They divided the remaining work into two major tasks: Rebecca set about recruiting a small army of hackers to launch a counter attack against Sato while Kelly called in some more favours and put her remaining resources towards finding out where Sato was hiding.
Rebecca adjusted her sling and then took a painkiller. She shook the bottle to see how many pills were left, tipped one more into her hand, looked at it, then tossed it into her mouth.
She wasn’t ready for what she was about to do. She took a deep, slow breath, then dialled the number.
‘Hello?’
The sound of the voice left Rebecca feeling short of breath. That sweet gentle voice. There was an unfamiliar tenseness to it, a tiredness.
‘Jackie,’ was all Bec could say.
‘Who is this?’
‘It’s been a while. Jackie, it’s me.’
Hesitation.
‘Bec? Oh my god Bec, is that really you?’
Suddenly Bec didn’t know what to say. She had planned the conversation in her head but seemed to have forgotten everything the second Jackie picked up the phone.
‘What’s happened,’ said Jackie, rising concern in her voice. ‘I mean – how are you?’
Bec exhaled a laugh and said ‘Fuck… Where do I start?’ She looked down at her arm. ‘I broke my collarbone.’ The awkward silence between them made Bec realise that she was wasting time. ‘Listen, Jackie, I know we haven’t talked much since.... It’s just, look, I need your help. Did you get the information I sent you?’
‘The anti-virus?’
‘Yeah. I take it you’ve seen what’s been happening in Japan?’
‘It’s happening here in London, too.’
‘What?’
‘It’s full on anarchy here,’ Jackie explained. ‘I’ve got tech going haywire all over the place. Facilities are crashing. Electricity keeps shutting off. It took me half a day to stop our communications from going. I think I’m starting to get why you never bought a Nexus phone.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Jackie said matter-of-factly. ‘The virus is smart, just like you said, but it’s spreading directly through Nexus products – phones, VR, fucking printers. And because almost all tech is linked to Nexus…’ She sighed. ‘What do you know about this? Are you involved?’
‘I don’t have time to explain everything but I’m working on a plan to stop it.’
She told Jackie what she needed, and briefly went over her exploits while working for the GCSD, pointing out that she was now, through pure misunderstanding, a wanted criminal. She left out the part about getting shot in the neck.
‘Okay,’ said Jackie. ‘I’ll get things ready on my end. Hey, be careful, yeah?’
‘Same to you, and… thanks.’
Kelly paced into the room with a holoprojector in her hand and set the device down on the table.
‘I’ve found something. The Yakuza aren’t happy with what Sato is doing. I just received some scans of the city. Take a look at this.’
The holoprojector showed a blue 3D map of Tokyo and all of its afflicted sections, presented in red. According to the map, the virus was now hitting tech in almost every suburb in Tokyo.
‘It’s everywhere,’ Kelly pointed out, ‘except here.’
‘Nexus Headquarters,’ said Bec. ‘Jackie was right.’
‘Hmm?’
Bec went on. ‘Jackie told me that Nexus products were the carriers. It explains how the virus spread so quickly, Sato must have uploaded it to every Nexus phone and all other pieces of Nexus tech in the world.’
‘Well that also explains the other news I heard,’ said Kelly. ‘Jean Fey is no longer CEO of Nexus Corporation. She’s been abdicated. Sato’s in charge now. He controls Nexus.’
‘How?’
‘I’m not sure but he handled it well. They’re calling this a malfunction and pinning it on Fey. There was no resignation, no official statement from Fey, but she’s gone, and Sato’s playing the hero. No one’s asking questions.’
Bec stood up and rubbed her eyes with her right hand.
‘I still don’t get it. Is that what he wanted then? Nexus?
‘If it is then he’s already won. Getting to him won’t be easy now. Either way, pretty soon we’ll ask him ourselves.’
‘We just gonna waltz in, just like that?’
Bec didn’t like the idea. Possible, maybe, but not very smart. Nexus HQ wasn’t only a digital fortress, it was protected by armed guards, both living and mechanical. Collectively, a handful of skilled hackers could potentially take over Nexus’ systems, but that wouldn’t get her or Kelly any closer to Sato.
Kelly didn’t seem too bothered though. She had a kind of icy resolve lurking in her eyes.
‘I have an idea about that. The UN thinks you’ve gone rogue, remember? Which means Sato will think you’ve gone rogue. He made you an offer, right? Ask for a parley, say you’ll surrender the anti-virus as a sign of good faith and make him think you want to join him. That’ll get you in, then we can use Nexus’ servers to distribute the anti-virus.’
