I remembered lying next to Claire’s naked body underneath the sheets of the Mississippi hotel we were holed up in. It had been five days since we’d gone on our assault against Karma Corp’s body shop, and we were waiting out the consequences of our actions. I’d used my contacts to get the FBI sent in, the corporate sovereignty act not having been enacted yet, and there was national news about the event on television.
The sex between us had happened our first night together and hadn’t been planned as being anything special. Just a release between two people who had just gone through a harrowing experience together. However, the next few days had been spent enjoying each other’s company, and I felt it was in danger of becoming something more. I was strongly attracted to Claire and her to me, which made the fact that we were destined to part all the more painful. Not to mention she was working with my ex-lover.
“I can’t sleep,” Claire said, turning to look over at me. “How about you?”
“No,” I said, looking up at the ceiling.
“Do you sleep?” Claire asked.
“I was programmed to imitate being a human man in virtually all respects. That included sleeping for up to eight hours a day. Truth be told, I don’t need to. My brain compresses and files information during sleep, though. So, I try to get around four or five hours every night just, so I don’t suffer glitches.”
“Glitches?”
“Memory loss, flashbacks, and more,” I said, wishing we could discuss something else. “I was meant to exist for a decade of continuous use, and I’m already past that. Lucita has the people in the lab working on patching our programming so we can function for a normal human being’s lifespan, but it’s a complicated process.”
“Huh,” Claire said. “Well, at least you imitate a human man in other ways without any issue.”
I gave a half-smile. “I haven’t had any complaints so far.”
Claire smiled. “Do want to turn on the television and see if there’s any more news on our little escapade?”
“It’s three a.m., so I doubt it’s on INN,” I said, sitting up. “This isn’t a story that has much national attention.”
“Which is bullshit,” Claire said, her expression frowning. “Those bastards should be all arrested and heading toward a firing squad right now.”
“It’s not so bad,” I said, immediately regretting my word choice. “Even though the bodies have dissolved, they have left behind trace evidence. The fact that Karma Corp tried to blow the facility remotely also paints them in a bad light. I’m glad we disabled that before we left. And the fact that there’s ten murders also means the FBI is going to keep this an open investigation far longer than I think the executives will want.”
Truth be told, I already knew this wasn’t going to go any further than it already had. Karma Corp shares had taken a serious hit, but they’d successfully covered up most of their connection to the facility. It was an “outside contractor” they’d been working with, and they had no idea about the horrible conditions there. We’d left a trail for the FBI to find the other facilities mentioned in the outpost’s computer records, but there was no sign they’d followed up on them. HOPE would have to do the legwork themselves if they were going deeper into this. As I suspected, someone had been bribed or threatened into shelving this. It was almost like the world hadn’t ended and human civilization had recovered. But it hadn’t.
The United States was functioning again, but it was utterly dependent on the corporations, which owned everything the same way China had before the Big Smokey eruption. Most of the Corporate Council’s executives had diplomatic immunity, and there was no way for their facilities to be raided by the government since they were sovereign territory. It was ludicrous, but with Black Technology “secrets” able to destroy the world the way the atomic bomb had, legislation had been passed by an exhausted legislature desperate for companies to promise imported food and medicine from countries less devastated. Now the companies were claiming sovereignty in the European Union, Russian Federation, Africa, and the former Democratic People’s Republic of China.
“Fuck,” Claire said, getting out of bed. I took a moment to admire her scar-covered backside, which I’d explored with my hands many times. “This should have been a game changer.”
“It’s the same game as ever,” I said. “The only rule is the house always wins.”
Claire chuckled as she slipped on her bra, panties, and jeans. “I’m going to go for a cigarette. Do you want anything?”
“I don’t smoke,” I said. “Watch yourself. You don’t know who could be looking for you.”
“You’re a bit paranoid,” Claire said. “We did a good job of getting rid of all trace evidence.”
“We did,” I said, taking a deep breath. “But I always like to be thorough. You have a daughter, after all.”
Claire pulled on a t-shirt and put on her coat. “Yeah, my aunt is probably getting more than a little annoyed I’ve taken this long to get back to her. I love Fiona and wonder if I’m being selfish putting myself on the line like this. Do you have any kids? I mean, can—”
“No,” I said, frowning. “Letters can’t.”
“Oh,” Claire said, zipping up her coat. “Have you ever wanted them?”
“I’d like to have had the choice.”
