Synthetica (21 page)

Twelve

The Civitas building looked exactly the same as it had the last time
Anais had visited. People were striding confidently across the
atrium, the buzz of conversation filling the air. The only
difference was that this time, instead of being in awe of the
graceful architecture, Anais felt slightly sick though she couldn't
say why.

Xander was behind the security desk, attempting to access the
Central Information Database. The CID wasn't available for
individuals to search; only official Imperial City organisations and
select businesses were allowed access for marketing purposes. Being
the biggest employer in the city meant that Civitas enjoyed full
access to the CID, something which Anais was grudgingly grateful for
now.

Anais
drummed her fingers on the counter as she waited for Xander, her
eyes flicking around the atrium. Most the people she saw were
wearing either a variation of black and white stripes, or a deep
plum colour.
I'll
have to tell Dalla she can wear her favourite purple shoes again
,
Anais thought idly. But as soon as the thought struck, ice ran
through her veins. She'd never be able to tell Dalla anything again.
She squeezed her eyes shut, counting up to a hundred in her head
before the enormity of Dalla's death overwhelmed her.

“
Damn,”
came Xander's voice and Anais opened her eyes.

“
What's
up?” she said.

Xander was surrounded by the same holographic screens she'd seen
the morning she'd visited with Dalla. On one of the screens a photo
of Clay Winterbourne was rotating in the air, staring at Anais with
mistrustful eyes.

“
Clay's
entry hasn't been updated in years. Since before he worked here, in
fact,” Xander called up a different screen and began typing
furiously.

“
Will
we still be able to get his address?” Anais asked, leaning over
the counter to see what he was doing.

Xander shrugged.

“
Maybe.
At the very least I should be able to find his last known address.
That'll give us something to work with,” he said.

“
How
-”

“
Good
morning,” a smooth voice cut Anais off. Anais turned and almost
stumbled in shock. Skye was standing right behind her, dressed in an
expensive looking plum coloured suit. Her blue hair was twisted into
an elegant bun at the back of her neck.

“
H-hello,”
Anais managed to choke out.

Seeing Skye had made Anais remember with painful clarity how
excited Dalla had been on their last visit. How she had wanted to
work at Civitas more than anything in the world. And now this
company could very well be responsible for her death. Out of the
corner of her eye, Anais could see Xander watching her warily.

Oblivious to Anais' inner thoughts, Skye smiled at her, showing
every one of her perfect white teeth. Somehow, she made it seem
threatening.

“
May
I ask what you're doing here, Miss Finch?”

“
I'm
– I'm with -”

“
She's
with me,” Xander said, standing up straight. Skye gazed at him
coolly, her eyes flicking to the rip in his uniform.

“
Mr
Silvas, how unexpected. I thought you had the day off, in lieu of
the – ah - dreadful tragedy that recently happened,” she adopted
a look of sadness that somehow made her look, if possible, even more
beautiful. “I'm so sorry about Miss Goddard's death. It was such a
tragic accident. The good always seem to be the ones to die before
their time.” Skye shook her head sorrowfully. Anais' fingernails
bit into her palms as she resisted the urge to retort.

“
But
Mr Silvas, surely you shouldn't be in work today? You should be at
home, comforting your charming friend here,” Skye's eyes alighted
on Anais, who glared at her. She held her gaze defiantly, until
Skye's eyes travelled past her to where Xander was working. Too
late, Anais realised that if Skye saw what Xander was looking for,
it would lead to far more difficult questions.

Luckily, Xander had had the same thought. He stepped out from
behind the desk, the holographic screens wiped clean the instant
Skye glanced at them.

“
I
forgot something,” he told Skye. “But I've got it now.”

He reached out and took Anais' hand.

“
We
were just leaving,” he said, starting to pull Anais towards the
doors.

“
How
are you enjoying the picochip factory?” Skye's cool question made
Anais stop short. There was a glint in her eye that Anais didn't
like.

“
It's
great,” Anais matched her tone. “Plenty of work.”

“
I
can imagine,” Skye said softly. “You know, I saw that boy on the
news last night – Marcus? The murderer? Wasn't he the one who was
here with you the other day?”

“
Yes,”
Anais said, just as Xander said, “No.”

Skye's eyes narrowed. Anais cleared her throat.

“
I
mean, he was here but he wasn't with us,” she amended. Skye gazed
her.

“
I
see,” her voice was still soft, but there was an edge to it that
made Anais want to run away and hide. “You should be more careful
who you choose to be friends with, Miss Finch. It would
be...
unfortunate
if you got mixed up in this whole sorry business the city seems to
find itself in at the moment. Good day to you both.”

Skye gave them both a curt nod. Anais felt Xander tugging on her
hand and she reluctantly followed him out of the doors. She could
feel Skye's eyes on them as they left and it was only once they were
safely outside the building that she turned to look back. Skye was
behind the security desk, bringing up different holographic screens.
There was no doubt in Anais' mind that she was looking through
Xander's search history. There was no way they'd be able to go back
in and attempt to get Clay's address again.

“
Did
you get it?” Anais asked Xander urgently.

In answer, the small envelope icon flashed in her vision and she
opened it. There, in glowing text, was Clay's address. Anais felt
almost giddy with relief. Without thinking, she reached up and
kissed Xander's cheek, taking them both by surprise.

