“Those are all valid questions. May I ask a few of my own?” Agent Brown asked, nonplussed.
“I’ll save you the trouble. I had nothing to do with this. I was enjoying a drink at one of Betta’s establishments when I heard the alert. I recognized the sound of bombardment and when I checked the station’s firewalls I noticed they were down. When I accessed the sensors, I recognized what was happening and took the easiest course of action. I don’t have access to the kind of tech or expertise used for this operation. I’d suggest you focus your queries to the darkNet. I’m sure there are a few groups willing to take responsibility.” Despite his best efforts, Jadis was starting to feel annoyed. All he had done was save this space station and all aboard only to be treated like a criminal. He finally did something right and this was the way he was treated.
“Let’s talk about the darkNet then. You are a known dealer on the darkNet. Do you have any associates that you suspect might have been behind this?” Agent Brown pressed.
Jadis sighed in exasperation. “You know that I’ve been banned from the darkNet for nearly a decade. All my deals have been legit. I don’t associate with those people.”
The last he said with more passion than he meant. Jadis was breathing heavily and his mind flashed back to the pods sitting in his cargo bay. In an attempt to regain control of his emotions, something released from one of the glands at his pits.
The interrogator stood. His eyes flickered with a bluish hue. “It is my determination that you are being truthful, Jadis Ter. Do you think this attack was meant to eliminate you?”
“What?” Jadis was trying to get a hold on whatever it was his body was doing now. He could feel the dampness just under his arm growing, and the smell permeated his body as sweat rolled down his temples. That had never happened. His hearts all increased their pace.
“Is it possible that your enemies saw this as an opportunity to eliminate you once and for all?” Agent Brown asked.
“No. My trip wasn’t scheduled until a few days ago. That battleship had to be in position months ago.” Jadis closed his eyes, concentrating his efforts on his quickening pulse. Control. Control. He had to have control.
“But the firewall collapsed just as the first missile made contact. This was only a few hours after your arrival,” Agent Brown said.
“Perhaps it was equipped with some remote function.” Jadis opened his eyes, starting directly into the flickering blue dots that danced across Agent Brown dark pupils.
“No. The virus was activated locally. That much we know.”
Jadis was surprised the interrogator was giving him any information, but he didn’t want to question it. They wanted something from him.
“What’s going on? You’re not really trying to pin this on me, are you?” His pulse slowed to a more manageable pace. Jadis let out a breath of relief, feeling back in control of chaotic body.
“We believe you might be a trusted ally, but there is still uncertainty. Until we have confirmation there is no more information I can share.” Agent Brown moved in closer.
The metallic bracelets slid away from Jadis’s wrists.
“We find that you are not at fault, Jadis Ter. We thank you for your help and your time. You are free to go.”
Jadis remained seated, rubbing his sore wrists. “Anything else you want to share? Be cryptic as hell if you need to be.”
The blue light flashed in the eyes of the interrogator again. “Your friends are operating again. They have tech that hides them from our agents. Do you know what that means?”
Jadis did. He rose slowly, studying the cybernetic agent that remained very still as he moved. The feds were scared they were compromised and they well might have been. No one had dared to hack the feds for fear of reprisal. If they didn’t know the extent they were compromised then anyone could be listening or watching.
The final truth that Jadis understood was that they were asking for his help.
“I’m sorry,” he said carefully. “I don’t know anything about that tech, but I’ll keep an ear to the ground just in case.”
The agent sprang back to life, his eerie stillness ended. “Of course. That’s all we can ask of a federal citizen. Go in peace, Jadis Ter.”
Jadis bowed his head and scurried out of the federal office.
The monitors displayed Jadis Ter handcuffed to a chair in the interrogation chamber. Betta watched and listened carefully as the interrogator asked his questions. The screens went blank when the interrogator said, “you are free to go.”
Betta studied the agent that sat beside her with a sidelong glance. “Cutting off the feed like that isn’t procedure.”
“No, it is not.” The emotionless agent did not follow the statement with another, rather staring in that strange detached way the agents always did.
“Well, is there a reason?” Betta asked.
“There is.” The same annoying monotone.
Betta held back an urge to slap the man across his humongous nose. “Will you please tell me the reason this agent is ignoring protocol?”
The agent refocused on her and his eyes flickered from flecks of blue back to light brown. “That information is classified. However, as you are the proprietor of this establishment, and the fact that you are aware of the previous hack into our network, it has been deemed acceptable to share the reasoning.”
Using what she considered to be a god-like amount of patience, Betta waited for the agent to continue.
He did not.
Betta let out a long breath and sucked an even deeper one in before exhaling a final time. “Agent Nielson, why did this agent stray away from protocol?
“Due to the infiltration 30 years ago, our network was upgraded to include an Independent Consciousness within each agent on a closed node. This allows each agent to act without observation or agency for a predetermined period of time. In this case, the agent’s I.C. made the determination that whatever words were shared after the feed went blank would be on a need to know basis.”
“That allows for a great deal of trust and far more autonomy than the agents have known in the past. How can you be certain that an agent won’t go rogue?” Betta studied the emotionless agent with more than a little skepticism. She imagined several situations where free will for emotionally stunted cyborgs could get complicated.
“Agents do not go rogue. The point of the cybernetic network was to quickly and easily share information securely. Now that we know the network is no longer secure, we are forced to find another means to communicate that would protect all of our assets.”
“How effective has this method been?” Betta asked.
“We have not had an incursion in thirty years,” Agent Nielson replied.
“But that could just mean that they’re waiting to strike.”
“Indeed.”
Turning her head, Betta took in the holographic image that took up the other end of the monitoring chamber. A long trench coat turned slowly along with a window to the right with a white outline that gave an inventory of the items that Jadis hid.
“Why so many knives? And who keeps knives anymore?” Betta whispered to herself.
“These knives are made of an alloy that is normally undetectable. The blades would also be ineffective for stabbing or cutting,” the agent replied.
“So, he’s using blunt force weapons disguised as knives?”
“One could presume this is his goal,” Agent Nielson speculated.
“As least he has a few force pistols. What about the injection system?”