“I needed some coffee,” Jacob said.
“Just give yourself some stimulant code,” Gomez said.
“Then I wouldn’t need the coffee, and I need the coffee.”
“But if you give… Never mind, let’s get in,” Gomez said. He shook his head and raised the gate.
Chapter 9
Jacob finished his story and took a sip of his now cold coffee. The backroom of Retro Media hummed with the sound of electronics, and the closed-circuit security system behind Gomez and Sandy cycled through images of The Galleria.
Sandy spoke first. “That’s some crazy shit.”
Gomez looked doubtful. “They already gave you forty grand?”
“He told me I would have it as soon as I said yes.”
“And you haven’t yet?” Gomez asked.
“No. Like I told Johnson, I can’t pull off something this big alone. I need help. I wasn’t going to say yes before I got that help,” Jacob said, putting his cup on his desk.
“And we are that help?” Sandy asked.
Jacob rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know anyone else I would even tell about this. I understand if you don’t want to help. Either one of you. To be honest, it freaks me the hell out. I mean, we’ve pulled some jobs here and there, but this is way bigger than anything I’ve even thought of before.”
Sandy nodded. “Then why you?” she asked.
“Because of my history with Your Better Life, and my skills.” And my desperation, he added mentally.
Gomez leaned forward in his chair. “And us.”
Jacob looked at him, puzzled.
“You said this Johnson knew all about you and he said you and your friends are resourceful, so I assume he knows all about me and Sandy, even Kat and Two-Step. We all have hacking skills. I’ve got military and security experience. So does Kat. Hell, I even know someone who works security in the Better Life building. And Sandy has security experience too. ”
Sandy laughed. “I got fired two weeks after I started.”
Gomez nodded. “But you’re trained in cybersecurity. That’s more than most people can say. I think Johnson and whoever he works for did their homework.”
The three of them sat, silent. Jacob felt as if the weight of knowing someone had that much information on them took away their ability to speak. They all knew that surveillance was ever-present, and they were the type of people who knew enough about it to avoid most. But this was not just surveillance. This was another level altogether. This was prying. An invasion.
“What if you say no?” Sandy asked.
“Johnson said he didn’t think I would say no.”
“Did he give you a timeline?” Gomez asked.
“I need to tell him today.”
“And for the job?”
“That’s not as clear, just sometime before Your Better Life announces the release of the new chips.”
“Did he have any idea when that will be?” Sandy asked.
“Maybe six weeks.”
Gomez stood and checked the time. “Two-Step is going to be here soon. We need to decide if we are doing this before he gets here. He’s been helpful before, but I don’t want the kid wrapped up in this. He’s too inexperienced.”
“You said we,” Sandy said.
Jacob noticed that also.
“Well, like Jacob said, he can’t do it alone.”
“Well,” Sandy said, imitating his tone, “what makes you think I want to be part of this ‘we’?”
“I don’t know. The challenge. And your motherly instincts to protect us,” Gomez said with a smile.
“Motherly instincts your ass. But I could see the two of you fucking this up without me.”
“Ha! I’m the…” Gomez said before the sound of Two-Step opening the gate interrupted him. “So, do we do it?”
“I’m in,” Sandy said.
“Now I don’t have a choice,” Jacob said.
“Good,” Gomez said, “we’re all in.”
Two-Step came into the room. “All in on what?” he asked.
“What?” Gomez asked.
Two-Step put his backpack on his workbench. “You said you were all in. All in on what?”
“Nothing that concerns you,” Gomez said. “Don’t you have something to do?”
“I just got here.”
Gomez gave him a blank stare.
“Yeah, but if you guys have something lined up, I want to help,” Two-Step said.
“You can help by finishing that damn Tandy you’ve been working on, or this security system,” Gomez said, dropping the subject.
With resignation on his face, Two-Step sat down in front of the Tandy, muttering just loud enough to not be heard.
“Well,” Sandy said, standing, “I’ve got to go. I’ve got a new program I’m working on for tonight.”
Jacob stood also. “I’ll walk you to the street.”
Chapter 10
The Galleria pulsated with its usual activity. The halls and walkways that had been empty an hour ago were now teaming with, as Johnson put it, “small-time criminals and social outcasts.” A small girl traded vegetables from the garden for a pair of worn Nike shoes; the same blonde with dreadlocks they saw earlier sold handmade steampunk style jewelry made from upcycled computer parts to a pair of teenagers who looked like they came from corporate housing; a small man with a cybernetic arm that had pressure gauges on the elbow sold paperback books out of a pushcart; one of the sex shops was getting an early start and two of its workers, one male and one female, both genetically altered to have a fine golden fur over most of their body, stood in the shop’s show window tempting those passing by; a street preacher named Father Gordon stood on a milk crate preaching the ills of the material world and the everlasting glory of uploading to the cloud.
“I wonder why he hasn’t uploaded himself yet?” Jacob asked after they passed Father Gordon.
“Then who would be here to preach the word?”
Jacob laughed. “True.”
“Do you want to cut through the garden? I love the smell of it after they water the plants in the morning,” Sandy said.
“Sure,” Jacob said. Then after a moment, “You don’t have to do this, you know?”
“What? Get ready for work?”
“No. Helping out with this Your Better Life thing.”
Sandy pulled a twig off a rosemary bush and rubbed it in the palm of her hands, taking a deep breath of it afterward. “I know,”
