The Asshole App

19. TREASONOUS TRAITOR

The next morning, in Satoshi's well-stocked underground kitchen, Vince was making pineapple pizza as he conversed with the military combatant. "What most people don't realize is you have to drain the pineapple chunks before you put them on the pizza crust. Otherwise, it will become a soggy mess."

Across the room, Deedee was doing dead lifts in the apartment's workout space. Before returning to the upper command chamber with agent Darrow, Thanatos had lent her some of his neoprene workout and tactical gear. "I need to blow off some testosterone before I rip someone's head off." The Drag Queen grunted, hefting four hundred and thirty-nine pounds of solid steel above her head, the advanced lifting standard. Her forearms, biceps, and chest muscles strained against the fabric as she completed the lift. After a sixty second hold, she carefully lowered the barbell, her forehead beaded with sweat.

"Relax, Lady Dee. You're hungry. You'll feel better after you eat." Vince added the last few pineapple chunks and then slid the pizza into the oven.

"That reminds me, I've got to call Prince and tell him to defrost the spaghetti sauce for tonight's dinner. He just got promoted to interim chef."

Satoshi walked over from the kitchen to place an edamame salad on the table where Ray and Evie were seated. She smiled at Evie in a noncompetitive manner, then returned to the kitchen. Evie took a few tentative bites of the healthy bean salad and tried not to gag. If this is what she eats, no wonder she looks half her age. Wiping her mouth with a napkin, she looked across the table at Ray. "As I understand, you and Satoshi were close at one time?"

He nodded in response to her discreet inquiry. "It's complicated. I never expected to see her again."

Satoshi returned to the table with a beautiful Yixing Stoneware tea service and sat down. She poured two cups of black tea, offering the beverage first to Evie, then Ray. "There's a proverb in my country. "The bamboo that bends is more durable than the oak that resists."

Ray ignored the pleasantries. "Here's a King James saying I like, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Why should I trust your Agent Darrow? How are you certain of his true agenda, Satoshi? If he turned once, can't he be flipped again?"

She took a small sip of tea. "You, of all people, should know that we're in a never-ending state of war, Raymond. There's a juxtaposition between the state of society and its components. Think of a machine. A mechanism is dependent upon its components and breaks down when one part loses enough functionality to stop working. There will always be corrupt components in our society. Therefore, that machine will never be perfect.

Evie nodded. "You have to replace lost agents with inferior components to keep the system running."

The corners of Satoshi mouth moved with the hint of a smile. "Yes, there will always be degradation of components in our machine, what we refer to colloquially as corruption within our society. Alliances are always shifting. We have limited options when it comes to infiltrating Casper and Jamison's operation. Be assured, we thoroughly vetted Darrow and he made it into the circle of trust."

"And this hippie's the best component you've got?" Ray asked, incredulous.

Satoshi sighed. "Unfortunately, we lost two agents who were deep undercover. We turned Darrow after securing the porn they were blackmailing him with."

"What kind of porn?" Deedee walked over, curious. She wiped her face off with a towel as she spoke.

"That's not important." Satoshi looked at her with open hostility.

"Why can't I get into your damned circle, Ice Queen?" The Drag Queen put her hands on her hips and glared at her.

Satoshi swiveled back to Ray, ignoring Deedee. "What's necessary is for you to give us your ICARUS APP. Our militia watched your encounter with the CIA operatives in real time. Until you took Hexagon offline. You can't blind us and have control over our national security whenever it fancies you."

"We were attacked by armed forces. I took the necessary action to defend myself and my people."

"A rag-tag bunch of individuals is no match for the Industrial Military Complex. You need to secure the app before it falls into their hands." Satoshi's face was as immobile as a stone statue.

Deedee's nostril's flared. "Who the hell are you callin' rag-tag, bitch?"

The screen on the console to Satoshi's left abruptly came on, interrupting Deedee's protests.  Thanatos's anxious face appeared. He spoke in rapid Japanese before switching to English. "Satoshi, we've been tricked. Darrow's functionality has degraded to shit—he's taken Raymond's SUV

Satoshi turned to Raymond, her face a mask of dread. "Where did you secure your phone?" she asked.

Raymond swallowed. "In a special titanium case in the Tesla."

On screen, black and white video footage of the hippie carjacking Raymond's SUV and tearing out of the parking lot played. "That motherfucker stole my Tesla!" Deedee raged, throwing a barbell across the room into the mini bar.