Sucker Punch (6 page)

Was it her imagination that she felt Lurch thinking? Or talking to Wynken? Where was it? Did they have like a headquarters or something? And if they did, where was it?

“She has a point,” Joe said, finally, though with a big heaping of reluctance.

Had he been following the same thought line as her?

“Wynken is not…unwilling to help,” Lurch finally said.

“So bring him—it online,” Vi said.

“It is not that simple.” Lurch paused as Joe shifted uneasily.

“What?” Vi looked at Joe, then at, well, in the direction of Lurch's voice, which was silly, because it was in Joe.

“Wynken believes part of the reason he and Blynken failed was because they were…concentrated in a single human.” Lurch finally said.

“I thought you said splitting it up was what caused the problem?”

“When it was attacked from the inside, yes, but this is about external, multiple…targets.”

“Oh.” Vi thought about this for several seconds, but decided to go with, “Simply bringing it online would add its wisdom, but—”

“Not its…fire power.” Joe agreed. “Though we are not certain about this. It is all theory.”

She thought she knew what it was trying not to say, but wanted to be sure. Needed to be sure. Because the idea of inviting an emotionally damaged nanite into her body was both intriguing and horrifying. But mostly, she admitted, feeling a bit creeped out with herself, intriguing. She didn't like going into the presence of the bad ‘it' so woefully outgunned. Maybe she had been meant to become a cop after all, and not just because of her family's DNA. She did like having the big guns. “So Wynken needs a…separate host?”

Joe twitched again. She shifted to face him.

“Am I wrong?”

“No. You are not wrong.”

“Well, you have Lurch. Tell me the downside because mostly I'm seeing upside, at least from this side of your face.”

Silence greeted this comment. Vi couldn't tell if it was surprised or self-consciousness—on Joe's part, anyway. Hard to talk freely in front of the nanite, she supposed.

“It is all…upside for me,” Lurch said, real amusement in his voice. “I can turn off my hearing, if you would feel more comfortable sharing your experience, er, Joe.”

What did the “er, Joe” mean? she wondered. She was pretty sure the nanite knew how to pronounce Joe's real name—what if the hairball name wasn't his real name? And if it wasn't, why? Okay, going incognito around the bad ‘it' wasn't a bad plan, but did that mean Joe was a new face for the old nanite? Otherwise, wouldn't the bad ‘it' recognize Joe? She could see where this might be need-to-know, but she still felt a little…miffed. Or annoyed. Secrets. How many secrets did they have?

“It is unnecessary. My biggest concern is that hosting will make you more of a target—”

“Than I am already being with you two?” She didn't mind the distraction, and this comment gave her a chance to give him the Look she'd wanted to give him on the heels of her train of thought. It was like a win-win.

“If you have privacy issues—”

“Worse than having a million relatives in a few square miles?”

“There would not be time to train you to segregate some thoughts,” Lurch said. “No privacy is somewhat different from a loss of some privacy.”

Okay, that was a bit… “How much would Wynken share with you and Joe?”

“Wynken would only share what is relevant to the mission,” Lurch assured her.

That was less a bit… “Does it hurt?”

Joe shook his head, finally looking amused. “No, it is not painful.”

“When we were…new…we were not skilled at integrating. There was some pain.” Lurch sounded reflective, rather distant, as if remembering something very long ago.

Joe looked startled at this.

“But we are skilled now. Pain is a choice that ‘it' makes. It likes torturing its victims.”

“Well, I'm glad it's a choice you don't make,” Vi said. “My head already aches.” How old was the nanite? “So, how do we do this? Is…Wynken…willing to, you know?” She still didn't seem to be asking the right questions, but the truth was, she wasn't sure which were the right questions. Was it close enough to move in now? She kind of wanted to get it done before meeting the councilman. Just in case.

“Wynken is willing. It…likes you.”

What did that mean? Did it have a gender? And if it did, how did she feel about it seeing her in the shower? She should probably get all these thoughts done before it moved in. “That's…good.” She hoped. “So, now what? Do we have to stop or something?”

