Synthetica (16 page)

“
This
is your last warning, Miss Finch,” he said coldly. “If I see you
put one more toe out of line, you can leave. Immediately.”

He turned and stalked away.

Anais glared after him. The blue haired woman patted her on the
shoulder.

“
Don't
worry dear, he's always been a bit prickly. I ain't seen you around
here before, first week is it?” Anais nodded.

“
Don't
worry love, we'll show you the way,” the woman said cheerfully.
“I'm Ola. This is Peg.”

She nodded towards the man, who waved at Anais from underneath the
conveyor belt.

“
Best
get on this, or he'll be back, the silly little man,” Ola said.
“Here, you see this compartment? Hold this for me would you?”

Ola handed Anais a small tool, that looked like a collection of all
different gadgets, all squished up into a handheld device. Ola
talked Anais through what she was doing, occasionally asking her to
hold something, or check to see if a certain light was flashing.

“
There!”
Ola said triumphantly, as the belt rumbled and began to move again.
She stuck her head under the now swiftly moving piece of machinery.
“Told you,” she shouted over the noise to Peg. “Belt
misalignment.”

She stood back up and rolled her eyes at Anais.

“
Broken
roller, my eye,” she said and Anais couldn't help smiling.

“
Thank
you,” Anais said sincerely. “You're the first people apart from
my parents to talk to me. It nice for someone to actually show me
what I'm supposed to be doing.”

“
Oh,
it's no trouble dearie,” Ola said. “We underdogs have got to
stick together.”

The horn blared, marking the end of their shift. Anais held out her
hand to shake Ola's but to her surprise, Ola pulled her into a gruff
hug.

“
You'll
be alright lovey, make sure you come and find us tomorrow, alright?
We can help you out. It's always tricky, the first few weeks - why
they don't give you proper training, I'll never know.”

It was with a slightly lighter heart that Anais left the factory
that night, although it didn't last long as she hurried to catch a
train that would take her back to the hospital. While no news was
supposed to be good news, she had an awful feeling in her gut that
Dalla could only be deteriorating. She fired off a quick RetCom
message to both her parents, letting them know she wouldn't be home
til later. She changed trains onto Line 6, which would take her
directly to the hospital, staring out at the darkening skies as the
train rolled smoothly through the city.

Her gut tightened momentarily as she got off the train and stared
up at the large white building in front of her. Part of her wanted
to run away and hide but she forced herself to cross the road and
enter the hospital, her ID chip being scanned at the main doors as
she walked through. She caught a lift pod up to the fourth floor and
walked down the quiet, softly lit corridor to Dalla's room. Her
breath caught as the door slid automatically open.

Xander was sitting next to Dalla's bed. He looked up as she
entered, his dark purple eyes following her as she sat down opposite
him, Dalla lying motionless between them. A HV screen was being
projected silently down from the ceiling, against the wall opposite
the bed, showing an old romantic film. For a long long moment
neither of them spoke. Anais concentrated on Dalla's face, looking
for any sign of change, but really she was trying to avoid the
inevitable conversation with Xander.

Xander was the one to break the silence first.

“
Why?”
he said, his quiet voice somehow echoing throughout the room.

Anais remained silent.

“
I
warned you,” he said, the anger in his voice becoming more and
more apparent. “I
told
you. And you ignored everything I said.”

“
You
told me it was my choice whether or not we went to see those SLPs,”
Anais said indignantly.

“
I
thought you were smarter than this!” Xander said, throwing his
hands into the air. “I thought you'd be able to figure out that
messing around with untested technology is never a good idea!”

“
Well
forgive me for not being as clever as you,” Anais said sharply.
“I'm well aware that I'm stuck in a bloody factory for the
foreseeable future, whereas -”

“
Cut
it out, Anais,” Xander said bluntly. “This isn't about your
fucking career's advice.”

Anais stopped, taken aback.

“
You
can't pretend that you didn't know what might happen, even if you
were assigned to the factory. You're smarter than that. I know it.
You know it. So don't play dumb with me,” he stood up abruptly and
looked out of the floor to ceiling window, turning his back to her,
his shoulders tense. Anais' eyes followed him warily.

“
So
what?” she retorted. “What do you want me to say, Xander? That
you were right? Well congratulations, you were right.”

Xander turned back to face her.

“
You
think this is about me being right?” he said incredulously.
“Anais, don't you think I'd rather be
wrong
at this moment in time? Why do you think I'm here?”

Anais opened her mouth, and then closed it again when she realised
she had no answer. Now she thought about it, it was a little strange
for Xander to be here, given that he wasn't exactly close friends
with Dalla.

“
I'm
here because I've spent all day worrying that you'll end up exactly
where she is,” he nodded towards Dalla. “You didn't tell me
anything last night, only that Dalla had downloaded an SLP and now
she's sick. You didn't tell me whether or not you'd downloaded one
too. Your RetCom has been off all day. I thought that...I thought
that you might be here too.”

