Free Remote Control by Jack Heath Page B

stats of the program; she could be any of a million people.”
    “These people have histories, though,” King said, with a meaningful glance at Six. “Whoever she is, she’s experienced, smart, probably rich, and distinctive in both style and appearance. This isn’t her first job. There are people who will know her.”
    Ace gaped. “You’re going to go door-to-door in the cell blocks, showing inmates a picture and asking for a name?”
    “No need,” Six said, hitting print. “We have a contact she’s already worked with.”
    “How can you know that for sure?”
    Six was already on his way out the door. “Our contact has worked with everyone.”
    The sun had passed its peak behind the burnt sky, and shadows were starting to creep back along the oily concrete as Six eased his car to a halt.
    The house was bigger than he’d expected. When he’d last checked the surveillance records, the owner had been living in a one-room apartment near the City steelworks. By contrast, her current residence had turrets: narrow spines of grey synthetic wood rising out of a dark concrete hut which admittedly seemed too small to support them.
    That’s Earle Shuji , Six thought. Regardless of practicality, she always has to live in style.
    Six had met Shuji eight months earlier on an undercover mission. She had been kidnapping engineers and soldiers to help her produce robots. The engineers had designed and programmed the bots, and the soldiers had tested them by fighting for their lives. The soldiers were all dead by the time Six arrived, but he had rescued the engineers and shut down her operation. Andhe had taken home one of her robots, Harry, who had proven himself useful a few times since.
    But less than forty-eight hours after shuffling her, Six had set Shuji free in return for information—information that had helped him save the lives of his colleagues. He hadn’t seen her since, but the Deck had been watching her carefully. Apparently she’d found an honest job—as honest as they came in the City, anyway. Under a new name, she was working as a consultant for ChaoSonic in their shoe-design sector, abandoning her extensive knowledge of robotics and biomechanics.
    There was a bullnecked guard by the door, dressed in immaculate pre-Takeover clothes—a clean-pressed charcoal suit, with polished leather loafers and opaque dark glasses.
    Six had expected Shuji’s security to be inside, not guarding the door. He was going to have to change his plan.
    He looked at his watch. 16:03:58: less than three hours until the deadline. No time for an elaborate plan. He just needed to get inside.
    Six had parked the car on the opposite side of the street, about thirty meters farther along from Shuji’s house, so it would be out of her surveillance range. He locked it and examined the house next door to Shuji’s.
    There was a square protrusion running up the front wall, which led to a chimney behind the guttering of the slightly sloped roof. Too easy , Six thought.
    He glanced around the empty street to check that no one was watching him. He could hear the distant sound of traffic on the highway.
    Six sprinted towards the house and jumped before hitting the wall. After landing momentarily on the sideboards he sprang outagain, ricocheted off the chimney, and swung one-handed from the gutter to the roof.
    He crouched there, pausing for a second to watch and listen. The front door was opening below him. Someone was investigating the noise.
    He ran across the roof, jumped when he hit the edge, and flew across the divide between the neighbor’s house and Shuji’s, before thumping into one of the turrets and grabbing the window so he didn’t fall.
    He examined the latch on the window. It looked unlocked, but rusted and probably stiff. He gave the frame a hefty shove, and paint around the hinges cracked and crumbled as the window swung inward. He slipped through into the darkness.
    Six found himself on an oak-paneled spiral staircase,