Virtual Immortality Read online

Oliver opened his mind, sensing her emotion. “You feel it’s beneath you?”

  Indignation.

  “No… I don’t, I’m not like my father. I’m…”

  Sadness.

  “…not built for this kind of work, my education is not being used, and…” She looked off to the side at the floor.

  Fear.

  “Go on. What is frightening you?”

  Anger.

  “It’s bad enough that I could get killed at any time by some ganger or criminal, but I’m just as worried the other cops are going to let me die or lock me in some cabinet again.”

  Loneliness.

  “I feel isolated out there, like I have no backup. They’d leave me to die. Everyone but Vincent.”

  Love.

  Nina paused. “Wait… scared? I’m not…” Nina’s eyes locked onto his rank insignia―a matte black strip with a thick 0 next to a lieutenant’s bar.

  They’re all psionic. Is he in my brain?

  Terror.

  Oliver held up his hands. “Ms. Duchenne, please relax. You have nothing to fear from me. Please, tell me about… Officer Montoya is it?”

  Devotion.

  Nina relaxed, thinking about him. “He doesn’t treat me like an unwanted kid hanging out at her father’s job.” She hung her head. “Even other female officers have it in for me. In the locker room…”

  Shame.

  “I have a feeling I know what is going on, Ms. Duchenne. Their attitudes are driven primarily by fear.”

  One did not have to be an empath like Lt. Oliver to read the emotion from Nina’s face at that comment. “Fear? Of me? Are you serious?”

  He chuckled. “Not fear of you, Nina. Is it okay if I call you Nina?”

  She frowned at the wall. “Sure… umm, sir.”

  “It’s fear of how you will react in a dangerous situation. With all due respect, your goal is to be reassigned to Division 2, forensics specifically. That is a rear echelon position that does not encounter hostile situations. I believe that the other officers have not come to trust you in the field.”

  Nina glanced at the rug. She did not trust herself in the field, and she knew full well how the other cops felt. “Yeah…” was all she could muster.

  The rear wall glowed with different colors as he flipped through her file on his holo-terminal. “Your aptitude tests were astounding. Your physical was okay… agility and coordination scores were impressive, strength and endurance well…”

  “Yeah, I know. I was meant to be a decoration on the arm of a wealthy idiot.”

  “Your family is quite comfortable.”

  Nina glared. “That has nothing to do with…” Her mouth outran her brain. “My father did not pay anyone off. If he did, I would have gone right to Div 2 without this bullshit.”

  He made a fanning motion. “Whoa, whoa, slow down.”

  The sudden spike of anger caused him to make a note in her file. “We can talk about your father later if you would like to.”

  “It’s a month and a week past two years. My application for Division 2 is just sitting in cyberspace. Does it usually take this long? Does the brass think I’m a joke too?” She hissed air in through her teeth, trying not to cry in front of him. Tears worked on Daddy; here, they would mark her as weak.

  Oliver rubbed his chin with a lone finger as his eyes fixed upon the little woman who sat across from him. She seemed eager to get out of Division 1 and was quite miserable there, but not miserable enough to quit. At the thought of passing the two-year mark, she broke out in a cold sweat. He sensed more to it than a desire to climb the career ladder; she was terrified of getting hurt. Fear seeped from her like fog from dry ice.

  “Well, I am not personally involved in that process. Zero does things a little differently than the rest of the force.” He flashed an offbeat smile, which seemed to unsettle her more. “Nina, no one is going to mess with your mind. I am an empath, not a telepath.”

  “An empath?” She clung to the helmet in her lap.

  “Most people don’t care to understand the subtle differences in psionic talents. Those who specialize in reading the minds of others are telepaths. My gift is based on emotion rather than thought. I can feel what other people feel and understand what their emotional state is. Like most of us, I have a degree of telepathic talent, but it is not my strongest ability.”

  Nina shifted in her seat. Many citizens, herself included, feared psionics regardless of what they could do.

