CHAPTER 19
“That’s not our decision,” Rie instantly responded.
Nick scowled, but waited for her to continue.
The SUV doors finally opened, and they walked toward the elevators. His escort split up, using different lifts without an argument.
“The military will have access to all the evidence, plus the same information you have,” she said. “If the NLF implants have been constructed to support this plan, it’s possible they’re already acting.”
He blinked. “That… would make a hell of a lot of sense. They might have even cottoned on immediately.”
“It might explain why they didn’t feel the need to take over the factory raid. If your theory is correct, then their concerns would be with the primary suspect, not his patsies. They allowed Helena to remain in the wild, and if she becomes a threat to national security, then it is their reputation on the line.”
Reputation. Nick tried not to scoff.
Because all the politics had been about reputation. Not protecting the city, or doing the right thing, or getting shit done.
Commissioner Kim cared about his position and his beloved RTM. The military were concerned that they might be embarrassed or lose influence. Lieu and Hammond seemed to only care about hanging on. Chief Andrews seemed to have stopped caring because she got sidelined. Most detectives were busy job-hunting because they were about to be fired.
Did anybody in this fucking Spire give a damn about their actual job?
He looked at the Archangels around him.
The only police officers who seemed to care were those that were literally programmed to care. The irony was not lost on him, given his ongoing concerns about helping Rie shape the city.
“Do you think the military already have a suspect in mind?” he asked.
The elevator stopped at floor 77. Rie stepped out and he followed. His escort joined him shortly after.
“If they do, then they’re not acting against them,” she said. “I think it’s best to assume that we have the lead on them. They will act once they see danger and not a moment sooner. The Spires don’t appreciate the military overstepping their bounds.”
“Who authorizes the deployment of soldiers into Neo Westphalia anyway?”
“In emergencies? There are a number of sophisticated mainframes custom-built for the military that inform the generals that they might need to intervene in the city. They are considerably newer than those that run the department. Otherwise, all deployments must be approved by a board of three members. Commissioner Kim is one of these members.”
An explosive breath left Nick as he walked. “Hell of a duty. I’d always wondered how they changed things after the riots. Back then, the Assembly had to vote to call in the troops. The thousands killed were on the hands of the Spires.”
Would Kim even have the balls to call in the troops to gun down the citizens of his own city?
Nick shook his head at such a callous thought. He barely knew the man.
For all he knew, Kim might not even flinch at the idea. Or he might be doing everything in his power to avoid such a decision. Whatever the case, it was an awful position to be in.
As Nick’s group approached the Task Force office, he noticed how empty the floor seemed to be. Normally, there were countless Mark 1s milling about the charging stations and armory outside the office.
He only saw a handful there.
“Are you fully deployed?” he asked Rie as he scanned into the task force office.
“We are fully deployed,” she corrected. “Raiding both factories at short notice was a significant endeavor. We are also searching for the NLF safe house. Our regular patrol duties are also a greater burden due to expectations of a surge in crime following the Tartarus arrests.”
“That seems dangerous.”
“It is. But it is only a brief situation. We’ll hand over the factories to the Liberators and Custodians in short order.”
He nodded. While there were thousands of Archangels, the true power of the police force came in the regular doll police force. A city the size of Babylon couldn’t be maintained without them.
Once inside the office, Rie beelined to a closet hidden in the wall. Nick didn’t even get a chance to make some coffee before Juliet and Rosa were removing his coat.
“I can change myself,” he grumbled, brushing off the insistent Archangels.
Rie approached with a suit that looked oddly similar to the one that had been tailored for him the other day.
Probably because it was identical to that one.
“Did you steal my suit?” he asked.
“No. I just had two of them made. It seemed like a good idea at the time.” She pressed it into his hands. “There are some changing rooms around the corner if you want to pretend that you have privacy.”
He stared at her. “Do you seriously have cameras in the changing rooms?”
“This is a police station. Explosive devices are a serious danger,” she chirped with a bright smile. “You shouldn’t be too surprised. We placed cameras in your apartment earlier, although I’ve been kind enough not to tap into them.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake…
“I knew it was suspicious that all of you waited outside,” he grumbled.
