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Renata rushes up to match her mother’s stride as they escape the bank. To be
fair, she’s the one lugging this heavy thing around. They slip out the
backdoor, and head for a black sedan. It’s not the car that Libera drove up
with, and it has its own driver, which suggests that she was planning to
make off with the device the whole time. But Renata is not going to confront
her about this, because right now, they have a job to do. “How are you
moving this fast?” she questions.
“You can move just as fast, dear, if not faster,” Libera replies as she
ducks into the backseat, and uses hand gestures to urge her daughter to join
her quickly. The car speeds off.
“Because I’m a robot?” Renata questions.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ren. You’re not a robot.”
“Where to, Madam?” the driver asked.
“Lightwood Safehouse,” Libera answers. A codename, no doubt.
They sit in silence for a moment.
“Don’t you have questions?” Libera poses.
“Did dad know?” Renata responds.
“No.”
“Did you get me into the NSD in the first place, or did you just get me the
job at the bank?”
Libera doesn’t speak right away. “I never wanted this life for you, until
you grew up. Well, I still didn’t necessarily want it, but I could
see that it would be a great fit for you. You’re resourceful, intelligent,
and you learn fast.”
“A little too fast,” Renata mumbles under her breath.
“What was that?”
“You thought my job would be safe? You really didn’t know about this
thingamajig, and all the other stuff there?”
“I knew there were other things there, but they were supposed to be
outdated, outmoded, obsolete, legacy innovations,” she says, almost
amusingly repetitively.
“Why does the NSD keep an offsite bank for asset storage? Why aren’t they
just stored somewhere in the basement of one of their own facilities.”
“It is an NSD facility. You’re asking why they use it as a front.
It’s simple, really. The kind of activity you see at a dark storage site is
the same as you’ll see at a normal bank. Strong locks, high security,
enhanced surveillance, regular armored vehicles, loading and unloading. It’s
unremarkable. You see that kind of thing at a bank, you shrug it off. You
see it at a pet store, or a non-descript office building, you start asking
questions. It’s not hard to track suspicious activity when you have enough
data. That’s what NSD analysts do. They look through footage of our
competing nations, and find clues based on atypical or unanticipated
behavioral patterns at the city scale.”
“That’s why we’re doing this,” Renata says, making the connection. “We’re
generating a narrative by exhibiting a pattern that our enemies are
expecting. They were looking for people to walk out of that bank with
purpose, carefully carrying a black duffel bag like this one. That’s why
that truck has been following us since we left.”
“Nice spot, and that’s exactly right. They were predicting that we would try
to sneak out the back with the asset to be as discreet as possible. We’re
putting on a show, and clearly they’re watching on the edge of their seats.”
Renata sighs, and looks through the driver’s side window again at the truck
that has been tailing them. “I wonder how the boys are doing.”
“We can’t know. Communicating with them would compromise the gambit.”
“I know.”
“You don’t have any more questions for me about my experience with the
Division?”
“I don’t think I need your answers,” Renata starts to explain. “You can’t
give me the specifics about your missions, and I’m already putting the
pieces together in my head. A missed dance recital here, a hidden safe in
your home office there. It all makes sense now. There’s not much I need to
know that I can’t figure out on my own.”
Libera smiles. “This is why I got you the job at the bank, and why my
superiors agreed to it. They wanted to keep an eye on you, yes. I wanted you
to be fulfilled, yes. But the most important point is that, if I didn’t help
you stay with us, you might go lend your services to someone else. It would
be annoying if you wasted your time on the Domestic Affairs Bureau, or the
local police, but truthfully, they were worried about you defecting to
another country, or something. The bank was supposed to be fairly
uneventful, but still engaging, since safety and security would be at the
top of your priorities at all times. So while you weren’t expected to get
into any fist fights or standoffs, it would still feel like work that
matters. And it did matter. All banks serve a purpose. You’re not supposed
to know what’s in the deposit boxes, whether you work at a front, or not.”
“I’m not mad. I understand your position. Like I was saying, this explains
everything. I’m actually kind of relieved. You weren’t a bad mother...” She
can’t believe she’s saying this. “...you’re a hero. If I could think of one
decent reason to neglect your child, it would be to protect the whole
country. How can I argue with that?”
Libera is smiling even wider now. “You continue to surprise me.”
Renata chuckles, then clocks the truck again. It’s getting closer, which
means it might make a move soon. Their driver knows what he’s doing, so
she’s not worried. More silence for a few minutes. “Did they really think I
would defect?”
“Well, they didn’t think you would run off to Sclovo, or something, but
maybe one of our strong allies, like Elbis or Pindor.”
“Well...I should be flattered.”
“I would.”
“They’re getting closer, ma’am,” the driver interjects.
“I see that. Scooch over,” she says to Renata. Once the space between them
is clear, she turns the armrest down, and places her hand on the panel
behind it. It glows in the shape of a hand as it checks her biometrics. The
panel slides away so Libera can pull a rifle out. “Are you ready?”
“No.” Renata takes out a gun for herself. “But that hasn’t stopped me yet.”
