DeletedUser17896
The Future
Looking down from his tower with the walls set to Clear, Escovar could see the new ring of buildings at the edge of town. The hyper-strands connecting them at the top would soon be ornamented with high speed shuttles, and the same hyper-strands, should the need arise, would send out a shimmering veil of repulser energy. There would be millions in daily transit fees, and a lot of it would flow into his accounts in the island realms. He looked down at his hands, so recently replaced with cyber parts, and flexed them. There was new power in there. When the doctors put them in, they told him he could crush diamonds in them, and as soon as he had the chance, he reduced a handful of diamonds to carbon dust. But the power, the real power was in his head, his brain now enhanced with networking implants he could simply close his eyes and direct his thoughts and he would find himself looking out from the eyes of his higher-ups. The captain of the guards, the board members who attended his tables… and, thanks to some very tricky maneuvers on his part, he could see through the eyes of his two worst nemeses, Miranda and the Commandante.
On the horizon, from the lift-off base in the mountains to the north, he saw the sparkle of a rising shuttle from the neighboring city of Garandel. When his wealth was sufficient to allow the expense, he would have his own shuttle base, and the wealth of the heavens would begin raining down.
Meanwhile there was much to do. Keeping an eye on Viroz was high on his list of priorities. Ever since the commandant had opened his Intelligence Academy, Escovar had reason to believe that some of his troops were deliberately under-performing, even outright throwing the battle results. He needed his own internal Intelligence Staff… but that was always the problem with spies. Forever switching masks, making it hard to know who could be trusted. Consider the recent revelation about the doings of Miranda Feroz, his Dolores; he'd relied on her to supervise so many aspects of his city… but then the killings began, and even in his police, previously his most trusted servants, there was an unfortunate distance between what was expected of them, and what really they were doing.
He shut his eyes and concentrated on Police Chief Valles. At once he was looking out through a window at his city, gazing straight across town at the very tower where he stood. From the focus of his eyes, Escovar realized that Valles was on to him, choosing this exact moment to look back across the towers at him. He shook is head and opened his eyes. So among his cyber-accessed spies, there were those that know. And the only ones who were supposed to know about the implants were himself and Dolores. Well, that game was up, and he could only wonder who else she had told.
He went to the holo-vid stage and tried to key in Dolores, but the network seemed unresponsive, as if she were hiding now. Hiding in a city which he once fancied he held under iron rule. He looked again at his hands, flexed them, and wondered what other of his strengths were compromised. A darkness was settling over his city. He set the walls to opaque and sat in in his control throne, wondering where to begin, who to trust, and what the future might hold.
Looking down from his tower with the walls set to Clear, Escovar could see the new ring of buildings at the edge of town. The hyper-strands connecting them at the top would soon be ornamented with high speed shuttles, and the same hyper-strands, should the need arise, would send out a shimmering veil of repulser energy. There would be millions in daily transit fees, and a lot of it would flow into his accounts in the island realms. He looked down at his hands, so recently replaced with cyber parts, and flexed them. There was new power in there. When the doctors put them in, they told him he could crush diamonds in them, and as soon as he had the chance, he reduced a handful of diamonds to carbon dust. But the power, the real power was in his head, his brain now enhanced with networking implants he could simply close his eyes and direct his thoughts and he would find himself looking out from the eyes of his higher-ups. The captain of the guards, the board members who attended his tables… and, thanks to some very tricky maneuvers on his part, he could see through the eyes of his two worst nemeses, Miranda and the Commandante.
On the horizon, from the lift-off base in the mountains to the north, he saw the sparkle of a rising shuttle from the neighboring city of Garandel. When his wealth was sufficient to allow the expense, he would have his own shuttle base, and the wealth of the heavens would begin raining down.
Meanwhile there was much to do. Keeping an eye on Viroz was high on his list of priorities. Ever since the commandant had opened his Intelligence Academy, Escovar had reason to believe that some of his troops were deliberately under-performing, even outright throwing the battle results. He needed his own internal Intelligence Staff… but that was always the problem with spies. Forever switching masks, making it hard to know who could be trusted. Consider the recent revelation about the doings of Miranda Feroz, his Dolores; he'd relied on her to supervise so many aspects of his city… but then the killings began, and even in his police, previously his most trusted servants, there was an unfortunate distance between what was expected of them, and what really they were doing.
He shut his eyes and concentrated on Police Chief Valles. At once he was looking out through a window at his city, gazing straight across town at the very tower where he stood. From the focus of his eyes, Escovar realized that Valles was on to him, choosing this exact moment to look back across the towers at him. He shook is head and opened his eyes. So among his cyber-accessed spies, there were those that know. And the only ones who were supposed to know about the implants were himself and Dolores. Well, that game was up, and he could only wonder who else she had told.
He went to the holo-vid stage and tried to key in Dolores, but the network seemed unresponsive, as if she were hiding now. Hiding in a city which he once fancied he held under iron rule. He looked again at his hands, flexed them, and wondered what other of his strengths were compromised. A darkness was settling over his city. He set the walls to opaque and sat in in his control throne, wondering where to begin, who to trust, and what the future might hold.
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