[Tecumseh]

The young man listens stone-faced, without nodding or any of the other social cues often used to indicate understanding or serving as an invitation to go on. His eyes dart to the ARO business card for a moment before turning back to James. It's hard to read his face. Is he impressed or indifferent? Is he paying attention or is he just letting the flood of words wash over him while he studies James' body language?

"Thank you, Mr. Shimko. May I ask what aspect of your role as a consultant for cross-corporate partnerships, personnel redundancies, and Corporate Court compliance requires you to have a restricted smartgun system installed in your cybereyes? One for which you are currently unlicensed, according to our records."

Looks like he was paying attention after all.

[rednblack]

"Certainly, sir," James answers.  His internal systems are going haywire, reading his output of adrenaline as go-time, and then being overridden by his mental commands to slow his heart.  He wonders if he's actually vibrating, the dissonance between his systems is getting to him so forcefully.  "It's for trap shooting.  I'm due back at Angelfire on the fourteenth for a corporate retreat.  It's practically a religion for us."

[Tecumseh]

James' answer of "trap shooting" finally draws a response: the young man blinks languidly. Is he reacting to a ridiculous answer or does the explanation fit perfectly?

A long, uncomfortable silence draws out like a knife. The hovering drone observing the exchange buzzes about like a large, pernicious insect. The female cop swallows hard, as if she's preparing for something.

The young man stiffens for an instant and his eyes briefly lose focus before recentering on James. It's likely that he received a call via his cyberears or an ARO via the image link in his cybereyes. A report on James' true identity, perhaps? Or maybe a summons to a more pressing situation.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Shimko," the young man finally says to break the silence. "We will note this as a warning and mark it on your records so that you are not detained again for the same concern for the next 48 hours. Please contact your embassy or the necessary authorities to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Good day."

With that, he spins on his heel and walks off at a fast clip. The female officer falls in with him as they hurry off to their next destination. James and Illeana watch them to see if they really are on their way to their next call or if they are evacuating as quickly as possible. Before the final determination can be made, they turn a corner and are out of sight. They never look back.

Illeana and James glance around, looking for incoming SWAT or Firewatch teams, but none immediately appear. "Nothing on the radar," Illeana says under her breath. "Shall we?"

Edit: noun-verb agreement

[Tecumseh]

James comms, concerned that one of the drones might have a mic trained on him, or a laser mic pointed at something nearby. <<@Illeana [James] Let's get back to the water taxi. But not Stevens, at least not yet. We'll meet Stevens at a new location.>>

Illeana turns and begins to walk. Instinctively, it's difficult for her not to reach for James' hand to hold it while they are walking. We're not a couple; we're corpers, she reminds herself. She looks around, considering all of the men and women in suits scurrying back and forth. They have their corporate housing on the waterfront, with their corporate dress code, and their corporate accounts, and their corporate concerns. It's a cage. A gilded cage, but still a cage. I don't really understand it.

Or did she? Her SIN from Saeder-Krupp was a work of art. It was watertight, to the point where she wondered if it was a real SIN and not fake. Did I do work for Goldensnout? she wonders. Saeder-Krupp is big in Europe, especially Eastern Europe. If I'm Romanian then maybe I was a good corporate citizen up until seven months ago. Saeder-Krupp had a good relationship with Asamando, so it's not like Lowfyr has issues working with the Infected. What would he care? If anything, he sees humans the same was that the Infected do: as food. It's something they - we? - have in common.

The sun shines off the water to Illeana's right. She flinches reflexively but the sun is warm, not searing. She glances at the water and looks at the interplay of light on the waves.

<<@James [Illeana] I'll do a water spirit to help keep an eye on us. Just like in the swamp, minus the mana surge.>>

"Let's talk about the fiscal outlook for the remainder of Q3," she says, spying an opportunity to have a financial conversation with James and have it double as part of their cover. "If you'll turn to the fifth slide of the ARO deck I just sent you..."

[rednblack]

"Let's talk about the fiscal outlook for the remainder of Q3," she says, spying an opportunity to have a financial conversation with James and have it double as part of their cover. "If you'll turn to the fifth slide of the ARO deck I just sent you..."

Seriously?!  She wants to do this now?

