The Ghost in the Doll (Fox Meridian Book 6) (19 page)

Fox reached up and locked her hands around Kuro’s arm just above his elbow and at the wrist. He tightened his grip further, expecting her to black out soon enough and counting on his strength and the advantage of his position. Fox twisted his wrist, locking his arm at the elbow, and she felt him tense. He tried to pull free, but she was
far
too strong for him and twisted harder. Kuro let out a grunt of pain, but held his grip and kept squeezing. Fox twisted harder and, with a shriek of pain, Kuro pulled away from her, backing quickly into the lounge area and more open ground.

Swinging off the bed, Fox followed slowly, assessing. He was favouring his right arm, clenching the fist as though trying to get it working properly, but she had not done enough damage to cripple it. ‘Erotic asphyxiation, not one of my big turn-ons and we didn’t agree a safe word beforehand.’

‘Funny,’ Kuro said.

‘Who are you? Who are you
really
?’

‘People call me Kurowashi,’ he replied, and moved. A straight punch aimed at her chest. She shifted around it, caught his arm, levered, and Kuro was smashing down onto the back of the sofa, rolling off it into the kitchen area.

‘Who sent you?’ Fox turned toward her opponent, watching calmly as he struggled to his feet, clutching his ribs.

Kuro grabbed a knife from a block on the counter, holding it back-handed. He was hurting, Fox could see it, but he was not giving up. ‘You’ll never know.’

‘Okay, so it was a stupid question. I know it was the Fukui-kai.’

‘I’ve tracked down that name,’ Kit said. ‘He’s an independent. Not exceptionally well known, but building a reputation in Japan. Expert with knives.’

Almost as if he had heard Kit, Kuro darted forward, slashing his blade at Fox’s stomach. Fox pushed his blow aside and then swung her fist up along his arm and into his face. He jerked back, away from her, his nose starting to bleed more or less immediately. He was done for, and he knew it, but he was not going to give in. He figured he had one chance and he went for it, slashing at Fox’s throat and hitting only empty air as she stepped back. Roaring in frustration, he swung again and Fox backed up to the window. His grip shifted, and he pulled his arm back for one more strike, and then his injuries finally got to him, his knees buckled under him, and he collapsed onto the carpet, unconscious.

‘Tenacious, I’ll give you that,’ Fox said to the naked man in front of her. Then she stepped over him to walk over to the console by the door and hit the button for the management office.

‘Hello, Meridian-sama?’ Natsuko’s voice.

