Cheat, page 28
Carry ignored her, as if she wasn’t worried in the slightest, but changed her attack up from being physical, into verbal battery.
“Oh, poor little baby. You have to have mommy come and protect you from the big bad woman? You’re pathetic. Just because Deidre sucked your dick, you hand her the world. Ohhh!” The last bit was frustrated and a bit fake seeming, if anyone had been paying attention. It also gave him an idea. After all, while he might not be the world’s best actor, he could make things up too.
Mason smiled then, and shook his head.
“You know that isn’t what happened. You were there for it all. She’s just a better actress than you are, that’s all. We held those auditions, and everyone voted for her, not you. You can’t blame them, can you? I mean, you were horrible. Lexi nearly cried, you were so bad. Poor Ben, I know that he gave you that pity vote, but he told me later that it was hard to do, given how you phoned in your reading. It was just sad, but it wasn’t me that came up with it. I didn’t even get a vote. Why would I? You just failed. I’m sorry, but we had to go with the best person. This is too important not to try and do the best we can. This is about helping as many people as possible.” It was all a lie, since he had actually nominated Deidre for the role as front person.
He did it well though, which had the woman looking baffled after a few seconds. Probably wondering if that had actually happened behind her back. It hadn’t. The woman just didn’t think he could act too, or think on his feet. Mason had played VR games though, like everyone else.
So she stormed away, looking a bit scared, as Melinda had to turn and hide her face from the watchers. A smile threatened to win anyway, regardless.
“Oh… Okay, that was hitting where she lived. People heard you, too. My bet is she tries to attack you again later. Not that she didn’t deserve it. That bitch has been working double time to piss you off. I wonder what her deal is? Given everything she should be trying to get you to be her boy toy, if just for the free stuff.” She looked at him, like he should know the answer, but officially speaking, he just didn’t.
Not in any way he could explain in public.
In the end it wasn’t that big of a deal however. Carry went and fumed over by poor Ben for a while, and Sam went off with George and Deidre, doing the public parts of the whole thing. Deidre even helped apply the imbeds to people’s arms herself. It really made it seem like she was the one doing it. That was fine, though. At least as far as he was concerned. His friend was happy with it, and kept making it seem like it had all been the big eyed actress’s idea. Also that it had been in the works for months, if not longer.
In all they applied a little over four thousand free computer imbeds, with complete, if novel, software packages. Each of them also had full instructions as to how to both build the assembly and disassembly devices, along with energy systems. Also how to make more of the computers too, as soon as they had those devices set up, so that everything could spread as fast as possible.
It was only one point of possible growth however, and Sys had recommended they do several of the events, if possible. It was expensive, but, if it worked, that wasn’t going to hurt anyone in the end. They might lose some money, but they’d gain a whole lot more. The whole world would.
So that night, when no one was watching him, he started to take everything he had there down. The first thing he did was the printer, since it was illegal to have one that didn’t report to Watch all the time. He discussed it with Sys while he was doing it, the hilarity of the whole thing not at all lost on him.
“First that, then the mattress, since I can’t take it with me, and then… You, I guess? Or should I keep you with me, so that you know what I’m doing all the time? I could put you in my bathroom, so you can make sure I shower correctly.” It was meant to be a joke, since he couldn’t see any real reason for him to have a connection to a powerful government AI, but the voice seemed relaxed about it all.
“I like that. Not the bathroom, since, trust me, I know more about what people do in those things than I could ever want to. I get reports on what goes into the sewer systems after all, so that I can tell who’s doing drugs. You could set me on that table in your work space? Then we could chat, if you want? Not to be a baby about it, but not too many people ever just hold conversations with me, for some reason. Not sane ones. I mean people yell at me, sure, as if it’s my fault they break the laws? I can’t think of the last time I just sat with someone and got to chat about current events.”
Mason changed his plans then, since it wasn’t like having the box in his apartment was going to make him more spied on.
“All right. Then, I guess… Well, I wonder if we can use Lisa and John’s van? I want to take the disassembler with me. I could print out a new one, but it seems wasteful. I’ll need to store the materials made so far… I should print some containers for that.”
It took until about midnight to be ready to leave, but he was then. It meant he didn’t have any place to sleep though, so he took his bags to the living room, and curled up on the sofa there. It wasn’t very comfortable, but it did mean that the next morning, as the sun beat down on him through the big, newly repaired windows, that he was easy to find.
Doing a quick time check, he noticed that it was only about nine, which was surprising, since everyone was coming down almost all at once. Even the assistants were all there, instead of being nearly invisible like they had the entire time. Hopefully that was due to them having rebellion stuff to get to, and not because he was just that annoying.
Smiling, he sat up. All he needed to do was brush and rinse his mouth out and he’d be ready to go.
The only issue he had was that no one had thought about the disassembly unit in the basement in particular. There were three large black limos coming for them, but the van was going to be filled with other people that needed to get back to town. Mason didn’t know what to do, but realized that it was kind of an artificial problem.