There was also the spirit to consider.  James is not sure that they're out of the wood yet.  Scratch that.  James is mostly certain that they're not out of the woods yet, and if that's the case, slinging mojo around isn't likely to put them any more in Ares' good graces.  More than that, up to this point, Ms. Anghelescu very well may be seen as the supposed Mr. Shimko's pawn up to this point.  He's the unknown quantity, the potential troublemaker, the trap-shooting terrorist, not -- as one might expect -- his incredibly powerful vampire girlfriend.  But now that Illeana's summoning help from the astral, it's entirely likely that if Knight's Errant is paying attention, it's her SIN that's likely to get burned as well.

Well, Doc, thanks for the info.  I hope it was worth it to us because this little last-minute jaunt to Baltimore might end up being incredibly expensive.

Oh, how optimistic of you, James.  Thinking you're going to get out of here alive and all that.  Keep your chin up, kid.

As they approach the waterfront, James takes the lead and hails a taxi with a two-fingered wave.  "Are you optimistic about the fiscal outlook for the remainder of Q3?" he asks, refusing to pull up the ARO.  No, he needs to keep his eyes peeled and his ears sharp right now.  Maybe he could fake his way through a conversation, but he certainly couldn't analyze pie charts.

<<@Illeana [James] This doesn't feel right at all.  I wonder if their facial recognition software is tied to a database of known terrorists and those with criminal SINS, or if they've got their entire employee register hooked up as well.  That could take way to long to run from a cursory check, but I don't know, this isn't my specialty.>>

"Ms. Anghelescu," James says, extending his hand and helping Illeana board the water taxi.  "Allow me."

James boards after her, and finds a seat near the stern.  He gives the cabbie their destination, crosses his legs and looks up at the sky, half waiting for a hail of bullets to rain down. 

So far, so good.

"So, expenses are down and revenue is stable.  Are there any big acquisitions we should look toward in the coming months?"

[Tecumseh]

The "water taxi" isn't so much a taxi but rather a small bus that picks people up at one spot on the harbor and delivers them to a second spot. It repeats the process continually throughout the day in a never-ending loop. A good-natured human in his seventies with a white beard and a beaming smile serves as the captain, begging the question of why hasn't the simple route been automated and this guy retired to his pipe and fireplace somewhere in Maine. Perhaps the corpers enjoy the human touch, just as some high-end condo buildings delight in having doormen (typically orks) and elevator operators (skinny elves). The inefficiency of it is a form of conspicuous consumption. In addition to the captain, there is a dwarven deckhand who looks to be the surly counterpoint to the captain's joviality. Luckily the dwarf is so short that most passengers look right over his sour expression.

The mid-sized boat can hold maybe a hundred fifty passengers at peak capacity, after which you need to wait 10 minutes for the next boat to show up. James and Illeana pick up their pace and hop on about thirty seconds before the scheduled departure, which counts down in an ARO floating above the boat.

The boat is mostly full of corpers, many of whom are speaking much too loudly to people who aren't there. James heads for the stern. There's a gentleman back there in a royal blue long coat that looks a bit pompous. The man's manicured hands are folded behind his back as he stands at the edge of the boat and stares off over the water. James and Illeana take a seat with a position to see if anyone tries to follow or if there's any commotion back on the promenade. Six young corpers hustle to catch the boat before it departs. They look to be in their early-to-mid-20s and not yet fully accustomed to wearing expensive suits. The women giggle as they try to run in their high heels while their male companions laugh gaily, perhaps hoping to bed the women. Two stragglers quickly jump off the boat, perhaps too distracted by their commcalls to realize that they had arrived at their destination a few minutes ago. The boat casts off.

"Wait, something's goofy," Illeana says, tipping her head to the side as she studies the surroundings. Seagulls hover overhead, hoping for scraps from some corper's lunch.

James tenses. "Hostiles?" he asks, scanning the sky for errant drones but finding nothing. The wind starts to pick up as the boat accelerates.

"No, no hostiles..." Illeana says as she slowly looks around. "Just... improbabilities."

"How so?"

"The young corpers that jumped on at the last minute, they're all augmented," Illeana says. James avoids pointing out that Illeana's apparent age is about the same as the young executives. "I don't mean datajacks and sleep regulators and cerebral boosters. I mean enhanced muscles and reaction enhancers."

"Could be vanity," James says with more hope than conviction. "There is still social prestige placed on looking good and being good at athletics. It's part of Ares' all-American image."

