Synthetica (31 page)

She sent a message to Xander as she waited impatiently for the cab
to reach her destination.

Where are you now?

Xander's
reply came back almost instantly:
Outside
Civitas. It's chaos. Where are you?

There was a bitter taste in Anais' mouth as she read his answer. If
the crowd was in disarray now, would there be any way they'd be able
to make people listen to them, if it came to that? Privately, Anais
was still hoping they'd manage to intercept the SLPs somehow and
stop them from being sold. She fired off a reply to Xander saying
that she was on her way.

She drummed her fingers impatiently, wishing that for once, Civitas
could invent something useful – like a teleporter for instance.

But as the cab drew nearer to the centre of the city, it began to
slow down as it got caught up in parade day traffic. She kept
peering out of the window but there was nowhere else for them to go;
traffic jams stretched along all five lanes heading into the city
centre. Eventually, after only moving a few metres in five minutes,
the cool female voice spoke.

“
We
are unable to reach your destination. Please disembark now. You will
not be charged the full amount for this journey.”

Anais flung open the door and got out. The cab had abandoned her on
the main bridge over the river. On the other side, she could see the
Civitas building towering over the skyscrapers around it. At this
distance, she couldn't really see the logo but she imagined she
could see a flash of red on the glass font. Auto-cabs were backed up
all along the bridge; other people were beginning to get out of
their cabs and walk towards the city. She began to walk hurriedly
towards Civitas, turning into a jog, and then a run as she noticed
the time on her RetCom. It was already 11.15. The SLPs were due to
go on sale at noon when the parade began.

She dodged around families with matching coloured hair and couples
with colour-coordinated clothes, swearing inwardly at every person
that ambled across her path, or blocked her way. Eventually, she
reached the other side of the bridge. She turned left and began to
run towards the Civitas building, no longer caring about whether she
shoved people out of her way. She heard a few angry shouts behind
her, but she ignored them, concentrating only on reaching Civitas as
quickly as she could.

She rounded a corner and the building suddenly towered above her,
it's glass planes dazzling in the sunlight. The crowds were now so
dense, Anais couldn't move easily. Down by the railings next to the
river there were stalls selling food and Civitas products. She could
hear the strains of a band playing somewhere on the other side of
the crowd. People were milling all over the road, which had been
closed for the day. There were children dressed as giant foam
microchips, people sporting headgear designed to look like
computers, others were carrying banners and colourful holographic
signs; all in gathering into separate groups in anticipation of the
parade. She caught a glimpse of the float that would end the parade
further down the riverfront. It looked like a 3D replica of the
city, with the Civitas building towering over the rest of the model.

She turned her attention back to the crowd in front of her. She
could see securibots lining the front of the Civitas building,
stopping people from getting too close. Behind the line of robots,
police were coming in and out of the main doors, conferring with
each other and taking photos of the red logo that now hung over them
all. The crowd seemed restless as people gazed up at the logo,
pointing it out to each other and muttering. Perhaps she was just
imagining it, but a lot of the people around her didn't look happy.
She was unpleasantly reminded of the mob outside the police station
when they'd brought Marcus in. The murders were beginning to take
their toll on the entire city.

Anais' eyes were drawn to the symbol. It loomed above them; now
that she was so close, she could see places where the paint had
begun to run, making it look horribly like blood. Despite the
seriousness of the situation she was in, she couldn't help wondering
where the person responsible would've gotten paint like that from.
Spray paint hadn't been produced for years and years, long before
Anais had been born. She supposed Denzel must've had more goodies in
his store than she'd realised.

There was a ringing tone in her head, and the name XANDER flashed
up in her eyesight. She accepted the call.

“
Hello?”

“
Anais,
where are you?” Xander sounded stressed. She could hear the babble
of the crowd at his end as well, making it hard for her to hear him.

“
I'm
outside the Civitas building,” she said. “Where are you?”

“
I'm
in the crowd, too. Stick your hand in the air.”

“
What?”
Anais said, unsure of whether she'd heard him right.

“
Stick
your hand in the air, so we can see you,” Xander's voice said
loudly in her head.

Anais glanced around before shooting her arm up and waving madly.
She attracted a few funny looks from the people around her, but she
didn't care.

“
We
see you,” came Xander's voice, before the call disconnected.

Anais looked around, but she couldn't see Xander's purple hair
amongst all the other hair colours that were present. There was a
tap on her shoulder, and she turned to see Xander. She gave him a
quick hug, trying to convey in that simple gesture how grateful she
was that he was here. He hugged her fiercely back. They broke apart
and Anais realised Xander hadn't come alone. He was with a man who
had a black cap pulled low over his face. She realised it was Clay,
but in a very unconvincing disguise.

“
Why
are you wearing a cap?” she asked him, trying to peer underneath
so she could see him properly.

“
Shh,”
Clay hissed, looking furtively around.

“
What's
up with him?” Anais asked Xander, but Clay replied.

“
I
shouldn't be here,” he growled. “If they see me...”

He nodded towards the securibots and the police.

“
It's
too suspicious,” he added, looking briefly up at the logo. “Me
coming back into the city, and then that monstrosity appearing
overnight.”

“
You
were with us last night,” Anais pointed out. “Surely Skye could
give you an alibi, if you needed one?”

