the woodwork like a loose nail. Still, it stood to reason that he would know the system better than anyone else in the room.
“Sure thing. We can go have a look at the database as soon as we’re done here.”
“Alright then,” said Andrea. “Field reports from everyone. Veraldi?”
“As far as I can tell, there’s been no further activity from the illegal cyborgs. They’re either lying low or they’ve been pulled from this job completely.”
“Lying low is my guess.” Andrea brushed her bangs back out of her eyes. “That last scenario was extremely public, and there’s still a major Sol Federation investigation going on. Whoever was behind it is probably happier not to be noticed for a bit now that Huxley is dead. Sommer?”
“Done and dealt with.”
Raven Sommer was a sniper, so by this she must have meant that some unfortunate individual was no longer among the living. I didn’t know the details. It must have come up while I was off-world.
Andrea nodded. “Jones?”
“I’m laying the groundwork for several different scenarios right now. I might need a budget adjustment, though. Rents are going up again.”
“You might just have to stay someplace that isn’t top of the line, Andrew. Someplace affordable.”
“I might?” he scoffed. “And how are you going to explain it to the Operator when our systems get breached because of the shitty security at those affordable rental units?”
“Okay, okay. I’ll bring it up, see what I can get you. Anyone need anything else from me at the moment?” When nobody said anything, she stood and stretched her arms. “Okay. Jones, find Klein for Tycho and then go back to your project. Tycho, come see me before you head out.”
“Will do,” I replied, and stood up to go with Jones. This was the life of Section 9, but it honestly would have been nicer to get a little more time to just rest, even for a minute before going back out into the world. I made a note to myself to ask Andrea about vacation time and followed Jones into his room.
Our team spent so much time living in safehouses or hotel suites that no one’s room ever had much of a personality. Jones, however, had gone the other way. Every available surface was covered with clothing—most of it quite stylish—devices of one kind or another, or items I couldn’t even define if I wanted to. Even the bed was completely buried, and Jones had to push a pile of expensive-looking suit jackets aside to make room for me to sit.
“This place looks like shit,” I commented.
“I am well aware of that. Now, let’s see what we can find for you.”
He seemed a little bit testy, so I just sat down on the edge of his bed while he gestured in the air. I didn’t understand the appeal of using a gesture interface for your dataspike—I preferred a simple menu with ocular tracking—but he did tend to speak with his hands. Maybe the choice was intentional so he could disguise accessing it during conversation.
“Okay, here we go,” Jones said. “Lucien Klein lives in Italy under an assumed name. Thurston Michael, an associate director for The 3000 Initiative, some AI policy think tank.”
I frowned. “So, he’s still working in AI? What’s the point of changing your name if you’re not going to change your profession? Whoever hired those Augmen wouldn’t have any trouble hunting him down.”
Andrew shrugged. “I don’t know, Tycho. The man is kind of a fool if you ask me. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he’s sharp as a whip, but he’s a fool. I’ll send you the info you need. Make sure to drop the monitors a note as well. Let them know you’re going to be making an approach. Otherwise they’ll flag it, and we’ll get the call.”
“Okay, thanks.”
I left Andrew to his chaotic room and went to see Andrea. I found her in the kitchen, drinking a glass of orange juice.
“Did Jones get you all set up?”
I nodded. “Yeah. The target’s in Italy. Working for an AI policy think tank, if you can believe that.”
“I’m not sure anything Lucien Klein did would ever surprise me too much. Except not being an asshole maybe. When are you leaving?”
“As soon as I have a shower and some lunch.”
“Okay, good. When you get back from Italy, we should have a chance to slow down a little. You never know, of course, but it might be nice to have a glass of Scotch or something. Catch up a little.”
“I’m going