"Mens sana in corpore sano," Illeana hums as she considers the possibility. She looks around some more and stops suddenly when she gets to the man with his hands behind his back.

"He... looks like you," Illeana says.

James considers the man. His back is turned but from the limited profile offered he looks to be of Mediterranean decent. He has bronzed, olive skin and hair blacker than squid ink. His facial hair is so precise it must be cut with a laser and, from what James can tell, the man is quite handsome. In other words, he doesn't look like James at all.

"I mean on the astral," Illeana says, still almost hypnotized by the similarities. "The cyberlimbs, the bioware, but even more so. He's at the very brink -"

On cue, the man turns. He is, indeed, a Greek god made flesh. He gives a smile warmer than the September sun and steps forward.

"Hello, Agent Case," he says. "It is good to see you again. Welcome home."

The man raises an empty hand in a gesture of peace.

"You no longer know me, but I know you both. Allow me to reintroduce myself: my name is Rhodes."

[rednblack]

James freezes.  And just when he was getting control of his faculties back too.  How to play this.  There's no running.  The water isn't much better.  But also, and quite alarmingly, James isn't sure that he wants to run.  Certainly, he'd rather meet Rhodes under different circumstances, he'd been planning exactly what those circumstances would look like, actually, but he did want to meet Rhodes, desperately so.  It's just that, well, the big fear in doing so was that Rhodes would be the last person he met again for the first time.

Furiously, James snaps pictures of Rhodes with his cyber eyes, and directs his commlink to call "Rhodes" from his contact list.  It goes straight to voicemail, so he tries texting instead.

<<@Rhodes [James Case] hmu asap>>

"Rhodes?  I hoped we'd meet again.  Under different circumstances, of course," James says and returns the empty-palmed gesture of peace, or at least non-aggression.

"So, what's the protocol here, sir?  Can we send the kids off to daycare?  Looks they could use it.  How about we grab a coffee?  There's a lot for us to catch up on."

After a pause, James adds, "Fancy you being here, with a whole crew in tow, no doubt.  I'd even call it peculiar."

[Tecumseh]

<<@Agent Case [Rhodes] I'm right here, James.>>

He steps forward then takes a seat on a bench opposite of James and Illeana, maybe two meters away, the long royal blue coat draping over the seat bench beneath him. He folds his legs and places his hands over his knee.

"Not peculiar: fortuitous. It can hardly be a surprise that I would be in Baltimore, the headquarters of Ares Arms. The coincidence is that you are here. And, perhaps, looking for us?" He holds his hands open to introduce the possibility.

He waves off the request about the kids. "They wanted to meet you. You're practically a legend in the program! They will remain unobtrusive, I promise. If you insist, I will have them depart at the next stop while we continue our conversation."

He turns to Illeana. "It is a pleasure to meet you at last," he says. "James has so much about you."

"Oh?" she says, her fingers snaking toward her bracelet, just in case she needs to turn it into a dagger on short notice.

"If, for your own comfort, you would like to verify what I have to say, please feel at liberty to do so."

<<@James [Illeana] I think he means magic.>>

Her aura swells with mana until there's so much that it turns into a fire-light glow in the physical world. The effect fades and Illeana nods to confirm that she has cast Analyze Truth.

"Your situation is very unusual, Agent Case," Rhodes says. "Typically we would not respond well to the disappearance of an agent, particularly one that represents such a large investment, but in this case there are mitigating factors."

"Such as?"

"You are not yourself. We know because in addition to being here in front of me, you are in Detroit, training."

"For what?"

"Your new life as a free spirit."

He gauges your reaction, or the lack thereof, and surmises that this is not entirely a surprise.

"You reported in," Rhodes continues. "And while the loss of an Instigator asset is significant, in this case it was outweighed by the gain."

"What happened to me?" Illeana asks.

"You were disappointed in James' decision to return to Ares. You declined our invitation to stay."

Illeana seems to take the news hard. She looks down, her hair falling over her face, and her body languages indicates her mental withdrawal. It is unclear whether it's because ur-James left her for Ares, or because ur-Illeana left him.

I wonder if she felt free, she thinks to herself. Free of her face that she kept hidden, free of the monster in her appetite.

