Coming out of the planning structures session and on his way to lunch, Kade caught something out of the corner of his eye and turned. There was Su-Yong Shu, walking towards the conference center exit, with none other than Professor Somdet Phra Ananda.
How very interesting. Could that have anything to do with the encounter he'd had with Ananda the night before? Kade shrugged. It was impossible to know.
At least I was bumped for someone important.
He ran into Sam at the last talk of the day: Understanding Volition: From Dopamine to Dynamic Systems. They sat together. Sam seemed focused on the talk.
Finally, the day's sessions were over. It was time to return to the hotel to meet Shu's driver. Sam would meet Kade later, at the neuroscience students mixer that Narong had invited them to. If they were interested, there was a smaller afterparty afterwards.
Sam reviewed the plan with Kade one more time on chat, then stood there while he suppressed his Nexus transmissions. Then it was done. He was on his own. He headed back to the hotel to freshen up and iron his one button-down shirt in preparation for his dinner with Su-Yong Shu.
Wats crouched in the alley with the maid. They were four blocks from the Prince Market Hotel. Hopefully that put them outside the ERD's surveillance cordon. Hopefully.
The rain had stopped, at least. Small blessing.
The maid was not telling him what he wanted to hear.
Mai me But, she was saying. No card.
Haa Nai Thung Khaya? he asked. Had she searched the garbage?
Chai. Yes, she'd searched the garbage.
Kang Laang taitiang? Under the bed?
Chai, chai.
Hong naam? Had she looked in the bathroom?
Chai, chai. Mai me But.
And so it went. The card wasn't anywhere in Kaden Lane's room. Could he have put it in his bag to fill out later? Why would he do that? Wats had known that there was a chance that Kade would miss the card entirely… But then it should have still been in the hotel room somewhere.
Could Cataranes have taken it? Why would she? Unless they'd detected it somehow?
He felt a chill. He'd put his name on that card. It had been a risk, but he'd deemed it necessary in order to convince Kade to accept the offer.
So the ERD might know he was here. So be it.
The maid was waiting impatiently, her hand outstretched for her payment. Wats counted out the bills. Two thousand baht. He put them in her hand but didn't let go. He locked her eyes with his.
Mee ngahn Pheum, he told her. He had more work for her. He flashed more money in his other hand.
The maid smiled, rubbed the bills he'd given her with her thumb, and nodded. Wats let her go, and she turned and was off.
He stayed there in the alley after she'd gone, idly playing with the data fob around his neck. What now? Should he make his move without Kade's consent? And what were the consequences? What were they holding over Kade's head? Who would suffer? He'd trade dozens of lives for the light that Nexus 5 could shed on the world. But was it Wats' place to make that decision? Would his friend welcome it?
Fuck. Two years ago he would have charged in, guns blazing, pulled Kade out of there whether his friend would thank him or not, and damn the consequences.
Now… We must all walk the path ourselves. We must all choose our own karma. We must all allow others to choose their own karma as well.
Kade had to choose. If at all possible. That's what Buddhism said. Every individual had to make their own choices in life. Wats couldn't impose what he thought was right on Kade, especially with so much in the balance. The ones who imposed their own will on others – they were the ones wrecking the world.
Wats just needed a way to communicate with Kade to make sure he knew he had the choice at all. He needed a way to do so without being picked up by any of the cameras or microphones he suspected Kade was covered in. Without words being overheard by the inevitable microphones on Kade's body. Without being picked up by the cameras in the conference center, the cameras in the hotel. Even the note had been a risk, a bet that invisibly small surveillance cams wouldn't be able to read the text.
He'd find a way.
And if he couldn't get confirmation one way or another? What if, in the course of Kade's seven-day visit to Thailand, Wats couldn't be sure that his friend knew the option of escape was even open? Or if the rest of the situation became too suspiciously sketchy before he had that confirmation?
Then Wats would have to choose for him. And damn his karma, damn the consequences.
Sam watched as Kade headed towards the conference exit. She hadn't confronted him about yesterday's events yet. She wanted him to be as calm and cool as possible for his dinner with Shu.
Today had proven to be almost as interesting as last night. The conference center cameras had spotted Su-Yong Shu and Somdet Phra Ananda leaving together at lunch. The man who'd picked them up, the driver of the car that had taken them away, was Confucian Fist. One of the clone soldiers.
Between the reception last night and breakfast this morning, something had caused either Shu or Ananda to seek out a short notice meeting with the other. What had happened since then? Shu's conversation with Kade, of course. And Ananda and Kade's brief and odd interaction in the drink line.
And what would have gotten Ananda's attention? What could have surprised him last night, and sent him in search of the reason Kaden Lane was here? Could it have been Nexus 5 rattling around in Kade's brain at absurdly high levels? And if that were the case… how had Ananda detected it? Unless he were a Nexus user also?
It was ninety minutes later, while Sam was having dinner with Narong, that she received a message from her team. She discreetly read it in the corner of her tactical contact display as she listened to Narong enthuse about Thailand's bright future in neuroscience.
[Prelim lab analysis back. Comment card shows traces of self-destructed nanocircuitry. Likely a self-wiping message. No obvious return message from Lane, but could be hidden or encoded.]
So someone had gotten a message to Kade. Who? Shu? Ananda? And what had it said?
She and Kade were definitely going to have to talk. Keeping secrets from her wouldn't do. No, it wouldn't do at all. Tonight, after the mixer.
BRIEFING
War between those who accept the limitations of "humanity" and those who embrace the power of the possible is inevitable. The humans will not accept us, will not tolerate us, will not leave us in peace. They will fear us for our greatness, just as Nietzsche said they would fear the Übermensch. In fearing us, they will seek to destroy us. They will be legion. We will be few. We will triumph, whatever the cost.