Chapter 5, Part 2

bleakly

With Jacobson and Smith gone I could finally get down to business.

I hadn’t been too clear the first few minutes after the dumpster, but apparently I’d let Jacobson know what I needed; he’d retrieved most of an electric eyeball from robo-me’s still-twitching frame.

I still needed the opportunity to explain to Jacobson why there’d been a broken robotic duplicate of myself in my arms when I terminated my thirteen-story fall by slamming into that dumpster; luckily, he hadn’t brought it up in front of Hannah. I make it a policy of not being asked questions I don’t know the answer to; when I refuse to answer a question, I prefer it be out of genuine spite and mystery rather than an inability to do so.

It looked like Cornelius’s robot was a later model, snazzy, slick, and other s-words too. Most importantly, the thing had layered information storage.

Layered information storage was a pretty new technology at the time… and the best thing about new technologies is, they’re full of holes nobody knows about yet… well, almost nobody. I just so happened to know a few tricks regarding lay-info-sto.

 

/scanning—

departure found.

analyzing departure—

apertures correlated with departures

displaying results:

////////////////////////]]]]

saving results to lastthoughts.2_f 

 

Still got it. Owe ya one, Jake.

A little handheld magic and I could pull the last few thoughts my robotic double had. And with a little luck-

Aha!

A fragmented video started playing.

The video was from my double’s perspective. He appeared to be having a conversation on a handheld, very fast, and in very low tones.

His left hand enclosed his handheld. His right hand was tapping impatiently on the desk in front of him.

I looked away from my handheld at my right hand- which, involuntarily, had been tapping impatiently. Well, that’s fuckin’ creepy…

I looked back at the video.

“Yes sir. I understand, but- sir, we *** — … on him.”

Parts of the file were corrupted- nothing I could do about that, unfortunately.

“Now. Not to mention that fact that ***—… she knows about- yes sir. I understand. But may I ***—… the event anything should happen to me, we dispa***—…ithermen to apprehend her immediately. I***”

Oh no. Oh no dammit-

 

I flicked the video aside and brought up-

 

　

LIFESIGNS.1_z

TB- 76 BPM O2 SATS OPTIMAL

GJ- 102 BPM O2 SATS SUBOPTIMAL

 

 

HS- ALERT. VIDEO SYSTEMS OBSCURED.

FOREIGN ENERGY SIGNATURES DETECTED

MINOR STRUCTURAL DAMAGE

 

 

Since the door offered only social acceptability when what I needed was celerity, I took the window out of my office.

It was a window-exit sort of day.

————–

hannah

I smiled at her over my coffee. “Just be patient with him, Hannah. He really is making major progress. The information he’s getting from the disks he stole just may lead us directly to your father’s location! I admit it’s a strange sort of case, but there you have it. There is not one other detective on the face of the earth who I’d trust with this case over Thomas.”

She seemed to be getting a hold of herself. “I know. It’s just… it’s been insane. What was he thinking jumping eight stories? He could have been killed, and I don’t know, the shooting, and it’s… and I just want to know that my dad is going to be okay. So that he can tell me I’m going to be okay.”

I had to utilize all the fatherly powers contained in my mustache to give her the smile I thought she needed right then. “I’m sure he will be. And I know if he were here right now he’d tell you that you will be, too. Strange things may have happened today, but if I know Thomas… and trust me, if anyone does, I do… yes, if I know Thomas, he would never allow anything to happen to you.”

For the first time since Thomas’ unorthodox landing, Hannah started to smile a little. “Thanks, Gregory. You don’t know how much that mea-” She was interrupted by some inconsiderate fool who drove a nondescript black van through the front wall of the coffee-shop.

A moment later I had gained my bearings to such a degree that I could tune out the screams of the other patrons and recognize the pale, identical men in dark blue suits exiting the van and approaching us with easy, measured strides.

I remained seated and looked up at the nearest one’s face. This one appeared to be bald, with a piercing blue gaze and an unaccountably embarrassed expression- as if I’d just mentioned some faux pas he’d committed in front of a large social gathering.

I sipped my coffee and affected all the ‘cool’ I could. “So, lads, I’ll suppose you’re the boys call yourselves the Neithermen. It’s very nice to finally meet you in person.” Under the table I attempted, desperately, to pull Judas’ pen from my pocket and set it to its ‘omnigun’ configuration. And what shall I use as ammunition? Surely there must be some setting or- Confound it!

One of them moved toward Hannah. With a bellow I launched myself at him- and then all was darkness and silence.