“They are for your safety,” the other Archangels intoned simultaneously.
“Thanks.”
He shook his head and wandered into his office. At this point, pretending that the Archangels weren’t recording his every action was a pointless delusion. They were androids that thrived on data and felt that privacy was for lesser beings.
Which made sense given they were a hive mind that were discomforted by the idea of their own kin keeping secrets. Nick decided there were worse situations to be in.
He changed into his suit. Before leaving, he looked up how to tie a Windsor knot on his phone. It took a few tries, and didn’t look half as good as the one Chloe had tied, but he eventually succeeded.
Naturally, the moment he stepped outside, Rie retied the knot properly.
“I feel you should buy a housekeeper doll when you move,” she said, looking him up and down.
“I am being judged.”
“Yes. I am the Archangel of Wisdom, after all.” She winked at him.
“So Sigma didn’t just make a prototype, they crafted you from the heavens?”
Rie placed her hands on her hips. “You’re suggesting otherwise?”
“I remain a skeptic.”
She clicked her tongue. Her hands ran along the edges of his shirt and pants, fixing up the worst elements of his appearance with a deft touch.
Nick sincerely wondered why the Archangels had strong opinions on how he looked. Had it been all the domestic dolls Neural Spike had used during testing? Had their programming directives somehow leaked through?
By the door, Meta twisted nervously. The Mark 3s had allowed her entrance but kept the other Mark 1s out. When Nick looked at her, she pursed her lips.
“I am attempting to parse why Rie’s name makes her heavenly,” Meta said.
“It’s a joke,” he explained. “Because she’s named after a religious figure.”
Her mouth widened into an “O”-shape. “Then does my name also grant me heavenly status?”
“No,” Rie said flatly.
“Her actions might,” Nick said.
Rie crossed her arms. “I am the prototype. You can call her Metatron, but I’m the one that Sigma Robotics and Industrial named Uriel.”
“The host has recognized my name,” Meta said with a pout.
When Rie rounded on her older counterpart, Nick decided to end the catfight before it worsened. Rie’s possessive streak evidently included her name.
Was that why she disliked calling Helena and Lumen by their names?
“Enough,” Nick said. “I doubt we should keep the board waiting. Let’s go.”
They left. This time, Meta was the only Mark 1 who escorted him to a higher floor.
Unlike last time, a detachment of Custodians guarded the corridors here. Their anti-doll weapons hummed ominously. None of them had energy weapons, however. Right now, only the Mark 3s were rated to use any without an external power supply.
Well, them and Kushiel. She was a genuine military doll.
Rie led Nick and the others past the first group of stone-faced Custodians outside the elevators. The polished wooden floorboards almost seemed to sag under the weight of the armored dolls, but he was pretty sure that was his imagination.
What wasn’t his imagination was the fact the Custodians stared at him, and only him. This was as uncomfortable as ever.
Like all police dolls, the Custodians were a monolith. Nick had heard that this was intended to cut production costs. The Spires didn’t want to spend more on the police than they truly had to, and a small army of autonomous police officers burned a hell of a hole in the pockets of the uber rich.
In this case, the Custodians were all dark-skinned and heavily armored. They were even taller and bustier than the Liberators, and towered over Nick. Their heavy black armor shined with silver police badges and golden all caps “POLICE” lettering. He only knew what they looked like beneath it because he’d read their schematics.
Otherwise, he only saw the dark skin beneath their raised visors. The Custodians weren’t intended to be approachable.
“Good morning, Detective Waite,” one of them abruptly said when he got close. “Please present your arm and pull up your sleeve for detailed biometric confirmation of identity.”
The Archangels stopped abruptly. Rie glared at the doll who had spoken.
“Nicholas is already inside the department and with us,” she ground out. “I’ve already undertaken biometric identification.”
“Please present evidence of your most recent occurrence,” the Custodian replied.
“About twenty minutes ago, in the Oversight Task Force office,” Nick drawled. “Shouldn’t that be in the mainframe?”
