Chapter Fourteen

Interlude

5.10 A.M.

Astana, Nursultan. Kazakhstan

Shin barely slept for about four hours. It's not as if that bothered him too much. Throughout his life he had always been a short sleeper anyway. Although this time the reason was rather different. He had thought that making love to Mai that night would probably tire him out too much to stay up all night, but that was not the case. It would be for another occasion to have a shared sleeping session.

Mai on the other hand was sleeping peacefully beside him, dressed only in a detached nightshirt. Shin looked at her face and felt that seeing that peaceful face somehow mitigated the guilt he felt for having lied to her about what happened at the lake. Even if he knew that Mai understood the reason for the lie, it didn't make him feel any better.

On the other hand he was worried that someone would find out what had really happened in the park. Only a handful knew the truth. They had reported that they had encountered an infectious life form and that, due to the explosion in the lake, fragments had been blasted into the skies. But they never reported that they had seen a ship rise into the sky and distort space, before it went into the night. It was a big deal but Mai did not want to tell the council. She would wait to discuss it face to face with Oxy, and ask her opinion. Shin understood the reason behind Mai's lying in the report, but that didn't make him feel any better either.

On Friday Mai hadn't slept all day and, although she had some rest that night, she awoke the next morning to log on to SID's virtual offices on Another Earth to take care of paperwork and receive reports from other cases around the world.

SID's virtual rotating buildings were located in Another Earth and connected all the different bases and sections around the world as a central hub, to synchronize information and collaborate with the different security agencies. Shin, because he didn't have a Neurowire, had only been able to connect to the site through his book and old VR glasses.

The place certainly reminded him of a giant anthill, with avatars of all the agents and scientists, administrative and static agents who were in charge of carrying information between the different floors. Shin never checked it, but he had been told that each floor of the building, where the offices of each country were located, actually connected to the virtual space building of that country. Which meant that the same building was in every country, but only one floor connected to the central one, which gave Shin the impression that the central place was simply in a kind of limbo with many doors.

Not that that bothered him too much. But he preferred the palpable reality next to him.

Mai shifted and stood looking up. The detached shirt revealed the girl's chest, which was breathing with a calm rhythm. Between her breasts, the imperceptible scar could be seen. Shin stared at her for a few seconds and ran a finger softly over the wound. You've been through too much Rei. He buttoned a couple of the buttons of her shirt and covered her breast.

Then with one of his hands he brushed a strand of silver hair away from her face and gently squeezed one of her cheeks in a playful way with a finger. The girl didn't even flinch and continued sleeping.

He slowly got up from the bed and covered her, trying to make as little noise as possible while putting on his hotel slippers.

Because of what had happened and for security reasons, Virg had forced them to change hotels. The news that Mai was in the country had already leaked out and, even though there was no sign that anyone could make an attempt on her life, it was better to take some precautions.

They were in a rather more modest hotel, nothing compared to the luxurious suite they had occupied the past few days, but it wasn't bad either. If all went well by Tuesday they would be on their way to France for Shin's ceremony and to celebrate the formation of the team with Lizbeth.

Shin put on a robe and walked quietly to one of the armchairs, where his old trench coat rested. The technical team had done a good job of cleaning the coat, considering it was a muddy mess when it was found near the lake.

He slipped one of his hands into the inner fabric of the trench coat, and the limb simply disappeared as if sucked into some kind of black hole. Shin looked up at Mai as he searched for something in the depths of that place. After a few seconds he pulled out his hand with a black object ,while from his hand fell some pieces of frost that faded away before even touching the carpet where he was standing.

He hid the object in his robe and headed for the exit door, entering the room's password. With incredible timing, he closed the door and the door a few feet away opened, and a girl with waist-length red hair, dressed only in lacy underwear, emerged with a gun in her hand

Shin looked at her and then at the gun. "Carissia, what are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"I heard noises… " she replied in the same tone, with her usual poker face.

"It's me. Put that thing down." She lowered the gun. "When did you get to the hotel?"

"Last night."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I sent a message to Mai. Besides you guys were exchanging fluids, I judged it best not to disturb you two."

Shin looked at her with a frown. "Why do you have to say it like that?"

"That's what were you two doing, isn't it?"

Shin would have liked to say something else to her but gave up. Carissia was a very nice aeon girl, but the way she had of saying things was too blunt sometimes. "Were you spying on us?"

"No. My hearing is very good. Good job." She said and gave him a thumbs up.

Good job? Shin shook his head and shuffled on his way.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to smoke upstairs, I want to see the garden," he said listlessly.

He walked to the end of the corridor, entered a tubular glass enclosure and rode the disc elevator upstairs. Looking back he found that Carissia was still staring at him from the door of her room. What the hell is she doing?

Once again Carissia raised her thumb and moved her lips, "G-O-O-D J-O-B."

Shin smiled at her and nodded, if nothing else. She's doing this on purpose, he thought, as he pressed the up arrow button on the wall to activate the disk.

The elevator took him up the fifteen floors and stopped at what looked like a huge dome, that housed a sort of greenhouse with some of the most exotic flowers. He recognized some of them, but most were unfamiliar to him. What he knew of botany was more than enough to conclude that many of these species were new, and had not existed in his time. Shin walked along the path admiring the place, until he came to a new door, that led to the other part of the enclosure, also with plants, although it was open to the sky. He looked around for any sign that anyone was in the place, but it was too early in the morning, and the guests must still be sleeping to admire the nature of the place.

