Chapter 9

I kept looking over my shoulder as I walked into the Cherry Blossom Market. Elizabeth told me to meet her at the ramen shop, wordlessly voicing her concerns that her holo was being tapped by SSI. After everything I saw in her brain scans and what I had seen about experimenting with conditioning, I almost didn't go. I didn't want to risk her pulling out a gun to shoot me in a psychotic fit, or anything that would make a public scene with a recognizable figure like her. But I had to see it through, if only to be able to tell both her and Jefferson what was happening to them. I saw no press and heard no commotion other than the usual chatter of the market's patrons, which I took as a good sign. I found the shop and saw her sitting in a corner, still styling expensive clothing but a very different look than she normally presented, thus appearing to be any other corpo woman. She looked up at me over her round sunglasses.

"V," she breathed shakily. "Will you sit? Please…"

I sat on the stool next to her, watching as she took a drag from what looked like her fifth cigarette since arriving.

She leaned into her arm, which was propped up on the bar. "Thank you for coming."

I looked around to make sure no one was looking at us. "Why are we meetin' here and not at your pad?"

"Because I have something to confess," she admitted quietly. "Not in front of Jeff. In private."

I nodded understandingly. "OK, confess away."

She swallowed nervously. "I… I'm sorry, my nerves are shot. I can't gather my thoughts."

"Did something happen after I left?" I asked, keeping my eyes squarely on her.

"No…" she began. "I mean, something did happen, though not recently. It's a long story. I don't quite know how to tell you… where to even start… but… A-A while ago, I started noticing some changes in Jeff's behavior. His personality… He seemed to be changing right in front of me, becoming someone else."

"How so?" I asked.

"He stopped reading, forgot the title of his favorite movie, even his musical taste changed overnight." She paused and flicked ash off her cigarette, then took another puff. "Once, I said we should visit his brother's grave, and he told me that he'd been an only child! That's when I started thinking something bad was happening. Something… insidious. And not just with Jeff."

I nodded, comparing her story to what I saw on their brain scans. "You noticed changes with you, too," I suggested.

"After some time," she confirmed. "On several occasions, my friends pointed out that I was acting strangely."

"That must've been hard," I replied, though I didn't find myself feeling quite sympathetic.

"It was. You know… it-it's…" she stammered and took a breath. "It's at times like those you start to question reality."

I folded my arms. "So, the whole time, you knew what I could end up finding?"

She glared at me. "I don't know who, how, or why… but they're changing us. That concealed room in our apartment… I'm sure I'd seen it before but must've somehow forgotten. I… I find that terrifying."

"You mention any of this to Jeff?" I asked, though I already had my suspicions.

She gestured desperately with her hands. "I tried, I did. But he's blinded to everything. He just laughed and said I was imagining things. He once brought up a vacation that we never went on, swear to God! He went on about it in such detail, I almost started believing him…"

I frowned, remembering what happened at the apartment. "Could be just you who forgot. Maybe they wiped the trip from your memory?"

"Hell, I don't know anymore!" she cried frantically. "Don't you get that?!"

I continued applying pressure. "You haven't told me the whole story yet, have you?"

She pressed her lips together and shook her head slowly. "I saw a stranger in our apartment one night, tinkering with one of the wall screens. But I was in such a state by then that I didn't know if I could trust my own eyes."

"So, you didn't do anything," I noted with no surprise.

"I don't remember what happened," she argued. "I talked to security the next morning. The guy just shrugged and said I must've dreamt it. He showed me the recording, of course. I felt like a lunatic. But then the next day… I got a call," she added ominously.

My curiosity piqued. "Who was it?"

"Them," she whispered. "Whoever 'they' are. There was a garbled voice on the other end. He never introduced himself. He said I was walking on thin ice, that if we kept stirring up trouble, Jeff could have an… 'accident.'"

"They threatened you," I clarified.

