Change

Canada

Peter Tenman rose up early for his monthly haircut. As always he had planned exactly one hour for it before he had to be at work. But today as he checked the fit of his clothing in the mirror he decided, that maybe he would look better if his hair were longer. So he decided to stay at home a little longer and just surf for some interesting news.

There was nothing special about it – except that Peter didn't surf the internet but the PsyNet.

Chapter 76

Nikita Duncan had one hour left to make her business empire war-proof, after she'd finished watching the video her daughter had sent her. Had it been any other person, even a Psy, that warning would have come much too late. But Nikita had prepared for war for a long time. And she wasn't known as a business shark for nothing. She was so attuned to every aspect of the economic world it was practically part of her personality. So she handled the few trades at the stock market that were necessary to limit the damage in that area and called her security chief to set in motion the protocols they had prepared for months. She knew she wouldn't come out of this unscathed. It didn't matter as long as she came out better than anyone else.

She was also not surprised to receive only a short telepathic warning before Anthony appeared right in her San Francisco office, brought in by a teleporter. He would have been alerted by his own daughter.

"The video is going to air in less than an hour. The data he mentions is already online," she began without greeting. "The populace will need some time to process all the information Kaleb set free but this has great potential to escalate."

"Potential? Do you really think this can be stopped? Kaleb just did the biggest whistle blowing in – well, probably in history."

"We have brought other difficult situations back under control: The people didn't riot when Ashaya Aleine revealed the Council's plan to basically turn them into a hive-mind and effectively sterilizing them. And they barely reacted when NewsNet practically fileted Kaleb and his past a week ago." She had a point. The populace had taken it all suspiciously quiet. In all of the other races a scandal like this would have resulted in heated discussions across the media maybe even demonstrations on the streets. Most likely the demand of political consequences such as resignations from their Council seats would have become loud. Not so for the Psy. In Ashaya's case, the Council had corrected their politics a little and it had all blown over quiet smoothly. And during the last week… If anything at all, stocks of companies in which Kaleb was involved would have dropped. But even that effect had been limited.

"The situation is far different than it was two years ago. Back then the Council still worked as a unit, at least outwardly. We could shut off any reaction again and again. Now the Council is fractured to the point of nonexistence and has lost that advantage. You know that. Are you still deluding yourself into believing we can go back to the state we had before?"

The words were unusually hard coming from one of the most diplomatic political figures in the Psy world. For the first time Nikita wondered whether she had misjudged the man she had started to build an Alliance with, after both their daughters had defected.

"I'm not. I'm just weighing all the options," she responded a little stubborn, realizing too late that even she was unused to that kind of pressure.

"The Net is destabilizing and the rebellion has secretly gained impact. And while they might have overlooked information about Kaleb's personal background, this is different: He gave the rebellion a face. And with that he gave food to the well-hidden hopes of millions. And even if the rest of the Council still acts as one…The people might have looked the other way until now. But Kaleb doesn't let them look away anymore. He forces them to look at the one thing that kept them in line as long as it was a possibility in the back of their minds."

"Rehabilitation." She should have known that was the key. Why hadn't she seen it? Ah yes, she had banned every thought of it ever since she realized that her own daughter was different, was one of those who might be listed for rehabilitation herself. What she had done to avoid that… in the end she had even let her go. It had been the logical choice.

"It's the one thing every single one of us tries to avoid," Anthony continued. "But he flaunts that woman in our faces. And she's the perfect example: She was nobody a few weeks ago. She was just visible enough, so they knew her. She might have been anybody. And that's the message he's sending. It might hit anybody at any time."

"You almost sound as if you approve of his agenda." She might have had a momentary lapse of judgement on the public situation, but Nikita's mind had gone back to working as sharp as ever within seconds.

"Maybe I'm just admiring his tactics." It had never been easy to imbalance Anthony. But today he seemed especially hard to get to. "But what if I did approve?"

"You think he might be right." She hesitated for a moment. "No there's more. You believe he's right." She barely had begun considering whether she might believe it too. For the last few decades she had been so entangled in Council lies, she had actually developed the habit of looking away from undesirable facts as long as there was any possibility of explaining them away publicly. But that strategy, that way of life, would no longer work now. Anthony's next statement made that undeniably clear.

"This won't blow over. He said to prepare. It's time to choose a side Nikita."

So that was why he was here. Both of them were associated in the public eye, since they lived quite closely in the same sector and governed it practically together. They needed to know where they stood with each other now.

"I was the first Councilor to rescind support for the Protocol. Isn't that enough?" Nikita knew she couldn't avoid being dragged into the war. But war was bad for business so she would have liked to be involved as indirectly as possible.

"In the current situation we might have to do better than that. We are – or were Council after all."

"Both our daughters broke Silence. For the first time that might come in useful," she speculated.

To anyone else that might have sounded like a cold and calculating assumption, but Anthony heard the hidden undertone. Saw the subtle signs he had been observing for a while now. Nikita pretended to be talking about her own position, but really her statement held relief, that the backlash of the whistleblowing would not fall back on her daughter Sascha. He didn't comment on it however. Nikita wasn't ready to admit anything. That also meant she wasn't ready to learn about his involvement with the rebellion. He had to get her to agree to some of his goals nonetheless. "We already subtly loosened the regimens at the Centers. We could do that officially as well."

"I agree. But that is only the start. Isn't it?"

"As I said: It is time to choose a side."