“
Let's
get out of here,” Xander said, a small smile on his lips. He
squeezed Anais' hand reassuringly as they walked quickly towards the
maglev station. It was only when the Civitas building was out of
sight that Anais realised what had made her feel so uncomfortable.

Skye had called her 'Miss Finch', but she'd never told Skye her
name.

*

The journey to the city limits was a long one. Usually the gentle
motion of the train almost sent Anais to sleep, but today she stared
straight out at the city rolling past, her mind buzzing with
thoughts about Dalla, Marcus and Denzel. For the hundredth time, she
wondered who the man was that had been in Denzel's flat. Given the
nature of Denzel's death, it was more than likely that the man had
known something about the SLPs. She could've kicked herself at the
thought that they'd been so close to someone who might've been able
to help them. Though, as Xander had pointed out when she told him
this, if he'd murdered Denzel he probably would've killed them too.
She felt sick to her stomach at the thought that the murderer had
been so close to them, and they hadn't even realised.

Xander touched her shoulder. Anais blinked, coming out of her
reverie seeing that the carriage was now almost empty.

“
We're
here,” he said, offering her his hand to help her up. She took it,
feeling Xander's warm hand grip her own. He only let go as they
stepped off the train into Old Kiln Road station.

All around them, grey and white blocks of flats reached up towards
the sky. Although the area was perfectly clean, there was something
subtly different about the place. Anais supposed it was because she
was so used to seeing the city skyline; here, the hi-rise buildings
of downtown couldn't seen at all. The few people who were walking by
were wearing the high-vis uniforms of recycling plant workers or
navy council uniforms. Anais could sense the stares they were
attracting; though whether it was because of their brightly coloured
hair, or because of Xander's distinctive Civitas uniform, she
couldn't say. Although no one looked particularly hostile, the hairs
on the back of Anais' neck still stood up. She was acutely aware
that she was in a part of the city that she'd never visited before
and knew nothing about. There was no reason for anyone to be hostile
towards them, and yet, that was the distinct feeling she got. She
swallowed hard and avoided looking anyone in the eye.

She called up her map function on her RetCom and brought up the
journey to Clay's last known address. Wordlessly they both walked
on, their heads bowed.

Although it was barely midday, time seemed to have taken on a new
dimension; the morning seemed as though it had stretched on forever
and now it seemed to stand still as they walked through the city
streets. Anais was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to strike
up a conversation, but at some point Xander had reached out his hand
and she had taken it.

Now that they were actually on their way to see Clay Winterbourne,
doubts were beginning to creep into her mind. Although Clay's
notoriety was well known, she still called up all the different news
stories she could find about him on her RetCom, desperate for some
sign that she was doing the right thing. Most of them simply
detailed his descent into madness and the gory murder of his family.
She kept searching – one story told about his arrest, another
about the large campaign group who'd tried to get him executed.
Although the sentence for murder was death, Clay had got off on a
technicality; despite being discovered by the bodies of his wife and
children, the police couldn't find the murder weapon. There hadn't
been enough evidence to charge him.

She felt a tug on her hand, and she realised Xander had stopped
walking.

“
Is
this the right way?” he asked, and Anais looked up.

They'd passed the last few blocks of flats and now they stood on
the very edge of the city. Behind them, the sleek buildings cut out
much of the sun and the occasional auto-cab could be heard humming;
in front of them lay vast silent fields of golden wheat and corn.
The sky was a brilliant blue and a warm breeze swirled around them.
It seemed like the edge of the world.

“
It
must be,” Anais replied. The orange line in her vision was
pointing straight ahead.

“
There's
nothing out here but farms,” Xander said.

“
We've
come this far,” Anais said. “Let's keep going.”

Although she didn't say it, the thought of leaving the city behind
and stepping out into this new world seemed extraordinary to Anais.
She wanted to get out of the oppressive shade of the buildings and
step into the light, airy space beyond the city.

The pavement beneath their feet gradually changed from tarmac, to
concrete and finally to a small dirt track. Occasionally the road
would branch off towards vast, low slung white buildings; the city's
farms which housed the crops and animals they couldn't import. But
the route in Anais' eyesight stayed resolutely straight and they
followed it onwards, further into the golden sea around them.

Anais
could feel her dress sticking to her as sweat trickled down her
back. Outside the shade of the buildings, the sun's heat was fierce.
Beads of sweat were rolling down Xander's forehead, and Anais could
feel the sweat dampening in her hair as they trudged on.

After about half an hour, Xander stopped and wiped his brow.

“
How
much further?” he panted.

“
I
don't know,” Anais' RetCom had worked perfectly at the city
limits; now however, it had highlighted an area two miles wide and
had been informing her for the last ten minutes that she'd reached
her destination. But there were no houses out here, and they'd past
the last farm some time ago. They were surrounded by a sea of golden
wheat, swaying gently in the breeze. The grey smudge of the city was
just visible on the horizon. Occasionally, a small silver hover
would dart out of the crops, scanning the area beneath it with a
green light and spraying a fine cloud of water or pesticide as
required, before flying off to the next section of the field.

Anais tried reprogramming her RetCom, but it was no use. It kept
telling her the same thing. Frustrated, she shut the map down and
looked around.

“
We
must be close,” she said, walking forward a few more steps and
peering around. “My RetCom can't be that out of sync...”