Mina Cortez: From Bouquets to Bullets (15 page)

After they went through the characters, with
Mina taking notes on character names and last confirmed log-in
dates, as well as records of previous game activity, as much as
they were able to determine that with their limited experience with
the game systems, they logged out and put the security vid chip
into the computer.

The first thing that really surprised Mina
was that the intruder had apparently just walked in from the
street. He seemed to have some idea of where the cameras were, and
kept his face hidden. Mina couldn't determine anything more about
him from the vid that she hadn't already known, but suspected that
people had seen him on the street. Presumably that meant the police
would have determined his identity, which also meant she might be
able to get some information from Agent Park or Hall soon
enough.

Agent Park, at least, she still felt like she
could trust. She'd need his kind of resources to get much further,
but felt he would at least believe her about the account. Following
that trail of thought, she felt her first spark of optimism that
maybe things could be worked out. She'd taken his advice, and
followed her gut. She had made some mistakes, sure, but she was
pretty sure that the cop would also want the evidence in the case,
and could follow up on some of it ... and maybe give her some tips
on dealing with the Director. Maybe he'd even be willing to go with
her to speak to the Director, as she was pretty sure that this was
going to be another of those situations that merited an in-person
briefing. She wasn't looking forward to it, but if they were able
to clear Scott, and make some real progress in finding both him and
his kidnappers, then she figured that whatever happened to her
would ultimately be worth it.

As they were getting to the part of the vid
near Mina's apartment, the man had pulled on the ski mask fully.
She was able to see bits of the fight through a hallway security
camera past the open door. With a little bit of manipulation of the
vid, she was able to get a few good looks at the violent exchanges
between Miko and the other man.

As she messed with the camera angles, the
girls heard a squeak from the doorway. “That's so cool!” Beth
exclaimed. “That icon really looks like Miko ... I knew they were
getting better at customizations in some of the new games, but
hadn't seen anything like that. Can I make a character?”

Chapter
Fifteen

“Games?” Mina started, then looked to Miko,
and quickly nodded. “Oh yeah, video game.”

“We can't really tell anyone we have this,”
Miko quickly added. “It’s a beta test, which is why we needed
Scott's system. Our computers wouldn't play it right. No room for
any other characters now, since it’s just a beta,” she replied
apologetically.

“That's okay. How do you play? What's it
going to be called? And are they going to improve the ninja's A.I.
before release? Because, I mean, he's fast, but that's a pretty
terrible intelligence. Some of my old little-kid games were
better.”

“What do you mean?” Mina asked. “And how long
have you been watching?”

“Maybe a minute or so,” Beth admitted. “I'm
sorry. I had to see what was so top secret.”

“Okay, okay, but you can't tell anyone or ...
or I'm going to replace all of your Leverage and A-Team with
Rugrats for the weekend,” Miko threatened.

Beth quickly grew wide-eyed and nodded.
“Okay, I won't tell anyone.”

“Okay, but what's wrong with the A.I.?” Mina
repeated, getting back to that, suddenly curious.

“Rewind it, I'll show you. Geez, you'd think
they'd pick beta testers with more gaming experience. I mean, I
guess the camera angles and stuff might make it hard anyway, and
he's really fast ... but if the slower, stronger bad guys are this
bad, it'll get too easy for
real
gamers.”

As soon as the girls rewound the vid, Beth
started pointing out bits of movement. “See, like that. He keeps
just getting back into the same position. Every punch and kick is
the same angle.” she explained. Slow motion going back and forth
through the vid confirmed it. Every move did seem very simplistic,
in this light, quick and impossible to deal with though it had
seemed before.

“See?” Beth said, proud that she was
contributing something. “They totally need to start over. If your
reflexes were better, or you ever played video games, you'd have
figured this all out already.”

Miko briefly looked insulted, but Mina laid a
firm hand on her friend's shoulder before she was able to say
anything. “Yeah, that's it. We're just not on a Szach level at
video games,” Mina agreed quickly. “You're really helping out, but
...”

“But you didn't sign the non-disclosure
agreement, so we can't let you keep watching this,” Miko jumped in.
“We'll write down your comments and stuff. Thanks, Munchkin.”

“When it comes out, you'll have to tell me. I
want to try it, so I can fight ninjas too,” Beth insisted, as she
was heading back out the door. This time the girls closed it.

There were a few quiet seconds of looking
from one to the other, then Miko started watching the video in slow
motion, assessing her movements and his responses. “She's right.
This isn't a very good martial arts chip ... it's like he's
reacting really fast, but doesn't know very many moves.”

“Which is why you were kind of doing okay
there for a while.”

“But you weren't, and I saw you moving, Mina.
You're faster than I am. Let me check something.”

Mina nodded, and Miko stood up, moving to the
center of the room. Miko went through half a dozen sparring moves,
and Mina easily countered every one, with Miko seeming to be in
slow motion, just like the first fight she'd been in.

“Your chip is way better than his. Or ... way
more sophisticated than his,” Miko finally concluded.

“But he was still destroying me. I wasn't
even close,” Mina said.

“Which probably means that what his chip was
really designed for was just dealing with someone with your chip,”
Miko reasoned.

“A simpler chip ... some of the same
information ... but not nearly as complex. So ... someone who knew
about how my chip worked could program in just a few days,
maybe?”

“Yeah, that's what I'm thinking,” Miko
agreed. “And you remember the classes. Really simple,
information-light chips have a lower chance of rejection. There's
not as much to conflict with, as long as it's sort of suited.”

“That would still take some time, though,”
Mina reasoned. “Which means that pretty much since the kidnapping,
someone has been working on an anti-Inquisition chip. They knew
they'd have to deal with us, or figured it out pretty quickly. The
programmers probably wouldn't have even thought about it.”

“So it's someone who had to deal with the
Inquisition before,” Miko responded.

“Yeah,” Mina agreed. “Or maybe someone who
already knew something about it.”

“Your boss?” Miko asked.

“Not convinced.” Mina replied, with a sigh.
“But it's sounding just a tiny bit less crazy now, maybe.”

* * * *

The girls had left the Szachs' house,
reminding Beth before they left that she was once again sworn to
secrecy on threat of never getting to watch anything but little
baby stuff again. They had only gotten a few blocks when Mina got a
call. “The Director,” she explained, on seeing the number. “So, uhm
... stay quiet, I guess?”

Miko nodded, making a zipped lips sign and
pulling into a parking lot near a closed grocery to keep car noise
out of the conversation. Mina answered the phone. “Yes, Ma'am?”

“Miss Cortez, are you safe?” was the first
question, to her surprise.

“Yes, Ma'am. I left the apartment, but I'm
safe for now. Trying to figure out where to go next. Should I
report in, or ... go to a safe house?” she asked, while tasting
aluminum, her chip helping to suggest the safehouse route.

“Absolutely not. Turn off all means of
locating you; don't just use our scrambler. I don't want to know
where you are, but avoid the safehouses,” the Director answered,
much to Mina's surprise.

“Ma'am? Avoid the safe houses?”

“You heard me. All of the agents in town have
been targeted by someone that knew exactly where they'd be. Agents
Park and Hall were found killed three hours ago, after not calling
in. I found out about the break in at your apartment while dealing
with that. I learned that you'd left the scene, and hoped you'd be
able to keep yourself safe until I was able to get to a different
location and find a non-Inquisition encryption code to call you
from.”

While Mina was sure that most of the
explanation had some important information in it, she was only half
listening from the point she heard about the deaths. “Wait, Ma'am
... Agents ... Park and Hall?”

“Yes, Miss Cortez. Both of them were ambushed
after getting a call from a location near them. Someone knew their
route, their timing, and the sort of things they'd go in alone on
without calling for backup, because it had cues their chips would
read as Inquisition business.”

