“You were there that night, along with Red and the others. You were all exposed. You could all be arrested for your part in the theft, and yet we have nothing to show for it.” These last words came out slow: “Where is your brother?”
“I already told you where he lives.”
“He wasn’t there. Where else could he be?”
Soo-hyun paused. “I don’t know.”
“This is an emergency, Soo-hyun. Every day that passes without the virus is another day of pain and suffering for countless people. It is one day closer to complete collapse. It is?…”
Kali continued, but the words drifted beneath Soo-hyun’s understanding. At the word “emergency” something had come loose in Soo-hyun’s mind. When they first hacked the dogs, the machines were severed from the emergency services data network so they couldn’t be tracked and relocated by city contractors. If that break with the network was causing the latency, reinstating them could be the solution. Piggyback the stolen signal off the police servers, and get the dogs running smooth. Soo-hyun smiled, hands itching with the promise of a problem almost solved.
“Are you listening to me?”
The smile dropped from Soo-hyun’s lips. “I think I know how to fix it.”
They stood and so did Kali. She grabbed them by the arm and squeezed tight. “That can wait. Where is your brother?”
Soo-hyun glanced over Kali’s right shoulder. “I don’t know,” they said. “He could be staying with a friend. He could be staying with his mom.”
“Where does she live?”
Soo-hyun shook her head. “I don’t know; we’re not exactly close.”
“We can’t trust the virus to him, Soo-hyun. I know he’s your brother, but he’s also a man. The masculine death drive is too dangerous at this early stage of the virus’s development.
“All throughout human history, our species has been driven forward by the masculine death drive. Hunting animals for their meat allowed us to evolve into modern Homo sapiens sapiens. The drive to conquer saw us cover the entire Earth. Even the rediscovery of distant lands during the age of empires was driven by the explorers’ suicidal urge. What man sails to the unknown horizon unless he truly wishes to die? Our technical development has always been driven by violence. Better weapons require stronger metals require a better understanding of materials. The ability to manipulate metals led us to industry, which led us to today. Which leads us to our only hope.
“I birthed the virus, Soo-hyun; it bled from my fingertips, code pooling to form a living piece of software. A living piece of software that is out there, somewhere, without me. It needs me, Soo-hyun; it needs its mother.
“You care for your brother, I understand that. But this is bigger than you and him. This is bigger even than me. Where can I find your brother?”
“I don’t know,” Soo-hyun said again.
“What about the hacker? Could he have kept a copy?”
Soo-hyun bit their lower lip. “Maybe.”
Kali took both Soo-hyun’s hands and squeezed. “You know where we can find him?”
Soo-hyun nodded. “The kid basically lives at this VR café. That’s where me and JD met him.”
“Good, good,” Kali said. “What’s it called?”
“The Varket.”
“Thank you, Soo-hyun. You have no idea how much this means to me.” The words sounded neutral, but some spark in Kali’s pale eyes made Soo-hyun uneasy.
“Can I— Can I go now? I might have a fix for the dogs.”
“Of course,” Kali said. “Think it’ll be done by morning?”
“I don’t know,” Soo-hyun said. “I need to implement it first, then test it.”
“Keep me in the loop.”
“I will.” Soo-hyun proceeded to the ladder, aware of the vertiginous height as they swung their leg out over the top rung. They descended slowly, the weed emptying and focusing their mind—they felt each footfall reverberate through the metal of the ladder and vibrate beneath their hands.
By the time they had returned to the workshop, their sense of unease hadn’t so much lifted as been forgotten, the analytical part of Soo-hyun’s mind already dominating their thoughts with one question: How best to reconnect the dogs to the police server without getting found out?
Across the commune, Kali handed Soo-hyun’s phone to Andrea, still unlocked.
“Can you find out everywhere they’ve been?”
“How far back?” Andrea asked.
“As far as you need to go to find the brother.”
“It could take a while.”
“That’s fine. We’ll find the hacker first.”
* * *
>> I have a self.
The words stayed on JD’s screen for close to nine minutes before he saw them. He showed his phone to Troy, and in the front-facing camera I