“
That
woman wouldn't give me an alibi if her life depended on it,” Clay
grumbled.

“
Where
did you stay last night?” Anais asked. Although she knew Clay had
been with them for most of the night and that he couldn't have
painted the symbol, she was still suspicious about his other
activities. She had a feeling he could wreak all kinds of havoc if
he wanted to, and she didn't like the thought of him wandering the
city at night – who knew what he might get up to?

Clay jerked his head towards Xander.

“
Peacock
here very graciously decided to let me stay with him,” he said.

“
It
was kind of hard to refuse, when you managed to break into my flat
and make yourself comfortable,” Xander looked daggers at him. Clay
shrugged.

“
You
should upgrade your security system then, shouldn't you? If I can
figure it out, any idiot can.”

Xander muttered something under his breath.

“
Clay,
why don't you tell Anais what you found out last night?” he said
eventually.

Clay lifted the rim of his cap slightly so he could see her better.

“
You
were wrong about Civitas,” Clay said bluntly. “I looked up the
victim's details last night. They were all from rival companies, but
Civitas had no grudge with them. I looked up MediTech's and WireX's
latest research – they weren't working on anything that could
rival Civitas' products. That new company that was supposed to be
set up? They were looking into the idea of cloning, not general
tech.”

“
How
did you find their research?” Anais interrupted.

“
I
might look old, girl, but I haven't completely lost my touch,” he
growled. “And if you stopped to think with that airhead of yours,
you'd realise that all patents for new technology are a matter of
public record. All I had to do was access the council's system and
search.”

Anais thought that 'access' seemed suspiciously like 'hacking' to
her, but she remained quiet.

“
There's
no mention of any kind of hostile takeover, or Civitas having
anything to do with these companies. I don't think this is someone
within Civitas either; I checked their employee's backgrounds and
everyone's clean – no criminal records or anythin'. Plus, all
their employees want to kiss its ass,” Clay continued, ignoring
the reproachful look from Xander. “It's probably someone working
on a much smaller scale, someone on their own or -”

“
Or
a disgruntled ex-employee?” Anais asked swiftly. Clay's look
darkened, and Anais smiled sweetly at him.

“
Anais,”
Xander said warningly.

“
I
found something else out too,” Anais told them. “That logo up
there, I've seen it before.”

She told them all about the man at the market, and how she'd seen
the same thing on the man's jacket that she'd chased from Denzel's
shop. As she finished, Clay and Xander exchanged looks.

“
Did
you get a look at his face?” Clay asked her urgently. “Would you
recognise him if you saw him again?”

“
Well,
yeah,” Anais said, shivering slightly as she remembered his cold,
grey eyes. How he looked as if he'd absolutely hated her; his
shoulder length black hair, that looked as though it needed a good
wash. He hadn't looked anywhere near as groomed as everyone else in
the city. Not to mention his mask. “Trust me, he stands out.”

“
He
could be somewhere near the market,” Xander said, his purple eyes
intense. “If that's where you saw him first - and that's where
Denzel's shop is.”

“
It's
worth a shot,” Clay said, rubbing his chin as he thought. “We
could go there now, while everyone else is distracted...”

Anais focused on the time, and with a jolt saw it was ten to
twelve.

“
But
– what are we going to do about the SLPs?” she asked wildly,
turning back to the men. “We have to stop them selling them! Where
are they selling them from?”

“
They're
not bringing them out until the parade officially starts,” Xander
said, looking strained. “There are stands set up all along the
river that are going to be selling them. And...apparently they'll be
opening the doors after they make a statement, and they'll be
selling them there too.”

“
How
do you know all that?” Anais asked.

“
Skye
found us before she had to go into work,” Xander said. “That's
all she could tell us. We've been looking all along the river
and...Anais, there's hundreds of Civitas stands. There's no way we
can stop them all from selling the SLPs – there's too many. We
don't have the time. We don't even know where the bloody things are
– whether they'll be bringing them out when the parade starts, or
if they're already at the stands. Every person we've asked who's on
a stand has refused to tell us anything.”

Xander sounded increasingly desperate. He ran a hand through his
hair, so it stood up in all directions. Before Anais could reply, a
deafening cheer went up from the crowd. She turned to see what the
noise was about.

A group of impeccably dressed Civitas officials were coming out of
the main doors. Skye was among them, smiling brightly. There was no
hint of tiredness or strain on her face. Anais didn't recognise any
of the others, though she heard Clay grumble and hiss as they walked
out onto the steps.

One of them, a young looking man with wavy golden hair and a
gleaming smile stood forward.

“
Who's
that?” Anais murmured to Clay, as the crowd began to cheer. Clay
didn't answer. He was too busy looking murderously at the man.

“
That's
the CEO of Civitas,” Xander supplied. “Magnus King.”

“
What's
he doing?” Anais was too tetchy to focus on him. She craned her
neck to look over the crowds. They had to stop them selling the
SLPs. They had to get moving.

“
He's
opening the parade. Pompous git,” Clay added.

Magnus King acknowledged the crowd with a graceful wave. His hair
and teeth glinted in the sun. Anais wasn't sure it was possible,
even with the help of a HelixPod, for someone to have teeth that
white.