Freelancer (12 page)

Am I really ready to give this all up to help a boy I hardly even know? Not to mention most of the things I do know about him aren’t great.

A notification light blinked in the upper-right corner of her vision. David was calling through the secure channel she had sent him via Sarah’s account.
I owe you one, Sarah.

Behind Kari’s ear was a small, thin computer attached to her skull. It was a typical location for the processor and network connector for a mind chip. Years ago, these processing units had been much bigger, but now they looked simply like a fashion accessory. Upgrading the chip wasn’t easy once it was inserted into a person’s brain, so the chip itself only forwarded commands from the brain to the processing unit, which was typically located behind one’s ear. This allowed people to update the performance of their mind chip continually without surgery.

The most expensive part of the processing unit was the tiny, detachable camera. It could be used to float in front of the user to display his or her image during a call. Kari hardly noticed the floating camera any more. As she answered the call from David, the camera flew out from behind her ear and centered in front of her, ready to transmit her face to whomever was on the other line if she approved the call.

A tiny light on the camera turned green, signifying that she was now visible to her caller. At the same time, her mind chip overrode her vision to show David’s tired face. His hair, though short, was in an obvious need for attention, which was something she would tease him about in any other circumstance.

“Kari?” David asked. Her message must have woken him up.

“Yes! It’s me,” Kari replied.

“Why didn’t you just call me?”

“That would have been too risky,” Kari said.
No point in not being direct.

“Risky? Kari, what are you talking about?” David seemed concerned or bothered. Kari couldn’t be sure which one. Maybe he was just tired. Before she could respond, David moved the conversation forward. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve been meaning to call you.”

“What?” Kari said, surprised.

“Yes, and, well, I’ve put it off because I’ve never done anything like this before.” David was sounding more awake with each word.

“Done anything like what? Look, whatever it is, it doesn’t matter right now.”

“I thought you might say that, but I’m going to ask it, anyway,” David said. He rubbed his eyes and straightened his bed-head hair as best as he could. “Kari, do you want to go to homecoming with me?”

“What?”

Homecoming?
Kari wasn’t sure what the last thing she expected to hear was, but she was pretty sure this was close.
He wants to go to homecoming with me?

“You know, the dance . . .”

“I know what it is, it’s just . . . I wasn’t expecting it.”

“Now, I knew you’d say that. But, come on, it could be fun.”

The shock of being asked to homecoming was wearing off quickly as Kari remembered she was in an illegal factory while printing illegal drones, wearing an illegal cloaking device, and talking with someone whom the highest-ranking government official she’d ever met had specifically outlawed her from contacting.
Homecoming?

“When I was leaving your house last week, I called enforcement when I saw a bunch of cars heading your way,” Kari said.

“What? Why did you do that?” David said.
Come on, David. We don’t have time for games.

“David, we both know a mob was outside your house. I called enforcement about it to help you,” Kari said.
You’re welcome, by the way.
David looked perplexed for a minute, as if he were trying to think of a way out of the situation without admitting his house had been attacked.

“So, was that a yes to homecoming?” David asked with a laugh.

“David, this is more serious than homecoming. Do you think I’d hack Sarah’s network accounts to send you a private message on an anonymous line for you to ask me to homecoming?”

“So, that’s a no?”

“David!”

“Fine. There were some people at our house. Nothing happened, though.”
I know nothing happened. I’m the reason nothing happened!

“Well, good,” Kari said. If he didn’t know she had saved him, then there was no reason to tell him. “The reason I had to call you anonymously was because enforcement threatened me directly about getting involved in this.”

“Then why are you getting involved?” The question caught Kari slightly off guard.

“Because.”

David raised his eyebrows.

Kari continued. “What’s important is that enforcement made it clear that they aren’t going to respond to any calls from your house.”
Finally, he knows.

“Why would we need to call enforcement?” David’s voice was losing some of its playfulness from before.

“David, you can’t be serious! You know what’s going on out there. It’s only a matter of time before they come back to your house. And when they do, you’ll have no one to call for help. And they won’t stop, because they know no one is going to come.” Kari felt her face warming as the words rushed out. David looked dismissive.

“We’re not dumb, Kari. We know what’s going on better than just about everyone else. My parents think this will blow over soon, and things will be back to normal. That’s why I was thinking about making my return to society at homecoming, with you. Imagine the look on Sarah’s face when we come walking onto the dance floor together. It’d be priceless.”

“But what if things get worse, David?”

“They won’t,” David said with some reservation.
See, you know it will get worse; you just don’t want to admit it.

“But what if they do? Enforcement won’t stop anyone who’s harassing you guys. Things could get bad.” Kari tried hard to convey her sincerity.

“Well, what else are we supposed to do, Kari, go running away because some coastals might come yell at us?” David was growing defensive now.
This isn’t how the conversation is supposed to go.

“It’s not yelling that I’m worried about,” Kari said, wanting to ease the tension. “From personal experience, I know you can handle a little bit of yelling.”

“How bad do you think it will get?”

“I don’t know, David,” Kari admitted. “But if that mob was willing to burn your house down over some politics, what are they going to do when people start dying and the Middle Staters start killing coastals?”

David frowned. “But the borders are already closed.”

“If you can find a place where the Middle States are controlling the border, I’m sure they would let you guys through.”

“Maybe,” David said. “But my dad would never go for it. We have a home here, and I have younger siblings. He seems pretty set on waiting out the whole situation.”

“Well, you have to try to convince him. And do it soon. Once the fighting starts, I’m not sure you’ll have a choice.”

“We’ve already talked about it,” David said with a sigh. “I don’t think he’ll budge, but I’ll try again.”

