I held Noreen in my arms for several minutes and let her cry, then I pulled her into my apartment and shut the door. I took her to the bathroom and stripped her off completely. She didn't protest or even speak a word as I lathered her up and scrubbed her all over. I only used my normal hand and not my synthetic one, so it took twice as long as it should have.

Noreen sobbed quietly as I took my time and made sure she was completely clean, then I turned on the water to rinse her off. I used up 2 days of water by taking my time with that as well, and rubbed every bit of exposed skin clean of suds. Instead of using the blower and drying her off immediately, I grabbed two towels to put one around her head and one around her body, then dried her off the old fashioned way.

I left her wrapped in the towel as I stripped off my partially soaked unitard and checked my synthetic parts to see that they hadn't gotten wet. Noreen still didn't say anything, even when I didn't grab a new unitard for either of us. I took her out of the bathroom and over to my bed, pulled the blanket out of the way, then laid her down and climbed in with her. I covered us with the blanket and she turned to me and grabbed on as if I was the only thing in the world.

Noreen was almost frantic in her movements as she tried her best to get as much of her body in contact with my body. I let her adjust herself as much as she wanted and I felt her relax as she finally found the most comfortable spot for her, then I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly.

Amanda. I thought to my AI, when what I really did was use my communication protocol.

“Yes, Jack?” Amanda appeared on my HUD and leaned over the bed.

Have you been going over the security footage? When was the last time Sandra left the building?

“I've been going over it since Noreen said they were gone.” Amanda said. “Even for an AI, it takes time.”

Bring Dennis in on this. I thought. He's an expert on these kinds of searches.

“But...”

I'll need him to track where they went after leaving the building, too.

“Oh, right.” Amanda said and turned to look away from me. “Okay, he's on board. All he needs is... I got him.” She said. “Nathan, I mean. Two days ago, mid-afternoon.”

Then try to find Sandra that morning.

“You know you can just ask Noreen.” Amanda said.

No, not right now. I thought. She needs skin contact too much to talk about it.

“I kind of understand where she's coming from.” Amanda said. “I go kind of crazy when you disappear for days, too.”

I smiled. What about Sandra?

“You were right. She left that morning.”

Dennis...

“He's using the transport footage and door logs to track them.” Amanda said.

Sandra first. I thought.

Amanda nodded. “She left the building and used the Tube.” She said. “She got out... not at work.”

I sighed. Where?

“Industrial sector, Section Three.”

Section Three? I thought and frowned. What's in Section Three?

“Nothing but warehouses.” Amanda said. “Dennis says she stopped beside one and waited.” She gasped and then sighed. “Jack, you should see this.”

Amanda pointed to my forehead and a video popped up on my HUD. I watched Sandra on a security camera feed as she stood beside the warehouse. The footage sped up until a small transport vehicle appeared and then it resumed. Someone opened the front door and a man stepped out, and Sandra handed him something. I couldn't tell what it was, though.

“It's a data packet used for identification.” Amanda said when she saw the confusion on my face.

Why would she need non-palm identification for... oh, damn. I thought.

“Yes, it's not hers. Stewart Masters, real name Greg Hosten, must have given it to her.” Amanda said.

I held in my sigh as I watched the man wave to the transport and the side opened up, then four men hopped out, picked Sandra up against her protests, and took her into the transport.

How could she be so stupid?

“Well, whatever information was on that thing, they either decided she was important enough to not let her go or they were upset that she had it at all.”

I'd go with a mix of both. I thought. What about Nathan?

“Dennis says he didn't follow her. He left the Tube car in...” Amanda stopped talking and turned away again.

Amanda?

“Just a second, Jack.” Amanda said and started to fade away. “I'll be right back.”

I though about telling her to wait and let me know what was happening, then decided she would tell me when she had more information.

“J-Jack...” Noreen mumbled.

“Shh. It's okay.” I said and rubbed my real hand down her back.

“It's not! Sandra... she... she left.” Noreen said. “When Nathan found out, he... he...”

