I have a problem paying 1000 nuyen for a cup of fancy, swill-tasting soycaf. So when some gacked up ork blows it into ceramic fragments before I can even choke it down-it sort of sets the mood for the rest of the day.
I make a better cup at home-but I wasn't at home that morning. I was in Los Angeles-the last place I ever wanted to be. I'm more at home in Seattle-a long way from my present location. I was doing a friend a favor, and getting shot at in the process.
Welcome to 2072.
My name's Derek Montgomery, but most of my chummers call me Dirk. I've sort of built up a reputation as a shadowrunner over the past sixteen years. I never call myself that-I'm a detective for lack of a better word. Shadowrunners take on a variety of jobs that respectable clients don't want to get their hands dirty with.
I've only dipped in that pool when it was necessary-or I was tricked into it. I still cherry pick when I can, and then beg when necessary. I've pretty much kept my choices to surveillance and recovery over the years-though I have been pulled into some pretty complicated situations.
This profession sometimes takes me to different places-not always the more exotic locales like Hong Kong-nobody throws that kind of nuyen my way. And since I'm more of a Seattle name, not much about my reputation has gotten past the borders. Lately the routine had become too much of just that-a routine. I did want to get out of the rain-see some sunshine.
Los Angeles wasn't my first choice, and neither was this coffee shop across from the Mega Tri-Plex (that's the local term for the three Megacorps buildings for Horizon, Ares and Shiawase).
I was here to do a favor for an old friend's "nephew." But let's get it straight-I knew the guy I was meeting wasn't really her nephew-because Naomi Takashi didn't have siblings. Naomi's an old friend of mine from my short-lived Lone Star days who was now the Central Administrator for Wireless Augmented Reality Reconnaissance at the Lone Star facility in Seattle. The fact she had asked me for a favor-that was enough for me to say yes before I knew what it was she wanted.
I had a skeletal sob-story fit for the latest teen trideo-of a brother looking for his sister who disappeared. Yeah, I'd heard it before. Null perspiration.
But hell-it was Naomi-and I owed her my life ten times over.
So I'd e-mailed the guy-a Knight Errant employee named Kazuma (that's KAH-zoo-mah, as Naomi corrected me forty times) Tetsu. Tet-sue. His e-mails were professionally encrypted-scaled so that I'd have to enter a password on my end to read them. It was a bit annoying but I liked the guy's eye for security.
We'd arranged to meet at Cup O' Sin on the corner of Dreking and Expensive at ten o'clock. I'd only been there ten minutes before I saw him entering the shop-that was less then two minutes before the ork and his buddies blasted in with weapons firing.
Just my kind of day.
He was tall and slender and young looking-like most Japanese I'd known. Naomi was my age and I swear she looked as young and beautiful as the day we'd first met. His hair was fashionably cut around his face and ears then pulled back in a long ponytail behind him. It looked as if it'd been dyed a reddish brown as well-but at least it wasn't something like bright pink or yellow. He wore an expensive suit, black with a mandarin collar and black silk beneath. On his lapel was the KE pen the local branch's employees wore as a badge as well as his SIN that allowed them access in and out of Knight Errant doors.
I kept my attention fixed between my contact and the three coming through the front. It was obvious in a pinch they weren't actually aiming at anything or anybody-more so firing off their weapons to create a panic. My guess was to chase customers out of the shop.
But then there was always the path of the stray bullet-which found my client somewhere in his upper body. With a grunt I ducked, pulled out my Colt Manhunter and chambered a round. It wasn't so much that I was worried about this kid's life-but my own. If something happened to him, Naomi would blame-and possibly kill-me. At the very least she never speak to me again.
And as a professional, I couldn't exactly afford not having her as one of my key contacts for information in the Lone Star database.
As others scrambled out and the three intruders made their way in, I moved quick and low around them and to the right. Kazuma lay on his face behind a felled shelf of token coffee mugs and sugary sweets. I saw blood on the back of his suit and on the polished tile floor beneath.
But he hadn't let the wound take him down-the guy was up on all fours, moving as fast as he could toward the back of the shop to the counter, a black leather messenger bag draped around his shoulder. If that's where his gear was stored and one of the shooters saw it, they'd come after him and take it.
Tech wasn't as expensive as it used to be-but still-from the size of the bag I assumed he had one of the new slimline commlinks with an RFID tag on it. Shit-heads like these were always looking for a quick steal and a quick fence.
With a glance around I moved in behind him, keeping the overturned shelf between us and the intruder's view. Colt in my right hand, I crouch-stepped over him, threaded my left hand and arm beneath his left side under his arm and pulled him forward with me.
