Thrill Switch by Tim Hawken

Author:Tim Hawken [Hawken, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Seahawk Press
Published: 2022-11-15T16:00:00+00:00

33

THE LIGHTS OF the Holos hurt my eyes. I thought I’d blasted enough targets apart last night to relax and sleep. Instead, I’d had nightmares. The violent end to our last mission played over and over again in my head. Switch’s avatar took the place of the ghost that had really been there. The dream then cycled back to the day dad died. Back and forth, back and forth. I’d jerk awake, realize it was a dream and fall asleep again, only to have the nightmare pick up where it left off.

I rubbed my eyes again, before realizing that I was rubbing my virtual avatar’s face. In the real world I’d be rubbing the front of my helmet goggles. If only they’d injected coffee into my veins before I plugged in, instead of attaching cables to me, I might be able to function. This clunky avatar didn’t help either. I was stumbling around in a cruddy code puppet.

Despite my foggy head, our mission was clear: seek out Fukami, probe him for information, then stake out Bleesh. We had to find something that would lead us to Corpus, to save his life and get to the truth. Get to this mysterious file he’d apparently hidden somewhere. Rommel had agreed to help have the military databases searched for an ID on our killer. It’d turned up nothing so far but she was seeking classified clearances too. The whole thing was so frustrating. I’d only be able to get some rest once this was solved. Until then, all I’d do was keep turning it over in my head. Keep mentally running full speed ahead until I stumbled over the finish line. Protestors would keep clashing. The markets would stay volatile. Vegas would be a mess. I would be a mess. I had to push forward. I had to figure this out.

Joon stood next to me in the lift as it ticked up floors toward the Politisphere. He was relaxed, confident, at home in his fully synced body. I drew off his sense of calm to settle myself too. I wore the beautifully crafted slip Sabi had given me last time. Joon had recovered it from Corpus’s office and insisted I wear it over my crappy stock avatar. Despite the slip’s elegant code, it did nothing for my coordination. I felt foolish, parading high-style and low function on a serial killer investigation. But in the Holos, it seemed the best way to blend in was to stand out.

Joon drummed his fingers on his thighs as the lift moved, stopping and starting at each floor.

‘Thanks again for last night,’ he said. ‘I really enjoyed it.’

‘You’re welcome,’ I said.

He’d already mentioned it like eight times already.

‘You’re a real surprise, you know?’ he continued. ‘When I was told you were a Ph.D. I’d expected more of an intellectual.’

‘Is that a compliment or an insult?’ I laughed.

‘It’s an observation,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘You’re obviously smart, you dress the part, but you don’t talk like a Ph.D. You certainly don’t act like one.

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