Shattered Union

Zapper was in such a foul temper by the time he got back to the Wild at Heart that he almost didn't notice that more of Catherine's journal had decrypted. Looking through it, he saw that Catherine had stumbled upon Falconetti's secret Matrix node like he had. Apparently she had got one of Falconetti's old gang members drunk and had come onto him. In his stupor, she had told him the password 'Leather Apron'. She mentioned 'interesting things' in that node, but one statement in-particular caught his eye:

"Cale almost stumbled upon these notes yesterday. How much longer can I keep my efforts secret from him?"

If anything, this caused Zapper's mood to become even worse. Why had Catherine not told him about any of this? Did she plan on keeping any rewards to herself? He knew she would be having words with her when she woke up.

With the new lead to work on, he headed back into the Matrix, working his way back to Falconetti's private node from before. This time it seemed Falconetti wasn't there to drag him back to Circus Maximus, and using the code he was able to get in easily. He found himself in what looked like an old-fashioned study, complete with an antique desk lined with papers. He also noticed that part of the wall was destroyed, looking out over a ruined cityscape. He thought he was imagining it, but he thought he could hear miniature explosions coming from some distance away.

Examining the desk, and trying not to be distracted by the sight of a large knife on it, he found an open book with hand-written notes, all of them relating to the previous Reaper victims. Notes had been made of Estevez, Mendell and Stein, as Falconetti had commented on their appearances in the Seattle Herald. On the bottom of the page was one note:

"Will Stephanie be next?"

It seemed Falconetti had been looking into the Reaper case himself. Either that or this was a list of targets that he was making up as he went along. Looking around, there didn't seem to be anything else in the room worth mentioning, aside from a locked cabinet that he couldn't open. As he logged out of the Matrix, he thought he heard the sound of a trumpet-like roar coming from outside.

***

Moments later, he was back at Falconetti's safe-house. He crossed through into Falconetti's main room, where he found him tinkering with his VR goggles. He flashed a toothy grin as he recognised Zapper.

"Eddie," Zapper said, "there's something I need to ask about. I didn't know that you, Rigden and Burton were all in the WebRunners together."

"Those were the days," Falconetti sighed longingly. "Christ, we had fun. I was the guru, Rigden was the brooding bohemian, Burton was the straight-laced schoolgirl surfin' the edge. Too bad it all went down the shitter..."

"On that note," Zapper said, "I found out you and Burton were married."

Falconetti chuckled. "What can I say?" he shrugged. "It was the perfect day and Rigden fucked it up."

"How do you mean?" Zapper asked.

"My wedding day," Falconetti replied. "I knew he had the hots for Tanya so I didn't invite him. The bastard turns up anyway. You know the part where the priest says 'Speak now or forever hold your piece'? Rigden was holding his piece, and he had a lot to say."

"You mean he interrupted the ceremony," Zapper stated.

"Yeah," the hacker muttered bitterly. "After we threw him outta there, he turns up at the party afterwards like nothin' happened! Walks up to Tanya, asks her to dance. She looks at him... she looks at me..." All of a sudden he yelled out, as if a bomb had gone off.

"I say 'Get the fuck outta here!'" he screamed, before quickly regaining his composure. "Then he goes nuts. Took four guys to pull him off me; five guys to pull me off him. After that, nothin' was ever right."

Zapper sighed. A sympathetic look flashed across his face for a moment, before he quickly pulled himself together. Falconetti was still a suspect; he couldn't afford to get sentimental for a fellow hacker now.

"You know the Reaper has struck again," he said, in a deadpan tone.

"No shit!" Falconetti breathed, now looking excited. "Who'd he whack?"

"A woman," Zapper replied. "Stephanie Jordan."

"Big mess, like the others?" Falconetti asked curiously.

"Doesn't that name ring a bell?" Zapper asked, doing his best not to make his revulsion apparent.

Falconetti only shrugged. "Never heard of her," he muttered. "More importantly-"

"Well, she was a member of the WebRunners," Zapper interrupted, "back when you were hanging with them." Falconetti paused for a moment, looking at him blankly, then he suddenly nodded.

