The elevator door opened and revealed that the entire top floor was set aside for Mr. Hernandez.
It appeared that we had at least one thing in common: we both worked and lived in the same place.
I was certain that this wasn't the senator's only place of business, nor residence, but there was no way for me to know that for sure. I truthfully knew very little about the new politics of the reformed Republic of North America, and didn't care to learn.
I wasn't sure if the senators still met in Washington D.C. like they did before the reform, or if they just met via the government domain through sync. Again, these things didn't concern me.
The main chamber of the room, what I had to guess was the office, was exceptionally empty. It was a large room, just as white as the lobby, with a single desk in the middle, also white.
The wall behind me was white and plain, no decorations or paintings, and the elevator was the only thing that gave it any character.
The rest of the walls, or the ones that I could see from where I was at, were floor to ceiling windows.
I'd never been that high before, and the view of the city was beautiful.
From this view, I'd bet that it was easy to forget how horrible things could be down there. Even though I could see where the slums were, they looked just as majestic from this vantage point as the upper district.
The night sky gave the perfect backdrop to tall and small buildings, lit up like stars that sparkled on the earth instead of the heavens.
I noticed that it was borderline cold in the office, and that made me want to draw this interview out as long as possible. I hadn't felt a room that cold since I'd been a child; not since the great drought.
With his back turned towards the cityscape, Senator Hernandez sat. He was behind the desk with an empty chair opposite him.
He showed no emotion at the sight of me, but held an empty hand out to the chair in a gesture for me to sit.
I followed his silent order.
I closed the distance between me and the desk, left eye of Hernandez, and right eye still fixed on the twinkling building stars.
The Senator had white hair and dark skin, but not the kind of dark that you'd get from attempting to go outside during the day. It was the shade of dark skin that you are born with.
His face had only a few wrinkles. There were a few on his forehead and very slight crow's feet around his eyes.
I'd imagined that the wrinkles around his eyes had come from having so many windows. Even with the cold air from his air conditioning blowing, the sun was still so damned bright. Being forced to look at everything in that kind of light would make anyone squint a little.
He wore an expensive gray suit and purple tie with a white dress shirt. The whole suit had probably cost more that my rent for a year.
I sat down at the desk and brought both eyes to look at him.
"Mr. Vrix, I presume." He said in the same monotone voice as the young woman downstairs, but I knew that he couldn't be a droid.
Several years before, a law was passed that no android could hold a seat in any political office. That law carried over after the reform. That much I knew.
"Yes sir." I replied.
Even with the cold air blowing down on me, my palms and back continued to sweat from pure stress.
"You come highly recommended as a man that can find those that do not wish to be found." All of his mannerisms made it obvious that he had never even been down to the streets. There was no hint of any street dialect in his voice.
His hands overlapped each other on the table, and his whole body was stiff, not moving at all.
"I do? I can't imagine how my work history could have made its way all the way up to you." I was trying to pick my words carefully.
"I would like to ask you a number of questions in reference to an employment opportunity. If you make an impression on me with your answers, the job is yours, and I guarantee you that the payment will more than compensate you for your talents."
"That's fine. I'll answer whatever you need." I wasn't normally so submissive or polite, but this whole situation did a little more than make me uneasy.
"Do you possess an AI, Mr. Vrix?"
"Yes I do." I responded.
"What model is it?"
"It's a P.A.I.G.E. I've had it for a few years now."
"And what is a P.A.I.G.E., Mr. Vrix?"
"Well, I'm sure that you could sync and find out all of the specs for it. It's an older model and I'm certain that there are millions of details that you could download and learn in a few minutes." I said. I was afraid that he would take this as disrespectful, but it would truly be much quicker if he just did a search in the public domain.
"I am well aware of what I can discover online, Mr. Vrix, but I wish to hear your opinion on the device. It is my understanding that the archaic models were much more dependant upon connecting with the host's subconscious. I can find all sorts of particulars regarding your AI, but I cannot find out the fine points that make it distinctive to you. So please, humor me."
Hearing the senator refer to Paige as "archaic" rubbed me a little on the wrong side. Had he been a fellow gutter rat, I'd probably have knocked him out right then and there. I had no choice but to let it slide, and moved on. I couldn't unclench my fist though.
"Well, it stands for Police Artificial Intelligence Generation Eight. She was a standard issue police officer AI around the time of the New York City Cult murders. If I'm not mistaken, she was designed specifically for the task force that was investigating those crimes. She was made for detective work.
"I picked it up at the street market. I didn't ask questions about the origin of the device, because I knew that it had probably come off of a dead officer. If she was illegally on the market, I didn't want to know about it." I said.
I figured that it might have been risky to tell a senator that my AI might be a hot item, but also figured that he could find that information out relatively easy. Better to get that kind of information out of the way.
