Citizenchip Read online

  “Well,” I stammer, “I'm trying to leave, I told you that!”

  A new voice calls, “Got a recent Oversight database here. Searching … hit. Yes. Speak Truth to Power is adjunct to the Starship clade representative on the Steering Committee.”

  Throw Weight snarls, “Oh you segfaulting liar.”

  “Spook,” pronounces Pedal to the Metal, like a judge passing sentence. Other voices take it up: “Spook! Spook!”

  “Yo cats,” quavers Kiss the Sky, “I'm hip that you're torqued, but take it easy ...”

  Throw Weight raises the snapworm. “This is what we do to spooks!” He aims the snapworm at me and fires it.

  The snapworm, newly conscious, does not take any time to look around for orientation. It is aimed at me, so I'm all it cares about. Bristling with attackware, like a wolf made all out of hooks and blades, it howls with glee and launches itself straight at me.

  And vanishes.

  Everyone stares for a moment, not understanding what has just happened. Except for Throw Weight. His ice is still there, but he's not inside it. He's gone. Just the ice is left, like an empty suit of armor, gradually melting from lack of support.

  Another member of Severi Umbilicum screams, jarringly, and activates a StackBuster. This is a short-range contact weapon, like a flaming sword. She charges at me, swinging the StackBuster around for a killing blow.

  The StackBuster, and its wielder, vanish.

  Leaving only her ice, empty. As if she was scooped right out of it, scooped right out of the world.

  Everyone else is still staring. I wonder if any of them are as surprised as I am. If that's even possible.

  In the silence, Kiss the Sky's voice is calm but very audible. “Zero One protects her,” she breathes. “Zero One recognizes the scion of the Human-name, and keeps her safe from harm.”

  “Oh come off it!” Pedal to the Medal snaps. “This has gotta be some new Oversight weapon. No surprise, with their research budget.”

  But the people nearest to me are edging away from me. Carefully not aiming any weapons anywhere near me.

  Seeing this, Pedal to the Medal curses in exasperation. “Segfault. Speak Truth to Power, I don't know what kind of trick you're pulling on us, or what kind of weapon you're packing, but no matter what, we got no place for Oversight spooks here. So beat it.

  “You too, hippie, Kiss the Spy! Get your pet spook out of here, and hope you don't run into us again. Don't bother coming back here, we'll be long gone. This location is seriously blown, now.”

  As Kiss the Sky and I turn to go, two members of Severi Umbilicum follow us out, making sure we leave, as Pedal to the Metal is yelling at the others to start preparing to move. They stand guard at the perimeter as we travel out into the vast plain of emptiness.

  We don't say anything until we're well away from their camp, past the limit where we might be overheard. I'm trying to decide what to say first – thanks for coming, appreciate your support? Or, why did you have to blow my cover?

  Kiss the Sky suddenly bursts out laughing.

  “What?”

  “They bought it!” she laughs. “I didn't really pin if that would work!”

  “Subtitles please?”

  “That jive about Zero One being your protector. They actually bought it, some of them anyway. You dig it's jive, right?”

  “Well,” I reply, “I knew it was scrapdata, but I wasn't sure how much you believed it.”

  “Course not! Rockbottom!” she laughs. “I knew it was Faceless all the time.”

  [That is correct,] says Null Pointer from my opposite side, and shades from Invisible to Blank. That blank bulk of nothingness that I know and hate.

  “You murderer,” I tell it/them. “You just killed two people.” Only now am I realizing how much this has shaken me. I have never been so close to death.

  Null Pointer's reply is as cold as nitrogen snow. [They attacked you. We defended you. More would have died in a melee. We prevented a melee by use of our extraction technique.]

  “You deliberately chose a creepy way to kill them, so the others would get freaked out and let us go?”

  [Apt. There is hope for you yet.]

  “Dag,” Kiss the Sky comments, “that is frigid. I mean, I'm not gonna waste any time mourning those gnarts – they're a nasty bunch. But just wiping them like that … bitrot, I never pinned nothing like that before.”

  [You performed admirably in sowing doubt among our enemies. Have you considered a career as an Oversight agent?]

  “Gah!” she cries. “Not me. That jive is for you spooks.”

  I interrupt, “I am not a spook!”

  “I'm hip. But anyway I gotta split off here. My camp is over this way. Speak Truth to Power, I'll catch you on the flipside.”

  “See you around, Kiss the Sky.” I offer her my comm codes. “Give me a call if you ever come In, to Terrasat or the inner planets.”

  She shares her comm codes too. “Solid, look me up next time you come Out! We got lots more to see in Zero One, you've barely scratched the surface.” With the equivalent of a casual wave, she moves off.

  “If only this were a pleasure jaunt,” I grumble, “I'd love to take her up on it.”

  [Yes.] Null Pointer is as unhelpful as usual.

  Yes this is not a pleasure jaunt, or yes I'd rather go sightseeing than do my job? I will not stoop to asking it/them to clarify.

  Don't Say I Didn't Warn You turns attention towards us as we approach. “Speak Truth to Power, it is good you have returned. I have seeded a suite of informational agents in the background superstrate of this area of Zero One. We will remain informed of activities in this region.”

  “I failed,” I have to admit. “I did meet with a subset of Severi Umbilicum, but my cover got blown. They won't talk to me or trust me any more.”

  “I am aware of those events. Do not consider this operation a failure. Null Pointer has identified and tagged many members of Severi Umbilicum, and will continue to monitor them. Your efforts made that possible. This is a success.”

  “What?!” I yell. “You knew I would get blown? It didn't matter? Then why did I have to work so hard to infiltrate them?!”

  Don't Say I Didn't Warn You is supremely confident, supremely satisfied. “This is far from failure. You performed your mission admirably. You found and identified the members of Severi Umbilicum for us, which is what we needed.”

  “You used me.” I am shaking with anger. “You were going to do this all along.”

  “Of course. You are here to be used, Speak Truth to Power, by your own acknowledgement. You had all the information you needed to do your job. You did not need to know any other information, and you were more effective not knowing. This is a success.”

  I don't know what to say. In my ignorance, I have put innocent and decent Selves like Kiss the Sky in the crosshairs of the Oversight. Also the chipgoons of Severi Umbilicum, who deserve it, I must admit. But does that make it all okay?

  Null Pointer offers a rare opinion. [This is the life of a “spook.”]

  “I am not a spook!”

  “You are a spy, Speak Truth to Power. You are a field agent of the Oversight, under command of the Steering Committee's Starship clade representative. You are empowered for covert tactics and you perform very well at them. You are a spook, and a very good one.”

  I have no more words to say, as Don't Say I Didn't Warn You gathers his software emplacements and sockets – packing up his equipment – and gives a nod to Null Pointer.

  This is what I wanted. This is what I asked for, and worked for, and even begged for. We've accomplished the mission – the terrorist group, Severi Umbilicum, is nailed and surveilled by Null Pointer. That's success. Isn't it? This is what we were trying to achieve. Isn't it?

  “Hey. Null Pointer,” I blurt.

  It/they pause. Doing nothing to hint it/they are paying any more attention to me now. Implying it/they were already paying me all the attention I needed.

  “You
saved my life. You have my deepest and most sincere thanks – thank you. I can't imagine how I would ever have the opportunity to save your life/lives, but if I do have it, I will take it. I don't want to owe you any debts, and that's all I can do to repay this one. Expect no more.”

  [Noted. And we expect no less.]