  “I can tell you are frightened right now.” He tried his most relaxing voice. “I could make you feel calm and at ease if I wanted to, but that would be unethical.” He paused to smile. “Division 0 was formed to deal with psionic criminals. Fight fire with fire, you know. We are the good guys.”

  Nina tried to relax. In a way, Lieutenant Nathaniel Oliver was a fellow officer, just in a unit that everyone spoke about in whispers and avoided whenever possible.

  “I heard that Div 0 only got acknowledged after they got exposed, that they’d been around for a long time before that, but no one knew.”

  She cringed inside for daring to say that, but his unexpected laughter stunned her.

  “I wasn’t around back then, so I cannot say for sure. Anything is possible I suppose, considering we still try to keep a low profile to avoid creating panic. There really isn’t a need for the entire citizenry to become experts on psionic matters.” He leaned forward, smiling. “Tell me, what do you think about the other officers’ opinion of you?”

  “I don’t hold it against them. I know I’m not soldier material. I want to use my education, not run around the city with a gun.” She felt a lump climbing her throat. “It’s just so hard to go out there when you wonder if that backup you call for will actually show up.” She paused before her emotion showed in her voice, but after a minute let out a defeated whisper. “I just want to move on before I get someone hurt.”

  Is he doing something to me? I never even admitted that to Mom.

  He listened, typing and nodding.

  “If it’s true that they don’t like me because they think I’m just here for the paycheck and I don’t care about being a cop, they’re wrong. I do care about being a cop, just not this kind of cop.”

  Awkward silence lingered for a moment while he finished entering a thought.

  “The two-year policy was put in place years ago when the roster was very thin. They had everyone rushing for spots with 5 and 6. It may be time to reconsider that policy, but a decision like that would have to come from way above my pay grade.” He laughed. “I do think that there is an issue of trust here on both sides… and you are correct in that it could get someone hurt. My opinion, and it’s one that I will share with Captain Farris, is that you should fly a desk for a while until your transition goes through.”

  She nodded. “That’s okay. I can deal with a desk. I’m no glory hound. Wait, did you say there were too many volunteers for Division 5?”

  “Yes, if you can believe it.” He whistled. “Most were high-testosterone adrenaline junkies looking to get their hands on large weapons.”

  “But they send D5 after cyborgs.” She shivered.

  He stood up and extended a hand to her. “I think we’re about done for now. You may have to deal with another day or two of patrol detail until Farris can get the proverbial paperwork in motion. Can you handle that?”

  Nina grinned. The thought of an imminent move to Division 2 turned on a light at the end of a lengthy, exhausting tunnel. She all but bounced out of her chair to shake hands with the man whom, moments ago, she feared would melt her mind.

  “No problem, sir.” She did not know whether to shake hands or salute him.

  Oliver laughed. “You are the first person I have ever seen happy about being put on desk duty.”

  fficer Eddie Alvin was a big guy. Six and a half feet tall and broad-shouldered, he had won the Division 1 regional weightlifting competition four years running in the un-augmented class. He sauntered out from behind a desk int
o Nina’s path, disturbing her good mood.

  “Well, well, what’s got Princess Nina so happy?”

  Nina’s usual reaction would have been to go back the way she came. Today, she felt an upwelling of courage borne on the wings of her imminent transfer. She stopped in front of him, sighed, and looked up into his condescending glare. The last time she rolled up on him like that, she wound up locked in an armor cabinet for three hours, unable to move in the person-shaped space.

  “Morning, Eddie.” Nina folded her arms. “The way I see it, there’s one of two things going on here. One, either you’ve got about an inch and a half of dick left after all the Synroids you’ve taken and you need to give a little woman like me a hard time to impress yourself, or you are a truly dedicated cop who thinks I’m a liability who’ll get someone hurt.”

  Alvin blinked in disbelief at the sudden bravado. The liability bit had been on everyone’s mind for months, but no one had ever had the balls to say it to her. Hearing Nina say it stunned the whole squad into silence. He glared. He had not heard anything after the dick joke, failing to notice the backhanded compliment.

