The machine detective, p.11
The Machine Detective, page 11
part #4 of The Synth Crisis Series
“I need to trace back the bounty on a close friend of mine,” Lur said. “I am offering 100 UCCs, with a chance to connect if you’re looking for more work like this.”
“Do you have the serial number of the bounty card? Yes? Then, this one will be a cinch, but the risk is hardly worth it. Why not talk to your friend and find out who they managed to piss off. Settle it right there at the source, without playing at hacks and banishment?” Molly said, looking over the tiny lenses of her mirrored shades.
“Because the type of enemies that my friend has aren’t going to ever admit that they want him dead. We’re talking zeppelin-owning aristos with enough UCCs to get people killed for looking at them the wrong way. The type of people we all hate here, who only think about the cyphers when they need to stab another in the back. This is fine, I don’t care what they do, but when they come for mine, that makes it personal, doesn’t it?”
“It does,” Molly agreed. “You’ve convinced me, but for 500 UCCs, not 100. That’s my final price. I’m not going to risk all this for 100 UCCs. That’s barely the price of a low-powered rack without mods. If I’m going to do this, I want to be able to afford a proper rack.”
“500 UCCs, Molly, you got it,” Lur said. “I will leave you my contact, and the deposit for you to get started. When you have it finished and share the information, I will send you the other half of your money. How long do you think it will take?”
“A little over four hours to slip through their wall and trick the machine that we aren’t in there, while I probe around for the information from your friend’s anonymous death donor,” Molly said. “You can log out here, it’s safe, and when you come back, I will have some sort of information on our contact.”
“Good luck, and thanks,” Lur said, wondering if she had just sent Molly off to her doom.
Though Molly’s junky home had a charm to it, a sort of “Scavenger Chic” that appealed to cyber-junkies, Lur decided to return to her own property and sit by the water to watch the waves come in and out. There was no point in going back to the real world and the zeppelin when Dhata wasn’t reachable by phone, and she had no one to talk to, outside of Hiroshi, who was busy on a job.
It had been years and she still had no personal life in Tampa, a reality that came with its own sadness, compounded with the loss of her father, the only family she knew. Here in the ViVi, she had several employees who were avatars controlled by real people out there in the actual world. She could talk and play games with them whenever she wanted, and like her they were perpetually online, so she found that she preferred life in the virtual world.
Dhata was all she had in Tampa, and out of fear of crowding him too much, she had resolved to retreat to the ViVi, which had always been a happy escape for her. This was what was so jarring about seeing his face on the virtual bounty board. Before, she would scroll past a display of strangers, being hung out for money, but not knowing them had made it easy to keep up the facade.
Lur knew better, of course, having used the ViVi’s resources to escape Cuba and secure a brand-new life and identity within the boundaries of the United States of America. Here, she had helped Hiroshi solve high-profile cases for hundreds of UCCs, and looked into the secrets of hools being stalked by Dhata. It was as much her workplace as it was a playground, but she had always kept it sacred, as her own private world where she had the most control.
Seeing the love of her life on a bounty board was a violation, and one she wasn’t about to sit back and allow to persist, putting his life in danger. So, she watched the waves, letting them calm her mind, as she waited on Molly to report back with the particulars.
She hoped that Ariana was able to reach Dhata, but wondered if he was truly able to stop when his gears were in motion. The man had attacked him, according to the detective, and a slighted Dhata Mays would never rest until he brought back the pain to the person that had come at him.
She recalled how pained and set on revenge he was after seeing his partner die at the hands of the cypher, Gemini. He had torn Tampa apart to find the synth, putting down two major crime bosses and storming a hospital, risking bullets, explosions, and prison time just to bring him down. Remembering this, she knew already that the answer was negative. Ariana would not be able to stop him.
Right now, as she soaked up simulated rays on her artificial beach, he was in the very real rain of the broken Tampa atmosphere, beating the life out of whoever it was he had been stalking. Lur felt herself smiling at the thought of him. He was more like her gangster father and uncles than she would like to admit. Life had a way of creating circles, and in her mad dash to get away from her father, she had somehow landed in the same shadowy world.
