Black Marion

9

Sasha took her falcon to work the next day, having convinced Vaughn that she was well enough to drive. For lunch, she met with Harriet Louman at a popular café midway between their workplaces. It was Louman's invitation, the congenial hand of a friend, warm where the marbled walls of CyberSec were cold. She appreciated the break, or tried to.

"You've been quiet. Something on your mind?"

Sasha looked up from her soup at Harriet, who was finished with her sandwich and her recount of the weekend.

"Personalities," she said.

"Personalities?"

The distance of her coworkers. She never did resume her conversation with Vaughn about that matter, mostly because of the strange interference from her initial System domain entry: yesterday afternoon, she had inspected the monitor logs in the viewroom to check what happened, only to find a mismatching security script.

Viral interference. And then either the viral code itself, or someone else, had retroactively erased the evidence. Couple that with the intimate nature of the virus, taking Sasha's form. Now add the confidentiality of the System, stir it with the abrasion of the CyberSec staff. Toss in amnesia and the secrecy of a Regent.

She could draw conclusions. None of them were good.

She ate a bite of her soup, letting the calculated luxury of the Skymade dish warm her. Since her musings before the fish tank on Thursday, she had anticipated that the truth buried with her memories was dangerous. Now she saw an outline, but Vaughn claimed she would not welcome the details. Everything hinged on whether or not she could trust the Regent.

And she did. She had to: the straw bird ordained it. If she could deny even such an intense instinct as the one she associated with that gift, then what in this world could she rely on?

"Personalities," said Sasha, trying to keep her curiosity harmless and idle. "What was mine like before all this?"

Harriet paused.

"Ah, you? The same, more or less. Why? Want to hear me describe it in flattering detail?"

"I don't seem very popular with the staff."

"You're not terribly warm. But you're not terribly terrible either. I think it's a combination of distance and envy." Harriet sipped her tea. "In any case, I wouldn't worry about your personality. You've charmed a Regent with it. Does it get any better than that? Or worse." She chuckled. "As for work, you don't have to stay there, you know. It did sound like a lot of pressure and you hardly had any free time. Maybe consider switching out."

"I can't. Council project."

"After it then."

Sasha dipped a piece of toast into her soup, not responding.

"Think about it, okay? When you're done with this project, it might not be a bad idea to get out of CyberSec. Heck, even get out of the network. It's not like you don't have options, Alex."

"I'm not sure leaving the network is a professional option. I don't remember many other technical skills."

"Who says you have to do technical work? You don't even need to do work if you don't want to."

Sasha frowned. "My work in the network is important to me."

"Is it? You were always complaining about it."

She opened her mouth to defend herself, only to struggle with words. Why was it important to her?

"I...it's what I'm good at." She glanced at the window where rain was pelting, leaving clear streaks on the pristine glass. The skies had been a stormy gray since yesterday, dark, but somewhat beautiful. "I feel in control when I'm in the network. At home." She shook her head. "I don't think I can leave it so easily."