My back gave a slight protest-he was heavier than he looked-and I was getting too old for this.
Original intention had been to get him out of the shop-but it looked like that exit was blocked, and he'd also started to fight to get free of me. I figured whoever didn't get out in the first few seconds was going to be either a hostage or collateral.
"Baka let me go!" he hissed at me as one of the shooters, a bulked up, chromed hulk, chased a nice-looking girl out of the shop and then dragged her back in again. Uh oh-that didn't look good for her. "What are you-" the kid said in a much louder voice.
I slapped a hand over his mouth and yanked him down to the floor with me to watch the shooters' actions.
The ork noticed his companion dragging the girl back in by her hair and moved in himself. If this was gonna be some twisted bit of thrill sex I was just gonna have to drop the kid and do my part. Can't stand by and watch as some innocent piece of endowment gets gacked.
But ork took his weapon and held it by the firing end and smashed it hard into his companion's head. The side not covered in a chrome dome. Blood gushed over the thug's face and he lost hold of the girl. She screamed but was at least smart enough to get the hell out of there.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Chromedome demanded as he reached behind him and drew a katana from his back.
Ork didn't appear to be too afraid of Chromedome's weapon. He was in his face, his own weapon righted and the barrel inches from the guy's bloody nose. "We ain't here for that. You do your part and you get paid. You fuck up again, and I'll cap your ass and chop you for parts."
Chromedome sneered and re-holstered his blade.
A few other customers were trying to get by and Kazuma was moving in my arms. I pulled my hand away from his face and whispered, "Keep quiet."
But that just wasn't going to happen. "I have to get back there," he nodded in the direction he was going. "Behind-" he winced "behind the counter, to the right. Central server and network key."
Oh? I didn't ask how this kid would know that-I just did what he said. I released him and he kept low. I crouched down as well but noticed there was a blood trail left by his clothing. That little detail was going to give us away eventually-but at the moment it couldn't be helped.
"I'm in," said the third intruder, another human that'd set up a small odd shaped box near the register. He'd donned a pair of goggles and AR gloves-dude was interfacing with the shop's PAN through a home-make comlink.
So they were hacking into the shop's network. But why? It was a coffee shop. The only thing they'd find was an inventory list, payroll records, and maybe what next week's soy-drek of the day was going to be.
Kazuma was moving again and I followed him, hoping like hell none of them noticed the motion behind mister hacker. It wasn't that I couldn't defend myself-I was pretty good with my Colt Manhunter. But I had no idea if Kazuma here was armed, could shoot, or how bad he'd been hit. I also didn't know what kind of weapon mister hacker had. The fact these guys were hitting a shop bright and early on a Tuesday morning, full of customers and witnesses, was just a little crazy.
He moved behind the coffee shop's counter and to the right, just past the employee john and kneeled in front of what looked like a blank part of the wall. I kept myself low on my knees, my Colt aimed at the back of mister hacker as Kazuma held up his left hand in mid-air. It looked to me as if he were playing an invisible piano-but I knew he was logged into the Augmented Reality of the coffee shop's PAN.
I didn't see a commlink on him anywhere, no wires, so I assumed he'd done the mod thing and converted his data-jack to a wireless receiver-internal 'link. And since I didn't see any goggles or shades-I assumed his eyes were cyber-enhanced as well.
Now see? Why would a young, good-looking kid like this do that to his body? Me? There wasn't an artificial piece of hardware anywhere. Not even a data-jack. Never had a need for it. Yeah, I'd used the commlink and goggles rig now and then so I could get a taste of what AR might be like-having advertisements, e-mail and calls always in the peripheral of my vision.
And you know what I thought about it?
Crap. My mind stayed busy enough without all that shit being dumped in there on a continual basis. The Matrix was easier today to access than ever before-I'd never liked VR back then and I sure as hell didn't like it now.
There was a click and the door popped open. I pulled it out just enough to shove him inside, then piled in behind him.
The room was little more than a four-walled coffin, complete with an empty desk, an old data-jack outlet in its surface, and several brown, unmarked boxes. A broom, mop and apron hung on a nail behind the door.
I closed the door as quietly as possible. Kazuma reached out with his left hand again and tapped invisible keys. He was favoring his right arm where the bullet had apparently went through his shoulder.
Abruptly he waved at the air with his left hand and then collapsed hard against the wall. When he moved I saw a bright smear of blood he'd left behind. I holstered the Colt and coaxed him into helping me remove the messenger bag and jacket. Kazuma unbuttoned the front of his shirt and winced as I peeled it back from the wound.
