Cynetic Wolf

Paer was there to greet us as we climbed out. “I’m sorry about Ashlo,” she said as Henk shuffled off, giving him a brief hug. “Good work, guys. Ready for the Council?”

Lars grabbed coffee while I carried Zedda to her room, and laid her to rest on the cushioned mat. She looked so helpless lying there. I wrapped a blanket tight around her, and left with mixed feelings. Five minutes later, we all sat in the Council room, except Zedda.

It was early and everyone nursed coffee and tea while I briefed them on everything. Lars stepped in here and there as needed.

When we finished, Obowe said, “Great work, both of you. It is too bad about Ashlo and Nim, but this fight is bigger than any of us. Lars, the promo stuff?”

“We’re ready.” He twinkled with creative chaos. “Raek and I are filming after this.”

We were?

Talk turned to next steps, and Paer said, “We’ve got people working on Thorn’s SmartCore. They’ll have access to his system within the hour. We won’t get everything, but should be able to fake a message to his father.”

Mico nodded. “So, official story is Thorn got captured and—”

“What if we flipped the script?” I cut in. “What if, instead of trying to capture Calter, we got him to come to us?”

Lars raised an eyebrow. “How? Why?”

“The same way we get him to share the intel; jealousy and a thirst for power. What if we pretend Thorn met someone—a scientist or something, someone who can complete the emulation process—who’s willing to do it for Calter and Thorn in exchange for immunity and a position of power?”

I paused but no one said anything. “Calter would want to meet. It’s what he’s wanted for decades, immortality. And he can’t risk anyone finding out, especially not other members of the Board.”

Paer raised an eyebrow. “And once we meet, then what?”

“We tell him we’re planning to destroy the brain-field backups and end immortality for emulates. It won’t be what he expected, but it’s what he wants. If he can’t live forever, no one should, right? That’s comparative psychology 101.”

Lars was nodding. “You crafty bugger. I love it!”

A rare smile creased Paer’s lips. “Any objections?”

No one said anything. “Get on it, Raek, after you get that speech filmed.”

Oh, great...

“On it, Ag,” Lars said. “Come on, kid. We’ve got work to do.”

Lars and I stood and left after one last sip of harsh coffee.

On our third try, we found an empty room and set up shop. It was small and whitewashed with a two-person table in the middle. It would have to do.

“Here’s some notes I made.” Lars touched his band and a virtual screen appeared, a list of twenty or thirty bullet points.

“You want me to say all that?” That’d take ages.

He shook his head. “Not everything. They’re suggestions. You decide what to include. ” He gestured to the wall and seven lit up. “These are the most important.”

• First ever cynetic-animote hybrid

• Raised in poor town of Kiag, later torched by the DNS

• Sister assaulted and murdered by cynetics

• If interspecies breeding is possible, so too is unity/equality

• The GDR lied about Initiative attacks - cite examples

• Fight, not for revenge, but for equality. To build a better world

• Rise up, help us win

My stomach twisted. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Course you can. I heard that speech in Kiag.” He patted my shoulder. “You’re a natural.”

“That was a spur of the moment thing, I didn’t think.”

“We’ll practice without recording,” he countered. “Sound good?”

No. “I’m ready, ready as I’ll ever be at least.”

He gave me a countdown and nodded.

“Hello, my name’s Raek Mekorian. I’ve been called a terrorist, a murderer; I’m here to set the record straight.” And I did, even demoing my blaster, which I thought was a good touch. “I’m a freak, I’m a hybrid… but I’m also hope, hope for our people, hope for equality... freedom and unity for all.”

I talked about Elly, the horrific attacks, and hammered home every injustice.

“They do it because they fear us. They fear the power of a unified animote army. They. Fear. Us!” I slammed my fist on the table. “They should. We outnumber ’em and we are strong. We fight for our future, for equality, for our children and our children’s children. We fight for a better world. So, who is with me?”

“And, cut,” Lars said.

Wait, cut? “What? That was a test run...”

“Are you kidding?” He laughed. “That was brilliant. Of course I was recording. I don’t think we’ll need a take two,” he added.

“Oh… You should’ve told me.” At least it was over.

“And ruin that.” He shook his head, smiling. “We have enough to do as it is. If you’ll excuse me, I have some editing and special effects to work on. And you have a message to write.”

And I would, right after a quick lunch. When I got to the dining hall, Zedda and Henk were on the far side with empty plates.

After grabbing the one thing left, eggs, I headed over.

“Hey, guys,” I said. Turning to Henk, I added, “I’m sorry about Ashlo.” I sat, giving him what I hoped was an encouraging smile.

“Thanks, Raek, it’s okay.”

