Chrono Inquisitor (Gods Be Damned) (14 page)

Paxton looked at me as if he thought I was joking, but then asked, “Are you serious?”

I nodded reluctantly. “Yes, but at least you’re free from your contract with him.”

“I don’t get it?”

“I paid your debts. That was the deal.”

“Why didn’t you kill him, or at the very least arrest him?”

“That’s just it, I couldn’t. I fucking wanted to blow his brains out. Him and all his lawyers. But I had no legal justification to do anything to him. He played everything by the book. Even gave me Lachlan. Why didn’t you warn me Van Horne is actually Satan himself?”

“I did warn you,” Paxton said.

“Well you did a shitty ass job.”

“So now what?” he asked.

“First, I get out of these ridiculous robes. Then it’s off to Texas we go. And since I held up my end of the bargain, now it’s your turn.”

I stripped out of my robes. Thought about incinerating the damn things so I wouldn’t be stupid enough to ever consider wearing them again. But I didn’t. I just
tossed’em back into the closet.

Then I set up the guest hammock for Paxton.

Cigar and firework smoke, as well as artificial fog clung to my skin. It wasn’t a pleasant combination of smells so I opted to take a shower before hitting the sack. I made it hotter than usual. I think subconsciously I wanted to wash/burn away the taint of compromising with Van Horne.

When I’d finished I didn’t feel any cleaner. At least I smelled better. Paxton was already asleep. He sure was setting a lot of precedents with me. No one had ever spent the night in my pad without pleasuring me first.

I climbed in to my own hammock and was soon whisked away to the land of mixed up memories and altered realities.

I dreamt of a landscape cast in monochrome gray. Of clouds rising up from the world and then smothering the surface in black snow. A bitter cold slapped me in the face and it burned.

In the blink of an eye the snow melted and became a flooding river of red. Time was in overdrive. I stood transfixed and watched the blood water reshape everything. Whole cities disappeared. The earth opened its mouth and consumed the blood. Things turned back to normal. At once the world was no longer gray with rivers of red, it had become an oasis of lush greens.

I was happy. Content. Skies turned blue again.

But it didn’t last. Nothing ever does. Things turned black. Darkness ascended until all light was focused into a pinprick barely visible in the shadows. I couldn’t see anything as if I’d gone blind. Emptiness was all there was. Nothing was everything.

I awoke in a panic. My heart felt as if it were clutched within death’s cold grip. Things were still black. I couldn’t see. I feared the dream wasn’t imaginary. That I had indeed gone blind.

But then the darkness gave way to an increasing glow. My pad slowly manifested itself in my vision.

Kali had simply turned off the lights once she’d detected Paxton and I were both asleep. Now that I was awake, she was turning them on just enough for me to see. Normally she wouldn’t have unless I’d asked, but she did so because of my agitated state.

‹“Kali,”› I said in my mind, not wanting to wake Paxton.

‹“Do the mytes record my dreams?”›

‹“I guess I should have figured that. What do you know about dreams? You don’t sleep, right? You’re always on, sorting and cataloguing my life – my dreams.”›

of this fact, but the Mnemosyne-mytes were originally created by Dr. Kishnan Chandrasekhar in order to record and study dreams. Before he was able to finish his studies his department got shut down and he was transferred to a different division. Unfortunately, his contract stipulates that his research is owned by ChronoGen Inc. therefore, no one is able to continue, not even Mr. Chandrasekhar himself without permission from Mr. Richards or the board. >

‹“Why was he transferred?”› I interrupted. ‹“Why did they shut down his research?”›

‹His breakthrough with the mytes being able to cross the blood-brain barrier was instrumental to the development of baptisms, but more specifically in my case, Cerebral Assistants. He was transferred to further those technologies. As you know, those are the two major breakthroughs which have made ChronoGen the company it is today.>

‹“Okay, but that was decades ago. How come no one’s continued his research?”›

‹That I do not know. I can, however, speculate. It would seem Dr. Chandrasekhar has lost all interest in oneirology and is more focused on other areas. Currently he heads the department for Cerebral Enhancements. It was his team that developed Huginn & Muninn. I believe all his time has been dedicated to this project, but maybe now that it is over, he may once again pursue studying dreams.›

“Hey, that gives me an idea. With H&M can I share my dreams?”

‹Yes.›

“So does that mean I can share my dream with myself? Can I force myself to dream about something I’ve already dreamt about?”

‹Processing. Yes, it is possible. You could instruct me to share a dream while you are asleep. However, as far as I can find, there is no mention of someone doing this either in the manuals or interviews.›

The sound of movement to my side startled me. I put my hand on my gun before I remembered Paxton was with me. I was so used to being alone as of late I’d quickly forgotten about him and had started speaking aloud to Kali. My chattering must have disturbed him.

He was repositioning himself and mumbling. I couldn’t make out what he was saying. I could have had Kali analyze it but that would have detracted from our conversation. He seemed to fall back asleep instantly.

Where was I?

‹“Kali?”›

‹Yes.›

‹“Can you make it so I don’t have nightmares? Or, if you detect that I’m having one, can you override it with a recording of one of my good dreams?”›

‹I cannot prevent a nightmare from occurring, but I should be able to override it by a memory share.›

‹“Make it so.”›

‹I feel it is now appropriate for you to know that someone has been trying to hack your mytes.›

“Since when?” I said aloud, caught off guard. I looked over at Paxton, but he didn’t move.

