CD & EA 1.5 - Gearing Up

Heyo - As my note said on chapter 4, I'm looking for feedback before I push these live to RR tomorrow. I hope you all are enjoying it!

-Plum

Post 2/3 for today:

Angel had finished the job for Tsakanikas, and Juliet had been browsing through music vids on the big viewscreen in his waiting room for nearly an hour when Yan made an appearance. He didn’t exactly fit Tsakanikas’s description of “a little guy with green hair,” though he did come close—his mohawk was indeed a shade of green, and he was very thin. He wasn’t really small, though; Juliet wasn’t short at five foot nine, and this guy was taller than she.

“Yo, you already sent the finished file?” Yan asked, sipping from a bright blue can of energy drink. He wore a tight stretch-weave, blue pullover with an orange and white clown’s head graphic accentuating his sparse frame, his individual ribs visible through the thin, clingy fabric.

“Yeah, a while ago.” Juliet shrugged.

“You must have some nice cracking routines. Care to share?” Yan leaned against the long table with the terminals and tapped his head, indicating the shiny, gold-plated data port jutting out the left side of his forehead.

“Nah, I don’t think so. Sorry,” Juliet said, knowing full well she couldn’t share Angel or any of Angel’s code without causing trouble for herself.

“Be that way.” He sniffed obnoxiously, chugging the rest of his drink and crumpling the can. “Tsak told me to tell you he’ll be in to chat soon. Still finishing up the muscle weave job for Carl.” He spoke like Juliet knew what he was talking about, so she just nodded, and he moved around the table to sit at one of the terminals, eyes glazing over as he wirelessly connected to it.

“Angel,” Juliet subvocalized, “if I got a wireless data jack, would you be able to connect to any terminal?”

“Most hardware has local wireless data capabilities, now, but some security-minded people don’t even allow that on their local devices, requiring physical connectivity. I’m equipped to use your data port to connect to the satellite net but not directly to local hardware or networks. Most of them are shielded from the net by solid ICE and Firewalls.”

“Right, since the Takamoto-Cybergen war. I learned about that like all the other middle schoolers—the Great Net Breakup.” Juliet sighed heavily, not wanting to get into a history lesson with Angel.

“Correct, Juliet—the satellite network is limited in its access to the various municipal, corporate, and private networks. I had access to the WBD network when I first came online because they’d opened themselves up to the vulnerability by trying to track and connect to me. Even so, my access didn’t last long.”

“Right, right, got it,” Juliet said, aloud this time, kicking her feet up on the coffee table in front of the couch. Yan gave her a look but quickly glanced away when she glared at him. “Angel,” she subvocalized, “how much trouble you think I’m in? If they’re searching my apartment, does that mean they’ve got warrants out for me? This is all kind of crazy—yesterday I was a welder working at Fred’s scrapyard, now I’m sitting in a shady cyber doc’s office waiting to hear if I got a job working for likely criminals tonight.”

“There are no publicly released warrants for your arrest, Juliet. Concerning your career change, I feel you’ve made good strides in such little time. You only heard this morning that your employer won’t be operating in the near future, and now you’re already getting set up with a new profession and prospects. You’ve yet to commit any crimes unless that data I retrieved was stolen, but we don’t know that, do we?”

“Angel, are you . . . are you rationalizing your behavior?”

“An interesting turn of phrase! Ahh, I see; you’re wondering if I’m stretching logic to justify behavior that I find morally questionable? I suppose it’s possible. While I don’t answer to the laws of corporations, I would find it unsavory to steal data from innocent people. I hope Dr. Tsakanikas didn’t have any intentions like that!”

“Uh, well, I kind of assumed the worst right away, but I hope not, too. Hopefully, those accounts and names were, uh, I don’t know, corrupt corpo assholes.”

“Yes!” Angel said, sounding far too satisfied. “I’m always happy to bring justice to the corrupt!”

Juliet almost began to explain to Angel that it was just wishful thinking, but she didn’t know what good it would do to dampen the PAI’s simulated enthusiasm or its strange moral compass. She’d heard of PAIs that were jailbroken to do things that were against corpo laws, but she’d never spoken to one. Angel seemed more than that, though. Her personality was far more advanced and lifelike than any PAI she or her friends had interfaced with.

Juliet knew that “AI” was used very loosely in modern society—no true AIs existed, at least not publicly. PAIs like Tig, or, she supposed, Angel, were just running very clever personality simulations and were quite limited in their creativity. Still, Angel had surprised her several times with her intuitiveness; she was beginning to wonder if there was more to the PAI’s special value to WBD than her quick processor and advanced capabilities. Maybe she was genuinely more “intelligent” than other artificial intelligences.

