“Could we talk in here?” I suggested. Thisroom was probably as safe as I was going to get. “I don’t think I’dbe comfortable questioning her in her own office.”
“Would you prefer me to be present orabsent?”
“I don’t think it matters. You’ll berecording it, I’m sure.”
“Of course.”
“Then it doesn’t matter.”
He nodded. “I’ve notified her to comeimmediately.”
I nodded, and settled back in my chair towait. The old man turned to his desktop and started working onsomething, ignoring me for the moment.
It was a good chair, very comfortable, andthe cloudscapes on the walls were soothing. I found myself startingto relax.
“Mis’ Hsing,” Yoshio said, startling me backto full alertness.
“Yeah?”
“I thought you would like to know that yourbrother has come through surgery well; the implant has beenremoved, and I have convinced IRC to accept a payment in lieu ofhis services. Do you know whether he has any employment prospectson Prometheus?”
“I don’t,” I said.
“He may find breaking his contract with IRCwill make him less appealing to potential employers.”
I shrugged. “He’s a grown man. He’llmanage.”
“Considering the effort you devoted togetting him out of Nightside City, you seem surprisinglyunconcerned.”
“He’s my brother, so I care about him, buthe’s not a baby.”
“I have arranged for Guohan Hsing to betanked at Eternal Adventures here in American City as soon as hiscondition is sufficiently stable; my medical systems estimate fortyhours will be more than adequate. Obtaining his personal libraryfrom Seventh Heaven may prove difficult, however. They haveaccepted my payment for breach of contract and damages, but seemdetermined to hold his accumulated dream experiences forransom.”
“Then he can start a new library.”
“You aren’t concerned?”
“I think I’ve fulfilled my filialresponsibilities, thank you.”
“Forgive me for saying so, but you don’t seemvery fond of your family.”
“My father dumped his three kids to buy adream; do you expect me to be grateful?”
“And your brother?”
I hesitated. “I love ’Chan,” I said. “Ireally do. But… do you love your niece Narumi?”
He smiled. “I understand. Moving on, this manSingh-who is he?”
“He’s a maintenance worker from SeventhHeaven who agreed to help me in exchange for a ride to Prometheus.End of script. I got him here, contract’s complete.”
“You don’t believe him to be involved in thealleged conspiracy?”
I shook my head. “If he is, he is one fine,fine actor.”
“Is he aware that I hired you?”
I had to think about that. I hadn’t actuallytold him, but he could have asked Perkins, or Ukiba…
“I don’t know,” I said.
“In your opinion, is he likely to object to apartial memory erasure?”
It seemed the old man was already thinkingabout the clean up. “I don’t know,” I repeated. “I think it woulddepend on the terms.”
“And your brother?”
“My brother,” I said, “agreed to thatimplant IRC put in him. I don’t think he’d mind a little mentalmeddling if there was some sort of compensation.”
“Compensation can be arranged.”
“Then he’s all yours. And Dad won’t sayanything while he’s in a tank, so even if he knew anything youwouldn’t need to worry.”
Yoshio nodded. “And you?”
“No.”
“No?”
“No one meddles with my memory if I haveanything to say about it. Personal integrity aside, I can’t affordthe risk in my line of work-what if you erased knowledge of anenemy I need to defend against?” I shook my head. “No.”
“I am not surprised.”
“I didn’t think you would be.”
“Nonetheless, I thought it worth asking.”
I shrugged. Then I sat up and looked around.The door hadn’t moved; the cloudscapes still drifted undisturbedacross the walls. “When will Rhee be here?”
The old man frowned. He glanced at thedesktop, then put a hand up to the back of his neck to adjust theconnection. “I’ve lost track of her,” he said.
“What?”
“Her location is not registering.”
I reached down to where my gun would havebeen if I’d been allowed to bring it. I hadn’t been, of course; I’dbarely bothered to ask. “Are there dead areas close to thisoffice?”
“No.”
“She’s making a run for it?”
“Possibly. There are other explanations.”
“She might have been intercepted, you mean?Or your instructions never reached her, or were countermanded?”
“You grasp the situation well.”
“So Shinichiro does…” I saw the oldman’s mouth tighten, and corrected myself. “It would appear thatwhoever is behind this is aware that we’re getting close.”
“So it would seem,” Yoshio agreed.
“I need to go after her, then.” I got out ofthe chair. “Can you direct me to her last known location?”
“I can have a floater guide you…” hebegan.
But then he stopped and looked surprised.
I had been starting toward the door, butlooking back over my shoulder toward the old man, so I saw hisface, saw his eyes widen. I stopped moving, and turned to lookwhere he was looking.
That wasn’t necessarily going to let me seewhatever he was seeing, since he was still jacked in, but it’s aninstinctive thing, probably goes back a million years. I foundmyself looking at the door to the corridor.
I didn’t see anything strange, just a closeddoor, so I started walking again.
The door didn’t open. I was almost closeenough to touch it, and it didn’t budge.
“I’ve been overridden,” Grandfather Nakadasaid from behind me.
“Overridden how?” I asked, turning back.
“I can’t open the door,” he replied.
“I thought this office was secure.”
“So did I.”
That was really not what I wanted to hearjust then. “How badly are we screwed?” I asked.
He didn’t try to smooth it. “I’m not sure,”he said. “I cannot say how badly compromised the data I’m receivingis.” He pulled the plug from his neck and let it retract, thenturned to the desktop.
I didn’t wait; I ran my hand down the wall,through the images of fluffy white clouds, and found the manualemergency release. I twisted the handle, and the door cranked opena few centimeters.
I saw motion in the passageway outside, andstopped. I peered through the crack.
The blue-and-silver floater was there,hovering directly in front of the crack but turned to face awayfrom us.
Beyond it were at least two other floaters,sleek black ones, that seemed to be keeping the blue one pinned inplace.
“Father,” an unfamiliar voice said.
I turned. The desktop had lit up with aface-a face I didn’t recognize, and one that wasn’t exactly 100%human.
“Shinichiro,” the old man said.
“Father,” the desktop repeated. “We need totalk.”
Chapter Seventeen
“I am listening,” Yoshio said.
“I believe that this woman Hsing may havemisled you.” The face on the desktop moved as if speaking, but wasvery slightly out of sync with the words we heard. I guessed thatthe upload only had limited bandwidth to work with; presumablyGrandfather Nakada had strictly controlled access to thedevice.
The old man threw me a quick glance. “In whatway?”
“I suspect she may have cast a false lightupon my situation in hopes of coaxing money and perhaps otherconcessions from you.”
“What situation is that, Shinichiro?”
“There is an experiment I hope to conduct,and I have been pursuing the means to perform it. This involvespurchasing a controlling interest in Seventh Heaven Neurosurgery.Since I am at present inconvenienced by my physical nature, I havebeen forced to make this purchase secretly, throughintermediaries.”
“You refer to the legal insistence thatsoftware cannot own stock, or control corporations.”