Page 62 of Tyton: The Spider and the Dragonfly
January 11 2268
W
e’ve got her.”
Trevor, his Chief of Security, stood before Black in his impeccable TacWeave uniform.Black’s Opti flashed as he received the files.
“She’s with the Adlets?”Black stopped playing with his ring and looked at his security officer.
“She is sir.”
“That’s going to destabilise the area.Who’s taking over?
“The Styx have been trying to make incursions.And The Harpies have some grudges.”He stood fast.Chest out.Arms behind his back.The steady whir of the overhead fan meting out the seconds.
Callum spun his ring around his finger for several more moments.“What aren’t you saying?”
The officer swallowed thickly.“We don’t have reliable intel on what’s down there.None of the biosig sensors function and even if they did, they wouldn’t pick up the ones we can’t read.”
“Have you sent drones?”
“Several.The Chargers consider them gifts.”
Black snarled.“But your ghosts can’t use cyberware.They’re good for B&E.Espionage.That sort of thing.How dangerous can they be in an assault?”
“They’ve been taking out people and we haven’t figured out how.”Trevor shifted uncomfortably.“It’s like they have an off-switch.”
“Then run a diagnostic.”
“Every piece of cyberware is completely devoid of soft.Like they gained superuser permissions and wiped all of it.It’s beyond factory reset.”
Black inhaled deeply and leaned back in his chair.He could send his men down there.He could contract another gang to do it.Shareholders wouldn’t like that.He knew the facts, though.People, as much as he hated it, were becoming a scarce resource.Competent people, even more so.Consolidations had happened the year previous, so it’s not like he could scoop up unemployed security either.They had probably gone mad from losing their chem tech subscriptions anyway.
And the fact that Adlets had shown up, killed five and then left with only one person’s face on one of the few remaining visual cameras in the building when every other sensor had been disabled meant that they now had even fewer people.
One face.The face he had been looking for.That can't have been a coincidence.
“Assemble a SecTac team.Four maximum.”
“That’s it?”
Black ignored the question.“She’ll likely be wearing a mask.Look for the red spikes and find where they’re hiding.”
“Sir?”
Black shooed his security officer away with a waggle of his fingers and turned his chair.Once he no longer heard Trevor’s footsteps, Callum took the elevator up to his penthouse.
Imposing black stone and dark hardwoods decorated the space.Oiled brass and grey iron fixtures accented it.Rough.Masculine.Utilitarian.The only emotional piece was the cage in the centre.Empty.For now.
Callie’s door chimed.Her Opti told her that it was after eleven.Sparx was with Tornit tonight, Talia tended to just let herself in.The homeless would only take whatever she left out, they never rang the door.Callie didn’t know who to expect.She tried to tune her Opti into the biosig scanner at her door, but nothing showed up.
Sighing, she crawled off the bed and shuffled to answer it.Sesi leaned against the wall opposite with a smile.It wasn’t flirty or even sly.More impatient, if Callie had to put a word to it.Then she realised she was only in boyshorts and a loose top, clearly braless.
“Do you always answer the door like that?”Sesi mocked.
“What are you here for?”Callie ignored the question, trying to sound annoyed instead of overjoyed.Her blush didn’t help.
Sesi half tilted her head.“I just wanted to talk.”