The boat putters along. James notices that there's nobody particularly close by. Most passengers seem to be clustered toward the bow, despite the stiff breeze blowing across the harbor, rumpling finely coiffed heads on their way to meetings. Either the other passengers on the boat understand what is happening or they have been made to understand. There seems to be a good deal of privacy despite the confined quarters.

[rednblack]

"Not peculiar: fortuitous. It can hardly be a surprise that I would be in Baltimore, the headquarters of Ares Arms. The coincidence is that you are here. And, perhaps, looking for us?" He holds his hands open to introduce the possibility.

James retains an impassive expression and gives a noncommittal turn of his hands at Rhodes question, but he cracks a bit when Rhodes mentions James' legendary status in the Instigator program.  He confirms with Illeana that there is no aggressive intent toward them and says that the recruits can stay.  Whether Illeana actually rolls her eyes, or James just imagines it out of the corner of his own vision is unclear.

"Your situation is very unusual, Agent Case," Rhodes says. "Typically we would not respond well to the disappearance of an agent, particularly one that represents such a large investment, but in this case there are mitigating factors."

"Such as?"

"You are not yourself. We know because in addition to being here in front of me, you are in Detroit, training."

"For what?"

"Your new life as a free spirit."

He gauges your reaction, or the lack thereof, and surmises that this is not entirely a surprise.

"You reported in," Rhodes continues. "And while the loss of an Instigator asset is significant, in this case it was outweighed by the gain."

"And so Ares has 'given up,' for lack of a better word, on the agent Case in front of you?" James queries a little incredulously. 

"What happened to me?" Illeana asks.

"You were disappointed in James' decision to return to Ares. You declined our invitation to stay."

James sees Illeana deflate in front of him, and he reaches forward and lays a hand on her knee.  He can only imagine the rejection she's feeling, in a way the worst kind of a combination of rejections.  The original her was abandoned by her lover, and the present her was abandoned by the original her, probably all too glad to be free of her affliction.  He's so focused on Illeana that he doesn't have the time, at least at present, to adequately consider what this revelation means to him.  What of his romantic nature, for instance?  Is that a development since the obelisk, a byproduct of the nanites, or was ur-James just as much a romantic, and it was just that his particular condition manifested itself in love for corp and its patriarch as opposed to romantic love?  There was no telling, not really, and James gave Illeana's knee a consoling squeeze.  "I'm right here with you," it said.  "I'm not going anywhere."

"I've been wanting to meet with you for awhile," James says to Rhodes.  "but that was not my intent today.  Since we moved north I had planned on seeing you on a far more neutral terrain, it's just that'--"

"You had no way of knowing what I looked like, where I would be, or how to go about finding me," Rhodes finishes, as if they really are long-lost friends.

"Exactly," James says, and while a pregnant silence hangs in the air between them, he sends a comm to Illeana.

<<@Illeana [James] Kat, you had mentioned us finding a free spirit.  Given the right circumstances is this something we should pursue?  Would I lose my independence, or could we actually forge a mutually beneficial pact?>>

"So, Rhodes, I have a million questions, not the least of which is my brother, but most pressing right now would be: where do we go from here?"

[Tecumseh]

"I would not say that Ares had 'given up' on the physical Agent Case, no," Rhodes answers. "Quite the opposite. But, at the same time, we were realistic. We didn't know if your physical form was intact or had been irrevocably damaged by the split. We didn't know if your body had survived the transition only to plunge off an icy mountain cliff when the driver inevitably lost control of the vehicle. There were more scenarios in which your body did not survive than scenarios in which it did, so we took a wait-and-see approach. And here you are!"

James glances about, checking his surroundings. Rhodes notices him glancing about but there's nothing to be done about that. Nearby boat traffic appears to be normal and going about its own business. In keeping with conventions for maritime safety, none of them are particularly close by. From a tactical perspective, James and Illeana are about as bad off as they were in the swamp. Worse, in fact, since they don't have control over this boat. There is zero cover in the middle of the harbor and the harbor is ringed by numerous buildings, any one of which could serve as an excellent vantage point for a sniper to put a large-caliber round right through James, and maybe Illeana too if they line the shot up right. The bullet would arrive far in advance of the gunshot, meaning James could blink out of existence at any second. Maybe Illeana's magic gives enough warning to move; maybe they have magical assets in place to neutralize that early warning.

