Read Online Join by Steve Toutonghi - Free Book Online Page B

“But Javier, you should know what you might feel when your body does die. And the truth is, I don’t feel much different, in a way. I mean, I miss it. It’s painful. But I don’t know how else to say it: I feel okay. That’s not exactly right. I also feel . . . broken. And this is a setback, but I’m no worse than I was, really. That is, no worse than any of you are. And I have you. I don’t feel lost.”
    â€œThanks.” Javier says, clearly trying to follow Jake and accept what he’s saying. “I don’t know, though. The thought of losing my body hurts. It really hurts.”
    â€œIt hurts all of us,” Renee says. The others murmur agreement.
    â€œI know how you all feel,” Javier says, “and you know how I feel. You know it’s not the same.”
    Chance is suddenly with them, looking out of the eyes of each person at the table. Chance sees each of them perfectly from the perspective of each of the others. Each body and each face has a different tone, a different emotional shape.
    Jake’s loss is a foundation. Javier’s fear builds on that.

    The names dissolve as Chance One wakes in New Denver. The names can be so ephemeral. They’re critical before a join, when one name means one awareness riding the current of the present moment. When everything breaks apart, and rebuilds around parallelism and the union of what had been exclusive, names can lose their potency, become labels, become data.
    Chance One pulls back a blanket and sheet. Chance Four is sleeping on the other side of the bed. Chance Four’s shoulder is chilled, so he pulls the sheet over it, covering the ends of her dark hair.
    He stands. His feet swollen and dull, his skin dark against the cool, honey-colored hardwood. His body unbends slowly as he moves toward the bathroom. His lower back aches.
    As Chance One steps into the bathroom and the lights come up, he makes a gesture toward the mirror above the sink to activate its interface. He summons vids of the house perimeter. Nothing worth noting. Perhaps Rope is busy with whatever legal fallout has come from the assault. Chance One taps above his temple to switch on retinal displays, then logs in through the airline account. He sleepily reviews some weather data, brushing fingers against the palm of his left hand to help manage the display as he pees.
    He shuffles into the living room and the built-in lights begin to glow. It’s dark out, and the big windows onto the lawn and park reflect the inside of the house. Chance sits on a broad couch and watches the late news on a wall display. He says, “Scan for Rope, please.” His personal agent knows he’s spent some time with a join named Rope, and it knows which Rope, so related stories are prioritized, and he learns immediately that Rope has been arrested.
    Civ News only has a few terse reports. The Vitalcorp Directorate is investigating Rope. Questions arising from inconsistencies in Rope’s statements and the statements of other interested parties have led to an inquiry. The Directorate has launched exhaustive autopsies and a full forensic analysis. Rope’s access to the net has been suspended, and the Directorate is in the process of finding and detaining his remaining eight drives. The whereabouts of two of Rope’s drives are currently unknown.
    How the hell is Rope hiding drives?
    The sheets slide off of Chance Four as she sits up. She rubs her sore shoulder, then walks to a desk in the bedroom. She unfolds a personal display and also starts reviewing news.
    Nondestructive truth techniques can be applied to a captive drive to determine the whereabouts of a join’s other drives. Through Chance Three’s work at Shine’s Join Praxis Center, Chance actually pioneered one of them. Chance Four reviews recent literature about drive triangulation, searching for details that might help explain things, while Chance One continues scanning the news.