Counter

Everything still spun a little, but I dragged myself to focus on the task at hand. I brought up the terminal once more, resuming the work. How much damn time did I waste? Was it already too late? Please just let me finish.

B came over to the table and dropped a flat rectangular device in my hand. “I lifted her ID. Should give you a way to cover your tracks.” I nodded slowly as I still wasn’t functioning fully. It took another couple of seconds before the realization came to me.

“Clever!” I grabbed it in the hand with the hacking relic. A quick scan, I could run my searches through the mask of her ID so it’d look like she went digging if anyone went over the records. If they didn’t know what they were looking for, they wouldn’t even be able to spot my ghost. Perfect!

I could finish now. And with a little added help from her clearance, I dug down into the deeper records that I needed. Repeated logs of citizens being turned away wanting help, scans made on people, even more people picked up in secret, demanding silence. Damn, how many people did they let die completely out of the sight of everyone? This was worse than I thought. They’re trying to hide that this whole thing is even happening! Was it because they couldn’t cure it? Was this their answer?

They’re scared.

Shit. B was right, this would ruin so much.

A shaking developed in my hand as I looked over at the unconscious work crew. What would happen to them? How would the Corpus handle this? They still needed the Basilica, but this scope went beyond just a single person.

“You still have a choice, Heva.”

I found B touching my hand, it surprisingly calmed me. My hand closed up tightly. “No, people need to be saved. They’re just letting people die because they can’t find a cure. All they’re doing is trying to prevent a panic. I must do this.”

The complete download finished. I limped out of the docking bay. With my jacket non-functional, it made the escape a little more dangerous, but I kept to the shadows. I kept walking away until the Basilica was no longer at my back before I stopped.

I found a bench to crash at and recover. B took some spare fabric to clean up my face a little. I probably ran over my time limit on the relic. I wasn’t looking too closely at the end. The only saving grace was since I had no augments, they couldn’t track me like a normal person. I’d still show up as an intruder on their network, but they’d have to send someone. So my identity remained secret at least.

In my hand, the disc containing everything from Leonce stared at me. It housed everything from the Basilica now too. One dangerous package weighing down my hand. I didn’t have a choice, lives were on the line for this. Perhaps thinking of it as revenge would put my mind at ease a little.

Who was I kidding?

Shit. I just wanted to learn about the town, not throw it into upheaval. I wished there was a better outcome to this. But I wasn’t seeing one right now. And I didn’t know how long Louise had. I couldn’t risk her on my doubt.

I closed my hand and stared up at the night sky of cartography. The moon looked beautiful. It might be a fake sky, but it felt sad tonight. I wondered if the real one felt the same way. I missed the twinkle and colors of that sky. This just didn’t capture the same atmosphere.

Suddenly, I felt a little lightheaded and closed my eyes. That felt much better. Just a little rest before the Corpus opens. But I got slapped in the cheek by B. “You might have a concussion, don’t sleep until you get checked out.”

“Right…”

I stood up hoping that I was a little more presentable for the morning. Several hours remained before I could see anyone and the walk wouldn’t be enough to kill that time. So I took the long way, as in doing a loop around the entire park that covered the central area. And by loop, I meant taking three circles before daylight finally rose.

The Corpus main entrance opened promptly at eight. And I stood in the lobby with B telling me that I had character. Though by the judge of the woman’s shifting looks a scary character. “Can I speak to my Courier agent?” I didn’t know who they were here since this wasn’t my place of recruitment. But I should have an agent assigned to me for any questions or issues that come up during my stay. It was usually just formality, they had other responsibilities normally.

“Yes…Valeria Lacerius, your agent is currently in a meeting, but he’ll be free in thirty minutes. I-Is that okay?”

“Of course, just direct me to his office.”

“Y-yes!”

Was I really that frightening? I guess blood from an augment would be a rare thing as the fluid would have to spill out. For keeping the illusion of being human, it looked and reacted like real blood, even if it had completely different make up at the component level. Bruising though wasn’t something augments did. But not everyone fully augmented, so she shouldn’t question it. It was just a rare and unsettling sight.

I followed the path directed by the floor through lifts and halls until I reached the office to my agent. I looked at the nameplate, Rolande Durand. A name told me nothing about the man. But let’s just see how it went. I was banking on a bit of greed from the Corpus in this plan. So I hoped I was right about them.

A longer wait than I felt came before the door opened. It was a young-ish looking man with a tidy beard and suit. He definitely was a Corpus man, top to bottom. “Miss Lacerius?”

“Mr. Durand?”

“Yes, are you okay? This is the matter you wanted to discuss?”

I tilted my head and then motioned with my hand to dismiss it. “Oh, unrelated, just a little rowdiness not realizing I was a Courier.”

His eyebrows pinched in confusion and suspicions. “Then what did you need?”

“Some of your time on a very private and sensitive matter. Something in you and the Corpus’ interest.” That piqued his curiosity though still mixed with confusion. But he invited me in regardless. Even if he had a responsibility to listen to complaints from me, he wanted to know what I had to say.

He had a simple office with a good view of the town below. If I was in a better mood, I’d take a moment to admire it. But I was on a timetable now. I needed to put this in their hands fast before the Basilica might act.

Behind his walnut desk, he tapped to open a one-side display that I couldn’t read. “So what’s the subject of your issue?”

I placed my hand on the table holding the disc, but not revealing it just yet. “I’ve come into some information that I felt the Corpus would want to know.” Suspicion soaked through his face and eyes as he bore holes into me. “I’m sure you’ve seen people coughing uncontrollably at work or down on the streets.”

“It’s nothing to be concerned by. We’ve been assured it’s not a flaw in the augments or healthcare. It’ll pass in time.”

“I had an encounter with someone from the Clergy aware of what’s happening and it seems that their conscience got the better of them.” I had some time to consider my options with all the waiting. This was my only chance of maybe finding a way to soften the damage. Not everyone had to be taken down if it was made to look like some disagreed. Which I hope was true.

I revealed the disc from my hand. “This contains everything that they snuck out at great risk to themselves. And some work by the Chapterhouse in identifying the source. I’m told it’s incomplete, but I thought with the Corpus resources they’d be able to finish this.”

Silence gripped the man now as he just was presented with something far above his pay grade. It looked like he shook a little as he tried to process it all. “Several people have already died from this. I can’t do anything but see that the right hands have this so that no one else must.” Heavy shadows gripped his features as it hammered in the last nail.

He just stared at the disc unmoved. Rolande clearly didn’t know what he opened his door to this morning and looked to be regretting it in equal parts to a fearful panic. It looked like he started trying to run scenarios of how to handle this gift. Each one only made his darkened expression worse. I knew how he felt.

At least two minutes of complete awkward silence passed before he clearly his throat, but also staring inwardly a little scared hearing a cough. He shook his head to clear the thought away. “These are grave claims to make.”

“You can confirm the data yourself. If I’m a liar you know where to find me.” I stood up, catching a bit of the lightheadedness again. I turned away to go for the door.

“Miss Lacerius. If all of this is true, then Coulen’s owe you a huge debt.”

“Just see that the people are cured and that’s payment enough for me. I don’t think a little Courier like me could handle the notoriety.”