She nodded. "Then they wiped any record of our conversation. It was as if it never happened. So, I'm begging you, V… Jefferson can't find out about any of this. Ever. His life depends on it."

I narrowed my eyes. "You knew who sent the intruder but just strung me along anyway."

"I-I didn't have a choice!" she stammered. "I didn't know what to do. Jeff will start looking on his own if he finds out what's going on. I know that much for sure. It'd… It'd destroy him."

I shook my head. "What if you're just saying what they programmed you to say? Just like Jeff forgetting his brother? A script planted in your head to keep even me from revealing the truth?"

She shrugged and shook her head. "All I know is I love my husband, and I want him to be safe and… and happy."

"Dammit, Liz, I blacked out right in front of you and woke up on the floor with you just standing there, not even knowing that it happened," I growled. "How can you live with someone messing with your head, with Jeff's head, that heavily?"

"What choice do I have?" she argued. "Get both of us killed? You have no idea what it's like, living like this!"

"And you think if I tell him everything that he'll pick a fight he can't win?" I asked.

"I don't just think – I know," she insisted. "One thing hasn't changed – Jeff's still a fighter. Sons of bitches haven't taken that yet."

I huffed and stared at her for a moment, then looked around again to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "Fine. So how do we play this?"

"I'm going to tell Jeff that SSI was spying for Holt," she offered. "You just need to confirm what I say."

"You're truly prepared to fire SSI?" I asked skeptically. "That's risky after the threats…"

She snarled, "I may not be able to stop what they're doing with our minds, but I won't accept them creeping around us while we sleep! Not under my own roof!"

"What difference does it make where they are if they still own your thoughts?" I asked, though I almost thought I heard it in Johnny's voice. It seemed more like something he'd say, yet it fit the situation.

"Look, I'll take full responsibility for anything SSI goes on to do," she continued more calmly than before. "I'm just asking you not to get Jefferson involved. He'll believe you, he trusts you after you helped us before. I'll add a meeting in Reconciliation Park to his schedule. He'll be waiting."

"Hmm…" I hummed as I weighed the decision and the evidence. "Give me a few days before I meet him."

She looked taken aback. "What? Why?"

I shrugged. "I just… I think there's more going on, and I want to check it out."

"That doesn't matter if you're telling him what I told you to say," she urged. "This isn't something that can wait. The longer you hold back, the more suspicious he'll become."

"It matters because there are other people at risk," I countered.

She leaned it and lowered her voice. "You found something else? What is it?"

"I can't tell you," I replied and shook my head. "You might tell them and not remember."

"I don't know if I'll even remember this conversation tomorrow," she argued. "I may not even remember you by the time you meet him. That's why I'm counting on you not to forget what I'm asking."

I nodded. "I won't, but I just need the time."

She stared at me for a few seconds, then sighed. "Alright. I'll give you two days. Do whatever you can to stop all of this and get him out of danger. But if you can't by then, then you tell him it's Holt. Deal?"

I stared back at her through her sunglasses. I didn't want to limit my options and I didn't like the idea of holding something this big back from Jefferson, but at least I had the option to keep looking. "Fine. Deal."

She nodded and slowly stood up. "Goodbye, V. And good luck." She turned around and quietly walked away, also cautiously looking around to ensure that she wasn't noticed.

Johnny appeared sitting on the bar near where she was, digging his own cigarette into the ashtray. "Whole thing's fucked up, huh? Wouldn't want to be in her pants, or skirt, or whatever. Speaking of… Overlapping memories, changing personalities – remind you of anything?"

I nodded dishearteningly. "Hey, at least we know what we're up against. What would you do?"

"Some real rat-bastards are behind this," he replied. "Someone's gotta take them down."

"Even by risking the Peralezes' lives?" I grimaced.

He shrugged. "Fuck knows what kind of shit a mayor controlled by puppet masters could pull. But yeah, you could end up puttin' their lives at risk, or maybe not. What're you thinking you could find that makes it worth waiting?"

