Information: Dark Matter Volume 1

Chapter 11

Version of 2023 August 11

Ari looked around the apartment. It was mostly corporate sterile, but with a very pleasant water colour seascape on the wall. She stared at it. An original, not a print. She dropped her bag and went over to it. She might even recognize the artist—it looked kind of familiar. Certainly local. Well, that was nice. Someone with an interest in local culture set this place up. Thoughtful and a step up from the standard corporate blah.

"Do you like it?"

She started, having forgotten Colin for the moment. "Yes, nice work. Local."

"I bought it. This place was too bare."

"Ah. I thought it was a step up from standard corporate box décor. You like art?"

"Not really, but I've been stuck here staring at the walls. It was too much. It reminds me of home."

"Why stuck here?"

"I don't want to be picked up again."

Ari thought about that. There wasn't a lot of government facial recognition in Vancouver, except in the port authority. In the city it was mostly private and proprietary, unlinked to the big security databases, at least in theory. Only big outfits could afford that kind of connection. She stayed away from them. She also had the government sites all mapped and she didn't go there.

But his situation was different. He stood out just by existing. There was no question that off-worlders had to be much higher in the interest algorithms than just another grey market librarian with a gaming addiction. "I'm not sure that's a good idea. You might want to show up now and again. Just show you're still around; that you aren't running. Disappearing is the same as posting a sign above your head, 'Guilty'. You really want to maintain a visible profile, one that's low and matches the story you want them to believe. There's really sophisticated AI all over the recognition systems. They have their patterns and you want to disappear into a pattern. Not set off alerts. You disappear and you set off alerts. You want to look normal, so normal no one notices you."

"What's normal?"

"For you? I don't know. Why are you here, anyway? What brought you to Earth?" She wandered through the apartment as she talked.

"Research. My grandfather want's to know what to expect. He thinks I can figure out Earth and prepare the company for whatever Earth is planning to do next. Mom thinks the same. Plus, they expect to make a lot of money off of whatever I find."

"Mom and Grandpa?"

"Yes. They run the business. It's funny. They don't get along much, but they see eye to eye about the business. It's their life."

"So they sent you to Earth to look around?"

"Yes."

"What do you think about this plan of theirs?"

"Me?"

She looked at him, "Yes you. Who else would I be talking to? What do you think about this trip? Especially now with the alien?"

When he didn't answer immediately, she jumped in, disgusted: "Do you have a mind of your own? Your mother and grandfather sent you here, and like a good boy here you are, trying to do their job. Then an alien hijacks your brain and you're busy trying to solve its problems. What are your problems? What do you want to do?"

She decided to sit down, then stare at him, as he flustered.

However, as she waiting he seemed to slowly gather some stuff inside. Was he getting angry? She couldn't tell. That would be interesting. Anger she could work with—she knew lots about it. But his passivity was getting to her. She looked at the door out of the apartment, a little behind him. She didn't know where this was going, probably nowhere bad—she wasn't getting any weird vibes off of him—but she didn't really know him, and here she was in his place. And she was pushing him. His profile said he stable, but anyone could be pushed too far. Was this too far? Should she back off?