‘Yeah, Enemoto-san, it’s me. I’m afraid there’s a bit of a problem with your new model android…’

~~~

‘I’m very sorry, Enemoto-san, but I really can’t stay.’ Fox was starting to lose her temper a little. The manager of the resort seemed determined to persuade her to stay. He had offered a new, better room, free access to
two
Ghost Dolls,
four
personal androids or gynoids, Fox’s preference, if she would just stay so that he could make it up to her. Fox was starting to worry he would offer himself and/or his wife soon. ‘I contacted my company and they’ve already sent a vertol out to collect me. They aren’t happy with the security implications.’

‘But Meridian-sama–’

‘Enemoto-san, I really don’t think
you’ve
considered the security implications. Your computers were subverted to get that man in here.’ Fox was not buying that for one second, but the police investigators who had turned up were. ‘That’s a sophisticated and determined attempt on my life. That failed, but it’s hardly likely they won’t try again, whoever they are.’ The local cops were also determined that the yakuza were not involved. Kurowashi was a known independent assassin; he had undoubtedly been hired by someone in America. Yeah, right. ‘So, what happens when they plant a bomb in my room?’

‘Uh…’

‘Exactly. If you would forward me my bill to clear, that would be great, and it would be useful if you could clear the sun deck. My transport can pick me up from there.’

Unkei bowed formally. ‘It will be arranged, Meridian-sama.’ Maybe he was trying to keep her there so that the Fukui-kai could try again, or maybe he was genuinely horrified and trying to avoid bad reviews, but Fox had played the ‘your guests are in danger while I am here’ card, and it was a trump. He backed off.

‘The transport is five minutes out,’ Kit informed Fox. ‘Yuriko is aboard, and she says she’s armed and that she’s brought your pistol.’

‘Probably unnecessary, but I think having a weapon might be prudent.’ Fox picked her bag up from the sofa where it lay, packed and ready, and then headed off for the core elevators. A few of the guests gave her odd looks as she passed. Most of them had gone off to hide in their rooms with the arrival of the police. No one stopped her, not even the cops, as she walked out, but Natsuko was waiting for her on the landing below the sun deck.

Above, Fox could hear furniture being moved so she stopped beside the entertainment manager. Natsuko had been crying, it seemed, and had neglected to wear waterproof mascara.

‘She’s either a good actress,’ Kit commented, ‘or she genuinely didn’t know.’

‘Oh, Meridian-sama,’ Natsuko said, her voice trembling. ‘I am so sorry for this horrible inconvenience. How could this have happened? In
our
hotel! How could he have kept his secret from us?’

‘That’s a good question. Perhaps your security needs tightening. You’ve got my contact information, though I’d have to say I doubt your parent company would go for it.’

‘Parent company?’

‘Yeah. No need to be coy, Enemoto-san. The sister of its managing director is coming in on this flight to collect me. Not sure you’ve heard of her. Her name is Yuriko Fukui.’

Natsuko gave out a little squeak of shock. Yes, she had heard that name before. ‘The deck will be ready for you shortly,’ she said, and then she hurried off inside only to be replaced after a few seconds by Shina-chan, which was something of a surprise.

The AS idol was dressed in rather more clothing than Fox had seen her in before, though the cropped top was
very
cropped and the jeans were
very
tight, and she bowed to Fox. ‘Meridian-san, I know this is an… imposition, yes, imposition, but if you are flying out to Tokyo, might I trouble you for a ride?’

Fox raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re leaving at this hour?’

‘After what happened to you… No, truthfully that is an excuse. I have done the three streams I’m obligated to and I would prefer to be out of this place and away from its cameras. And the Yurei no Ningyo. They are beginning to… to “creep me out.” That is the right phrase, I think.’

Fox heard the whine of the vertol’s engines coming over the headland. It would be too large to land properly, so they would be dashing up the rear ramp. ‘This is going to be a bit of an impromptu lift. You’ll have to scramble to get aboard.’

Shina-chan smiled. ‘In my profession, dignity is a luxury. I can manage.’

‘Okay, but no streaming on the flight and I want to talk to you about the Ghost Dolls. You’ve been a lot closer to them than I have.’

‘If that is the price of passage, it is a small one.’ Shina-chan bowed once more. ‘I will gladly pay it to get this place behind me.’

In Flight Over Honshu.

‘The more I touched them, the more their skin felt… too human,’ Shina-chan said. She was seated in the passenger compartment of the MarTech vertol, and proving just as perceptive as Fox had thought she was. Occasionally she would have to revert to Japanese to express an idea, but then Fox would get subtitles and a translation from Yuriko. ‘Did you take my last stream?’ she asked Yuriko.

Yuriko shook her head. ‘I do not wish to denigrate your profession, but I found the experience unpleasant. I did not wish to try it again.’

Shina-chan gave a small shrug. ‘It is not for everyone. Some find the lack of control uncomfortable. Some find the nature of the sensie stream unpleasant.’

‘For me, the situation was not what I would have chosen for myself, but I found myself… aroused.’

‘Then you would have found the last stream
very
unpleasant. The resort arranged for three of them to be available to me. I had all of them on me at once.
I
found it very stimulating and that would have affected you if you had been receiving it.’ Yuriko grimaced and Shina-chan nodded. ‘As I say. However, I have now been with five of them, all different. At first I thought their skin was entirely synthetic. Now… It is not entirely smooth. There is pattern and grain to it, like human skin. They all appear the same colour at first glance, but with three to compare, I could see differences. Small differences, but they are all slightly different shades.’

‘Their personalities are different too,’ Fox said.

‘Oh, very. There was one with me for the last stream. Her name was… Hiroko. Yes, Hiroko.’

‘I met that one.’

‘She was far more enthusiastic about what we were doing than the other two, and she knew a woman’s body better than they did. It was almost as though she was a lesbian.’

Fox nodded. ‘That meshes with what I thought.’

Shina-chan frowned and looked to Yuriko, who fired off some Japanese. ‘Ah, yes,’ Shina-chan said. Then she sighed. ‘I do not know. I have been with androids and gynoids before. Even the best were not quite human. I expected these bioroids to be the same, but they were not. They were very human. But then why make them mute? Why make them with such odd skin?’

‘To make sure no one
thought
of them as human.’

‘So that people would not worry about them so much,’ Yuriko suggested.

‘Maybe. It could be just that. Thing is, I’m starting to suspect that the Ghost Dolls aren’t a new form of life at all. Jackson was wondering whether they might be a cyberframe with an organic shell around them, a kind of cyborg.’

Yuriko frowned. ‘You don’t think that, however.’

‘No… No, I’m starting to worry that they might be something
much
worse.’

Part Three: The Doll Factory

Tokyo, Japan, 17
^th
April 2061.

‘You’re going, stop complaining.’ Fox fixed Helen with her best parade ground stare, brooking no argument.

‘But… Shouldn’t I stay on Earth until this business is wrapped up?’ Helen said, arguing anyway. She was not sure
why
she was arguing; maybe it was something duty related.

‘We don’t know how long that’s going to be. I’m back in a normal situation as far as communication is concerned. No more medical leave, even fake medical leave.
You
are going to Jenner where I expect you to cram in as much information on the new tech they’re developing as possible… in between making sure that Terri gets a lot of recreation.’

Helen blushed. ‘Shouldn’t that be “rest and recreation?”’

‘We both know there’s going to be very little rest. Make sure she takes you out onto the surface at some point though. The view is amazing, and at least one of us should take the opportunity to make love to Terri under it.’

‘Well… That does sound kind of fun…’

‘Kind of?’

‘…and Kit’s handling most of the corporate stuff perfectly well without much input from me.’

‘Thank you, Helen,’ Kit said, appearing beside Fox. ‘They are paying me to do the job.’

‘Technically,’ Fox replied, ‘they’re paying you as my PA. The fact that you’re doing my job as well should count for more.’

‘It isn’t like I have a real need for money. Anyway, I am quite capable of handling the mundane stuff and filtering it down to what needs an executive decision. Fox is right, Helen. You should go to Jenner. Terri will be so glad to see you. She’s a little stressed.’

Fox frowned. ‘There’s nothing wrong up there, is there?’

‘Not really. You know how she gets.’

‘Yeah… Okay.’ Fox pointed a finger at Helen. ‘You’re going, and I’m off to see a woman about a ten-thousand-mile service.’

‘Mm, yes,’ Helen said. ‘I think Sonya wants to talk to you about that.’

‘What’s to talk about? It’s just a check-up.’

