The man whimpered.
“Starvation is a hell of a way to go,” she continued.“And if I let you walk, well…” Sesi took a deep breath.“All I’m saying is that if you changed your mind, you wouldn’t even be able to hold the gun to do it yourself.”
Tornit returned with Sesi’s glove.
“This rope here,” Sesi fingered the rough cords still binding the man to the broken chair.“This is strangely expensive stuff.”
Sesi grabbed an end of rope with her gloved hand, the node of the PalmInter making contact.Suddenly the rope lit up a brilliantblue-white.
“This is what you were guarding when we found you.”
The man nodded painfully.
“What the fuck is it that makes this so expensive?”
The man coughed again, spitting out a tooth.He chuckled just enough to avoid breaking a rib.“Do you know how much people pay for sex toys?”
Sesi narrowed her eyes.“Go on.”
“It’s the only real experience left,” he spat.“We’re gone in a couple generations anyway.We eat plastic.Drink recycled sea water.There’s no point building anything anymore.There’s just fucking and showing off fucking.”
“So, just marketing then,” Sesi glowered.
“Nah.This shit is grown this way.All natural – just like whoever they’re going home with.No pornbots for him.”The man tried to laugh but only gurgled.
“Where did it come from then?”
There was no answer, only fluid-filled breathing.
Sesi stood.“You’ve got hours like this.Maybe days.Tell me and I’ll finish it now.”
“Another of 21’s hallucinations,” the man sputtered.
The ulu flashed and there were no more sounds, only a spreading pool of crimson.
Sesi showered.She was used to getting her hands dirty, but this was about hermother.And she got nothing.No clues as to who had killed her, only that this man had been her boss when she died.
Sesi remembered the day she didn’t come back.She had promised to help them collect shells on the beach.The twins had sat together in the sand and rocks for hours, Sesi with her arms around her crying brother, staring in the direction of the city until Qimmiq had come for them.
She didn’t remember crying herself.Shedidremember telling herself that she would never break a promise.Even then, she must have known action would feel better than tears.
And then when Siku got his leg caught in an old trap for bears that no longer existed, Qimmiq taught Sesi how to run the lines.Siku remained at home and did the domestic tasks.Sesi provided the food.Which was just as well because Sesi needed the space.She needed it to seethe at her mother.And when she matured, she needed it to rage at whoever had taken her from them.
And now, after all that, she still had nothing.
Not nothing, she corrected herself.Her mother might have been forgettable by everyone else, but they would remember Sesi.She could still cause damage.This low-level shitstain would be just the beginning.
When she stepped out of the shower, she found Siku waiting for her.Thin and reedy, he leaned up against the wall, favouring his left side.Unlike Tornit, he preferred to avoid tech, if he could.Which is why it was him who usually went to make deals.None of them were in the system, but Siku couldn’t leave a trace if he tried.
And while that might seem stupid, Siku was the hand that extended greeting.Anyone foolish enough to threaten Siku would be dealt with by their own gang leaders.Because everyone knew that Sesi followed close behind – the hand with the knife.
“I need an AI psych.”Sesi towelled off her hair and sat at her desk.
“We have an AI psych.”
Sesi tossed the towel in the corner and shook her head.“She won’t use a DocPod again.”
“Why do we need a DocPod?”
