"Cover him," he said coldly. "I have some work to do." Lanier stared at Babel in shock for a moment.
Is
this
kid
totally
out
of
his
head?
he
thought.
Why
would
he
trust
me
after
everything
that’s
happened
so
far?
He’s
either
the
most
naive
person
I’ve
ever
met,
or
the
most
confident
.
Babel
met Lanier’s questioning look with a steady gaze from his disquieting violet eyes. "I haven’t got all night, Mr. Lanier. If you’re as smart as your reputation, I can trust you. For now, you need me to get out of here intact and you can make yourself useful by watching this fine corporate citizen here." His voice was bitter with irony. "Besides," he said, his tone becoming as cold as his eyes, "I’d hate to have to try to kill both of you just to make sure there won’t be any distractions."
Lanier knew Babel meant it, and his respect for him went up another notch. He never imagined that the kid was so ruthless.
He
might
just
be
able
to
pull
this
off
after
all
.
Lanier leveled his gun at Saigo and Babel gestured with his. "Up," Lanier said to Saigo, who reluctantly yielded his seat in front of the computer console. Babel took the chair as Lanier waved Saigo over to the far side of the room. Lanier took a position where he could keep an eye simultaneously on both the door and on Saigo and Babel while Babel was making his preparations.
Babel
flicked his eyes over the displays and monitors of the terminal system, looking over the hardware and software interfaces. He opened a panel in the side of the terminal and produced a thin fiber-optic cable that quietly unreeled from a hidden spool. He brought the cable up behind his ear and slipped the terminator into his jack with a solid click. His eyes rolled back into his head and he seemed to slip into a trance state like in the interrogation room. The monitors and indicators on the terminal began to flicker strangely, showing only a cascade of alphanumeric characters dancing and flowing across them. For a moment Lanier and Saigo watched the technoshaman work in fascination. Lanier had seen Babel use his abilities before, but
Saigo could only stare in fascination as he watched Babel access the computer system using nothing more than the power of his altered brain and his built-in headware.
The seconds dragged by as Babel sat silently at the console. Lanier turned his attention back to Saigo, who stood near the corner of the room, hands at his sides where Lanier could see them. He could see Saigo’s mind racing to come up with a means of turning the situation to his advantage. He also noticed Babel’s gun lying on top of the console where he’d left it, forgotten. Lanier made his way over to the console and picked up the gun. Checking to see that the safety was on, he slung it by the strap over his shoulder, keeping the other Uzi trained on Saigo.
"Don’t be a fool, Lanier," Saigo said quietly. "Give up this madness, and I won’t have to tell the Renraku board anything about this."
"The way I see it, you’re not going to get a chance to tell them anyway."
"Are you going to kill me, then? That won’t do you any good, you know. There are plenty of other witnesses to your involvement in this affair and, from what Michael has said, they’re all still alive.
Unless you’re going to kill them as well.
I’m sure you’re ruthless enough to do it."
"Don’t forget that," Lanier said.
"What about him?" Saigo said, with a nod of his head toward Babel. "Do you really think you can trust him? I thought so too, before he betrayed me and the company that made him everything he is. He’s mad, Lanier. Whatever the otaku did to him, it’s unbalanced his mind. And you’re allowing him access to Renraku’s central data network. If he isn’t killed by the ice protecting the central system, he’ll be able to do untold damage. Are you willing to allow that to happen? He’s just using you. What if he means to start a conflict with the other corporations? Are you going to just stand by and watch while this . . . madman does whatever he wants to Renraku? Your stock could be worthless by now."
"My stock in Renraku has always been worthless," Lanier said. "Renraku should have been smart enough to stay where it was instead of trying to mess with the top-tier corporations."
Saigo raised an eyebrow and a slow smile dawned on his face. "So that’s it, eh? You still hold some loyalty to your former employers at Fuchi. I am surprised, Lanier-san. You are not the honorless mercenary I thought you were.
My compliments.
I originally suspected that your falling out with Villiers was anything but genuine, but you convinced me otherwise. Those attempts on your life made by Fuchi after your appointment to the Renraku board were ... most convincing."
"They were meant to be."
"And Villiers allowed you to give Renraku information on Fuchi operations simply to improve your alibi."
"Sacrifice a few pawns to capture the king," Lanier said. He didn’t mention that those Fuchi operations had most belonged to the Yamana and Nakatomi families, who were arrayed against Villiers as well. By leaking information on them to Renraku through Lanier, Villiers was killing two birds with one stone.
"All to allow you the opportunity to infiltrate Renraku and discover the secret of the rapid growth threatening Fuchi’s bottom line. Only you seem to have discovered more than you bargained for." Saigo threw a glance toward Babel, sitting motionless in front of the console. Occasionally, his lips moved, forming silent words and chants. Now and again, a muscle twitched, like a man responding to a dream.
What
if
this
kid
is
crazy?
Lanier thought.
What’s
to
stop
me
from
simply
killing
him
and
Saigo
and
getting
the
frag
out
of
here?
If
I
could
make
it
to
the
garage
or
the
helipad,
I
might
be
able
to
get
away
clean
.
I
could
get
sanctuary
with
Villiers
until
it’s
safe
or
maybe
even
convince
Renraku
I
helped
solve
their
problem
for
them
.