Anais' eyes met his, and for the first time, she noticed the
tightness around his eyes, the flash of worry in them.

“
I'm
sorry,” she said. “My RetCom doesn't work while I'm at the
factory. But I didn't download anything yesterday, I swear.”

Xander's eyes searched her face for a long moment, before his
expression relaxed slightly.

“
Okay,”
he said. “That's good news at least.”

“
But,”
Anais hesitated as a thought occurred to her. “While we're being
honest with each other, there is something you should probably
know.”

“
Oh
yes?” Xander looked at her warily.

“
You
know that another man was murdered two days ago?” She waited for
Xander to nod before continuing. “Well...it happened on my way
back from Civitas. I saw the whole thing. I heard a noise down this
alley, and went to check it out. It turned out to be that man being
murdered. The police showed up and arrested me. One of the officers
wanted to charge me with murder, but the other one let me go,” she
said conversationally.

Xander gaped at her.

“
But,”
she hurried on before he could speak. “I think these
murders...they're all related. And – I think they might have
something to do with Civitas.”

“
What?”

“
Listen
– everyone who's been murdered worked for a rival of Civitas.
Civitas want to take over WireX Industries, right? Well, since the
first murder WireX's shares have plummeted – people have lost
faith in the company – but it would take more than a murder to
make people lose faith like that. Let's say that Civitas has been
doing something behind the scenes...to make it easier for them to
take over.”

Xander sat and contemplated this for a moment.

“
Anais,”
he said finally. “That's completely crazy. Where's your evidence?
Where's your
proof
?
You can't go around blaming an internationally renowned company for
a couple of murders. It makes no sense.”

“
Yes
it does,” she insisted. “Look, if Civitas -”

She stopped talking abruptly. She was distracted by HV screen,
which was no longer showing the corny film. The hologram had instead
cut to a news channel. Although there was no sound, there was text
scrolling along the bottom of the picture: BREAKING NEWS: MURDERER
CAUGHT AT SCENE OF CRIME. YOUNGEST MURDERER IN FIFTY YEARS KILLS
MANAGER OF WIREX INDUSTRIES IN BROAD DAYLIGHT.

“
Shit,”
Anais whispered. Fear plunged into her stomach like ice, as a live
video of the incident was relayed from a police hovercraft. The
suspect was bathed in a white spotlight, reminding Anais
uncomfortably of her own encounter with the police. Just outside the
halo of light, a body was covered in a black sheet, surrounded by
emergency medics in red uniforms. The suspect was being led towards
the hovercraft by two matt black police androids. Anais heard Xander
swear loudly, but she didn't need to examine the grainy footage that
closely to see who it was.

Marcus' canary yellow hair made him unmistakable.

He was breathless.

He wiped a tear away from his eye as his shoulders continued to
shake. It was a long time before he had recovered enough from his
fit of laughter to pay attention to what was playing out on the old
TV screen in front of him.

A teenage boy with ridiculous yellow hair was being led away by
the police, blood quite literally on his hands. If he'd wanted
something to really drive the panic in the city up a notch, he
couldn't have picked a better situation. Perhaps from now on all his
murders should take place in the daytime – it created much more of
a buzz that way than staying in the shadows of the night.

What a shame the boy was the last one to buy an SLP from Denzel,
when he was finally getting the hang of this.

Well, that was a lie. There was one other SLP online, but that
vessel's statistics wasn't looking particularly promising. Some
people couldn't handle drugs. Others couldn't handle alcohol. This
one apparently couldn't handle illegal software being downloaded
into her brain. He barely gave that one's vitals a cursory glance on
his computer screen. The information on the SLP had been wiped, as
per usual, but the chip had been infected before she could carry out
any useful tasks. She wouldn't last the night.

He turned his attention back to the TV, enjoying the spectacle
playing out on the screen. Who needed films, when one had this kind
of power?

Nine

Anais raced towards the magnet train station, her heart palpitating
from fear and adrenaline.

Her RetCom had already informed her that there was a fifteen minute
wait for an auto-cab. Waiting wasn't an option, and so both Anais
and Xander had set off for the nearest maglev stop, the orange line
on Anais' RetCom showing her the journey to the police station.
Xander ran with her, dodging in and out of the workers on their
lunch break and the holidaymakers who were gawking at the city
sights.

They just managed to squeeze through the doors of a train before it
departed, earning them disapproving looks from the other passengers
but Anais didn't care. She glanced edgily up at the computerized map
that ran above the train windows, informing them of their next stop
and the train's final destination.

“
Anais,”
Xander said in a low voice as the train began to move smoothly away
and the other passengers began to lose interest in them.

“
Mm?”
Anais didn't take her eyes off the map, as she counted down how many
stops they had left.

