Vol 3 Chapter 12 (1/2)

Chapter 12

NAVIGATION

01

“Why am I here?” Shell repeated the words to hi in a state of near

delirium

Boiled watched with steely eyes as Shell sat there on the bench, head in his hands The two of them

were the only ones currently in the Broilerhouse waiting roolasses

Holding the deep violet sunglasses in his hand, he turned to Boiled, his voice a pitiful mess of selfrecrimination

He should have worked it out long ago

“If only I’d told you everything right fro, none of this would have happened… I was a

fool to iirl”

Boiled sat there He didn’t make a sound; his expression remained constant He didn’t nod and he

didn’t shake his head

“I can change I can become anyone you want me to be I can clean up any dirt I’ll make the best of

any situation So, please, just get me out of here,” Shell continued

Boiled crossed his legs and

“I’htened, Boiled, and I have absolutely no idea what it is that frightens me so That’s the worst

part of it” Shell sounded as if he were about to burst, his innards ready to spill out of himat any moment

“I’lldisappear,” Boiled replied, his voice soft

Shell’s eyes, so full of pain and distress, opened up ever so slightly

“It’s time to talk to your lawyers,” Boiled continued and started to rise, when Shell clamped his hand

on Boiled’s arm

“I’ain”

Boiled nodded

≡

“So it was a matricide, after all…” the Doctor said His face was calm, almost respectful “That must

have been the root of all his deviant behavior Despite losing his memories—no, because he’s lost his

memories—he was left with no other way to control his ees in check”

–Why?

Balot snarced the words through the choker on her neck, Oeufcoque

“Is of terrible fear and anger and have absolutely no

idea how to deal with those emotions—you have no idea ill help you calet a

sense of what it is to be Shell Wouldn’t you do whatever you could to try and stop the terrifying feelings

that are gnawing away at youras you could find a way to successfully

sublis—in your professional and social ambitions, maybe—but what happens when

you’re no longer able to sublioes out the ”

“And as Shell grew used to the whole process, he became inured to it and started to believe that what

he was doing was entirely noreometric pattern inside

the crystal pendant on the choker “It was probably a self-defense ainst his memory loss He

was afraid of the spirit of his dead er than that was the

feeling that he was responsible for the girls’ deaths, that their sacrifice was all his fault”

–Because his first lover died, I think

Balot found herself contributing to the conversation

–The girl that Shell really did love It was a real shock to him to find out that she had an abusive

past, siht have chosen one another because of their

similar histories

Balot felt a pang of sadness in her chest Sure, she felt unco

of sorroinning out over all other eined for a moment that Shell had lived

through experiences similar to her own On the contrary, Shell had always looked for such girls in order

to convert theminto that which was beautiful to him—Blue Diamonds, money, the stairway to success

I’ to clean you up When Shell had first yelled this out, it was

as a lonely soul, but also as a kindred spirit Burnt out and wanting others to join him

“Empathy, eh? Well, people do indeed actively seek out people like themselves—birds of a

feather…” the Doctor hed, conscious that the ht down

somewhat “Anyhow, all the memories we copied from the chips have already been submitted to the

Broilerhouse as evidence All we have to do noait for the DA to start , and then we hit them

with a chronological sierprinting him Our aim for

today’s trial is to get official recognition that this will serve as proof of Shell’s crimes”

–What’s myrole in all this?

“You’re here as a pree tooto deny

everything Don’t worry, this trial won’t be anything like the last one The only person who needs to

worry is Shell—heto see the funny side of

this one Not only will his past be dragged up for all to see and judge, he won’t even remember it for

himself”

–Not even thehis own mother?

“He was only about eighteen years old at the time, and we know that he killed his mother in cold

blood, with half an eye toward her life insurance policy He systematically cut the brake pads The whole

incident would have thrown his moral perspective askew, and the stress from that would have been

enormous And then there were his sexual relations with his mother…”

The Doctor trailed off at this point, searching for a new, slightly ent “Also,

Shell’s er to the law We ran a search on the old records at the

DA’s office and discovered that she’d been arrested for insurance fraud, and not just once either

Furthermore, her husband was dead, and she was even suspected of et her

hands on his insurance, although nothing was ever proven There’s every chance that Shell knew all about

this and decided to do the sa for himself The mother had assaulted him, effectively, and what

better way for Shell to repay his misadventure of birth than with her death by misadventure?”

