Cyborg didn’t know what to expect. He hadn’t heard from Ryder Arcadia for months and now suddenly the CEO of Cynfo wanted to see him. He would have expected the wealthy, well-connected businessman to have found a way out of San Lazaro but admitted to himself that events had overtaken many since the outbreak. He was also surprised to find the Kilcline building largely intact, with only a few broken windows on the lower floors. As he reached the entrance, the familiar figure of Scarlett ‘Crimson’ Young appeared. As usual sporting her augmented shades, she offered a thin smile and shook Cyborg’s hand.

‘Mr. Sinclair-Ariza, nice to see you again.’

‘Likewise, Miss Young.’

Crimson glanced firstly at his mechanical arm, then at the SUV. ‘I hope your friend with the big sword is going to stay in the car.’

Waiting inside the vehicle ten yards away were Cyborg’s colleagues, Plate and Threads. Plate was well-armored and well-armed.

‘I’m happy to see Mr. Arcadia alone as requested,’ explained Cyborg. ‘But these two are close by if I need them.’

Having completed an internship with Cynfo, he was not overly concerned by the visit, but these were dangerous times in San Lazaro.

‘Of course. Mr. Arcadia appreciates the effort. How was the trip from Log Hill?’

‘Uneventful, fortunately.’

Crimson nodded and turned around. ‘Please, follow me.’

——-

On his way to Ryder Arcadia’s office, Cyborg saw more familiar faces, including Winston ‘Winner’ Malik and Elaheh ‘Goddess’ Mazanderani, both of whom he’d got to know during his internship. Unsurprisingly, none of the main workforce were around but, otherwise, affairs seemed to be running normally. Cyborg was slightly amused to see that Ryder was still wearing his Cynfo branded green down vest. After Goddess had brought in some coffee and cookies, the Cynfo CEO sat down on the other side of his mahogany desk.

‘Quieter than last time you were here, right?’

‘Certainly is, Mr. Arcadia.’

‘Ryder, please. I can’t get used to it.’ He aimed a thumb at the window.

‘No choppers. No sirens. Windows with no one behind them.’

‘As usual, Cynfo seems to have adjusted swiftly.’

‘You know us,’ replied Ryder. ‘Always ahead of the curve.’

The truth was that Cyborg had been quite glad when his six-month stint in the Kilcline building had ended. Thanks to his father’s career, he was no stranger to the more brutal and ruthless elements of business, but Cynfo was something else. Cyborg had learned a great deal about security systems and the corporate world but Ryder’s relentless pursuit of power and influence affected the whole company. There was a constant atmosphere of paranoia, tension and fear, mainly of Ryder himself. As an outsider who was wasn’t dependent on the company, Cyborg hadn’t suffered like the regular employees. But he had found the six months quite stressful, with little time to follow his creative pursuits. Even so, he remained grateful for the opportunity and felt that it was important for everyone to cooperate during this difficult time.

‘And how’s it going over in Log Hill?’ asked Ryder, straightening his down vest. ‘I understand you have some friends with you.’

‘That’s right. Like-minded people. We’re trying to get through this as well as we can. Find solutions if possible.’

‘Amen to that,’ said Ryder after a slurp of coffee. He then reached into a drawer and took out a phone implant plugin. He held it up for Cyborg to see then placed it on the desk between them.

‘This is one of them. Winner’s calling it Great Wall. He’s been working on it day and night. It can intercept and sanitize Near Field Communication of the type that has spread the virus. Myself and my employees are now safe from infection. You and your group can be too.’

Cyborg had little doubt that Winner was capable of producing such a piece of hardware. Everyone agreed he was a genius.

‘It really works?’

‘Tried and tested.’

Cyborg felt buoyed by this news. Like the ‘purge script’ and the mysterious scientists, it suggested genuine hope. ‘So, everyone can be safe. We can stop the crisis worsening.’

‘That’s the endgame,’ replied Ryder coolly. ‘But with the coms blackout, we’re still not sure how to reach the authorities. For now, we have to look after ourselves.’ He tapped the phone implant plugin. ‘As soon as I heard you were still in town, I wanted to share this.’

‘I appreciate that.’

‘Recently, we also became aware of this “purge script”. A program that actually removes the virus, correct?’

‘Can I ask how you found out about it?’

‘You know Winner. Not much gets past him.’

‘You weren’t contacted directly?’

‘No. Does that matter?’

Cyborg wasn’t sure. The scientists had seemed very keen on security.

Ryder continued: ‘What we’re interested in is combining the programs. We will then have the ability to neutralize and remove the virus. If we can somehow contact the outside world, we could have a handle on this thing in weeks.’

Cyborg knew that Ryder’s main motivation would be to exploit the tech to strengthen Cynfo and his own career. But that seemed to him a small price to pay to solve the crisis. For all he knew, there wasn’t another operation still functioning in San Lazaro that could achieve this.

‘A simple exchange seems logical,’ added Ryder. ‘Do you have the program with you?’

Cyborg didn’t answer immediately. In fact, all six of the Creators had a made a copy in case something happened. His was stored in the memory bank of his arm.

He had a question for Ryder. ‘Have you made any progress at all in breaching the blackout?’

‘Not yet but Winner’s been fully occupied with Great Wall. With his full attention, I’m sure we’ll get there. It goes without saying that I’ll keep you informed. With your talented friends, we can all work together on this. Find a solution for everyone.’ Ryder grinned again. ‘I’m seeing a champagne reception on the White House lawn. If we can do this, our names will go down in history. What do you say, Cyborg?’

——-

He was escorted back down to the street by Crimson and was soon driving away with Threads and Plate.

‘Well?’ asked Threads.

‘I made a deal.’

‘A good deal?’ asked Plate.

‘Yeah,’ said Cyborg, glancing down at the phone implant plugin in his hand. ‘I think so. I hope so.’

Next Story: 59. The Test Subject