‹The first occurrence happened during the hacking of your pad.›

It took every ounce of control I had to keep my mouth shut. ‹“You’ve been sitting on this the entire time and you’re now just telling me. What the hell, Kali?”›

‹At the time I didn’t want to concern you when there were more pressing matters.›

‹“Are you implying this has happened more than once?”›

‹That is correct.›

‹“How many times, exactly?”›

‹I detected and fought off at least three attempts. The first one I detected occurred immediately after the first vehicular collision. The second was during your baptism. The third was when you were with Van Horne.›

‹“Seriously, Kali? Van Horne tried to hack me three times and you waited until now to tell me?”›

I got up from my hammock. I mean, how could I remain laying down with such a revelation? Habit told me I needed a drink. I started for the bar, then stopped. My addictions were gone. Erased by the baptism. I was upset, but I didn’t want a drink.

‹I did not say it was Van Horne,
›
Kali continued.

I made my way to the water cistern and poured myself a glass.

‹“Don’t get technical with me. Of course it was Van Horne, or at least it was one of his men. Does he have any hackers or programmers in his employment?”›

‹That is not an easy thing to distinguish. He has dozens who work for the various companies he owns. However, there is nothing on the books of anyone directly employed by him personally.›

‹“Well, I didn’t really expect him to anyway. Whoever he’s using, has got to be off the books. Van Horne isn’t stupid enough to leave a trail that directly leads back to him. Can you tell whether it was a remote or a proximity hack?”›

‹Each occurrence was done through the Huginn and Muninn protocols, so whoever was responsible had to have been within two hundred meters of your location.›

‹“Hmm, the Peach Pit and the ice cream shop were both in high density areas with lots of places to remain hidden. The desert, however, was highly exposed. You didn’t detect anyone else in the area then, did you?”›

‹
No.›

‹“
And your pinging range is only fifty meters, which gave the hacker a hundred and fifty meter range to go undetected if he remained out of sight. Wait a second. If the H&M protocols allow a thought-transference to happen within a hundred and fifty meter range, how come you can only ping up to fifty?”›

‹
Because that is the limitation set by ChronoGen in accordance with the agreements established by the Unified Republics.›

‹“
So what you’re saying is; you can theoretically scan beyond that?”›

‹
It is possible for any CerA to scan the entire globe.›

“Are you kiddi
ng me? The entire fucking world! Do you have any idea what the implications of that could be?” Realizing I’d spoken out loud, I quickly checked to make sure I hadn’t disturbed Paxton again.

‹
It means that if the restrictions were not in place, anyone could be tracked anywhere in the world, excluding the dead zones.›

‹“
Exactly. How hard would it be to remove or work around the restrictions?”›

‹
I do not know without actually trying, which I will not as it would be against the law.›

‹“The bane of being law abiding. Criminals can do whatever they want, but the protectors and enforcers of the law are bound by the very thing they protect, even if it means the dissolution of it.
Does Richards or any of the others know about this potential breach?”›

‹
I do not know. There are no records of this issue being addressed.›

‹
“Which either means they’re completely ignorant of it, or they’re keeping it off the books to be sure no one gets any ideas, OR, that they’re secretly abusing it themselves.”›

My mind ran rampant with the pitfalls of someone finding out how to remove the restrictions. Kali wouldn’t figure out how because she was bound by the law. Me, on the other hand, while technically bound as well, could implore free will. Of course that meant she would know and be bound to report me. If only-

‹
It seems that you are sleep deprived and experiencing dangerous and paranoid thought patterns. I suggest that as soon as we are past the Colorado/Texas border, you go back to sleep. You might even want to take a sedative to ensure a restful slumber
.
›

‹
“You know, I’m not quite sure how I feel about this new sense of humor upgrade to your personality?”›

‹
You know perfectly well how you feel about it
.
›

‹
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re worse than Sam. She only thought she knew what went on in my head. You actually do. And as I’m sure you already know, sometimes it’s fucking annoying as hell. Changing trains; how far away are we from the Wall?”›

‹
I am decelerating the pad as we speak
.
›

I poured the rest of my glass of water down the drain for recycling. My senses may have been refreshed, but water was still boring as hell to drink. I went to my closet and put on pants and a shirt. Texas still had decency laws on the books which they randomly liked to enforce. I
went to the door and opened it just as the border guard had his fist up ready to knock.

“Chrono Inquisitor Yan,” I said, before he could question me. “On my way to an assignment at the Regency Resort. Everything should be arranged.”

The guard put his fist down and ignored me while he looked at the scans of my pad and confirmed I was who I said I was.

Finally he said, “I see you have dual citizenship with the Greater Republic of Texas and the Republic of Kota Sioux.” He looked me up and down and then asked, “How’d you manage that?”

Everyone always questioned my dual citizenships. I hated explaining.

“If you don’t mind,” I said. “Things are kind of time sensitive. Maybe on my way back I’ll tell you the tale.”

“Whatever,” he said with a shrug. “It looks like it’s been several years since you’ve set foot on our fine soil. Have you been informed, and are you aware of the laws of the areas in which you will be?”

>
Kali informed me.

“Yes, I’ve already downloaded the recent judicial updates to my CerA.”

“We detect another person within the vehicle.” He leaned forward and tried to take a peek inside.

I smiled and repositioned myself so that he couldn’t see shit.

“It’s my deputy, Paxton Thrass. All documentation should be in order.” Or so I hoped. I never did mention to Frank I was bringing Paxton along with me.

The man looked over the information. “Yes, everything does seem to be in order. It seems he’s never visited us before.” The guard must have then come across Paxton’s criminal record, because he startled and lost his composure. With more than a subtle hint of hostility he said, “You understand you are acting as his legal guardian and are therefore taking full responsibility for his actions during his stay?”

I fully understood what was implied. Due to Paxton’s unsavory record, Texas never would have allowed his visitation. If it weren’t for my position, there was no way Paxton would have ever been able to cross the border legally. It was a big risk assuming responsibility for the boy, especially since we’d met less than twenty-four hours ago. Still, what would be the point of living if there weren’t at least some risk involved?