"Your situation is unprecedented. We've convened a council of the top magical minds from across the company - a global task force from all corners, including Unlimited Technologies and FireWatch - to work with you. Your other self has been training with them for the last seven months and your progress has been enormous. Mr. Knight himself has taken a personal interest in your case and is receiving weekly briefings on your development. Mssrs. Vogel and Aurelius are being kept in the loop as well."

James tries to listen between the lines, to hear what's not being said. Rhodes seems open and transparent, but then there are the subtle compliments, the easy ingratiations. Rhodes was using words like "legend", "unprecedented", and "enormous". He was dropping the CEO's name into the conversation as well as the names of two highly-prominent Board members. It would be fair to say that Rhodes is in full social-operator mode and has likely been designed and built much in the same way as James. He is the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove.

"So where do we go from here? I am here to welcome you back to the Ares family." He looks to Illeana. "Both of you. We are excited to have you back. You can imagine the resources that have been dedicated to this project; I can assure you that you will directly benefit from those. Your pay grade will move from O-6 to O-7 and your housing allowance will be increased commensurately. Illeana, in light of your own personal accomplishments, I've been authorized to extend you an offer of O-6, with opportunities for rapid advancement." He gives a sensitive look. "Of course you'll be housed together, if you wish. We have some recently-developed condominiums in Grosse Point on the shores of Lake St. Claire that are incomparable. You may combine your housing allowances, and between both you could afford 200 square meters or more with premium amenities.

"James, I know you are a soldier and creature comforts might not be the best incentive. I can personally assure you that there will be no limit to the resources directly available to you. That will be true for you as well, Illeana. From an accounting perspective, you will have a blank slate to pursue your training and development."

James covertly checks his commlinks for MARKs but finds none. He pings Illeana with his question about a free spirit. She still has a far-away, unfocused look in her eyes. Her hand covers her mouth as she processes the implications.

<<@James [Illeana] Sam's spirit was an Inhabitation spirit. The other James would take the body back but would push you out in the process. He would remember what you remember about the last seven months, remember how you felt and what we shared, but it wouldn't be a merging of equals. It would be a takeover and you, as you know yourself, would be gone. I'd be with the old James, who may or may not want me.>>

<<That's what they'll want. Your physical form will strengthen with the power of the free spirit. You'll become dual-natured and normal weapons will no longer affect you. You will have the magical powers of the spirit. You will be the ultimate super-soldier, unparalleled. Or, I should say, he will be. You will be his memories.>>

Rhodes watches closely to gauge the reactions. "On a more personal note," he says, "Justin is eager to see you again, or, at least, he will be once we tell him  you are alive." He chuckles drolly. "He has enjoyed his time with your spirit, but I can tell you it would be very meaningful to him to see you in person once again. Very meaningful. I daresay the same might be true for you."

[rednblack]

<<That's what they'll want. Your physical form will strengthen with the power of the free spirit. You'll become dual-natured and normal weapons will no longer affect you. You will have the magical powers of the spirit. You will be the ultimate super-soldier, unparalleled. Or, I should say, he will be. You will be his memories.>>

Or, I should say, he will be. You will be his memories.>>

You will be his memories.>>

You will be his memories.>>

James reads the last lines of Illeana's text again, and then again, letting them run across the lower field of his vision. 

No matter what, in six months, eight months time, hell in another minute James as he is now would only be the memories of another James.  The whole idea of a personal continuity, of a meta being one entity from birth until death is a fiction: James knows this, as uncomfortable as it is.  Certainly, there is a life force of some kind, a tethering of James to his body, but a soul, an immutable and constant thing, well that just didn't jive.  The way a life force, some basic essence of a man or woman, could be diminished by augmentations, or increased with feeding as Illeana does, doesn't sound like a soul the way of the religions James has ever heard of told the story.  No, at some level James is of the opinion that it's just synapses firing away, and his own augmentations never made him feel any less himself.  Instead, they were part of the path toward something greater, a truer James that might one day reach his full potential.

And if all that is true, then why is James so scared?  His synapses would still be whole after this inhabitation with ur-James, and he would be much closer to that full potential.  But there is some belief, some notion of self no doubt tucked away safely inside that most primitive part of his lizard brain that screamed out against the idea and told him to Run!  Run now, run as fast as you can! while another said, And how do we make this spirit James part of us?

