“Drawn together,” he said. “By their hatred of Jack?”
“Sort of. They’ve all lost someone.”
Hardy looked down at his hands, hovering over the gap between his knees. He had wondered. People hated Jack on principle, but to actually try to bring him down was different.
“Les lost his mom,” she said. “Money trouble. She didn’t know what she was getting into. Simek’s brother works there, but he says it’s not him anymore.”
“Z?” he asked.
“See what she’s got there?” Z still held the disc, but he could tell she didn’t want to look at it. “That implant? Got it out of her sister.”
Hardy stared at his fingernails. He had worked for Jack. He couldn’t remember much of that—just the few memories he had managed to reconnect. But he knew the kinds of things he had done, even if they weren’t specific memories.
“Your sister,” he said, “Lynn. You know what they’re doing to her?”
Mara looked away as she spoke, and he tried to imagine what it would be like to have family in there. “Aspect-selective stuff,” she said. “Isolating parts of her personality. Sticking them in new bodies.”
“Clones?” That was a new one.
“Just an aspect.” She shrugged. “Barely even a person.”
Silence fell between them, and he went back to watching Z at her worktable. The lights in her hair were out. Paying respect to her sister, maybe.
“Look,” Mara said, “I’m sorry. About bringing you into this.”
He hadn’t had a breath in a couple of hours. His head hurt, but he felt he could trust his thoughts, untainted by the drug. “It’s all right,” he said. “Maybe I’d have done the same.”
Besides, he wanted Jack gone too.
7
Z HAD ANESTHETIZED her arm and cut a slit just big enough for the disc implant to lay beneath her skin, biotech activated. Now they stood across the street from Jack’s. Nobody said anything. There wasn’t any real plan beyond the basics. Get in, Les and Simek get the crowns, and he, Mara, and Z would get the girl.
The camera was tilted just too low to see them, but it made Hardy nervous. Z had done some research, and the two-part key was all it would take. It all felt too easy. Where was that guard? Was the two-part key really enough? Maybe the camera was a third part, scanning for identification.
It wouldn’t find anything, anyway. The implant was hacked somehow. Z had tried explaining it, but it was beyond him. It wasn’t the signal of any one employee, but a blanket signal that covered everyone. It made sense to her; that was all that mattered.
Mara’s silence bothered him. She stood only a few feet away, but the distance was palpable. She was avoiding him, and he couldn’t imagine why. Maybe just worried about her sister, or even about herself, or Les, or Z, or Simek. Probably not about him. He was just a tool the group was using. Who cares if you break a hammer?
“Alright,” Les said. His voice was an odd crack in the silence of the street. No sound came from Jack’s; it was eerie. Maybe nothing was going on. It was after business hours, but when a place held so much, there were always going to be guards.
The word hung in the air for a few moments, waiting to be backed up by someone else. Everyone was quiet. Even Z, the fibers of her hair still off, looked down at her shoes. “Yeah,” Simek said finally. “Let’s go.”
Hardy’s mind ached, and the sweat of withdrawal made a sheen over his skin. He’d asked for a breath—just a little something to get him through their little mission—but Mara kept her eyes on the ground or on the walls. They didn’t meet his a single time. “Let’s just get through this,” she’d said, and walked away.
Something was on her mind, and he was paying for it in pain. On the other hand, he could be sure of his mental clarity. He was doing this because he wanted to, not because he was being tricked and juiced. Not this time, at least.
The five of them made their way across the street, motions casual and relaxed, but they were rabbits ready to bolt. The camera watched them approach. Z raised her keycard and the signal went out from her card and from her implant. With hope, the combination would get them in and not set off any alarms.
Or maybe it wouldn’t work. The door wouldn’t open, and no alarms would go off. They could just walk away and plan things properly. Get more members. Hit Jack hard.
Or guards would spill out and kill them where they stood.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
They went in fast, down the hall together, but Les and Simek branched off quick, heading for what Hardy had identified as the crown room. It was on the second floor, same as Lynn’s whie silhouette, but closer to another stairwell. He and the girls would go straight. Mara could probably take care of herself, but with only Z along that left them as the only muscle. He didn’t like that idea.
The stairs passed under their feet, black-painted grates digging into their shoes. Despite their speed, they passed quietly over them. They were upstairs, heading for the room four doors down, where Lynn was captive. Getting in had been easy; they hadn’t seen any guards, and it made Hardy nervous. He could feel those nerves beside him, radiating from Mara.
Something was wrong. A click he hadn’t realized he had heard. The distinct lack of a second set of footsteps behind him. He turned, still running. Z was gone.
A door opened behind them. He found the guards. “Dammit! Keep running!” he said to Mara, and turned back toward them.
They didn’t have guns, but the batons at their sides looked like more than enough. And they
