The Operator
Page 60

“It’s true,” Allen said, voice rough. “There’s lots of you out there.”
“But those not found and trained are usually in a medical facility,” Peri added, her intuition pinging when LB stiffened. He’s been in one, she thought, wondering whether that would work for or against her.
LB fiddled with the pen, watching her watch it like an addict. “And this will help me remember my blackouts?”
“Not on its own, no.” Peri shifted her weight, not liking that the place was emptying out. “I said I can tell you what’s going on,” she continued. “Help you control it. Tell you ways to keep from looking stupid.” Something was happening. Michael? she wondered, exchanging a worried glance with Allen as more people left. “Are we going to talk, or are you just going to let me sit here watching cartoons?” she finally asked.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” LB said, gesturing for her to walk before him.
Nodding, she started forward. “Can I have my injection pens back?”
“Doubt it. What’s in them?” LB took her arm and angled her to his little table. “Drafter to drafter,” he said softly, leaning in toward her to whisper it.
He believed, she thought, elated. And not only that, but he had already found a sense of worth in it. She’d tell him the truth—inasmuch as she could.
“The pens hold a maintenance drug called Evocane,” she said, hoping he hadn’t already wasted one. “Forgetting a draft is natural, but you can destroy the part of the brain that causes that to happen. Only problem is we can’t handle both timelines. We go crazy. It gets really bad, really fast. Evocane stops that,” she said, sitting down when LB indicated for her to.
LB confidently slumped into the chair across from her. “And lets you remember.”
Peri shook her head. “No, the accelerator does that. Evocane enables you to survive remembering. You can’t regrow brain tissue, and once your body’s natural defense is destroyed, you’re on Evocane the rest of your life.” Her lip curled, remembering the shame of shooting up in Harmony’s car. Every twenty-four hours. She was going to kill Bill for that.
Eyes narrowed, LB thought about that. “I know people who get themselves addicted to all kinds of shit just to feel good for a few hours. Being able to remember . . . It might be worth it.”
“Yeah. Okay. Whoever controls the Evocane controls you.” Peri frowned, then forced herself to let it go. “It’s not as if you can pick it up on any street corner.”
“That’s just a matter of lab time.” LB idly checked his phone. She’d been right. He was looking at a view of the city being piped in from one of the drones. There were lights coming up the expressway, too many for the early hour.
Concerned, Peri watched Fat Man take Harmony to the couch, leaving her there to amble back to them. Jack was still on the floor, swearing and demanding someone stand him up. “You’ve known him long?” she asked, indicating the large man, comfortable in his own skin.
“LB is my brother,” Fat Man said as he sat down with them, clearly having heard her.
Peri’s eyebrows rose. LB was American Indian, and Fat Man was . . . Germanic?
“Blood brother,” LB said as he slid his phone to Fat Man to continue monitoring.
“He’s your anchor,” Peri guessed. “He tells you what happened when you black out. Hides from everyone that you do. Covers for your lapses.”
Fat Man stiffened, and LB’s eye twitched. “Something like that.”
“Well, you’re doing a great job. Most untrained drafters are in a medical asylum.”
Fat Man’s thick lips cracked into a smile. “Where do you think I found the little shit?”
“Shut up!” LB exclaimed, smacking his shoulder, and Fat Man slumped.
“We were both in there, LB. It’s no big deal. They got good drugs.”
Peri hid a smile. “Really. You’ve been doing a good job. Can I have my stuff back?” It wasn’t just the Evocane. They had her diary. She’d known better than to put anything security related in there, but hell, it was her diary.
“No.” It was flat, but she could tell he’d only said it because he wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. “I looked up Opti on the Net. It just says a government special task force.”
Her eyebrows rose. He’d looked up Opti? Steiner would be here within half an hour. Maybe sooner, if those lights meant anything. “Nothing about the ability to rewrite small chunks of time, eh?” Chuckling, she reached for a piece of pizza, hesitating until LB nodded. “Yeah,” she said around a cold mouthful. “That’d go over really well. You don’t believe it, and you’re doing it. They find us, train us if we’re not too far gone thanks to well-meaning health providers, bribe us with gobs of money into doing what they want. We get paid extremely well, but it’s a tenth of what our bosses get.”
LB and Fat Man exchanged a knowing look. “And Jack?” LB questioned.
The pizza soured in her mouth, and she swallowed. “What about him? LB, you have to be careful. A trained anchor can wipe years of your memory right after a jump when the brain is trying to readjust, and if they find you, that’s exactly what will happen.”
LB brought his gaze back from Jack, now struggling violently to sit up. “He wiped your memory? No wonder you want to cack him.”
“Every time I started to figure out where the corruption started. Allen is very good at it.”
“But you don’t want to kill him.” LB leaned back, gaze flicking to and away from whatever Fat Man was showing him on his phone.
Feigning indifference, Peri picked off a piece of pepperoni and ate it. “Allen and I were moles in Opti, trying to shut down the corruption. I was young and idealistic. Thought I could make a difference. Allen wiped my memory so I’d have the plausible deniability to successfully infiltrate. Jack became my anchor, and with careful wipes and misinformation, I became part of the corruption instead.”
LB smiled knowingly. “It happens.”
“I didn’t do it intentionally,” she said hotly. “And when I found out, I brought them down. But Bill only went deeper. Hell, I think he enjoyed that I cleaned his house. He wants me back. That’s what the Evocane is about. You going to give it to me yet?”