That would be the sweetest thing of all, to have all of his memories back, all the power of James' spirit self, and keep his illusion of individuality.  It would also be murder.  Or would it be suicide.  Either way it was exactly what Ares has in store for him, though they and ur-James arguably have a much stronger legal case for James bones, steel, and synapses than he does.

While Rhodes happily lists out the top tier who's who of Ares that have taken personal interest in his case, James lets go of Illeana's knee, and places his arm around her shoulders instead, gives a gentle tug at the hand in front of her mouth.  "Are you listening to this, Illeana?  This affects both of us, so I need you here with me, wiz?"

James reboots his links on the off chance he missed something earlier.

To Rhodes, he adds, "An impressive list of names.  I've been keeping up with my chess game.  It would be interesting to see if I could survive twenty moves against Mr. Knight with the black pieces.  My Sicilian Dragon has improved substantially since my change, though its doubtful that I could eek out even a draw.  It's been difficult finding good competition, as I'm sure you can imagine.  Does Mr. Knight still play 1. e4?"

Once the Tempest begins its readout of James' active Instigator programs, he sends a command to his Shin-Hyung to make speedy progress along Fort Avenue toward the Fort McHenry docks, and then over the pier.  Once the order is received, he pings Illeana.

<<@Illeana [James] Chin up.  This looks bad, but we've got a shot.  I'm thinking over the stern, down deep, and into international waters as quick as we can make it.  Cover text to follow.>>

<<@Illeana [James] So what do you think?>>

When Rhodes finishing outlining how great his new life would be at Ares, including financial and housing compensation, James says, "So, the other Agent Case is currently at grade O-6?  That sounds like a wiz deal, but isn't it more for the Agent Case currently in Detroit?  After all, there is only the one body, but currently two minds which would like to make use of it."

[Tecumseh]

Illeana shakes out of it when James put his arm around her shoulders and asks for her attention.

<<@James [Illeana] I've said what I think they'll want based on my understanding of Ares. I could be overreacting. There are other possibilities.

<<There are 'dream pacts', where the other James would control your body while you slept but you would maintain control while you are awake. There are 'hidden life' pacts, which is what we were originally interested in from a free spirit. The spirit would put its life force in you, so that as long as you live it can never be permanently destroyed. Your body would become immune to normal weapons and to age, which is what we were after. We'd be together, but we'd be working for Ares. You wouldn't gain the physical strength of the spirit but it's entirely possible that Ares wants two separate supersoldiers - one physical, one spiritual - instead of one ultimate soldier. And maybe it depends on part on what your other self wants...>>

"Mr. Knight has not played 1. e4 since his King's Gambit was badly routed by black's Falkbeer Countergambit. Granted, black was played by an AI that is the direct descendant of Mirage, so allowances must be made, but he did not take the loss well. I trust that will stay between us."

James has heard of Mirage, likely from his corporate history. Mirage acted as a powerful anti-virus and psychological countermeasure program that was designed to prevent the Crash Virus from damaging the minds of the Echo Mirage team back in 2029. Mirage hadn't been heard from since Crash 2.0 in 2064, but evidently it had descendant playing chess with Mr. Knight. Would Mr. Knight send Mirage's progeny after James if James ran? What sort of resources would Ares bring to bear on a man who - while valuable - was really just a million nuyen or two of cyberware? If they didn't have James, couldn't they just make another and put the other James in that instead?

<<If we go overboard, they will follow. We have to be ready to fight underwater, which probably means grappling and your cyberspur. If we break free, we have ten minutes before their spirits hunt us down. Let's not pretend that 'international waters' matter to Ares. Are you confident that we can get far enough away in ten minutes - minus whatever we spend fighting - to slip the noose? Because if the answer is 'no' then we should consider going with them. We can bide our time and slip away when there aren't an entire platoon of eyes on us like there are right now. Maybe in a day or a week or a month, but right now we're in the center of the scope and that's a hard place to be.>>

James still feels the same buzz of fear that he did before. His synapses are on fire, and it's only after a moment that he realizes that it might be the nanites placing their vote. If the nanites object, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Is this a way to be 'cured'? To free James from the possibility of melting into a pile of goo at the nanites' command? Or in trading the nanite for a spirit would he simply be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire? Is he willing to work for Ares and lose his freedom? What if it means he can stay with Illeana? Is his love worth his freedom, or is there a way to have both? The weight of the moment mounts.