I sighed and thought it through. "I'm not sure yet, but I can't do it alone. Gonna try to get Judy and Sandra together, see what we can figure out."

"What, NCPD's ex-finest not gettin' an invite after your night of passion and drinks?" he quipped.

I grumbled and started walking away. "Anyone but him." On my way out of the market, I tried calling for my Caliburn, but I forgot that it had been destroyed. Until the Peralezes paid me, I wouldn't nearly be able to cover the insurance premium to get it replaced. While I waited for my I360, I called Sandra.

"On a job, can you give me an hour?" she quickly replied, seeming noticeably preoccupied.

I huffed, "Fine, but I'm really gonna need you."

"I'll be there, don't worry."

After hanging up, I dialed up Judy next. "Hey Judy, need your help."

She raised an eyebrow over the holo. "I'm tweakin' a BD, can't right now. Later?"

"It's pretty important," I insisted. "Need someone to help me put a few pieces together."

"I gotta work too, V," she sighed and shrugged, but then stared at me for a moment. "A'ight, fine, just try not to let Lizzie see you when you come down. She's in a mood."

I nodded. "Be there in a bit."

I wasn't exactly a regular at Lizzie's Bar, but the few visits I made got me out of the suspicious glares that the Mox bouncers gave new people, especially men. I knew my Kiroshis would prevent any cameras from seeing my face, but I went with Judy's wishes and didn't rush directly across the bar down to her lab. I stopped by the bar for a drink and – out of habit – checked out my favorite bartender, Mateo. It was nice seeing him again, but I caught my thoughts drifting in River's direction before I could stop them: what he was up to, what he thought of last night, all the usual self-flagellating questions one asks after an embarrassing rejection. I downed another drink and tried to focus, eventually slipping down the hallways, past the dressing rooms, and down to the basement.

Judy was reclined in her desk chair with her braindance editing gear in heavy use, looking like she was fairly deep into it. She quickly dimmed her holographic screen and nodded at me, then dove back in. I walked slowly towards the operating chair she kept in the middle of the room, remembering when I sat in it the day I met Judy just before the Konpeki Plaza job. I heard her sigh and looked around to see her taking off her gear.

"Hey," she called as she stood up, but she paused when looking at me. "Wait, what's going on?"

"It's the Peralezes, they're in trouble," I began. "I got a call-"

She tried to interrupt, "-No, V, I mean-"

"Judy-"

"V! SHUT UP!" she shouted, effectively silencing me. "Why are you scrollin'?"

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

She gestured at me. "You're scrollin' a BD right now. My implants can detect it."

"What? Judy, I can't scroll, I don't even know how," I replied and shrugged.

"Hmm…" she mumbled as she stood uncomfortably close to me, staring into my left eye. "… never mind. Oh, I see now, it's the Threat Detector chip."

"Uh, yeah!" I grunted annoyedly. "The only thing I got in there."

She nodded. "Gotcha. Oh, by the way, I got something on the screen there for you," she gestured behind me to another desk.

I turned and looked over at the monitors, but then I felt the metal butt of a pistol slam into the back of my head. I dropped to the ground with a yelp, and before I could even fully yell in surprise or pain, Judy roughly grabbed me by the shoulders and rammed my head into the front of the desk. Everything went black again.

The pain in my head hit first, then the ringing in my ears. I couldn't stop the stray grunt from leaving my body, alerting Judy that I was starting to wake up, but I could tell that I was back in an operating chair. Through the narrowest slits in my eyes, the bright light from overhead helped the arrival of an even worse headache. Another few pained groans left my body, but I was able to raise my hand to try to block out the light.

"V," Judy whispered. "It's okay, just take it slow."

"Ju- the fuck?" I stammered. I felt her hand gently take hold of my arm, but I thrashed it out of her hands. "G' off me!"

