"Ever hear of psychotropic ice?" Babel said. "I used something similar. I subverted the simsense recording equipment through the link they had me jacked into and created a feedback loop between Westcott and me so I could download some reprogramming straight into Westcott's brain. Similar to the stuff you used on me, in fact." The last was uttered with a trace of sarcasm. Lanier chose to ignore it. "I didn't know that was possible," he said. Babel smiled a ragged grin. "Neither did I for certain, but it worked. Ol' Westcott obviously never tried to hack into a brain with its own intrusion countermeasures before." Babel turned and moved down the corridor like a man with a purpose. "Where the hell are you going?" Lanier demanded. "The way out is this way." Babel turned to look back over his shoulder. "I'm not leaving. Not yet. There's something I came here to do. You can do what you want, but if you want to work with me, we go this way." He headed off down the corridor, and Lanier struggled for a moment over whether he should go for the possible escape route or stick with this enigmatic kid. The moment passed, and he turned and hurried down the corridor to catch up. "Mind telling me where we're going?" he said. "Or how you're planning on getting out of here alive?" "I need access to the Renraku network," Babel said. "The lab system is too isolated. I was able to deck into the building's security system, though. I placed one of my spirit-helpers in the system to make sure no alarms get raised. With a little luck, nobody will know we're gone until it's too late." "Spirit-helpers?" Lanier said. He noted that Babel had made no mention of any plan for getting out of the facility… alive or otherwise. "One of my little helpers in the Matrix, like a program frame or an expert system, only much more… aware." "You've been planning to do this all along," Lanier said as he fitted the pieces together. "You wanted to get back to Renraku so you could get access to their system. Why? To feed them false data?" Babel paused at a cross-corridor before choosing the left-hand branch. "Nothing so calculated," he said. "I didn't even know exactly what I was supposed to do before you forced me to start to remember in your little… playroom." Lanier noted the trace of bitterness in Babel's voice again. He doubted that the young man was as forgiving as he pretended to be. "I was given a mission, to bring… something back into Renraku when they recalled me. Bits and pieces of it have been coming back to me since you started your interrogation." Babel paused at an intersection to check the other corridor. There was no one there, and he led Lanier past it. "Do you know how a retrovirus works?" Babel asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "It subverts the host's DNA code, so the replications of the DNA also reproduce the virus. I'm like that, a single cell of Renraku Computer Systems, made into a virus and sent back to infect Renraku's body." "But why betray Renraku?" Lanier was genuinely baffled. "They would pay handsomely for what you know. They wouldn't have chosen you for this job if you weren't loyal to them." Babel paused and turned to look at Lanier with his strange violet eyes. "I was. But you heard what happened to me in the Matrix. I wanted Renraku to know about it. I was loyal to Renraku because the company was all I knew all my life. When I was in the Matrix that night, I found something else I never imagined I would ever have. I found magic, and I'll do anything to protect it from being controlled by a soulless company the way I was." Babel turned and continued to lead Lanier through the complex. Lanier wanted to get out of there, so he went along for now. But, as always, he was just waiting for his own chance.

Don't think your "magic" is going to protect you from the corporate interests forever, kid. A lot of people are willing to kill for what you and your otaku chummers know about the Matrix. And I'm one of them.

