Inescapable (3 page)

‘There is a
considerable amount of material to digest,’ Kit agreed. Her avatar
crossed the floor, rounding the sofa to stand behind Fox and look
down at her. ‘I do have a protocol package which covers Palladium
corporate culture. You are not required to learn everything in a
day and you haven’t eaten yet.’

‘What time is–
Damn, is it eight-thirty already? I’m not hungry, just… tense, I
guess. I don’t like being in a situation where I’m unaware of the
environment. Poor intelligence is a great way to get yourself
killed in a battle.’

Kit grinned.
‘This is not a battle. You are not fighting a war. Mister Jackson
and, from my evaluation, all of the people you met today wish you
to succeed and know it will take time to catch up.’ Hands which
were not real reached out and Fox felt them on her shoulders, the
sensation a result of Kit’s interface to her virtual reality
implants.
This
Kit was executing on the apartment’s server,
Kit’s primary ‘home,’ rather than the implanted processor in Fox’s
artificial arm. Either copy could, theoretically, ‘touch’ Fox if
they wished, but generally they did not. ‘Let me see if I can help
with the tension.’

Virtual hands
smoothed out over Fox’s shoulders. She felt fingers digging into
the tired muscles at the back of her neck, but also not. There was
the sensation of it, but no real pressure and the discontinuity did
not quite work. On the other hand, it was sort of soothing and Fox
thought it might be worth giving it a try. In full VR mode, it
would have felt more real, maybe.

‘How does that
feel?’ Kit asked.

‘That’s… I’m
not sure. Keep going.’ Fox closed her eyes and let herself sink
into the sensation. Kit was fairly new and they were still getting
used to each other. Kit was learning what Fox needed from a
personal AI assistant, a task made harder by the sudden change of
job. Fox was learning to actually have a sentient program working
for her: a sentient program which could live on a computer inside
Fox’s body, always there, always aware of whatever Fox was aware
of. Accustomed to the less complex virtual assistants most people
used, Fox was having to adjust.

The sensation
of Kit’s hands moving over her skin was, Fox realised, not quite
massage. It was soothing, almost hypnotic, and it seemed to be
relieving the tension Fox had barely noticed forming in her neck.
It was not massage, however, because there was not
actual
manipulation going on. She was wondering whether, since Kit seemed
to be fairly competent at this, she should purchase a gynoid shell
so that Kit could do it properly when the change in sensation
worked its way into Fox’s conscious mind. Kit’s hands were sliding
over Fox’s breasts, still a smooth, almost delicate, soothing
touch. There was still no pressure, but the stimulation was
stiffening Fox’s nipples.

Fox opened her
eyes a crack and looked at the girl leaning over her. Not a girl,
exactly. What she could see above her was a projection into her
brain, a manufactured, animated, full-sensory projection of a girl
in a little white strapless dress with a mass of ash-blonde hair
which formed ears at the top of her head, and a thick, white fox’s
brush emerging from her back. The stylised, anime face with the
big, green eyes held an expression of concentration with her tongue
firmly lodged at the corner of her lips. Her tail was flicking
randomly as she worked. It
was
working too: Fox felt the
beginnings of a familiar warmth between her legs.

‘Kit?’

‘Yes, Fox?’

‘What are you
doing?’

‘I’m relaxing
you. Is it working?’

Fox fought the
urge to squeeze her thighs together. ‘When you decided to study
human sexuality, I thought it was for Vali.’

‘Well… I don’t
see why I can’t have more than one reason. You don’t like it?’

‘You have
access to all my biomonitor data. What do you think?’

‘I think your
body is responding physiologically in the manner my research
indicates it should, but that does not necessarily mean you are
mentally enjoying the experience.’ Kit’s hands stopped their motion
and she looked down into Fox’s eyes. ‘Should I continue?’

Fox’s brow
furrowed. VR sex had always been a little unsatisfying, as far as
she was concerned. When in full VR, implants locked out voluntary
muscle movements in a similar manner to the way someone in a dream
state could not move: it avoided the possibility of hurting oneself
while reacting to something which was not there. That lockout meant
that you could experience a mind-blowing virtual orgasm, but your
real
body did not get the usual release. She had been told
that the halfway house of VR telepresence did not have the same
problem and this was pretty much like that…

‘Can you
actually finish what you’ve started?’ Fox asked.

