I stared at him for a few seconds, trying not to laugh in his face. "You want me to work for you?"
"Is that surprising? You must wonder why the HSSC hasn't had you killed outright as they would any deserter. Director Lynch has always prized your potential, Mike. He doesn't believe you've broken the ceiling yet. And neither do I."
"So you think I gave up a life of taking orders from shady government types just to do the same thing over again? Hate to rain on your parade, but no dice."
"We're all in service to someone or something, Mike. That fate is inescapable. The question is: will you choose to serve for the greatest cause of all?"
"And what's that: world peace? Kumbaya, holding hands and all that?"
"No. I'm talking about human survival. Right now, your old comrade Kilgore threatens that."
"Really? 'That's funny, 'cause he spouted the same bunk about saving the world that you just did."
"There is no greater zealot than a soldier that believes his cause is righteous. But Kilgore has been deceived, blinded by splinters of fragmented visions that flooded his mind on Mars. So similar to the procedure I performed with you, but with sinister intentions instead of benevolent."
I scoffed around my gasper. "Right — you had my best interests in mind the entire time you played with my head."
"No — I had my best interests in mind. I won't lie to you, Mike. I went through a lot of time and effort to rehabilitate you. I made sure Wiseman found you and gave you an occupation, steered you to the Luzzatti so you would find some stability. I supplied you with allies to support and give you a sense of true camaraderie. While I worked on things on my end, I left you alone to work through your mental instabilities and become the man you chose to be."
My face heated. "The man I chose to be? I just found out I wasn’t the man I thought I was at all. The Haven is burning, Faraday. All you built is going to be destroyed, and you know it's all my fault. You're talking about physics and theory, but what I want to do is save my city."
He shook his head dismissively. "Forget about it, Mike. It's nothing in the face of what's coming."
"Yeah, Kilgore told me that, too. You guys go to the same school for indifference, or what? Thousands are dead, and you want me to forget about it? How the hell can you say that?"
"You think I don't feel pain for those losses? You're wrong. But more deaths are on the way, Mike. The iceberg just tore into the Titanic, the waters are rising, and you think you can bail it out with a bucket in your hand. It's over — don't you see that? New Haven's isolation allowed vice, corruption, and violence to breed unchecked. When the core is rotten, the rest of the fruit is soon to follow. I didn't think things would end this way, but believe me: it's past time the city rejoins the rest of the world and forges a new identity. Just like you, Mike."
"An identity that just so happens to do whatever you say to accomplish your personal agenda. Yeah, I get it."
"You want transparency? Here it is: I plan to use you as a tool and weapon for my cause. Because I know for a certainty that a second Cataclysm is imminent. It might already be too late to stop it, but I have to try. The question is: now that you know what's coming, what will you choose to do?"
I leaned forward. "I'm going to stop Kilgore from destroying the city."
"You can do that by taking away what he wants."
"Yeah, I figured that. He wants you."
"So, transport me out of New Haven. Kilgore will no longer have a reason to be there."
"Last time I looked, you didn't look so hot in your physical form, Doc. Matter of fact, you looked downright mummified. There's no way I can smuggle out a conspicuous, body-shaped pod without attracting attention, either."
Faraday smiled. "You won't have to. I'm ready for my next step in transhumanist evolution. So, here's what you can do: cut off my head and take it with you. Saves the trouble of having to deal with smuggling an entire body. Just make sure to activate the procedure using the stasis pod. Gotta preserve that brain, after all."
I blinked. "What?"
"Desperate times, Mike. Desperate measures. Now listen closely, because here's the part where I tell you everything."
Chapter 12: Man in the Auburn Mask
I gasped as my eyes opened, and Faraday's laboratory snapped into focus with blinding clarity. A coppery tang laced my tongue, and hangover gremlins slammed against the walls of my skull. Sterile air whistled through the holes in my lungs, reminding me that physicality was a pain in the ass. I didn't mind the discomfort, though. It told me I was alive in the fragile, precarious reality of the word. What I did mind was the immediate coughing fit that followed. Gasping, I put an end to it by sucking a blast from my nano-laced inhaler.
Yanking the mind-jack cable out, I assessed the situation. Selene's trio of Wildcats were there, looking worried as they gathered around her. She was still out of it, peacefully unconscious. Faraday told me he could stall her for a little while, giving me time to do what I needed. Kelly looked up, eyes narrowing.
"Mick — what happened to Selene?"
"She's still out? Don't worry — she'll be fine. Just took a detour, is all. How long have we been unconscious?"
"Nearly two hours. What did you find out?"
"Two hours? Dammit." I staggered as I approached Faraday's stasis pod, still a bit woozy from the experience. Shaking my head to clear the dizziness, I examined the control panel and typed in the code Faraday gave me: GO A HEAD.
I couldn't help but smile. Who would have thought the doc had such a wicked sense of humor?
The viewport glowed when a laser ignited, cutting Faraday's head from his body with a sizzling sound. The window clouded when vaporous jets fired, and the machine hummed as it prepared the payload for transport.
A handle ejected from the top of the pod. I gave it a yank, extracting an alloyed cube with the greatest mind of the age securely stashed inside.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when Ms. Sinn's voice buzzed over the datcom in my ear. "There's a special present for you in the built-in compartment on the pod. Be quick and open it, will you?"
I spotted the slim drawer and tapped the OPEN button. The compartment slid out, revealing the sophisticated gadgetry inside.
I stared incredulously. "A belt?"
"Lower your voice. It's the buckle that's important. Things are going to get wild from here on out, and I'll need to be able to track you anywhere. This will allow me to do that — along with a few other surprises. Trust me: I've already run the calculations. This might just save your life, Mike."
"Fine." I quickly removed my belt and replaced it with the new one. The rectangular buckle engraved with the initials CDR was a lot heavier than I expected, as if packing major tech behind the cover. I was way beyond the point of mistrusting Sinn, so I just went with it. "Anything else I need to know?"
"Yes. Get out of there as fast as you can. I'll be right where you need me to be when you need me to be there." The datcom clicked off.
"Mick." Kelly's voice had a razor edge to it.
I turned with my most innocent grin on display. Good thing too, because Selene's bodyguards didn't look too trusting. I swung the storage case from one hand to the next as if it was of no importance. "So…you're probably wondering what I'm doing."
"Yeah, we are. And that guilty look on your face isn't doing you any favors."
I tried to assume a neutral expression. "Listen, Selene might be out a while, but I have to keep moving. Give her my regards when she wakes up, okay? I'll get back in touch later."
Christina and Jen moved to block the door, hands on pistol grips and scowls on their faces. Kelly glared with her arms folded. "I don't think so, Mick. Not until Selene wakes up, and not until you show us what's in the box."