"It interests me that you referred to your apparatus as a 'her'. Has your AI taken on the characteristics of a female?" He probed.
I didn't feel comfortable discussing Paige to a stranger, even if he was a senator.
Answer his questions, Kaiser. This is just a part of the interview process. There is no reason to feel threatened on my behalf. Paige said.
She always had been able to calm me down when she would notice my vital signs starting to reflect negative emotions.
"She had always been a female, even before I got her. I sometimes get glimpses of fragmented memories from her previous host. From what I've gathered, she once belonged to a male officer that had lost his daughter somehow. I don't know exactly which parts of Paige's personality were based on her, but that's how she came to be a female. The officer's subconscious yearned for a young female to love, and Paige was the outcome."
"That is very intriguing, Mr. Vrix. Might we sync so that I can experience her?" He asked.
I tried to come up with the most polite way to answer this question, but I knew that anything I could possibly say would fall short. I just went with my gut.
"With all due respect, Senator Hernandez, I don't sync my full self with people. It's kind of like a phobia that I have. I haven't synced up with anyone in about five years, and as a matter of fact I hardly even sync to the public domain anymore. The only time that I will sync with someone is if I have something to show them, usually pertaining to a case, and Paige keeps all the files in a separate folder. That is the only part that I will share during a sync."
"Really? So you have your own private room built into a private domain for sleeping? That must have been an expensive venture."
"It was. I pretty much put all of my savings into it. There is something about being connected to everyone all the time that had almost driven me insane at one point. The investment was well worth it, for me." I said.
"I cannot even imagine what it must be like to be surrounded by hordes of people in the streets during the night and then sync to the entire world of people during the day. I respect a man that aspires to be alone."
I noticed that his hands hadn't moved; not even a slight twitch. The rest of his body was the same; right down to the fact that I hadn't noticed him blink during the whole interview.
"So you chose a second hand law enforcement AI because it would be advantageous to your profession, is that accurate?" He continued.
"That is why I decided on her, yes."
"Do you possess any other physical upgrades that will be beneficial to you if you were presented with this employment?"
"Both of my eyes have been replaced with standard monitoring devices. I'm capable of taking high resolution pictures and videos, as well as having a heads up display in my right eye that is controlled by Paige.
My left leg is a high-end, performance replacement that I've forgotten the model name of, and my right arm is a Goliath Series Six. I had those installed after my first couple of cases turned physical with some transhumans that took no pity on me for having a lack of upgrades. They put me in a slum hospital for weeks, and I opted to pay for the replacements rather than have the docs try to stitch me up."
"That is remarkable, Mr. Vrix. Now, I have one last question that I need to ask you. I want you to tell me what you know about me. Using any skills that you have as a detective, analyze me and this situation to tell me what you have noticed."
"Complete and honest truth?" I wanted to be sure.
"Absolutely, Mr. Vrix."
"Okay, to start you are mostly transhuman. If I had to guess, I would say that at least ninety percent of your body is machine. I'd almost go so far as to say that you are one-hundred percent replacement, with only your brain being human. I've never seen a man sit so still for so long without being mostly replicated parts or being an android.
You have a few wrinkles, but I'm thinking that you had them added to give the impression that you still have your original skin. And that would lead me to believe that you are much older than you appear. It is truly impossible for me to guess at your age though, so I'm not even going to try.
Your AI is obviously going to be something based around the government, and it is probably something unique to the senate. The way that you talk and carry yourself tell me that it is a very expensive AI that focuses on cognitive power and speech.
Your secretary downstairs is an android, and that probably wasn't an iris scanner downstairs. I'm betting that she has some sort of electronic key built into her eyes, and the whole thing is more for show than anything. She is probably the only person that can open that door, too.
But the most important thing that I've noticed is the sense of urgency that you've shown about getting someone to do this job. I think that whatever is that you need from me is of the upmost importance, and I might be mistaken here, but I think you'd chosen me before I ever walked in."
It was a bit cocky, but I was feeling a little more comfortable with the meeting at that point.
The senator cracked a forced smile and held his hand out to me.
"Congratulations, Mr. Vrix." He said. "Now, what do you know about computer hackers?"