“Do we know who?”

“We don't know anything at this point. There
was a trace being run at the police station on that license plate
you got, but Agent Park was never able to relay the
information.”

“Wait ... so you ... were running the license
plate?” Mina asked, a lot of conflicting information coming between
her own brain, her chip, and what the Director was telling her.

“Of course. It was an important lead,
improperly gotten or not,” the Director assured her, her tone
leaving Mina unable to entirely doubt her sincerity.

“I thought ...”

“That you were in trouble? Yes. You were, and
eventually, are. And we will deal with that at an appropriate time.
I don't send mixed messages. That I didn't ignore what information
you got on their operatives does not change the fact that you put
yourself in a great deal of danger and disobeyed a direct order.
This is not encouraged, and may even have something to do with
whoever this is upping the timetable on these attacks. We won't
know until we find them.”

Mina felt her initial response catch in her
throat. Could it really be her fault that the other agents had been
killed? She stumbled a few moments trying to find a suitable
response before the Director cut off the attempts.

“Whatever you do, do not follow any of your
chipped programming regarding going to ground. We have to assume
that our entire network is compromised. I'm following some of my
own leads and looking into possibly getting some outside help, but
I'm having to avoid my typical channels. I also have only limited
time to do it, because with my cover identity, I can't disappear
for very long. On the other hand, working at the FBI's offices also
gives me a certain amount of safety and cover that other agents
aren't always afforded.

Gee, thanks,
Mina thought. What she
actually said was, “That makes sense. When can I expect to hear
from you again, and what do I do in the mean time?”

“I'll call once we get an entirely different
encryption put in on my end so I can be sure no one is listening.
Until then, do not call me; do not come to the office, and keep
your head down. If you happen across anything useful, note it, but
try to keep your distance.”

“I understand, Ma'am,” Mina said. With that
confirmed, the Director hung up. While Mina would have liked to get
in a lot more questions, because relevant information, she felt,
might help combat some of her rising panic-mixed-with-grief, she
had to assume, from how abrupt the hanging up was, that it came
before there was too much risk of someone else gaining something
useful from the conversation, if they were listening in or trying
to trace it.

“So, that was your boss, huh?” Miko
asked.

Mina nodded, tears in her eyes and a lump in
her throat still, trying as she was to dispel it.

Miko leaned over to give Mina a hug. “I'm
sorry. You were close?”

Mina took a deep breath before nodding.
“Agent Park was a really nice guy. He was training me, and my last
day with him was stupid and awkward. It was supposed to be better
after, and now there's no after. And I didn't know Hall very well
... well, okay, I'd only known either of them since being chipped
... but I saw Agent Park almost every morning. I only saw Agent
Hall the once, but ... he was really hot,” she finally managed,
shoulders shaking a little again with the absurdity of that
explanation right now.

Miko hugged her again, then nodded. “Okay, so
I know this is a bad time, but sooner or later, someone is going to
notice a car in an empty parking lot. We need to go somewhere.
There's enough room that we can sleep in the car, I guess ... or we
can talk, or whatever you need. Just not here.”

Mina nodded, trying to get back in her usual
more analytical mind. Without the police records and trace, she had
nothing to go on, and much as she was sure it was what the Director
wanted, she couldn't bring herself to do absolutely nothing while
Scott's kidnappers and her mentor's killers were still out there.
She would just need to find a way to do something a little more
quietly.

“All right, so we need more information.”

“Didn't she just tell you to lay low? Help is
coming or something?”

“Yes, but I still don't trust her. Or anyone
else who isn't you right now.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Miko
responded with a smirk.

“Anyway ... yes, she did. I can't just sit on
my hands right now though. Especially since I think I can only get
this particular bit of information right now.”

“Wonderful, so where are we headed?”

“The stupidest possible place in the world
... and just hope that they would never expect me to be quite this
dumb.”