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CHAPTER 23: GOING BACK TO LA HACIENDA
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2024-10-29 19:42:56The thought had occurred to me that Hernan's place might not have been any safer than mine or Evelynne's. The mystery henchmen that had plugged Hernan into the net and consequently put him into a coma had an easy enough time finding his way in. Thinker surely knew that I'd be taking care of my friend until I could find a way to wake him from his slumber, so it wouldn't be a stretch to think he might send someone after me as well.
Evelynne stayed quiet for most of the ride, which was extremely well received. My nerves had reached a point of snapping and my mind was drowning in the confusion and adrenaline that I'd gotten out of the conversation with Thinker. Now with the problem of finding a place to rest so that I could come up with a plan, I treasured her lack of words.
Paige, will you do your best to retrieve the files that Thinker corrupted? Even bits and pieces will be useful. Anything that can help me figure out what Thinker's motiva
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The overwhelming combination of the concussion, the betrayal, and the first stages of withdraws had me on the verge of vomiting. The acidic taste pushed its way up my throat, and it took every bit of concentration that I possessed to keep it at bay."I thought you'd be happy, Kaiser. You're finally going to get to meet the man that you've been so diligently searching for." Evelynne's voice did my nausea no favors.I struggled to open my eyes further so that I could take in the rest of the details in the room. As Evelynne had promised, she brought me to the liquor storage in the back of La Hacienda Republic. Mike was there too, standing in the door way that no doubt led to the bar.I tried to focus my eyes on the door way and Mike, but even my machine eyes were struggling to overcome the blow to the head."Whiskey coke?" I finally got my first words out, and the effort made me feel worse. Mike s
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"You look like hell, Kaiser." Jaymes said with a smile that made me want to go mad. "I suppose that the past few days have been rather rough on you.""Yeah, you could say that. What the hell is going on, Jaymes?" I demanded, not moving from my frozen position. Knowing that the man that sat only ten feet from me held many of the answers to my puzzle was driving me crazy."Where do you want me to begin?" His voice held a tranquility that irked me to no end. My mind was racing with the impossibilities of Jaymes' involvement, and he was fueling the fire by being in a state that represented the opposite of me. He was cool and calm; a contradictory reflection of myself."Why don't you tell me why you told me that Monique was your wife? Why don't you start with how you had me follow your sister under the pretense that she was your lover? More importantly, why don't you tell me about your relationship with the hacker k
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The words circled around my head until I was dizzy with the possibilities. I'd met Jaymes Helsiner weeks before I'd ever heard of Thinker, but somehow they were linked to one another. Jaymes was the first person that ever made contact with the super genius after he defected from the Republic. The coincidence was too much."You're sure that Monique is Jaymes' sister? I was under the impression that they were married.""You know Jaymes?" Evelynne sounded as surprised as I felt."He was a client of mine, just before I took this case. Something doesn't add up with all of this." The new found information only exacerbated my boost withdraws. Trying to focus my thoughts was on the same level as trying to pull the moon from the sky."So what's our next move?" She asked, still leaning against my body."We have no next move. You're going to stay here whil
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There was a short period of time that I thought I might have slept, but I couldn't be sure. My eyes were closed, and I figure that a few minutes had passed, but I didn't know if I'd actually slept.My mind was exhausted, but my body would randomly convulse with tremors from boost withdraws. When I finally gave up on the notion of sleeping, the trembling had become more constant, and my body was soaked with sweat.I walked over to Hernan and put my fingers to his throat, checking for his pulse. Trying to keep my mind busy, I timed it to make sure it was steady. His heart beat was running strong.With that taken care of, I had about five hours to kill and nothing to do.I attempted to steady man hand, holding out in front of my face and giving it my complete concentration; it was no use."I wouldn't have guessed you as a booster", Evelynne said. I put my hand down quic
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The I.V. unit had been remarkably easy to set up, but finding a vein was not. I felt bad about how many jabs it took for me to get the needle into the right spot, but Hernan didn't seem to mind.With the I.V. taking care of Hernan's basic needs, I raced back to my apartment. I needed to grab a few changes of clothes, but I wouldn't be staying. Having slain one of Thinker's followers, I was sure that I'd just put a price on my own head.I gathered a few shirts, a few pairs of boxers, some shoes, and decided that I would bring my modem back to Hernan's. I didn't plan on syncing anytime soon, but it was worth bringing. The net was the only way that I knew I could count on Thinker showing himself, and if his followers proved to be too much for me to handle, I wanted to be able to plea with him.Once again, with an hour before sun rise, I pulled up in Hernan's parking garage. I had never been as on edge as I was at that moment. I hadn't