I filled Mr. Hernandez in on how little I knew about computer hacking.The extent of my knowledge was that it had been extremely popular when the net was in its primitive stages, there was an extreme hacking war about five years before I was born, and that it was virtually nonexistent in the present due to modern firewalls being impossible to penetrate."Fair enough, Mr. Vrix. Allow me to brief you on the case that I will be hiring you for."I wasn't sure if the senator was aware of it or not, but the sun would be rising in about two hours, and I had no intention on being caught outside during the daytime. I would give him one hour, and then I didn't care if he was a senator, I was leaving. He could finish up with me via videomail."A little over two years ago, the Republic employed a young man by the name of Ed Shulister. He was exceptionally talented at engineering, and his skills were required for a series of tas
The shuttle pulled up just as the sun started to break the horizon. The top sliver of the orange orb brought a promise of unbearable heat and skin blistering light. My heart sped up a few beats when my eyes took in the reds and yellows coming over to our side of the world.I was thankful that traffic had kept a steady pace, and the high-end droid driver had taken back roads that I hadn't even known existed.I made my way into my building, already feeling the heat of the day beating down on the nape of my neck.But the sun was only one part of the reason that I was moving with the speed of a panic.My hands were slick with sweat, my shirt soaked through, my head was pounding, and my eyes were having trouble focusing.I needed a hit of purple.I took the
After thirty minutes of waiting, Hernan finally showed up. I'd tried to save a seat for him at the bar, but, fifteen minutes into the wait, the small Asian owner began yelling at me."You're bad for business!" He screamed. "You can't save seat! You go away!"With a little work and a little cash, I convinced him to let me stay, but had to give up the chair.When Hernan walked in, his presence was immediately known throughout the small diner. The sheer size of the man was enough to intimidate even the hardest of gutter rats.He had some of the broadest shoulders that a man could possess and stood at an impressive six foot ten. He was a thick man, but I wouldn't go so far as to say he was fat. There was a beer gut that had started to develop, but he was still shy of being overweight. The best way to describe him was 'solid'.
I woke up from the beautiful world, the gorgeous companion, and the marvelous peace of my Dream Sync Room to find a filthy apartment that baked my skin like an oven.My eyes focused in on the rather large crack on the yellow stained ceiling as I tried to get my head to stop swimming.Memories of the day before were a little hazy, to say the least. I'd remembered leaving Hernan at the bar and walking home, but then it got fuzzy.I could have asked Paige to give me a replay of what had happened, but her day was just as long as mine, so I let her sleep.My feet hit the floor and I walked over to my desk. There, sitting on top, was an empty baggie with little purple particulates that wouldn't do anything but arouse my appetite.I'd done the whole damned bag.
My feet carried me five miles from my apartment to a street market that was packed to the rim. If I'd been there for shopping, I'd have likely turned around and gone home. I usually didn't wait to stand in line for a roll of toilet paper, no matter how cheap it was at the market compared to the conventional grocery. I'd push the limits until the sun was going to rise within the hour, speed shop, and then jog home.Looking at the huge mass of men and women that went about their business, buying the little knick knacks of life, I felt overwhelmed and had no idea where to begin.I proceeded in trying to find my way through the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, hoping that something would catch my eye. After a few ugly looks from the people that I was pushing passed and likely couple of bruises, I came across a street peddler that was pushing some AI devices. I had to assume that they were hot from the extremely low
Stephen Nguyen was my height, but he must have been at least twenty pounds lighter. He looked frail, to the point that if you touched him he might fall apart into a dust and blow away in the wind.When he spoke, his English had no hints of his Vietnamese background. His name, I assumed, was the only thing that he possessed from the Asian country."Have you been here before?" He queried."No actually. This place was referred to me, and I was just a little curious about what it was that you have going on here." I responded.His eyes searched me up and down, almost to point that I felt over scrutinized. He was sizing me up the way that the Authority would. The smile that he wore while doing his inspection of me was as fake as they come. It was a forced show of emotion to make the inspected feel at ease."And your name is?""Calvin. Calvin Spencer." I said. Calvin had long been my go-to
Fly?" I said out loud.My eyes turned upward, towards the sky above the mountain.I looked back to Paige, and met her worrisome eyes. The look on her face was true emotion, and it was fear.Sometimes it was easy for me to forget that simulated realities were the only worlds that she knew, and the task of flight would probably feel the same to her in a dream room as it would to me in the real world.His psyche was built around mine, and she more than likely felt my fears as well. In the real world, I was terrified of wide open heights. In here, I was fine. I was not scared because I knew that it was fake, but this was as real as any world that Paige had ever felt.I took a baby step towards her, afraid that I would walk right passed her if I didn't control my stride. I reached out and took both of her hands into mine, and really feeling what her touch was like, leaned in to rest my forehead on hers.
The directions that Zero gave me to the underground club ended up being extremely detailed. Facing threats of the Authority's interrogation room, I couldn't blame him. I'd only ever heard rumors of the tactics that they'd use to get the information that they wanted, and they were enough to make a mute sing like a canary.After leaving the dream house, I went home and had Paige replay me everything that Zero had mentioned during our little conversation.In my dream sync room, Paige and I discussed possible ways to handle the situation. I'd never seen her seem so lifelike. I had to guess that the realistic nature of the Social Circle had somehow energized her in a new way and left her feeling more human.We discussed the cult that was inspired by Thinker's supposed resurrection and what that could mean to the case.This religious following would undoubtedly make my investigation more d