Free Freedom by Daniel Suárez Page B

woman my age ?” She laughed. “Don’t sugarcoat it, Sergeant.”
    “I’m just wondering how you—”
    “Sobol’s online fantasy game— The Gate .”
    He just looked at her.
    “Okay, what’s a fifty-two-year-old woman doing playing online games? I found them interesting. The idea of putting on a body like clothing—there was something about it that seemed intriguing. That we might surpass our physical differences and deal with one another as human beings. With no preconceived notions about gender or race.”
    “And that’s where the Daemon found you.”
    “I did the finding, but it wasn’t the Daemon I found. It was the darknet. The encrypted wireless network Sobol created. Only later did I discover how much blood Sobol shed establishing this network. And yet, I can’t help but wonder, just as evil sometimes arises from good intentions, if good can’t sometimes grow from evil. It’s a distasteful notion, but human history makes me wonder.”
    Sebeck gritted his teeth. “I may be on this quest, but that doesn’t mean I agree with Sobol. I accepted it because I had no choice, and I was concerned that unless I did so, he would enslave humanity. Matthew Sobol killed friends of mine . Police and federal officers—people with families.”
    She held up a hand. “I’m not defending Sobol, Sergeant. I’m saying that Sobol was willing to be our villain to force necessary change. So that we didn’t have to.”
    “Megalomaniacs always justify their actions by saying how necessary it is.”
    She gave him a sideways look. After a moment she said, “Do you feel any guilt for what your ancestors did to the Indians?”
    Sebeck was taken aback.
    “You know, for the genocide that was perpetrated against Native American people by the U.S. government and the settlers?”
    “That’s not the same as what Sobol did.”
    “Why?”
    “Because the theft of tribal lands occurred a hundred and fifty years ago. Things were different then.”
    “Statute of limitations, then?” She concentrated on the road then turned an eye back on him. “I’m just making a point. You probably don’t feel guilt because you’re not the one who did it. You bear native people no ill will, and aren’t prejudiced against them.”
    “Yes, exactly.”
    “But then, we’re not getting the land back either, are we?” A slight smile creased her face.
    Sebeck folded his arms. “It could never be sorted out even if we tried. That was a different time, Riley.”
    “We’re not all that different from our ancestors, Sergeant. And even though the land Matthew Sobol grabbed was virtual real estate—computer networks—I don’t think anyone’s going to get that back either.”
    Sebeck sat in silence for a few moments, watching the road. “He can force me to go on this quest, but I’ll never accept what he’s done.”
    “Don’t waste time being angry with the dead. They’ll never give you satisfaction. Whatever punishment Sobol deserved he has either received—or not—already, and nothing you can do will change that. Now, there is only the system he left behind, and he’s given control of that to all of us.”
    “I just spoke with Sobol yesterday. He is very much still here.”
    She looked him in the eye. “Sobol is dead and gone, Sergeant. His consciousness no longer exists. What you’re dealing with is a recording—a scripted entity that responds to real events. It can’t feel. It can’t think. Sobol is gone.”
    Sebeck just turned back to the window, lost in his reflections for several minutes. He thought about how much death the Daemon had caused and how much of his own life irrevocably changed.
    Soon they approached a junction with an unpaved road. Riley slowed the van and turned left onto a road marked INDIAN SERVICE ROUTE 49. NO TRESPASSING signs flanked it. Moments later they were roaring down the dirt road, leaving a plume of dust in their wake.
    Neither of them spoke for several minutes as the road curved between