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[[A.J.]] prodded it with his piece. He scoped the back. It was blobbed, de-blobbed and annotated in tight black cursive. | [[A.J.]] prodded it with his piece. He scoped the back. It was blobbed, de-blobbed and annotated in tight black cursive. | ||
“Football Team checks out, sir.” | “Football Team checks out, sir.” [[A.J.]] eyeballed the kid. “This is strong work.” | ||
“Entity?” | “Entity?” | ||
“N. A., stops correct.” | |||
“Branch?” | “Branch?” | ||
“London. Acting by and on behalf of, not through through. Punctuation | “London. Acting by and on behalf of, not through through. Punctuation clear.” | ||
“I ''told'' you, man. I’m on the level.” The kid shifted awkwardly and groped at a nearby keyboard. | “I ''told'' you, man. I’m on the level.” The kid shifted awkwardly and groped at a nearby keyboard. | ||
Punchface freaked. “Freeze!” | Punchface freaked & squeaked. “Freeze!” | ||
“Chill, man. I'm late on [[CBT]]. If I don’t finish on time they will know | The squid kid was fly. “Chill, man. I'm just late on [[CBT]], is all. If I don’t finish on time they will know.” | ||
Boone said, “Stand down, Roly.” | Boone said, “Stand down, Roly.” Boone looked at the kid. “''Who'' will?” | ||
“Compliance goons. They monitor by the keystroke. I’m on their shit-list already. I missed the [[occupational safety and health|OSH]] module last week.” | |||
Boone did not | Boone did not need a gang of Wickliffe compliance heavies sweeping the building right now. He knew it. The kid knew it. The kid knew he knew the kid knew it. | ||
“Gimme a look at that.” | Boone nodded at the screen. “Gimme a look at that.” | ||
Kid twisted the screen up to Boone’s eyeline. It was | Kid twisted the screen up to Boone’s eyeline. It was a Wang terminal. It came standard with a warm glow and a diffuser. A smorgasbord of [[character user interface|CUI]] courier orange swam into view. | ||
Boone alt-tabbed for Leisure Suit Larry. No dice. The kid’s story checked out. He tabbed back and scanned the screen. A corner-mounted timer counted down. Four minutes and | Boone alt-tabbed for signs of Leisure Suit Larry. No dice. The kid’s story checked out. He tabbed back and scanned the screen. A corner-mounted timer counted down. ''Four minutes and falling''. | ||
“What's that?” | “What's that?” | ||
That's the goddamn deadline counter. These dudes are serious. I’ve been pulling all nighters on this goddam [[CDO]] so I’m late again. I gotta get this done or my ass | That's the goddamn deadline counter. These dudes are serious. I’ve been pulling all nighters on this goddam [[CDO]], so I’m late again. I gotta get this done or my ass is toast. | ||
“Okay. It’s D.” | “Okay. It’s D.” | ||
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“The answer. It’s D. “All of the above”.” | “The answer. It’s D. “All of the above”.” | ||
“Oh, right. Sweet.” The kid clacked | “Oh, right. Sweet.” The kid clacked keys and hit return. The Wang went blank. | ||
“Come on —” | The hourglass flipped. | ||
The count-down ticked. Thirty seconds to go. | |||
“Come ''on'' —” | |||
The hour-glass flipped. Twenty five seconds. | The hour-glass flipped. Twenty five seconds. | ||
A compliance squad automated reminder popped up. It threatened disciplinary. | A compliance squad automated reminder popped up. It threatened disciplinary. It threatened ''inter''disciplinary. | ||
Punchface squealed. “Let’s wax him and get out of here, Boone.” | Punchface squealed. “Let’s wax him and get out of here, Boone.” | ||
“We do not have control room clearance, Roly.” | “We do not have [[control room]] clearance, Roly.” | ||
“But the place is going to blow!” | “But the place is going to blow!” | ||
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“Wait.” | “Wait.” | ||
The counter ticked down to | The counter ticked down. It got to 10. [[A.J.]] gulped. The Wang honked and squawked and flashed apocalyptic red. | ||
The counter hit 5. | |||
The screen came up. The machine beeped & glowed. | The screen came up. The machine beeped & glowed. A nearby printer started chattering. The alarm died. The code red light show subsided. The lights came up. | ||
The collective de-stressed. | |||
Squid kid pulled a readout off the dot matrix. He scanned the readout. He grinned. “''Nailed'' it. Eighty percent. I’m clear. Any more was wasted effort.” | |||
The comlink crackled. “Boone, this is control room. The wall is active. Code word: | The comlink crackled. “Boone, this is control room. The wall is active. Code word: Project Viper. OneNDA protocol affirmative. You may proceed.” | ||
Boone opened up the comlink on back to base. “He's pretty far gone, Aggie. I think it’s stale. But he's packing a red herring. Take no chances.” | Boone opened up the comlink on back to base. “He's pretty far gone, Aggie. I think it’s stale. But he's packing a red herring. Take no chances.” | ||
The squid kid said, “I teach you the Superman.” he clawed back the pitch book. | |||
A.J. tried to grab it but the squid hung on tight. He pulled it to his heart. It was fat, typeset small, laid out on custom narrow margins and US letter. | A.J. tried to grab it but the squid hung on tight. He pulled it to his heart. It was fat, typeset small, laid out on custom narrow margins and US letter. |