“I know.” I said.

“You KNOW?” Noreen gasped and looked at me.

“Amanda has been searching for them since I opened the door and saw you.” I said, and her tears flowed down her cheeks. “Why didn't you call me after they left?”

“I tried!” Noreen exclaimed. “Over and over! It wouldn't go through!”

“My priority number?” I asked.

“Yes! It kept saying you were busy and I should try again later! I've been trying for 2 days, Jack! Two days!”

“Amanda?”

“The System (Military Grade) says it blocked all access to all troops once they were on the base.” Amanda said, slightly angry. “They needed full isolation for the project, apparently. It's also still in effect.”

I was angry, too. I might have been able to do something if I had been here instead of on the base. I seethed silently until Noreen got my attention again.

“Did... did you find them yet?” Noreen asked as her tears continued.

“Amanda is still looking, as is Dennis the archive AI.”

Noreen put her head back down onto my chest and the dampness was cool against my skin. “P-please, find them.”

“I'll try.” I said, and her grip on me tightened. We laid in bed for several minutes in silence and held each other while we waited. It seemed like a lot longer than it actually was, mainly because the both of us were anxious, and then Amanda reappeared on my HUD.

“Jack.” Amanda said, sadly.

I took in a deep breath and sighed loudly, and Noreen tensed up.

“Wh-what is it?” Noreen asked.

“Amanda, use the vidwall.” I said.

“But, Jack...”

“Please.” I said, and she nodded and pointed at the vidwall and it turned on. It showed the sped up footage the archive AI Dennis had found earlier with Sandra being kidnapped, and Noreen cried.

“J-Jack!” Noreen's fingers dug into my skin. “Do something!”

“I am doing something.” I said. “Amanda, any results after that?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Amanda said. “They should have been easy to track, especially since nearly everything is covered by surveillance cameras...”

“They either spoofed the cameras or ducked into one of the buildings before the next camera could catch them.” I said.

Amanda nodded. “That's exactly what happened.” She said and showed the transport go from the edge of one camera and then disappear instead of appearing on the next video. “Dennis coerced... ah, I mean convinced... several security patrols to go over there and do the same run.” She said and showed the footage. “There's about a 1 second delay between the two fields of view. There's a building there and a side street across from it, both of which don't appear on any camera view.”

“Did they search...”

“Nothing was found. Since it's an industrial area, traffic goes through there all the time. The transport was a generic one as well.”

“Call sign inquiry?”

“Negative.” Amanda said. “Either it was blocked or wasn't active.”

“So they have engineers with bypass experience.” I said, and Noreen looked at me. “Vehicles won't work if their transponders aren't active. They need data from the transport AIs to operate and to stop accidents from happening.”

“Th-that's... that's crazy!” Noreen exclaimed. “They could kill someone if they....NO!” She yelled and put her hands on my shoulders and shook me. “NO! Tell me they didn't kill my little girl, Jack! TELL ME!!”

“I can honestly say they didn't kill her.” I said calmly.

“Why aren't you more upset?” Noreen asked. “Don't you care about her anymore?”

“I'm absolutely livid, Noreen.” I said with steel in my voice, and she stopped trying to shake me. “I love her, despite what happened.”

“Th-then what...”

“She's been missing for two days. Whoever it was either knew she was coming, or already had plans in place to take her.” I said. “I already told you I would try to find her; but, that's not the most important thing right now.”

“Wh-what?” Noreen looked at me with wide eyes. “Why not?”

“Amanda, I assume there was a reason you needed to leave for a few minutes.” I said. “You might as well tell us.”

“I... Jack, I don't think...”

“Amanda.”

“You really should watch...”

“Amanda!”

“All right. It concerns Nathan.” Amanda said and the vidwall changed to another set of footage. This one showed Nathan leaving the building and going on the Tube car system to a different location. Noreen and I watched as he entered a nondescript generic building. The footage changed to internal cameras and they followed him up the stairs and to an apartment.

“What is he doing?” Noreen asked.