"Easy, easy," she urged. "I'm sorry, I had to deck you. I couldn't risk you getting fried or flipping a shit."

I shot a pissed-off look at her and growled, "The fuck you talkin' about?"

"These," she pointed to a tray next to the operating chair, which contained an optical implant chip and a shard. "My implant picked up the recording chip in your eye and an extra shard in one of your slots. It wasn't just storing the recording, it was broadcasting it somewhere. Meant someone saw me checking your implants. They coulda short-circuited you like they did Evie."

I grunted and picked up the shard. "I… I don't even know how I got these. I didn't even know they were there."

She rolled her chair over to the nearest desk, the same one she bashed me into, and opened up a program. "The shard still had raw BD footage on it. From the looks of it, it started with you on the floor of some fancy apartment earlier today." She started replaying the file.

"What was that?" my voice asked on the screen.

Johnny stumbled to his feet, looked disoriented. "No fuckin' clue. Felt kinda good, but weird. Like tripping on acid."

Judy looked back at me with her face scrunched. "Is that Silverhand? How did he get into the scroll if he's just an engram? He shouldn't have been picked up by any layer if he wasn't actually there."

"You're the expert on this, not me," I shrugged and walked towards the desk to get a better look at the screen.

On the screen, the recording showed me getting to my feet and noticing Elizabeth standing a distance away and staring off. "Does that happen to the screen a lot?" I asked. "Or to any of the others?"

Elizabeth stared blankly at me. "I don't understand."

"This was at the Peralezes penthouse," I explained, looking down at Judy. "That screen wasn't on like the others. I touched it and it surged. I was knocked out."

Judy leaned back in her chair and scoffed. "And she just stood there? She's probably the one that fit you with the implants."

I shook my head. "No, there's way more to it than that. Hang on, gotta get Sandra on the line. She's gotta see this."

"Who?" she asked with a nervous look.

"A netrunner friend… well, -ish," I corrected. "We're working on some stuff together and this is something she needs to see." I called Sandra's holo, and it rang for a while before she finally answered.

"Alright, alright!" she groaned. "I'm ready. What's up?"

I switched my holo's view so she could see what I saw. "Got some more mind-control stuff you may want to see. Check this out."

I nodded to Judy to restart the BD. In itself, it was hours long as it spanned my entire morning since I had passed out. But we highlighted the smart screens and the equipment from the apartment, messages from SSI, the invisible AV, and parts from my conversation with Elizabeth in the ramen shop.

"Fuck…" Sandra whispered. "Alright, show me those weird screens again. They were all hooked to that central computer."

Judy grabbed images of the screens and put them together side-by-side. "I've never seen anything like this. How could patterns and colors reprogram someone's brain?"

Sandra narrowed her eyes. "They don't just emit colors, but probably subtle sounds, too. The messages mentioned 'neural dampening,' but that would mean they emit some kind of energy that interferes with brain activity. That thing above their bed probably emits sounds and energy waves while they sleep. How else would those scans make any kind of sense?"

"Not to mention channelin' enough energy to disrupt all my implants," I added. "What about that AV that SSI was using? I've never seen anything that big manage to cloak."

"They work, believe me," Sandra assured. "Been around for a little while, but cloaking tech is a huge drain on energy and usually can't last too long. Can't hide engine noise or jet flames, though, so it's not always useful. Corps are even developing an optical camouflage implant for people, too. You can just disappear into thin air. Sign me up for that one..."

"Focus, guys. What about Elizabeth?" Judy asked. "I mean, if these people know that she knows what's going on, they could already be dead."

I frowned as I thought about it. "I dunno if that'd make sense. The messages said that the SSI Agents were to kill themselves if captured. That means that whoever's behind SSI has a significant investment in the Peralezes, even at the cost of their own people's lives."