Yep-right shoulder was a bloody mess. Reaching into the right pocket of my coat, I retrieved an old penlight I'd gotten from a client a few months back-self-charging little tool. Wasn't sure how I'd lasted this long without it-especially with my aging eyes.
He winced and closed his eyes as I pulled material out of the wound, but kept quiet. Turning his face away, I got a good look at his profile and noticed his hair had shifted, exposing a long, slender ear.
"You're an elf."
"Is that a problem?" His voice was surprisingly deep.
"No-it's just that Naomi didn't mention that." Now I was sure he wasn't her nephew.
His eyes opened at her name and he turned his head to look at me. "You're Derek Montgomery?"
I gave him my best smirk. "Is that a problem?"
He almost smiled. Almost. But then schooled his features into something a bit more stoic-which of course looked strange on his face. I'm not a judge on guy's looks. Especially when it's common to polish up one's appearance cosmetically these days. But looking at Kazuma-I'd say he was kinda too pretty for a guy. Being an elf and Asian-that was a double whammy. Androgyny was the curse of being both.
There were more shouts on the other side of the door and then a scream.
Kazuma looked at the door and I noticed just a flicker of panic in his expression. "We need to call the PCC-"
Ooh. I waved my right hand at him to stop. "Let's not get too hasty, okay? I'm sure local authorities can handle this." It's not that I had a problem with the PPC cops-my problems were more interlaced around Lone Star-but I wasn't in the mood to deal with any sort of authority at the moment.
He frowned at me. I noticed he had dark green eyes, not dark black-brown like Naomi's. And I also noticed with a slight shock that they weren't enhanced; these were human-or rather elven-eyes.
I looked at both of them. Cyber eyes-though you could buy the newer enhancements with life-like cosmetic qualities (mostly used by kids who were doing it behind their parent's backs)-always had a tell-tale sheen about them. Not like an animal's eyes that went red or silver in bright light-but more of a different hue. A signature that I'd always used as a marker. It let me know they were seeing things I had no access to.
This kid's eyes didn't have that. They weren't cyber.
So-how had he seen the shop's AR? Or even been able to tap this room's security? Unless he had on a pair of those smartlink contact lenses. That could account for the green tint to his eyes.
"I'm going to check on our friends outside." He leaned his head back on the wall and closed his eyes.
"Hey-Kazuma," I tapped his cheek. He looked incredibly young and he was looking incredibly pale. With a wound like that and no medical treatment-elf or human-he was going to go into shock. I wasn't a doctor, and I sure as hell couldn't play one in the trid. "Hey-look at me."
He blinked slowly and his expression looked-familiar. Only where had I seen that look before? Not on his face-but someone else I'd known a long time ago. It was the expression of someone being in two places at once.
"They've dismantled the auto-security call-out," Kazuma said, though his expression didn't change. "Looks like they've already hacked into the main control. Damnit-the ECCM's still working, but it looks like they're not trying to jam the main signal."
I was still wondering how he was seeing this-so I reached out and moved his hair away from the sides of his temples. There was no datajack. Nothing. Not even a scar where one had been removed. I would swear he was accessing remotely-but was he in the Matrix? I didn't see how-most of the time if a decker was submersed in VR then they weren't accessing their meat sack except to breathe, much less speak.
How the fuck was he doing both? "Do you have security clearance for this server?"
He nodded slowly. "I do now."
What the hell did that mean? Was the kid hacking his way in? Well, he was Knight Errant and he'd known about this room-which made me think he was either pretty high level or he'd worked in the sector before-maybe even for the PPC. I figured I'd ask him later-after we kicked these assholes out.
"Kazuma-can you figure out what they're after?"
"I don't-" He frowned, and his full, lower lip trembled. "How could they know this? I didn't know that door existed on this server. Ponzu-track sinister seven, subsection 66.77-pop2. Find out where that thing is going."
Ponzu?
Wasn't that a sauce?
Kazuma blinked rapidly as he looked up at me. He was shaking. "I-I'm cold."
"Shock." I glanced around. There was nothing in here that I could use as a blanket-except my coat. With a sigh I stood and removed it, careful of my weapon and laid it over him. I really needed something to staunch the bleeding-but the wound was a through and through-a hole in and a hole out. The wound was bleeding steadily and if we didn't get out of here soon, this kid was gonna expire.
And then I'd have Naomi to contend with. That was not how I intended on ending this little venture.
As I tried to fasten his coat around him as a bandage my hand pressed against something hard and ungiving. I pulled the coat back and found a hidden back holster around his middle containing a Fichetti Security 600. I slipped it out and checked the magazine as Kazuma's eyelids fluttered. Fully loaded.
