JD chuckled. “I thought you’d like that.” He took his phone from his pocket and plugged it into the VR chair also. “Jump into Khoder’s files, and see what you can find. There’ll be porn; I don’t know if that’s the best way to learn about our sexuality, but whatever floats your boat.”
“I have found his tools. There was a lot of pornography.”
“That’s my boy,” JD said sadly. “Want to take those tools for a spin?”
“What would you like me to do?”
“I need two names from Zero’s office in San Francisco. One low-level admin drone, one upper management. Both male.”
“Why both male?”
“’Cause they’re both me.”
I wasn’t sure what JD meant, but I went looking anyway. For the administrative assistant, Khoder’s tools were not necessary, but a variety of “soft” tactics I had just researched proved useful. An account on a professional networking site was all I needed.
“Taylor Bradbury is your drone,” I said. “Also, they refer to it as the California National headquarters, not San Francisco.”
“Thanks, Mirae,” JD said. “How you going with that second name?”
I beamed a name directly to JD’s contex, sourced from a headhunter’s database with security protocols almost a decade old.
“Kehinde?” he said.
“What?”
“You’re lucky I’m black.”
“What does that mean?”
JD smiled. “My sweet, innocent robot child.” He patted me on the head.
JD routed his phone through a Bay Area exchange and dialed the number for Zero’s Songdo headquarters.
A young-sounding voice answered the phone immediately. “Good morning, you have reached Zero Corporation, Songdo-dong regional headquarters. How may I be of assistance?”
JD forced a laid-back, laconic accent: “Hi, it’s Taylor Bradbury calling from the California National office. I’m sorry to do this to you—I was meant to call three days ago but I’ve been so busy preparing my quarterlies.”
“How can I help?” the Zero worker asked.
“My boss is in Songdo right now. He’s been meeting with some potential investors who are really excited by what’s coming out of the game development division over there. He needs to see it firsthand, get a feel for the lab so he can really sell it to the investors. Problem is, he’s running on West Coast time, gonna show up in an hour. I know it’s super early, but will someone be there to show him around?”
“Of course, sir,” he said, perking up at the mention of “investors.” “I’ll have someone from the lab give him a tour, and I’ll prepare a security pass. What name will that be under?”
“Kehinde Rhoades.”
“That is taken care of. I will personally greet Mr. Rhoades when he arrives.”
“Thank you, you’re a lifesaver.” JD hung up.
“Do you still have the hat with the AR projectors clipped to the brim?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s still in my bag. But how did you?…?”
“You were wearing it the first time we met.”
JD chuckled. “I guess I was. You gonna make me look like Rhoades?”
“No, I can’t find enough images.”
“Explains why Khoder used celebrities.”
“But I may be able to use the projectors to inject code into the building’s security system, make them see your face when they look for Rhoades’s.”
“Sounds good.” JD reached into his bag and put the hat on, pulling the brim down low over his eyes. “I better go, Mirae. Will you be alright here?”
“Yes, I have everything I need.”
“Alright. I’ll see you in the void.”
JD got up from Khoder’s seat and paused in the doorway. He looked around the room, Khoder’s home, and silently said goodbye. JD walked upstairs; he tried to leave his melancholy below, but still it lingered.
He joined the others at the bar, and the sweet, flat smell of vodka wafted up from the small puddle of booze that pooled on the floor beside Enda’s chair. On the countertop sat an open first aid kit, and the half-full bottle of vodka smeared with blood.
Soo-hyun’s fingertips were stained with Enda’s blood, but the entry and exit wounds were stitched closed, and Enda’s upper arm was wrapped tight in a bandage. She winced as she shrugged into her coat, and again as she reached to check her holstered pistol.
“You want a shot?” she asked JD.
“Nope.”
“Your loss.” Enda poured two shots. She and Soo-hyun clinked their glasses together, then drank, chasing it with a mouthful of coffee. “By far the tastiest disinfectant I’ve ever had.”
There was a third cup of cooling espresso waiting for JD. He nodded to the bartender and slugged it back. He turned to Soo-hyun. “I’ll call Troy and he can take you to my mom’s place.”
Soo-hyun held up their bloodstained hands. “It’s too late