Free Inquisitor by Mitchell Hogan Page A

surreptitious way out she could use in a pinch.
    When her meal arrived, she tucked in with a will, slurped her drink, and thought furiously.
    “Delivery for a Shining Knight.”
    Angel started and looked up to see a courier automaton in front of her. She must have nodded off for a second. She sat up and widened her eyes in an effort to clear them of tiredness. “Pardon?” she said.
    “Delivery for a Shining Knight. Please insert a credit chit.”
    The automaton extended a small package in one articulated arm, while in the other it held a metallic box with a credit chit insert port.
    Angel quickly surveyed the room for anything out of the ordinary. All looked normal.
    She inserted her anonymous chit.
    “Thank you. Your business is appreciated.”
    Angel only nodded as the automaton deposited the package on her table: a hand-sized flat object wrapped in black plastic.
    A voice emanated from it.
    “Well, hurry up and open it. I went to a lot of trouble.”
    Charlotte-Rose.
    Moving tenderly, so as not to injure her hands, Angel unwrapped the plastic to reveal a narrow, flat metallic rectangle, about fifteen centimeters long. It was rather gaudily colored a shiny gold, with the logo of Mercurial Logic Incorporated embossed on the bottom left. Etched swirly lines decorated its surface, and the hairlike pattern stirred and took on the semblance of Charlotte-Rose.
    Angel couldn’t help but laugh at the childlike face beaming at her.
    “Sorry for the Shining Knight reference,” chirped Charlotte-Rose, “but I couldn’t risk using your real name.”
    Angel nodded agreement. “I understand. So… you’ve been following me?”
    “When I can. It’s… hard for this program to move around. And the more active I am, the easier it is for them to trace me.”
    Angel raised an eyebrow. “The more active you are?”
    Charlotte-Rose gave a short laugh. “Yes. Sorry. I mean, the way the program works, of course.”
    Listening to the girl talk, Angel became more and more wary. Something was off, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. The program’s references to itself as an entity, as if it actually were Charlotte-Rose, were disconcerting. Maybe that was it.
    “This device.” Angel’s finger ran over the etched lines. “I take it it’s a way for us to communicate.”
    “Yes. It has enough processing capacity to store a version of the program. This way, I can assist you as well as be virtually untraceable.”
    “Virtually?”
    “Er… my actions will leave a footprint. A signature they can trace, if they are looking.”
    “And we can assume they will be. Looking, I mean.” Angel frowned at the design of the device. For such an advanced piece of technology, it was thicker than she expected. “What else can this do, besides give us a means to communicate?” She hefted it in her hand. “It’s thicker and heavier than I expected.”
    Charlotte brushed her hair away from her face, a mannerism Angel found endearing, and yet a peculiar way for a program to act. Why include such a gesture?
    “Ah, yes,” said Charlotte. “I had it made to my design. Packed with the latest Mercurial Logic Incorporated has to offer.” She shrugged. “Their manufacturing plant is fully automated. As soon as it was made and shipped, I scrubbed the records. Such a small amount of materials won’t be missed.”
    Angel snorted and shook her head. “Mercurial are the ones holding you?”
    “Yes. They’re too powerful. They own everyone on the planet, and I don’t know who to trust. Anyone who tries to help me ends up—”
    “I’m not the first person you asked? Harry Smith? You asked him for help—”
    “I don’t want the same thing to happen to you. But I can’t spend the rest of my life locked in here.”
    “Don’t get ahead of yourself. I need to work out what’s going on first.”
    “They need to be sure you can’t contradict their story. They’re not going to capture you alive. I sometimes wonder how you can