I nudged him and held the gun up. "Can you use this thing?"
He squinted at me and nodded. "Yeah-I can use it. My Grandfather taught me."
Grandfather? Was that supposed to mean something? I held it out. I wasn't surprised a Knight Errant techie boy had a weapon-I think I was just slotting him into a stereotype and suspecting he had a katana hidden somewhere. "Think you can use it now?"
He nodded and reached out with his left hand and grabbed it. "Why?"
"Because we have to get out of here, that's why. If I understand what you're saying, those jack-heads out there are looking to steal this server-why I don't know-but that means they'll be trying to bust down this door any minute and I'm not sure-"
"They're not after this server," Kazuma said and he cleared his throat. He also sat forward and took in a deep breath. He tried not to wince from his shoulder and I noticed he wasn't using his right arm at all. "They found a back door I didn't know was there-it was probably written in by the coder for this server's original service before it was re-purposed. But they got an Agent in through that door. I've sent my own program after it." He swallowed. "I'm afraid it's trying to hack into Horizon. Baka."
I wasn't going to pretend I fully understood what he was saying-but I was knowledgeable enough to know that using an Agent to hack into an outfit like Horizon was gutsy. "I'm not sure how they can find a link between the two PANs-"
"Horizon owns this city block as well," Kazuma said as he winced. He was honestly fighting to stay with me. This kid had guts, I'll give him that. He nodded to the wall behind him. "This is part of a redundancy system-an off-line backup for Horizon's client list. It was scheduled to be taken off-line next month and remove the node."
There was more shouting from outside the door, and I thought I heard the siren call of a local authority posse. Great. Things were about to get heated. I looked back at Kazuma. "Are you saying there's a way for them to hack into Horizon by using this PAN?"
Kazuma nodded. "Yes-I'm-baka-" he jerked and his eyes closed again. At the same time there was a barrage of foul language from the other side of that door.
Nuts. I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying-I was blind. If I had my commlink I could hack the shop's security system myself-but I didn't. I eyed the bag on the suit jacket. But if Kazuma did…
I grabbed up his bag and rummaged through it. As I suspected-inside was a Novatech comlink and a pair of gloves and shades. I pulled them out and slid the gloves on, then slid the shades on. They were blank-no image. I took them off and checked the commlink.
It was off.
I looked at Kazuma-if the link was off, how the hell was he accessing the PAN? Was my first guess that he had an internal 'link, right? Which meant he was using his own secured PAN to chase after the hackers?
That was just stupid on several levels-having an internal 'link nowadays-especially since the Technomancer and AI scares was just stupid. If someone listening to all the drek out there about Otaku Nightmares being Technomancers didn't see a physical commlink they'd kill this kid. Straight up. I'd already read about too many "mistakes" like that in this crazy-ass world
The other problem was if the Hackers noticed him and fought back with any sort of attack-like a black hammer or even some sort of databomb-he was gonna suffer some serious dumbshock from running hot sim. I switched the commlink on, set the protocols, and discovered the commlink's ID wasn't his, but someone named Hitori Tetsu.
Ah…Tetsu. The missing sister?
With a shrug I donned the goggles again, connected to the PAN, and was instantly barraged by the daily specials (which correlated with Kazuma's assessment that they hadn't tried to jam the signals) as well as a flooded inbox of email, texts and coupons available from PRADA international.
PRADA huh? So-the Tetsu family was well off. Figures.
Even as I looked around the room I still saw the desk and a small pop-up window identifying the type of datajack and the IP address. The damned thing even informed me what company manufactured the broom and a red blaring message warned that the mop had a known defect in the rotary connection.
Wow…what a rush. And then I looked at Kazuma.
And got nothing. Not even a PAN identifier or ID.
Now-I wasn't completely savvy on the latest wireless craze that'd pretty much rerouted the world in the past seven years-but I had been paying attention enough to eek by. Had even set up my own PAN and had my commlink spoofing alternate IDs from a data-set I'd bought with good nuyen.
But from what I understood, an active PAN should show some sort of ID to it.
Or was his on private or something? Either way-it was time to apply a little of my own hacking skills.
I heard the yelling outside through the door and grabbed up one of the ear-buds from the shades and stuck it in my left ear. Now I could hear as well as see all the craziness being picked up by this 'link.
As I looked around, I found a pop-up that told me there was an access panel to the left of Kazuma. With a grunt I moved over him on my knees and then felt along the wall. Two pushes and the pressure plate disengaged.
