A story exploring time travel and societal issues in the wake of 9/11. This is chapter 24. See previous posts for chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23.
On a lounge chair at a SoHo cigar bar, Thomas sat across from Mr Wachuski, whom he'd never before met in person. They puffed on stogies Wachuski provided and talked about T2 for a couple of minutes. Then Wachuski got down to business. "As to the matter of T2's money in the fund?" he asked.
"The company that owns that money is now controlled by me," said Thomas. "Part of why I'm here is to determine the future of those funds. I'm also here to ask you why your people didn't see it coming. The shooting. Please tell me you know who was behind it."
"Our assessment was that the incident was an internal matter," said Wachuski. "If there was a third party involved, it wasn't government or a major corporate player."
Receiving a text, Thomas looked at his phone and swore. "Reed shot but will live. Gunman in police custody," said the text. "Another one of my people was just hit," he said. "If you get me information on why this is happening and who is behind it, I'll keep our funds in your fund."
"I see," said Wachuski. "We'll look into it. If this latest development means that you face an ongoing threat, you might consider a less visible location than Lower Manhattan."
"I'll stay safe," said Thomas with more nonchalance than he felt. "I just really need to know who is behind it."
"As it seems T2 left you with the keys to the kingdom, do you have any business insights for our other clients?" asked Wachuski. "T2 contributed regularly to our newsletter."
"Every company in our network remains fully operational despite the loss," said Thomas. "I'm told that NIS is considering diversifying into device manufacturing. That's the best I can do today."
After the meeting, Thomas wandered aimlessly through the Village before catching a car back to the Red Hook apartment. His paints were still there. An easel and canvasses, too. Making use of these things, Thomas spent a few days painting an abstracted bird with very large feet. After completing this picture, he got on a plane and flew back to Minneapolis, where he was currently based.
Marnie had left him months ago, so Thomas was alone in his house. After eating and sleeping, he decided it was past time he called Ana.
"Did you get anything from Wachuski?" asked Ana when she answered.
"Best I could do was a promise to look into it," said Thomas. "What more can you tell me about this thing with Reed?"
"The shooter used a .22 and aimed poorly," said Ana. "Donald Orange. He claims to have no memory of the event. Just like Kissinger. It's looking more and more like somebody is out there programming assassins."
"No kidding," said Thomas. "Listen, you're the expert. Should I be hiding out right now? What about you?"
"I don't know," said Ana. "And why Reed? Could this have something to do with NIS? Oh, by the way, I sent you something. Did you get it?"
Going through his mail, Thomas found a padded envelope with a flash drive inside. "Got it," he said, still on the phone. "What is it?"
"I got one and you got one, from the lawyers, after T2 passed," said Ana. "Mine was a video goodbye. I didn't plug yours in."
"Thanks," said Thomas. "I'll look at it when we're done. Do you know if he was giving Mr Wachuski his insights about the future?"
"Probably," said Ana. "A bit here and a bit there, maybe. Are you thinking Wachuski might somehow be connected to all of this?"
"I doubt it, but he might know more than he's saying," said Thomas. "I'm calling Reed when we're done. How was he when you talked with him?"
"About how you'd expect," said Ana. "Though I got the impression that he wasn't happy with the specifics of the continuity of operations plan T2 had in place when he was killed. Reed's position was unchanged, and I got the impression he was expecting some kind of promotion."
"Huh," said Thomas. "I'll ask him about that. What about security moving forward? For all of us?"
"I'm putting together a new security plan," said Ana. "For now, avoiding known routines and unknown persons may be the best we can do."
"Okay," said Thomas. "I'll call again later."
Plugging in the flash drive, Thomas found a sentimental video goodbye from T2. Watching his future self say goodbye in this way was surreal. Thomas shed a few tears and watched it again. Then he began exploring the other files on the drive.
One directory appeared to be filled with materials pertaining to T2's brain computer interface project, which he'd rarely talked about. According to these files, the project had been ongoing since T2 arrived in 2001 and had consumed tens of millions of dollars. When Thomas saw that Reed was listed as the project manager, he decided it was time to place that call.
"Thomas, thanks for calling," said Reed. "Please tell me there haven't been any new major developments."
"No, things on your end seem exciting enough for the both of us," said Thomas. "How are you feeling?"
"Good enough to go back to work tomorrow," said Reed. "Those bullets just grazed me. Really more of an inconvenience than anything."
"Yeah, mind-controlled assassins are inconvenient," said Thomas.
"I've been thinking about the birds," said Reed wistfully. "The bird population collapse due to pesticide use."
"Oh?" said Thomas. "What about it?"
"I've been thinking about how crime on that scale always goes unpunished," said Reed. "We've got a country that puts millions of people, people of color especially, behind bars for the pettiest of crimes. But no one's going to jail over half the birds disappearing. Just like the people behind the attacks on T2 and me are going to get away with it."
"So you're convinced your shooter wasn't acting alone?" asked Thomas.
"Donald Orange is just a regular guy who sells cars," said Reed. "Or he was. And Kissinger? No, I'm sure someone else is behind it. Maybe one of our competitors."
"Are you worried they'll send someone else to finish the job?" asked Thomas. "That they'll come after the rest of us?"
"I don't know, maybe," said Reed.
"For now, I'm just glad you're okay," said Thomas. "And whenever you feel up to it, I'd like to go over T2's BCI project with you in some detail. Hopefully, we can keep the project moving forward, even with him gone."
(Feature image from Pixabay.)
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