The Lightcap (19 page)

“I do,” Adam interrupted. 

“—Our best way into Metra Corp is to stow away on the chopper.  There are four cargo holds where we can hide.  It’ll be a damned cold ride, but it shouldn’t fly so high that we’ll have trouble breathing.  The highest we’ve observed them get is about five thousand feet.”

Adam could scarcely believe what he was hearing. 
What sort of things is LaMont making us do each day
? he wondered, then asked Pavel, “How do we know they’ll still be making daily runs?”

“Their projects continue without you, Adam,” the old man said with an amused look.  “You are not as indispensable as you have been led to believe.”  As this sank in, Pavel continued: “Once we’re in the landing bay it’s only one floor down, which beats the alternative of trying to get in from the ground and somehow make it to the 180
^th
floor without attracting attention.  Now that LaMont’s in charge of both Metra Corp and Adaptech, he’s got even more power behind his plans.  We think he intends to bring Lightcap tech to market within the next year, and use it as a way to bring the populace under greater control than ever before.  Since there are almost no regulations now, and LaMont controls the company tasked with enforcing the few that do exist, he won’t have much trouble getting the device to market as-is.”  Pavel’s words ended just as a loud knock came through the air.  “Excuse me.  Stay here, just in case.”

He sat in thought for a moment as he listened to Pavel’s footsteps, which grew quieter as he made his way away from Adam’s location.  There was a long moment when Adam could hear nothing, his breath caught in his throat, his ears strained against the tense silence to pick up whatever was going on beyond the door to his room.  Adam couldn’t tell if the sudden sound of voices he heard was excited or angry.  A loud slam came next, and he concluded there were only two possible types of visitors: friends or foes.  Adam decided he had nothing to worry about if they were friends, and if they were foes they’d find him soon enough.  He jumped to his feet, as much as he
could
jump given his thrashed and exhausted body, and cautiously made his way through the door into the hallway.  The voices became much clearer.  They sounded familiar.

He turned the corner to find Pavel’s back facing him.  Aria’s eyes flicked to Adam first, drawn by his movement.  Dej saw him a split-second later, and pushed past Pavel, bounding across the room in three steps and throwing his arms around Adam’s shoulders.  Adam almost toppled from the sudden impact, but Dej’s strength kept them both upright.  Pavel turned to see what had caused Dej’s excitement.  Aria watched them, an amused look on her face.  Dej nearly shouted, “Sorry, Adam, didn’t mean to almost knock you over.  We were so worried when you weren’t there yesterday at the end of your shift.  Sera was gone too.  LaMont briefed us today via vid feed.  He said you suffered a ‘mental break’, were wanted for questioning, and that we should all be on the lookout for you!

“We saw the news reports yesterday on Tim Montery and Cora Slate, and that you were a wanted man.  Then the reports changed, saying Montery was dead but not Slate.  They changed it again today, this time saying Slate was also dead and there had been an attempt on LaMont’s life as well.  I think they’ve given up on finding you.  They’re now reporting Jared Tinge as the prime suspect, after he was captured while trying to assassinate LaMont,” Dej said.

“Jared?!” Adam exclaimed.  “He’s an idiot, not an assassin.  Not even an idiot—just not the brightest.”

Aria chimed in: “Yeah, we were surprised too.  Anyone who knows him wouldn’t buy it for a second.  They caught him red-handed, though, trying to break into LaMont’s office.  He had a gun and everything.” 

“LaMont,” Adam said, “is the one behind all this.  He’s the one who put Jared up to it, probably to make it seem as if he was being targeted by the same person who killed Montery and Slate.”  He looked at Dej and Aria as he said the names, not seeing any indication they knew it was him.  Pavel, standing behind them, shook his head slightly to let Adam know they were unaware.  Adam continued through gritted teeth, “Speaking of which, I need to tell you something.  I am the one who killed Montery and Slate.  They were having an affair, and I murdered them in their hotel room with a knife.  I remember it.  Well enough, anyway.”  Dej and Aria stared at him in horror. 