But Lanier had seen enough of the things Babel could do and had to assume the kid was still in control of the building’s security and computer systems, one way or another. Glancing over at the security door to the computer room, he knew there was a real possibility he might never be able to get out of the room without Babel’s help.
"I have the codes for the security system," Saigo said as if reading Lanier’s thoughts. "I could get you out of here with me. You can do with the boy what you want." Lanier considered that offer. It was tempting, but he doubted Saigo would ever let him walk out of here alive, and certainly not with Babel and all his information about the otaku.
"I don’t think so, Saigo. Babel needed to get back to you for a reason, and I’m willing to bet it’s going to hurt Renraku more than it
will
me. And if I’m wrong and I don’t have a shot at getting what he knows, then I’m going to make sure nobody ever gets it."
Eli,
Eli,
lama
sabachthani
?
...
My
God,
my
God,
why
hast
thou
forsaken
me?
—Matthew 27:46
Inside the Renraku private local telecom grid, I work my technomancy. Jacked into the terminal inside the Renraku installation, I have access to the central nodes of the company’s communications system—all of the important corporate data-processing centers. From outside, the grid is protected by a wall of ice, a virtual glacier so powerful nothing could possibly break through without suffering terrible damage and setting off every alarm in creation. From within, the system is open to anyone with the means, and I have the power of my channels, more power than any cyberdeck could ever offer. I am inside the system, a Trojan horse sent as a gift back to the enemy like the virus I told Lanier about. But I must be
cautious,
the body of the Renraku network still has defenses to guard it against viruses.
On the shimmering black plane of the Matrix I call on my helper spirits to attend me. Rook is already in the system, and comes immediately at my summons, a raven of black chrome, feathers glossy and picked out in remarkable detail. She settles on my shoulder in a chiming flutter of metallic wings and whispers in my ear of the wisdom she had gleaned from the system so far. The security subroutines are tied up in knots the Renraku technicians will need days to undo, but it will be too late before they even begin.
Bakemono appears out of the depths of my cloak from behind my leg and scuttles in a crouch, his knuckles dragging along the ground. He looks up at me and awaits my command as I draw my sword from the pouch at my side.
It begins as a sphere of liquid silver shimmering in the light within the system, like mercury suspended in zero-gravity. The cool metal ripples at my touch and its form begins to shift and flow. The silvery metal stretches out and assumes the shape of my sacred blade, the embodiment of my will in the electron world. With my magical blade in hand, few of the inhabitants of the Matrix can stand against me.
I assess the datapath through the Renraku system and we are off at the speed of light. In a matter of seconds we reach the Chiba grid halfway around the world. It is here, in the heart of the Renraku system, where my destiny will truly begin. I hope Papa Lo is right, and that I will know what I must do when the time comes.
The system is a vast virtual palace in the depths of the Matrix, modeled on
There is a bustle of activity all around me. Peasants and servants, representing functionary programs, move quickly about their business, operating systems and transporting data from place to place. Couriers depart from all of the gates of the castle to distant places, bearing messages for their masters. Grim-faced samurai stand guard over the courtyard, but none of them react to my presence. Not yet.
I gather my cloak around me and follow the path of the messengers back into the castle itself. I walk through the corridors looking for the source of the messages the system is sending out across the world to other Renraku systems. Extending the power of my channels, I can sense the flow of information through the system. Finding the main routing processor is difficult, but not overly so for me. I follow the path I sense through the castle’s maze of corridors to reach a paper-walled room in its depths.
A samurai stands guard outside of the room. I pull my cloak close around me and step closer. Taking a small pinch of glittering dust from my pouch and executing a deep bow, I whisper the words to transform the appearance of my persona in the eyes of the guardian, a simple illusion. The samurai’s lifeless eyes stare back at me and he steps aside as the door slides open.
The room within is Spartan in its simplicity. A nobleman, dressed in a silk kimono showing the Renraku dot-and-waveform logo design sits behind a low desk on the floor. On the desk are writing implements, paper and ink held in delicate porcelain vessels. Two armored samurai stand behind the noble, their faces as impassive as stone. The nobleman produces beautiful calligraphy on the creamy pages of rice paper set before him, then folds them carefully and passes them into the hands of a messenger to take them out of the room. These are the instructions from the central routing processors, directing e-mails, faxes, and other data from Renraku headquarters out to the four corners of the world. Closing the door panel behind me, I approach the nobleman.
Without warning, the two samurai spring to life and move toward me. My deception did not fool them, and I extend my senses toward them. They are SKs! Semi-Autonomous Knowbots are near legendary in the Matrix; sophisticated adaptive programs that come near to being artificially intelligent. Renraku created them and has no doubt improved them over the years. They are too sophisticated to be fooled by my illusions and deceptions.
If I am to succeed, I have to get past the knowbots without letting them set off an alarm in the system. Already the system is trying to send out word of my intrusion. I send Rook winging away to lead the signal astray and buy me some time. The samurai draw their katanas and step closer, sandaled feet slapping against the tatami mats covering the floor.
I flip my cloak aside and show my own sword, the blade gleaming. Bakemono huddles near my left leg, baring his fangs and snarling at the approaching warriors.