Truth be told, I’d considered adopting one or two in the wake of the Crisis. I’ve always had a hole in my life where family should have existed. Unfortunately, I couldn’t imagine exposing a child to my life. I was a killer, hundreds of times over, and someone who had no experience with love or giving love. In the end, I’d decided to just donate what money I could to families who were struggling because of the disaster. It was all I could offer, and it felt hollow.
Claire looked at me for a long time. “Goddamnit, Marissa.”
“Hmm?” I looked, up blinking.
Claire rubbed her temples. “Marissa all but told me I should sleep with you when I was here.”
My gaze darkened. “I see.”
“No, it’s not like that,” Claire said, taking a deep breath. “Not to manipulate you, though she might have been thinking along those lines. I’m not ignorant of what sort of person she is.”
“I very much doubt that.”
Claire’s gaze sharpened before she shook her head. “It’s just I have a type. I have a history of guys who are all about the deep brooding tragedy in their pasts yet have a hidden heart of gold. Blame my Twilight fangirl years.”
“Mine is a heart of silicon rather than gold. Also, you’re admitting you’re a Twilight fan?”
Claire pointed at me. “Shut up, I moved on to slasher movies when I was fifteen. Listen, what I’m saying is I have a history with guys like you, and Marissa knew it. It’s part of why I started dating girls exclusively after my discharge. At least until Stephen and Marissa. Man, I really need a cigarette.”
“You were all together.”
“Yeah,” Claire said, looking guilty. “Don’t judge.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“I just can’t help but wonder if the fact you… factored into her equations when she sent me rather than one of her other agents.”
“You flatter me.”
I could tell my short answers were frustrating her. Closing her eyes and sticking her hands in her coat, she took a deep breath. “What do you think?”
The truth was I was incredibly attracted to her. Drawn to her, even. Marissa had adopted the persona of someone vulnerable and innocent while she was seducing me. Someone good and pure who I could feel justified in protecting from the Society when she was anything but. Later, Marissa assumed the persona of a hardened professional who was still driven by idealism. Claire’s commitment to stopping Karma Corp, her soldier background, and her own tragedy invoked all those feelings with me. Claire struck me as the kind of woman who wouldn’t turn away from the horrible things I’d done but wouldn’t encourage them either.
It made me suspicious. “I think you could be reading a little much into this.”
Claire opened her mouth, then closed it. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Are you sure there’s nothing I can get you?”
“Do you mind getting me a bottled water from the gas station across the street?” I asked. “The tap water here tastes like it went through the fires of hell.”
After she left, I reached over to my briefcase and pulled out my Madison Technology laptop. They were the most advanced portable computers on the planet and manufactured by one of my former associates. Possibly future associates, if the talk of Atlas and M-T merging had any truth to it. I pulled out its cyberlink cord and attached it to my neck interface before making a video conference call.
Seconds later, the image of Marissa came up. She was wearing a business suit with her hair up like Princess Leia in the Yavin Throne room. I could see the New York City skyline behind her and an Ahab’s coffee mug beside her.
“Hello, Case,” Marissa said, smiling. “Have you slept with Claire yet?”
“Always to the point, except when you’re not,” I said. “Aren’t you going to ask how I got your number?”
“Case, you’re a professional spy. I think you can get my number from Claire. Hell, you might have just asked.”
I’d watched Claire enter her password into her cellphone and swiped it while she was asleep. Not exactly breaking into the new CIA headquarters in Miami (which I’d also done). “Fair enough. Yes, we’ve had sex numerous times. Claire has the suspicion you tried to set us up together.”
“Oh yes,” Marissa said. “I did. Both of you are incredibly tightly wound and needed this. Also, without Stephen, I had less of a hold on Claire. She’s already killed for me, and I have need of that kind of commitment. Getting her involved with you was a ‘kill two birds with one stone’ deal, since everything I’ve compiled about you says you’re still the same lonely man you were when I left you.”
“I’m not lonely,” I said, lying. “Also, I’d be ashamed of admitting I was serving as my lover’s pimp.”
“Sex is a tool,” Marissa said, shrugging. “Just one more exploit in a sea of them which I am willing to use alongside cash, pride, and ideology. A lot of people believe hacking is about technological expertise, but it’s not. The best hackers are social engineers who know the inner workings of the human mind. Once you can take a person apart mentally, their passwords become easy to guess—figuratively or otherwise.”