~~~

‘It’s an entirely unnecessary check-up,’ Sonya said. ‘Not that I’m complaining about a day trip to Japan. Never been. I’ve got a couple of hours to go see a few sights before I fly back, but’ – she checked the display on her diagnostic unit – ‘you are just as good as you were last time and you did not need this.’

Fox flicked a look at her mechanic. ‘I’m only a couple of days early.’

‘Six. Six days early.’

‘I’m going into a secure installation tonight that doesn’t know–’

‘And last time you claimed that it was because you would be coming here straight after the trip to L-four and you didn’t want me flying out to Japan unnecessarily. Yet, here I am. So, what’s up with that?’

Frowning, Fox reached up to unplug herself. ‘I spent eight hours yesterday at the shooting range with my new pistol. I’m not used to it. I don’t
know it
yet. After Dallas… We had a lot of unexplained weapon malfunctions there. Of course, they
were
explained. They were sabotaged, but it doesn’t stop me double-checking every weapon I use unless I can tell it’s good just by looking at it.’

‘And you’re still not used to this body?’

There was a long pause and then, ‘No. I still feel like it’s something I drive around. Equipment. I always check my equipment and now I am my equipment, or my equipment is me.’

Sonya did not immediately reply, appearing to be thinking. ‘Well, all I can say is that this is a well-built bit of kit. I’ve seen the inspection reports. Every part is
well
within tolerances. The design is one of our best. It’s high performance, hence the maintenance schedule, but the schedule is quite good enough to keep it in good shape.’

‘Just… humour me for a little while longer, okay? If I haven’t got over this in a month, I’ll go to Jenner and talk to Terri about it.’

‘A month. All right, but I’m holding you to that’