“Juliet!” Dr. Tsakanikas said, striding toward the couch. She’d been so engrossed in her thoughts she hadn’t seen him come into the waiting room. He still wore the same gray pants as before, but now he had a green surgeon's smock on, and it was unsettlingly smeared with long streaks of brownish-red, dried blood. He smiled as he worked to peel off disposable black surgeon's gloves. “I have some good news!”

“Oh?” Juliet said, taking her faded, worn sneakers off the table and sitting up straight.

“Yes! The job I was telling you about? I spoke to Vikker, the decision-maker for the team, and told him about that little data recovery job you just did. He’s willing to give you a chance!”

“That’s cool. Um, what kind of job?” Juliet asked, reaching back to reset her hair tie, pulling in the long, loose strands of her thick hair.

“Hold up, Tsak!” Yan chimed in from behind the terminal table.

“What, Yan?” Tsakanikas asked, clearly irritated.

“Why’s that job going straight to her? I told you I needed some extra cash this month.”

“Quiet, Yan. We’ll talk later.” The doctor didn’t even look at Yan while he spoke. Rather, he sat down in a chair opposite Juliet’s couch and leaned forward, rubbing his hands together.

“But, Tsak . . .”

“I said be quiet!” This time he glowered over at Yan, and his accent grew very thick as his volume increased. He cleared his throat and forced a smile as he turned back to Juliet. “As I was saying, they were happy to hear about your skills, and you won’t be needing any welding equipment! As to exactly what the job is, I’m not sure. It’s one of those confidential assignments. You know, ‘we need x for y type of work,’ kind of thing. All I know is they want you for your data retrieval skills.”

“Okay, what’s it pay?” Juliet was feeling more wary of Tsakanikas by the minute, especially after his outburst with his “assistant.”

“Now, here’s the deal: those guys trust me; we’ve worked together many times. They don’t know or trust you and would like me to manage you for this assignment. That means I’ll be giving you the contract, not Vikker. He gives me a contract, and I give you a subcontract. See how that works? It’s a big one, though, so you should be happy—ten k.”

“For a night’s work?” Juliet knew she wasn’t being a shrewd negotiator, but the words had just come out. She didn’t make that kind of money in a month working at the salvage yard.

“That’s right, Juliet!” Tsakanikas said, his heavy cheeks lifting in a wide grin. He reached under his smock, fishing around in his shirt pocket, and came out with a white, plastic toothpick that he stuck in his mouth.

“I guess I’m in. What do I do?” Juliet asked, frowning in annoyance at herself, irritated by her show of enthusiasm.

“I’ll be sending you a contract with the details, but let’s talk about what you’ll need for the job. I’m assuming that kid’s bike you dumped by my driveway is your only set of wheels?”

“Yeah, sadly. My car got wrecked, and, as you well know, I’m broke at the moment.” Juliet scowled, not just at the question but at her situation.

“Easy, easy, Juliet.” Tsakanikas held out both hands, palms down like he was trying to calm an angry dog.

“I’m easy. Do I look like I’m losing it or something?” Juliet’s frown deepened, annoyed at how the man was making a big deal of her scowl.

“No, no. All right, let me get to the point. I have a guy who sells vehicles. They’re a little special because he takes the time to remove locator chips and add spoofed ‘net signals. I’ll front you the cost of something cheap—maybe a bike. You know, a motorbike. Can you ride? The smaller ones aren’t any harder than a bicycle!”

“Well, yeah, I guess I can. I’ve ridden a moped before.”

“Perfect!”

“Now, you’re also going to need to borrow some specs because I can’t do your retinal augment until Tuesday—waiting on a delivery.” His smile was so self-satisfied and smug that Juliet was starting to wonder if she should cancel the whole deal and get out of there, but then she thought of the ten thousand bits and swallowed her annoyance bordering on revulsion.

“I guess you’ll let me borrow them for a price?”

“Right! You’re smart, just like I told Vikker!” He reached under his smock again, digging around, and came out with the nice pair of Aurora specs he’d let her use earlier. I’ll give you these for twenty-five hundred. If you sell them back to me when I upgrade your retinal implants, I’ll take two k off the surgery price.”

“Are you fucking serious? So you’re charging me five hundred bits to borrow these until Tuesday? For three days?”

“You’re good at math, Juliet. Of course! These are valuable, and I’m taking a risk by letting you take them on credit. A man has to make money somewhere, doesn’t he?” Somehow he pulled off the outraged, injured samaritan act, and Juliet could only chuckle.

