A shout echoed from the end of the alley, we both looked. It was Schulz’s platoon, calling him back. He licked his lips. “I’d break you now, but I don’t want to break my cover.” He released his grip and pushed me away. Tipping his head, he flexed. “Gotta love the pump, and this fucker has shit loads.” I watched him jog back to the rest of the men, as I rubbed my shoulder. It sickened me; good soldiers, replaced by Erko’s men.
I waited for a few minutes, nursing my shoulder then continued back to the gym Menshikov had made his base. The aching had subsided by the time I arrived, thankfully the suit had taken the brunt of the attack.
Inside I could see Ivan working out. He’s a giant of a man, or would be if he wasn’t an advanced IA-suit. He was a mobile holding cell. His prisoner was the real Menshikov, the man I’d replaced. I was wearing his body-suit now, even though it’s too small and pinched in all the wrong places.
He glanced over, but ignored me and continued to lift the weights. “Hey, we met a yesterday. It’s Ivan, right?” I asked purely for the benefit of the people around us.
“Uh-huh, what’s it to you?” he grunted between reps.
“Can we talk—privately?”
He dropped the weights, a clang of iron rang around the room. Standing, he looked down at me, sweat dripping, his eyes narrowed. “Private?” I nodded and walked towards the back of the gym. Menshikov had a private area for business. I glanced in the mirrors and confirmed the giant was following.
Securing the door, I turned to Ivan. “Give me your status.” He looked puzzled. "Who do you think I am?" I asked. He responded with the name ‘Menshikov’. It’s common protocol, he won’t reveal himself until he’s sure he knew who he’s talking with.
I identified myself, “Delta-one-seven-seven-Lima-nine-Alpha-Alpha.”
He paused for a moment and nodded. “Good to see you again. You’ve spoken with Danny?”
“I’ve just come from the apartment. What’s your status, Ivan?”
“Captive is secured; vital signs are stable. All remote systems online, local systems online. Logging cache flushed, re-synched and running.”
“Remote systems online? The network is back?”
“The network has had zero downtime in the past seventy-eight months, latency is at 0.00032%.”
“I’ve lost contact with Menshikov, about three hours ago. Was there any localised disruption?”
He looked into the distance for a moment. “Logs for that period are incomplete, I don’t have an answer.”
My gut wrenched, and flipped. I clicked my fingers a few times, “Open up Ivan.” As Ivan leaned forward, his thick muscular back peeled away revealing another man inside. My fears had become a reality.
“Jackson,” I muttered. He was wearing a mind-band, I checked its connection; online and operational. My thoughts returned to Danny, the person I thought was Jackson. It had to be Menshikov wearing the kid, and linked back to Jackson. He knew all the correct procedures for reporting back to HQ. I swallowed and face-palmed myself. The report; it wasn’t going to be filed, and the cavalry won’t be coming to shut down Erko.
I could revive my partner; take off the band, but that would cut the link to Menshikov. At the moment, I was still one step ahead. “Sorry Jackson,” I whispered, “but I’m going to have to keep you under for a while. Don’t worry, though, you’re in good hands. Ivan will look after you.”
As I lowered Jackson back inside I checked all the connections, everything was clear. Although Ivan’s inventory showed two sedatives missing, I took another—it might be useful. “Ivan, you can re-seal.”
The big man’s back closed, the seams blurred and disappeared. He straightened, blinked, and looked at me. “It’s not Menshikov is it?” he asked.
“No, it’s Jackson. You have any idea how you were compromised?”
“Give me a moment.” His eyebrows work as he looks into the distance. “Yes. There were irregularities in Menshikov’s vital signs moments before logging stopped. Brain activity also increased.”
“So he woke up, the safety protocols engaged, and your IA went off-line. Just the same as when I’m wearing you. Jackson didn’t have a chance, not with your strength. Take him out, strip him of the Danny suit, link to his mind with another band; that’s all he needed. With his mind, he knew all your access codes, how to sedate him, and get him back inside you. All he had to do then was to climb inside the kid. Fuck, I was played. But why swap to Danny?”
Ivan looked thoughtful. “How was Menshikov treated?”
"He was bullied. He didn't work for them through choice."
"I doubt many employees worked there by choice," Ivan added.
"Intel suggests he had a massive debt, I felt a profound sense of failure when I was linked to him initially."
"Maybe he was looking for a way to escape; a new life?"
"But your physique matched his preference, that’s what the intel suggested."
“Maybe it was wrong, manipulated. The sedative supplied by HQ; used on Menshikov, that was faulty.”
I snort a laugh. “So was the intel we had on Rennik--way out. He has his own line in suits, far more advanced than we were told. He’s controlling a rival gang and taken on the identity their leader called Erko.” I said and continued to update Ivan with all the information I know.
