Virtual Light by William Gibson

Author:William Gibson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3, pdf
ISBN: 9780141941769
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2009-08-08T10:00:00+00:00

19 Superball

Yamazaki heard gunfire, where he knelt on the floor, his wrists joined by glistening plastic behind the rough metal brace that supported Skinner’s wall-table. Or was it only the sound of some hydraulic tool?

There was a smell in the room, high and acrid. He thought it must be the smell of his own fear.

His eyes were level with a chipped white plate, a smear of pulped avocado blackening on its edge.

‘Told him what I had,’ Skinner said, struggling to his feet, his arms fastened behind him. ‘Didn’t want it. Want what they want, don’t they?’ The little television slid off the edge of the bed and hit the floor, its screen popping out on a rainbow ribbon of flat cable. ‘Shit.’ He swayed, wincing as his bad hip took his weight, and Yamazaki thought he would fall. Skinner took one step, another, leaning forward to maintain his balance.

Yamazaki strained at the plastic bonds. Yelped as he felt them tighten. Like something alive.

‘You tug, twist ’em,’ Skinner said, behind him, ‘bastards’ll clinch up on you. Cops used to carry those. Got made unconstitutional.’ There was a crash that shook the room and made the light flicker. Yamazaki looked over his shoulder and saw Skinner sitting on the floor, his knees drawn half up, leaning forward. ‘There’s a pair of twenty-inch bolt-cutters in here,’ the old man said, indicating a dented, rust-scarred green toolkit with his left foot. ‘That’ll do it, if I can get ’em out.’ Yamazaki watched as he began to work his toes through the holes in his ragged gray socks. ‘Not sure I can do shit with ’em, once I do…’ He stopped. Looked at Yamazaki. ‘Better idea, but you won’t like it.’

‘Skinner-san?’

‘Look at that brace there.’

Discolored blobs of puddled welding-rod held the thing together, but it looked sturdy enough. He counted the mismatched heads of nine screws. The diagonal brace itself seemed to be made up of thin metal shims, lashed together top and bottom with rusting twists of wire.

‘I made that,’ Skinner said. ‘Those’re three sections of blade off a factory saw. Never did grind the teeth off. On top there.’

Yamazaki’s fingertips moved over hidden roughness.

‘Shot, Scooter. Wouldn’t cut for shit. Why I used ’em.’

‘I saw plastic?’ Poising his wrists.

‘Wait up. You start sawing on that crazy-goo, it isn’t gonna like it. Have to get through it quick or it’s gonna close up right down to the bone. I said wait…’

Yamazaki froze. He looked back.

‘You’re too close to the center. You cut through there, you’ll have a ring around each wrist and the suckers’ll still close up. You want to go through as close to one side as possible, get over here and get the cutter on the other one before it does you. I’ll try to get this open…’ He bumped the case with his toes. It rattled.

Yamazaki brought his face close to the red restraint. It had a faint, medicinal smell. He took a breath, set his teeth, and sawed furiously with his wrists.

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