“We can proceed while we, er, proceed. Place your hand on Joe's hand.”

That didn't seem too hard. He took it off steering, placing it within comfortable reach. She hovered over it—she liked holding hands with him, even though it hadn't happened a whole lot, so Wynken would probably know that, too. But then it had probably been around for the kiss….

She slowly lowered her hand, her skin sharply pale against his lavender skin. It always surprised her that his skin felt warm, because it looked cool. But it was warm and male, with just the right amount of abrasive. The bones were bigger, and she sensed his strength, the manly kind that was different from hers. He turned his hand, so that they were palm to palm and his fingers tightened, his grip comforting. Her mom had said more than once that a girl could tell a lot by how she felt when a guy held her hand. Her mom had been known to say that she knew her world changed the minute Dad took her hand. And then he'd take her hand again, and they'd smile at each like they were still goofy about each other. It was both sweet and embarrassing. Had Mom really felt like this? She hadn't always been a mom—

The tiny lights yanked her back into the moment. And out of the moment. Her spine stiffened as they bubbled up on Joe's skin, then gathered into a sort of golden swarm. It seemed like they hesitated, perhaps to give her time to change her mind. She almost did. Wasn't afraid to admit it.

She didn't pull away, though her fingers twitched. Joe's grip tightened, then relaxed so she could pull back if she wanted to. His gaze met hers for a moment, before he had to return his attention to flying. But it was enough. Her hand relaxed in his. The lights crept closer. First contact was like a tiny spark. Not painful. A little warm. It paused there against the tip of her finger, then slowly sank out of sight.

“It tickles,” she said and turned her other fingers toward the swarm. She didn't know if it had waited for that, or if it found a welcome from inside, but the the tiny lights flowed over her hand, covering it with light. It felt a bit charged, and her hair rose like in a thunderstorm, but it was still okay. They sank into her skin in chunks now, moving faster. Light ran in lines under her skin, apparently moving up her hand and wrist, then out of sight because of her uniform sleeve. She didn't feel different, even when the last straggler vanished into her skin. Did it seem like light flashed under the fabric of her uniform? Or was that her imagination? She waited for…well, she didn't know. Didn't feel different. Didn't feel less tired and the headache—

Began to ease. She couldn't see it, but she felt the tiredness around her eyes smoothing away, too. She'd say it felt like she woke up rested, but she never woke up well. She did know she felt better.

“So far this is pretty good,” she said. “How does it help me get energy?”

“It maximizes the nutrition in your cells. It can only work with what is there, but it can heal you as well.”

“So if I never ate again…?”

“You would both die, but it would take longer.”

“Okay, that is kind of a downside.”

“Only if you never eat again,” Joe pointed out.

“True.” It had kept Joe going through the storm just long enough. If she'd been alone…

Greetings, Violet. Is it acceptable that I call you Violet?

“Of course it is.” Oh, she said that out loud.
Sorry.

You can speak to me in the way most comfortable to you.

Okay.
Vi tried to think of what to add and couldn't. Plus, if Lurch was right, Wynken had access to pretty much all her thoughts already.
Are you all right?

I am very well, thank you. And thank you for offering me hosting. You are most brave.

I kind of thought I was a wimp. You know, better together and all that.

The nanite's chuckle felt like a tickle in her chest.

Are you… up for this? I mean…

I am much better than Lurch believes I am. It is the… the closest analogy would be, it is the father. It is the first. So it worries.

I'm a little boggled by that,
Vi admitted.

There was a pause, then another chuckle.
Your mind is most interesting. I expect that we will both be… boggled in the coming days.

How long? Sorry, didn't mean to sound impatient—I think a lot. Probably too much.

Not to worry. I will only stay as long as you wish. It feels pleasing to spread out a bit.

Was it crowded in Joe?
That was also a boggling thought.

My sorrow made it seem so. I am better here. I needed something to do besides grieve.