“
How
are we going to get to Marcus? And what are you going to do if you
do get to see him?”

Anais finally looked at him. Xander's eyes were dark as he gazed
her questioningly.

“
I
don't know,” she admitted. “But we have to try. I don't know
what happened, but Marcus never would've murdered anyone. We have to
find out what's going on.”

“
And
you think the police will let you see him?” Xander asked, sounding
rather sceptical. Anais felt a flash of annoyance.

“
Maybe
not,” she said. “But I've got to try.”

They passed the rest of the journey in silence – Xander staring
at the screen at the other end of the compartment that kept
replaying the footage of Marcus being arrested, while Anais did her
best to ignore it and concentrate on the map instead. After a tense
ten minutes, the train finally rolled to a stop.

“
Hammond
Station,” came the cool announcement, and Anais and Xander slipped
through the doors as soon as they began to open. Anais squeezed
through a group of tourists that were just about to get on the train
and ran across the platform. She jumped the last few steps onto
pavement and took off in the direction of the police station, Xander
hot on her heels. Anais paused for a moment as she saw the throng of
people making their way behind the police station, where the
hovercraft landing pad was. She veered right and joined them.

Anais rounded the corner and stopped short in dismay. News crews,
along with curious members of the public, were packed tightly around
the police station's landing pad, no doubt awaiting the arrival of
the hovercraft that carried Marcus. The whole place was a hive of
activity with impeccably groomed newsreaders talking feverishly into
cameras, and people jostling for the best position to see the
hovercraft when it arrived. The was no way they could even hope to
battle their way through this crowd. There was a shout from one of
the spectators and everyone looked up to see the black hovercraft
gliding silently through the sky towards them. Terror clutched once
again at Anais' heart as she watched the vehicle begin it's descent.

Immediately, the mob began to push forward. The securi-bots that
lined the edge of the launch pad were forced to pull closer
together, so the horde couldn't force its way through any gaps.

Anais and Xander joined the back of the crowd, as the hovercraft
came in to land. There was a blast of warm air as the hover lowered
itself to the ground and a pneumatic hiss as the door opened. It
landed with a dull thud on the concrete, revealing the dark
interior. The spectators began to shout and jeer as two securi-bots
appeared from the hover's depths, holding Marcus tight between them.
He'd lost his thick framed glasses, and his face was white as he
stared around at the crowd with wide, uncomprehending eyes.

“
Why'd
you do it?” yelled one newsreader wearing a smart, cherry red
suit.

“
Wanted
to be famous did you, son?” boomed a man with curly brown hair,
holding out a microphone as far as he could, over the securi-bots'
shoulders.

“
You're
despicable!” screeched a woman, waving her fist in the air.

“
Scum!”

“
Murderer!”

The hostile cries of the crowd echoed in Anais' ears as she pushed
her way through the crush. Marcus looked terrified as the
securi-bots began to march him towards the station, where several
police officers were waiting to take him into custody. There was
only so far Anais could get before the wall of people became too
thick for her to push through anymore.

“
Marcus!”
she cried, jumping up and down to get to his attention, but the
crowd was too loud around her. “MARCUS!”

Marcus finally turned his head, his arms pinned to his sides by the
handcuffs that glowed blue around his wrists. He searched the crowd,
looking for whoever had called his name as Anais waved her arms
frantically in the air. But the crowd was too dense and he didn't
see her. The look of wild desperation in his eyes cut Anais to the
core as he looked out over the unforgiving crowd. The securi-bots
handed him over to the police officers and he was led away to the
sleek building, the news crews still fighting to get closer to him.
Anais felt a hand on her arm.

“
Come
on,” Xander leant down to Anais' ear so she could hear him. The
crowd around them were still rowdy, their shouts beginning to echo
off the buildings around them. “We have to get out of here.”

Anais nodded and together they managed to squeeze their way back out
of the crush of people. As soon as they pulled free of the crowd,
Anais found it easier to breathe, although Marcus' scared, desperate
face seemed to imprinted into her mind.

Xander ran a hand through his hair.

“
What
now?” He looked just as shaken as Anais felt.

“
Let's
try the front entrance,” Anais said, trying to keep her voice
steady. “We'll see what they say there. Maybe they can help us.”

They walked away from what was rapidly becoming a riot. The shouts
were getting louder now; their jeers and catcalls becoming more and
more unpleasant. Anais glanced over her shoulder as they hurried
away, just in time to see several of the securi-bots having to step
forward to subdue the rowdier members of the crowd. It was only a
matter of time before a fight broke out.

“
Why
are they being like this?” Anais asked Xander, turning away from
the sight. “Marcus didn't mean to hurt anyone. And it's not like
all of these people knew the man he murdered.”