The Doctor laughed in a somewhat forced manner at his own somewhat forced joke Balot didn’t

respond

“Youfor Balot as well

The Doctor shrugged “I’et in the mood Shell’s past may be somewhat useful as

concrete evidence in the courtroo to pique the curiosity of the jury The

more detailed and salacious the better, even if it does come in the form of a bad pun, as you so helpfully

pointed out, thank you, Oeufcoque The DA is certainly delighted with this new turn of events, anyway

He’s now confident that we’ll nail the case”

The Doctor’s voice was steeped in cynicism, just as the whole situation was steeped in irony—

indeed, there was no greater irony for Balot At the previous trial, she’d found herself on the receiving

end of the inable, all on account of her own history As a

result, she was forced to repudiate her past, cut it off and cast it away, or else her heart would have died

fromthe pain

And now Shell would find himself in exactly the same position The difference was that Shell had

already repudiated his past and cast it away All he had left was lingering trauma

“This is not about revenge, Doctor Tell the DA to make sure he sticks to the relevant facts and doesn’t

waste any tily speaking for Balot by

proxy “We’ve already filed papers for the next case, the one that this all leads to Let’s make sure we

don’t lose sight of the biggest fish of all”

“Sure, sure I know full well that it’s not our job to fan the flames of curiosity for the jurors and the

that for themselves”

–Thank you

“Having said that, there are no guarantees, I’etically

now “The counsel for the defense is quite a lawyer I wouldn’t put it past Shell to stir up the hornets’ nest

either If that happens, it’ll be hard forit on thick…”

Then the Doctor’s tone changed abruptly, and he turned to look at Balot, his eyes sincere “It’s just—

well, this is only a theory, but hear me out You can shave away the memory, but the shape of the memory

still remains All you need to do is apply emphasis—stress—to the outlines of that memory, and

everything in your oes haywire What better proof do

we need than the living exae to society that’s being

caused by OctoberCorp’s irresponsible, gung-ho technology?”

–Do you think Shell would stop killing people if he had his memories returned to him?

Balot asked the question out of a simple desire to know the answer

Oeufcoque fielded this one “Well, there’s absolutely no doubt that Shell’smemories are

exacerbating his urges If all his memories were to be returned to him then his desire to rape and murder

would certainly diminish, possibly even fade away completely But Shell wouldn’t want this for himself”

–Well, I wouldn’t want his past either

After she spoke, Balot hung her head in contemplation The Doctor and Oeufcoque left her in peace for

a ently, “The past is nothing more than a fossil To

think that the past always has to deter no more than a

fossil yourself Shellchoice, that’s all”

–Wrong choice?

“At the very least, we can say that he didn’t endure, didn’t resist, unlike you He just thought to

console himself with the sacrifices of others

Balot thought about this for a while, then touched Oeufcoque

–It was you tho saved me Thank you

The Doctor threw his arrinned, a twinkle in his eye “I hope you got that on tape,

Oeufcoque! There’s the proof of our usefulness for the Broilerhouse! What better words of validation

could there be for Mardock Scramble 09?”

“Doc, you knoell as I do that there’s no way I’d do such a thing without Balot’s permission”

“Hmmph Shame…”

Balot laughed in spite of herself

The atmosphere in the roo all their lives so

inextricably linked—lifted, just a little

≡

The trial began half an hour later

As ever, the proceedings ish pace, but at least Shell’s lawyer could see which

way the as blowing, and he put up no

the case, the defense attorney see for an escape route that

would—as nity and career intact As a result, Shell’s

memories were shi+elded froossip that usually came with the public

dissection of juicy secrets—though Shell didn’t seerateful that, in this respect at least, he

had escaped the worst

The trial was over by 16:45, four hours after it had begun

Shell was taken to prison

02

There was a sudden ping—a e had arrived

The Doctor looked suspiciously at his PDA after fishi+ng it out of his jacket pocket

They were in the middle of an early dinner at one of the fancy restaurants in the neighborhood of the

Broilerhouse

It was the sort of place lawyers went to celebrate a victory or victi

awarded a windfall co there too, although

it wasn’t so ourmet meal as to take a much-needed pause before the case was

finally wrapped up A pause to mark the end of one chapter in Balot’s life, to celebrate all she had

achieved and to prepare her to embark upon a new chapter Oeufcoque and the Doctor felt she needed a

little treat

“It’s from the DA Apparently the other side wants to talk, and they’re putting in their offer to us

immediately” The Doctor looked away from his PDA and toward Oeufcoque, as still in the form

of a choker “The person offering the settlement isn’t even directly related to this case—he’s stepped in to

try and broker a settlement”

“Who is it?”