“What?”  Aria practically screamed.  “You killed the CEO? And the Vice CEO?”

“We’ve figured out what the Lightcap does,” Adam said.  He glanced at the old man who gave him a slight nod of encouragement.  “Well, Pavel told me his suspicions.  I wasn’t in control of my body, but I still recall the important details.  The Lightcap lets LaMont drive people.  The only thing that makes sense is that I was under LaMont’s control.  I don’t see him giving anyone else the ability to control his Lightcap puppets.  The benefit of framing Jared for the assassination was twofold, giving LaMont a way to deflect suspicion about his own involvement, since he stands to benefit the most from the sudden and concurrent deaths of Montery and Slate, plus it satisfies the need of the public to have a scapegoat.  Speaking of punishment, what happened to Jared?  Is there any way we can get to him?  He gets on my nerves, but I’m not going to let him suffer for a crime he didn’t commit.”

Aria looked defeated.  Dej’s face looked as if he had been punched in the gut.  He said, “We tried, Adam.  We looked at the different options for getting him out.  They already convicted him.  Since he was caught in the act with several witnesses, LaMont had a press conference last night, saying justice will be swift so our Region stays strong and unified.  He said that unless an example is made of Jared, others may try to take matters of politics into their own hands.  There’s an execution set to take place in about an hour, scheduled for broadcast over the vid nodes.”

“We have to stop them.  I can’t let Jared die,” Adam said, his hands balled into fists.  “Especially since this wouldn’t be happening to him if I hadn’t escaped.”

“You’re right, Adam,” Aria replied.  “It wouldn’t be happening to him.  It’d be happening to
you. 
I don’t mean to be rude, but you’re far more valuable than Jared Tinge.  You’re more valuable than a dozen Jared Tinges.  At least we know we can trust you.  Well, now we know.  We were pretty sure before, but your credibility became unquestionable after they tried to kill you.”

“What happened with that, by the way?”  Adam asked.  “You and Dej never mentioned anything about Doctor Troyka, or about any of the other stuff you were doing.”  He turned to Pavel.  “And you.  Why not just come to me directly, tell me about what was happening, and try to get me on your side?  Instead you break into my house, secretly drug me, almost get me killed, and have apparently been stalking me for what, a year?  I thought I was losing my mind.”

Aria and Dej both looked at Pavel.  “I’ll start,” Troyka said, “since I am the one who originally reached out to Dej.  I have known for some time that LaMont has been planning something.  I had no idea what it was, and I knew if there was any proof I was still alive, he’d send someone to kill me.  I needed someone on the inside.  I had a short list of people I thought could be trusted, a list that included you, Adam.  In the end, I was able to find some traces Dej left on the mesh—well hidden but not completely erased—suggesting he would be open to the risk.  You were far more of an unknown element.  I started dosing you with Cloud almost a year ago.  I thought it would be a way to independently find out what sort of person you are and to provide a way for you to independently come to a conclusion about what was going on at Adaptech.  I had a pretty good idea of what effect it would have on you, but no way to know for sure.  For that, I apologize.  It was not my intention to use you as a test subject, but it was done out of necessity.  If it is any consolation, I did not share my suspicions about the true extent of the Lightcap’s powers with Dej out of concern for how the knowledge would affect him.  Dej and Aria got to know one another enough that he knew she could be trusted.  We talked about bringing you in, but we didn’t know how to do it in a way that wouldn’t tip our hand.  That night at Glass, after Damen had gone missing, was their way of feeling you out, making sure you were the type of man who’d choose to do what is right instead of what is expedient.  They took a great risk, and fortunately it paid off.”

Adam looked at Dej, who broke into a half smile.  Aria suppressed her grin and just shook her head.  She said, “Yeah, I consider myself a good judge of character.  I knew you were all right, maybe even approaching decent.  After we had given you enough information that you could’ve turned us in but didn’t, I was sure.”

