Chapter 31: In Plain Sight
In the time of Jayne Wu, privacy was simply an illusion. There were many ways to track an individual. Everyone carried a Visual Identity Designator. Most doubled as a communicator and an entertainment device. VIDs were the prime means of obtaining any of the basic requirements for life in the society: food, shelter, clothing and transportation, just to name a few. There were ways to hide but that usually meant dropping out and living in one of the few designated wilds. There was also tech. Hacked tech. The process had been going on for centuries. Governments would use sophisticated tech to do whatever they wanted to do and hackers would alter that tech in order to avoid whatever the government wanted.
“Well, Thirteen—may I call you that or is it reserved for your close friends?” asked Professor Greenway.
“I don’t have any close friends and, yes, you may,” said Jayne. She thought of Spike and hoped she would see him again.
“Good. And why do you not have any close friends? A girl like you would likely be swamped with people trying to be your friend,” said Professor Greenway.
“Are you trying to be my psychiatrist now? Think about it. Everyone around me has always been older. I never got on with the younger kids in the nursery except for Ajax and he was special. I guess I was just not interested in what they were interested in. I only meet people when I play GravBall and they are always older than I am,” Jayne said, flopping down on the couch and pulling her feet under her. “They talk to me but I wouldn’t call them my close friends.”
“I am older than you and I would like to be your friend, that is, if I’m not too old for you,” said Professor Greenway, smiling.
“Sure. I guess,” she said and she pulled her knees up to her chest. “You are pretty old though. You could be my grandfather. Can kids my age be friends with their grandfathers?”
“I don’t see why not,” he answered.
“I just have one question—why?” Jayne asked, partially hiding her face behind her knees.
“You do have a knack for getting to the heart of the thing, don’t you? I will be honest with you. I want to be your friend so you will trust me. I can really be your protector and keep you safe only if you trust me. I know that trust does not come easily to people like us. I hope my actions so far have been a good start,” Professor Greenway said with an expectant smile.
“Like us? You said ‘people like us’. What does that mean? How are we alike?” asked Jayne, lifting her head and partially hiding it again.
“Well, for one thing, we both like our tea black with lemon and honey,” he said, grinning, “and I am sure we would find other things in common if we really tried.”
Jayne grinned back. “Alright, you can be my first grandfatherly friend but I cannot call you grandfather. That would just be too weird.”
“Well, my first name is,” he paused, “get ready for this,” he paused again, “Porthos. Porthos James Greenway.”
“Porthos? I’m not sure I can call you that either. What does it mean, anyway?” she asked.
“Now that’s the funny part. Get this. It means ‘ocean’. Porthos means ocean. Just where we are right now. One of my safe places on this not-so-safe planet. What do you think of that?” he asked.
Jayne responded as if she had not heard the explanation of his name’s meaning. She sat up. “I will call you Poppy, if that is alright with you.”
He grinned. “Poppy. Poppy is great. Poppy it is. Poppy,” he repeated a few times. “I like it.”
“Not like the flower. Like a cool name for papa or pops,” Jayne continued with a satisfied grin.
“Alright, Thirteen, it is time we got down to business,” he said.
“OK, Poppy. What is the plan?” Jayne said perkily.
“Well, we have to create a new you,” he stated.
“Right, a new me.” She turned to him. “You know, Poppy, this does not sound like something I am going to like very much, but I guess it is for the best.”
A new ‘Jayne’ started with getting a new identity. In a world of quantum wizardry, a new identity was not an easy task. But ‘tech’ was ‘tech’ and all things were possible if you knew the right people or had enough money. Porthos Greenway, aka Poppy, was not lacking in either.
“Thirteen, I have not had the time to give you any choices here. Have a look at this. It is the new you,” said Poppy casually.
Jayne looked at the sheet of magnetic scribe:
ID—Ka F 3168469435609
Name—Kai, Cassandra Joy
She touched the scribe sheet and scanned the personal details of her new identity. She suddenly looked up at Greenway. “You made me older. I’m now 18. Wow. How are we going to manage that? I look 13 ’cause I am 13. No way I’m ever going to pull off 18,” she said, her voice filled with incredulity and a little excitement. Jayne felt her face flush at the thought of being 18 and all that it meant.
“You look 13 because you dress and act 13. You are just going to have to dress and act 18. Not a big stretch if I compare you to the 18-year-olds I have seen lately. I have a guy who can help with all of that. Don’t worry. What I am worried about is the next thing you are going to gripe about. Flip that scribe sheet and read on,” he commanded. “But before you do, I want you to know it is the best idea of all the ideas for your new identity. My crew has been working on this for a while. I knew it would be needed sooner or later. It just so happens to be sooner than I expected.” He gestured for her to read on.