“The director of OctoberCorp Shell’s boss—and putative father-in-law”

–What’s going on? I don’t understand

Sensing that Balot was concerned, the Doctor smiled in order to try and calm her down Behind his

spectacles though, his eyes weren’t s Rather they were set in steely resolution

“You re beside Shell at the Casino Cleanwill John October Well, he’s

proposing a negotiation”

–To negotiate what?

“The second case, as it were The one that will implicate all OctoberCorp officials for more or less

ordering Shell to commit his crime spree You see, we intend to use your case as a vein and continue

digging till we find the mother lode—it’s not just Shell that we’re after That’s what they’re afraid of, so

they’re asking for certain facts to be made public…”

–Use mycase?

Balot frowned a little

The Doctor hastily covered his tracks “Not in a bad way I just ive us a

lot of power and leverage”

–So, to put it in blackjack ter in order to

try and draw out some more criminals?

“Well, in the end, Shell’s just as much a victim of OctoberCorp as anyone else is You’ve seen his

memories firsthand, so I’msure you understand that”

Balot nodded Oeufcoque remained silent

The Doctor continued “The brain surgery Shell received as a child, the A10 operation, that was

OctoberCorp’s handiwork It’s entirely possible to believe that this is what made him slavishly follow

OctoberCorp’s orders”

–You mean theymessed around with his head and made him their slave?

“Not in the sense of controlling his thought processes directly, but I’d say there was a good chance

they were artificially sti it far more likely for him to follow orders

with blind devotion”

–How?

“Well, for example, they could make it so that every time he hears the OctoberCorp name or sees its

symbol, a dopamine shot is released inside his brain, and he feels just that little bit better Reinforced

tens, hundreds of times, it becomes an unbreakable habit, absolute”

–I think that all Shell really wanted to do was escape From his own life

Oeufcoque interjected for the first time in the conversation “And what OctoberCorp did was provide

himwith an escape route The ultimate inducement into temptation”

Balot nodded She started to re Shell’s memories

–Shell see for OctoberCorp was just like a fish returning upstream to

spawn He considered himself as no more than a little fish, placed deliberatelyin the river

Then Balot turned straight to the Doctor to look at himand ask hima question

–The case that they want to try and settle—is it mycase too?

The Doctor was about to nod, but Oeufcoque interrupted him “You’ve already solved your own case

There’s no need for you to put yourself in danger’s way anymore”

“Hey, wait a minute, Oeufcoque Her case leads to the mother lode All that’s happened so far is that

Shell has temporarily lost his liberty As yet, OctoberCorp is still untouched and untroubled In any case,

she’s already been officially recognized as a co-opted civilian aide to this case As your user, we do

really need her”

Oeufcoque was unconvinced—and not only that, he was now uncharacteristically raising his voice

“Are you saying that we are the ones who get to choose whether Balot gets burnt out in the process?”

The Doctor appeared to falter, but he had a rejoinder “I don’t know if you noticed, but at the trial just

now, Balot’s Life Preservation Program was extended indefinitely You knohy, don’t you? Because

the Broilerhouse recognizes that she’s still in danger We don’t knohat Boiled’s got up his sleeve,

and depending on how these negotiations go, we ets of

OctoberCorp…”

–Half-baked little Oeufcoque…

Balot spoke quietly The Doctor sed his words Oeufcoque also was silent

–Thank you soup even more burnt out

Just as Oeufcoque could now sniff out Balot’s inners, Balot was attuned to Oeufcoque’s

emotional state She knew full well that he bla able to protect her fromthe worst

excesses of Shell’s corrupted memories while she was in her dreamstate

–This is what I’ve chosen, though I want to use you constructively If you want to protect me, the

best wayto do that is to guide me

“Even if, as a result, you end up facing so deeply unpleasant?”