[Tecumseh]

"The other Agent Case is not O-6. The other James does not even have a pay grade. Housing allowances don't benefit him. He does not have the same worldly needs that you and I do," Rhodes says. "He's compensated in different ways now and seems quite pleased with the arrangement."

<<@James [Illeana] He means karma. Free spirits can't grow and develop on their own. They have to make bargains with metahumans. There's nothing a free spirit prizes more than the memories or experiences of another person. It's what makes them more powerful. It sounds malign but it doesn't have to be; it can be mutually beneficial.>>

"There are not two minds that want to use one body," Rhodes continues. "As I said, he doesn't even know you exist. And, even if he did, there's no guarantee that he wants that body back. And, even if he did, it's not his decision to make.

"Remember, James, you are what you are because we made you that way. It wasn't something your other self asked for, or volunteered for. It's what we had to do to save you."

James is left to wonder about the origins of his personality. Is his current self the redliner, the cyber singularity seeker? Is his old self someone who resented his body the same way the other Illeana may have resented hers? Or is it not James who is this way, but the nanites? Are the nanites pushing him to be harder, better, faster, stronger? Maybe they are the redliners, not James. But can the distinction between the two be made anymore?

The boat continues to race across the inner harbor, slaloming between the kayaks who enjoy playing chicken with the old, good-natured captain and his misanthropic dwarven deckhand.

[rednblack]

James receives a few messages from Illeana in quick succession, and gives her hand another squeeze.  Good, she's back with me.

The content is potentially troubling, but it makes James think that the best course of action is not a speedy and tactical retreat, but a longer stay in the lion's den.  He is still terrified of the idea that Ares will be making of husk of him, but as Rhodes begins telling James conspiratorially about Mr. Knight's chess habits, James cancels the override of his Shin-Hyung's safe driving protocols, and directs it to find a parking space.

"Mr. Knight has not played 1. e4 since his King's Gambit was badly routed by black's Falkbeer Countergambit. Granted, black was played by an AI that is the direct descendant of Mirage, so allowances must be made, but he did not take the loss well. I trust that will stay between us." Rhodes says.

He would love to discuss this further, but with the shoreline creeping up on them, James moves the discussion back to himself and his double, at which point Rhodes assures him of his autonomy, so much as life under Ares could be considered autonomous.

"There are not two minds that want to use one body," Rhodes continues. "As I said, he doesn't even know you exist. And, even if he did, there's no guarantee that he wants that body back. And, even if he did, it's not his decision to make."

"But at some point he will know about me, yes?  And at some point a decision may need to be made.  While I appreciate that the decision won't be my alternate's to make, are you going so far as to guarantee me my control over this body during my lifetime at Ares?"

"Remember, James, you are what you are because we made you that way. It wasn't something your other self asked for, or volunteered for. It's what we had to do to save you."

"Illeana will need lodge materials, the sooner the better," James says, continuing to play it straight and knowing that at is at this moment when he likeliest to receive concessions.  Illeana doesn't hint that Rhodes is shining him on, and so he continues.

"She's continued her studies, and cultivated some interesting friends to that aim, and so it is important that she further her growth in that arena.  As for me, I'm sure there is some preliminary testing in order.  Personally, I am quite interested to see how I perform now compared to my earlier self, but I will be eager to return to field work as soon as possible. 

[Tecumseh]

"No, Agent Case, I cannot guarantee you control over your body during your lifetime. I cannot even guarantee that for myself. We serve a cause greater than ourselves and we do so however we can. But I will say that it has never been company policy to push people out of their bodies. I would think that the company has earned some trust and credit after saving both you and your brother after you were clinically deceased."

The Shin-Hyung confirms the change in driving protocols but alerts James that it has attracted the attention of law enforcement due to its rapid driving toward the pier. Knight-Errant has notified the vehicle that it will be investigated and potentially impounded.

"Illeana will have the finest materials and resources available to her at all times," Rhodes continues. "But she will be an Ares employee with all the benefits and the responsibilities that entails. She will find a very warm home and welcoming colleagues to collaborate with, but it comes with oversight and accountability. The same is true for all of us."

The boat draws closer to shore. It has begun to slow slightly at the captain positions it to dock.