‘What about Sato?’
‘I’ll take care of him.’
Rebecca caught on. ‘You’ll need someone to manipulate security as you move so Sato won’t suspect anything. I don’t like it, but it can work. I need to call Jackie. She’ll have to know what’s going on.’
Bec updated Jackie on their strategy, and putting her on speaker-phone, the three of them worked out the finer details. When they were finished, Rebecca and Kelly stared out the window once again, where the city was slowly dying.
Nexus Headquarters. The tower. The only place in the city that still shined, where the wind swept through green trees in the gardens and the fountains trickled with crystalline water. Rebecca kept her right hand in the pocket of her jeans to stop the guards from seeing her trembling. She had dressed to show her strength, a leather jacket with the left sleeve drooping, her arm fixed in a black sling to match her shirt and the grey scarf that covered the scar on her neck. She even did her hair, trimming it to its old style. She was glad now for the scar on her eyebrow and the faint burn mark on her cheek, it contributed to her intimidating flair.
A guard ushered her inside, through the lobby where a serving droid welcomed them from the reception desk, then though a glass elevator that allowed Rebecca to observe the city as she ascended.
They arrived at a command centre, an operations room potentially for controlling the spread of the virus. Holograms floated and bounced and shifted across the room. About a dozen staff members were at work here and the holograms were interfaces that allowed them to control certain devices. What those devices were, Rebecca could only guess. Several people were also stationed at a computer hub linked to a screen on the far wall. The screen displayed the impact of the virus on all global cities.
In the centre of it all stood Sato Yamasaki, with his chin up and his arms behind his back. He had the stance of a general, a conqueror, a victor. He watched Rebecca enter the room and stared her down with mechanical eyes, the lifeless LED eyes of his neural implant.
‘Miss Marshall,’ he said. ‘Or should I not address you by that name? Mercy, perhaps?’
‘Yeah,’ Rebecca said, coldly. ‘Mercy.’
‘I’m surprised you’re alive. I watched that missile shoot down your helicopter, I sent those men in to finish the job, and yet here you are.’
‘I guess I’m more resourceful than you thought.’
‘Yes, you are talented, a steadfast, powerful woman. I can see why Robert liked you.’
Bec tried to ignore the remark.
‘Robert is old news,’ she said. ‘Let’s talk about why I’m here.’ She looked at the television map of the infected Tokyo. ‘It’s impressive. I never thought when you first hired me that I was contributing to this. However small the part I played was, I deserve a little credit, don’t I?’
Sato raised his eyebrows and spoke, ‘Forgive me if I seem suspicious, but you’ve recently put a lot of effort into disrupting my plans. You’ve made my work here exceedingly difficult.’
‘Orders are orders,’ Bec shrugged. ‘Look where that got me.’ She indicated her broken collarbone then pulled her scarf down and revealed the scar on her neck. ‘They expelled me then left me to die in Afghanistan. I’m done with the GCSD.’
Sato stared and slipped his hands into his pockets. ‘Come into my office. We’ll talk some more.’
Sato’s office was a large square room. A wide desk and occupied the centre, and the Nexus logo was projected in blue on the wall farthest from the door. The moment that they were alone Rebecca let her tone shift. She sounded more confident than she felt.
‘You do have a good reason to be suspicious.’
The lights perished, the darkness almost absolute as the sensation of electricity flowing through Bec veins was swept away and the feeling of eyes crawling over her skin disappeared. The lights flickered back on. Kelly stepped behind Sato and jammed a syringe into his neck. He struggled, an exasperated choking sound. His eyes rolled back and he collapsed.
Kelly whispered, ‘Sweet dreams, Mr Yamasaki,’ and she lowered him gently to the ground.
An immense weight seemed to have lifted from Rebecca’s shoulders, as though she could finally breathe again, but there was still another objective to complete.
‘I hope this works,’ she said under her breath.
She activated Sato’s holographic interface and a red operations display flickered to life in front of her. She began working on the interface with her right hand.
‘Okay, I’m uploading the anti-virus.’
An alarm activated and shrilled throughout the entire building.
‘What was that?’
Kelly peered out the doorway and said, ‘Nothing good.’ She touched her earpiece. ‘Jackie, we got all kinds of trouble coming our way. Can you do something about it?’
‘Start by shutting off the alarm,’ Bec added.
‘I’m on it,’ said Jackie. ‘Part of the automatic security is already on your side.’