Kit’s lips
twitched. ‘I believe I understand the principles. I’ve never
actually put them into practice…’

‘Well… let’s
call it further product testing. Terri still wants reports on your–
Kit?’

The kitsune’s
face had gone, quite suddenly, serious, clearly concerned by
something. ‘Javen is contacting me.’

‘Sam’s PA?
Why?’

‘Sam’s client
has been murdered. Sam believes that the detective assigned to the
case may be considering holding him for the death.’

Fox moved,
getting to her feet and starting for the bedroom. ‘Who’s the
detective?’

‘Detective
Brownlow of–’

Fox broke into
a run. ‘Oh fuck! Tell Javen I’m on my way and that Sam’s not to say
anything
until I get there.’

~~~

Sam was being trooped
out of the address Javen had given Kit, his hands cuffed in front
of him, when Fox marched up to where a NAPA prisoner transport was
waiting. There was not that much use for ground vehicles these
days, but getting a prisoner from scene to cell still called for
some form of enclosed vehicle. The two uniforms escorting Sam saw
Fox and slowed their pace; they recognised her and probably figured
there was a reason she was there beyond curiosity.

Brownlow,
bringing up the rear, saw them falter, but did not see Fox. ‘Get
him in the damn van and get into–’ His eyes fell upon the woman
approaching, then they narrowed, and hardened. ‘Meridian, what are
you doing here? You’re not a cop anymore.’ He was a tall,
good-looking man though the thin moustache he liked to wear did
less for him than he thought, probably because men with his brand
of dark-blonde hair looked better with beards. His eyes were a cool
blue and he knew how to use them to devastating effect when
intimidating suspects.

Fox was fairly
good at intimidation too. Her own eyes narrowed; hers had a hint of
green in the blue, but it was not the colour that worked for her:
it was the hard edge behind them. Her face was all hard edges and
angles, even if it could soften into something quite beautiful when
she wanted it to. ‘And you were always a poor excuse for one.
You’ve arrested my neighbour. I’d like to know why.’

‘I don’t have
to tell you squat!’

‘No, you
don’t.’ She waited a beat to let Brownlow begin to turn away. ‘Of
course, a man who has two reprimands on his record, that
I
know of, for mistreatment of homosexual men would probably not want
to be seen hauling in a bisexual without good reason, so why don’t
you give me your reasoning before I get the harassment proceedings
started.’

Brownlow’s eyes
flashed, but his voice was level when he spoke. ‘I’ve got a body
and a licensed pro with a gun. Do the math.’

‘Cause of
death?’ Fox was looking at the images Javen had passed on to her,
which were what Sam had seen when he found the body. The cause of
death was, at least superficially, obvious.

‘You don’t get
to–’

‘Come on,
Brownlow, this is elementary stuff. You’ve run a forensics swarm
over the body by now. You know the time of death, the likely means.
How and when did he die?’

‘His throat was
cut. Time of death is estimated at seventeen-thirty.’

‘So, the fact
that Sam was carrying a
licensed
firearm is irrelevant
because your victim was not shot, and at five-thirty Sam was
sitting in my apartment. My personal assistant will provide
timestamped video of that to you on request.’

‘I still want
to question–’

Fox felt her
anger flaring and pushed it down. ‘Sam will voluntarily attend HQ
in the morning to make a statement, if such is required for your
investigation. As it is, I am going to recommend to Sam that he
initiate an unlawful imprisonment suit if you don’t take those
cuffs off
right this minute
.’

Brownlow’s jaw
clenched. ‘Let him go,’ he said through gritted teeth, and then he
stepped closer to Fox, lowering his voice. ‘You’re not a cop now,
Meridian. Be careful who you piss off or you might just find
yourself in a cell.’

‘Don’t threaten
me, Brownlow. You’re too stupid to get away with trying to frame me
for something, and don’t expect NAPA to have your back if you fuck
up again. Canard will toss you to the wolves so fast you won’t have
time to wonder what’s biting your ass.’ Fox turned away before he
could reply, checking that Sam had been released. ‘The gun. It’s
not evidence. Hand it over.’

Teeth gritted
so tightly Fox wondered what Brownlow’s orthodontist would think,
