Rather than heading straight home, and having to expin to everyone why I was limping slightly, Sharron and I headed directly to the Family’s headquarters. I’d fotten how much of a fortress it was, a huge, squat, metal brick stu between the various mega buildings topside. I directed the truck’s autopilot to slip into the massive parking garage alongside the structure, Thankfully I didn’t have to drive myself, I wasn’t fident I’d ever be able to make it in without smashing into something.

  As soon as the truck came to a stop a couple people ran out of the building to meet us, a man and a woman. They weren’t samurai, as far as I could tell, they were well groomed, and dressed in fancy suits; They looked like corpos. I jumped out of the driverseat, and stared at them suspiciously, until Sharron rouhe truck to join me. “Stop intimidating the staff Teddy.”

  “Why are they here?” I asked her, not taking my eyes off the duo, who were now shuffling from one foot to the other unfortably.

  “You know you could ask them, instead of staring at them like a rabid dog. They’re here to help,” she said befng over her shoulder at the pair, “Right?”

  The man jumped in surprise, “Yes ma’am, I’m Antonio and this is Vanessa, we’ve been assigo assist you while you’re here.”

  “Right…” I muttered. “Why are there two of you? Even if ynized my truck, I wouldn’t wo assistants,” I asked suspiciously.

  “That was Mirage’s idea,” the woman replied. “He didn’t think you’d e in by yourself, and apparently Miss Humboldt was living in your building, so he expected you t her when you came.”

  I narrowed my eyes at that. “Of course he did.” I tiaring at the pair for another few seds, until Sharron stepped behind me and bopped me on the head.

  “I told you, st to intimidate the staff,” she said, before stepping over to the pair. “Thank you for ing out to meet us. We have some samurai reted busioday. We entered a civilian with a samurai grade on, and are iigating where it came from. ye a list of any ons lost, or sold, to outside sources please?”

  “ you tell us where it was entered, that may help us narrow down the search,” Vanessa asked.

  “I was shot with it. In the uy,” I replied. I admit it came out a little more snarky than I wanted, but I didn’t really regret it much.

  Antonio paled slightly, so Sharron stepped betweewo of us. “And she’s grumpy as a result, you uand, right?” The man nodded quickly, then g his partner.

  Vanessa’s eyes unfocused for a few moments, then she nodded. “Follow me please.” She stepped up to the door, followed quickly by her partner. As our small group ehe maze of corridors Vanessa expined, “I could look up missing ons here, but sales information is normally restricted, to protect the privacy of the samurai iy. These records be unsealed if there are exceptional circumstances, like ons being used against other samurai.”

  “revents another samurai from asking their AI to just pull the information from this database of yours?” I asked, as I trailed behind the group.

  “Not much, holy. The information is encrypted with css III tech, but that really won’t keep a protector AI out. It does alert some of the AIs of other Family members, so if someone DID attempt that, they’d o expin themselves to Broodmother and the others,” Vanessa replied. She didn’t miss a step, or even gnce back, as she eaking. I wasn’t sure if she had practice, training or was naturally cool, but she really didn’t seem to have problems speaking to samurai.

  As soon as she finished speaking she stepped up to a door, which looked identical to the dozens of other doors we’d passed, and swiped an id card she’d pulled from her pocket. The door opened into, what I could only describe as, the ir of a madman. The walls were covered in old paper maps of the city, each filled with pins and linked by an intricate web of string. Every avaible surface, desk and floor, was covered in old books, tablets, and disassembled puters; It was so bad, I wasn’t sure I could step in there without disturbing something. Finally, in the back er, sitting in on a beanbag chair back against the wall, was a man. He had wild, u hair, shooting out in every dire, a Hawaiian shirt and shorts, and an unfocused look.

  Sharron looked at the room and sighed. “Zetta, I thought you were taking care of yourself.”

  “Reason for visit?” he asked in a robotic fashion.

  “I was shot,” I replied, staring at the zombie in the er.

  “Acts of attempted murder, terrorism or other such crime are handled by the Calgary police department, please report the i…”

  “By a css I on,” I added angrily.

  Almost instantly the man’s vat stare faded away, and he looked at my little group in surprise for a few seds. “Hey Humboldt, long time no see. What brings you to my neck of the woods.”

  “I GOT SHOT BY A CLASS ONE ON.” I started moving into the room, io throttle the guy, when Sharron grabbed me.

  “Sorry little dy, didn’t hear you. I was in the mesh and had automated responses on. You want access to the sales database, acc to the message Vanessa sent me.” He frowned for a moment, then gnced up at me. “You the girl that’s setup in the uy? Teddy?”

  “Yes. That’s right,” I replied warily. I was slightly fused by his plete ge in attitude. “What the hell is the mesh?”

  The two of us stared bnkly at each other, me in fusion, him in bewilderment. “You know… the vast virtual world where everyone lives as an avatar, and data is currency? The great frontier where information is worth more than gold?”

  “She didn’t have prs until a month ago, Zetta.”

  He shook his head, “You poor, poor child.” I wao smack him again, but before I could he stood up, walked over and held out his hand. “Sorry, I should really have introduced myself, I’m Zettabyte. I specialize in data ma.”

  “You specialize in data ma as a samurai?” I asked skeptically.

  “Well, I didn’t know you could specialize in onizing plush animals, until I heard about you either. It seems the only thing that limits samurai is their imagination, assuming they have enough points.” He cocked his head to the side for just a moment. “I’ve instructed Athyna to give your AI access to both the missing hardware, and sales databases. I hope you’ll find what you need.”

  As he turned, and started walking back to his beanbag chair I checked, “Nyx, any hits?”

  ’s strange… Across the entire Family work there’s no match for that on. Not in active use, lost or sold.

  “So a third party? Like myself?”

  The Family doesn’t have your exact catalogs, but they have shots of your equipment from a distance, and MO to pare to. There’s a small file on all samurai in Family cities, affiliated or not. I ’t find a partial matywhere.

  I frowned for a minute, only to notice that Vanessa and Antonio were looking at me, aa was chug to himself in the er. “What? I’m talking to my AI.”

  “Most samurai subvocalize, or have a mental interface to talk to their partners,” Zetta expined from his seat.

  “Yeah, well, I normally have a three foot fuzzy interface walking around behind me, so I never bothered with that shit.”

  He just smiled wider, “Touche”

  “Nyx, summarize please. No known samurai means, what? Out of town or undiscovered samurai supplied the oly.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa…” Zetta bolted upright, “you’re saying we have a freerying to fly uhe radar, and sell ons, in town?”

  “Maybe?” I said with a shrug. “The on I was shot with doesn’t maty known signature.”

  “Wonderful. I o report this to the others. We don’t mind freencers like yourself running around, but a loose on selling ons? That we o keep a for.” He groahen shoved himself back to his feet. “And that meaings. There goes my afternoon.” He stepped across the room, knog over the various piles of shit, before stopping before my little group. “Humboldt, it was nice seeing you again,” he said, shaking her hand. “And Teddy, o meet you,” he said, shaking mine. “Sorry I ’t be more hospitable, but I o inform the others and iigate myself. ’t have some samurai selling ons to random people. I’ll let you know if we dig anything up, you promise you’ll tact us if you do the same?”

  I nodded.

  “Wonderful. I’ll talk to you both ter,” Zetta said, as he squeezed past everyohen booked it down the corridor.

  “Apparently this is a bigger deal than I inally thought,” I murmured. “Where the fuck did Guiding Light find this guy?”