The elevator pinged open. Three armoured guards stormed down the hallway. Kelly leaned out and fired at them, the heavy snap of her pistol echoing through the hallway. A bullet ripped a bloody hole in one of the guard’s chests and hurled him to the ground. The other two took cover in the nearby office.
‘Get them here now,’ Kelly demanded.
‘Upload complete!’ said Bec. She pulled up a map and watched the infection begin to dissipate, blotches of red vanishing piece by piece. ‘It’s working.’
More gunshots.
‘That’s great,’ said Kelly. She tossed her pistol to Rebecca. ‘You’ll have to shoot with one arm. Watch the recoil.’ Kelly grabbed the unconscious Sato and slung him over her shoulders.
More guards were now crouching in the hallway, a bullet ricocheted off the wall when Rebecca peeked around the corner. Her heart fluttered and she pressed herself against the doorway. She blind-fired two shots then pulled back. ‘Jackie!’
‘They’re here,’ said Jackie. The elevator slid open and two security bots stepped out and fired on the guards, who were cut to shreds in one deafening instant by the storm of bullets, their blood pooling on the clean floor.
‘Fuck…’ Jackie’s voice cracked, suddenly distracted. ‘These two will, uh, escort you to the roof.’
‘Thank you, Jackie,’ Bec breathed. ‘Sorry.’
Kelly and Bec didn’t find any more trouble on the way up to the roof’s helipad, but the storm of security guards would be close on their tail. The clinking of the bot’s footsteps followed Kelly and Bec outside where a helicopter was idle, the wind coming off its rotors tugged at their clothes. Kelly threw Sato into the chopper first then helped Rebecca up before climbing in and sliding the door shut.
‘Go,’ she told pilot.
A bullet tore through one of the bots as the helicopter ascended. The remaining security spilled onto the roof, gunning down the bots and then firing in vain at the helicopter.
Rebecca fell back against her seat, her heart pounding, her ears ringing, sweat plastered her brow. So many bullets. She stared at Sato who was laying down and drooling on the seat across from her.
‘Is that it?’ she said to Kelly, her voice a little shaky.
Kelly looked down at Sato. She remained calm. Bec wondered what the captain must have done in her life before the GCSD, to not be affected by all this, the violence, the killing. Kelly shot that guard down with no remorse. The captain was stronger than Bec could ever be.
Kelly looked at Bec and said, ‘This is just another day at the office.’
The sounds of Tokyo gradually reverted to their natural state. A hazy blue sky seemed to indicate that the crisis had been averted. Bec ran her fingers along the grass, picking off a blade every now and then and letting it drift away in the breeze. She rested with her back against a tree, Kelly beside her and Sato Yamasaki laying on the grass with his hands cuffed behind his back and a soot-covered rag in his mouth. It was a sorry state for such an elegant man but maybe one that he deserved.
At last everything seemed quiet, as peaceful as the daytime would ever get in Tokyo, anyway. Rebecca felt she should have had more to say in that moment, but every time she opened her mouth she couldn’t seem to find the words. She and Kelly stared at the lake in silence, the tranquillity broken only by Sato’s grunts and complaints.
‘Quiet,’ said Kelly, delivering a rough kick to Sato’s back. ‘We’re having a moment here.’
Sirens still whirled in the distance, sirens meant for Sato, although Rebecca listened to them nervously. She’d have to start running for real pretty soon and that was a very unsettling thought. She was already so tired, physically, mentally, she wasn’t sure, but she knew that she was done. Done with all of it.
‘You really should get going,’ said Kelly, looking at her. ‘If they catch you here—’
‘I know.’
Kelly took Rebecca’s hand and helped her up. The captain’s strength was strangely invigorating, her hands calloused yet comforting.
‘There’s no reason to be worried,’ Kelly said.
‘I’m not worried,’ Bec replied. ‘Just… tired. I guess this is goodbye. For now, anyway. I’ll see you around, captain.’
‘Take care.’
Rebecca went to the other side of the park and waited, not ready to leave just yet. She still wanted to see this through to the end. She witnessed the red and blue flashes of police sirens as a squad car pulled up followed by a black SUV. Two police officers and a man in a suit, followed by Jean Fey, approached Kelly, who saluted the man in the suit and shook Jean Fey’s hand, a conversation that Rebecca couldn’t hear. Kelly nodded and gesturing towards Sato. Kelly and Fey shook hands once more.
Then the officer’s escorted Sato Yamasaki into the squad car. Hopefully it would be the end of him, and of Nexus Rogue.
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