The Complete Atopia Chronicles

15





Identity: William McIntyre



“WELL YOU JUST bloody well better figure out a way to fix it, my friend,” threatened Vicious, right up in Jimmy’s face.

Jimmy just laughed and walked through Vicious to pick up a file he was working on. Vicious sputtered indignantly.

We didn’t exactly make a very threatening package—the four stooges. I got the feeling that Jimmy had accepted to speak with us only as a courtesy to Bob. He didn’t really seem surprised or even to care. Then again, with the storms and him being newly appointed to the Security Council, he had a lot more important things on his plate right now.

“Look, I appreciate your situation, and I honestly feel for you,” Jimmy said after a moment, looking up from the file at me with disinterest, and then looking back to Bob and Sid. “I can’t do anything right now. I’m spread incredibly thin as it is. I just showed Willy where the tools were and, okay, sure I described how he could exploit some vulnerabilities, but so what?”

“Come on Jimmy, this is your fault, you can do better than that,” urged Bob. “We’ve got a real problem here, Willy is in serious trouble.”

“That’s an understatement,” laughed Jimmy, putting down the file. “Look, I’m really sorry about what happened. I was only trying to help Willy, to give him what he wanted.”

“Only to get what you wanted,” emphasized Sid.

Jimmy shrugged. “Aren’t friends supposed to help each other out?” He looked directly at Bob. “I mean, did you help him out? Did you even know how much financial trouble he was in?”

Bob looked away.

“I didn’t think so,” continued Jimmy. “Too caught up in getting stoned and partying with these idiots.” He motioned towards Sid and Vicious with a nod of his head, still looking at Bob. “Too busy having a good time to even pay attention to your family, which includes me now, if you haven’t forgotten.”

“Of course not,” said Bob quietly.

“You think I’m being uncaring?” Jimmy looked around at us all. “Have you seen the way Bob treats Martin?”

Nobody said anything, but the words almost physically impacted Bob. He rocked back on his feet a little.

“We all have problems, Bob,” added Jimmy, looking straight into Bob’s face now. “We all have our pain to deal with. You don’t think I’ve had it hard? I’m dealing with it, trying to become a part of the solution, taking responsibility. Going and laying blame everywhere else isn’t going to solve anything.”

This was starting to get personal.

“Look, this is my own fault okay?” I interjected, waving my hands in the air and stepping between Bob and Jimmy. “We’re not trying to lay blame, I’m just looking for a little help.”

Jimmy shook his head.

“I can’t help you, the situation you’ve created is beyond me right now.”

Bob and I both nodded, but Sid wasn’t buying it.

“Well then maybe we should go and speak with police about your part in this,” he suggested, trying his best to appear intimidating, but it just wasn’t him.

“And maybe I should tell those same police about some of the viral skins you’ve been letting loose in the cyber ecosystem,” replied Jimmy. “I’ve been watching you, my friend.”

“So what if he has?” bluffed Bob, now defending Sid. “Willy’s problem goes way beyond any nuisance Sid’s toys create.”

“Well maybe yes, but maybe no,” replied Jimmy in a threatening tone.

“What do you mean by that?” asked Bob.

“Go ahead and tell the police that I was involved,” replied Jimmy, ignoring Bob’s question, “but I’m the one on the Security Council, and it’s my job to know about the leaks, which I’ve since fixed by the way. And any chats I had with Willy were under tight security blankets, so it would be my word against his.” Jimmy let this settle awhile before adding, “Quite frankly, Willy being plugged through the perimeter and into Terra Nova, and us not being able to close the connection due to some legal nonsense, is a big problem.”

“So what? You’d just cut him off?” demanded Bob. “Where would he end up?”

“I don’t know, but definitely not here. Somewhere in the open multiverse I would guess.”

This was tantamount to exile, and brought cold stares from Bob and Sid. I felt like I was going to throw up.

“Look. I just showed him the tools he asked about. Willy’s a big boy. He’s the one who did it.”

Stony silence.

“Boys, look, I really have to go. We’ll talk later, okay?”

And he closed the connection.