Chapter 651: Infiltrator (1/2)

”Like it?” Darsi's smile told him that the only acceptable answer was yes.

”Fantastic.” Although Dex felt pressured, it was the truth. She had made him the absolute best breakfast burrito he'd ever tasted. ”I like it hot.”

”I'm not surprised,” Darsi took a seat next to his and started eating. She watched him for a moment as if making sure he really liked it. ”Any progress on the Code for the Yuli job?”

Dex nodded. ”Done. I was struggling for a few days, and then I had an epiphany that made cleared things up.”

”Hmmm... I love that word. Give me some details, Partner.” Darsi's interest was disrupted suddenly by the opening of Dex's front door. She noted that the new arrivals didn't knock, something that her young partner didn't appreciate. Nevertheless, her expression was carefully neutral as Gadget entered while escorting an unexpected guest.

”Nova?” Dex smiled at the newcomer. ”What are you doing here?”

”Hey, Dex!” Nova offered a small wave; his presence immediately calmed her frayed nerves. The other Bottom Feeders may have been intimidating, but the Hive's Fucking Da Vinci was not. ”This your place?”

Dex nodded. ”This is my partner, Quicksilver.”

Nova smiled at the blond; the warmth of Dextron's greeting was instantly drained away by a cold arctic-blue stare. ”Quicksilver...”

”Nova...” Darsi fixed turned her focus toward Gadget. ”Something up?”

Gadget took a seat at the counter and motioned for Nova to join them. He brought up the counter's hud display. ”Something I need you to see.”

Without pausing, Nova opened her hud and synched it with the window Gadget opened. The image of a person slowly formed. At first glance, it appeared to have the normal physiological traits of a biological male. The goth hacker started separating the different overlays; first the epidermis, then the muscular system, the circulatory system, skeletal and finally the nervous system. The five windows rotated while the group studied them.

”Should that be there?” Dex spotted the anomaly right away. The nerves on the right wrist appeared to contain some sort of device.

Gadget should have been surprised that Dextron picked up the issue so quickly, but he wasn't. ”There are three separate nerves in the wrist; the ulnar, radial, and median. As a doctor, I can tell you that they aren't normally connected.”

Darsi paused his narrative with a surprised glance. ”You're a doctor?”

Gadget nodded. ”Among other things, but let's stay on topic. Someone used cybernetics to combine these three separate nerves into a cluster.”

Darsi focused on the arm, using the hud to zoom in on the area in question. As clear as day, they could see a socket on the inside of the wrist. ”That looks like some sort of data port. Where do these nerves go?”

”To the spinal column, via the shoulder,” Gadget answered. ”That's not all. Because it's much smaller, I'm not surprised that you guys missed it.” He exchanged the zoomed-in wrist image for the cranium. A microport was inserted into the base of the skull. ”To be honest, we are decades away from this sort of tech.”

Darsi studied the image for a long moment before turning back to Nova. ”Where'd these images come from?”

”Anodyne Cybernetics,” Nova answered without hesitation.

”Details, please.” Darsi's blue eyes warmed slightly. ”How long have you been in their system, and who is paying you.”

”I've been in the system for three months; SMT paid me 30 million for the job.”

Dex whistled softly. Infiltration might be boring, but it certainly paid well. ”SMT is Seminole Medical Team out of Florida?” He brought up the data while he spoke. ”Oh... small world.”

Darsi didn't have to look to understand. SMT was a former subsidiary of Gladis Corp. ”Let's not do any more work for these guys. Put the word out, pull the plug on anything remotely connected to Gladis Corporation.”

Although Darsi was studying the hud, Nova felt the statement was directed at her. ”Fine with me; I've already been paid.”

Gadget used the comm function on his hud to page Stiletto, Mongoose, and Thumper. ”Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Nova.”

From his tone, Nova understood that it was a dismissal. She smiled at Dextron and headed toward the exit without saying anything further.

”Nova...” Darsi called her name when she opened the door to leave. ”Move your stuff to the 8th floor. I'll make sure your resource allocation reflects the promotion.”

Gadget grimaced slightly when the door closed. ”What do you think, Darsi? This is more your realm than anyone elses.”