"Ah, yes!" he said. "Now I remember her! Skinny chick, kinda quiet. Not into my idea of fun."

"Sorry you're so broke up about it," Zapper spat. Looking like he had just been spat in his eye, he marched out of the apartment building.

***

At the same time, Alan was questioning Brandon at the police station again for the daily update. He hadn't been happy when Zapper insisted on him doing it, but he supposed it had to be done. Still, it might be a chance to question Rigden, especially since Zapper was in the process of questioning Falconetti before he visited Catherine.

"I tell you," the dwarf was saying, "the Stephanie Jordan murder set Rigden off. He went crazy when he got back from the murder scene! He was interrogating some chiphead about the narcotics rap; broke his nose real bad. I don't know what got into the guy. It's like he knew this Jordan woman."

"I'm pretty sure he did," Alan remarked.

"You're saying he's involved?" Brandon asked.

"Let's just put it this way," Alan replied. "Rigden is definitely mixing business and pleasure with this case." With that, he left Brandon to his devices and headed to Rigden's office, where he found the detective poring over his case files. He didn't look happy to see Alan walk in and approach him.

"Any luck identifying the murder weapon yet?" Alan asked.

"I would guess that it's a knife," Rigden stated.

"Well, that's odd," Alan said. "Styzyack said that hadn't been established. He said you don't know what the murder weapon is."

"That bastard had a lot of crazy theories," Rigden snarled. "It's not rocket science. These people were butchered; you can't slice bacon with a baseball bat."

Alan rolled his eyes. He could see that Rigden was as tactful as ever. He wondered if Rigden suspected his old WebRunners comrades, especially since Alan regarded him as a suspect himself.

"You notice anything fishy about Burton?" he asked.

"Like what?" Rigden shrugged.

"Like the fact that she's dragging her feet on treating Catherine," Alan replied.

"So you're a cyber-surgeon, huh changeling?" Rigden retorted.

"Why aren't you investigating her?" Alan demanded.

"What makes you so sure I'm not?" Rigden growled.

"Did you know she and Falconetti were married?" Alan asked. He knew the answer, but he wanted to see what kind of excuse Rigden cooked up.

"Yeah, so?" Rigden shrugged.

"So why didn't you tell us?" Alan asked.

"It's not relevant to the case," Rigden stated.

"The fuck it's not!" Alan snapped. "One of those could be the Reaper!"

"Look," Rigden retorted, "I'm not an idiot! I read Catherine's notes. As far as you pinheads are concerned, I'm a suspect!"

"Why didn't you tell me about the WebRunners?" Alan asked.

"What are you talking about?" Rigden said.

"Your past," Alan retorted. "Your involvement with the WebRunners! The fact that you're an ace decker! The fact that you've known Burton and Falconetti for years! You're all connected! I'm supposed to think there's nothing to this?!"

"If you're making an accusation," Rigden snarled, "swear on a complaint."

"Why?" Alan spat. "So you can lift some more evidence?"

"You're walking on thin ice, changeling," Rigden growled, glaring dangerously at Alan. "If it cracks, ain't nobody gonna hear you scream when you go under!"

"What about your affair with Burton?" Alan continued, refusing to let himself be bullied by Rigden.

"Do you think I have to tell you or your master anything?!" Rigden retorted. "Let's just say that what I give you are pennies from heaven."

"Oh," Alan retorted, "so you were playing God when you broke up Burton's marriage to Falconetti. The plot thickens, Rigden!"

"You just crossed a line," Rigden spat, his eyes narrowed. Alan was sure they would be shooting sparks if they could.

"Ask Falconetti what it's like to be my enemy!" the detective continued. "A pissed-off cop can screw your life up in so many ways!" Alan stood firm, his arms folded across his chest.

"Well," he pressed on, "did you know about Burton's secret lab?"

"Secret lab?!" Rigden said incredulously. "You've been reading too much of your master's own stuff!"

"She's got it hidden in an old subway tunnel," Alan replied. "She's doing lethal experiments on animals. I don't know what it all adds up to, but it can't be legal."

"I don't have time to weep about sheep!" Rigden retorted. "Call the animal-lovers hotline!"