"V's right. Night Corp easily experimented on their own people. It's probably even in the workers' contracts," Sandra noted. "If this was broadcasted, then whoever was watching knows that the Peralezes will fire SSI, but that they're still going to smear Holt and get Jefferson into office. That means they know that the Peralezes won't keep poking around after this."

Judy marched over to the tray and picked up the shard. "And they also know that this shard is here at Lizzies," she warned. "What's to stop them from storming in, shooting up the place, and taking it?"

"Too public," I reasoned. "They don't want to reveal who's pulling the strings, so no corpo troops. And Maelstrom couldn't get this far into Mox territory no matter how much they got paid."

"Are we forgetting Project Oracle?" Sandra mused sarcastically. "Maelstrom literally did a cult ritual sacrifice and suicide trying to 'summon' an AI. They'll do ANYTHING."

I rubbed my temples as I was thinking. "Keep a copy of the BD but give me the chip. I'll keep it with me so that no one else is in the crosshairs."

"Alright, I'll set up the copy somewhere secure online," Judy offered. "This all is proof of what's going on with the Peralezes and that SSI is behind it, so we'll need it at the ready, but I don't want any trace of it on Mox servers."

"I'll start looking for a link between SSI and Night Corp," she suggested. "There has to be something between all this AI activity and mental conditioning, but it'd really be helpful if I could get my hands on some of their tech."

I raised an eyebrow. "I don't think Liz will be up for me pokin' around their penthouse again, and I can't exactly take one of those screens with me without someone noticing."

Sandra frowned and pressed a finger to her mouth nervously. "Didn't you tell me about a case where you thought someone was conditioned in prison?"

"Um…" I hummed as I thought back. "I mean, we don't know exactly what happened, but one of the witnesses said he definitely changed his behavior after prison, and he did have sponsors who chromed him up when he got out."

"What job was this?" Judy asked curiously as she sat down again.

My eyes widened. "Actually, it was my first job for the Peralezes. Some crazy guy named Horváth was spouting conspiracy theories about Mayor Rhyne, then one day showed up to work with a few hundred thousand eddies worth of combat implants. He tried to kill Mayor Rhyne, but River…" My voice trailed off after I remembered River on that case, but I quickly composed myself when I saw Judy starting to smirk. "Um- River shot and killed 'im before it could happen. We never found out who got 'im upgraded, but we figured out it was Holt who likely murdered Rhyne."

Judy's knowing smirk grew steadily as she watched my face. "What else does your fuckboy cop know about the case?"

I quietly snarled, "Shuttup…"

"I'm going to assume there's a story there that I don't want to know, so let's skip it," Sandra quipped disinterestedly. "Did you find anything at his place, like a smart screen?"

"Hardly," I scoffed. "Dude lived in some hole above Jig-Jig Street. TV was ancient. Something was missing though…" I thought back to the scene. "His antenna, and I remember a new-looking mirror there even though the rest of the place was trashed."

"Cops always swipe evidence they think is useful or could incriminate one of their own," she continued. "Think you could find out if they took anything from that apartment?"

I shrugged. "I dunno where they keep the evidence. I've been inside an NCPD lab before, but I dunno if they've got what we're looking for."

"River would know," Judy noted with a conspicuous hint of enjoyment. "You know, bein' a cop and all…"

"He's not a cop anymore," I argued. "He wouldn't be able to get us in, and he wouldn't have the case info to know what to look for."

Judy planted her legs on the desk while looking up at me devilishly. "That's your area of expertise. He just has to tell you where to go."

"What's the problem, V?" Sandra asked, oblivious to the tension building up around me.

I swallowed hard and looked away from Judy. "It's uh… just a little complicated."

Sandra rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Look, whatever it is, get over it and get his help. This is serious and we can't waste time."

"It'd be good to have another person who's good at investigating, too," Judy added happily at my obvious expense. "Think he should be helping us out, don't you?"

I huffed and gritted my teeth, fully knowing that they were right and that I'd need more drinks from Mateo to make it through the night.