I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. -Revelation 2:4 Babel led Lanier through the Renraku complex like he had a map in his head. He just might, at that, Lanier thought. He was certainly amazed at the way the security systems in the complex seemed to pay no attention to them whatsoever. They passed at least three security cameras that Lanier was aware of, but all continued to placidly scan the corridors with no indication that they even noticed the presence of the two people sneaking through the complex. No alarm raised, no security measure activated against them. Whatever Babel had done to the security system, it appeared to be working. They arrived at a door a short distance from the interrogation room they had just left. There wasn't a soul in the corridors of the facility, and they had seen no one since leaving that room. They stopped in front of a door with a security camera poised over it and a maglock card-reader set into the wall alongside. The door looked like a heavy-security type Lanier was familiar with. Without the right passkey to open the maglock, the door would require explosives to force open. The Uzis Lanier and Babel were carrying would barely scratch the door's armor-composite structure. Lanier started to reach for the passkey in his jacket, then changed his mind. He wanted to see how Babel would handle it. "This is the main computer center," Babel said softly. He stood in front of the door, Uzi in hand, and looked up at the security camera. "Open sesame," he said. The red monitoring light on the camera blinked three times in rapid succession, followed by the indicator light on the maglock flashing from red to green. The door to the computer room slid open with a quiet hiss. Babel immediately stepped through it and off to the side, allowing Lanier to follow him into the room. The door hissed shut behind them with a solid click. Lanier suspected it was locked again as if nothing had ever happened. Takana Saigo sat on the other side of the small room at a computer console connected to the impressive array of equipment in the room. Lanier recognized it as an access terminal set up for one of Renraku's best corporate mainframe systems. The computing power of this complex had to be formidable, making it more than just a corporate research and development facility. Lanier suspected that the complex was part of some kind of bunker or "command center" Renraku could use to direct activities in the Matrix, a staging area from which to launch electronic assaults and forays against their corporate rivals. That meant Renraku was prepared to carry this gambit as far as they had to, even if it meant open conflict with the other megacorps. Lanier would use any means necessary to prevent that from happening. Saigo started at the sudden appearance of the two men. He began to reach for the console in front of him, but Babel had his Uzi leveled at the Renraku executive's chest with a steady aim. "Don't move," he said in a flat, cold tone. "I would hate to have to shoot you, sensei." Lanier caught the Japanese expression for "teacher" and glanced at Babel, then back at Saigo. He wondered if Babel recalled more about his background with Saigo than before. Saigo's mouth opened and, for a moment, no sound came out of it. Within moments, he managed to regain control of his voice. "How did you get in here?" he said. "I called upon one of my helper spirits to open the door for us. What's the matter, Saigo-san? Haven't you ever seen a shaman at work?" Saigo ignored the inference and his eyes flicked from Babel to Lanier and back. "Where are Lambert and Westcott?" "I'm afraid they're busy sleeping things off," Lanier said with a slight shrug. "They've had a very hard day. Dr. Westcott especially." "It's no easy thing mucking around in the mind of a technoshaman," Babel said. "He learned that the hard way. Now you're going to learn the same lesson." "Michael," Saigo said in a quiet and calm tone, "what do you think you are doing? Have you gone mad?" "On the contrary, honorable sir, for the first time in my life I feel quite sane." "They've brainwashed you. The otaku…" Babel smiled his ragged grin. "Brainwashed… yes, I guess you could say that. They've washed out the years of corporate conditioning that made me think Renraku was the center of the universe. That what was good for the company was good for everyone. They showed me what life outside of the comfortable, sheltered, corporate world was like for everyone else: the squalor, the desperation, the ongoing fight for survival. And I learned that Renraku is willing to risk corporate war just to improve its standing on the stock markets and to punch up the bottom line." "Michael, that's not true, you know…" "Shut up!" Babel said. "That name does not bind me any longer. My name is Babel. Michael Bishop is dead. He has been expunged from any databanks, no trace of him remains. Your student is gone, sensei. He learned his lessons a little too well. You wanted to teach me to be a spy for you and the company, to make me into a weapon Renraku could use and then throw away. Well, your tool has gained a mind of its own, and I don't like what I see." Babel was almost raving, and Lanier feared he might gun Saigo down right then and there. Not only would that damage the equipment in the room, but Saigo could be vital to getting them out of the Renraku complex alive. Lanier prepared to hold Babel back, but the young man didn't strike out. Instead he scanned the computer console, then turned to Lanier. "Cover him," he said coldly. "I have some work to do." Lanier stared at Babel in shock for a moment. Is this kid totally out of his head? he thought. Why would he trust me after everything that's happened so far? He's either the most naive person I've ever met, or the