I watch the progress of the virus through the system until it reaches the point where there is no way Renraku can stop it, short of shutting down their entire network. Renraku will not commit financial suicide to protect the information from a few secret projects. Like a virus, a megacorporation's most important drive is to survive and prosper until the next day… whatever the cost, no matter if small things have to be sacrificed. Renraku will accept the losses they suffer and move on. As must I. The shimmering, glorious tree of knowledge is no more. Though I survived, my destiny in its eyes is fulfilled. I am no more than another piece of useless data. No longer one of the People and no longer a part of its plan. I call Rook to me and send her out through the Renraku system using the name Saigo and others have spoken to me, the name remaining in the depth of my being. In an instant, the systems of the Renraku network produce a glittering cluster of alphanumerics hovering in front of me, a datafile containing all of the information left in the Matrix on Michael Bishop, an employee of Renraku Computer Systems. The power of the Deep Resonance has removed all other evidence of Bishop from the Matrix, except for the systems of Renraku, shielded by the most sophisticated intrusion countermeasures ever created. The same protection I was needed to overcome. I look at the hovering file and all of the information it represents. My birth in a company hospital, my education in a company school, my appointment to MIT amp;T on a corporate scholarship. An entire life lived within the confines of the company. A life I ended; first to follow the will of the company and then to follow the will of something I thought was deeper and more meaningful. I cup the file in my hands and it becomes fluid, allowing me to pour the information of the file into my own being. I drink in the data of my life and store it in the headware Renraku gave me to prepare me for the mission that changed my entire existence. The details of my life are my own and no one else's. So they will remain. Michael Bishop is gone from the Matrix, and now so will Babel be. I have died a second time and sit for a moment without a name or a purpose; a true Ghost in the Machine. I think for a moment about what I will do, then I call Rook back to my side and whisper to her what I need done.

: Your eye on the shadows All the latest news bits and bytes from the Shadowland BBS Um, Cap, everyone, I think something's going on all right. There's something screwy going on with Renraku. There's a flurry of activity in RenrakuNet: emails, faxes, and messages going out like gangbusters. Far as I know, there's still no word from the Corporate Court, so this could be Renraku preparing for a first strike of some kind. Fuchi hasn 't reacted yet, but this is still going down as I speak. They may not have had time yet. Things could be about to go. Anybody out there got any Renraku or Fuchi stock? You might want to consider your options. ›The Chromed Accountant "It's all about Dollars and Sense " In the Renraku computer center, Lanier kept his gun trained on Saigo and waited as the seconds ticked by in agonizing silence. There was not a peep from Babel once he jacked into the computer system, and Lanier was forced to wonder how long the kid's techno-wizardry would keep any alarms they might have triggered silent, or how long Dr. Westcott's last spell would keep the staff in the lab unconscious. Were they going to have time to get out of the facility? Was Babel even planning to leave? Lanier couldn't be sure. He didn't think the kid was suicidal, but the near-fanaticism he'd seen in Babel's eyes and heard in his voice when he spoke of his "destiny" made Lanier wonder. "What are you going to do if he never comes out of there?" Saigo asked, echoing Lanier's concerns.

Lanier told himself he'd have to make a better effort to keep his thoughts off his face. The last thing he wanted to do was telegraph his concerns to a company man like Saigo. "I still have you to get me out of here," Lanier said. That was certainly true. Saigo was in charge of the place and would make an effective hostage as well as a useful source of information. Unlike Babel, Lanier knew that a man like Saigo would put his own survival ahead of company loyalty if push came to shove. If threatened sufficiently, Saigo would provide the leverage needed to get out of the facility, or so Lanier hoped. "You cannot seriously think you will be able to get away with this," Saigo said. He seemed to want to keep Lanier talking. Probably still looking for his opportunity, Lanier thought. "I've gotten away with things a lot harder than this." "But always on your own," Saigo responded. "Never with a wild card like him in the mix." He nodded toward Babel. "You certainly didn't plan on this. You're just making this up as you go." "Careful I don't ad lib something that could shorten your life, Saigo… what the?" Just then the lights in the computer room went from fluorescent blue-white to deep red emergency lighting and a WARNING sign flashed from every computer monitor in the room. A cry of pain came from in front of the computer terminals. Lanier looked over at Babel to see him convulse suddenly in his chair, all of his muscles stiffening, as blood began to drip from his nose. It was only a momentary glance, but long enough for Saigo to act. He lunged at Lanier, who caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned back to meet the rush a moment too late. Saigo went for Lanier's gun, but Lanier twisted to the side. Saigo's charge slammed Lanier against the wall, and the air rushed out of his lungs with a whoosh. A strong hand gripped his wrist and tried to wrestle the gun away from him while Lanier struggled to move his gun-hand to get a shot at Saigo, difficult in the close melee.

