Inescapable (21 page)

Marie sagged in
her seat. ‘That sucks vacuum. It’s a shame my career hasn’t taken
off. I could help keep the place going. I mean, I’d maybe want a
little more space, but that’s what you need, a housemate.’ Her eyes
brightened and she sat up straight, turning to Fox. ‘Hey! What
about you?’

‘What about
me?’ Fox asked.

‘Your company’s
doing the work, and you could move rooms around during the refit.
You could have a floor each, so privacy isn’t a problem and you’d
have room for… meetings and stuff like that. Corporate stuff, you
know?’

‘No that’d
never… I just told Palladium I didn’t want to move into one of the
MarTech towers and here I am looking at a house in the MCD. Someone
would bitch.’

‘But Palladium
would be
running
this house. It would be almost like you
were
moving into one of their buildings.’

‘Girl’s got a
point, Fox,’ Sam said. ‘We’re in and out of each other’s apartments
as it is, so we know we can live with each other. You
would
lose your glorious view of the dam.’

‘There, see?
That’s a major downside right there.’ Fox took a drink, mostly to
let herself consider the idea. ‘I’ll talk to Alice and Ryan. Garth
won’t be worried, I don’t think, and Jackson will probably work
with whatever I decide if it makes
any
sense.’

‘I’ll think
about it too,’ Sam said. ‘It’s a workable idea, but I should
probably think about it before I decide on anything permanent.
Besides–’ He stopped suddenly, frowning, and Fox was about to ask
whether something was wrong when Kit appeared beside him on the
booth seat.

‘Fox,’ the
avatar said urgently, ‘the security system on Sam’s house just
triggered. I believe that is why Sam is frowning.’

Sam nodded.
‘Someone’s tried to break in. I got a notification that a rapid
response unit has been dispatched to investigate. What’s a rapid
response unit?’