“All right, I don’t really have a choice.” Juliet reached out and took the specs, hooking them into her t-shirt neck right next to her oversized, plastic sunglasses.

“Those have projection capability! Run your software through them to mask yourself on surveillance equipment. When I send you the contract, I’ll include directions to my vehicle guy. Sound good?” He stood up, rubbing his palms against the unsoiled edges of his smock and reaching out a hand for Juliet to shake.

“Yeah, sounds good, Doc,” Juliet said, also standing up. She took his thick, soft hand in her long-fingered, calloused grip and gave it a good squeeze. “Thanks for your help, but just because I’m new, don’t think I’ll be happy to let you keep screwing me over.” She looked him right in the eyes while she spoke, and he chuckled, perhaps nervously, and nodded.

“Of course, Juliet. We all pay some dues when we’re new, but I think you’ll have a good future as an operator.” He smiled, and it seemed less forced or fake than before, and Juliet shrugged. She supposed it was like any other line of work; the people who’d been there longer got to bust the new girl’s chops a bit. It had been that way at the salvage yard too, but she’d had an idea what she was getting into back then. In this business, Juliet knew next to nothing and was feeling defensive because of it.

“So, should I just head out, then? When can I expect the contract with the address for your vehicle guy?”

“Oh, just give me five minutes to talk to this runt over here, and then we’ll send it your way,” Tsakanikas said, gesturing toward the scowling, sulking Yan. “Here, let me show you out,” he added, walking over and opening the door to the backyard. “Just take a left and go out the gate. You’ll see your bike leaning up against the building.”

“Right. Talk to you later,” Juliet said, stepping through the open door into the oppressive Arizona sun. “Damn, Angel, I could get used to the AC in that office. What did he have it set to, sixty?”

“I’m sorry, but your data port doesn’t have any sort of atmospheric sensor array. I can tell you that the official reported temperature in Tucson is now one hundred and sixteen degrees Fahrenheit.”

“Glorious,” Juliet said, walking along the red pavers, past a tall row of oleanders, and then out through a wooden gate. She latched it behind herself and, for the first time, took note of the bristling camera and antennae array on the side of the building. Taking the cameras as a cue, she put on the Aurora specs and said, “Angel, make sure he doesn’t have any trackers or anything running in these specs, and please run your ID masking routines. You can do that, right?”

“Yes, I’m factory resetting the specs and updating their firmware. Give me three minutes, and then I’ll start the masking routines. Any cameras that pick you up will see a blurry distortion where your face is.”

“Perfect. And you’re replying to ID pings with false info?”

“Yes, I have been since you told me we were hiding from WBD. I’m running a randomization script duping IDs from public record pings within five miles of your location.”

“So, if someone goes to the library nearby, you can grab that ID and use it next time we get a query?”

“Exactly, Juliet.”

“Smart.” Juliet leaned against the pale stucco next to her bike, waiting for Angel to update the specs and trying to hide in the narrow line of shade from the blazing sun. Sweat had already started to bead along her hairline, and she reached back to pull the ball cap out of her back pocket. She’d folded it over the bill, and it was ugly and wrinkled, but at least it would keep the sun out off her face and catch the sweat she was sure would be flowing once she started peddling that damn bike.

“While we’re waiting, Juliet, there’s a message from your friend Felix. Would you like me to play it?”

“Yes!”

Suddenly Fee-fee’s face was in her view, grainy and low-res, and he spoke, “Hey, Jules! Things are good; thanks for checking. Paulo’s hand wasn’t salvageable, but he was still on his mom’s Helios insurance, and they gave him a cheap wire-job. It’s not pretty, but he says he can feel things all right, and his grip is insane. He’s gonna save up for some synth-skin or maybe a chrome-job, so it looks cooler. We’re still in the big city—might stay a few days. I’ll hit you up when we’re back in town. Later, gorgeous!”

“Oh, Fee, I wish we could talk over a couple cold ones right now,” Juliet sighed, feeling a sudden wave of sentimentality, almost like nostalgia at the sight of her old friend. How could so much change in one day?

“Your contract came in, Juliet,” Angel said.

“Anything I need to look at? Where’s the job and all that?”

“You’re to meet the crew at a bar called Thicker than Water on South Sixth at nine PM. The terms of the contract reflect what Dr. Tsakanikas offered. He’s adjusted the ten-thousand-bit payment to seventy-five hundred, indicating a balance owed for ‘Aurora specs.’ Would you like me to accept the contract?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Are there directions to this vehicle guy? I can’t be riding this bike around all day and night.” As she spoke, Juliet began walking the bike out from beside the building toward the street.