“
Maybe
not,” Xander said, with an edgy glance back over his shoulder.
“But think about it – this is the third murder in a week, and
Marcus is the only suspect unfortunate enough to be caught alive.
These people, they want justice - they don't care whether or not
Marcus is innocent. They just want to know something is being done
to keep them safe.”

Anais mused over the idea of Marcus being made into some kind of
scapegoat as they made their way back round the building. Why? What
was the point? Something still wasn't adding up in this whole mess
she'd managed to find herself in, but Anais' brain was rapidly
beginning to feel like cotton wool and she couldn't think straight.

The main entrance to the police station was clear and they hurried
through the glass doors. The reception area looked much the same as
it had done the last time Anais had been unfortunate enough to
visit, only this time, there were more people sitting on the plastic
seats waiting to be seen. There was woman with a baby balanced on
her hip talking into the self-service machine.

“
...register
a second child,” the woman was saying. The machine was silent for
a moment.

“
Please
go to City Hall to complete your request. Please note that in
addition to the Sibling Act payment, you will also be required to
pay a fee of 100CRD for this service. Thank you for your time.”

“
Oh,”
the woman was clearly flummoxed. “But I've already been to City
Hall, and they sent me here...”

The machine didn't reply, so the woman hoisted her baby higher up on
her hip and stalked out of the station grumbling under her breath.
Anais turned to Xander, wondering what they should do now, when a
disembodied voice spoke.

“
Welcome.
Please state the service you need, or look up the crime you wish to
report alphabetically.”

Xander nudged Anais and nodded towards the self-service station.
The screen glowed gently, listing every letter of the alphabet
alongside the Imperial City insignia.

“
What
d'you reckon?” Xander asked Anais in a low voice. “Would it come
under 'I' for 'innocent', or 'B' for 'this is bollocks?'”

Anais managed to muster half a smile.

“
Please
state the service you need, or look up the crime alphabetically,”
the automated voice repeated.

“
Um,
request to see prisoner?” Anais said, leaning close to the screen,
shooting a quizzical look at Xander. He shrugged, not knowing how it
worked either. The machine went quiet for a moment.

“
Please
state the full name of the prisoner you wish to visit,” it said,
and hope leapt in Anais' chest.

“
Marcus
Smith,” she said quickly.

“
Access
denied,” came the cool reply. “Please choose another service.”

“
What?
No! I want to see Marcus Smith,” Anais said, her voice rising in
her frustration. “Marcus Smith – erm, murder, no wait, what's
the official term? Homicide.”

“
Anais,”
Xander murmured, glancing around them. A few of the people sitting
down had looked up at them in interest. But Anais, having not slept
in more than twenty four hours and still filled with worry for her
best friend, was close to snapping. She refused to believe that she
was so close to seeing Marcus, the one person apart from Dalla who
could tell her more about the SLPs, only to be thwarted by a
machine.

“
Please
state the service you require or -” the self-service station
began.

“
I
want to see a prisoner,” Anais said loudly, enunciating each word
as clearly as she could. “Name: Marcus Smith.”

“
Access
denied,” the machine repeated. “Please choose another service.”

“
Marcus,
bloody, Smith,” Anais shouted at the machine. “He's just been
brought in, you stupid, fucking -”

Before she knew what she was doing, she brought her fist up and
smashed it down onto the screen. There were shocked gasps and
mutters from the people around them, and Xander immediately reached
forward and grabbed her wrist to stop her from hitting it again.
Pain shot through her hand as she stepped back, shocked by her own
actions. She could see a spiderweb crack in the centre of the glass
- she'd put more force behind the punch than she'd thought.

“
Anais,
please,” Xander said in a low voice, looking around them, smiling
and nodding at a pair of women who were looking at them curiously.
“Let's just go.”

Gently, he lifted up her hand to examine it. There was one long
slash along the side of her fist, and several other smaller
scratches hat were starting to bleed. She winced as he brushed a
small piece of glass from one of the cuts.

“
I've
got a medi-kit back at work if you don't want to go back to the
hospital,” Xander said, releasing her hand. Anais nodded, gripping
her right fist in her left hand, to stop the blood from dripping all
over the floor.

“
Well,
well, well, what have we here?”

A sneering, cold voice came from behind them. Anais turned and just
managed to stop herself from swearing out loud. Officer Nox was
standing behind them, arms crossed and with an expression of supreme
smugness on his arrogant, handsome face.

“
Miss
Finch,” he said, in a deceptively polite voice. “What a pleasure
to see you again.”

“
Officer,”
Anais said, matching his tone. Officer Nox's eyes flicked to Xander,
and then to the smashed screen. He tutted.

“
Oh
dear, Miss Finch, what's this? Destruction of police property?”

Anais smiled blithely at him.

“
I
was simply fixing your machine for you. It didn't seem to want to
process my command, so I thought I'd help out. It'll work much
better now.”