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trustworthy human on
Epimetheus!”
    “No,” the floater said.
    “Why the bloody hell not?” I demanded.
    “Because all supposedly-secure corporate
communications between Prometheus and Epimetheus have been
affected. While he has established that there has been
interference, Mis’ Nakada is unable to determine the nature or
extent of the meddling. He attempted to contact Epimetheus after
you left last night, and discovered that he cannot tell whether he
is, in fact, speaking to a human on Epimetheus, or to a digital
simulation—his usual security tests have been compromised. This was
not the case when he made his preparations; something has changed.
He suspects that when he met with you, his absence from his usual
routines was noted and prompted this action. It now appears that
the conspiracy that... the conspiracy he is aware of is more
extensive than he thought, and there is literally no one employed
by Nakada Enterprises on Epimetheus he feels he can trust with the
assignment.”
    I felt a creeping uneasiness somewhere in my
spine.
    “It’s that bad?” I asked.
    “I don’t know, Hsing,” the floater said, “but
Mis’ Nakada thinks it is.”
    The thing’s manner had changed. It had gone
from formal and every centimeter a machine to its more familiar
self. I guessed it was because it was back in its familiar groove,
no longer stretching its instructions to the limit and telling me
things it hadn’t been told to tell me.
    “If the conspiracy, or whatever it is, is
that extensive, how do I even know he sent you ?”
    “If you agree to continue on his revised
terms, he will meet you in person to verify it.”
    “Fine. How the hell does he expect me to stop
it?”
    “By finding the parties running it, of
course.”
    I snorted. “Sure, that’s all,” I said.
“Finding the people responsible for infiltrating one of the most
powerful corporations in the galaxy, and exposing them—that’s easy,
right? Hell, maybe it is easy, I don’t know. I’ve never
tried it.” I grinned at the floater. “But you know what must be
pretty tricky? Staying alive while I do it. That’s got to be
tough!”
    “But Hsing,” it said, “you’re good at
that.”
    “Good at what?”
    “At staying alive. You’re tough, Hsing—people
have tried to kill you, IRC tried to break you, but here you
are.”
    “Yeah, right,” I said. “The old man’s stayed
alive six times as long as I have— he’s the one who’s good at
it!” I shook my head. “And besides, if he can’t get ’Chan and my
father off Epimetheus, why should I work for him?”
    “For the money?” the floater asked, as I
paused for breath.
    “No, thanks,” I said. “Money’s nice, but so’s
maintaining decent odds of living to enjoy it. No family, no deal.
That was what we recorded.” I reached up and signaled the privacy
seal off; I didn’t see that we had anything more to talk about.
“Guess I’ll be buzzing back to Alderstadt,” I said. “Good luck to
your boss.”
    “Hsing, wait,” the floater said.
    I didn’t answer, I just headed for the door
of the booth.
    “Hsing, please ,” it said. “I’m talking
to him now. Could you wait? He may have an offer to make.”
    “What can he offer?” I asked, my hand on the
door.
    “Hsing,” the floater said, “he does have an
offer.”
    “I don’t care,” I said.
    “You will,” it stated flatly.
    I hesitated, then turned back.
    “All right,” I said. “Boot it up. What’s the
offer?”
    “You get an unlimited expense account,” it
said. “The corporation will pay any fines, bail you out, anything.
You investigate the infiltration, conspiracy, whatever it is—on
Epimetheus. There has definitely been covert activity there. And
while you’re there...”
    “I get them out myself,” I finished.
    I stared at the machine while I thought it
over, stared at the metal that gleamed pink in the booth’s light,
and the blue plastic that looked almost as black as the plastic
streets of