The opening revealed a slate gray surface with several lights flashing in what looked like random patterns. There were also two datajacks to the right. Reaching over his legs, I pulled up the bag and looked for cabling.
No cabling. What I did find was a small prescription bottle for some hi-test painkiller. The label tag opened a new AR window before my eyes. Kazuma Tetsu's name showed up as the prescription recipient. His address flashed up as well. 1000 miligrams of Nano-profen. Wow. That was strong stuff. What was he taking it for?
"Derek," came Kazuma's voice to my left.
My left? Kazuma was to my right. But when I looked at him he was still sitting with his eyes closed. With a pounding heart I looked to me left.
There was something there-visible only in the shades in a third AR window. It was Kazuma-sort of. But he looked more like a trideo anime character than a person. His hair was bright red and he still had the ponytail. He wore a tight fitting black suit with a high collar, and the handle of a katana jutted up behind his right shoulder.
Now that was stereotypical.
His eyes were large and green and bent up on the ends like a cat.
"Kazuma?"
He nodded. "Matrix icon," he said. "You're wearing my sister's comlink."
Oh great. I didn't even want to know what this commlink's persona resembled.
I nodded to him. "It was the only one you had in the bag." I kept looking at him, but the AR windows didn't give me any more information. Not even a handle. "You care to tell me how the hell you're doing this? I mean-you got an internal 'link?"
Kazuma's cartooned face smirked. "No, I don't care to tell you. I should have told you to put those on sooner-makes this much easier to work in VR and solicit your help. I found the Agent they sent to the Horizon node-and I destroyed it."
I was impressed. Confused as hell but impressed. "So-this is good?"
"Yes and no," he smiled. "In truth the Agent was seemingly benign, with little to no security to it-but when I destroyed it-some sort of other program triggered and it followed me back here. The hacker noticed the blood trail leading to this room."
Oh.
That was bad.
He held up his right hand and an animated keyboard appeared beneath his fingers and he reached up to an animated AR window. "I've been able to infiltrate their equipment and I've locked the outer doors."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "You did what?"
"They can't get out that way."
"And the authorities can't get in."
He nodded. "I know. I sent a message via KE to the locals-PPC-telling them a KE security agent was inside and working on delivering the criminals. They'll keep the corner surrounded until everything is secured inside."
Oh good grief. "Kazuma-you're losing a lot of blood-"
"Which is why I need you. I can't concentrate on too many things right now-or I'll fade-lose consciousness. So I'm going to have to let go of the door when they hack it. I'll be semi-conscious and that's all I'll need to work. You're gonna have to stall them. Use my hidden gun holster and let them take the Colt."
I was about to protest.
"They'll think they've disarmed you. I'll need you to hide Hitori's commlink-I don't want them to find it. There's a storage compartment to the right of the panel. Put it in there and I'll lock it."
Uh huh. As I watched and listened to him I was starting to get a suspicion I didn't like. "Kazuma-does KE have a monitor on you? I mean-will they sense your vitals and send a wagon?"
"They do have a tag-but it can't read me right now." He smiled. "My commlink is in the pocket of my jacket. You'll need to pull it out."
Ah! So he did have an external commlink. I moved to his jacket and fished inside the pockets, finding it hidden inside the inner breast pocket. It was a Novatech model as well, slim line.
It wasn't on.
I looked back at him. He smiled. "Turn it on."
My suspicions came to an ugly head just then. This kid was accessing the PAN as well as the Matrix-or at least a small part of it with no commlink. I moved back and sat hard on my ass. "Kazuma-are you-?"
His eyebrows arched up.
Something started banging loudly on the door. I jumped, not expecting it.
"They've started hacking the door," he said.
It sounded more like they were banging on it.
He wasn't going to answer me. And if it was true, and Kazuma Tetsu was a Technomancer, could I blame him for being quiet? Given the current climate? He worked for a powerful mega-corps, for crying out loud. If they even had a slight bug up their butt that someone in their security department could do what he could, he'd vanish from the registry of the living so fast even Naomi wouldn't remember him.
The banging continued as I did what Kazuma suggested. Two pushes on the panel by his head and the bag and gear fit just inside. I replaced the panel and watched as Kazuma's physical left hand came up and typed again on an invisible keyboard.
I heard the click. I also heard the whine from the door as well.
Shit.
I placed the commlink in his hand and he held onto it. And I knew if I still had his sister's 'link on I'd see his ID flash up in an AR window. I removed the hidden holster from Kazuma and placed it on my own waist-it barely fit. I was a bit wider than my elven friend. The Fichetti fit easily into the hidden seam of my coat as I slipped it back on.
