She’d told Jack to come backstage once she’d finished. There was another anonymous corridor and another dressing-room door. Jagged music filtered through it. Jack thought he recognised Andrea’s voice, but it had been heavily treated. It was singing over a spoken word accompaniment, hustled along by soft beats, skipping apparently at random from one song to another. Jack knocked on the door and waited. There was no response. The hushed, discordant music continued. He knocked again, just as it began to fade out. Andrea said, ‘Come,’ and Jack stepped in.
‘Interesting tunes,’ he said.
‘Jack,’ she almost shouted from within her cowl, ‘what the hell are you playing at? I told you not to get involved. I don’t need a knight in shining armour. It’s bad for you and it’s worse for us.’
Jack hadn’t been expecting such an onslaught. Fist chuckled. [Ooo, this is going to be fun,] he said happily. [Maybe there won’t be any more investigating after all. Popcorn!]
‘I’m sorry, Andrea. I thought—’
‘No Jack, you didn’t think. You just went straight in, digging over dangerous ground. What did you tell Akhmatov or InSec? I’ve been so careful to let people think I really did overdose. And nobody can know Harry’s come back.’
‘Andrea, I’m not stupid. As far as they’re both concerned, I’m a Pantheon hater who broke into the Panther Czar to find out which god’s corrupt. It’s nothing to do with you two.’
‘Except Harry wanted to find out exactly the same thing. That’s why he reopened the Penderville case and that’s what got us killed. It’s got everything to do with us. For gods’ sake, Jack. You’ve put us both at risk. You’re in danger too.’
‘No we’re not. The bad guys have moved beyond that. For them it’s all about Fist. They want him unharmed. I can’t be touched either.’
[ Not mentioning the panthers, then?]
Remembered pain snarled in Jack, rubbing against his mind like fur, sticky with his own blood.
‘I’m going to sit down for a moment,’ he said.
‘Are you all right?’
‘Akhmatov set his panthers on me last night. But it wasn’t real, I’m fine.’
‘Clearly.’
Fist giggled.
‘And you say they can’t touch you,’ said Andrea. ‘I’ve seen how these people operate. At first hand. It will get worse.’
[Listen to her, Jack,] said Fist. [She knows.]
‘For now, this is as far as it’s going to go,’ said Jack. ‘Akhmatov was reined in. He didn’t even have me roughed up by a bent Docklands copper, I was taken straight to HQ. He won’t hurt me. Because they want Fist undamaged.’
‘So what? Let them have him.’
‘Fist is a weapon and they think they can control him. With Pantheon backing, they’ll be able to lift his cage.’
‘They’re not going to be stupid enough to attack the Totality. What else is he good for?’
‘What else?’ said Fist, spluttering into outraged existence. ‘What else?’
‘I’m sure he’ll explain,’ said Jack.
Andrea peered at him, fascinated. ‘I’ve heard so much about you, Fist. It’s – interesting – to finally meet you.’
That barely interrupted Fist’s rant. ‘If it wasn’t for this sodding cage, I could do quite a lot.’ He tried to look down his nose at Andrea, but even though he was standing on a table he was still shorter than her. ‘I’m a military grade systems infiltration unit. I may have been built on an accountant’ – he glared at Jack – ‘and I may look like some over-privileged chucklehead’ – his monocle shimmered in the light – ‘but believe me, I can break into anything I want. Not just the Totality. And when I look at how Station’s systems have been thrown together over the years – poof, so many holes!’
‘He’s almost how I imagined him,’ Andrea told Jack. ‘Only a little more – extreme.’
‘I could hack into any of them,’ continued Fist, waving a hand airily. ‘From the crappiest corporate server all the way up to the weave itself. Weaveselves, too. Maybe even the Coffin Drives! Maybe even fetches like you. Live, on the fly, pretty much instantly.’
‘It must have been so difficult living with him,’ sighed Andrea.
‘You get used to it. After a while.’
Fist finally registered that she and Jack were only barely listening to him. ‘Excuse me?’ he said. ‘I believe I’m talking? Gods, being ignored by meatsacks is bad enough. I thought I’d at least get some respect from another digital intelligence.’
Andrea seemed to be about to snap back at him, but she held herself back. Then she replied: ‘I’m sorry. That is a good point. I should have listened properly.’
‘Well,’ said Fist, taken by surprise. ‘Yes. An apology. Good.’
‘So, you said you can break into just about any system on Station?’ continued Andrea. ‘That’s pretty impressive. But some of them are very well guarded. The gods are great believers in security.’
‘No reason not to believe him,’ Jack replied. ‘He might not move as fast as some—’
‘Oi!’ said Fist.
‘—but he goes far deeper.’
‘That’s more like it.’
‘Shit,’ whispered Andrea. ‘You could be very dangerous indeed.’
‘Thank you,’ said Fist joyfully. ‘Nice to be appreciated!’ He clapped, his hands sounding like wooden dominoes tumbling on to a table top.
Andrea bowed her head and reached a hand inside her cowl, rubbing what remained of her temple. Jack wondered if her true face would fall into the light, but it remained hidden. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘We can’t let them get hold of him.’
‘I don’t see why not,’ said Fist. ‘I’m going to need a job once Jack’s gone. And this sounds like fun! It’s what I was built for, after all.’
‘No, Fist,’ said Jack. ‘These are bad people, and they’ll make you do bad things.’
‘You and your bloody conscience. Won’t be a problem for much longer!’
Andrea cut in. ‘Remember who you’re with, Fist. You might not miss Jack when he’s gone, but I will.’ Jack shot her a grateful look. ‘I’ll take you both to Harry,’ she continued. ‘He’s spent a lot of time digging into the Penderville case. I’m sure he’ll help you find a new way forward.’
‘Thank you,’ said Jack.
‘For fuck’s sake,’ muttered Fist.
Andrea stood up. ‘Follow me back to our house.’
‘You’ve got a house? And you can walk the streets?’
‘It’s an aunt’s place. She works the orbital chainships, she’s only there a couple of nights a month. Because it’s a family site I can manifest fully. We’ve made some changes so it’s safe for Harry too. And I can walk on any street I want. Like I said, Harry helped me tweak myself. I’m not your average fetch.’ There was a moment of silence. Andrea tilted her head forward. ‘And you should be careful. Did I ever tell you about Harry’s first year at senior school?’
‘No.’
‘The older boys used to take money off the little ones. So he organised them. Their whole year fought back together, kicked the crap out of the sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds.’
‘Keeping the peace.’
Andrea laughed. ‘Kind of,’ she said. ‘He started taking money off the local shops. To keep them unharassed. Paid some of the cash to the older boys. Got them working for him too.’
‘Playing all the angles.’