The police dolls collectively frowned. While the Archangels slowly nodded, the others bit their lips.
After a few long seconds, the Custodian shook her head. “My apologies, Detective Waite. The mainframe system contains that access record, but it lacks sufficient information to validate your identity.”
“Is this because the police mainframes are old, or because I don’t have an implant?” he asked. “Because even shitty fly-by-night sex shops can usually attach a visual token for security dolls to verify who I am if they have to.”
Not that they had when he had spent much time in the doll district. A lot of security dolls tended to think he was a child or pretend he didn’t exist. Lucas’s dolls had been different, but Nick wondered if they were programmed to recognize him.
Rie frowned. “I am unsure. We… that is, the Host does not rely on the police mainframes. Other than for archival purposes, we rely entirely on distributed processing.”
“Even you?” he asked.
She smiled. “Fishing for classified information? You should consider the answer to be yes.”
Figures.
The Custodian raised a gauntleted hand toward Nick. “We require biometric authentication before you may proceed. Commissioner Kim has placed multiple levels on lockdown.”
“You can—” Rie began to say.
“It’s fine,” he said, unbuttoning a sleeve cuff. “I think this is the first time I’ve been harassed by a Custodian like this. Even the Liberators rarely asked for biometrics.”
“Harassed,” she repeated flatly.
“I say it like it is.”
Once he’d raised his sleeve, the Custodian pressed a bulky finger against his wrist. Her armored gauntlets had a stiff reflective material on one side, but a sleek polymer on the other. Her touch was cool.
“Identity confirmed. Thank you for your cooperation, detective.” The Custodian gave Rie a pointed look.
Despite the complete lack of emotion in her voice, the doll had sass. Rie huffed and strode past them.
The Custodians farther inside didn’t stop them, although they watched Nick closely as he passed.
Their destination was marked by a pair of Mark 1s. Both carried bulky combat shotguns and nodded at them as they approached.
“Is the Commissioner expecting someone to attack us?” Nick asked.
“I raised the alert level, actually,” Captain Lieu said, stepping out from an alcove. Nick had missed him due to all the reflective tiles and glass on this level.
“So are you expecting—”
“No. I’m merely responding to events I’m seeing unfold.” Lieu rocked back and forth on his heels, his hands behind his back. “I’m the captain of the Autonomous Crime Management and Prevention Bureau. Emphasis on the ‘prevention.’ The military are getting antsy, we’ve launched multiple raids, there’s a terrorist group that’s evaded us for too long, and apparently foreign mercenaries are loose.”
Nick blinked. “You got up to speed fast.”
“I like to stay employed. If the commissioner is concerned, then I need to answer those concerns.” Lieu smiled, then gestured at the closed door behind the Mark 1s. “Shall we say hello?”
Nick didn’t move. “Where’s Paul?”
“Detective Hammond works half-days on Saturdays. He’s ensuring that the memories of good people don’t fade.” Lieu’s expression tightened for a moment. “What about you? Seems you’ve been busy, despite apparently taking the day off.”
Nick looked at Juliet and Rosa, who pointedly ignored his gaze.
Lieu laughed. “This sort of stuff gets recorded automatically. It’s like their investigative reports. The Archangels file tons of paperwork. Normally, I’d chip you for not being across it, but the days of the desk jockey Cipher are gone anyway.”
“You expect Ciphers to be reading paperwork?”
“I expect detectives to be on top of the investigations and patrol activity of their subordinates,” Lieu corrected. “But like I said, that doesn’t seem to matter anymore. Results speak for themselves.”
“That they do.”
Nick felt for the poor bastards who’d worked as Ciphers here. No wonder the Archangels had such a negative opinion of the police Ciphers if they were just glorified office drones drowning in autogenerated reports.
How the hell were those guys supposed to find new jobs? Nick couldn’t imagine a company that would touch them. Travis had been fairly mediocre, but he’d been miles ahead of the experience he was hearing from Lieu.
Lieu approached the door. He pressed a small button on the side, then waited.
