The Unincorporated Man (67 page)

“An offer I can’t refuse?”

Hektor didn’t understand the reference. “Of course you can refuse it. But you’d be a fool if you did.”

“Four minutes.”

“GCI wants you to incorporate.”

Justin smiled. “It won’t take me four minutes to say no, but you paid for ’em. I could spend the time saying, ‘Fuck you.’ That would be far more gratifying.”

Hektor ignored Justin’s impertinence. He’d gotten what he wanted… so far. He’d suffer the barbs of this fool gladly.

“Justin, what would the Liberty Party loyal say if they could hear you now?”

“If they knew I was talking to you they’d probably want me to stop being so polite.”

Hektor laughed. “But you haven’t heard the details.”

“Oh, this’ll be good,” answered Justin. “What can you possibly offer to make me join you?”

Hektor’s smile was insidious. “Why, Neela, of course.”

“Fuck you!”

“No, Justin,” answered Hektor, for the first time raising his voice. “Fuck
you
, you arrogant bastard. If I could think of any way of making you suffer, I would. Oh, so you’re not with your precious Neela. Too fucking bad! Millions of people are dead because of you and your stubborn, idiotic, superstitious fear of incorporation. I dare say everyone on this planet knows someone whose friends are dead or suffering because of you. Yes, I have the power to keep you from Neela, but I’m willing to toss it because I need you. You’re getting the best damned deal in the universe.”

Justin remained unfazed.

“Aside from Neela,” Justin said, “I already have a pretty good deal, Hektor. You can’t keep me away from my money forever—my lawyers will see to that, and other than Neela, you certainly can’t offer me anything I don’t already have. Also, if you wanted to kill me, I’d be dead. So I’m clearly better off living, by your calculations.”

Hektor clapped his hands slowly. “Bravo, Justin. Bravo. The Unincorporated Man has figured it all out, has he? Alright. Let’s go over the flip side of the credit. First of all, you will not see Neela again, ever. And don’t give me any crap about being able to find a loophole. Fuck loopholes. Mark my words: GCI will kill her before we let you see her again. Not that it would come to that. A simple accident, followed by misplacing her cryo unit, would take care of her for centuries. But why stop there? Before she meets with, hmm… how shall I put it? unfortunate circumstance, we’ll make sure to run a campaign that’ll expose your illicit affair.”

“You have no proof.”

“Don’t be an idiot. I wouldn’t be stupid enough to make a threat I couldn’t back up.”

All Justin could do was brood. “Go on,” he said acidly.

“She and her family will be reviled,” continued Hektor. “And, mark my words, Cord. I’ll make sure she suffers greatly before her ‘accident.’ As far as you’re concerned, we’ll tie up every credit you own, expensive lawyers or not. You want to be taxed? You’ll have to de-de-,” Hektor searched for the unfamiliar word, “declare every microcredit. By the time we’re done you’ll be begging in the street. Anyone who helps you, even to the point of giving you food money, will be audited. Oh, it will be stretching the law, but what the hell, you don’t give a damn about us, so why should we care about you?”

“Finished?” Justin asked, barely managing to contain the rage he was feeling toward the man currently holding a metaphorical gun to both his and his lover’s head.

Hektor laughed. “I’m just getting started, actually. I’ll make sure that you get a picture of every person that the Action Wing kills. I’ll then pay for their parents, siblings, spouses, and children to find whatever hole you happen to be living in and ask you why. Why did you let it happen? You will not escape the consequences of your actions, Mr. Cord, any more than the rest of us will. I… will… haunt… you.”

Justin eyed Hektor coldly. “Is that all?”

“Cocky, aren’t you?” asked Hektor. “We can get started right now if you’d like. I can have this street filled in an hour. If you’re so sure you’re blameless, just wait and see the relatives of those who’ve been killed.”

“I’m not blameless, Sambianco, but I didn’t kill anyone either.”

“But you can stop it!” exclaimed Hektor. “Every moment you lead your Liberty Party lemmings, every moment you remain unincorporated, people die, and even more will suffer.”

“I’m not buying that, Hektor. I’m just one man; this is a system of forty billion. And in my day and age we used to have a saying for that: ‘Shit happens.’ And, as you’re well aware, I’m doing all I can to ease the suffering… stop the violence.”

The only reason Justin was entertaining Sambianco was because the specter of Neela’s suffering and threatened death had paralyzed him. He wanted to kick himself for allowing the weakness—after all, millions depended on him now. And his cause was right… yet he stood still, taking the blows like a dazed fighter in the ring, for what? The love of a woman.

