Part 12 (1/2)

”Nothing,” Taliaferro said, showing her the tissue. ”I think it's gone.”

”Well, it feels like it's still there.” She pulled on her upper lid and thought of the cobra woman.

”The other problem is that as used, the jamming program doesn't allow the user to continue interacting, you should pardon the expression, in the usual way. It causes disorientation and vertigo.”

”Possible disabling weapon, then,” Taliaferro said cheerfully. ”And maybe Dervish just didn't use the continue feature when he used it on you. Since he wanted you disoriented.”

”Maybe,” Konstantin said, ”but I'm betting there isn't any way to jam all evidence of billable time and still move around to enjoy it.”

Taliaferro looked surprised. ”Why not?”

”Because if there were, Dervish himself would be using it.” She raised her eyebrows at his skeptical expression. ”Well, doesn't that make sense?”

”He could be choosing not to use it.” There was a pause. ”Come on. Ask me why. You know you want to.”

”Just tell me anyway,” Konstantin said. ”You know you want to.”

Taliaferro shrugged good-naturedly. ”Maybe he needs solid evidence of where he is, so you won't suspect he's where he isn't.”

”And if he were digital,” Konstantin said, mostly to herself, ”he could be anywhere. Or at least he could prove it.”

There was a sharp buzz from Taliaferro's console. ”That's gotta be for you,” Taliaferro said, pus.h.i.+ng back in his chair so she could reach the answer b.u.t.ton. ”Ogada never wants to talk to me.”

Ogada was unhappy, and at great length.

”I hate to admit it but it's quite a good likeness,” she said, jerking a thumb at the screen on his desk. ”Even I'd swear it was me if I didn't know where I was at the time. But I don't have a tattoo there. And I don't smoke herb, or anything else.”

Ogada tapped the bottom of the screen. The footage of Konstantin in the s.e.x club lounge shrank to make room for a box with her hotsuit log. ”So whoever toasted up this recording has also found a way to falsify the inhouse-insuit record of usage to make it appear as if you logged out and spent the afternoon smoking dope and... doing that.”

Onscreen, Konstantin's image continued to embarra.s.s her until she reached over and blanked the screen.

”I'll pee in a cup for you right now,” Konstantin said. ”Call medical. I was in AR, right here.

Check our own surveillance cams. You know that's not me.”

Keeping his gaze on her, Ogada reached over and tapped the screen on again. The s.e.x club playback was replaced by a time- and date-stamped image of Konstantin coming out of the AR booth and walking quickly through the office. Another cam picked her up in an elevator; still another showed her leaving the building. The angle on the last one was overhead and somewhat strained, but the womanin the recording was unmistakable.

”I'm...” Konstantin shook her her head, stunned. ”Impressed, is all I can think of.”

The lines in Ogada's face deepened. ”You expect me to believe you.” It wasn't a question.

”Well, I did upload the details of the case for you.” Konstantin forced herself not to look away from him.

”And I did look them over.” There was a long pause. ”And the truth is, I am inclined to believe you. The most persuasive argument in your favor is that it is completely out of character for you to behave that stupidly.” Ogada paused and took a long breath. He took another and Konstantin wanted to hit him. This was worse than the little charade she and the arms dealer had played out. He knew he was going to go on and tell her what the persuasive argument against her credibility was, and he knew she knew. Why did he insist on playing this like a police drama? Why couldn't he just talk?

She sighed. ”And the argument against is the fact that this is such an enormous job of detailed toasted footage that it's virtually impossible for even a very rich end-user like Hastings Dervish to have found a way to hack into not only a s.e.x club but also to falsify in-house police recording and surveillance devices.”

To her surprise, Ogada looked pleased rather than annoyed. ”Either way, you've got twenty-seven wagonsful of trouble. If you went out and did that on the clock, that's bad. If our security has been breached to the degree that we can't depend on what we see with our own eyes--” Ogada gestured at the screen ”--that's worse. You're the head of the technocrime unit. It's your job to keep that from happening.”

”We didn't see that with our own eyes,” Konstantin said, reaching over and blanking the screen again angrily. ”We're looking at something that was seen for us. Big difference. But I get it. Who wants me off the job?”

”n.o.body,” Ogada said. ”n.o.body gives a s.h.i.+t about you. All the political stuff where heads roll, that starts at my level. Does somebody want me off my job? Absolutely. Except it's nothing personal.

They don't so much want to get rid of me as they want simply to be where I am. It's all ambition and getting promoted and building an empire. Middle-management office politics -- it would be funny if it were a joke. n.o.body actually cares who might take the rap for allowing such an egregious security breach as long as it isn't them. Do you get that, too?”

Konstantin nodded. ”I should solve this one as fast as possible because n.o.body cares about me.”

Ogada's expression became pained. ”You're getting that unreal feeling again, aren't you?”

”Why should I?” said Darwin. ”What did you ever do for me?”

”You didn't really get brainwashed, did you?” Konstantin asked him.

He shrugged. ”How would I know?”

They were sitting in the observer's gallery overlooking the gaming tables in the casino. The design was simple -- a 360 degree panorama screen with a running line of basic information along the top and bottom, giving the number of different tables and players, the current population, and a search directory access number. The view wasn't great unless you paid extra for zoom but it was one way to get a look at lowdown Hong Kong without lowdown Hong Kong looking back. Konstantin hoped.

”Do you feel any different?” she asked him.

”Yeah.” He produced a piece of chamois and began to s.h.i.+ne each of his fingers. ”It so happens that I do.”

”How?”

Darwin shrugged. ”Well, I don't ever want to come out, for one thing.”

”Did you ever feel that way before?”

The cyborg shrugged again. ”I used to be more curious about what was happening on the Ground Floor. Now I'm not even vaguely interested.” ”How long have you been in this time?”

”I don't know. A day, I guess, maybe a little longer.”

”If that's true, someone must be taking care of you out there. Physically. And how are you paying for so much online time? Are you a multi-millionaire and you just forgot to tell me?”

”I won free online time gambling. Every time I use it up, I win some more.” He finished his fingers and went to work on his chest area.

”That doesn't answer my other question about who's taking care of you. Is someone taking are of you?”

”Well... actually, if you want to know the truth,” Darwin said, managing to sound both sheepish and smug at the same time, ”I don't really know what my body is doing. I set it free.”

Konstantin sighed. ”I think I know this one, it's something my grandmother used to say. Something about setting something free and if it comes back, that's nice and if it doesn't, hunt it down and kill it. Her mother was a hippie in the Summer of Love. You can't set your body free, Darwin, unless you die.”

”You're wrong. This is almost as good as the Out door. And if enough people set their bodies free, it probably will be the Out door.”

”OK, OK,” Konstantin said. ”I'll ride along for a minute. What happens to your body when you set it free? I know you don't know exactly what it's doing, but how is it doing anything?”

”That's the part I don't really understand,” Darwin said. ”The 'how' part. It's just on its own with a new guidance system installed.”

”Where did that come from?” asked Konstantin, forcing herself to sound patient.

”Here, of course. Where else?”