‘I guess we
should go over there and you can see for yourself,’ Fox replied,
slipping out of the booth.

~~~

A rapid response unit
was a vectored-thrust cyberframe aircraft, sleek, black, and, by
the time Fox, Sam, and Marie arrived at the house, settled into a
menacing guard posture just outside the front door.

‘That’s… a
mean-looking robot,’ Marie said. ‘Are those micromissile pods?’

‘Minimissile,
but that’s a technicality,’ Fox replied. ‘Anything over twenty
millimetres is mini, and those are thirty. Loaded with bindwire
warheads, I believe.’

‘Voice and
implant ID verified,’ the frame responded. ‘CIO Tara Meridian, you
are correct. I carry eight thirty-millimetre infrared homing
bindwire missiles. Lethal countermeasures are also available in the
form of a four-millimetre caseless automatic gun pod.’

Fox smiled at
the machine. ‘Thank you for the clarification. Report on status,
please.’

‘At
twenty-three zero six this date an attempted security breach was
detected at this address. There were no intruders in evidence when
I arrived at twenty-three twelve. I have long-range sensor data of
two individuals leaving the scene. Perimeter analysis indicates
that the attempt was a failure.’

‘Okay.’ Fox’s
gaze flicked over the scene. ‘I’ll take it from here.’

‘Do you have a
name?’ Sam asked.

‘Mister
Clarion,’ the unit replied, ‘this cyberframe is designated RRU dash
NY dash seven, and I am one of seventeen security agents currently
assigned to duty within the New York Metro area. I can provide my
AI serial number if you require it.’

‘No, that’s
fine. Thanks for the quick response.’

‘Just part of
the service, sir,’ the machine said. ‘Please stand back.’ The
ducted fan units on its stubby wings kicked into life and it lifted
off, rising to about fifty metres before it vectored into level
flight and, apparently, kicked in some sort of jet engine,
rocketing off through the night sky toward Long Island.

‘Class three,’
Kit observed, appearing beside the group. ‘No sense of humour to
speak of, which is why it didn’t point out that the fast arrival is
in the name. Should I get Pythia over here, Fox?’

‘I really doubt
there’s much point,’ Fox replied. ‘Put through a request for all
the security camera data for the last thirty minutes in this area.
Get the long-range video from that unit checked against our other
images.’ She turned, looking around at the buildings across the
street. ‘We’ll do a visual inspection of the doors and windows,
just to be sure, but I think the new security stopped them.’ There
were a lot of lights on in the windows, but three buildings south,
one house was quite dark.

‘Lucky it was
finished today,’ Marie said. ‘I know I wouldn’t have been
comfortable going out tonight if it hadn’t been. I don’t think I
have
been out since the last break-in.’

‘No,’ Fox said.
‘This is probably the first time the house has been empty for a
while.’

Kit turned to
look at Fox. ‘I’ll begin checking property ownership in the
area.’

‘Thank you,
Kit. I think that might be very interesting.’

Marie’s eyes
widened. ‘You think they’ve been
watching
the house?!’

‘It’s a
distinct possibility. Might just be their first big mistake
too.’

24
^th
April.

‘The building you
spotted,’ Kit said, ‘as well as approximately thirty-three per cent
of the property in that area of the MCD, is owned by one Harper
Markus August. It is currently unoccupied and being refitted.’

‘August?’ Fox
said. ‘That’s an august sort of name.’ She looked at the picture
Kit was projecting over the window: August was aging, but slowly.
There was no grey in his thick, black hair, but it had the
conservative styling of someone born in the last century. His eyes
had lost something of their youthful blue and were turning grey. A
few wrinkles showed around the eyes and mouth.

‘For an august
sort of man. Mister August turned ninety-six last October. He made
his money in property deals through the latter part of last century
and into the twenty-thirties. He is one of four people who
collectively own much of the property within the MCD.’

‘Interesting.
Has anyone been in touch with Sam about buying the house? After
that Great Park Holdings business, that is.’

Perhaps
unconsciously, Kit looked in the direction of Sam’s apartment
before replying. ‘Javen says no.’

‘See what
Palladium can dig up on Harper August, please. What did we get from
street surveillance?’

‘The same two
men as before, within reasonable tolerances. They appear to have
employed the same camouflage suits. No cameras watch the empty
building, but the burglars enter a watched area from that
direction. I have requested a cambot be positioned to cover that
building and… it is already in place.’

Fox smiled.
‘Nicely done. I have my doubts they’ll come back, but you never
know.’ Closing her eyes, she slipped seamlessly into the virtual
crime room Kit had created, looking around at the web of
connections. It was looking thinner. ‘You’ve managed to cut down on
quite a few of these.’

‘As you
suggested, I was able to eliminate a number of them given
documentary evidence of their presence at other sites at the time
of the attacks.’ For whatever reason, Kit had decided to wear her
business suit to the crime room, and she carried a little tablet
PC, which she used to make notes occasionally. Fox had decided not
to say anything yet. ‘I was even able to apply the same technique
to several of the less… extrovert potentials by examining blogs and
personal diary feeds of friends and relatives.’

‘We’re mostly
down to the employees now, which is what I expected. What have we
got? Two clothing designers.’

‘Unsurprising,’
Kit commented. ‘These are two of the four most popular designers
this season. I checked and neither of them was in favour over the
winter.’

‘Okay, drop