“Good. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“I don’t know whether to be touched by your concern or disappointed that immediately after I ask you to a school dance, you suggest I move to a different country.”

“Don’t take it personally. All my other would-be homecoming suitors got it much worse.”

“Oh, so there were others?”

“You sound surprised.”

David suddenly diverted his attention in a different direction as Kari heard some voices in the background. He nodded a couple of times and mumbled along the lines of “Yes, mom” before returning his attention to Kari.

“I have to go,” David said. “My parents don’t really want us talking to anyone—you know, to keep a low profile.”

“Good, that’s smart. Talk to your dad, David, and think about what I said.”

“Only if you think about my offer,” David said. He grinned widely, which made Kari question how serious he was taking the situation, but she couldn’t help but smile back.

She stopped smiling as soon as the call ended. David hadn’t sounded hopeful that he would be able to convince his dad to do the right thing. Kari thought that the odds of her and Henderson getting to know each other better had just increased significantly. She kicked the drone closest to her feet across the room. It activated from the movement and turned on, catching itself in midair before it collided with the wall. It quickly identified where it had been before being kicked, flew back there, and landed, turning itself off again.

Kari powered up the auto-cycle to make sure she had assembled it correctly before putting on her padding and helmet. She ordered the printers to use the rest of her raw materials to print as many drones as they could. If the government came here, she would have the drones attack the printers and leave the government agents with nothing but burned ashes. Her heart hurt as she looked over the factory, knowing it could be the last time she had the chance to see it. She might not have to blow up the factory, but she knew this was good-bye.

I spent the past five years building this place. I spent a fortune buying everything and paying people off to help me set it up and stay quiet. I spent countless hours in here.
In many ways, it felt more like home to her than her house did. She didn’t have to hide here; she could be who she truly was. More than a few times, she had used the factory as a refuge from life.

I’m giving up all this for a family who sympathizes with the people who are starting this mess. No.
She corrected herself.
I’m doing all this for me, because I need to do the right thing.

Kari opened the door and walked the auto-cycle outside before mounting it. Now that the sun was out and the day had well begun, making it back to her house undiscovered wasn’t likely. But she couldn’t stay here any longer; it would give her away just as much as if she were caught red handed.
At least they won’t know what I was up to. If they come for the factory now, my drones will be able to escape.

She ordered the auto-cycle to drive her at an aggressive pace to the house behind her home.
I’ll jump that fence again before I let them arrest me on my front porch.
The auto-cycle revved powerfully and launched forward furiously, rocketing toward Kari’s house while she clung to it tightly.
Why did David invite me to a homecoming dance that neither of us will be able to attend?

The fence wasn’t the obstacle it was last night. Kari parked her auto-cycle in the neighbor’s yard and pushed it up next to the wall. Government agents weren’t likely to discover it; however, at this point, Kari was too tired to be concerned.
It’s not like they would really be surprised, either.
After living in the same house for her entire life, she was pretty sure the neighbors had a better idea than anyone else—including her parents—of what she was capable of.

Kari climbed on top of the auto-cycle and jumped over the wall with ease. She walked into her room and lay down on her bed, turning off the decoy and cloaking device at the same time. Her bed was warm from the decoy, but it felt perfect after the cold auto-cycle ride. The trip had taken only a few minutes, but her heart had been racing the entire time. She had expected to see an enforcement barricade or car waiting for her after every turn, but she had made it home without seeing a single one.
Just a few minutes of sleep won’t hurt.
Kari barely managed to set the alarm to wake her up in three hours before she drifted off to sleep.

I hate that alarm.
Despite her best efforts, Kari had never found an alarm that she didn’t instantly hate. She could play her favorite song to serve as an alarm, and she would loathe that song from that point forward.
Waking up sucks, no way around that. With all the technology in the world, there’s still no good way to wake up.

Despite the alarm and the short nap, Kari felt oddly refreshed. She made her way to the kitchen and ordered a breakfast pizza to be printed for her. She cancelled the order and requested a green smoothie.
No better time to start than now.

As she forced herself to drink the green smoothie, albeit slowly, she checked the latest news. The new headline appearing was exactly what Kari had been hoping not to see.

middle states removing “undesirables” from within borders

Kari felt sick. The Middle States were rounding up the people they didn’t want to be part of their culture and were forcing them to cross the borders into the coastal states. Progressives, people with alternative lifestyles, ‘non-contributors’, and anyone else that wasn’t on board with the Middle States’ agenda were being removed from the new country. As Kari flipped through stories of people being forced from their homes, torn away from everything they had ever known, anger swelled inside her. People were being moved like cattle. It was wrong.

Does David’s family support this? How could I possibly help people who support this kind of thing? It’s sickening.

Riots were erupting in some of the bigger Middle State cities, such as Denver, and photos of giant clashes with enforcement were appearing in the media. People who were arrested were being transported to whatever coast was closest.
Just like that. Not even a chance to gather their belongings or say good-bye to their friends. Not even a chance to be deported with their families. Just gone.

The news was so upsetting that Kari didn’t even think about how much she hated the smoothie she was eating. The networks from the coastal states opined that the actions were grounds for the US government to step in with military force and put a direct end to them. The president condemned the actions and promised that they would not be tolerated.

This is the catalyst that Kari had been waiting for.
The mob is going to come for David’s family tonight. Of course they will, with this happening in the Middle States, they will want an outlet to retaliate. Maybe David’s family deserves to be shipped away. No. I can’t blame David or his family for that. If I were in the Middle States, I would help coastal people instead. But I’m here, and I can do a something here to stop injustice.
Kari was trying to be serious but couldn’t help chuckling at herself.
Guess that last thought makes me a superhero. Kari Tahe, injustice fighter extraordinaire! Now, if only those superhero good looks would kick in.