to pull him in and close the door herself. “Arrenstein told you to stay away from me?”

“Yeah.” Theo looked at the floor. “Because of what happened.”

“It’s not your fault,” she reminded him. It wasn’t like Theo had had any control over her infection. She chose to look for other bugs.

Theo sucked in a breath and looked like he’d been punched in the face. “You don’t remember?”

Mable sat on the corner of the bed and crossed her legs under her. “Uh, no. There was this bug in my head eating parts of my brain. It’s a little fuzzy.” She smiled but he didn’t smile back. “What’s wrong?” She’d never seen him like this.

“It is my fault. It’s
entirely
my fault.” His words flew out like arrows from an archer, rapid fire and each one more painful than the last. “I didn’t want to be on your team and I thought you didn’t want to be on mine and if you messed up this job then they’d separate us and we could get reassigned. I turned off the comms and waited. I drank a fucking cup of
coffee
while you were in there bleeding out.” Theo covered his face with his hands for several seconds while she gaped at him. “I didn’t go in after you and I didn’t help you when you obviously needed it. I totally, totally failed you.”

Mable stared in shock. Clearly she’d forgotten that part.

“I’m sorry. Shit, I didn’t mean to upset you. I just, I’m going to go.”

She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “Excuse me? You don’t just get to come in here and say that shit and leave. Sit your ass down.”

An obedient Labrador, Theo walked to her desk chair and sat where Dasia had left it an hour before.

Mable chewed on her thumb while she thought for a minute. “How’d you get back here?”

“I took the shuttle.”

“The one we were supposed to take together?”

“I went—” He started to say something and changed his mind. “They told me to come back and I did.”

“Why’d you do it?”

Theo visibly cringed. “I told you. I thought they’d split us up.”

She put the pieces together pretty fast. “Because of Jane?”

Theo nodded.

“And did he split us?”

Theo nodded again.

Mable couldn’t decide how she felt about that. Arrenstein interfering in her life again. Now, she understood he thought he was doing the best for her, but whether he really knew what that meant was still in question.

“Guess it all worked out for you then.”

Theo pushed out of the chair with a huff. He covered the room in three steps and slammed the door as he left, but not before he dropped something on her desk.

Mable climbed off the bed and picked it up, a slim, transparent film. It was the size of a screw-head and no thicker than a fingernail. She had no idea what the hell it was.

CPI-RW2-05, NEW YORK

AUGUST 28, 2232

Theo lay in bed with his arms crossed over his face, right where he’d landed an hour before. He didn’t know what to do, where to go, who to talk to.

He only moved when he heard the meep-meep-meep of the alarm. On his wristlet, the ecomm,
NICK PASTROMAS: SEE DR. ARRENSTEIN NOW
appeared on the screen.

Great.

Theo gathered the tattered remnants of his dignity and walked to Dr. Arrenstein’s office. The door was open when he got there. A tablet sat on his desk but didn’t show any display except a white light in the corner. Dr. Arrenstein wore his usual pressed suit. He looked ten years younger than the last time Theo saw him.

“Afternoon, Kaufman.” Dr. Arrenstein smiled as if nothing had ever transpired between them. “Can I interest you in a cocktail?”

Theo nodded. Why not?

“I know this isn’t the usual protocol, but I’m having trouble deciding a new distribution of teams. I was hoping you could offer me some insight.” Arrenstein handed him a glass of ice and amber liquid much like the one that seemed glued to his hand.

“Uh, sure. What do you want to know?” He took a small sip of the drink as he’d seen the director do countless times, and nearly choked at the fire that burned his mouth.

“Puts a little hair on your chest.” Dr. Arrenstein laughed. “Who do you think she should be with, if not you? Jane? Dasia?” Dr. Arrenstein sat against his window with a strange look in his eye.

Theo couldn’t decide why he would ask him that, but he answered all the same. “I guess it should be up to her. She’s smart and she can handle herself. If she had a good handler, she’d be set. I think you should let her choose.”

“Look Kaufman. That’s sweet and all, but that’s not really how it works. If you’d stop being a martyr for a minute, I could really use your feedback. There’s only a few suitable candidates. Dasia. Jane. Georgie. Osip. Any suggestions?”

Theo thought hard and took his time, but once he had an answer, he was sure of it. “Osip.”

Dr. Arrenstein cocked his head. “Why?”

“I think he’s dependable, he’s got a good head on his shoulders. He wants to learn. And he’s from the underground.”

“So you think background to be the most important factor?”

Theo shook his head. “No, I mean that because he never had a class, he won’t hold it against her that she didn’t have one. He won’t judge her past.” Theo sipped the drink. It tasted better than his words. “He won’t make the same mistake I did.”

“Anything else?”

Theo considered his question. “He’ll keep her safe. She deserves that.”

Dr. Arrenstein half-laughed as he took another sip. “One more thing. What is this?” From his pocket, the director pulled the device he’d given to Mable only an hour before.

He should have expected she didn’t want it.

“It’s a cam.”

“We provide the agents with cams.”

“She didn’t like it. I don’t blame her. Have you seen that thing?”

“It’s the most reliable way to collect the vids without risking security. The cams live feed on a secure line.” Theo couldn’t decide if Dr. Arrenstein was insulted or annoyed.

“This does the same thing, it’s just smaller. It sits on the scalp behind the top of the ear. There’s a microscopic lens to take the vid feed and audio amplifier that communicates between the handler and agent via the same secure line. It just doesn’t poke holes in her head.” Theo didn’t mention it would send full vitals and coordinates any time she wore it.

He’d worked all night on it, but in reality, it hadn’t been that hard. Theo had definitely faced larger challenges in nanotech. A tiny camera and speaker were no trouble at all, especially for a girl he had failed in every other way.

Dr. Arrenstein turned the new-and-improved cam in his fingers. “Why did you make this? You’re not her handler anymore.”

He could offer nothing but the truth. “I thought it would help keep her safe. If she wasn’t so distracted from the cam, she would be less likely to get infected again. Just one less thing—”

The director smiled at his hands. He flipped the device into the air and caught it several times, almost laughing. “You know, I have spent the last three years trying to keep that girl safe.”

Theo’s eyes went wide. He didn’t understand at all.

“As much as you’ve failed her, you haven’t failed her nearly as much as I have. You see, I think we’ve been doing this backward all along. Maggie should be the one to decide what happens in her life, rather than all of us trying and failing to do it for her.”

“That’s fair,” Theo admitted. It was no more than he would want for himself, the right to choose his own life.

“So let’s do it. Let’s ask her. Could you come in here?” Dr. Arrenstein looked above his desk. There, a white light hovered at the top of an empty projection. Their conversation had been transmitted. He just didn’t know who was listening.

Of course it was Mable.

Theo turned to see her standing there, her arms crossed.

She was smiling.

“What do you think? What do you want to do?” Dr. Arrenstein asked her.

“I want to kill those fucking bugs.” She looked at Theo and winked. “But I’ll need Theo to do it.”

“What?” He clenched his jaw in rejection. There was no way she wanted him back and no way Dr. Arrenstein would allow it. They were up to something.

“If you can make this, then you’ve been holding back. Show us what you can do.” Dr. Arrenstein flipped the cam across the room. Theo had to reach out and catch it before it fell.

Theo couldn’t believe it. The last few days of utter regret had been unbearable. Now, he would get a second chance to turn that regret into something better. It was far more than he deserved. Overwhelmed and shocked, Theo could only nod his head in acceptance.

Mable walked over and bent so her eyes were even with his. “If you ever try to screw me over again, I’ll kill you. Got it?”

Theo swallowed hard. “Got it.”