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  “To answer that, I would first have to infiltrate that domain.”

  Tech grew worried again. He glanced at Felix, who was smiling smugly.

  “Well, boys, we seem to have solved the biggest case of the past ten years. This oughta put us on the map,” Felix said. “What's your plan now, Cyrus?”

  “That all depends on you, Mr. McTurk.”

  “Me? How so?”

  “I would prefer to explain it to you inside the Network. Would you be willing to visit me at my construct?”

  Tech wasn't surprised when Felix hesitated in replying. Felix was surely thinking that Scaum might not have crashed and burned and could already be looking for them. But even if that was the case, it would be best to know straightaway.

  “Don't concern yourselves about Scaum,” Cyrus said, as if reading Tech's mind. “Scaum will need time to reassemble.”

  “How do you know that?” Tech asked.

  “It is more feeling than a fact,” Cyrus said. “Obviously, I knew Scaum well at some point.”

  “All right,” Felix said finally. “We'll see you inside the Network.”

  “You three go ahead,” Isis said. “I'll do the navigating.”

  Marz and Felix slipped visors over their foreheads and made themselves comfortable on the couch. Tech took the dentist's chair. With Isis helming the cyberconsole, they were soon drifting down the Ribbon, headed for the Wilds, where Cyrus had built the octagon that now housed him.

  At Felix's insistence, the three coasted peacefully on a trio of Marz's custom cybercatamarans. The run into Peerless hadn't done much to cure Felix of his fear of flying.

  Displaying sails of brilliant color, the cats glided majestically over the grid, tacking into the data breezes. For Tech, the Network's multitude of lights and neon-script-advertising banners no longer dazzled, but seemed to mask a deep-rooted evil. It was as if Peerless Engineering had master-minded the Ribbon and the rest to charm and mesmerize; to lure the unsuspecting into effortless fantasies; to keep everyone from grasping some dark, cleverly concealed truth. He kept those thoughts unvoiced, as much for his own sake as for that of Felix and Marz.

  Even before they reached the Network's outlaw zone—home to lurkers, nomads, and conspiracy buffs—they saw what Cyrus had wanted them to see for themselves. A small sign floating above the summit of the octagon read, DATA DISCOVERIES: FELIX MCTURK AND ASSOCIATES.

  “How do you like it?” Cyrus asked through the headsets.

  “I'm flattered, Cyrus,” Felix replied. “But this is only going to draw attention to you and leave you open to reprisals by Peerless.”

  “On the contrary, Mr. McTurk. It is a perfect cover.”

  “It could be more than a cover, Felix,” Marz said. “With an office in the real world and your very own Network construct, there's no case you couldn't handle. Data Discoveries will be back on top.”

  Felix rubbed his hands together in glee. “When can you be available for a press conference, Cyrus?”

  “Word must never get out that I have returned.”

  “The most high-profile case that's ever come my way and I can't even mention it?”

  “Just another Network legend, huh, Felix?”

  “An AI partner,” Marz continued. “What detective agency has that?”

  “Cyrus’ sign says ‘associates,’ ” Felix said. “I wonder who he could be referring to? Unless, of course, you juvenile delinquents want your old jobs back.”

  “I won't even ask for a pay raise,” Tech said.

  “What do you say, Marz?” Felix asked.

  “We're a team again,” Marz said.

  Felix waited until everyone had calmed down to say, “Cyrus, before we discuss a partnership, I expect you to live up to your end of the deal we made.”

  “I'm already working on that,” Cyrus assured. “I can adjust things to cast doubt on Network Security's suspicions that the meltdowns at World wide Cellular and Global One were in any way connected to you. Their case against you is purely circumstantial, at best.”

  “And Global One's customers?”

  “Their financial files became hidden, not deleted. All accounts will return to normal.”

  “Speaking of accounts,” Felix said, “where'd you get the money you already paid me?”

  “I was privy to many of Peerless Engineering's account numbers. The company can afford the few thousand I've borrowed.”

  “No doubt,” Felix said. “Just make sure the funds aren't traced to Data Discoveries.”

  “Agreed.”

  “What about Harwood?” Tech asked.

  “That situation is more complicated,” Cyrus said sadly. “From those hospital records I could access through the Network, I've learned that the attending physicians are baffled and discouraged. One commented that Mystery Notes seems, literally, to have lost his mind.”

  “Scaum did it,” Tech said angrily. “Scaum… deleted him.”

  “That's not possible, Tech,” Felix said.

  “Oh, no? Remember what Dr. Franklin said about the eyes being undefended portals into the mind? If information can be sent in, then why can't information be taken out?”

  “But a mind isn't just some program you can load or delete. And even if it was, Peerless Engineering doesn't have that kind of technology.”

  Cyrus considered his response. “I promise to do all within my power to return Mystery Notes to normal function—even if that means infiltrating the Peerless domain.”

  “Oh, no, you don't,” Felix said. He turned to Tech. “We'll take care of Harwood. We'll search out specialists, if we have to. But nobody—and I mean nobody—ventures anywhere near the Peerless Castle. Cyrus, are we clear on that?”

  Cyrus’ octagon took on color—deep red and forest green. “Does that mean that you are open to adopting me, Felix McTurk—as a member of your team, that is?”

  Tech and Marz waited expectantly.

  “All right,” Felix said at last. “Welcome to the looney bin.”

  “Wonderful,” Cyrus said.

  “I can't wait till we have our first case,” Marz said.

  “This time we do things my way or not at all,” Felix said.

  “If I may suggest, some of my cached memories have yet to be retrieved,” noted Cyrus.

  “Oh, no, not again!” Felix interjected.

  “Send me the coordinates, and I'll check 'em out,” Marz said.

  “What did I just say?” Felix said. “Am I talking to myself here?”

  Tech chuckled. “Hey, Cyrus…”

  “Yes, Tech?”

  “Be seeing you, kid.”

  The three cats banked over the setting digital sunscape as Isis directed the flyers to the closest exit port.

  Last in line, Tech was just short of making a graceful exit when an unexpected force tugged him away from the portal and held him fast. A gray fog filled his visor, and for a moment Tech thought that he was still trapped inside the top-secret domain Peerless had created.

  Then a quiet but threatening voice filled his headphones.

  “Congratulations, Tech—or whatever name you go by in the real world,” the voice said. “But by helping Cyrus you have only managed to involve yourself in something that could prove very dangerous for you and for those close to you. Consider what happened to Harwood Strange, and you'll realize that we mean what we say. Leave Cyrus to us, Tech. As the phrase goes, we know where you live. You have been warned. You won't get a second chance.”

  Abruptly, Tech's visor went to transparent mode. He came to in Felix's office with a quick intake of breath, but no one seemed to take notice of his renewed distress.

  “This is going to be great,” Marz was saying. “Isn't this going to be great, Tech?”

  Tech looked at his brother, and at Felix and Isis, and forced a broad smile.

  “It's going to be everything I ever imagined—and more.”

  A Del Rey® Book

  Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group

  Copyri
ght © 2002 by Red Sky Entertainment, Inc.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by The Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

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  eISBN: 978-0-307-54909-9

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