He gulps and nods.
“It’s bad, Ash. You know how the shipping schedule for those hoods put their release date in a couple weeks?”
“Yeah.”
“They’re already shipped and distributed. There’s going to be a surprise announcement tomorrow. Anyone who preordered one likely already has it. Worldwide. That’s why the silkies were willing to take a loss on those boats.”
I sit upright.
“What about the shipment Sawyer interdicted?”
Jase looks miserable.
“That was the fifth shipment to Ditchtown. The other four went through customs with no incident, and most of our Game stores break embargo all the time. The dryburbs obviously proscribe silkie tech, but there’s nothing stopping any burbies from coming out here to buy one. Other than the fact that they hate us, but they still come.”
“Shit. Shit shit shit. That’s what’s driving the riots, and why we got attacked on the rig. They’re already taking over the top-tier Gamers. Still, though, that doesn’t explain why this one particular facility is so important.”
Another page flashes across the projector.
“Looks like Sawyer’s people thought this might be the central control hub for whatever’s behind the hoods. When I was working with his scientists, we tracked a lot of unusual data patterns converging through the global ’Net, but you’d have to know they were there to find them. I figured you’d need a control protocol that was similar to the Game, but not quite the same.” He swallows. “I guess they isolated it before they died.”
Johnny raises his voice.
“Sawyer always had something hidden, least when I knew him. Check for additional files.”
Jase’s hapgloved fingers take flight again, and then a new graphic appears on the wall.
“Huh. Right again, old man. Ash, check this out. Sawyer thought the silkies were planning on using this tech to subliminally influence other countries once they wiped out the gummies.”
I run a hand through my hair, trying to think.
“What was Sawyer’s plan?”
Jase pulls up more documents, and almost chokes.
“Send the three of you in to take out whatever was inside, with whatever resources you needed. If… if you failed… nuke it. You… you would have been… carrying one… deadman’s switch…”
He looks like he wants to throw up. I can’t blame him.
Don’t pretend like you wouldn’t have hit that button if it got bad enough and you thought it would solve things. Sawyer knew exactly who you are. How do you think Mom ended up in that room?
Wind pushes her bowl away in a screeching slide, her face pale.
“This is crazy, Ash. Yeah, we’re good at the Game, but we’re not commandos. I mean, at least I’m not. My parents expect me to go back to school soon. Slend’s trying to get her brother out of prison. You’re taking care of your mom. We didn’t sign up for something like this.”
“No, we didn’t.” I grimace. “We should run the fuck away, but there’s nowhere to go, Wind. It’s not like we can hide somewhere—everyone across the world plays the Game. The only way I see this thing ending is with WGSK in control of everything, or the planet irradiated. Unless someone stops them.”
“Yeah, but why us? Why does it have to be us?”
“I don’t know!” I lower myself back down to my seat, my fist aching where I just punched the countertop. “I don’t know. You’re right, Wind. This is bullshit. But who else is going to do it? Who else knows it needs to be done?”
“Only us.” Slend’s voice is tired. “Always. Impossible ladder fights? Only us. Standing up to boardshits? Only us. Save the world?” She laughs angrily, her arms tensing like she wants to tear the world apart. “Only us. Fuck.”
I cover my face, elbows on my knees. It’s been a long day in a longer week.
“Yup. I don’t even know how the hell we would do it. Sawyer was the one with all the gear, and now he’s dead.” My hands fall away, shoulders slumping. “I don’t have a plan. I don’t know what to do. Maybe this is how the world ends, all of us hoping it would’ve been different, stuck waiting to die.”
Silence drags through the room. Eventually, Johnny clears his throat.
“I don’t know much about the world ending, but I do know exhaustion. You all need to get some rest. Boy’s about to pass out on his feet.” He cocks a brow at Jase, who’s visibly swaying, and I realize my eyelids are drooping. “Why don’t you all catch some sleep—here, if you need to.”
I push myself upright, finally noticing the time display on the projector.
“Thanks, Johnny. You’re right, it’s almost midnight. Let’s try again in the morning, take a fresh look. That sound workable to everyone?”
Wind and Slend nod, Wind’s eyes and lips tight. Slend looks over at Johnny.
“Cot?”
“Boy has one back in his workroom. He can take my bed upstairs. Here, I’ll show you.”
Johnny ambles off, Slend and Jase in tow. I put a hand on Wind’s shoulder.
“I’ll walk you back home. I’m sure your parents are worried.”
She brushes it off. When she speaks, her voice is low.
“I can make it on my own. I just… I don’t know, Ash. I don’t know. What if I want it all to burn? What if I want all those bigoted pieces of shit who make fun of my parents and splash pig blood on our door and look down their noses at me every single fucking day of my life to get what they deserve? What if I don’t care about saving the world if it means saving them?”
I take a deep breath, then another. I’m so goddamned tired.
“I get that, Wind. Look at the color of my skin and what the boardshits say, and tell me I don’t. Just… get some rest, okay? We can talk about it more tomorrow.”
She turns toward the door, pulling her burka up and folding it around her head. A quick button press brings the safety grill rattling up, and she pauses, not looking back at me.
“Tell me the truth, Ash. Are we doing this for everyone else? Or are we doing it because you don’t want to lose, no matter what it costs?”
I… don’t know. I wish I did.
“…We’re doing it for everyone, Wind. We’re all that’s left.”
“…Sure.”
She ducks under the metal grill. I call after her.
“Stay safe, Wind. I’ll see you in the morning?”
She lifts a hand but doesn’t respond, then disappears into the hallway. I sigh, and walk over to the entrance. Johnny’s voice sounds behind me.
“You need a cot too, Ash?”
“I’m good, thanks. Have to go grab another set of glasses, then check on Mom and Kiro. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Good hunting.” He reaches out and grabs Jase, keeping him from falling over. “Come on, boy, up you go. There’s a bed with your name on it, but we’re both too old for me to carry you up the stairs these days.”
I duck out beneath the grill, and set off for my room. Rusted metal clatters shut behind my heels.
The backup pair of glasses slides over my face and begins its synchronizing procedure, a slowly spinning wheel in the upper left. I strap my second-favorite blade to my wrist and shut the door behind me, heading back out into the Brown, my destination Highrise and the clinic. The heavy silence persists, thunderstorm weight almost tangible beneath the failed glowstrips. It matches the pressure in my head, thoughts starting to fuzz and blur, heat throbbing from the missing chunk of my ear. The only people I pass are a group of couriers, their normally exuberant footsteps subdued and careful.
Highrise is slightly more active, huddled groups quickly making their way from one destination to another, but no one meets each other’s eyes, or stops to chat. I check in through the clinic’s security, still heavy despite the late hour.