Read Online A Memory in the Black (The New Aeneid Cycle) by Michael G. Munz - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Michael G. Munz
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plagued her conscience, and she'd beaten herself up over it for a time. Felix was unsure of the feelings it would stir up in her if he was truly still alive.
Yet how could Gideon have possibly survived? Felix could still see the sudden violence in his mind, the flash of a muzzle in the pouring night rain, horrifying and wasteful: Diomedes put ting a gun to the back of the man’s head and firing in cold blood. Cybernetic advances made created a number of medical miracles in the past two decades, but the man’s brain was obliterated. Some things you just couldn't fix.
Had Caitlin imagined seeing him?
Felix stepped o ff the bus with the worry that Caitlin’s guilt might be affecting her more than he’d realized. She'd left the city for a time after the shooting and had rarely spoken of it since her return. He should have asked before now how she was handling things, instead of telling himself she’d talk about it when and if she needed to. Perhaps he'd made a mistake.
The place at which they chose to meet was a combination of pub and café where Caitlin once perplexed the waitress speechless by ordering a "kiddie-size beer." It was a joke, of course, but her straight face and deceptively aristocratic accent fooled the woman into taking her seriously. It was, Felix found, a game she loved to play, usually with sales clerks. Yet it was always good-natured, and they'd left a generous tip.
It was those little quirks that fascinated him about her, and one of many things that made him care.
Felix spotted her at a table in a corner. She had ordered tea this time and was staring with furrowed brow into the orange liquid as if it were a crystal ball. To anyone who knew her, she was brooding.
Her light blue eyes rose at his approach. "Hullo, Felix."
"Hi there."
She stood and kissed him before he could say more. "How are you?" she asked as they broke away.
"Oh, fine, more or less." They sat down together. "A little worried about you. Been brooding?"
She nodded. "Just a little, I fear. I’m sorry to have worried you."
"Don’t need to apologize for that. Can you tell me what you saw?"
She took a moment, sighing slightly, before she began. "I was in the University District, returning from a visit on campus. On my walk to the bus, I happened by his old flat. He was there. Outside."
"Did you speak to him? Face to face?"
"Am I certain it was him, you mean?" She shook her head. "I didn’t speak to him. I was across the street, and when I saw him I just rather stood there, gaping. He was with a woman—platinum blonde, just above shoulder length. They were arguing at something. I was too far away to hear clearly, but you know how you can still tell." She shrugged helplessly. "I just stood there. I suppose I should have tried to get closer and listen, but I was just. . ."
She trailed off and took a sip of her tea. Felix just listened. "Have you ever seen a ghost, Felix?" she asked finally.
"Nope. At least not that I knew was a ghost."
"I have. In a castle one night in Scotland. I just stood there, watching it. Today was the same, only this wasn’t a ghost. I know it. And ghosts don’t punch holes in walls."
"He did that?"
It sounded like Gideon. Punching a hole in a brick wall took a cyber-assisted limb, and Gideon had four. Felix always wondered if such levels of cybernetic enhancement were to blame for the man's instability. Gideon had lived on the edge of sanity, tormented by his own private demons. Basic cybernetic-induced psychosis, or something else? Or both?
Caitlin nodded. "Toward the end of the argument. He was angry at something, but I don’t think at her. He let her hug him after that. Two other blokes ran up once he hit the wall, perhaps to help, but the woman waved them back."
"Just people on the street, or were they with her?"
"They were with her. With them. They all left in the same car soon afterwards. Gideon tried to go in the building, but she stopped him again. I believe she told him something.
Yet how could Gideon have possibly survived? Felix could still see the sudden violence in his mind, the flash of a muzzle in the pouring night rain, horrifying and wasteful: Diomedes put ting a gun to the back of the man’s head and firing in cold blood. Cybernetic advances made created a number of medical miracles in the past two decades, but the man’s brain was obliterated. Some things you just couldn't fix.
Had Caitlin imagined seeing him?
Felix stepped o ff the bus with the worry that Caitlin’s guilt might be affecting her more than he’d realized. She'd left the city for a time after the shooting and had rarely spoken of it since her return. He should have asked before now how she was handling things, instead of telling himself she’d talk about it when and if she needed to. Perhaps he'd made a mistake.
The place at which they chose to meet was a combination of pub and café where Caitlin once perplexed the waitress speechless by ordering a "kiddie-size beer." It was a joke, of course, but her straight face and deceptively aristocratic accent fooled the woman into taking her seriously. It was, Felix found, a game she loved to play, usually with sales clerks. Yet it was always good-natured, and they'd left a generous tip.
It was those little quirks that fascinated him about her, and one of many things that made him care.
Felix spotted her at a table in a corner. She had ordered tea this time and was staring with furrowed brow into the orange liquid as if it were a crystal ball. To anyone who knew her, she was brooding.
Her light blue eyes rose at his approach. "Hullo, Felix."
"Hi there."
She stood and kissed him before he could say more. "How are you?" she asked as they broke away.
"Oh, fine, more or less." They sat down together. "A little worried about you. Been brooding?"
She nodded. "Just a little, I fear. I’m sorry to have worried you."
"Don’t need to apologize for that. Can you tell me what you saw?"
She took a moment, sighing slightly, before she began. "I was in the University District, returning from a visit on campus. On my walk to the bus, I happened by his old flat. He was there. Outside."
"Did you speak to him? Face to face?"
"Am I certain it was him, you mean?" She shook her head. "I didn’t speak to him. I was across the street, and when I saw him I just rather stood there, gaping. He was with a woman—platinum blonde, just above shoulder length. They were arguing at something. I was too far away to hear clearly, but you know how you can still tell." She shrugged helplessly. "I just stood there. I suppose I should have tried to get closer and listen, but I was just. . ."
She trailed off and took a sip of her tea. Felix just listened. "Have you ever seen a ghost, Felix?" she asked finally.
"Nope. At least not that I knew was a ghost."
"I have. In a castle one night in Scotland. I just stood there, watching it. Today was the same, only this wasn’t a ghost. I know it. And ghosts don’t punch holes in walls."
"He did that?"
It sounded like Gideon. Punching a hole in a brick wall took a cyber-assisted limb, and Gideon had four. Felix always wondered if such levels of cybernetic enhancement were to blame for the man's instability. Gideon had lived on the edge of sanity, tormented by his own private demons. Basic cybernetic-induced psychosis, or something else? Or both?
Caitlin nodded. "Toward the end of the argument. He was angry at something, but I don’t think at her. He let her hug him after that. Two other blokes ran up once he hit the wall, perhaps to help, but the woman waved them back."
"Just people on the street, or were they with her?"
"They were with her. With them. They all left in the same car soon afterwards. Gideon tried to go in the building, but she stopped him again. I believe she told him something.
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