Jayne flipped the scribe sheet and read. She stopped suddenly and looked at him with burning eyes. “You have got to be kidding. I am an omie liaison officer. I’ll have you know that I am the best TEM fixer in my whole class. I looked up my grades and no one can touch me. Why on Earth would you make me a liaison officer?” she almost shouted at him.
“You will be an omie liaison and not a TEM for those exact reasons. Attention. If you show up anywhere as a Technical Electronic Mechanical fixer, you are bound to be checked out by the Forevers. They will be looking for anyone, with good skills in that area, showing up anywhere. A liaison will be something they won’t expect from you and so they will be less likely to find you,” Greenway replied. He continued, “Read on. The best is yet to come.”
Jayne glanced back at the scribe sheet. She whispered, “Biome 7? I can’t even remember what Biome 7 habitat is like. Why not Biome 3? If I have to learn a new job, at least I could work in a Biome that I am familiar with. Biome 7. It better not be a high gravity desert biome. I seem to recall one like that. I don’t like deserts. They are hot and cold and dry and dirty. Yech.” She shivered at the prospect.
“No, Biome 7 is pretty cool,” he grinned, as she made a face and mock-shivered, as if the cold would be worse than the desert. “It is not cold, it is ‘cool’, as in good. You will like it. It has some cold areas but it is mostly a temperate boreal forest. Lots of conifer trees. The really cool part is the low gravity. Things grow big in Biome 7. I think you are going to like it. The O2 levels are a little low. The omies have, with a little genetic encouragement, developed high volume lungs. You will get used to it quickly given the lower gravity. That brings me to the important part.”
“Important part. There is more?” exclaimed Jayne.
“Yep. This biome has the largest number of black market body part murders. They are killing young adult omies and removing their lungs as well as other desirable body parts. One of your Sentinel jobs will be to track and map the locations of these murders and report back to Sentinel Central,” he said casually.
“Like a detective? Now that is cool. Detective Wu. Sorry, I mean Detective Kai. I get to be a detective and solve murders. Do I get a badge and a weapon? I want one of those needlers and a couple of stingers so I can incapacitate suspects,” she babbled excitedly.
“No, no and no. You will not do any of those things. Your job will be to listen and report. And to ‘liaise’,” he said and he smiled a ‘sucks to be you’ smile.
“Liaise? What the
hell do I liaise?” she yelled as she crossed her arms.
“You will talk to the omies and talk to the fixers and talk to the omies and talk to the fixers, and like that. That is what liaising is all about. Talking and being diplomatic. If you happen to see or hear of anything out of the ordinary, you will report it. It is really simple. OK?” he challenged.
“Do I have a choice?” she asked.
“No. So let’s get started. First I want you to understand that this is all for your benefit. You must hide out in Biome 7 until things cool down. If I had my way, I would have put you in stasis for a year or two, but Sentinel Central thinks you are really talented and we must not jeopardize the development of that talent. We must encourage it to mature and grow,” he said assuredly.
“You make me sound like a tomato,” Jayne said flatly.
“I will go along with Sentinel Central only if you promise to keep that ‘luck’ of yours under wraps. No showing off by reading people’s minds or tossing rocks with your mind or winning at cards or anything else that you can do that is better than everyone else,” he said.
“I can’t do those things. Except maybe win at cards. And I am a better TEM fixer than anyone I know,” she said. She plopped down on the couch.
“No, you are not. You are Cassie Kai and you liaise. Are you clear on that? ’Cause if you are not, it’s off to the stasis chamber you go.” He frowned at Jayne. “I mean it, Thirteen.”
“Alright!” she snapped, grabbing her legs and pulling them up to her chin.
Professor Greenway stood and got a VID from a drawer. “This is yours. It is tuned to your DNA but your DNA no longer points to Jayne Wu. It points to Cassie Kai. All systems will recognize this as Kai’s VID,” he said.
“Who is Cassandra Kai?” asked Jayne.
She was a baby girl who died five years before you were born. Only now she didn’t die. She is you and you are her,” he said emphatically. He picked up a pile of stick chips that were strewn across the surface of the desk. They contained the latest manuals for Biome 7. “Read these. They will explain your job. I’m guessing you think you are a quick study, so study quick. You will need to have these down before the end of the week. They are expecting you to replace the retired liaison officer,” he said as he dropped the manuals. “These will explain your job and give you all the detail you will need to work in Biome 7. I also expect you to report to me. I will supply you with a few encryption tabs to keep our communication private. There have been reports of strange happenings in Biome 7. Your secondary job will be to quietly investigate any unusual occurrences and report your findings back to me.”
A few of the manual sticks fell on the floor. Jayne picked them up and tossed them from hand to hand. “Right, memorize five thousand pages in three days. Go to Biome 7, liaise and spy. Not a problem,” she said, unable to keep the sarcasm from creeping into her voice.