It wasn’t so bad, though, not when you were on the arm of the animal that was lashing out at the other predators to establish himself as alpha. She was where she was meant to be, a queen of her own kingdom, protecting her loved ones from afar. The bounty would be removed before she logged out of this session, and the person who dared to set it up would regret having crossed that line. These goals helped her relax even more, and the only thing missing was the toast. That would have to wait until later, when her Dhata was home and safely next to her in the zeppelin.
Lur looked at the time and only thirty minutes of the four hours had passed waiting on Molly. She got up and stretched dramatically, allowing her robe to collapse to the sandy floor. With one command her avatar glitched, appearing to fade, reappearing in a black bikini with a tan to match it. The hour was late in Tampa, but here it was perpetually noon, and with the heaviness of the past two hours, Lur Diaz was ready to feel the cool water on her face.
Chapter 13
The Vigilante’s Curse
Outside of the nightclub, Dhata sat silently waiting inside the Neumann 325. He was getting a lay of the land, looking at who all were coming and going, trying to see if he could assess from the guests the type of club that his mark was bouncing for. It was an adult venue, one of the newer spots featuring exclusively human dancers, with all the highlights of a well-funded enterprise. It even featured a classy sign. Where others put the female body, this sign went with calligraphy that read “The Endless Summer.”
Animated lights on the black exterior walls showed figures dancing and twirling, while the crowd shuffled along in front of them, gaining entry through the bouncers, time after time. Dhata recalled the days when he would go to these clubs to unwind, back when he was still a detective trying to make a name for himself within the Tampa Police Department. He didn’t miss those days; he regretted them. Even now, he viewed the line to get into the club a foolish exercise.
It was such a vulnerable position they were in, selling their bodies out, and if anyone were to set off a bomb or fire—they would have nowhere to run. He wondered what was worth being lined up so tightly with strangers in the dark. Was it the loud, awful music, or the underpaid sex-workers, desperate or down on their luck? He saw his mark immediately, from the description that was given to him by the one that he caught. “Built like a truck, and looks like a quarterback,” was the description, and one of the bouncers matched it perfectly.
“What am I going to do with you, Dalton?” Dhata muttered, relishing the thought of squeezing him for everything he knew. There was a conflict churning inside of him that kept him inside the car, going over what was the right maneuver versus the one he really wanted to do. The conflict came from the thought that this bouncer, an otherwise average citizen, doing crap jobs to pay his bills, was complicit in carrying out murder for the bounty that he had almost fallen victim to.
As a lawman, he wanted to do the right thing, which was to deliver the feeds to the police and have them arrest him and his cronies. But as Dhata, the warrior, this man was his enemy that had drawn first blood. Involving the police would put his fate into someone else’s hands, and as the one who had been staring down his gun, doing it the vigilante way was the only means of calming his spirit.
The warrior won out, as he always did, and Dhata was marching past the crowd to join the dramatically shorter line at the VIP entrance. When it was his turn to be frisked, he leaned into the mark and informed him as to exactly who he was. Any sudden moves, and he would gun him down. That was the truth, but he let slip a little lie that he had someone inside ready to hit him if he tried to run. He had one choice: follow Dhata back to the car, where he would be questioned and then released to come back to his job.
The man complied, quicker than was expected, and as they crossed the road to where the Neumann was parked, Dhata flashed the revolver to let him know that all the threats were true.
“Who wants me dead, asshole?” Dhata said, putting an arm on the top of his car, as if he and the bouncer were having a casual chat. His other hand hung loosely concealed beneath the flap of his duster, as he spoke in soft even tones so that Dalton didn’t miss anything. “Relax. You look like I’m shaking you down, and I’m not having it. Lean on the car like I am. Yeah, there you go. Now just answer me. If you’re straight with me, I’ll let you walk, but if you play any games, Dalton Leger, I am going to severely ruin your life.”