–Bell Wing called you els are strict but kind If I run away

fro that’s unpleasant, I’ll end up just like Shellwith his own mind in order to

try and find peace

Why me? She still wanted more answers to this question She was the Concerned Party in this case,

and she wanted to find out what that really meant…

She wanted to determine with her own eyes what exactly it was that lay beyond the depths that she and

Shell had fallen into

She wanted to be able to feel with conviction that her own life was soful

She touched the choker on her neck, gently transs to Oeufcoque, like a prayer

–This is our case Yours and mine All three of us Won’t you please show me your way of

resolving it?

Oeufcoque stayed silent for a while Then, wordlessly, he agreed to bring Balot out To take her away

fromher safe place and into the maelstrom

“We need to solve the second case, and as such I’d like Balot to use me,” Oeufcoque said eventually

The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief “I have absolutely no aptitude for this sort of thing myself, you

see Gunfights aren’t my scene Preparation and maintenance—now, you can rely on me for those—but if

things start getting violent it’s Balot ill to need to protect me”

Balot nodded As long as she had Oeufcoque by her side she was confident she could do anything

“Looks like we’re on the road to victory, then Coo Time for us to solve our case”

≡

Balot went to sort out her outfit in the bathroomwhile the Doctor settled the bill

She rolled up the long skirt that she had worn for the trial and took her underwear off and placed it on

top of the toilet

She took off her shoes and socks, placing her socks next to her underwear Then she reached around

and unzipped her dress, unhooked her bra, and loosened the belts that ran up and down her body

She focused her e of the new outfit—a new shell—that she wanted

–I’m ready

She touched her choker to transe to Oeufcoque

Oeufcoque’s turn was quick and thorough A skintight bodysuit spread out fromunderneath the choker,

sliding neatly between Balot’s body and the clothes she still had on It enveloped Balot swiftly fromtip to

toe Power flowed through her

Balot adjusted her clothes, put her shoes and socks back on, and left the bathroolanced at

herself in the n and color of the bodysuit so that it

matched the rest of her clothes

She returned to the restaurant and joined the Doctor to head out to the parking lot

The red convertible was as good as new, brought back up to scratch in a week

The car was officially registered as being made by an obscure custom car company, one that existed

e that did repairs, and they had to special-order the

parts on contract

The parts in question were, of course, Made by Oeufcoque Oeufcoque’s existence as a sentient being

ed, but the parts that he made certainly were

They climbed into the car and the Doctor inserted the key and set the controls to AutoDrive The

steering wheel sank into the dashboard and found itself fixed in position

“I’d be drunk driving otherwise It’ll take us a little longer, but let’s go on auto”

Balot fastened her seat belt, and the car moved off

Their destination was a high-class bar on the North Side, and they had plenty of tiet there

“Excuse me a minute,” the Doctor said as he leaned over toward the passenger seat and pressed his

fingers against the electronic fingerprint scanner A co

un, and a bottle of pills

The Doctor placed the handgun in his jacket pocket and took the bottle in his hand

The pills contained a potent double dose: a mixture of caffeine and enzymes that accelerated the

breakdown of alcohol The Doctor threw a fistful of them into his mouth as if they were so much candy,

then popped the bottle back in the compartment, which he pushed back into the dashboard

“Now, let’s see how they’re going to play this one…”

“They’re doing everything by the book so far,” Oeufcoque said, his voice e from the vicinity

of Balot’s left hand The Doctor nodded as if the short conversation had settled everything

Balot looked straight ahead at the road She thought how there was still so much she needed to learn

“This is not a good s We’re not talking just one or

two people there, either—there are at least five of them,” Oeufcoque said when they parked the car two

blocks away fromthe bar

The Doctor checked soet it The bar’s part of a

chain, and guess which corporation owns the chain? Not that I iine many of their directors visit on a

regular basis, of course”

“How convenient for theuess the idea is that the whole bar could disappear off the face of the

earth if need be,” said Oeufcoque

“Uh-huh It’s the underbelly of their empire—a place they use to conduct the shadier end of their

business transactions Rather than bothering to go in, why don’t we just launch a rocket or two at them?