"I remember Menshikov showed interest in Danny. His heart rate increased, when you suggested, he was an AI-suit.”
“You think he wanted to be inside the kid? Something sexual?” I asked.
“That would explain his attraction to Danny,” Ivan concluded. I took a breath, this exchange of ideas with Ivan was like talking to myself. But then I guess I was, I had to keep reminding myself that Tech’ had built his AI using my own memories and thought processes.
“I guess Erko is in the dark about me, and that Menshikov hasn't ratted. Erko had the opportunity to kill me, I was right under his nose."
There’s a knock on the door, and a shout. “We need some help!”
Unlocking the door, I peered out. “Why?”
“Some kid’s having a seizure,” one of the gym regulars said.
In the street, a lean teenager was convulsing on the sidewalk. His arms and legs were ridged, but he’s shoulders and hips are thrashing. His head shook violently from left to right.
“Hold him,” I said to Ivan as I grasped his head. It was Jeremy, the Dupe I'd met earlier. I remembered one of Erko’s men--Bunny, a wired, hyper-active twenty-something--push inside the kid. But I spotted something change in Bunny’s psyche as soon as he was sealed inside.
Jeremy shook and bucked for a couple more minutes before calming. He looked up at me, a confused expression washed across his face.
“Give him some air,” I demanded. “Ivan, pick him up. Let’s get him inside.” Ivan followed me in, with the kid in his arms. “This isn’t a fucking sideshow,” I yelled over my shoulder at the collection of gawping bystanders.
In the private room, Ivan lowered him onto a bench. After a moment, he sat up. “Where am I?” he asked. I explained what had happened and that we’d brought him into the gym. “I remember you,” he said raising his chin at me. “You was in that room, with Erko.”
“Yeah, you know what your name is?”
“Jeremy,” he replied.
“No, your real name. You remember me watching you in the lab?”
“I--,” he stutters. I tip my head and wait for him to get his words straight. “I’m Jeremy, but there was someone else. Oh my GOD--,” he croaks and starts to sob.
“What’s the matter?” I ask.
“The things,” he whispered his head in his hands. “They made me do things, oh my god. I couldn’t stop them; they were inside me. I told them everything, no, they were stealing my thoughts, pretending to be me!” His sobs continued, as he told me how made him call his Uncle--Tony Brozek, Erko’s right-hand man. He watched helplessly as they forced him into a tube, and later a black guy step inside a copy of his uncle.
“Do you recall someone called Bunny?” I asked cautiously.
He thinks for a moment, then shudders. “Yeah, he was inside me. Controlling me, but he wasn’t right. I couldn’t keep up with his thoughts, the stuff he wanted to know. He was thinking faster and faster, babbling, shouting, screaming in my head. It felt like it was going to explode, then I must have blacked out.” He rubbed his eye with the heel of his hand. “Then you were looking down at me.”
“So you know where you really are?” I asked as Ivan handed him a bottle of water.
He looked confused. “In the gym, on 56th and 3rd?”
I bit my lip and jerked my head at Ivan. While Jeremy sipped on the water, we moved to a corner. “What do you think is going on,” I asked Ivan.
“I’m not sure.”
“It’s possible that these suits have similar safeguards as you. If the person inside loses consciousness, then the IA takes over and vice versa.”
“Sounds plausible.”
“But with these suits, there isn’t any AI as such, but a digital link back to the original still in the tube.”
“So you think this is the real Jeremy? The Bunny guy that was controlling him had some kind of mental breakdown and lost consciousness?”
“It's possible I guess?” I replied.
Ivan frowned, “But he could just be play-acting. He has everything he needs to fool us.”
“I’ve seen this Bunny guy, he’s wired, his mind is fried. He was only just keeping it together back at their lab. I know this guy isn’t Bunny, he’s not smart enough to pull it off.” Ivan looked over at Jeremy suspiciously, he’s sitting still, staring at the floor.
I make my way back. “Jeremy, I believe you. But I have to be truthful, you’re not here in the gym. Your real body is back at their lab, your mind is being projected into this Dupe—a fake body. I can fix this, I’m an agent—one of the good guys. I want to shut down Erko,” I reassured him. “I need your help to get back inside the lab, where I can free you, and the others.”
“What--,” he answered nervously, “what do you want me to do?”
I glanced at Ivan. “I want you to call your uncle, get him over here.”
"But he’s not my uncle, he’s a copy. I told you that,” Jeremy answered.
“I know; you’re going back to the lab with your Uncle Tony. You’ll have to pretend to be Bunny if anyone asks, and I’ll be inside your fake uncle.”
End of pt7, >> pt8
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