  “I won’t be in your way much longer. My transfer is about to go through, so I’ll be elbow-deep in maggots soon enough. Of course, if you’re still blocking me because of the penis-size issue, just stuff me in an armor cabinet already and let’s both get on with the rest of our day.”

  Alvin’s face reddened as both his hands clenched into fists. “You…”

  Nina stood her ground, squinting.

  “What are you gonna do Eddie, punch me? Too bad. I guess the problem really is dick size.”

  Alvin lurched backwards as his partner Don prevented an imminent demotion for assaulting a fellow officer. Nina took advantage of the brewing argument to slip past them and cut through the ops center.

  She jogged past rows of gleaming desks through a sea of azure light and ethereal holograms. A floor-to-ceiling curtain of blue light divided the room in half. It displayed a map of the city where blue dots ghosted the position of every patrol craft and officer in the area. The hologram shimmered into sparkles around her silhouette for as long as it took her to walk through it. Out the far end of the control room, she ducked into a hallway into a common area.

  She found Vincent by the assignment board, engrossed by the floating text, and wrapped her arms around him from behind.

  He patted her hand. “Not here. You know how cops are.”

  Nina smirked. “If they haven’t figured it out by now, they shouldn’t be wearing the uniform.”

  “Are we that obvious?”

  Her answering smile fell flat as she saw what he was reading.

  “Why did our patrol route change?” Her voice faltered.

  Vincent turned and put his hands on her shoulders. “Calm down. What’s got you so worked up? Did you forget Senator Garr’s media interview this afternoon?”

  “Oh…” Nina slouched. “Right. I forgot.” Downcast eyes caught the time on her forearm panel. “Shit! We should have been out there ten minutes ago.”

  She ran past rows of weapon lockers and armor storage bays, smiling. Not only was Vincent a dedicated cop, marksman, and a stunt pilot, he was quite handsome. The polar opposite of Eddie Alvin, he had a quirky irreverent sense of humor and cared more about other people than himself. Alvin, on the other hand, was the first person to tell you how great Alvin was.

  The cold air outside chased away her daydreams about what they would be doing when their shift ended. As Vincent brought the patrol craft up to cruising altitude, Nina checked her sidearm again. She usually didn’t fuss with her weapon, but, today, she had checked it twice already.

  “Expecting trouble?” Vincent lifted an eyebrow.

  “I hope not. It’s just superstition. Something always goes pear-shaped when you’ve only got a few days left.”

  “Few days? Guess it didn’t go well with the spook?”

  She beamed. “It did! He said he doesn’t think I should be out on the streets. They’re gonna give me a desk for a while till the transfer becomes official.”

  “Nonsense, you’re a fine cop.”

  She stared at the lines of green light that drifted across his face. “You know it’s what I’ve wanted since I took this job. Lieutenant Oliver thinks he can hurry it along.”

  “I know. I’m just worried about what I’m going to get stuck with for a new partner.”

  “It’s not like we won’t see each other anymore. We should have dinner with my parents before they decide to hire a private investigator to find my mystery man.”

  The forced smile that accompanied any talk of long-term commitment appeared. He had a cute kind of uncomfortable, and she enjoyed watching him squirm in his seat. He’d let her know she went beyond simple girlfriend, but he wanted to take it slow. A few cheap shots from the guys about her family’s money left him gun shy about giving her the wrong impression. He admired her spirit, the way she had jumped headfirst into an untenable situation and had the resilience to keep at it despite all the abuse.

  Hours passed as they cruised the patrol route. Nina occupied herself monitoring various systems that scanned for distress signals from the citizenry. Anything from burglar alarms to stolen cars and even tracking implants meant to foil abductions could beacon at any moment.

  She dutifully cycled through the holographic displays, and Vincent chuckled at her intensity. If she remained focused, she would not think about the danger lurking in every dark alley.

