London in winter was not a snowy affair. No traces of white lacing the ground, no flakes in the air. Just a cold sleet and steel-gray skies, breath clouding her vision while fingertips went numb around her mug of water.
The pain of being drawn back so forcefully had disappeared immediately upon coming too outside the sim, but her mind would not let go of the memory if it. If she thought about other things, she knew, it would disappear. Just a memory. A bad dream.
She did not think about other things. Could not think about other things. All she could think about was her implants and the system. All she could think about was the vain hope that the data on the card had made it into the core dump she knew had been left in her exocortex's storage immediately upon the instance of a crash. She had no idea how she'd get it out --- the tech side of the implants was hardly her specialty --- but she knew it was possible.
She paced along the sidewalk, head down, remembering pain. She knew she was walking a street, but did not know which. She just needed away from the room, away from the neat row of rigs. Rigs she no longer trusted. Away from people she no longer trusted. She needed away, and hoped that the bracingly cold air would help in some way.
Her phone pinged. On silent, the ping came in the form of a brief tingle along her implants through the wireless. A gentle impinging on the senses. It pinged again. Then pinged several more times in short order.
It made her sick. A rush of anxiety.
> Avery:
>
> Ramirez, something's happened
>
> Avery:
>
> ACL change in the system. Been locked out. Everyone's coming up
>
> Avery:
>
> What do we do?
>
> Avery:
>
> Shit, security's here???
>
> Avery:
>
> !!! Police
>
> Sanders:
>
> Police here. Need you. Come back ASAP
>
> Prakash:
>
> Police here looking for you. Stop where you are. Don't come here.
Her breath came in short, ragged gasps. She hardly needed Prakash's orders to stop. She couldn't take another step if she wanted to.
> Prakash:
>
> I'm coming to you. Told them I went to look for you. Stay there.
*What?* Carter's mind seemed to be floating down a river, bumping across rocks. She could not focus for the water in her eyes. Literal, as well as figurative. She could not tell if she was crying, or if the air was simply stinging. *Police? Prakash coming here?*
And then: *How does he know where I am?*
Sure enough, there, jogging around the corner was the lithe form, unjacketed with puffs of breath showing in the still air.
"Ramirez," he said. His breathing was calm. "As I'm sure you've heard, the police and security are at the lab, looking for you."
Carter merely stared at him.
"Ramirez? Doctor Ramirez. Hey!" He snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Things are going to happen very quickly now. I need you to stay away from UCL and stay away from home. I've got some, ah...friends who will be in contact with you. Not Western Fed."
She blinked, nodded dumbly. Another rock for her mind to bump over in that swift-flowing stream: *Prakash? Russian Bloc?*
"If you run, you'll increase your culpability. You need to stay away from UCL, but--" He pointed down the street. "If you were to head to the medical center, then it's only an ethics violation, not running from the police, okay? Brewster is there."
"What--" Her voice cracked, and she had to swallow a few times to get it to work properly. "What happened?"
"You found something they didn't like. You saw something you weren't supposed to. Sanders tipped them off, said you might be a danger to yourself or something. I don't know, I didn't stick around. Hold still." The last was delivered as Carter started to shrink away from his hand reaching toward her. He held it up in a disarming gesture, a bulky-looking phone held within. "I know why you had Avery pull you back. This is just a back up drive, promise."
She stood still. There didn't seem to be any alternative.
Prakash pressed the box against the top of her exo, just at the base of her neck, masking the motion as a hug. There was no sensation from her implants, but when he leaned away, the man nodded to her. "We're good. Thank you, Ramirez."
"Why?"
"This will be good for both of us." His smile was wry. "We get some intel to use against the WF, and you will doubtless get your lost back."
Carter gaped. "What the hell does that mean?"
"Just--" Prakash frowned at something over her shoulder. "Fuck. Get going. Walk, don't run. Don't look back. Take the tube. You'll be followed, but being around more people will only help."
And with that, he patted her arm, moved around her, and walked away.