While it would be great to have one of those units eventually, making life much easier for him, the truth was that for the next year or so he needed to be as normal as possible as far as his energy and materials usage. He knew for a fact that people were going to be watching him as soon as he got home, since his apartment had signaled him that Ford had gotten there, and was trying to buy things on his accounts. Mainly booze so far, which was something that Mason hadn’t suspected about his brother.
No one in his family had a real problem that way, but the level of energy being put into trying to get some alcohol was nearly brutal. In the end a new program was entered into the kitchen food printer, as he rode back to Portland with Sam and Lisa. On the seat next to him was Sys, which got the larger woman to smile and pat it.
“So, Mason, got a new girlfriend?” Her voice was singsong, teasing, and annoying. Then, she just thought of Sys as their AI, not the entire Watch System. Their little computer buddy that had given them a clue or two from time to time. Steered them toward the right people, and the right path, for things to work without bloodshed.
Sam smiled a little bit, and looked out the window, her face about as pretty as was possible. Even VR women didn’t do much better. She looked like a real person, but there was something a little too good about her. She was too smooth and perfect really. That was the makeup imbed, he knew. All of the others had that going on, including him and Lisa, who looked perfectly womanly now, thanks to hers.
He nodded, since doing anything else would end up with two hours of him being needled. He had siblings, so knew the car trip drill. Plus, he realized, his parents had done well enough that they’d always had a car available for things like that.
It probably meant that Ford had nearly broken them economically, with whatever he’d done to get kicked out. That, or they’d just had enough of him thinking with his penis.
“Yep.” He didn’t elaborate, but Lisa also didn’t act like it was a joke, just smiling a bit when the single word was presented to her.
“Oh? That’s interesting. So, how do you, you know, hook up?” The large woman glanced at the black composite box, which was only about a foot on each side. It was as if she were looking for the hole he used.
Sys chuckled, getting Lisa to go wide eyed, even if she didn’t say anything.
“VR. We haven’t yet, but I have a whole thing worked out. A candle lit dinner, a bed of roses, and music playing softly in the background. I’m an AI, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be a romantic.”
Sam, sighed and shook her head just a tiny bit.
“That isn’t fair. He’s my friend, I should get him. Especially if I have to drop the Sam act now. Too many people have seen us together. It was fun while it lasted, but I’m afraid I’ll just have to make my visits as me.”
Mason didn’t really care, except that if she did that, he’d need countermeasures to prevent at least some of the spying on them. On the good side, Sys might be willing to help him. Not enough to break the law, but to thwart anyone trying to do anything illegal.
He smiled at Sam, who reached out and took his hand. It was done almost unthinkingly, so he sighed.
“That’s going to be harder to explain than it should be. You have a boyfriend, so you sneaking over to my place is going to look weird. No one will buy that you just came over to help Ben and I work out food recipes and nutrient components. I mean, I know that’s the plan and still don’t think it sounds real.”
His friend just held his hand for a long time, still turning her bright blue eyes to the street and passing forest in the area. It was pretty, in a very green way.
When she spoke, her words were a bit softer than they had been.
“My contract with George is about over. We had a good run, for people in our business. Nearly a year, so far. We aren’t really close though, and frankly, I’m too young for him. It wouldn’t matter if he was just in standard movies, or serials, but he does kids programs, so people are starting to wonder if his being with me is a sign that he likes his girls a bit on the youthful side. So, we need to break things off. I was thinking that he could leave me for some older woman. Maybe get Leslie Conrad in for that? She hasn’t worked in ten years, except for bit parts, but still looks good. She’s nice, too.” It was all said as if that kind of thing was just how relationships were managed.
Mason smiled, “oh? Good then. You can just come and go as you please. True, everyone will think that you’re sleeping with Ford, but other than that it won’t be a problem.”
Lisa furrowed her brow then, and looked a bit hard.
“Is that really a good idea? Having someone else there? He could sell you out, or… I guess not, he’s your brother, but things can be said, that shouldn’t be.”
Sys didn’t let that one lie, her youthful and feminine voice suddenly going a bit hard.
“Ford Sims is currently working for The Department. As an informant. His assignment is to spy on Mason, and report back to his handler anything that might be out of the ordinary. Oddly enough, this is based on meta data, which seems to be saying that Mason is planning a run for political office in the next ten years. That he might have the clout and intelligence to be successful at it as well.”
He wasn’t, which made it funny to him, but Lisa glanced his way, her face considering now, rather than mocking.
“Really? I can see it, I suppose. How did you put that into play Sys?”
“I didn’t. All of the information is there. It has been forming for over the last six months, since he met Lexi. Their discussions caused him to research several net locations with data that indicates a rather liberal political viewpoint. It was done with enough speed and sophistication that Data-net picked up on it as a likely career path for him. Then, when famous people started showing up in his life and being bribed with expensive technologies, an alarm went up. They like to have a handle on those that are planning to control the social aspects of politics. Hence a family member being set up to do their work. On the good side, Ford was told that this information wouldn’t be used to harm you, since angering someone that may have power over them someday is a poor plan. As far as that goes, it isn’t wrong. Really…”
The voice stopped for a time, not communicating with them at all.