After a few seconds, it opened. The interior was dark, but light shined within.
Nick, Rie, and Lieu stepped inside. The other Archangels remained outside.
Commissioner Kim stood in the center of a board room. A large board table had been pushed to the side of the room. Electronically primed glass on the far wall glowed, revealing nine separate faces. Nick stopped momentarily, certain that he had accidentally stepped into an alternate universe.
Had he somehow slipped into the augmented reality that everyone else saw? Because he struggled to explain how he saw the faces on the wall.
He looked at Rie in shock, and she shook her head.
“Board meetings are held using a separate secure connection outside the Altnet,” she whispered.
Apparently, the Spires didn’t trust their own creation when it came to secure communications.
The door closed behind them, shrouding them in darkness. Only the dim light of the meeting wall illuminated them.
None of the faces looked quite right. It took Nick a few moments to realize these were the equivalent of Altnet avatars.
Video chat wasn’t popular on the Altnet. It required a separate camera, so instead users had 3D avatars. Most Altnet spaces enforced photorealistic recreations of the user—even Nick had one of these, and data collected through the city’s innumerable monitoring systems was used to update them constantly.
But a few of these avatars were just slightly off. Maybe it was the vibrant pink hair, enlarged eyes, and cel-shaded look of one board member that gave it away.
Nick looked at Lieu, who simply shrugged and smiled.
The Spires were truly a different place.
“Detective Waite, Uriel, I’m glad you made it,” Commissioner Kim said, turning to face them. “Board members, you should be able to see Detective Nicholas Waite, Archangel Uriel, and Captain Andrew Lieu. I have recently placed the detective in charge of Uriel’s Oversight Task Force and he—”
“Just stirred up one hell of a hornet’s nest,” a board member growled. “First Tartarus, now random black companies in Alcatraz. What next? Are you going to start kicking down doors in the doll district? Or blow up the Labor Zone?”
Kim’s expression vanished. He looked like a man who was trying very hard not to say something career limiting.
“That isn’t the issue,” another face said, her avatar scowling on-screen. “I don’t care how many terrorists we blow up. But I want to know how they managed to operate in RTM factories for so long! This is an insult to the entire Assembly!”
The entire board swiftly fell into chaos, as they began arguing over one another. Nick had to compliment the speaker system of the room, as he truly felt as though he was sitting in the middle of a shouting match between several angry teenagers.
Kim ran a hand through his silvered hair and turned toward Nick and Rie. The volume of the speakers lowered abruptly.
“They can’t hear or see us right now,” Kim said. “You should assume they haven’t read or understood anything about your investigation. What they need is an exceedingly brief report that makes the situation clear—particularly how safe things are.”
Nick looked at the raging board members in front of him. He felt a lot better about himself all of a sudden.
For all his fears about briefing them, this was a situation he understood. A bunch of powerful men and women panicking about a situation they barely understood. Even if the board didn’t agree on why they were angry, all of them were upset about something.
Fear penetrated the entire room. Nick could work with that. This reminded him of the times he’d presented to Tartarus execs.
He nodded at Kim. The speaker volume rose again.
“Ladies and gentlemen, enough,” Kim said, his voice cracking like a whip.
While his tone was impressive, it probably helped that he muted everyone else at the same time.
“Detective Waite will brief you on the investigation. I would appreciate if you save your concerns until you understand the situation, as the situation has developed considerably.”
Nick stepped forward. This was probably pointless, given the entire room would be mic’d up, but he felt better doing it.
“I’ll assume everyone on the board is aware of the Neural Spike incident,” he said.
The furious faces of the board suddenly turned into a mixture of serious or concerned expressions. Nick had set the tone for what he was about to say by bringing up one of the biggest raids in the city’s history.
“Tartarus inherited a lot of baggage from its parent. That included an experimental mainframe, termed EMOTE-H by the military,” he continued. “During the police raid, the NLF and an unknown third-party seized that mainframe. Today’s raid on the NLF safe houses was part of our efforts to find her.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” one of the board members said, somehow unmuting. “I thought this was about the bomb scares and the illegal weaponry used in the dockyards? What the hell is all this?”
