Wetwired 1 - Hammered by Elizabeth Bear

Author:Elizabeth Bear [Bear, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, General, Fantasy
ISBN: 9780553587500
Publisher: Random House Digital, Inc.
Published: 2004-12-28T21:55:28+00:00

Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.

—Henry Louis Mencken

0900 hours, Wednesday 13 September, 2062

Allen-Shipman Research Facility

St. George Street

Toronto, Ontario

Valens’s gloved hands brush my hair forward, gentle and sure as a lover’s. And I am not thinking about Gabe. Not. Thinking about Gabe. “Will you put me in touch with the doc who’s been doing your follow-up, Casey?”

“If you insist. What are we doing today, Fred?” He’s much more fastidious than Simon. I lie near-naked under the sterile drape, facedown on a table, and the room is a cold, antiseptic operating theater. Observers range in the gallery above, but I try not to let it bother me. It’s not like it’s the first time. “Nice facilities you have here.”

“Thanks. Today we’re just introducing you to the VR setup with your current equipment. We’re going to run some tests, see what the functionality is, see how comfortable we can get you with operating in a VR environment. We’re not even going to use a real vehicle today, or the drugs. You’ll be flying the HMCSS Indefatigable.”

Since when do aircraft have names? “What’s that?”

Amusement colors his voice. “A virtual spaceship. Supposed to be very challenging to fly. It’s got a tendency to smack into planets—or any sufficiently massive object nearby. As if attracted to them, actually.”

“Whose lame-ass idea was that?”

“I believe it’s intended to be a game.”

“Teenagers. Got to make everything harder than it needs to be.”

“I’ve got kids of my own, and yes, I think that probably covers it.” There’s a hesitance in his voice. I wonder what he isn’t telling me. “We’ll sedate you once you’re hooked in, paralyze the voluntary muscles. Like REM sleep.”

“I’ve done some work in VR, actually.”

“I know. That’s one of the ways we tracked you to Connecticut.”

“What?” There’s a jolt, sharp and sudden, as the adrenaline of fury dumps into my body.

In the jump into combat time, I hear my heartbeat slowing. To Valens, it accelerates—and he murmurs to the anesthesiologist, who makes a minor adjustment. Increasing the sedative drip, no doubt. It works. “Calm down, Jenny.”

Simon, you son of a bitch . . . no, wait. If he’d been talking to Valens behind my back, Valens wouldn’t need me to release my medical records. If he were that unethical, Simon would just do it.

“I’m calm,” and it’s grit between my teeth, but I get it spat out. “How do you know about that?”

“Oh, the researcher you were working with published some papers on you. Name changed, of course, and some of the personal details. But I knew who it had to be. He wouldn’t talk to me when I tried to contact him about it.”

“Ah.” I see. And the shit of it is, Simon probably thought he was protecting confidentiality. Not really unethical. Really. And it explained why he had been so rabbity during that last discussion.

Just exactly not what I asked him to do. The temptation must have been unbearable. But we’re going to have a long, stern discussion after I get back to Hartford.

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