Unstable Prototypes (39 page)

"So what happens now, Mr. Alexander?" Jon
stammered, flop sweat rolling down his face.

"Why are you asking me?" Lex replied, tugging
at a bandage that had been applied to his burn.

"Well, haven't you done this before?"

"Been arrested in Rackton for reckless
driving during an act of terrorism? No, believe it or not, we are
breaking new ground here."

"But you've been arrested before, right?"

"Not really. I mean, it has been tried, and
back home probably the whole police force knows my face, but I
never really got caught doing something worth dragging me in for.
Mitch has, though."

"Miss Modane?" Jon said, looking to his
boss.

"Disorderly conduct during a protest rally.
Nothing scandalous," she said, tapping at her slidepad, which she
had managed to convince the attending officer to let her keep.
Using it while restrained involved holding it awkwardly in her
cuffed hand while tapping at it with her free one.

"Oh... so what happens now?"

"Don't worry about it. You didn't do
anything, and they can't coerce you into answering any questions.
They'll probably bring you in for questioning, but if you just keep
quiet, everything will be fine."

"What if I crack under interrogation! What if
they do that good cop/bad cop thing?!"

"It isn't going to be an interrogation, Jon.
But if you start getting stressed, just blame everything on
me."

"So tell the truth then. That's easy enough,"
Jon said, nodding deliriously.

"Mister Nichols, could you step in for a
moment."

"SHE DID IT!" he blurted.

Jon was uncuffed and escorted into the
office. When the door was locked Lex leaned back and released a
sigh.

"I hope he's a good assistant, because he
makes for a pretty rotten accomplice," he quipped.

Michella nodded vaguely, her eyes plastered
on the slidepad and a familiar grin on her face.

"How are the numbers?"

"Sixty million hits in the last hour, four
hundred thousand comments and counting, and that's only on the live
stuff. The polished up version will do twice that," she answered
quickly, "Oh, baby, you did so good."

She pulled him in for a kiss and held him
close, the cuffs held between them.

"We do make a hell of a team," he said.

He wrapped his recently freed arm around her
and hugged her as tight as he could without dislocating the cuffed
arm. Slowly the smile on his face faded, though.

"But what happens now?"

"Not you too, Trevor. The whole thing was on
camera, they know we didn't have anything to do with the attack,
and for the rest-"

"Not about that. I mean... Look. You and I
both know you have got nowhere to go but up. And don't get me
wrong, I'm happy for you, but... That means longer hours, longer
trips. It is only going to get harder and harder to see each other.
Don't you think it is a little nuts that it wasn't until we got
handcuffed together in a police station that we even got a chance
to discuss this?"

"I know things are a little busy right now,
but they'll change. Once they give me more sway, move me further up
in the organization, I'll have staff. I'll be able to delegate,
spend more time in the office."

"Yeah, you'll be able to, but you won't. I
know you, Michella. The grunt work is the reason you're a reporter.
You'd never hand off any of that. And I won't want you to."

"Then what are we discussing?"

"I... I don't know, okay? I just... I look at
the future and I see big things for you, I see not a whole lot for
me, and I see nothing for
us.
"

"We'll work something out, Trev. I'll...
Remember back when you were a racer and I was on your pit crew?
I'll find a place for you. Like you said before, you can be my
driver or... I don't know, personal security."

"And what if your bosses put the kibosh on
that?"

"Then... Trev, I don't know," she said with a
shake of her head. "Are you telling me you want to break up?"

"No! God no!"

"Then... Remember the night we got back
together?"

"Which part? The part on the futon, or the
part in the shower, or on the floor, or-"

"When I first showed up, you pig," she said
with a smirk, "I asked where to go from here, and you told me that
we should just have the moment. I don't know what happens next, but
right now we're together. That's going to have to be enough."

Lex nodded. "It's always been enough
before."

The door to the officer's office opened and
Jon was led out.

"You two, in here, now," the officer
ordered.

"I guess we've got bigger things to worry
about now, anyway," Lex said.

He took her shackled hand in his and the pair
stood, marching past the harried-looking Jon and into the office.
Once inside, it became clear that either this had not been his
office for long, or he was almost critically obsessed with
neatness. The desk was bare, with the exception of an old-school
blotter/calendar, a display screen, a datapad, and a nameplate
labeling him "Lt. Oscar Franco." A shelf along the rear wall held a
potted fern still bearing the card proclaiming it to be "From
Sarah, XOX." The only other object on the shelf was a framed photo
of a woman, presumably Sarah, who seemed to be sliding out of
middle age. That made her a match for Lt. Franco himself, who had a
graying mustache on his still-constipated-looking face. He had the
overall attitude and sagging physique of someone who had been a
policeman for a few years longer than he'd wanted to be.

"Your assistant was very helpful, Miss
Modane. I hope you will be too."

"I'll help in any way that I can," she stated
simply.

"And you, Mister Alexander?"

"I'm probably not going to be very
helpful."

Franco's expression hardened slightly. "We'll
begin with some questions."

"Did you confiscate our camera?" Michella
asked.

"Yes. Now-"

"Did you review the footage?"

"Yes. What did-"

"Did you see any indication that-"

"Miss Modane!" the officer barked, "Perhaps I
didn't make myself clear. When I said that we would begin with some
questions, I meant that
I
would be asking
you
questions. But if you want to skip right to the footage, fine,
we'll do that. Based on the contents of the camera, we have
evidence of you engaging in at least seven different acts of
reckless driving. You endangered the lives of dozens of citizens,
not to mention multiple officers of the law, and then you violated
a joint police and military cordon, violating the terms of a demand
made by individuals actively holding a populated area hostage with
a WMD, thus potentially triggering events that could have taken
thousands, if not tens of thousands more lives. And throughout that
time you were causing a dangerous distraction to police and
emergency crews who were attempting to respond to a disaster."

