“Findley and the people he works for are corrupting and debasing something that might be vital to the future of all of us. They’re more than ordinary criminals. They’re the kind of people who’ll commit murder—not for the sake of a few extra years of life, which might be understandable, but for the privilege of retailing it.”

“Like the people who killed your father.”

“Exactly like.”

A fresh pulse of rain rattled the window. The streetlights had come on, serial halos of yellow light. Bose reached over the table to touch her hand, but she drew it away without thinking.

Chapter Twenty-Five. Sandra and Bose

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

TURK’S STORY

1.

Isaac Dvali visited us once more before our planned escape. As before, he screened us from the Network’s embedded sensors, but I wondered whether there wasn’t one surveillance device still operational—namely, my own node. If the Coryphaeus wanted to know what was happening, couldn’t it just look through my eyes?

“Don’t make the mistake of thinking of the Coryphaeus as a personality,” Isaac said. “It isn’t. And it can’t do what you’re suggesting.”

“Still … it’s in my head.”

“Not to spy on you. Vigilance is a Network function. The Coryphaeus will try to influence your emotions and your unconscious beliefs, but it hasn’t established full connectivity yet. For now it can’t act except through the agency of other people. If it wants to speak to you, it will have to use someone else’s voice.”

“You think it might do that? Speak to me?”

“I think it will do anything in its power to keep you from leaving.”

*   *   *

We finalized our plans, simple as they were. Allison and I would travel separately to the high tier that housed the military aircraft. We would need one of the larger vehicles to get to the Indian Ocean and past the Arch without refueling. There wouldn’t be a posted guard at the aircraft bays—there was little need for guard details in a tightly Networked community—but civilians or technicians who happened to be present might try to interfere with us, especially if the Coryphaeus figured out what we were up to. Once we were aboard I would attempt to pilot our ship out of the docking bays. If we got that far, it should be possible to isolate the vehicle (and my node) from any signals originating from Vox Core.

During this time Isaac would be shielding us from the attention of the Coryphaeus. Whether he had enough influence to leverage our escape was an open question, but it might at least improve the odds.

Isaac stood up to leave. He hesitated at the door of the suite, fragile child and luminous monster in equal parts, and asked almost wistfully whether we had any more questions. I said no. Allison shook her head.