“Justin,” continued Hektor, “you’re not one man. You’re the Unincorporated Man. And in that you’re truly cursed. But yours is not like other curses. Yours leaves you alone but afflicts the world around you. The most terrifying thing about all this is that you can end it at any time. But you don’t see it as a curse, do you? You see it as some sort of perverse blessing, and so hang on to it with both hands, no matter what the price. It’s already cost you Black, Harper, the McKenzies, that tunnel rat—and now this Goldstein woman will be next, one way or another. But you still won’t give up your curse. It’s the one reason I can’t completely hate you. You can’t see the difference. Man, Shakespeare could write a tragedy about all of us that would make
Othello
seem like much ado about nothing.”

“You’d, of course, be perfect as Iago,” chided Justin.

Hektor smiled wanly and let it drop. He was just glad his avatar hadn’t answered at the sound of its name.

“Justin,” continued Hektor, “you may not believe this, but I’m your best friend. I’m trying to save you, and you won’t listen.”

Justin realized there was only so much Hektor would take before pulling up the stakes and taking action. Sooner or later the cards would have to be dealt, and the hand would have to be played.

“Alright,” Justin said, “I’m listening.”

Hektor breathed a sigh of relief. He’d managed to get through this impossible human being’s thick skull, and he had no problem expressing his joy at having done so. It wasn’t out of hubris, it was out of respect. He hadn’t planned on hiding anything for this meeting, knowing the subject was far too smart and the stakes far too high.

“OK, Justin. This is the deal. We’ll end all of it. You’ll be with Neela. We’ll not only put an end to the vicious rumor of your affair, we’ll come right out and support it. Get her reaccredited, even. I already have renowned experts lined up who’d be more than happy to state unequivocally that the client-patient relationship does not count in your circumstance. We’ll even throw you a wedding party. Trust me, Justin, by the time I’m through people will be lining up to find out where you’re registered. Second, you’ll have all your money back. And, believe it or not, the government won’t even bother taxing you. Do you think they like what they’re doing?”

“They seem to be quite good at it,” Justin answered sarcastically.

“Yeah,” Hektor conceded, “that’s government for you. But I’ve had to apply thumbscrews every millimeter of the way.

“Also,” he continued, “if you incorporate you’ll do so with the standard one hundred thousand shares that everyone gets at birth, with one exception. Unlike everyone else, you’ll be able to keep them all.”

Justin shook his head in disbelief.

“All of them?”

“All of them,” Hektor smiled shrewdly, “but one.”

“Ahh,” Justin answered, shaking his head. There was always a catch.

“And who gets to keep that one share… or shall I say, ‘trophy’? You or The Chairman?”

“Give it to whoever you want, Justin.”

Justin’s mouth hung open, then snapped shut.

“I said you’d won, Justin,” Hektor smiled earnestly. “I meant it. But I’d suggest you give it to Dr. Harper, as I’m sure you’re aware it’s the traditional engagement exchange.”

Had Hektor been privy to his conversation with Neela?
Doubtful
, Justin thought. If there was any house that had security on par with GCI’s it was his.

“Do you think I’m an idiot?” he challenged. “GCI owns an outright majority of Neela. I may as well hand it over to you or the The Chairman, because either of you could threaten me via her at any time.”

Hektor nodded, as if in complete agreement.

“Let me explain this ‘you’ve won’ concept again. If you agree to give Dr. Harper the one share of you, GCI will hand over control of all its shares of stock in Dr. Harper to Dr. Harper. This will give your girlfriend 70.4 percent control of her portfolio, and that will make her… ‘bulletproof,’ I believe is the expression you’d use.”

“Yes,” Justin confirmed, barely able to believe the offer. “You’re telling me that GCI is prepared to walk away from the tens of millions of credits Neela would be generating for them? I find that rather hard to believe.”

Hektor laughed. “Justin, I suggest you take a moment and see just how much your country doctor is really worth.”

Justin checked with sebastian quickly. A moment later he looked up, not believing the enormity of the number he saw.

“Neela stocks are worth
billions
? She’s the most valuable person in the system next to The Chairman?”

Hektor nodded. “Uh-huh.”

“I knew she was worth a lot, but Jesus, why?” Then: “Is this some kind of trick? Have you messed with my avatar?”

“He can’t,” sebastian assured him. “He’d have to take control of the entire Neuro to do that, and even GCI doesn’t have that much power.”

“Alright, then, Hektor,” said Justin, “how is it she’s worth so much?”