Kim’s expression remained impassive. If he had an opinion of Nick’s explanation, he kept it well hidden. Lieu looked between everyone with his teeth buried into his lower lip. Rie simply plastered on a fake smile.
“This is the actual purpose of the investigation and the reason I’m involved,” Nick answered. “It’s also the reason the Oversight Task Force is responsible. The NLF are fully aware of EMOTE-H’s capabilities. They exploited a gap during the police raid on Tartarus. And now we know they fraudulently used the financial resources of RTM Strategic. We aren’t kicking down the doors of random black companies. We’re dealing with a complex scheme utilizing classified intel that shouldn’t have ever left the Spires.”
“You’re suggesting corruption.”
“It is a possibility we are investigating.”
Nobody responded. The anger from earlier had dried up. No doubt many of the board members were processing what they’d heard, and trying to work out how they should react.
In Tartarus, this would be where somebody would ask him what it would take to make the problem go away. How long did he need to fix the disaster? Did they need to bring in external Ciphers? How long before things went nuclear? The usual questions when an IT catastrophe was pending, and the execs needed to be scared into doing something about it.
Unfortunately, the board seemed paralyzed.
Which was where Kim stepped in. “Although the potential for catastrophe was high, that is precisely why you took today’s action. Correct, Detective Waite?”
Despite Kim’s impassive expression, the look in his eyes told Nick that denying this would be a mistake.
“Yes,” he said. “We crippled the NLF and gathered significant information from them. The situation is under control, but we need time to use this evidence to find the experimental mainframe.”
The board seemed to come back to life at these words.
“What is the risk that you’re too late?” one member asked. “If this mainframe is so dangerous, can’t they threaten the entire city? Dennis, use your authority to order the troops to—”
“That is beyond the scope of this meeting and the board’s authority,” Kim snapped. He paused, then brushed invisible dirt off his suit. “Actions involving the military are discussed with them, and them alone.”
Nick cleared his throat, drawing attention to himself. “EMOTE-H is well known to the military. They should be able to act in advance of any problems she might cause.”
Hopefully it never came to that.
Kim nodded. “Indeed. Allow me to remind the board that highly informed decisions were made about what resources were left behind in Tartarus. Although the current incident is dangerous, we are talking about criminal activity, not genuine threats to the Spires.”
The meeting swiftly wound down after that. The board appeared satisfied—and cowed—which left Kim room to maneuver the conversation to resourcing. As he discussed how the RTM breach by the NLF shouldn’t hamper negotiations for the Liberator replacement, Nick zoned out.
Only to be pulled back into the conversation minutes later.
“Uriel, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the Archangel Division this close to complete utilization,” Kim said, his eyes glazed over.
The board seemed to be discussing something among themselves and the volume was lowered.
Rie shrugged in response to the question. “Today involved multiple significant events, given the importance of the investigation. Once we pull back from the factories and NLF interrogations—”
Lieu cleared his throat, inserting himself into the board meeting for the first time. “Is that wise? The board already expressed concern that so many raids could increase tensions. As captain, I’d prefer to keep the Archangels fully deployed, in case of retaliatory attacks by the NLF or other organizations.”
Kim’s lips thinned, but he nodded nonetheless. “Run it by Chief Andrews. But if she approves, then do it.”
“Uh, the chief doesn’t like being bothered on weekends. Should I—”
“Just do it.”
Lieu nodded while rubbing the back of his neck. His face reddened and he looked away. Kim turned back to Rie.
“I assume you’re able to maintain this level of utilization for several days?” he asked.
“With appropriate support from the other bureaus, yes. The Archangels will need significant Liberator reinforcement if we wish to prevent gaps opening when we recharge,” she said.
“Excellent. Then I don’t think we need to brief the board on this.” Kim clapped his hands. “I’ll close out the meeting. You can step outside.” His gaze turned to Nick. “Detective Waite, could you wait for me? I’d appreciate an opportunity to have a one-on-one chat. I feel that it’s important we get to know each other.”