"She has Stephanie Jordan's body there!" Alan snapped. At this, Rigden looked genuinely shocked. He paused for a moment, scratching his chin and regarding Alan with a steely gaze, before throwing his arms up in surrender.

"Alright, changeling," he said. "For once, you've got my interest. I'll look into it. Satisfied?"

"Very," Alan replied. "So when are you going to put this Reaper case to bed, Rigden? A person can wonder."

"Well, wonder away, asshole!" Rigden spat. "The wheels of justice may grind slowly, but they're moving! Get yourself caught in those wheels, changeling, you'll be in a lot of pain!"

After that thinly-veiled threat, Alan left the police station and headed to the Medicog. After all the hassle Rigden had given him, he felt good to be able to say those things to the smug detective. He suspected that he was now on the Reaper's list.

***

At the Medicog, Zapper pulled off his VR rig. Gabriel had installed one into the ICU so that Zapper could keep using the pathway Falconetti had secured to Catherine's mind. While he said the treatment was unorthodox, he was willing to take progress where he could find it.

Inside Catherine's mind, he had relayed everything that he and Alan had found out; about the WebRunners, about the deep connections between Burton, Falconetti and Rigden, and about Burton's experiments. When he had finished, he logged out, looking more relieved, and walked excitedly over to Alan when the mutant arrived in Catherine's ward.

"I think she's beginning to wake up!" he said, excitedly. "I told her everything we had learned, and she jerked awake inside her mind! I think she might be recovering!"

"Nice one, mate," Alan said. "Did she say anything?"

"Not much," Zapper said. "She said that she could see him, or her, but she couldn't remember the specifics. She mumbled something about the Reaper not actually being there. I couldn't make sense of it, but surely it's only a matter of time."

That statement suddenly recalled something in Alan's memory. "Kills without touching..." he muttered. Zapper looked at him confused.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Alan said, "but something I heard in Burton's lab... Mind you, not much did make sense in there..."

All of a sudden Zapper's commlink beeped, as he received a call on it. He held the commlink up to find a message saying 'Source Unknown'.

"Oh no..." Zapper muttered. "It's him..."

As the two watched, the all-too-familiar red ruby appeared.

"Dear Boss," the Reaper's metallic voice rang, "I'm having one of those awful days. My mood is foul, and I don't know what I'm to do! Luckily, I have a hobby to keep me busy! Yours truly, Reaper." With that, the message ended.

"That's weird..." Zapper said. "He usually calls after the fact, not before..."

"Let's see if we've really made any progress," Alan said, crossing to the Reaper image on the monitor. "He must be scared if he's slipping up like this."

They looked at the image on the monitor, and neither of them could believe their eyes. While the image was beginning to form into an identifiable head, it was like nothing either of them had ever seen. From what Alan could tell, the head had a single red eyeball and a metallic beak, with a metallic horn protruding from the top. From the bottom of the screen was what looked like a scythe blade.

"What the hell?" Zapper muttered. "It doesn't look like a human or any metahuman at all. Even in this world, I've never seen anything like it!"

Alan was too dumbfounded to even reply. If this thing really wasn't human, were all their theories wrong? Just what was this Reaper?

He was distracted when his commlink gave the shrill beeping associated with another call. He answered and found Sparks peering at him.

"Oi, lads!" Sparks half-yelled. "Get back to the bar on the double! I've gotta talk to yeh! It's important! I'm onto summat big!"

"Let's talk," Alan replied.

"Not over the Matrix, lad!" Sparks replied. "Jus' get yer arses back here! I have'nay got long!"

With that, he quickly signed off. Alan and Zapper looked at each other. Just when they thought this case was solved, it was throwing more curveballs at them.

***

The bar was still open, but not many patrons were present tonight. Alan and Zapper crossed to the bar, sitting down in front of Sparks and Miki, who seemed too distracted to work.

"What the fuck's this all about?!" Alan demanded.

"I've figured it out, lads!" Sparks exclaimed. "How the Reaper's doin' the murders!"

"He's been on the Matrix almost all day these past few days," Miki said. "It's been hard enough to remind him that he has to eat and work."

"What?!" Alan exclaimed. "The police and the coroners have been working overtime! What does he know that they don't?!"

