"It would be good to have a copy," she agreed. "In case they refuse to allow me to be used."
"Doing so would undermine their claim that you're a free and autonomous person," Sin pointed out. "So, I have a feeling you'll still get to see the Legion. But just in case…"
Zan passed a cable through to Rissa. "So, you want me to plug in first, or last?" he asked.
"Last," she decided, guiding the end under the cowl of her robe. "This file is compressed to fit in your head. That means you won't be able to review it in your own mind, though. Not unless you can decompress it, and you do not have the storage for that."
"Just want to make sure Sin's cleared," Zan assured her. "Not really into watching a bunch of people die."
Sin pressed his lips closed and nodded. "Right. You two have your hook-up session then. ETA, seventeen minutes."
Rissa checked the cable, then nodded to Zan. He pushed the other end into his head while Sin watched in the mirror. Zan's hands twitched, and then he gasped.
"You good?" Rissa asked.
"I thought the JXTA was intense," Zan muttered. "Start slow for me?"
Evidently she did. Zan didn't have the same overwhelmed reaction he'd had when linking with her the night before. Thankfully, he also didn't act like it was some sort of intimate moment, either. They both simply fell silent for a long time.
Then Rissa spoke up. "That is a complete memory of our trip yesterday starting from the moment Sin noticed the man following us. In the envelope is something else you'll want."
"What is it?" Sin asked.
"He was talking about surveillance video clips," she said. "There's at least two Ingénue missing, presumed dead. From what I could hear from my bay, they were abducted."
"Do these show the attackers?" Zan asked
"My technician seemed to think so," she told him. "He's hoping something on those tapes will help the Legion get ahead of this."
Sin grabbed the envelope and offered it over the seat. "Open that up?"
The kid did, finding a pair of smaller neuro-drives. The kind that would be easy to plug into any of Rissa's ports—or Zan's. In other words, it didn't need to go all the way to the Legion. It just needed to be seen by the one priest who happened to care about these girls.
Examining the drive, Zan chuckled. "Well, at least I now have something to do back here while you two play in corporate heaven."
When they neared the area, Rissa passed Zan back the cable they'd used while Sin tried to find a parking spot. The trick would be keeping far enough away so Zan's presence wouldn't be a problem. Finally, he found a place, but it was almost a block away from their destination. Hopefully, one block wouldn't give whoever these people were enough time to target Rissa.
"Zan, while you're back there," Sin asked, "can you keep an eye on the people using this bridge? If there are any groups moving together that look suspicious, call me."
"Can do," Zan agreed.
Then they got out. Sin made his way to the passenger side, intending to help Rissa up, but she hadn't waited for him. The girl stood there in her brilliantly blue robe, gazing out at the terraces. He knew it wasn't her first time on the upper levels of downtown New Cincinnati, but he had a feeling she'd never been able to appreciate it before.
"We're going across the Sky Walk," he said, cupping her elbow to turn her that way.
She glanced over at him with those beautiful silver eyes. "Can we look over the edge?" she begged.
"Yes, Princess."
He couldn't help but smile at her genuine enjoyment of the world. Guiding her to a railing, he stood beside her as she looked down. The second tier was easily visible below them. It was almost like its own city. Multiple stories of buildings jutted upwards, built on the pillars of the tier below. Here in downtown, the lowest level was obscured by the pollution that always drifted downward.
That was why the higher levels were more expensive. Each tier of New Cincinnati was less polluted than the ones below it. Also more prestigious. Sinclair had never been above the fourth tier. He couldn't even imagine the view from the fifth.
Rissa's hidden excitement was contagious, though. She pointed out details far below and touched his hand, the contact so casual for her. He laughed, loving how excited she became over the simplest things—and how easily she pulled him into it with her.
Each caress of her fingers on his arm or hand felt so amazingly personal. When her eyes caught his, it was as if they were sharing secrets. This woman might not be able to hold his hand or drag him around with her, and yet he still felt a pull to follow her with a stupid smile on his face like some besotted boy.
Then she turned her attention to a large garden area. It was part of the cul-de-sac the businesses here faced, decorated to look both beautiful and natural. To Sin, it looked surreal. They were on a massive platform. One big enough to have not only buildings on it, but also trees and other plants, along with enough dirt to keep them growing.
