i forgot how much i hate the air here.
i t ' s the smell i hate. empty.
o n e of our lab rats is missing. w i t h a dour look, merrick slots his etherboard i n t o a dock. a proxy resolves over the console, quarter scale, spinning in 3d; male, african american, bull neck. data etches across thin air:
d e l t a generation, huh?
i t was a delta the last time.
what happened to this one?
n o t easy to disappear. unless he figured a way through the boundary.
i f you ask me, it's a mistake giving them any functions at all.
the n perhaps if you're going to breed lab rats, you should breed them tame. his look, albeit from a distance, throws a stone. merrick hardens-
you mean, like fallibility? merrick pauses. he's not going to take the bait.
a little sensitive, aren't we?
a l r i g h t . how much time do i have?
r e v e r s e map. crop to twelve hour segments. then put up a sub-grid.
s u b j e c t headed into north quadrant. two- m a n teams - we block him and force him to ground. if you have a shot, hook him but keep it above the belt. management doesn't want us to "damage the product". the censors roll their eyes knowingly. scheer taps his headset.
you want to tell me what's going on?
i'm jaded. not stupid.
i checked up. in the past year, three products have destabilized. all of them deltas.  and there's nothing going on?
once i can overlook. twice i can call coincidence. three times i start giving a shit. because if these products are defective.
s o it is a quality control issue?
he was in the subway tunnels for two days. in the dark, no food, no water. his fingers were scraped to the bone. he was trying to dig his way out. now you try to explain to me why that is.
so there was a production defect.
synesthesia.
poetic.
this "agnate" took off just before his sponsor placed an order. maybe he got the sense his days were numbered.
don't you mean my complicity?
what's your point?
nobody else would take it.
somebody get someone down here!
ethercon! the elevator - override it! do you read me? bring it back down!
foundation levels - all of them. lock them down. access only on my command.
they can't have got past this level.
g e t me a bird!
the y got out! they got past the gate!
anything?
which one of you is diggs?
what happened to his arm?
you don't look like bounty hunters.
i'm just an intermediary.
i was told you also handled civil bonds. debt runners, data-thieves.
it's worth ten platinum. unmarked.
the parties i represent want to limit the specific details. but let's just say industrial secrets are involved.
any good at keeping them?
all i'm authorized to tell you is they have no records in this state. also that they're not armed or dangerous.
john and jane doe.
because you won't have to look. they jumped an overnight shuttle. they'll be headed for the terminal, trying to get out of state. it's strictly a recovery job. for you, it should be childsplay.
the parties i represent want to stay at arm's length. and just so we understand each other that means no connection, no papertrail, no police interest.
 . . no mistakes. they want these two brought in quickly and quietly and unharmed. once you have them, you'll contact me for further instructions.
i told you we shouldn't have gone to outside personnel. they were cowboys.
an d now?
what's this?
a parachute.  so there's a jump?
you want to dispose of your products.
why do you think i still wear this?
i was discharged from the marines for insubordination. if you asked anyone i n my unit, they'd call it heroism. i disobeyed an order to fall back. i took out a bunker complex single-handed.
n o . it wasn't bravery. i wasn't afraid of dying. i just didn't care. you see, i suddenly realized i was just a sack of flesh with a heartbeat. life, death, i just couldn't see the point anymore.
i'm from the sanger institute.
i t ' s just a formality. i need to see your sponsorship contract.
is this the only copy?
i'm jealous of you. you have a reason to live. i can't say i've ever had that.