"That camera also contains high resolution
footage of the individuals responsible for the attack that I
guarantee is an order of magnitude better than anything you would
have been able to get otherwise."

"That's irrelevant."

"And exactly how much of the damage to public
property did we cause, compared to what the police in pursuit
caused."

"You are still liable!" he growled, standing
up and leaning on the table.

"And how do you excuse the use of excessive
force when attempting to intercept our vehicle?" she continued,
assuming the same position.

"That was entirely within our right
considering the threat you represented."

"Do I even need to be here for this?" Lex
asked.

Michella continued as though he hadn't
spoken. "And what about your failure to make even a cursory attempt
to save our lives when it appeared that we were experiencing an
equipment failure!?"

"The safety measures of the vehicle-" the
officer attempted

"And what about-"

"MISS MODANE! My city is in a state of chaos.
I should be on the street helping to sort it out, but instead I am
in here arguing with you. I don't care if you were on a different
planet when the disaster happened, the simple fact that it is your
fault that I am still in this office is enough reason for me to
lock you up until this time tomorrow. For every minute of my time
that you waste, I am tacking on another two days, and if you think
for one moment that I lack the power to do that, then you have got
a
lot
to learn about how Rackton has managed to stay so
crime-free. Now, if I hear even one more word from you that is not
the answer to a question, the next sound you hear will be the
slamming of a cell door, understood!?"

The reporter and the officer were nearly nose
to nose, giving the woman an up close and personal look at the
bulging vein on Franco's forehead. The two maintained the intense
staring match, and for nearly ten seconds Michella managed to keep
quiet. Then she said not one word, but two.

Eleven minutes later the trio was in a
holding cell.

#

"What the hell happened?" Jon exclaimed in
exasperation, pacing back and forth like a trapped rat. "Before you
guys went in there he thanked me for my cooperation and said I'd
probably be out in a few hours!"

"Yeah, it appears we may have found
Michella's kryptonite," Lex said as he settled back on a cot. "Come
to think of it, I think that's how it went down at the protest,
too."

"That Lt. Franco was being unreasonable,"
Michella countered, jumping to her feet and pacing along with
Jon.

"Unreasonable?! He was accusing you of crimes
you actually DID!" Jon protested.

"But we were doing something crucially
important."

"Law books don't write 'unless you have a
really good reason' at the bottom of the page!"

"Jon?" said Lex. "Since your lifestyle has
prevented you from ever having a girlfriend, let me explain
something to you. They are right, always."

"Thank you, Trev." Michella said without an
ounce of humor. "I'll tell you one thing. Once this Neo-Luddite
business is over I am
definitely
doing an expose on the
Rackton police."

"Speaking of the Neo-Luddite thing... What do
we know about these people?" Lex asked.

"It was mostly in the report I did at the
scene of the attack," Michella said.

"I was a little distracted."

"I'll be doing an in-depth piece in a few
weeks. I just need to do a bit more digging, particularly after all
of this."

"But what do we know right now? Presumably
they are eventually going to let us out of here, and assuming Ma
got my message, she'll probably call, and I'd like to be able to
get as much info to her as possible. Anything to help her hunt the
scientist down so that something like this doesn't happen
again."

"Okay... But I want you to do me a
favor."

"What?"

"I want to talk to him."

"Who?"

"The scientist. Or should I say Karter?"

"No. No, no, no. How did you even learn his
name?"

"You slipped a few times. I've spoken to
dangerous men before. You don't think I can handle him?"

"You saw what happened today! I don't think
the
army
could handle him."

"If my research helps free him, I think he at
least owes me a few minutes of his time."

"Michella, I can't even guarantee he'd be
willing to talk to you."

"That's fine. I just want you to be my
contact," she said, leaning close and adding in a whisper, "Just
like you did with the Bypass Gemini incident, only
this
time, no blind spot. I'll handle the rest."

"... Now that you know his name, even if I
say no, you're going to go looking for him, aren't you," Lex said
flatly.

"I've already
been
looking for him.
His name will just make it easier."

"Fine. I'll let him know."

"Thanks, babe," she said, plopping down on
the cot next to him and giving him a peck on the cheek. "Now, where
to start? … Well, they get their name from a fellow named Ned Ludd,
who may or may not have existed. There's a story about him breaking
a textile machine during the industrial revolution, and that
eventually led to a whole labor movement. People afraid of being
replaced by machines went and destroyed them. They called
themselves Luddites."

"So these people just want to wreck
technology?"

"No. That's where it got confusing. See, as
far as we can tell, the Neo-Luddites
love
technology. Not
just any technology, though. It has to be new. The newest of the
new. Stuff that isn't even out yet. Why they'd want to wreck stuff
was a mystery until Jon finally managed to turn up a recording from
a few years ago taking credit for a minor security breach in an
out-of-the-way research post. Dollars to donuts we get another one
of those later today."

"What did it say?"

"It had some screwed up logic, but more or
less, it said that if we want to keep getting better technology, we
have to destroy the technology we already have, so we
need
the new stuff."

"And they've been at it for years?"

"At least two years. Probably a lot longer.
Nothing really big until about six months ago."

"If they've been going on this long, why
didn't we know about them? Why is it so hard for you to find out
stuff?"

"The military has been covering things
up."

"Which military?"

"All of them?"

"Why?"

"Because the Neo-Luddites are pretty much all
former soldiers. Would
you
want word getting out that not
only were your secrets getting stolen, but they were being stolen
and used by a group of terrorists within your own ranks?"

"Okay, that makes sense. Well how big is this
group?"