"Well," Sparks said, excitedly, "after what yer said with the whole brain-hacking thing, I thought about how I controlled my little pet here." He waved his hand towards the small robotic dragon he had constructed from metal and bio-syntech. Alan remembered how Sparks was able to dive into the minds of machines as easily as breathing. Currently the dragon was preening itself.

"When yer said ter me it were possible ter do it with organic brains," the dwarf continued, "I tried ter get in touch with Styzyack, through the Matrix. Guess what? He wasn't on holiday at all! He's been dead fer the past day! The police and the Medicog covered it up!"

Zapper looked appalled at this. Styzyack had been a good friend, and now he found out that the authorities seemed to be covering up all attempts to figure out the Reaper's method.

"After ye'd fixed that old terminal," Sparks continued, "I hacked inter it ter find out what he'd been workin' on. After he'd ruled out all possible physical weapons, he'd found a connection between the victims!"

"What was that?" Zapper asked. "Aside from the fact they were all WebRunners?"

"Jus' listen!" Sparks said. "They were all decked in! Styzyack wrote that he'd looked at their cerebral tissue, and he'd found fragments of inorganic nerve impulse code! The way he saw it, when they were in the Matrix, somebody found a way to log inter their brains, and force what amounts ter a self-destruct code inter their essence matrices so that they exploded! If he perfects this code, the victim doesn't even need to be logged into the Matrix at the time of death! All he'd need to do is implant the code and set a timer!"

Zapper looked shocked, but Alan and Miki looked confused.

"Just slow down, mate," Alan said. "You're losing me!"

"Well..." Sparks muttered. "Let's say yer an astronaut. On Earth, yer internal pressure pushin' out is the same as the external pressure pushing in. Step out of a rocket inter space, where there's no external pressure, and yer'll literally blow apart from the inside! What the Reaper's code does is increase yer internal pressure. It's as simple as that!"

Now Alan understood, and the mental images those words conjured in his mind didn't bear thought.

"So how come just the torsos exploded?!" Alan asked.

"Styzyack figured that one out too," Sparks explained. "The guy's a fuckin' artist! He can blow somebody's guts across a room or he can cut someone open and let them spill in front of them! The sliced torso is his signature!"

With that, Sparks suddenly let out a loud cough, but quickly seemed to recover as he carried on.

"It's just like the original Jack the Ripper," he continued, "but he's one-upped his namesake! He doesn't even have ter be there!"

"Fuck..." Miki stated. "It's like the perfect crime! Killing from the Matrix!"

"That's what that monkey was talking about!" Alan exclaimed. "Killing without touching! It all fits!"

"You know what this means?!" Zapper exclaimed. "Anyone with a datajack, who uses augmented interfaces or VR at any time is a potential target! Damned if I'm going in the Matrix again! Not without some protection!"

"I've been workin' on that, lad!" Sparks chimed in. "It's why I called yer here tonight; I've got the protection code ready! Here..."

Without another word, Sparks brought up his commlink and sent an email to the commlinks of the others. In each email was an attachment.

"Yer need ter get yerselves inter the Matrix ter install it properly," Sparks explained, "but it's designed to detect and destroy any malignant viral attack that tries to attach itself to yer essence matrix. That should keep the three of yer safe from the Reaper's code! Be quick though! If this guy figures out I know anythin', we're all in trouble!"

With that, he suddenly coughed again, actually doubling over as he did so.

"Is it your ulcer playing up again?" Alan asked. "You've gotta stop drinking, it can't be good for..."

He paused, as Sparks stood bolt upright, groaning and straining. He was shaking all over, his face contorted in pain.

"Sparks?!" Miki called. "Are you alright?! Are you..."

She was silenced, then her last word became a scream of abject terror. Even Alan and Zapper yelled as Sparks was suddenly slashed as if by an invisible sword. A number of cuts appeared instantly on his torso, spilling his intestines and other organs out onto the bar in front of him. The dwarf cried out in agony as the cuts began to appear all over his body, sending blood spurting all over his allies. Zapper collapsed backwards onto the floor. The bar patrons, now seeing what was happening, screamed in terror and fled from the bar.