“Feeling better, Zedda?” I asked, unable to hold eye contact.

“I’m fine,” she replied, looking her usual self again. “I can’t believe you guys went after him without me.”

“A lot of good you would have done unconscious.” Henk glowered at his plate. “At least I should have been there.”

I sighed. “We all did the best we could. We got him! We lost friends and family along the way, but we got him. Speaking of, where are they holding him? I’m supposed to talk to the techs.”

“I’ll take you,” Henk volunteered. “Will give me something else to think about.”

“Thanks, let me finish this.” I shoveled the scrambled eggs before remembering Zedda. “Ohhh.” My face flushed a guilty smile. It wasn’t the coolest of looks.

She laughed, and two minutes later, we were off. “He’s in the underground cells,” Henk explained. “Used to be storage, but we retrofitted several of them. This way.”

He led me to an unmarked panel built into the slab wall and typed a code on the mini touchscreen display. A thick metal door swung open, revealing a small spiral staircase twisting downward.

We descended and heard country blues emanating from an open door. “That you, Raek? Come in.”

Thorn was sprawled on gurney in the center of the featureless holding cell, arms, legs, and chest bound to the bed with Teflon nanoties, sensors tattooing his body with marks. “We got your cynetic right here,” the woman standing over him said. “Been working on his SmartCore since he arrived.”

She was mid sixties I’d guess, with smart, focused eyes, a pointed nose, and a trace of blonde whiskers on her lip. Was there some weasel in her? I didn’t dare to ask. They didn’t have the best reputation.

“You got access?” I asked.

“Sort of. We got into his SC’s social matrix, ie. how his brain, and yours, store and categorize everyone you’ve ever met.” She must have noticed our blank stares and cut to the point, “The messaging will work. The rest will take weeks to decrypt. Never heard of this much security at the SC level.”

Whatever that means.

She analogized it to the cliché oldies, a hero disarming a bomb in a race against time. “Some SmartCores have similar protections, frying everything. Or external alerts...”

Still clueless, I said, “But it’ll work?”

“Yeah, sure. Use this.” She grabbed two screens by the wall and handed me one.

I rotated the input field to make it easier to use.

“Put your message here,” she said. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

“And this will send as if it was him? There’s no possible way the receiver could know?” A slip-up would ruin everything.

She nodded, and I entered Calter Fury in the recipient field

His name appeared alongside a stream of images, videos and usernames. Could my SmartCore do that? I’d look later.

After choosing the Minister, I got to the message. To the side was a past history tab. I scrolled their previous correspondences to get a feel for the relationship.

Okay, it all made sense now… Thorn overcompensated to make up for problems with his dad. There was an undercurrent of tension throughout, poor guy wanted to impress Calter. Needed recognition but never got it. The minister seemed cold and controlling, even downright cruel. I’d rather be a bastard... Focus.

I started typing.

Dear Father,

I have the best news. I know I should be in Kiag waiting for the half-breed, but I came across an opportunity too good to pass up, one you’ve sought for ages.

In Itany, I met one of the original scientists on the emulation project. He created and managed the first backups and surrogate brain-field transfers before the ban. He’s been on the run ever since and undergone several reconstructive surgeries to avoid detection.

Anyways, one of the idiots who couldn’t keep his mouth shut mentioned I was your son. I was furious, but later the scientist, Alexei, approached me about a deal. He wanted immunity, a new life, and high ranking position in exchange for emulating the two of us.

At first, I didn’t believe him. Seemed too good to be true. I threatened to kill him if he didn’t confess, but he said again, he was telling the truth. Said I could do what I liked because he was backed up. I believe him.

I stayed in the city and sent my men onward, telling them not to report me missing. Secrecy is critical. Now, Alexei and I are traveling to Caen under the guise of a father and son trading company.

I waited to send this until getting closer. We don’t want Intel getting a whiff of what’s happening. Reply as soon as you can.

Your son,

Thorn

I read the message twice more, and sent it, fingers crossed.

Closing the screens, I turned to Henk and… I blushed. “This is embarrassing. I never got your name.”

“I’m Ania.” She held out a petite hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine. If you’ll excuse me, I need to see the Council. Can you ping me if we get a response?”

“Sure.” Her fingers danced through the air. “What’s your username?”

I gave it.

“Now you’ll get an alert if we get a response. Anything else?”

“No, that’s great,” I said. “Thanks, Ania. By the way, no one’s allowed in this cell until you hear from me or the Council.” I paused. How do I say this... “That includes you guys. Sorry.”

Both nodded without a word and Ania locked the door as we left. We went our separate ways.

On the spiral staircase, a notification. That was fast.

I opened it.