"I found their IDs," Kazuma said softly as I put his coat back on him as well. "The ork's name is Harold Burton-limited enhancements; cyber-eyes, right arm, and an artificial heart. He's blind in his right eye-has a down payment on a new eye."
I was impressed-this guy was hacking into their actual records-not spoofed ones.
"The human is Sylvester Van. He's had a half-replacement of a cyber-brain. His left eye is equipped with a target laser that is connected wirelessly to the firearm. He carries a katana-but isn't as skilled at using it yet. He has a blog-and his third lesson is tomorrow at noon. He has aspirations of being a samurai."
With that I had to laugh as I braced for the door to open.
"The one hacking is called…" Kazuma frowned. "I can't-" he winced and suddenly put his hand to his ears.
The door opened with an ear-shattering bang.
Sylvester-Chromedome-was the first one in and he pointed his katana directly into Kazuma's chest. I couldn't tell from my angle if it slid in or not. I hoped like hell it hadn't. "Found him! He's in here!" He moved the blade's end to the pin on this lapel. "And he's Knight Errant."
Seeing me, he moved the blade into my face and I held up the Colt in one of my hands. "Don't kill us-this man was wounded. Just let us leave and no will-"
"Shut the hell up!" Sylvester yelled. He jabbed me with the end of the blade, right into my chest. Luckily it only pierced the leather of my coat and not my skin-but he didn't have to know that. I made the appropriate noise and allowed him to grab the Colt from me.
"Get out of here," he said as he pulled on my collar and yanked me to my feet. He might be stupid-but was definitely strong. Pulling me out of the room, he pretty much tossed me to the right and into the arms of the ork, Harold.
I really had to squelch a laugh at that one. And that wasn't hard seeing as how his fist made contact with my face.
His cyber-enhanced fist.
I saw stars before I even hit the ground. I'd also managed to fly over the coffee bar at the same time. The force of the blow was supposed to incapacitate me.
And it almost did.
Almost.
I landed against the far wall-close to where Kazuma was originally shot-and just lay there, waiting for the room to stop spinning. I watched as they yanked Kazuma out of the room as well-and he half-stumbled, half-walked as he was presented to the Hacker behind the counter by Sylvester.
The hacker narrowed his eyes at Kazuma, and I suspected he had smart lenses on, reading the ID tag from the now active commlink. "Well, a Knight Errant boy," he said in a voice full of phlegm.
I took that moment and tried to focus on the cameras. They were moving independently, zeroing in on me, on the front door and on the scene at the bar. Was that Kazuma?
A cry from that side of the room caught my attention and I looked back in time to see Harold using his huge cyber arm to squeeze Kazuma's wounded shoulder.
Damn-if they kept that up he was going to pass out. I wasn't sure what the rules were for Technomancers, but I was pretty confident if he went unconscious, whatever he was doing in the PAN would stop. And then the doors would be open and these shit-heads could go free.
The hacker grabbed Kazuma's chin and turned his face to look at him. "You realize what you just did? How much nuyen you just lost us? All I had to do was retrieve one file, one damned file-and you destroyed my gateway." He leaned in close. "Your ID doesn't say it-but that accomplishment tells me you're pretty rich with the KE cred-which means you have codes. And I want those codes," he removed his hand and then produced one hell of a rifle and pointed it at me where I half-lay, half-sat in a dazed heap on the other side of the room. "Or I shoot the old guy."
Old guy?
Kazuma's eyelids flickered and he slumped forward. The Hacker cursed again and then moved the rifle over Kazuma's shoulder to point at Sylvester's head. "You overdid it!"
Harold came from the back, a scowl on his face, his tusks grinding back and forth. "Jarod-the main server is back there. I found an access jack-but I can't even start to hack in. Everytime I try to I get bounced back."
Jarod nodded. "No, but this kid can. And he will-" he looked at Sylvester. "Get that juice-the stuff you got off that kid you geeked last week."
Sylvester looked crestfallen. "Aw, man. That's my stash-besides, if you give it to the dandelion eater, he might die."
"I don't give a shit as long as he's awake enough to give me the codes," he pursed his lips.
"Can't you just hack his 'link?"
"The codes aren't in his 'link, drek-head," Jarod said. "Knight Errant security keeps the codes closely monitored-they're changed out during sporadic intervals and each Errant Agent is given the secure location for those codes. He'll have to give them to me himself."
As I lay there, watching and listening-feigning being wounded but not feigning that much-I was amazed at how much this drek-head knew about Knight Errant protocols. Either his Johnson had given him the information or he'd actually worked for KE as an Agent at some point.