Horrified and helpless, Alan watched as his best friend in this time was ripped limb from limb, and collapsed onto the bar.

***

It was funny, in some sick way, how seeing his best friend get blown up focused Alan's attention. He now knew for certain that his life was in danger. Sparks' murder coming only half a day after Jordan's showed him what happened to people who knew too much. He knew he had to determine whether Burton, Falconetti or Rigden was the Reaper, and quick, and while he was at it he had to find out what Catherine had been up to. The fact that the Reaper could kill via the Matrix over time and distance meant that he had to crack the case fast, or he was a dead man. Not even Organiser G-1 could save him from getting ripped apart like Sparks and those other victims had been.

Firstly, of course, he had to keep himself and his friends out of prison. Long after these events were over, Alan would come to regard this as the worst night of his life; even worse than the Awakening. The police had arrived on the scene in double-quick time, and promptly ordered Alan, Miki and Zapper to the police station for questioning, as more than a dozen witnesses placed them with Sparks at the time of his death. Alan sat in a prison cell, sharing it with six rough-looking thugs of various races, and thought about just how he was supposed to get them out of this, considering Rigden had been looking for an excuse to pin this on Alan and Zapper for some time.

"All we can do is be patient", a female voice said in his head. Alan recognised it to be Miki's, as she was locked up in the female block and this was the only way she could communicate. After Kaiser's failed assault on her mind she had somehow become psychically connected to creatures that held Godzilla's blood, to the point that for a time Miki had seen Godzilla standing wherever Alan happened to be. This connection worked both ways, though neither had seen much need to use it.

Any idea how Zapper's doing? he thought.

"No", came Miki's reply. "It's so confusing here; there are too many voices. I can't risk diving too deep or the number of voices will overwhelm me. We'll have to talk later."

Alan sighed. He tried to sleep that night, but he knew better than to try and sleep with both eyes shut in a place like this.

***

The next morning, the three of them were pulled off to separate interrogation rooms. Alan and Miki were reasonably lucky in this department; unlike Zapper, they didn't have to be in the same room as Rigden, who glowered at Zapper as he entered the small chamber. Zapper was sitting on the table, as defiant as ever to Rigden.

"Get off the table!" Rigden yelled.

"What's this all about?" Zapper countered.

"It's about catching a killer..." Rigden snarled. "Seems like he's been under my nose all along."

Zapper just snorted, rolling his eyes. "You really are crazy!" he sneered. Rigden's reply was to pull Zapper's arms behind his back and bind them together with handcuffs.

"Get these bracelets off me, Rigden!" the elf continued.

"I wanna know how you did it!" Rigden snarled. "How did you kill them?!"

"What are you high on, Rigden?!" Zapper spat.

"I wanna know how you did it!" Rigden snarled again, grabbing Zapper by the throat and pressing hard on the side of it. Zapper cried out in agony as blinding pain shot straight up his neck and into his head. He bit down hard and gritted his teeth.

"I'll have your fucking badge for this!" he shouted.

"I know all about pressure points," Rigden growled. "The pain's exquisite, and it don't leave a mark. Not that I give a damn whether I mark you up or not!" With that, he pressed again, and Zapper was sure his head was going to explode from the pain. When he finally let go, the elf collapsed onto the table, breathing hard.

"You are fucking losing it, Rigden!" he shouted. "When I run this story, everyone's gonna start thinking you're the Reaper!"

"You're the one getting mystery messages from the Reaper!" Rigden spat. "You're the one with power when Catherine's attacked! Your apprentice is the last person Stephanie Jordan contacts! You were with Jerry when he was killed! How come the Reaper only communicates with you?!" His eyes were now bulging out of his head. He looked positively mad.

"I'm a writer, you prick!" Zapper snarled.

"If you ask me," Rigden replied, "the Reaper is a sick fuck of a muckraker, who can't tell the difference between a pen and a blade."

"Didn't it sink in," Zapper retorted, "when I told you that before Jerry was killed that the killer is in the Matrix. That means that the Reaper can rip you apart and be sipping coffee in a café a thousand miles away!"