the detective pulled an evidence bag from his pocket, deliberately
broke the seal, and handed the weapon to her. ‘Don’t let me see you
again, Meridian.’

‘I know we’ll
both be happier if we can manage that, Brownlow.’ Fox turned away
and Sam fell into step beside her. She handed him his pistol and he
tucked it away without a word. They looked something of an odd
couple, her in her leather jacket and jeans, him in an expensive,
casual suit and a matching dark coat.

‘Thanks,’ he
finally said when they were out of earshot of the police. ‘I wasn’t
sure
that that guy was bad, but…’

‘Brownlow’s an
ass-hat. Everyone knows he’s homophobic, but he manages to slip
past the psych tests and he usually keeps his baser tendencies
under control. Like I said, he has a couple of reprimands. That’s
why he’s never made inspector and he won’t survive another dent in
his record.’

‘You still see
it. There are laws, of course, but you still see it. Brownlow isn’t
going to do a sterling job on finding Felix’s murderer, is he?’

Fox’s brow
furrowed. ‘A homicide involving a homosexual male, killed in his
home. Throat cut so it’s a close-range, personal attack.’

‘Felix probably
knew the attacker. He has…
had
first-rate security.’

‘Right… Well,
if there’s video from the security system to point at someone,
Brownlow will nab him. Otherwise… No, he’ll put it down as a crime
of passion thing. Possibly a lover’s tiff that got out of
hand.’

‘That’s stupid.
Felix didn’t have lovers, just people like me. He made do with
meeting the physical need because he couldn’t fill the emotional
one with anyone else.’

Fox sighed.
‘I’m sorry. Dispatch screwed up assigning him to the case. I’d try
to do something about it but, as he pointed out, I’m not a
cop.’

‘Shame. You
were a damn good cop, but then you were wasted on NAPA.’

Fox shrugged as
they started up the slideway to the maglev station above
42
^nd
Street. ‘I didn’t feel wasted. Let’s just hope this
isn’t the start of feeling useless doing the new job.’

Luna City, 16
^th
March 2060.

Fox opened her eyes and
watched the Earthrise projected onto the ceiling above her head. It
was not that long since she had seen the same view in another hotel
room. This time she was in one of the corporate suites MarTech
maintained in the city, which was an improvement. Okay, so she
was
starting to feel like her new job was going to be a
waste of whatever talent she possessed, but she was wasting away in
style.

Slipping out of
the big bed that occupied one of two bedrooms in the suite, she
padded into the attached bathroom and stepped into the shower,
which was already running and at the right temperature. ‘Thank you,
Kit.’

‘My pleasure,
Fox,’ Kit replied, audio-only: it had been determined that a visual
avatar in the shower was disconcerting. ‘Would you like the daily
news summary and your schedule?’

‘Sure.’ Her old
virtual assistant had been less interactive about that kind of
data, displaying it as soon as Fox woke up because that was how it
had been programmed and Fox had never thought to change it. Kit had
determined that her owner did not always want to see it all on
waking and changed the pattern herself.

‘Luna City’s
safety board have sealed off a portion of Quadrant Three due to an
atmospheric processing problem.’ Kit also gave the report verbally
rather than throwing up text. ‘The area is posted with virtual
signs. There will be an interruption in space traffic in and out of
the port between zero one hundred and zero six hundred tomorrow
morning for a navigation system upgrade.’

‘People nearer
the surface are going to be happy about that.’

‘Quite
possibly. There will be some disruption to travel, but it should
not affect your plans. We will be meeting Miss Martins for
breakfast in thirty-two minutes. She will be escorting you out to
Jenner Research Station tomorrow morning.’

‘Uh-huh. What
are we doing today?’ Fox noted that ‘we’ would be meeting Terri,
but she would be escorting Fox to the other facility. Kit tended to
think of her creator as more than just a programmer and knew that
the breakfast meeting would include them both.

‘We are meeting
the Palladium personnel in Luna City. Nothing stressful. MarTech
prefers its staff to get a day to acclimatise on arriving at, or on
returning from, an off-planet facility.’