The joint’s a front, anyway—it’s not as if there’d be any innocent bystanders caught up in it”

Balot braced herself, i for a ested

“So we’re terrorists on top of everything else now, are we, Doc?” Oeufcoque’s sarcastic reply made

Balot realize that of course they were going to do no such thing “They’re going through the official

channels, and as long as they stick to this, we do the same”

“Sure, sure Can’t say I’h I suppose we can expect

thee, although I’ine

is going to be in it for us They ht off”

“So we go in fully expecting that they’ll have other means of persuasion at their disposal,” said

Oeufcoque

–Are we going to be using guns?

“Hs to you and Oeufcoque, if that’s okay My

speciality is really the negotiating part If the going gets tough, I hope you won’t mind if I’m first out the

door?”

The Doctor looked so serious that Balot nodded without even thinking

“Right, then, let’s go!” With these words the Doctor hopped out of the car and walked toward the quiet

bar on the quiet street Balot followed, and soon they had reached the main entrance of the pub

There were two sets of doors, and Balot realized that so was up the moment they passed

through the first set

So them The Doctor had noticed it too

They opened the second set of doors and went in The clientele seelance to be a

surprisingly refined lot—sooblets, others were

reading newspapers or discussing the latest stock market fluctuations

It was a veritable pocket of resistance against the recent all-pervasive trend of s bans

Balot and the Doctor went up to the center of the bar and took a seat Had they not been in the clothes

they wore for court, they would have felt terribly out of place No one else sat at the bar; patrons lounged

on plush leather sofas or in boxes lined with red velvet curtains

The Doctor pointed to a bottle on the counter, then went into a detailed spiel as to how exactly the

bartender was to prepare it

The bartender— hairline—took his order with a nod, and then looked at Balot

Balot didn’t really need anything, but she thought back to a Western she had seen in her childhood and

recalled what the hero ordered when he was in a bar

–A glass of milk, please

She spoke through the crystal on her choker A funny look flickered across the bartender’s face

Balot didn’t knohether it was her order that was at fault or whether he was just surprised by her

voice Or it could have been that he was surprised by the very fact that someone like Balot was in this

place

If he felt so was odd, the bartender certainly hid it well “Would you like ice with that, miss?”

he asked

This part wasn’t in the Western

Balot thought for a moment, then nodded meekly

The bartender prepared the two drinks with a precision that could only come from years of practice

He put the bottle the Doctor pointed to on the bar so that the Doctor could check the label Balot thought

for a ht do the same for her with the carton of milk, but it wasn’t to be—it

went straight back in the refrigerator

The bartender placed the glasses on the bar, then retreated to one side

“Hmm, maybe I should have ordered the same as you,” said the Doctor, who could barely keep the

laughter out of his voice Balot looked at him

“This is just soin in earnest, by the way They could well

be here already, of course, just lass in his hand

Suddenly, Balot’s left hand jumped up to rest on the Doctor’s shoulder—without Balot controlling it

“There’s a fast-working sleeping draught in yours, Doc Balot’s is clear,” whispered Oeufcoque

The Doctor seemed more nonplussed than surprised “So it’s Balot they’re after, is it? They’re still

hoping for the Trustees to slip up, I guess They sure don’t give up easily”

“All seven people in the roouns of one sort or

another,” continued Oeufcoque, before his hand moved off the Doctor’s shoulder

The Doctor shrugged “Not much I can do to help, then Looks like you two are on your own, sorry

about that!” He clinked his glass with Balot’s and downed his drink “Urgh…and I’d only taken an

antidote just before I ca to be sick…” The Doctor pulled a sour face, and Balot

looked on at himide eyes

The very next moment the pub entrance opened wide, and in ca broadly

“Dr Easter? I’es?”

“You’re OctoberCorp’s legal representative?” The Doctor’s eyes were already starting to sag Balot

couldn’t tell whether it was an act or not

Skyscraper sal team, yes I mainly handle criminal cases and

co Please, do come and take a seat over

here where it’s more comfortable”

“Thank you,” said the Doctor, walking over to the chairs as if he were floating on clouds Balot

followed him

Thehis generous frame into the chair

“I’ll have the sa,” Skyscraper said to the bartender when he ca over

Balot’s glass on a tray “What about you, sir, are you not drinking?”

“No, I’ suspiciously slurred

It was pretty clear by now that the Doctor really was getting tired Balot nudged his shoulder gently

She was trying to tell hi under control, but