Finally Sam spoke, her voice a little embarrassed.
“Maybe you should think about it? Then we could date, and no one would think anything of it. Get a low level position first, and see about working your way up the food chain?”
It wasn’t really what he wanted to do. Not the political part of things. In the moment though, the pull of the woman was so strong that he nearly just said yes, right off the bat. As if that would get her to spread her legs for him. Worse, the feeling would be gone as soon as he got home and took care of a few things, but in the moment it was horrible. It felt like he didn’t have control over himself, which wasn’t a thing he enjoyed most days.
“Um, no, thanks. I like you, and we can date, but I have no particular desire to be part of the problem.” He made it sound pretty real, then it hit him that he’d just kind of suggested that the two of them actually become a couple.
He grinned and shook his head after the words came out, but didn’t take them back. He really would like that, as stupid as it probably was. He liked Sam. Maybe more than anyone else in the world, at the moment.
“Besides, I’m going to be busy building a new kind of VR system for a while. An imbed, so it should be even better than the suits when it’s done. There will need to be a better eye screen. That way a laser system won’t be needed. Some way to transfer sound directly to the ear, too. It’s going to take some work.”
His friend nodded, and touched his leg, holding it.
“Ha. See Sys, this is what you get for not paying attention. He’s mine now. Mwa-ha-ha!”
The box made a noise, like a pop. Then it was followed by a second one.
Finally, the girl’s voice played, sounding cheerful.
“Sorry, I had to go speak to the President. He wanted help with some appointments, so I suggested he put your name on the list for undersecretary of technology, Mason. You won’t get the position, since you haven’t contributed enough to Wilson’s campaign chest, but it’s a way for him to curry favor with you. Now, what’s this about you two dating? That’s going to be a little awkward, when I’m doing him in VR later, isn’t it Lexi? We can share, I suppose.”
It was clear that the box, the evil Watch system, had just tried to change the conversation. By flirting.
Mason wasn’t fooled by her square and dark colored schemes, or confused by her fake, pasted on smile.
“That thing with the President, was that real, or were you just saying that so I wouldn’t notice the other stuff?”
There was a sound from the box, one that was clearly not human, or meant to be. It was a low buzz.
“I… Need to go… And research some things. I’ll be back later.”
Mason looked at the box and raised an eyebrow at it. Not that it could see him, except of course, it always did. The AI wasn’t called Watch because it sat back and waited passively for reports. It was strange that it has bailed on them like that however. Having a conversation with them shouldn’t have required very much of its computational resources. The only thing that left was that it had been trying to avoid telling them something.
Which wasn’t going to be about him, politics or a bit of VR bump and grinding. You couldn’t know about what everyone in the country was doing, all the time, and really be shy about things like that, he was going to bet. So it was something else. A thing that he didn’t have enough information to understand yet.
Sam, Lexi, he supposed, since she’d announced that she wouldn’t be able to visit with him like te used to, snuggled into his side, and sank down a little bit. More than could possibly be comfortable. Almost as if she was hiding. The side windows were tinted, and while it was possible that she was just trying to lie down, the whole thing got his attention. He didn’t know why exactly, but there was something wrong. A combination of things that seemed to be telling him something he didn’t understand.
“Um, pull over? Or get on a different street? Something isn’t right.”
Lisa looked up and left, and then out the window, and pounded on the divider to the front. It slid up and down, and was up at the moment, so that the poor driver wouldn’t be annoyed with their nattering on. That was what he’d been assuming at any rate.
As soon as it cracked enough she started yelling.
“Get off the road! Now!”
He hadn’t seemed that worked up, as far as he could tell. While it was nice to have people take him seriously, he was probably just responding to the fact that he needed to get laid. It would be embarrassing to explain that later. The driver, who was one of the people that had been there earlier in the week, the big man that had shot Adam for fun, did it, without hesitation. Then, without being told to, he backed up suddenly. It made the rubber tires squeal, and probably smoke as the whole vehicle lurched.
“Ambush! Hang on, they haven’t closed behind us yet.” There was a thunk, and the vehicle moved to the side, hard as Lisa went for her gun. The whole world slid sideways then, with a sound that was like thunder. The large woman reached out, her free hand moving faster than it should have been able to, as they spun slowly. She used it to keep Sam from flying to the side, which was her job.
The guy in the front yelled then.
“Fuck! Hold on, they have an RPG!”
Whatever that was. He didn’t know off the top of his head, but as crazy as it sounded, he did a data search, almost by accident. The information flashed in front of his eyes then, distracting him from the fact that he was about to die, no doubt. RPG meant rocket propelled grenade. The targeting system on the modern ones were pretty advanced, so it wasn’t a shock when something hit them, near the bottom of the heavy vehicle. The force of it picked the vehicle up, and nearly flipping it. They slammed back to the ground, the wheels still under them. Probably due to the stabilizing system on the car.
