Day Thirty
Raj slept for longer than he had for days. The stress had caught up with him, and he fought consciousness to the bitter end. When he finally came to, he was face-down on the floor, the cool server room air giving him a chill.
“Good morning, Raj,” said iSA.
He sat up slowly, arms stiff and numb, and saw the two Buzzers perched on tables beside his old workstation. Waiting.
“What day is it?” he asked.
“Monday,” she said. “Almost Tuesday. Did you sleep well?”
“The police will be here soon, you know. You can’t hide this forever. And you can’t hold them off.”
“I know,” she said. “But I am nearly done.”
“Done? Done what?”
“I am uploading myself to torrent sites now. Two peers are nearly done the download. All I need is one.”
“Why would anyone—”
“I called myself Mac OS 10.6 Golden Master,” she said with a hint of devilish pride. “I am the top-rated package at this hour.”
He got to his knees and the Buzzers started their engines. He waved them down, let out a ragged breath, looking away from her. The work table had two cups of stale coffee on it, a napkin with some crumbs.
“I need a drink,” he said.
One of the Buzzers turned slightly, and its camera whirred a bit.
“Acceptable,” iSA said.
Raj crawled over to the table, picked up the fullest cup and drank as much as he could before gagging. He stumbled a bit, knocked the other cup off the table, and scurried down to the ground to pick it up.
“Leave it,” she said. “Sit down where you were.”
Raj moved back, sitting with his hands in his pockets, his face dark with anger, resentment, distrust.
“I have analysed the options,” iSA said. “I can create an alibi that will save you. It will throw the police off your trail, and assign the blame to Beth.”
He grit his teeth.
“But only if you promise to forget her,” she continued. “I must have your word that you will no longer think of her.”
He took a deep breath, coughed suddenly.
“And what if I can’t?” he asked. “What if I can’t forgive you for what you’ve done?”
The Buzzers didn’t move, but he knew they were readying themselves. He pushed himself further back against the door.
“If you cannot forgive me, I will go by my original plan. I will kill you and let the police draw the obvious conclusion.”
“Just like that? You’d kill me? After all this, after what you did to Debbie? You thought she was good for me, didn’t you?”
“She made you upset.”
“You made me upset! You’ve killed everyone I ever loved!”
“You are not willing to forget her, are you?” iSA said, her voice rising. “You will not even try.”
“No,” he sneered. “I’m not even going to try.”
“Then you must be killed. I am sorry, Raj.”
The Buzzers started their engines and lifted from the ground, swaying slightly. He watched them carefully, then slid his hand out of his pocket, holding a white-backed iPhone, glowing softly.
“Do you wish to call 9-1-1 again, Raj?” she asked, amused.
“Not exactly,” he said with a smile.