He picked up the plate the guard had brought him with his sandwich and tried to toss it in the air and catch it, but it bounced off his fingers and clattered away into a corner. Funny how much I treasure my thinking time when at home, but force me to be alone and thinking is the last thing I want to do.
«That was a very interesting worm you had in your slot,» Javier said.
«Back at last,» Tyoma replied. «Took you long enough.»
«The security here is much more impressive than I imagined it could be. I had a lot to concentrate on.»
«What about my worm?»
«You’re an excellent coder, Dr. Grachev. I never imagined someone could find a way to code a worm that could trick my sentry code. I’ll have to do some improvements. I’ve removed the worm, by the way. You’ll need a new firewall, though.»
«I knew that.»
«I could install one for you.»
«Hmm, thank you, but I’d rather construct one of my own.»
«Why were you infected with your own worm?»
Tyoma explained what he had done to infect Lev’s virtual reality, incidentally destroying his own and the general’s as well. «I’m not sure how to make use of it.»
«It’s something to consider,» Javier said. «The only way to get to Lev is to have someone plug into his private space. Your worm was clever enough that he should have no idea that his firewall is compromised.»
«Thank you,» Tyoma said. «You were the reason I chose to go into coding. Your sentry code is a masterpiece. I’ve studied it for many years.»
«Well, if your immortality codes end up working out, I believe it will be me applauding you and your colleagues.»
Tyoma stood and began to pace again. «Okay, you said their security is better than you expected. What does that mean?»
Javier gave a slightly metallic chuckle. «I managed to find floor plans for this structure, and I can get to their security cameras, but they have all of their other security on a completely private network. It would take far too long for me to attempt to infiltrate that. It doesn’t touch the Web, so I’d have to find someone from their security, plant a miniature version of myself in their slot, and wait for them to slot into their private network. Basically, and I’m sorry to say this, I can’t get you out that door.»
Tyoma dropped himself back onto a stool. «So I’m stuck waiting for the general after all.»
«Let’s not give up so easily,» Javier said. «I’m monitoring the cameras throughout the building. If the guard returns I can at least pin down your precise location. Do you have anything useful on you?»
Tyoma considered what he had — solar coat and pants, walking shoes, shirt — and suddenly remembered the cards he had stuck into different pockets of his coat. He pulled them out. «I have these. I doubt they can help.»
«There’s no camera in here. What is it you are trying to show me?»
Tyoma fingered the smaller card. «I have two slot cards. This one is the latest version of our combat chip. It’s the first version where our testing hasn’t come up with any major flaws. The other one is a mind data card. I’m not sure why I brought it other than the fact that the two cards these guys stole from us included one of these, and I worried that they might demand one for some reason.»
«It’s what your colleagues called an injector card?»
«That’s right.»
«Whose data is on it? Yours?»
«No, though the one they stole had my data on it. This one is from Doctor Anders Thomsen. He’s Danish. Our molecular engineer.»
«I think you should use the combat card.»
«You’re joking, right? I’m not in bad shape, but I’m still too old to make use of the combat card. If I kicked this stool I’d likely do more damage to myself than to it.»
«I think the combat card can still be useful should you need to move—»
The door slid open and the shorter guard Oskar entered. Tyoma thrust his hands behind his back to hide the cards.
“You need the toilet or something?” Oskar asked. “What’s that you got there?”
Tyoma felt his face flush; he felt like a child hiding something from his mother. He slipped the combat card into the waistband of his pants before holding the injector card out for Oskar to see. “It’s nothing, just my files.”
Oskar snatched the card from Tyoma’s hand. “Why’s it so long? Never seen one like this.”
“It’s my vid collection. It’s too big to fit on a standard card. This one is large enough to hold it all.”
“Vids, huh?” Oskar said. “Anything good? You got porn on here?”
“No, nothing like that. It’s old stuff. You wouldn’t like it.”
“Yeah? Let me be the judge of—”
“No! Don’t do that!”
It was too late. Oskar had stuck the injector card in his slot. His eyes rolled up so that only the whites were visible, and his body began to shudder. He fell to the floor and thrashed wildly for half a minute, while Tyoma stood in shock, his hands covering his mouth. Finally, Oskar curled up into a fetal position and lay still.
“God! Oh God!” Tyoma said.
«Tell me what happened,» Javier said.
«They’re going to kill me now.»
«Calm down, doctor.»
«How can I calm down? I just killed this man!»
«You killed him. How did you do that?»
«He…he took the injector card and…and…»
«Sounds to me like he did it then, not you.»
«They won’t see it that way.»
«It’s always fatal, using the injectors?»
«We’ve never tested it on a human, but on chimps it has always either killed them or driven them completely mad. They are designed to be used on clones from the genetic material of the original mind. This man was not Doctor Thomsen, so…» Tyoma knelt and felt for a pulse on Oskar’s neck. He was surprised to feel a faint but unmistakable beat. «He’s not dead yet. If he lives, surely he’ll be insane.»
«The camera in the hallway shows me that your door is still open.»
Tyoma saw that this was true. He stood up and took a step back from the doorway.
«So get out of there,» Javier continued. «I can use the cameras to try to guide you out safely.»
Tyoma shook his head and sat down on a stool. «I’m not going anywhere. I’ll explain what happened. They’ll have to believe me.»
«Don’t be a fool. The corridor is empty, but it may not be so for long. Go!»
Tyoma slapped his palms to his forehead and squeezed. His head was pounding. Come on! Just breathe!
«Doctor, if you really intend to give yourself over to them, fine, but I won’t waste any more time with you in that case. If you want my help, you must go now.»
Tyoma drew in a long, shuddering breath, stood up, and stepped over Oskar. «Which way?»
«Left. You must be careful. There aren’t many cameras on this level, so I don’t have complete coverage.»
Tyoma crept down the corridor, body trembling with the anticipation of running into someone. The hall seemed to go on forever with unlabeled doors every ten meters or so. He was just passing one when it slid open and a short man, well dressed but sweating profusely, stumbled out. Tyoma yelped and held up his hands.
“Sorry, friend,” the man said. “I’m still shook up over actually going through with that. You, too? Did you just finish?”
“I…ahh.”
“Oh, you’re just about to get started, right? Your first time as well, I can tell. It’s worth every ruble, it really is.” The man let out a strange cackle. “I can’t wait to get home and watch the vid. I drew it out for six hours!”
“Um…”
“Hey.” The man put a hand on Tyoma’s shoulder. “Don’t back out now. It’s not like these people have a life worth living anyhow, where they’re from. Go on, you won’t regret it!” The man squeezed Tyoma’s shoulder and walked off rapidly down the corridor.