“You haven’t changed a bit. Did you set her up with your lover Stephen? Am I a substitute goldfish?”
“Claire doesn’t need you to defend her. Sex is a need and providing it for my agents through my other operatives, depending on how and who they want it from, is a way of keeping them happy. Certainly, you never complained.”
“How did Stephen feel about this?” I asked, wondering what he’d thought about his girlfriend setting him up with another woman to control him.
Marissa frowned and for a moment, I saw a flicker of guilt. “I pushed him too hard. He was a member of Task Force-23 and did a lot of things he wasn’t proud of. I played on that and our love until he snapped. In the end, he didn’t have your, or Claire’s, moral certainty to go along with your flexibility. Introducing Claire and her daughter to balance the equation may have actually pushed him over the edge.”
“So, Karma Corp didn’t kill him?” I asked, wondering why she was telling me all this.
Marissa blinked slowly. “No. They didn’t. Stephen’s loss devastated Claire, and I needed to keep her on track. Revenge was a way of doing that.”
“I’m not even surprised anymore. Why do you even want to point them at the megacorporations, anyway? What’s your game?”
Marissa’s expression didn’t change. “I betrayed everyone and everything I believed in while working for Task Force-22 and President Douglas. Then I saw the American people elect and re-elect the walking corpse we’ve got as President during the greatest crisis in human history. I felt the need to make atonement as best I could by heading off the future we’re going to. A future ruled by corporations keeping the people under control through a combination of advanced technology, debt, information control, and war.”
“It sounds like you’re describing the present rather than the past.”
“I did start HOPE six years ago,” Marissa said, frowning. “We’ve had successes: we blackmailed swing voters in Congress to extend the life cycle of the American refugee camps for two more years, forced a basic living standard in all corporate territories, and also stopped using mass data mining to determine which citizens should be allowed to live or die.”
“Is that worth using those you care about?”
Marissa looked down. “I don’t know. I’ve had to be a chameleon my entire life. When I was a little girl, I had to pretend to be stupid and easily impressed so the Barrio Maya wouldn’t beat or rape me. When I was a hacker, I had to pretend to be an anarchist because it made it easier to move through the circles I needed to learn my skills from. With you—”
“You had to pretend that you loved me.”
“It wasn’t entirely lies,” Marissa said. “Though I know you have no reason to believe that.”
“Seeing how you treat Claire, you’re right.” I decided I would tell her everything and bring down this ridiculous group of Marissa’s.
“I can’t help it,” Marissa said, taking her cup of coffee. “It’s how I’m wired. Which is why I need you.”
“Excuse me?”
“I hack people. Everyone is a bit of code to me, even the ones I care about most. I need someone to keep this organization on the straight and narrow. Well, no, that’s not true. I need someone to help me keep this organization aimed at the people who are exploiting the crisis for their own aims. Who hide behind money and power. I need people like you and Claire.”
I stared at her. “You can’t be serious.”
“You hate what you do,” Marissa said. “Even though it’s a much nicer business than what you did before, you don’t think you’re doing nearly enough to atone. You also want to look after someone. To have a family. Claire is a new mother and someone who needs support for her crusade.”
“A crusade you put her on.”
“Yes. I need someone who is willing to do what she can’t but who can stop at the end.”
I was silent, knowing she was manipulating me and ready to rebuff her. “Why shouldn’t I tell her? Give her some peace.”
“Do you really think it would? Or would it just devastate her? Remember how you felt when you discovered Marcus Gordon, your father, created you as a weapon to sell to the military? How you felt when you discovered Daniel Gordon, the man you were cloned from, was a psychotic rapist?”
“How I felt when I discovered your betrayals?”
Marissa looked like she’d been struck before closing her eyes. “Yes.”
“Ignorance is bliss,” I said, feeling unclean. “What do you want from me?”
“To become part of HOPE. To be our agent. To love Claire and be her partner. To do the missions which need to be done to bring down the megacorporations. You can even take the information we gain to help your corporation and friends. It’ll be a two-way street since we’ll also know plenty from your role as Atlas’ CSO. Atlas is, after all, security for the best and brightest among the Big 200.”
“You also want me to watch you and kill you if you go insane with power,” I added, reminding her of that.
“I want you to be by my side too.” Marissa’s voice lowered. It became hungry, almost desperate. “I want you in my bed as well as Claire’s, to be my lover and partner. To love me as much as I love you.”
“I could never love you the way I once did.”
“I know, but you can fake it.”