most confident. Babel met Lanier's questioning look with a steady gaze from his disquieting violet eyes. "I haven't got all night, Mr. Lanier. If you're as smart as your reputation, I can trust you. For now, you need me to get out of here intact and you can make yourself useful by watching this fine corporate citizen here." His voice was bitter with irony. "Besides," he said, his tone becoming as cold as his eyes, "I'd hate to have to try to kill both of you just to make sure there won't be any distractions." Lanier knew Babel meant it, and his respect for him went up another notch. He never imagined that the kid was so ruthless. He might just be able to pull this off after all. Lanier leveled his gun at Saigo and Babel gestured with his. "Up," Lanier said to Saigo, who reluctantly yielded his seat in front of the computer console. Babel took the chair as Lanier waved Saigo over to the far side of the room. Lanier took a position where he could keep an eye simultaneously on both the door and on Saigo and Babel while Babel was making his preparations. Babel flicked his eyes over the displays and monitors of the terminal system, looking over the hardware and software interfaces. He opened a panel in the side of the terminal and produced a thin fiber-optic cable that quietly unreeled from a hidden spool. He brought the cable up behind his ear and slipped the terminator into his jack with a solid click. His eyes rolled back into his head and he seemed to slip into a trance state like in the interrogation room. The monitors and indicators on the terminal began to flicker strangely, showing only a cascade of alphanumeric characters dancing and flowing across them. For a moment Lanier and Saigo watched the technoshaman work in fascination. Lanier had seen Babel use his abilities before, but Saigo could only stare in fascination as he watched Babel access the computer system using nothing more than the power of his altered brain and his built-in headware. The seconds dragged by as Babel sat silently at the console. Lanier turned his attention back to Saigo, who stood near the corner of the room, hands at his sides where Lanier could see them. He could see Saigo's mind racing to come up with a means of turning the situation to his advantage. He also noticed Babel's gun lying on top of the console where he'd left it, forgotten. Lanier made his way over to the console and picked up the gun. Checking to see that the safety was on, he slung it by the strap over his shoulder, keeping the other Uzi trained on Saigo. "Don't be a fool, Lanier," Saigo said quietly. "Give up this madness, and I won't have to tell the Renraku board anything about this." "The way I see it, you're not going to get a chance to tell them anyway." "Are you going to kill me, then? That won't do you any good, you know. There are plenty of other witnesses to your involvement in this affair and, from what Michael has said, they're all still alive. Unless you're going to kill them as well. I'm sure you're ruthless enough to do it." "Don't forget that," Lanier said. "What about him?" Saigo said, with a nod of his head toward Babel. "Do you really think you can trust him? I thought so too, before he betrayed me and the company that made him everything he is. He's mad, Lanier. Whatever the otaku did to him, it's unbalanced his mind. And you're allowing him access to Renraku's central data network. If he isn't killed by the ice protecting the central system, he'll be able to do untold damage. Are you willing to allow that to happen? He's just using you. What if he means to start a conflict with the other corporations? Are you going to just stand by and watch while this… madman does whatever he wants to Renraku? Your stock could be worthless by now." "My stock in Renraku has always been worthless," Lanier said. "Renraku should have been smart enough to stay where it was instead of trying to mess with the top-tier corporations." Saigo raised an eyebrow and a slow smile dawned on his face. "So that's it, eh? You still hold some loyalty to your former employers at Fuchi. I am surprised, Lanier-san. You are not the honorless mercenary I thought you were. My compliments. I originally suspected that your falling out with Villiers was anything but genuine, but you convinced me otherwise. Those attempts on your life made by Fuchi after your appointment to the Renraku board were… most convincing." "They were meant to be." "And Villiers allowed you to give Renraku information on Fuchi operations simply to improve your alibi." "Sacrifice a few pawns to capture the king," Lanier said. He didn't mention that those Fuchi operations had most belonged to the Yamana and Nakatomi families, who were arrayed against Villiers as well. By leaking information on them to Renraku through Lanier, Villiers was killing two birds with one stone. "All to allow you the opportunity to infiltrate Renraku and discover the secret of the rapid growth threatening Fuchi's bottom line. Only you seem to have discovered more than you bargained for." Saigo threw a glance toward Babel, sitting motionless in front of the console. Occasionally, his lips moved, forming silent words and chants. Now and again, a muscle twitched, like a man responding to a dream. What if this kid is crazy? Lanier thought. What's to stop me from simply killing him and Saigo and getting the frag out of here? If I could make it to the garage or the helipad, I might be able to get away clean. I could get sanctuary with Villiers until it's safe or maybe even convince Renraku I helped solve their problem for them. But Lanier had seen enough of the things Babel could do and had to assume the kid was still in control of the building's security and computer systems, one way or another. Glancing over at the security door to the computer room,