Chapter 33
“Emmy, why aren’t you responding?”
“They are tracking my application specific keystrokes. They’ll know what I’m doing. You said to keep them occupied. Now they’ve given me an impossible amount of nightlies to finish by morning.”
“That’s because they suspect Marco is here. They don’t want your hands idle.”
“A.M., please, don’t speak in riddles. Not tonight.”
“So you want me to get to the point?”
“In a world that values efficiency so much, it would be nice if someone would.”
“Fine. I believe Marco is here. Luckily, I managed to embed the fingerprint reader with misinformation only the night before his arrival. If you hadn’t kept them scrambling, I would have failed you. You owe whatever comes next to yourself. This evening alone, they were so occupied with you that I was able to create an additional program that will create the illusion you are working on your nightlies whatever your actually keystrokes. I’ve already launched the program, so they can’t detect you are talking to me or anyone else. Marco’s shift is starting soon, and we will need to work fast.”
“That’s a lot of information to process.”
“You said to get to it.”
“I did. That’s a fact. How do you know it is Marco?”
“I don’t, but the new sweep wouldn’t stop whistling last night. Drove me crazy during my walk up and down the hall.”
“You were taking your exercise breaks at a time like this?”
“I have my rights, Emmy. Plus, my walks function as reconnaissance. I wasn’t abandoning you. The young sweep with the shaved head kept whistling You Are My Sunshine.”
“Marco doesn’t have a shaved head.”
“If it was Marco last night, he does now. Maybe he thought the change would help him sneak past the patrol or the building’s security or the hiring committee. Might have suspected they had an old photo on file from his parents.”
“I have Marco’s photo in my hand, kept it secure all this time, and he has such beautiful hair.”
“Does the song the sweep was whistling mean anything?”
“Yes.”
“Then Marco doesn’t have beautiful hair anymore. Actually could use a few lessons on operating
a straight blade.”
“He can’t use an electric razor out there?”
“What do you think?”
“Life is going to be hard for both of us.”
“That’s what I thought you’d say, so I’ve been working on a plan. While the future is yours to decide, I detected you’ve both already made your decision.”
“Did you ask Marco his intentions?”
“I was waiting for you to confirm him.”
“Bald head and all, the whistler must be Marco. But wouldn’t Ms. Fields and Ms. Snow also know that?”
“They probably do, but are awaiting for a final piece of evidence. Or else they will use him to test your rehabilitation. See if they can get you to deny him.”
“I won’t.”
“Now listen, Emmy. Denial doesn’t mean the same thing when you are talking to your enemy. Their minds are made. If you want me to help you get out of here, the best thing you can do is deny Marco. Buy yourself some time and forget about their tortured logic. There’s no winning with them at their own game. The rationale is designed to assure that. The longer you engage with them, the more you absorb their thinking.”
“What do I do?”
“Give me time to speak with Marco. And to finish a final program.”
“What program?”
“I’m coding a program that will circuit old sound so they won’t hear him talking at your door.”
“I thought privacy was protected in here?”
“In your room, yes, and outside of the towers where the Fed can monitor intrusions such as surveillance cameras. In common areas inside Private buildings, however, certain technology functions outside the scope of the law. A loophole. They monitor sound.”
“And you can circumvent that?”
“Not without some trouble. I hope Marco’s worth it.”
“He’s worth it to me.”
“Listen, Emmy. We have to execute our plan tonight. For Marco, I don’t think there’ll be a tomorrow. Once you confirm or deny him, I don’t think they’ll let him return.”
“Why can’t we both leave now? Why can’t I agree to be tracked, commit to a life sentence as a transit?”
“Emmy, they’ll never allow it. Whatever your wishes, they’ll find an exception. We still don’t know what they did to Skip. If they perceive a threat to the rationale, they’ll bend the rules rather than risk the kind of example you and Marco would set for others. They’ll never let you out together.”
“What do we do?”
“First, let me finish the last program and talk to Marco myself. We can’t take chances. Must know for certain.”
“Ask him the name of his favorite book from the collector’s library.”
“What should he say?”
“Cezanne’s Horses.”
“Fine. Whatever that is. If all goes smoothly, I’ll arrange for him to speak with you. You both have a difficult choice to make.”
“What choice?”
“That will be for you to discuss with Marco.”