Adam felt more than one emotion.  He was angry at Pavel for using him as a lab rat, annoyed Dej and Aria hadn’t trusted him more quickly, and upset Jared had to pay the price for something he—no, LaMont!—had done.  He stretched his back, feeling the usual pops and cracks along with pain but also more limber and filled with the desire for justice. 
LaMont will pay for this
, Adam thought. 
He made people do terrible things, and we have to make sure he will not have the chance to do it again, or to see Lightcap to market
.

After much discussion, they agreed to watch the execution of Jared Tinge.  High-profile executions garnered high ratings on the vid nodes, typically attracting the most consistent audience numbers, a tendency the advertisers loved.  Who could turn down a sure thing, a guaranteed money-maker?  The media did their best to demonize the convicted, as sympathetic victims getting murdered by the state weren’t good for ratings.  Instead, a network would list the crimes of the sentenced party, like a vengeful god judging sins before the entire world. 

They turned it on right before the act to see a clip of one of Jared’s ex-girlfriends insinuating he emotionally and physically abused her.  They changed to another feed and caught the tail end of an investigative report on the Tinge family suggesting a political motivation to benefit the Tinge name.  Adam muted the sound. 

Solemn quiet settled over the room as the image of Jared appeared on the screen.  He was calm, almost serene even, as he stared into the camera.  Adam noticed the telltale bumps under his ears that suggested he was wearing a dome.  A Lightcap, most likely.  The camera angle switched to a profile view and confirmed Adam’s suspicions.  That would explain the vacant look on Jared’s face: he was evidently calmed by the mind-warping effects of the Lightcap.  The camera stayed on Jared for several minutes, no doubt while a list of charges was read.  Dej grabbed Aria’s hand.  Pavel gripped the arm of his chair, his knuckles white.

Adam watched with them as the needle plunged into the waiting vein and a countdown timer appeared on the screen, ticking from twenty to zero with cold consistency.  They watched as Jared’s eyes focused against infinity and his eyelids succumbed to gravity.  They observed a flutter of his eyelashes at the end, a last attempt to fight inevitability, then stillness. 

Jared Tinge was gone.

The next several days passed slowly.  The safe house where Pavel lived was a half-dozen blocks from Aria’s place, deeper into the ghetto where the Blues seldom ventured.  The first few days were tough on Adam, as he recovered from his physical injuries and suffered slight withdrawal symptoms from the last year of daily Cloud doses.  Pavel lent him a notetab, but Adam had to use a keyboard for the first time in ages, his fingers angered by constant movement, his wrists pained with daily abuse.  He was frustrated by his slow typing speed, especially if Pavel was using a notetab in the same room, the rapid-fire
tack tack tack
of his aged fingers expertly landing against its plastic keys, making Adam feel even less competent.  The old man refused to use a dome, distrustful of the very device he helped to create.

Doctor Pavel Troyka proved to be an odd fellow, brilliant but mad.  Adam and he had long conversations while Dej and Aria were gone, talks on topics ranging from the latest discoveries of the large particle accelerators in Europe to economics, history, the nature of consciousness, and where tech like the Mind Drive and Lightcap went wrong.

Five days after his panicked escape, as Adam was on a notetab looking up information on LaMont that might aid their attempts to crack his datafile, Pavel and he got on the subject of Damen and how his unexpected loss had been the catalyst that forced Adam to finally acknowledge there was more to the Lightcap project than they had been told. 

“What do you think Damen knew?”  Adam asked Pavel.  “I had a dream where I watched him get shot in the head.  It felt incredibly real, but I’m not sure at this point what was real and what I just imagined.  Aria didn’t even see the same things I did when she went to his house.  Were those things there, or did I imagine them?”  Adam began to doubt everything he thought he knew.

“Yes, Aria told me.  The toothbrush and the message etched in the window.  What were the words again?”

“It said ‘ms = no enemy’, in all lowercase letters.  Do you have any idea who MS might be?”