them. Our guy has probably been stewing over these women for years.
They all use the same bank.’

‘Again,
unsurprising. My research indicates that banking among residents of
the MCD is split across three banks. Manhattan Consolidated is the
second largest, popular with the younger megarich. The victims fit
the profile well.’

‘These banks
often provide advisors for their clients. See if you can find out
who dealt with these women. Financial advisors, account managers,
anyone personally handling the client. They might be reluctant. If
you’re having difficulty, pass it over to Ivers. NAPA has more
pull.’

Kit made a
little note on her tablet. ‘Yes, Fox.’

Fox cracked,
her lips curling. ‘What’s this?’

‘What’s
what?’

‘Well, the
pencil skirt and the notepad. You’re an AI, so you don’t need to
make notes to remember to do something.’

The kitsune’s
face crumpled a little. ‘I was watching some old detective vids.
They have murder boards and notebooks… I thought I should look more
efficient.’

Fox’s grin
broke out completely. ‘You’re always efficient, but it does look
good. If you want to go the whole hog, you should get some
glasses.’

‘I don’t need
glasses.’

‘You don’t need
that tablet.’

Kit’s lips
pursed. ‘I’ll watch some more videos.’

‘You do that.
Okay… They all use MarTech Services for robotics maintenance.
Right, well check with Services to see whether anyone regularly
maintains their robots, and whether anyone can be traced to the
victims’ homes at the times of the murders.’

‘At least that
one should be easy.’

‘Would that
everything was.’

Alexandria, Niflhel,
25
^th
April.

Fox’s mind was not in
it and she knew it. Virtual sex was very much a mental exercise;
even if the participants were being fed stimuli which they
perceived as physical, the actual process was mental. At least that
was how she saw it. Her body did not really participate in the riot
of sensory inputs which bombarded her brain; she felt the touch of
her partner’s hands, felt his breath on her neck, heard his grunts
and whispered words, and his cock filled her seemingly as a
physical one would have, but it was like the viron was telling a
story to her and if she did not suspend her disbelief in the unreal
setting, it did not quite work.

Men, she had
always thought, must have more of an issue with reconciling the
real and the virtual, given the more obvious physical reactions of
the male orgasm. However, men could also be almost guaranteed to be
too busy with their own needs to really notice that the woman they
were banging was not as into it as she might be. A little burst of
pleasure, a small thrill as she drove him over the edge with a
couple of quick counterthrusts, helped Fox fake her own climax and
left him feeling pleased with himself.

She left him to
clean up, leaving quickly and going down to the communal lounge,
but when another client started to move toward her, she made
apologies and walked out, heading for her little apartment down the
street. She was standing on the balcony, looking out across the
cerulean view, when there was a knock on the door.

‘Come in,
Cleopatra,’ Fox called out.

The door
creaked: the wood looked old and the hinges carried a hint of rust
about them, the little details which marked a really good viron.
‘How did you know it was me?’ Cleopatra asked as she entered and
walked through the lounge-bedroom.

‘Who else?’

‘That’s not an
unreasonable point. You seem troubled. I was concerned.’

‘I just have a
bunch of things on my mind and… You know, I’m not a cop now so I
can talk to people about this stuff. But if any of this turns up in
the news feeds, I’ll never talk to you again.’

‘One does not
get into the online whoring business without being able to keep a
secret.’

‘You’ve seen
the news reports on someone killing people in the MCD? It’s pretty
big news.’

‘Sex, murder,
and rich people? Of course I’ve seen it. You’re not a cop, though.’
The half-naked queen stepped up onto the balcony beside Fox, her
gaze on the sea far below them.

‘No, but the
third one, Katrina Hopethorne, lived in a building Palladium covers
so I was called in to investigate. The NAPA detective covering it
had the sense to decide working with us might be a good idea. This
guy is getting worse, nastier and faster, and we’ve got nothing. On
top of that, I’ve got a friend who seems to be being victimised
because he inherited a house. The previous owner was murdered, so
someone
really
wants that building. MCD again.’

‘Money,’
Cleopatra said sagely, ‘is the root of all evil. Which I don’t
really believe, but it does tend to be a magnet for trouble. It
provokes too many negative emotions in people who don’t have it, or
want more of it.’

‘Yeah… Anyway,
I’ve got those and a few other things sitting on my mind right now.
I don’t think I left anyone unhappy, but I’m not really with this
tonight. Not sure why I came.’

Cleopatra’s
lips twitched. ‘It would appear that you haven’t, yet. Puns aside,
I’d imagine you felt you needed a break. You needed to distract
yourself from the problems you have, so you came here to do
something different. Unfortunately, you don’t find virtual
environments quite as distracting as others do. It’s not uncommon.
You are a very grounded woman, Zorra, and you find the virtual
world less than the real.’

‘I guess you’re
right.’

‘It’s not a bad
thing. In a few decades, we may be fighting to keep interactions
going in the real world as the technology used in these virons
becomes more and more real.’

Fox grinned.
‘You seem pretty grounded yourself.’

‘I have reason
to find the virtual world something I like to sink myself into. I
spend a lot of time here, or in other virons. However, you’ve
expressed a desire to maintain some mystery about my real identity
so I won’t explain.’