The neon lights of the city with its skyscrapers and the orbital belt, which was moving westward at that moment, merged with the star studded sky, although a purplish clarity could already be distinguished on the horizon.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, in astonishment. When he had barely taken a few steps, he felt a sudden dizziness.

It wasn't the first time. Since returning from the mission at the lake, he had felt another dizzy spell on the way back to Astana, but he thought it might have been due to fatigue.

It was strange, at the lake when he had run to reach Mai in danger, he had also felt tired. It could have been because he had been resurrected only minutes before, but he didn't remember ever having that kind of dizziness before.

Be that as it may, the sensation disappeared as suddenly as it had disappeared.

He found a bench among some giant yellow-flowered mallow trees and sat down. He saw no [no smoking] signs, so he lit one of his black cigarettes, and pulled out of his robe the object he had taken out of his raincoat.

It was an antique cell phone, from the end of the 20th century.

He turned it on and the green screen lit up his face as he searched for a number in the directory. He found it quickly, and pressed call on the contact that was marked BK. The tone rang a couple of times until a boyish male voice picked up on the other end of the line.

[It's been months,] the voice said.

"Hey," Shin greeted. "How have you been?"

[Same old, same old.]

"…"

[...] It took a few seconds before BK spoke again. [The truth is, I was thinking of calling you.]

"Why?"

[You first. You don't call unless you need something.]

"You have access to Nevermore's case files?"

[... I'm not sure if I should answer that. You're one of them now. Are you playing peek-a-boo with your new partners?]

Shin savored the word partners. He had a bitter taste remembering things that had happened in the past. And yet here he was again, in a new era. "I'm not spying on anyone."

[And yet you're here talking to me, trying to get into files I assume you don't have access to.]

"Wrong. I'm not trying to get in anywhere. I asked you in case you saw the last case I worked on."

BK took a few seconds to respond. [You found an alien life form from what I can see.]

"We found something else," Shin said grimly. "That thing was able to access fragments of memories from my past life... if it is my past life."

[Did you see those things you saw sometimes in your dreams?]

" Yeah."

[I see… ]

"You didn't find any clues regarding the Song of the Binary Stars in the time I wasn't here?"

[I've had my nets on alert since you disappeared, there are a few mentions here and there, but nothing concrete. If such a book really exists, whoever owns it, and if there are copies, they have tried to keep it secret and away from the voices in the digital and virtual world].

Shin sighed and leaned back on the bench, looking up at the stars, as he remembered the strange telepathic conversation he had had with the strange mushroom creature. Or maybe it was Ivraeva's consciousness?

"Can I ask you something?"

[What do you need?]

"You can look to see if there is any mention of Tzi'rak sha Zhireq on any network or anything."

[Send me a spelled out message, I'll see what I can find when I have some time.]

"Are you busy?"

[Always.]

"...where are you? Are you still on the planet, or are you up there floating?"

[I'm in both places.]

Shin smiled. "Your turn now."

[Are you aware of the other SID teams' cases?]

"Yes, I have access to them. Why?"

[I think you'd be interested to see what's going on in Edinburgh right now.]

"What's going on?"

[When was the last time you heard of electric malfunctions, a red-eyed creature, and beings moving at superhuman speed?]

Shin's face darkened, remembering that only a few days ago he had seen something related thanks to the storm of memories. A girl crying in an alley. "Is it related to the AFT?"

[I don't know, but there are some interesting things going on there. You're probably interested in keeping up with it and it's easier for you. Your friend Claris is on site too].

"Does it still exist? The AFT?"

[I don't know, the AFT was always just a rumor to begin with.]

"A rumor that sent me to the other side for over two hundred years," Shin said grumpily.

[But a rumor nonetheless. If the AFT really exists, then they are operating like our black-suited friends, outside our understanding of time].

Shin said nothing for a few seconds letting the cold morning wind sneak into the conversation.

[I'll keep you posted if I find anything.]

"How? I can only talk to you with this thing."

[The time is coming when I'll have to collect all the favors at once.]

Shin frowned. "Has something happened?"

[I think it's best for me if I take my new body to the main station. But I still have things to do down here. For the time being keep that book and the VR goggles close to you. If I find anything I'll let you know].

"Thank you."

[Shin…]

"What?"

[Take care of them.]

That surprised him. BK had hardly ever mentioned Mai or Lizbeth. " Of course I will."

[Don't do anything risky or stupid, this isn't the twentieth century. There are many more ways to arrive at a different result.]

"What do we know?"

[Well, at least I know who they are. And I know who you are too. The past doesn't matter. You deserve a break.] Silence lingered for a few seconds and BK added. [Good luck, old friend.]

"Good luck to you too."

The call ended, leaving Shin with more questions than answers. He knew it was futile to try to get any information out of BK. Whoever was behind that line had always helped him or Gehirn when they were in a bind. But he never showed his face. And since his help had gone on since the end of World War II, Shin could only think that it was some fey who for some reason didn't want to show himself.

The cigarette ember went out and Shin threw the butt into the nearby garbage can, which charged him a tenth of an E-feb for processing it, and set off on his way back. This time Carissia did not come out of her room to give him another thumbs up. Shin re-set the password, closed the door behind him and stripped off his robe and sank back into the sheets.

"Put that off," Mai murmured in her sleep, scolding him at the smell of tobacco.

Shin smiled and hugged her. At least for an hour or two he would try to fall asleep.

For a couple of hours, he wished everything was still peaceful in the world.