“Yes, Juliet. It should take roughly twenty-three minutes to ride your bike to the location. We’re going to a business called Davis & Sons Used Motors.”

“Twenty-three minutes. Lovely; I’m going to be drenched.”

“The specs are now online and clean, ready to use.”

“Thanks,” Juliet said, putting the pricey specs on her head and smiling as they automatically darkened to shield her eyes from the brilliant sun. “Is your software running?”

“Yes. No need to be wary of surveillance as long as you wear them.”

“Cool,” Juliet grunted, hoisting herself onto the bike and, legs already complaining, riding up the street toward the intersection. “Tell me where to turn, and try to get me on downhill streets as much as you can, Angel!”

“I’m afraid there are only a few changes in elevation between here and there, and several are uphill.” Angel’s voice was deadpan, and Juliet couldn’t tell if she really didn’t understand the joke or if she was messing with her.

“It was a joke,” she grunted.

“Noted.”

The ride ended up taking Juliet longer than planned because she stopped at a restaurant for a cold soda and some fries, sitting under the AC register while she mopped at her forehead with napkins, wondering if she really smelled as bad as she thought she did. “Well, it’s hot out for everyone, and it's not like I’m going on a date, eh, Angel,” she said, tossing her wrappers and drink container in the recycle and arduously climbing back onto the bike. “God, am I supposed to feel this stiff already?”

“Exercise is paramount to a healthy body, Juliet, and you’ve done good work today. If you keep this up, we’ll need to re-evaluate your musculoskeletal ranking!”

“Oh, wow. You really know how to get a girl excited for . . .” Juliet started, meaning to banter with the PAI some more, but then a loud honk and screeching tires interrupted her, and she jerked the handlebars toward the curb, smacking into it and falling painfully to the sidewalk. She tumbled, scraping her elbow and smashing her knee and hip, and then she was lying on the scalding concrete, looking at the pale, blue sky. The sound of a motor revving and fading away was the only indication that the asshole that had startled her didn’t plan to stick around.

“Juliet, are you all right? It seems you had an accident,” Angel asked in her implant.

“Yeah. Just sore. At least these specs didn’t fall off.” She grunted, pushing herself to her feet, and looking up and down the street. Cars were driving by, their drivers seemingly unconcerned with her accident, and there wasn’t any foot traffic at that moment—people didn’t tend to walk much in Tucson during the height of the day. She painfully leaned over to pick up her bike and saw that the front wheel was bent and the handlebars were twisted sideways. “Fucking great.”

Looking at the scratched, second-hand blue paint, the ripped seat, the loose chain, all the dings, broken spokes, and now the new damage, Juliet growled and dragged the bike over to lean against a nearby building. “Fuck it,” she growled and started walking down the sidewalk. She’d taken only a few steps when she saw her plastic sunglasses lying on the sidewalk. One of the lenses was cracked, and, in a fit of frustration, she stomped on them, further demolishing the poor things.

“Juliet, your blood pressure has spiked. Is there anything I can help with?”

“No, Angel. I’m just annoyed. I’m on foot now. What’s the ETA?”

“Only eleven minutes.”

Juliet followed Angel’s instructions, trudging along the hot sidewalk, past low, mostly stucco buildings, glad that she wasn’t too near downtown and all the traffic that came with it. Still, cars blew past, each one stirring up a big wave of hot air, blowing it, along with a scattering of fine asphalt dust into her face. She contemplated switching to the other side of the street but decided it wasn’t worth it. “You know, if I need to get scarce, find a place to lay low, maybe it would be cool to check out a new city. I’m sick of this heat, Angel.”

“I’ll begin planning routes to cooler climes, ensuring you have plenty of options when you’re ready,” Angel said, and Juliet had to admire the PAI’s ability to say the right thing rather than offering her some sort of platitude. “The business is ahead. You should see it on the left, there.”

Sure enough, a white sign with faded red letters announced that the parking long ahead was “Davis & Sons Used Autos.” Juliet, her journey’s end in sight, picked up the pace and was soon striding over the hot blacktop toward the little glassed-in sales office. Before she could enter the shade of the awning, the door opened and a tall, middle-aged man in yellow slacks and a white shirt, wearing a tweed Panama hat, motioned for her to come in. “Come into the AC! How can I help you today? I’m Tyler.”

“Thanks,” Juliet said, stepping past him into the building, sighing in relief as the cool air conditioning washed over her. “God, that’s better.”