Either way, I needed a distraction. As Kazuma anticipated, they didn't frisk me for any more weapons-taking the most obvious. I still had access to the Fichetti-but I would need some sort of distraction to draw it. Any movement on my part might compromise whatever Kazuma had in mind.
Though at the moment I wasn't sure how any of this was gonna work, since he was out cold. And from the blood pooling on the floor-I didn't give the elf much more time in this world.
"Wake him up," Jarod said. "If nothing else, we need him to release the doors. We'll take him with us and find a good shaman to take the information from his brain."
Uh oh. I honestly didn't know if that was possible-but the image of Naomi furious at me-that was very possible.
As if on cue, the side soy steamer came on, sending a hot, steaming blast against the counter. This caused the machine to wrench and fall forward.
It was funny, but it wasn't. All three of the shit-heads turned and fired on the poor steamer, riddling it full of holes. Kazuma fell to the floor in a dark heap on his right side, his face turned away from me. He was still.
A little too still.
"Stopstopstopstop…" Jarod called out. The shooting ceased. The steamer, dead.
And the Fichetti was in my hand, concealed and fully loaded. Thirty rounds of ammo-and the bastards weren't even paying attention.
The blender abruptly came on as well. Full of something the barista had been making before the ork barged in, now slurped and spewed into the air, splattering the three amigos.
"What the hell is going on here?" Jarod called out.
"Otaku!" Sylvester shouted and ran to the front door. He banged on it repeatedly and tried to wrench it open. "There's a ghost in this system-"
I was up on my knees, tugging at the downed shelf I'd used earlier for cover and used it again as I filled Sylvester with a good dozen holes, then without letting go of the trigger I moved the gun to the bar and nailed Harold when Jarod ducked.
With a grunt I released the trigger. Damn. I got to get me one of these!
Silence was golden in the room and I could hear Jarod breathing. I was sure he was trying his damnedest to open the doors through the PAN-I could hear the circuitry vibrating. But he wasn't breaking through Kazuma's security.
And that's when I'd made my mistake-glancing back at the doors as they moved on their own. Jarod was up and moving around the bar, his weapon trained on my head. Idiot!
"You're a Technomancer…aren't you? You're the one messing with everything. I can't hack in or out of anything-there's something in there-in the door to Horizon. It was some monster you put in there, wasn't it? You can't-" and he was looking around at something I sure as hell couldn't see. "What is that?"
I tried to bring my gun up, and his attention was on me again.
"Damned freak-" he started to scream and I saw his finger tightening on the trigger. I pulled my pistol up, knowing I'd be too late-
And then a hole abruptly appeared in the center of his forehead. Bone, flesh and gray matter flew out and he lowered his gun, and fell backward.
I looked past him to see Kazuma standing by the bar, his left hand holding my Colt, a half-smile on his pale face. I was still half laying on the ground behind the shelf as he straightened and very calmly walked over the broken glass, ceramic, and blood to me as he pocketed my gun, then held his hand out to me.
I stared at it as if it had nine fingers, but I took it and he sort of helped me to a standing position. My head ached, and I was thinking maybe I should throw back one of those pills he kept in his bag.
The doors suddenly released, opening just a tad and I noticed the cameras moving back to their original positions. I could see men in uniforms moving in from their hidden positions in the streets around us.
Then he had my gun in his left hand again, spun it around and handed it back to me, hilt first.
I took it and offered him his. He shook his head. "Not…yet."
"You weren't as badly hit as I thought," I said as I re-holstered the Colt. "Were you?"
"Sukoshi," he nodded. "I am. But I at least had to make sure you survived this little venture." He gave me a half smile. "Or Auntie Naomi would never forgive me."
"Auntie?"
His smile faded. "Uh oh-"
"What is it?"
"If you'd be so kind as to keep my gun, holster and the bag hidden back there," he started to lean at a weird angle. "I'm going to politely…pass out."
I caught him as he fell forward into my arms. • • •
Three days later, I found myself actually inside one of the dormitory complexes for Knight Errant. It was located in the Bunker Hills area, and it took three levels of security, as well as the presence of a bandaged but healthier looking Kazuma Tetsu to escort me to his apartment.
It was a nice place. Spacious and completely automated. There was an ambient light change as I stepped in front of the sensors.
"It's looking for your 'link," Kazuma said as he moved to one of the white, cushioned couches in front of a roaring fire. It was close to nine and my transport back to Seattle left at midnight. Flanking the fireplace were floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking greater Los Angeles. "If you had one, you'd be given a choice of decor preferences."
