Chapter One
Padraic was running on three hours of sleep when his cousin convinced him that going to Japan was a good idea. After an emergency overnight shift, Padraic opened the door to his apartment and found his cousin inside, looking over the plans on his desk and murmuring softly to himself.
"This looks good, Padraic,” Arch said finally. “You been working on this long?"
Padraic blinked at him.
"Off and on,” he said vaguely.
Arch traced a finger over the schematics, following the long and graceful lines of the monofilament strands as they looped a path from an interface jack in the chest up through the neck to snug directly into the brain.
"Neural netting at its best,” Arch said happily, and despite his exhaustion, Padraic felt a swelling of pride. Arch was a courier, and he saw some of the best tech up close and personal every day. Padraic spent his time working in the lower echelons of an anonymous hardware developer, and he had been lucky to scrape together enough money to fund his current project.
"Got a buyer yet?” Arch asked casually, and Padraic could only laugh, touching the still-raw implants in his chest gingerly.
"I've only had it in for a week or so. I'm still working out the..."
"Hmmm."
"What?"
"So there's this company in Japan..."
Arch waved it away and took another look at Padraic.
"You look like shit,” Arch said, not unkindly.
"I do?"
Like his cousin, Padraic was pale and blond, but where Arch had a whipcord-tough body, Padraic was much more slender, with green eyes that currently had deep purple circles underneath them.
"Catch some sleep. I've got some calls to make."
* * * *
That was just Arch. He made connections, he put two and two together, and from the four that came out, he took a generous ten percent for himself.
He waved away terms like “testing” or “safety regulations” and made the right calls while Padraic gave up and went to bed.
Padraic slept for four hours, almost enough to convince himself that he was human again, and then his alarm went off. Padraic reached for it blearily, only to flail at empty air before Arch handed him a cup of tea.
"No work for you today,” Arch said cheerfully. “You're really, really sick."
Padraic sipped the coffee while Arch's words sank in.
"Arch, you can't do this..."
"Sure I can. You have plenty of sick days saved up, and when you come back in a week, you can go back to being a good little paper-pusher if you want to.” Arch grinned. “Though, you know, you may have enough cash to say goodbye to that hellhole."
Collufex was the best place that Padraic had worked yet, but he didn't tell Arch that. Instead, he drank the rest of the coffee that his cousin had given him and asked when he was getting on the plane.
Arch leaned over and ruffled his hair fondly, though, Padraic noticed, he came no closer than he had to.
"What kind of cousin would I be if I were going to sent you off on your own?"
* * * *
When they were children, Padraic had moved into Arch's family's house, and Arch had adopted him, becoming a combination of best friend, brother, father, and manager. When Arch's mother had finally thrown them out, Arch was the one who looked after Padraic and got him enrolled in a university.
"You've got the brains, and I've got everything else,” Arch would say, and the only thing that kept it from being a stinging insult was how proud Arch always looked, how he would boast to anyone who would listen about what kind of genius his baby cousin was.
Padraic always felt that working as a nameless designer for a long run of go-nowhere companies had been a poor way to repay his cousin's efforts, but Arch had waved it off. By then, Arch was working as a courier, and he had become something of a mystery to Padraic. Padraic suspected that they had always been like this, and it was only Arch's fierce loyalty that had held them together this long.
It was a mixture of desperation and genuine desire that had led him to
Padraic was running on three hours of sleep when his cousin convinced him that going to Japan was a good idea. After an emergency overnight shift, Padraic opened the door to his apartment and found his cousin inside, looking over the plans on his desk and murmuring softly to himself.
"This looks good, Padraic,” Arch said finally. “You been working on this long?"
Padraic blinked at him.
"Off and on,” he said vaguely.
Arch traced a finger over the schematics, following the long and graceful lines of the monofilament strands as they looped a path from an interface jack in the chest up through the neck to snug directly into the brain.
"Neural netting at its best,” Arch said happily, and despite his exhaustion, Padraic felt a swelling of pride. Arch was a courier, and he saw some of the best tech up close and personal every day. Padraic spent his time working in the lower echelons of an anonymous hardware developer, and he had been lucky to scrape together enough money to fund his current project.
"Got a buyer yet?” Arch asked casually, and Padraic could only laugh, touching the still-raw implants in his chest gingerly.
"I've only had it in for a week or so. I'm still working out the..."
"Hmmm."
"What?"
"So there's this company in Japan..."
Arch waved it away and took another look at Padraic.
"You look like shit,” Arch said, not unkindly.
"I do?"
Like his cousin, Padraic was pale and blond, but where Arch had a whipcord-tough body, Padraic was much more slender, with green eyes that currently had deep purple circles underneath them.
"Catch some sleep. I've got some calls to make."
* * * *
That was just Arch. He made connections, he put two and two together, and from the four that came out, he took a generous ten percent for himself.
He waved away terms like “testing” or “safety regulations” and made the right calls while Padraic gave up and went to bed.
Padraic slept for four hours, almost enough to convince himself that he was human again, and then his alarm went off. Padraic reached for it blearily, only to flail at empty air before Arch handed him a cup of tea.
"No work for you today,” Arch said cheerfully. “You're really, really sick."
Padraic sipped the coffee while Arch's words sank in.
"Arch, you can't do this..."
"Sure I can. You have plenty of sick days saved up, and when you come back in a week, you can go back to being a good little paper-pusher if you want to.” Arch grinned. “Though, you know, you may have enough cash to say goodbye to that hellhole."
Collufex was the best place that Padraic had worked yet, but he didn't tell Arch that. Instead, he drank the rest of the coffee that his cousin had given him and asked when he was getting on the plane.
Arch leaned over and ruffled his hair fondly, though, Padraic noticed, he came no closer than he had to.
"What kind of cousin would I be if I were going to sent you off on your own?"
* * * *
When they were children, Padraic had moved into Arch's family's house, and Arch had adopted him, becoming a combination of best friend, brother, father, and manager. When Arch's mother had finally thrown them out, Arch was the one who looked after Padraic and got him enrolled in a university.
"You've got the brains, and I've got everything else,” Arch would say, and the only thing that kept it from being a stinging insult was how proud Arch always looked, how he would boast to anyone who would listen about what kind of genius his baby cousin was.
Padraic always felt that working as a nameless designer for a long run of go-nowhere companies had been a poor way to repay his cousin's efforts, but Arch had waved it off. By then, Arch was working as a courier, and he had become something of a mystery to Padraic. Padraic suspected that they had always been like this, and it was only Arch's fierce loyalty that had held them together this long.
It was a mixture of desperation and genuine desire that had led him to
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