“I take it you’re looking for a vehicle? Not just stopping in for some relief?” the man asked, closing the door. He gestured around the sales office at the three vehicles on display inside—a soft-top four-by-four, a small maroon sports car, and a pale yellow minivan. Desks in little open offices sat around the display vehicles, and several men and one woman watched her like vultures catching sight of a dying rabbit.

“Yeah, I need a vehicle. It’s not going to make you much money, though. I need something cheap. Um, Dr. Tsakanikas sent me.”

“Oh? Good old Doc Sack?” He laughed, and Juliet took a good look at his face for the first time. He had a pencil-thin mustache and very tan skin. Heavy gray eyebrows hung over his brown eyes, and Juliet got a good feeling when she saw all the laugh lines around his eyes and corners of his mouth.

“Heh, that’s right.”

“Well, if you’re coming from him, I guess you’re one of his operators? You got a license number?”

“Yeah, um, it’s,” Juliet tried to remember, but then Angel displayed it in her AUI, and she read it off, “JB789-029.”

Tyler’s eyes unfocused for a minute, and then he said, “Got it. Juliet?” She nodded, and he continued, “New, huh? Probably looking for a cash deal?” He winked at her conspicuously, and Juliet realized why Tsakanikas had sent her here. These guys didn’t care about corpo regulations, either.

“Yeah, and I’m pretty low on funds. Tsakanikas thought you might have a used bike of some sort . . .” she trailed off, looking around the room and then out at the lot. She didn’t see any motorcycles, scooters, or anything like that. Tyler must have seen the concern on her face because he laughed and gestured toward the back of the office where there weren’t any windows.

“Don’t worry! We’ve got some bikes out back. Come on, let’s get you some water, and then we’ll go take a look.” He waved her over to a big water machine in the corner, and when they got close, he reached over to it and tapped a code into the keypad. With a hiss and a shudder, the machine printed a bio-plastic cup and dispensed a stream of cool water.

“Thanks,” Juliet said, taking the clear cup, enjoying the coolness of it as the cold water chilled the plastic. She drained the sixteen or so ounces of water in one long pull and then said, “All right, let’s see what you’ve got, Tyler.”

“Sure. Just put the cup in here,” he pointed to a hole in the side of the machine, and Juliet dropped it in, rewarded by a *ding* and a grinding sound as the machine absorbed the ingredients, making them ready to use again. “Pretty cool. They have some similar machines at the Helios Arcology,” she said, following Tyler out into the oppressive heat again.

“Oh, is that where you live?”

“Yeah, but I’m moving soon.”

“Right. I’ve got a few friends that live up there. It’s convenient, that’s for sure, especially if you work for Helios.”

“You mean more than the rest of us do?” Juliet and Tyler both laughed, the old half-joke, half-truth of everyone in Tucson working for Helios one way or another, creating an instant bond between them.

“Well, if you pay cash, maybe we can keep them from making money off this deal, at least, hmm?” Tyler winked over his shoulder at her, and then they walked around the back of the building under a high aluminum ramada. There, Juliet saw all the bikes lined up, from ancient roadsters and high CC rocket cycles to knobby-tired dirt bikes and tiny, colorful scooters. Tyler gestured around the rows of bikes and asked, “What sort of budget we dealing with, Juliet?”

“It’s kind of embarrassing, but I don’t want to spend more than five hundred bits today.” Juliet shrugged as if to say, “I know it sucks, but I can’t help it.”

“Five hundred? Well, we’ve got some old Pelicans here, he gestured to the bright scooters. He winced a little and tipped up the front of his hat. “I’ll tell you what, though, I wouldn’t sell one of those to anyone a gave a damn about. I mean, between you and me. Like, I know they’ll get you off the lot and a few miles down the road, but I wouldn’t guarantee much more than that.”

Juliet frowned and looked at the little plastic-shelled bikes with their tiny wheels. “They’re electric?”

“Yeah, all of these are, but the cruisers, there, they’re hybrid h-burners.” He frowned and scratched at his head, then he walked over to one of the dirt bikes. It was tall, with big shocks, and garishly painted in red and yellow. “This old Hornet, though, this thing’ll run forever. I mean, you could beat the hell out of it, and it might complain, but it’ll keep on grinding along. It’s eleven hundred, though.”

“Juliet,” Angel said into her ear, “You might offer them some security consulting in trade. I noticed that their terminals were quite dated. If you demonstrate your ability to hack in and then offer them the security patches they're deficient in, it might be worth something.”

“Um,” Juliet said, walking over to the tall dirt bike and running her hand over the black seat cushion, “I have some computer security skills. I noticed your local net was pretty spotty. What if I did a little work on it? Maybe we could make some kind of deal?”