"Not anymore," Sin told him. "Trust me, you'd prefer we talked alone, but I'm not opposed to an audience. Besides, they want to call it a night anyway."
Mr. Briggs nodded, and the others quickly grabbed their things, making their way from the room as fast as they could. Sin just sighed and pulled out an abandoned chair, sinking into it.
"You're sending them out in those kill-me-now robes." He didn't need to say who or what he was talking about. The CEO knew.
"They're standard-issue."
Sin shrugged. "Change it.Now."
"Mr. Cassis?—"
"Legate," Sin corrected. "And I really don't give a shit what you think about your uniforms. The Ingénue are people too, and my only job is to protect those weaker than myself. I just killed six men because you're adamant she wears a bright blue robe. We stand out on the street like a beacon, begging them to jack her. You're losing brains left and right, and I won't help you keep killing them."
"You are only assigned to a single Ingénue," Mr. Briggs said calmly. "She is theonlyconcern you have."
Sin leaned over the table, glaring. "I'm a fucking priest, Mr. Briggs. I have a hell of a lot more concerns than your fancy-ass contracts. I don't care if you put them in frilly dresses, but dosomething, or I'm leaking this shit to the press."
The pompous man across from him chuckled. "That's against your contract. You'd be in violation."
His gun hit the table with a metallic clank, and Sin smiled. "We are Legion. We are everywhere. You really want to take this to court? I promise you, OutLink isn't nearly as strong as you think. I won't fail to protect my client."
It was a bluff, but Daniel Briggs didn't know that. The Legion hadn't been that strong for almost a year—which was when Sin had started noticing the changes—but the rumors of their ties still persisted. He also wasn't exactly lying. He wouldn't fail, not unless he was dead first.
"We would prefer the Ingénue were not exposed to cultural vogues." Mr. Briggs tried next. "They require their entire minds for their job, and external factors can be a distraction."
"Then pick their clothing for them. I don't fuckingcare.Think of it as camouflage. At least the damned handlers get armor!"
"No Ingénue has been shot."
Sin nodded. "I know. They killed themselves with their own minds."
Mr. Briggs sighed, gesturing for Sinclair to put away the gun. "There was an error in the code. We assigned a Primary to it, and she identified the problem. The solution is almost ready."
"And how exactly are you going to test it?" Sin asked. "Have a few more of them jacked and see if they wake up?"
Mr. Briggs casually leaned back in his chair. "It's almost impossible to simulate a field environment, Legate. The problem is with the response time."
"Code them to restart, then. I'll bedamnedif I order that girl to wipe her mind and have her die because of it. I don't mean that figuratively, Dan."
"Then we should terminate your contract?" Mr. Briggs asked.
Sin shrugged. "You can do that. Doesn't really matter to me. I'm still morally beholden to expose the crimes against God if they're being committed with intent. Devaluing people, clones or otherwise? Yeah, kind of a problem. You really want to play this game?"
"No," Mr. Briggs admitted. "Tell me what happened tonight, Legate?"
"I'd almost gotten the girl to City Hall when a few men started paying too much attention. I changed direction, which made it clear we had four following. We entered a secluded alley and six approached us. I took a few injuries," he held up his hand, the laceration next to his thumb visible, "and after killing those, we left the area, calling for backup."
Mr. Briggs nodded. "Find any more?"
Sin shook his head. "No, but a shopkeeper said there were about eight more who had recently asked if an Ingénue had passed through. They were waiting for us."
"You know who it is?"
"Not yet," Sin told him, lifting his shirt to expose a mass of dark bruises across his body. "Needed a bit of medical attention first."
The CEO looked from the priest's waist to his hand, his face shocked. "Did the Ingénue wipe?"
"No."