Nathan took out a piece of paper and knocked three times, then once. The door opened and several armed men reached out and grabbed him. Noreen screamed as he was dragged into the apartment and the door slammed shut.

“NO!” Noreen cried.

“Amanda?”

“This is... unofficial footage... and can't be used in a court of law.” Amanda said and the view changed to an internal shot. We saw someone's HUD on the edge and I knew this was a cybernetic recording through someone's eyes who was actually there.

*

“Did you bring the Points, old man?” One of the men asked.

“Y-yes.” Nathan said, slightly nervously. “Where's my daughter?”

“She's safe.” Another man said.

“How do I know that?” Nathan asked.

“You don't.” The first man said and laughed.

“Hand the Points over.” The second man said.

“Not until I see my daughter.” Nathan said, quite bravely and stupidly.

“This isn't a negotiation, old man.” The first man said.

“When you contacted me, you said the deal was that you would guarantee my daughter's safety if I got you the Points.” Nathan said.

“Yeah, and we're delivering on the deal as we speak.” The second man said and held up a communication pad and chose the playback option.

“I'm fine, Daddy.” Sandra's voice said, and you could tell that she had been crying. “Don't make a scene. Give them the Points and go home.”

The man stopped the recording and put the communication pad away.

“You expect me to believe that?” Nathan asked. “She was clearly crying! You made her say that!”

“Look, old man. We can do this the hard way, or the really hard way.” The first man said. “What's it going to be? Do you love your daughter enough to listen to her, or are you going to be stupid?”

Nathan clamped his mouth shut and dug out a data chip.

“Thanks.” The first man said and shot Nathan in the head.

*

“NOOOOOO!” Noreen screamed as the love of her life died in front of her eyes, then Nathan's limp body fell to the floor. I covered Noreen's eyes and held her close as she sobbed and cried hard. She shivered and shook as her body trembled. I glared at Amanda, who looked just as sad as I felt.

“The only reason we found this was because I recognized the Network protocol Hermes gave me that was tagged on the video file.” Amanda said. “We found the autopsy records that were filed yesterday and traced it back through the System Security investigation, then dug up the associated footage.”

“You could have given me a warning what the video was!” I nearly yelled. “Or you could have paused it before it happened!”

“I'm sorry, Jack. I tried to tell you to watch it first.” Amanda said.

I reigned in my own anger at the utter waste of a good man and my dumb decision to show it on the vidwall, then put my thoughts back on track. “Why haven't they told us anything?”

“It was deemed classified because of this footage.” Amanda said, sadly. “They don't want anyone to know that a civilian died in the middle of an undercover operation.”

“Undercover...” I shook my head. “Those stupid bastards.”

“It gets worse.” Amanda said. “Once I knew what part of the Network code was tagged in the video files made with the protocol, I found this.”

A clip played and showed someone assembling a portable laser cannon, and someone else said they were going to take the shipment if it was the last thing they did, because they needed those weapons back. The view moved as the person nodded and showed them loading a laser pistol.

“Son of a bitch.” I said and tried to ping Alyssa immediately, and nothing happened. I then tried Nurse Deloris, Cali, and Evilin with the same result. I didn't try to contact Stephane, since I knew he was going to be blocked as well. “Goddammit!”

“I can't contact them, either.” Amanda said. “Security footage has been blocked as well.”

“They covered all the bases, then.” I said, angrily. “Amanda, lock us down. Full measures.”

“Right away.” Amanda said and I heard several sliding mechanisms and a few bangs of metal.

I took a deep breath and let it out, then I tried my best to not let my anger cloud my judgment. After another few minutes of crying and sobbing, Noreen quieted down and her grip on me eased.

“Jack.” Noreen whispered softly. “They took my Nathan.”

“I know.” I said and kept the anger out of my voice.

“Jack, I... I want them dead.” Noreen said as she lifted her head and looked at me with cold eyes.

I recognized that look, because it matched my own. “So do I, Noreen.” I said. “So do I.”