Hektor checked the time. “You do realize that our five minutes are up.”

“Screw you, Sambianco. I’m well aware of the time. How is it she’s worth so much?”

“You’re why, Justin. I could go into the details, but I myself don’t understand them. Try looking up a market psychologist sometime. But the gist of it is, the market not only shows the values of various goods and services, but it’s also the expression of humanity. This market is the first one in human history in which everyone plays a part. Some even call it the subconscious of the race. In that vein, everyone knows that you’re the cause and the center of the crisis. Unconsciously, they also realize that you’re the cure. And they can’t buy shares of you. They most likely never will. But guess who they can buy shares of?”

“Neela.”

“By the bucketload. You see, she’s the closest thing to you. Justin, I could retire, and retire well, on her shares. That’s if I’d kept them, of course.”

“Sell too soon, Sambianco?”

“Nope. Actually donated them to the pool that GCI will give to you.”

Justin eyed him suspiciously. “You’re serious.”

“Easy enough to check. If you don’t want to think of me as the best friend you’ve got, then go ahead and think of me as your genie. What do you want? How about a moon? We can get you one. Do you want clear title to Venus? It will take some doing, but it’s yours. Take it, rename it, call it Concordia or Neela or whatever. Hey, here’s an idea. Take a majority of
my stock
. You can do to me what I’ve been doing to you… for the rest of your life. Do you want Chairman stock? How much? You have us. Ask away.”

“Do you honestly believe that my giving up one share will make that much of a difference?”

“Yes,” answered Hektor gravely. “Everything.”

“Just curious. How?” asked Justin.

“Because you’ll no longer be the Unincorporated Man. You’ll have voluntarily joined the human race. Once you take that one step, GCI will be able to do the rest. But you have to do it voluntarily.”

“And if I won’t?”

“I’m sure you’ll find a way,” Hektor said, getting up from the couch. He’d been afraid to move at first, so delicate was the surgery he felt he was performing. But for Hektor Sambianco, not moving was like not breathing. Now that he knew he had Justin’s undivided attention, he’d decided to stand up and pace a little. His nerves were frayed, and the blood flow would do him good, help him think better.

“Keep in mind, Justin,” said Hektor, “our system isn’t evil. It’s good, it’s certainly better than yours ever was. You cry ‘freedom,’ but mean ‘equal.’ You think people really want either? I’ll tell you what they want—in your era or mine—they want to be left alone. And those that want the ability to affect their destiny always find a way. You’re a case in point. In our era we’re just a little better at it. Anyone can make it in our world, Justin. Believe me. We’re not some distorted view of freedom, we’re truly free. Free from pain, free from suffering, and, Damsah be praised, free from equality.”

“That’s not freedom, Hektor,” he answered mockingly, “that’s blindness. You’ve somehow lost sight of the fact that your technology has enabled you to have the trappings of freedom and equality, when in fact your system enslaves.”

“Justin,” countered Hektor, “it’s not technology, it’s sociology that makes us work. I studied your time period extensively. Do you remember seeing commercials on your television sets that would have some person begging for money to help starving people somewhere? They would show you pictures of emaciated people. You would see them dying on your television sets in front of you!”

“Of course I remember. I gave plenty to charities like that.”

“That’s nice, but it didn’t really help that much, did it? Not the masses of people. Now what if we applied our sociology,
not our technology
, our sociology to that problem? You tell me if it would have made your world better or worse.”

“In what way?” Justin asked, sensing a trap.

“What if,” answered Hektor, without missing a beat, “instead of giving two, three, four dollars a month for a charity’s sake, you gave ten dollars a month for a 5 percent share of that kid’s future earnings? And you, of course, get nothing if the kid dies. Now you have a real interest in making sure that kid got that pair of shoes you sent. Now it’s in your interest to find out if he’s going to school and learning to read and write. Now maybe you’ll send him that box of old clothes you were thinking of throwing away. Under your system you write a check and forget about the kid, who’ll probably starve anyway. Under our system, you’re locked into him. You don’t just give a damn, you give an ongoing damn. It doesn’t stop there. Your country, the USA, used to let whole regions of the planet go to hell and intervene in other regions based on national interest, which was almost always economic. Well, now, if millions of Americans are invested in millions of formerly starving people around the world, they’ll probably want to make sure they don’t get killed by some asshole with a gun and an agenda. Suddenly it’s in the economic interest of your government to make sure that asshole governments won’t kill millions of their own people for stupid ideological or religious reasons.”