Obviously Saigo had some combat training and enhancements. He was as quick as Lanier, but Lanier was a veteran of years in the military, even if his skills were years out of practice. He strained against Saigo's grip as the two of them wrestled for control of the gun. Babel twitched in front of the computer console, his head snapping from side to side and his lips forming silent words, oblivious to the conflict going on behind him. Saigo hooked a leg behind Lanier's knee, which sent the two of them crashing to the floor. Lanier lost his grip on the Uzi and it went skittering across the floor, out of reach. The other Uzi-III, Babel's gun, was lying under Lanier where he couldn't reach it. Instead of going for the fallen gun, which would have given Lanier a chance to reach his other weapon, Saigo tried to throttle Lanier and pin him down. His face was contorted with anger as he clawed at Lanier's throat. Lanier got a firm grip on the front of Saigo's jacket and pulled hard with a flip of his legs to pull him over his head and send him crashing onto the floor. Saigo landed near the fallen gun, while Lanier reached for the other gun, cursing his poor aim. By now Saigo had snatched up the Uzi on the floor and trained it on Lanier. Lanier stopped dead-still and kept his hands where they were as Saigo covered him. He wouldn't be able to reach his weapon before Saigo shot him. He didn't know for certain how good Saigo was with a gun, but from what he'd seen so far, he had to assume it was pretty good. At such close range, with a burst-fire weapon like the Uzi, skill didn't matter much. "Get up… slowly," Saigo said in a flat tone. Lanier moved to comply, keeping his hands visible as he slid to one knee. There was a faint, metallic "snick," and Saigo started to turn toward the sound as a mono-edged blade erupted from his chest, carrying a dark coating of blood colored a glossy black in the red light of the room. Saigo made a small noise and looked down at the curved spur protruding from his chest with an expression of complete shock and surprise.

Then his knees gave way and he slowly crumpled to the floor, the gun clattering from nerveless fingers. Babel stood over his teacher's body, blood flowing from his nose, ears, and eyes like red-black war paint in the weird light. He looked down at Saigo for a moment with terrible sadness in his eyes, then silently retracted the spur into his arm and bent to pick up the gun. He turned toward Lanier, who was still in a crouch on the floor. Babel looked different to Lanier. The fanatical fire was doused, replaced by an air of great weariness as if the whole heaviness of the world rested on his shoulders. "You should have left my gun where I could have reached it," Babel said. "Still don't trust me?" "Something like that," Lanier said, looking from the fallen Saigo back up to Babel's face. Babel met his eyes for a moment, and Lanier had to look away from the bleakness reflected there. He stood up and brushed off his hands, straightening his suit jacket. He glanced down at Saigo again. "Too bad you had to kill him. He could have been our ticket out of here." Babel shook his head and spoke in a flat, controlled tone. "I already have our ticket out of here. Saigo-ran would have only gotten in the way. Sacrifices have to be made." Babel led Lanier out of the computer room to a bank of elevators. The doors of one of the elevators opened at Babel's approach. There was still no sign of any activity in the complex. Everything was as quiet as the grave. Lanier expected a Renraku strike team of elite Red Samurai to show up any minute, but there was nothing. "It will be some time before Renraku figures out exactly what's happening," Babel said quietly, almost as if speaking to himself. "What is happening?" Lanier asked. "What did you do in the system?" "Put an end to Renraku's plans to investigate the People of the Matrix," Babel replied gravely. "I implanted a virus into the central Renraku network that is being transmitted to their systems all over the world. It will erase any trace of the data they've collected on us so far and make future attempts to gather information on us… difficult. It will eventually spread to other corporate systems with which Renraku interacts and remove any data they might have as well." "That impossible," Lanier scoffed. "There's no virus in the world that sophisticated. How could you have created something like that?" "I never said I created it. I only implanted it. The virus was given to me, a gift you might say." Babel's voice was heavy with irony. "I was nothing more than the carrier, the soldier doing as I was told." "Well, Renraku will figure things out soon enough and come looking. How are we going to get out of here before then? And why are we going up instead of down to the parking garage?" Babel smiled faintly. "You'll see." The elevator doors opened out onto the roof of the complex. The night air over the Boston sprawl was cool, and a gentle breeze blew across the open rooftop. Lanier could see that they were in the downtown area not far from the Renraku Boston headquarters. A set of bright lights drew closer and closer to the rooftop until Lanier could clearly make out that they were from a helicopter, a Hughes Stallion that had by now become quite familiar. "I've arranged us some transportation," Babel said. "They'll take me back to the Rox and then take you anywhere in the plex you want to go. Saigo had a fairly extensive slush fund for his project, so I didn't think he'd mind if I used some of it to take care of expenses. I'm paying the bills, so I would recommend against trying anything foolish…" Lanier raised his eyebrows slightly. "What? Don't trust me?" "Something like that," Babel said. "In fact, I'm not sure I trust anyone." "Good idea," Lanier said. "All I wanted from you was a way to get at Renraku. You did that well enough. I have bigger fish to fry than you and your… people."