“I got it. Look, I know who you are, man, and I know you have cyphers who can really put me out there. What do you want? The person who put that bounty on you. We don’t get that info. We work through the app, and it scrambles all of our communication. We don’t get names, photos, nothing, not even their real voice. I swear to god that what I’m saying is true. They are paying 250,000 UCCs. The whole city is going to come down on you, but you have to ask yourself, who hates you enough, and got it like that, to put up that kind of bounty?”
“Thanks for the advice, Dalton, that gives me something to work with,” Dhata said, flashing him a wolfish smile. “Your buddy … uh, didn’t get his name. Redhead guy, with a goatee but no mustache. You know that guy? Yeah, see, he told me that you’re the leader, Dalton, and you are the one who speaks to the man. Now, regardless of his name and identity being hidden, he would have given you instructions, wouldn’t he? Instructions on what to do with me, and what would come after? Tell you what, Dalton, get in the car, we’re going for a ride.”
“I’m not getting inside that car, big man. You’re going to have to shoot me,” he said under his breath.
“Oh yeah?” Dhata said. “Do you remember who you’re talking to right now? You said it, I’m the man with the cyphers. The man who can get access to family members, not just your personal assets. I can literally ruin your life. This is your one and only reminder. Now get in the car. I’m not going to ask you again.”
Dalton complied, and Dhata started them on a long ride North towards Gainesville. “If work calls, you tell them that you have an emergency.”
“Where are you taking me?” Dalton said, looking around frantically.
“That depends on the answers you give me, and your willingness to stop jerking me around,” Dhata said. “If those things happen, we’ll be back at your club, but otherwise, we’ll be going out to the badlands, where I can dump your corpse without worrying that the Johns will find it. Now, I will ask you again. What did you and the buyer discuss regarding me and my assassination?”
“Ye-yeah, sure, you know you got it. We were put on standby for weeks, since nobody knew your whereabouts, but then I get a call from the man himself, telling me that you were at Larry’s in St. Pete, the auto shop. So, I get my crew and rushed over there, and when you came out, we started to follow you. The rest you already know, but when I contacted the man to tell him we failed, he lost his shit, even threatened to murder me.”
“You’re wasting my time,” Dhata said. “Where did he tell you to meet him, originally, after you sprung your little ambush to murder me?”
“Oh, he gave me a contact code. Told me to text ‘Bingo’ and wait for answer, but that I am never to call. I guess he’d give me further instructions or something,” Dalton said, coughing.
“So, text him, Dalton. Bingo. Tell him that you got me. I want to see how far down this rabbit hole goes. Who wants me dead so badly that they play on a direct line with you?” Dhata said. “Sync your implant with the console. I want to hear the call, and don’t you try anything cute. This is the last time I’m warning you.”
He waited for Dalton to address the Neumann’s CPU, and set up a sync to allow his calls and text messages to be on display. It was a feature meant for the convenience of the driver, or anyone wishing to share data or media with their passengers. Once they were synced, Dalton used the augmented visual of his ICLs to throw out a notepad and type out the letters: BINGO. He sent it off to a contact code, which Dhata saw and memorized, just in case he needed it later.
As soon as it was sent, the interface went haywire with an incoming call. Dalton accepted before turning to glance at Dhata with fear in his eyes. “Are you kidding me, you actually got him?” said the synthesized voice on the other line.
“Y-yes, he came to my club, can you believe that?” Dalton lied. “Told him to come back to my office, and we got him once we were inside.”
He was about to say more, but Dhata raised a hand to tell him to slow down. He wanted to hear the person’s response to the lie, and was hoping that something, even an inflection, would give him some clue as to who it was.
“Send me the feed of his corpse and I will send you instructions on how to collect,” the man said, right before clicking off. It was almost as if he knew that this was a ruse, but Dhata felt confident that he truly believed that Dalton had lured him back to an office and killed him.