"You dirty piece of shit!" Rigden shouted, proceeding to punch Zapper hard, almost breaking his jaw. With blood coming out of a burst lip, Zapper eyed Rigden with nothing but malice on his face.

"How are you gonna explain this, Rigden?!" he snarled. As a reply, Rigden pulled a sharp knife out of the inside of his jacket, and proceeded to make two large cuts across his face. Zapper winced and looked away as Rigden did it, but the detective showed no signs of feeling any pain at all.

"Self-defence, man," Rigden replied, smugly. "I mean, why'd you hit me, LeRoi? What, are you stupid, hitting a cop?!" He proceeded to hold the knife right up to Zapper's throat. The elf could feel the point of it threatening to penetrate the skin on his neck.

"I'm gonna smear you all over the front page tomorrow," Zapper snarled, "you sick fucking bastard! Now let me and my friends outta here! You've got nothing on us, or you'd have arrested us by now!"

Rigden paused for a moment, seemingly contemplating Zapper's words. After a few moments he nodded, and put the knife away.

"You can walk, for now," he growled. "But I'm onto you! You hear me?! I'm gonna hear you confess before this is over!" He walked behind Zapper and roughly removed the handcuffs. "It's a matter of time! Now get outta here!" He swiped his fist at Zapper as he walked towards the door.

"Don't trip on your way out!" the detective called after him, walking up beside him. "Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself, would we?"

After the incident, the trio were allowed to go. However, the bar had officially been classed as a crime scene, so they could not return there for some time. They holed up at Alan's apartment, where Alan and Mike helped Zapper to recover from his ordeal. No further killings happened, but none of them dared to investigate the matter further in case they crossed paths with Rigden again.

After a few days, it became clear that Rigden didn't have enough on them to arrest them. Out of boredom, Alan decided to go see Covington Watford to check up on him. It had been a while since they last visited the old man, and he wondered how he was coping in the wake of his brother's death.

As he approached the cottage, he was alarmed to find that the front door had been broken into. Stepping through carefully, Alan kept one hand inside his coat, on the handle of his Technomantic revolver. It was dark inside the house, and furniture had been upturned.

"Hello?" Alan called. "Hello, Mr. Watford? It's me, Mike Anderson. I came with Cale LeRoi, remember?!"

Still no response. He walked carefully through the house, twisting to check every corner. As he crossed into the dining room, the lights suddenly came on, revealing Covington Watford trapped in a corner of the room, looking terrified at a cloaked figure wielding a knife.

"Help!" Watford called, upon seeing Alan. "Help!"

As quick as a flash, Alan pulled his revolver out from inside his jacket, currently loaded with ordinary bullets.

"Don't move!" Alan called to the knife-wielding figure. It seemed to ignore him as it continued to advance on poor Covington.

"I said don't move!" Alan warned again, with no response. When it looked like the figure was about to strike, he fired two rounds at the attacker, forcing it to beat a hasty retreat. There was a clunking sound as the knife fell on the floor, and Alan ran over to Covington.

"Are you alright, Mr. Watford?!" he asked. Covington just cried out in reply, clearly frightened out of his mind.

"I'm dead!" he shouted. "By God, I'm dead!"

"Not quite, sir," Alan responded, sliding his gun back into its holster.

"It's only a matter of time!" Watford cried, "I'm telling you!"

"Hold on," Alan said, walking towards where the knife had dropped. Grabbing a handkerchief from the dining room table, he stooped to pick up the knife and placed it on the table.

"I must have only hit the shoulder," Alan muttered, spotting traces of blood on the floor.

"Oh God!" Watford remarked. "Now we've got a wounded animal on our hands! That's it for me, I tell you! I'm not waiting to be killed!" He leaned in closer to Alan, reaching into his pocket.

"I know I can trust you now," he said. "Hamilton stored an A.I. of himself on this disk." He pulled a small data disk out of his pocket and showed it to Alan. "It might hold some clue about who killed him. I'll upload it into our Matrix node; your friend knows the address! You can talk to him yourself!

"As for me..." he muttered, "After I've spoken to the police and uploaded this A.I., I'm getting the hell out of this city!" He marched straight past Alan towards the phone and called the police. Alan thought it best to stay put in case Rigden tried to pin this crime on him.