Vi flexed her fingers, feeling new energy and purpose.
Well, let's go kick some evil… something or other… tush. Or circuits.

“You are well, Vi?” Joe's anxious voice broke in.

She looked at him and grinned. “Yeah. We are both well. Let's go take down this bad whatever it is.”

She wasn't sure, but she kind of thought Lurch sighed. If he was the father, then he probably had.

I
t wasn't
a surprise that Bubba's mansion had been mapped in almost on the heels of the storm. His wasn't the first residence to be mapped. That was the mayor. There were lights showing. Also not a surprise. That it was surrounded by police skimmers and the CSI transport, that was a bit of a surprise. She exchanged a long look with Joe, once he'd found a place where they could edge their skimmer into the mix. They clambered out. The crime scene had been taped to the outer edge of his property line, but it was green, so they were able to pass through the grid. Only unofficial types, like news vid reporters and random bystanders—yes, there were even a few of those—couldn't get through. They'd get a jolt and knocked onto their backsides. Only the truly clueless even tried, but Vi lived in hope that some new reporter would give it a go.

The property line was enclosed in a fence that looked stone, but couldn't be. Not even a councilman could get clearance for that level of weight, not when the residence was also stone. They followed a curved drive to where double doors stood open. Clusters of uniforms and official types in suits milled around in a very big hall with a high, arched ceiling. It had the dim interior of a country manor house and was nicely cool, even with the doors standing open and all those warm bodies. Had to be one of the fancy—and beyond expensive—air conditioners that adjusted to ambient conditions. Vi wouldn't even know about them, but her mom had been watching one of those homes of the filthy rich shows. Interesting that a “man of the people”—his campaign words—had one.

Following the general flow, in hopes of finding ground zero, Vi came face-to-face with Captain Uncle.

He puffed up like a cat, even though he was tall enough to intimidate without the puffing. Before he could ask the question forming in his eyes, she said, “Whose the vic?”

His gray, badly-in-need-of-a-plucking, brows arched almost to where his hair used to be. “The councilman. His wife found him half an hour ago.” He dropped the brows like a boom. “I don't recall sending for you.”

“You didn't. We were following a possible contamination trail,” Vi said. “Our vic was in contact with someone who was at the MEC who was dirt side during the storm. And we didn't have an obvious cause of death.” That she could tell Captain Uncle about. And if he found out the rest, she'd be lucky if he only busted her back to the street.

He looked suspicious, but unpuffed some. “Share your data with—”

“Um,” Vi glanced around, then lowered her voice. “We're going to have a little problem with that. Our data got jacked by MITSC.”

Captain Uncle wanted to roar, but he knew one didn't roar about the MITSC. He had to inhale several times before he could get his voice quiet enough. “Why?”

“Wish we knew,” Vi said. “Vic was a dirt sider.” It wasn't easy to meet his tough gaze with her bland—she hoped—one. He knew her almost as well as her parents—though he'd been known to claim he knew her better. It wasn't easy working for a guy who'd changed her diaper way back when. Knowing what she could unleash on him if she didn't pull this off—well, that helped.

“Would it be permissible for us to take a look at the victim, sir?” Joe's tone was über respectful. “It is possible there are similarities.”

Captain Uncle looked like he wanted to explode. Or break something. But he knew better than to talk about MITSC in an unsecured location. Probably not even in a secured one. Luckily, he didn't think to ask how for more details about the dirt sider and who'd had contact. Hopefully by the time he did think of it, she'd have a good explanation.

“There's a connection?”

“Our other guy was spotted at the MEC by a witness. And that one said there'd been contact.”

“Reliable?”

Vi shrugged. Was any witness really reliable after the lawyers go ahold of them? She was amazed he hadn't asked for the other name yet. “MITSC was on our heels…” Vi wasn't above giving him a nudge.

His eyes narrowed and he puffed again. “Do we need to initiate containment protocols?”

Vi gave the appearance of giving this careful thought. “No other vics at the MEC. Your call, sir.”