[Let yourself go, Jack. I’ve broken my weapon systems killing Harry. Now’s time to reboot and rebuild.]
Unconsciousness took Jack. It was kinder than death had been, but only a little.
Chapter 48
The spinelights were dimming over Homelands. Towers faded into the gloom as lit windows shimmered into being, a thousand tiny protests against the dark. Snowflakes hung above them all, now fully integrated into the weave and so into Station’s day-to-day life. Jack turned away from the window. Fist was sitting on a chair, knocking his hand against a conference table, making a loud, sharp, repeated tapping. He was four foot tall again, with a little painted face and a little painted body. He was wearing black tie, topped off with a rather natty monocle. His body was entirely physical.
‘You know,’ he said, ‘I can’t get over how this feels. This is a real table; here’s a real me; and here I am, hitting it. Who would have thought a meat body could fit little Hugo Fist so well?’
‘You’re a real boy at last.’
‘I’m not a boy, Jack, or a man. I’ve seen enough of people not to think I’m human any more. I’m an incarnate artificial intelligence. But then so are you, now – a digital pattern, running on a nanogel soup. Most of you isn’t even in that head of yours. It’s distributed across Station’s weaveservers. I don’t think there’s really any difference between us. You’re alive, but artificial – I’m artificial, but I’m alive.’
‘Things have got a lot more blurred lately,’ agreed Jack. ‘All these new ways of being alive. I suppose that’s one good thing to come out of it all.’
‘It’s just a shame it had to happen the way it did.’
‘Well. That’s a fight that’s not over yet.’
‘That sounds worryingly like sedition,’ said Lestak, appearing at the door.
‘Oh, don’t worry,’ said Fist smoothly. ‘It’s just his grumpy way. And besides, it’s much harder to be seditious these days. Now that the Totality sits on the Pantheon as an equal member, and fetches have pretty much the same rights as the living, there’s no them and us any more. There’s just us, and plotting against us, rather than them, is pretty pointless.’
‘You make it sound so simple,’ replied Lestak. ‘Not everyone sees it like that. It’s created a lot of work for us.’
‘And what about the divinities who supported Kingdom?’ asked Jack. ‘Any work gone into finding them?’
‘They’ll have covered their tracks by now. We wouldn’t be able to prove anything.’
‘So the gods are too big for justice?’
Lestak sighed. ‘There’s been enough change, Jack. People have lost so much faith in the Pantheon. Keeping a lid on it all is a big challenge. If another god fell – well, who knows where it would end.’
‘Very sensible,’ interrupted Grey, shimmering into being. ‘Humans, gods – we’re all so fragile. Too much change, too suddenly, could overwhelm us all.’
‘We’d survive. Even if the whole Pantheon fell.’
‘But not all of us would go down. And those of us who remained would be even more powerful. Even fewer checks on our behaviour. Remember what Harry was like when he thought he ruled Station. Power corrupts, and you’d be feeding us more of it. Think about that, Jack, before you start toppling gods.’
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake.’
‘Of course, factually you’re quite right. At least one of my colleagues did support Kingdom. Perhaps more. Covertly, of course.’ His voice took on a forced cheerfulness as he swept his arm out towards the peaceful city. ‘And now, I think, looking at all this, they’re very much regretting doing so.’
‘You won’t tell us who they are, though, will you?’ asked Jack. His voice was weary.
‘We’ll be late for the ceremony if we stand here talking,’ replied Grey jauntily. ‘Won’t we, Lestak? Hadn’t we better head for the main hall? Don’t want to keep people waiting.’
‘There’s not going to be any ceremony, Grey. Jack’s refused it,’ Lestak told him.
‘Rejecting the thanks of the gods?’ said Grey. ‘Some would call that ungracious.’
‘Fist’s been granted full citizenship. The Totality helped build him a body. My record’s been cleared. There’s nothing else either of us wants from you.’
‘You’ve really got to stop focusing on the downside,’ chided Grey. ‘You’d be so much better off if you let yourself enjoy what you’ve achieved. You and Fist are heroes. You purged Kingdom and you protected all of us from Harry. And as we’ve just agreed, anyone who can bring down a Pantheon member is a threat to us all.’ He shot Fist a pointed look.
‘Oh, I know that very well,’ said Fist. ‘I’m only sorry that I couldn’t stop Harry before he destroyed Kingdom.’ He almost sounded as if he meant it. ‘It’s Jack who’s the pessimist, not me.’
Jack glared back at Grey. ‘Harry kills Kingdom, Fist kills Harry, problem solved, all done and dusted,’ he spat. ‘Nice and easy and resolved. That’s how East’s spinning it too, isn’t she? Let the blame fall on the dead, don’t dig into the crimes of the living.’ He sighed. ‘All we’ve really done is enable a whitewash.’
‘Nonsense,’ exclaimed Grey. ‘Think about the bigger picture. You’ve enabled peace. Your actions brought the Pantheon and the Totality together. When Fist killed Harry, it left a space they had to fill. Their immediate takeover of his corporate structure saved tens of thousands of lives. The revelation of Kingdom’s crimes offset their opening of the Coffin Drives and paved the way for their acceptance into Station. Without you two, the peace negotiations would never have led to such a positive outcome. And now we’ve got that peace, we really can’t do anything to risk it. Which is why we’re all going to look forwards, not backwards, from now on.’
‘If it’s built on a lie,’ replied Jack, ‘it’s not really peace at all.’
Grey said nothing. Jack turned away from him. The dusk outside had turned to night. The windows had become great dark mirrors, showing all in the room back to themselves. Jack found that he could meet his own gaze. Lestak finally broke the silence. ‘If that’s it,’ she said, ‘I need to escort you out.’
‘Don’t worry,’ said Grey. ‘I can show him the way.’
‘Wait,’ Fist cut in. ‘Before you go – will you be seeing Issie soon?’
Lestak smiled sadly. ‘Perhaps. Sometime in the next couple of weeks. She’s exploring the servers of Titan just now, I think. I haven’t talked since she left for out-system. She sounded very excited.’
‘Say hello to her,’ Fist told her. ‘Send her to see us. When she’s back!’
‘I don’t know when that’ll be. But yes, I will do.’ There was something approaching desolation in her voice.
‘Goodnight, Lestak,’ said Grey, with the soft, final force of a dismissal.
‘Goodnight,’ she replied abstractedly. Then she gathered herself. ‘Goodnight, Fist. And Jack. Think about what Grey’s said. Remember who I serve. I’m sure I’ll see you again. Please don’t let it be in my professional capacity. I’ve got enough on my plate as it is.’
And then she was gone, and it was just the three of them.
‘What are you going to do now, Jack?’ asked Grey.
‘You’ll find out, won’t you? Even if I don’t tell you.’
‘No, Jack. I’ll let you be.’
‘Really? That’ll be a first.’
‘You deserve some peace of your own, Jack. You always have done. If it wasn’t for – everything – I wouldn’t have found you again when you came back to Station. I was a victim of circumstances as much as you were; and you were the only tool I had to hand. I’m sorry for that.’
‘Sorry for using me?’
‘Sorry I was placed in a position that forced me to.’ Grey put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. ‘Let it all go. We’ve got the best world we can have, for now – and new lives for you and Fist. I’m glad that this is how it is, glad that all’s settled down.’