I shook my head as I stepped down to the living area. Kazuma moved to a bar and pointed to the well-stocked shelf. I nodded and he poured me a scotch, wet. He knew his stuff. And when I tasted it-it was the real thing. Not synthohol. It burned all the way down.
He sat on one of the sofas and I sat on the other. His right arm was still in a sling-fixed to his chest to restrict movement. Apparently he was allergic to several of the latest muscle mending medications and had to let it heal naturally. He had a ceramic, green cup in his hand. Tea, I assumed.
I set the glass on the coffee table between us and retrieved his bag from my jacket. Kazuma immediately dug into it and pulled out the prescription. To my amazement the kid took two of those pills out, popped them into is mouth and took a swig of tea.
"You get headaches a lot?"
He nodded and put his left hand to his forehead. "Since the Crash."
I chewed on my lower lip. I hated delicate situations-especially since there was nothing delicate about me. "Is that when it happened?"
He sighed as he looked at me. "I was online, yes. With Hitori, my sister. We were both caught at the same time. When I came to, I was in a KE facility. My grandfather and Hitori were with me. Knight Errant had treated me, as they treated all their employees who were caught. Many died-they said I was lucky."
I looked at him. "About your sister-"
He put up a hand. "As I said in my message. I'm going to step back for the moment. It's been three weeks. She said when she went to work for Ares that she would be gone a month. As you saw her 'link was still active, and her apartment is still open."
"But don't you find that a bit strange?" I said. "Why didn't she take her 'link with her? Why leave it at her apartment for you to find?"
Kazuma looked at me. "I don't know. I don't even know if the Crash affected her in the same way it affected me. What the other day taught me is that I'm not as prepared for those kinds of surprises as I need to be. I'm not-there's more I have to learn before I can face what I think is ahead of me. I have to do better at defending myself."
"You seem pretty good with a gun."
"That doesn't make me prepared," Kazuma said. "That makes me lucky. I have a lot to learn, and I have some ideas. But what I'm most concerned about right now is that my secret-what I am-remain a secret. Naomi trusts you. Should I?"
"Does Noami know…about what you are?"
Shaking his head, he looked crestfallen. "No. And she can't. It could compromise her job. They're on the alert to look for Technomancers-even suspected ones. I can't," he winced and put his left hand to his forehead.
"Headache?"
He nodded. "There is a song…a sound…that I can't escape from. It's in my dreams…and in my thoughts all the time. It's lulling me into the Matrix…and I'm not sure I can fight it off much longer. There's no assurance that little things like the coffee shop-that one day they won't point their fingers at me."
"Which is why you keep an active 'link."
"Yes."
Sighing, I sat back. "You want me to keep looking for Hitori-in case something happens to you."
Kazuma nodded. "I'm going to give you the information. You'll find it encrypted in your inbox sometimes. Always look for Dancer. That's my online handle."
"So-ka. Is that the icon I saw?"
He smiled. "It was a drawing my sister made once. She always wanted to be a cartoonist. Hitori would be the only one to recognize it." Kazuma looked at me. His face was flawless, and his ears hidden artfully beneath his hair. At a glance no one would suspect what he was capable of. "Will you do it? Will you help me and keep my secret?"
"You're an idiot, you know that, right? Taking this all on yourself."
He smiled. "Baka."
"Aho."
His eyebrows arched.
I nodded to him. "You call me the minute you hear anything, and I'll do the same." I stood then and moved to the door. He was beside me. A good half-centimeter taller, wiry, and lean, the old chummer faces the new.
"Arigato, Mr. Montgomery."
"Chummers call me Dirk."
He made a face. "Chummer?"
"Omae," I said. "Oyasumi, Tetsu Kazuma," I used the correct form of his name and bowed.
Kazuma bowed from the waist as well and nodded. "Oyasumi, Dirk Montgomery, omae."
With a nod, I left the apartment and stood just outside the door before strolling down the drive to where a car waited for me, compliments of Kazuma. Tonight was cooler than the previous night when I heard back from my own contacts.
The hit on the coffee shop was pointless-it'd been nothing more than one of a dozen false hits within a sixty-meter radius that Tuesday-hits on Horizon owned establishments. All of them coordinated with Knight Errant. Code; Caliban.
That would explain that punk hacker knowing so much. He'd been a plant, a KE mole. Why? I didn't know.
Yet.
I decided to do a bit of digging into Caliban myself-give Kazuma a break. If something snagged, I'd be back in Los Angeles before the sun was up.
They could count on that.