Ari had picked a random direction. He walked for what felt like an hour in his boxers through deserted streets. It seemed like a miracle that they found him, but they did. Around a corner, just like the last dozen he had walked past was a limousine. A well dressed driver made eye contact with Ari and nodded ever so slightly.
"Mr. Sarkissian, our patron requests a moment of your time."
His first instinct was to run, but that would be pointless. Ari had been contacted like this before for his real job.
"Please wear these.", the driver offered Ari some basic clothing, which he prompted put on and stepped into the vehicle.
The interior was dark and all light disappeared as the driver closed the door behind him. Ari sat and stared where he knew Kitano Takeshi, or his simulacrum would be sitting. A few tense moments later the limousine started the move and two small eye-shaped lights flickered to life, barely illuminating a Proxy-Mech.
The mech was an android, its AI designed to mimic perfectly a person's actions and decisions. It could also self destruct if it detected any attempt to capture it. It allowed those that could afford them to put themselves in potentially dangerous situation in total safely and if need be, total anonymity. In this case, the Proxy-Mech was a copy of Hei Long's CEO Kitano Takeshi.
"You've become a liability Mr. Sarkissian. We will no longer be requiring your services as a courier."
Ari knew the Kitano was right. The whole point of being a courier was being able to attract as little attention as possible. If he was being hunted for a bounty he could no longer guarantee he could deliver.
It continued,
"You will receive a generous compensation package..."
"Wait, I can..." Ari interjected, but he had nothing to add, no reason he wouldn't cut him out if he was in their position.
"Ari," the Android's tone softened, the business tone was gone. It reached over with a cold metal hand and placed it on his shoulder. "It's over. You've had a good run. You helped the company get where it is today, and the board hasn't forgotten that. You've got a golden parachute coming your way. Take the money, change your name and face, move to Tahiti." The android sat back in its chair. The business tone returned, "credits have been tranfered to your account. The driver will take you wherever you want to go. Thank you for your service."
The Android sat back and Ari heard the metallic grind that meant the Android was physically destroying its memory so that it was totally unrecoverable. The Android's joint locked up, it was nothing more than fancy shell now, and with it died Ari's career, the business he had poured his entire life into since he was a teenager.
Ari sat in the back for several minutes just processing. The last few days had seen the entire life he'd built for himself crumble around him. His career, his reputation, he could never show his face in the racing circuit again without the fear of getting straight up assassinated. The one thing he had left was the money. Kitano's advice was solid. He could be on a beach in Maui with a new identity by tomorrow.
Ari's finger pressed the intercom button but he remained silent, the driver's voice came over the intercom,
"Sir?"
Is that enough? Ari asked himself. Didn't it make sense to finally let himself stop fighting for more? Couldn't he just be?
"Take me to the airport.", saying the words felt like ripping off an arm.
"Of course sir."
The limousine started to move and Ari stared out the window. Looking at the city that had been his home his entire life, he just felt bitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment