Brave New Worlds

I flop down on Sandra's futon, narrowly missing a cat.

She puts mugs of tea on the table while I fish an envelope out of my shoulder bag. When she sits down next to me I place the envelope in her hands.

'Information,' I say, 'and lots of it. ' She takes the data card out of the envelope and peers at it as if she can actually make sense of what it contains.

'This is all of them?'

'All the formulas set to come out over the next six months. I've included a release schedule so you'll know which ones will be hitting the street first. '

'The counter-formula team is gonna love this. '

'They'd better. That little card represents a month of my life spent smiling at banalities and pretending to care about other people's kids. '

'So you're ready to quit. ' She sounds relieved.

'I'd love to, but I don't think I can just yet. I still haven't found anything about this BeMod stuff. Tom keeps going on about it, but as far as I can tell it hasn't surfaced in R&D. '

'Isn't it weird that he seems so serious about BeMod but you can't find it at CraveTech?'

I laugh. 'So you think he has some other lab where he's developing chemicals he can use to rule the world?'

'Maybe not rule the world. just make a shitload of money, which is close enough. '

'You're serious, aren't you?'

She shifts uncomfortably on the futon. 'It just seems like he's been awfully specific about this BeMod stuff, and it hasn't turned up where you'd expect it. '

'So what are you suggesting?'

'I think it's time you broke up with him, and maybe quit CraveTech, too. '

'But if this BeMod stuff is in development somewhere, we'll need to get our hands on it and start on a counter-formula as soon as we can. '

'That's true. '

'And how do we do that if I don't keep seeing him?'

The cell leader finally overcomes the college buddy. 'Just be careful. Don't get too attached to him. '

I pick up the data card, two gig worth of corporate espionage. 'Does this seem like I'm too attached?'

I arrive at Tom's place in a foul mood. He doesn't notice. Dangerously oblivious.

We're still in the foyer when he starts in about BeMod.

'I read a fascinating study on endorphins today. Apparently you can stimulate—'

'Can we please talk about something other than biochemistry?' I drop my bag on the floor.

He looks surprised and a little hurt. 'I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was boring you. '

'You're not boring me. ' I reach for his hand as we head into the living room. 'I just think we have more in common than an interest in BeMods and DC Comics. ' I haven't gotten around to telling him I prefer Marvel.

He stops and pulls me back toward him. 'I love you. '

'See, there you go — I love me, too. Something else we have in common. '

'Oh for God's sake,' he sighs, collapsing on his down-filled couch. 'I'm trying to be serious. '

'I know. ' I sit down next to him. 'I'm sorry. I just need a little more time. '

'Okay. A little more time,' he says, kissing my forehead and then my neck.

It's so easy to kiss him back.

The next time I go to Sandra's, she has a data card for me.

'What's this?'

'A press release. It says CraveTech is voluntarily recalling all darts because internal studies have shown them to trigger heart attacks and strokes in a small but substantial segment of the population. We need you to send it out from the CraveTech network. '

I hand the card back to her. 'the media will figure out it's bogus. '

'Not before the stock plummets. We're set up to trigger a small drop, and the release will do the rest. '

'You know I won't be able to go back there after I send it. They'll trace it to me. '

'I know. ' I stare hard at her. She doesn't flinch.

'And I'll have to break up with Tom. '

'You need to do that anyway, Alex. It's been almost six months. That's too long. It's longer than you've dated anyone for real. '

'Sandra, sending this press release is just throwing a brick through a window. It's meaningless in the long run. They'll replace the window. The stock price will readjust. '

'But it will slow them down. '

'Sandra, if it isn't CraveTech, it'll be. '

'What?'

'Nothing. ' I take the card.

'You'll send the release?'

'I'll send it. '

I put the few personal items that decorated my cubicle in a gym bag. I never had a picture of Tom on my desk. that would have been indiscreet.

The press release glows on my work station, one twitch away from every major news outlet and the most incendiary of the minor ones. If I had a picture of Tom, I might have stared at it for a while, maybe even whispered Sorry to it.

But I don't, so I just flick Send.

I've come to break up with him. 'You're early,' he says when he greets me at the door. 'I've planned something special. ' I follow him out to the deck.

'For what?'

'Our six-month anniversary. ' there's a cloth-covered table and dining chairs, a silver champagne bucket on a stand. 'In another twenty minutes there'll be a sunset, too. ' He says this like he paid for it. 'But, you know,' he looks oddly apologetic, 'you're early. '

'Tom, I'm sorry. we're not going to have a six-month anniversary. '

I expect anything from him but the crooked Boy Genius smile I love so much. 'this isn't about the press release, is it?'

I sit, a little inelegantly in my surprise.

'What press release?'

He laughs. 'this conversation will probably be less awkward if I just tell you I had all your CraveTech e-mails routed to me before they went out. '

Ah.

'I was a little surprised that you actually sent it, but I do understand. I appreciate your beliefs. I love you for them — I want you to know that. ' He pours us each a glass of champagne. 'And besides, you really helped me out with those counter-formulas. '

I pick up my glass then set it down again. 'Helped you out?'

'Absolutely. My people made a couple of tweaks, though. Your group's design wasn't very cost effective at the ten thousand unit level. '

'Wait, wait, wait. You're going to manufacture our counter-formulas?'

'Oh, yes. The marketing campaign has been in development at a subsidiary company for weeks now. And the profit projections — Alex, you wouldn't believe it. Apparently people really, really hate the craving darts. ' Oh, my oblivious darling. 'they'll pay twice the cost of the actual food just to make the cravings go away. '

'But they won't have to. We'll be giving away the counter-formula for free. '

'Funny thing about that — the research shows people would rather pay a couple of bucks to get the antidote from a familiar, trusted source than from a pack of anarchists with a habit of blowing up buses. '

'Blowing up buses? What're you—'

'Oh, it's a little something we're planning for the fourth quarter. Disinformation campaign. It's ready for implementation now, but we think everyone will be more inclined to actively hate you during the holidays. '