I made it home in record speed, hoping to see Paige and put any jealousy to rest. Once I'd made it back to my block, I realized how peaceful the industrial neighborhood truly was. I longed to have that tranquility in my part of the world.
It wasn't until I was inside my apartment that I realized the sun wouldn't be up for another five hours. I hated to waste the night in dream sync, but I had a bad feeling that my lusting over Eve might have rubbed Paige the wrong way. Considering how lifelike and emotional she'd been since the Social Circle, I would have put money on her being upset; like a real woman would have been.
My eyes only glanced at the little bag of boost for a moment before I reached over and threw it in the bottom drawer of my desk. I wasn't ready to throw it away, knowing that the urge would surly best me sooner or later, but I wasn't ready to do a line either.
Truth be told, I was rath
Unable to connect. Paige said.I knew that would be the answer, even before she said it. It was obvious that Thinker had done something with Hernan, but the severity of the damage wouldn't be known until I could get to his apartment.The sun would be up in an hour, and Herman's place was an hour's walk. I could make it there in forty-five if I jogged the whole way, but I'd be pushing it.As dangerous as it was to risk being caught out in the sunlight, I had to try. For all I knew, one day could have meant the difference between life and death for my friend.Thankful that I'd slept in my clothes, I took off for the street and was off my block within a few minutes.I blasted through the wall of bodies that blocked my way, surely knocking several of them over in the process. The added energy and stamina that I'd gotten from the boost would surely help me, but I felt like I was inches from becoming a be
The senator's android receptionist put me on hold for a little over thirty minutes. During that time, I was left with nothing but Hernan's less than stimulating company to keep me entertained. I was ready to end the call and try again, just so that I could give the machine a piece of my mind, when the senator's face showed up in my view.His profile picture was eerie, to say the least. Based on our only meeting, I hadn't been sure that he was capable of showing emotion. In the picture, his face was the exact same as I'd remembered; only he had a grin from ear to ear. It was the kind of phony picture that you'd put with a real estate agent, or a shady car salesman. I suppose that it worked just fine with a senator as well.Mr. Vrix, I was not expecting to hear from you so soon. You have information as to Ed's whereabouts, I presume. His voice was just as calculated as his machine secretary. If I hadn't met him in person, I would have sworn
For the rest of the day, I searched Hernan's apartment for anything that might be useful to me. The exploration of his place was truthfully more out of boredom than anything. It was the first day in years that I wasn't able to pass the time in my dream sync room, and I found it to be incredibly difficult.In a nightstand, I found Hernan's keys to his motorcycle that he kept in the parking garage attached to his building. Decidedly, Herman wouldn't mind if I borrowed it until I could figure out how to wake him. It would help me cover more area in less time, therefore making my search for his cure all the more effective.I found a duffle bag in his closet that I decided would be useful at some point, and in the bag it self were a few boxes of 9mm ammunition. That's when I decided to frisk Hernan.Having a gun would make me feel better, knowing that Thinker had henchmen that would attack me when I didn't expect it
I was on the motorcycle, duffle bag on my back, and on the street; cruising back towards Hernan's apartment to make sure that he was set up to survive long enough for me to find a way to get him out of his slumber. The streets were so much easier to move down on the bike that I figured I could get at least twice as much work done in a night.It wasn't until I was on Hernan's street that I noticed the three headlights that were following me. Motorcycle lights had been trailing me for I don't know how long, and they were steady at it. They kept a safe enough distance, but they moved through each lane that I did.Realizing that this could mean nothing good, I slammed the throttle down and raced at a speed that I truly was not comfortable with. I flew by cars, making them nothing more than dangerous blurs as I raced between lanes of traffic. Any time that there was a gap in the lanes big enough to fit through, I would weave into th
The I.V. unit had been remarkably easy to set up, but finding a vein was not. I felt bad about how many jabs it took for me to get the needle into the right spot, but Hernan didn't seem to mind.With the I.V. taking care of Hernan's basic needs, I raced back to my apartment. I needed to grab a few changes of clothes, but I wouldn't be staying. Having slain one of Thinker's followers, I was sure that I'd just put a price on my own head.I gathered a few shirts, a few pairs of boxers, some shoes, and decided that I would bring my modem back to Hernan's. I didn't plan on syncing anytime soon, but it was worth bringing. The net was the only way that I knew I could count on Thinker showing himself, and if his followers proved to be too much for me to handle, I wanted to be able to plea with him.Once again, with an hour before sun rise, I pulled up in Hernan's parking garage. I had never been as on edge as I was at that moment. I hadn't
There was a short period of time that I thought I might have slept, but I couldn't be sure. My eyes were closed, and I figure that a few minutes had passed, but I didn't know if I'd actually slept.My mind was exhausted, but my body would randomly convulse with tremors from boost withdraws. When I finally gave up on the notion of sleeping, the trembling had become more constant, and my body was soaked with sweat.I walked over to Hernan and put my fingers to his throat, checking for his pulse. Trying to keep my mind busy, I timed it to make sure it was steady. His heart beat was running strong.With that taken care of, I had about five hours to kill and nothing to do.I attempted to steady man hand, holding out in front of my face and giving it my complete concentration; it was no use."I wouldn't have guessed you as a booster", Evelynne said. I put my hand down quic
The words circled around my head until I was dizzy with the possibilities. I'd met Jaymes Helsiner weeks before I'd ever heard of Thinker, but somehow they were linked to one another. Jaymes was the first person that ever made contact with the super genius after he defected from the Republic. The coincidence was too much."You're sure that Monique is Jaymes' sister? I was under the impression that they were married.""You know Jaymes?" Evelynne sounded as surprised as I felt."He was a client of mine, just before I took this case. Something doesn't add up with all of this." The new found information only exacerbated my boost withdraws. Trying to focus my thoughts was on the same level as trying to pull the moon from the sky."So what's our next move?" She asked, still leaning against my body."We have no next move. You're going to stay here whil
"You look like hell, Kaiser." Jaymes said with a smile that made me want to go mad. "I suppose that the past few days have been rather rough on you.""Yeah, you could say that. What the hell is going on, Jaymes?" I demanded, not moving from my frozen position. Knowing that the man that sat only ten feet from me held many of the answers to my puzzle was driving me crazy."Where do you want me to begin?" His voice held a tranquility that irked me to no end. My mind was racing with the impossibilities of Jaymes' involvement, and he was fueling the fire by being in a state that represented the opposite of me. He was cool and calm; a contradictory reflection of myself."Why don't you tell me why you told me that Monique was your wife? Why don't you start with how you had me follow your sister under the pretense that she was your lover? More importantly, why don't you tell me about your relationship with the hacker k