  A pack of augmented thugs hung out against the side of a blown-out apartment building, their bodies gleaming with random bits of metal. A few waved, one blew a kiss, and several gave them the finger. Any of them would just as readily shoot at them than obey an order to disperse. After two months on the job, she had come to understand how and why the police changed after the corporate war.

  Almost three hundred years ago, while trying to protect their interests around the world from all manner of uncertainty from terrorists to unstable regimes, corporations had begun to grow private security forces into military ones. By 2092, the American corporations decided they no longer needed to pay taxes to a government they had no use for.

  That was when the shooting started. The government had been slow to react, not taking the threat seriously at first. Between biopharma companies’ gene-altered killing machines and robotics companies’ killer androids, the government hadn’t stood a chance. A few ill-planned military strikes with nuclear weapons left much of the interior uninhabitable. People flooded to the coasts, overpopulating cities that grew until the entire seaboard had become one vast expanse of panic-riddled society.

  As the government scrambled for order, the corporations armed the disaffected and the unemployed. Bombs, guns, and gangs left most people trapped in their homes. The government had been left with few options to restore order.

  Miranda rights, search warrants, all of that went away. Now, the color of the uniforms represented the only real difference between the police and the military, that and the size of their weapons. At first, no one noticed the slow erosion of civil liberties; the corporate burn squads were a greater threat that sent people into the arms of a protector government.

  When the war ended, the government conveniently forgot to put things back.

  The control sticks creaked in Vincent’s grip as he worked his tension out. For almost two years, he had formed a nice, predictable routine around her. A new partner would change things, but at least Nina would be safer.

  On a straightaway, he turned with a loving stare, smiling at her focused look as she flicked through scanning modes and tried not to think about only having a day or two left. When he first met her, he figured she would have quit in a month, but she surprised him. Despite all the torment, here she still was. He grinned as reminiscence coincided with an immediate need.

  “Hey, hon, remember that time that we found you wrapped up in tape in the autoshower room?”

  Nina shuddered at the memory of tape on her
skin. “They left me there all goddamn night. How could I forget. I think I still have tile marks on my ass.”

  “Want to grab some burritos?”

  Six minutes later, the ionic downblast vaporized dry spots on the traction-coated plastisteel road as they landed in front of “The Burrito Baron.” The wet ground glimmered in the glow of innumerable holographic signs and passing ad-bots. Vincent jumped out of the door, evading her sudden itch to punch him one more time.

  As he ran, laughing, to pick up the order, she folded her arms and fumed. Being trapped on the floor of the shower room wearing only a roll and a half of tape for eleven hours was not a pleasant memory, even if they did call it one of those “rite of passage” things everyone had to endure. She sulked, wondering if she got it worse because they saw her as a weak link. She forced it out of her head and smiled. Soon Div 1 would be a memory, and none of what any of them had done to her would matter.

  A take-out burrito in the patrol car wasn’t exactly her dream celebration dinner, but at least she had a half hour with Vincent. She wanted to lean across the seat and hold him as he pulled the car into the air; instead, she pouted and looked down at crowds of press, protestors, and spectators milling about in the restricted area around the West City Municipal Center.

  Ahead of them, a massive advert bot hung at the same altitude as their patrol craft. Billboard-sized holograms on either side of it bombarded the crowd with employment opportunities on Mars, the latest in cosmetic cyberware, an ad for implanted skill chips, the obligatory military recruitment spot, and of course―a litany of erotic entertainment products.

  “What’s that?” Nina pointed.

  An orange blur flickered at the edge of the grey sphere on the scanner, representing the huge ad-bot, resembling a solar eclipse.

  Vincent edged the patrol craft closer. A civilian hovercar darted out and zoomed down a side street, diving for the ground. The shimmer grew into an orange dot that remained solid, text filled in beside it with tags, specs, and current speed. Because the patrol craft’s sensors lost track of it as a separate object from the bot, Vincent knew the driver had to have been within inches of it.