“What now, man? I can’t just not send this dude a photo,” Dalton said.
“That’s right, but you’re going to get delayed. See, while you were sending off that message, you ran a red light and were pulled over by a police officer. She searched your vehicle and found some stims, for which she booked you for the night, where the cell’s damper prevented you from making or receiving any phone calls. Now, you just sit still while I make this detour. You get to keep your life, Dalton, but you don’t just get to sic hools on me with murderous intent and walk away scot-free. I’m dropping you off to my partner. She’s a John, hard but fair. Though, she knows what you did, so she likely won’t be very fair beyond what I ask her.”
“I’m going to jail?” he said, almost shouting with a guffaw that hinted at desperation.
“Just for a week or two, until I find your boss. See, I don’t need you two communicating while I’m hunting him. Ariana will make sure you’re taken care of, and then when I get my propers, you can return to your life. You may want to reconsider the bounty-hunting thing, bro. You’re not remotely hard enough to earn your stripes in that gig. Keep your head up, though. This is the good ending. I was really committed to putting a hot slug in you before the night was over.”
He pulled up to the Tampa Police Department, where Ariana was waiting patiently next to her squad car. “I see you listened to reason,” she said, shaking her head at Dhata, then stepping forward to pull Dalton out of the car and kick him in the back of the knees, forcing him to kneel.
“What the hell did I ever do to you, lady?” Dalton mumbled.
“This is the partner I mentioned. The one that I cautioned to stay on her good side,” Dhata reminded him. “The mark has a synthesized voice, with some sort of accent,” Dhata told Ariana, “and he’s waiting to hear from this one, but until then he now believes that I’m no longer among the living. It gives me an advantage, with the bounty gone. I can find out who he is and get the jump on this thing.”
“I’m hoping this all trickles down to Paradise,” Ariana said, too low for Dalton to hear. “At least then this whole episode won’t be such a waste of time.”
“Here’s hoping,” Dhata said. “This one’s been helpful, if that wins him any leniency beyond what you give for the typical murder-for-hire hool.”
“We’ll see,” Ariana said, returning to her car. “When you find out who it is, let me know immediately, so that I can cross-reference the name with everything I have on Ida and Kaden.”
With a wave of her hand, she sped off, toting the broken lump of muscle restrained in the backseat of her car. Dhata breathed a sigh of relief. He was still alive, and had gone from hunted to hunter in the span of hours due to his stalker’s amateur efforts.
He hoped that the puppet master would be as sloppy as the men he’d hired, so that he could easily seek him out once they learned the real identity of the voice.
“Speaking of voice, I need to call Lurita,” he said, checking the time on his ICL. It had been well over three hours since he had received her call, and he knew that she’d be worried about him. It was after 8:00 PM, and he hadn’t seen her since the morning, so now he collected himself and sat back in the car before pulling up her contact.
“Oh look, he remembers me,” she said, her face a flat mask of rage.
“How could I forget my very reason for living? I was stalking live, Lurita, I couldn’t take your call,” he said, attempting to diffuse things before she started her salvo.
“Did you hurt that man? The one you were stalking?” she said, seeming to cool a bit.
“I didn’t have to. He did what I asked, and now I have something to go off that I’m hopeful about. Something that you or Hiro can help me with,” he said.
“You speak in riddles, Dhata, but I know you too well to let you try and confuse me with your, ‘I have work for you and Hiro’ crap that you pull. I know what you’re doing when you do this, so stop it and be honest.” Lur said. “There was a bounty on your head today, and the man you were stalking was one of the idiots that tried to kill you for the UCCs.”
Dhata was tempted to pull over and scan his car for any hidden cameras or bugs.
“He grows silent. I am doing well, huh?” Lur said, laughing without any humor.
“Pretty damn on, which is frightening,” Dhata said, staring at her hard face. “Lur, it’s being handled, there’s nothing to worry about. How did you even learn about the bounty? Were you talking to Ari?”
