Chapter 10: A Sudden Shift

There is no feeling like that of victory. A heist pulled off successfully floods the body with more euphoria than the drop of a rollercoaster. I had missed the sensation. When I returned to my home and saw Amahle, I was in a great mood. Not a thing could stop that.

“Did you get it or not?” She asked.

“You tell me,” I responded as I held up the small piece of advanced hardware. It was strange for a sim card, something that was usually small and whose purpose was straightforward. This was bulkier and held secrets unbound. Amahle sprung up from the couch she was lounging on, walking toward me in elegant strides. She inspected what I held.

“Good job, Nathaniel.” She nearly smiled. I laughed.

“Amahle, there’s no need to be so nervous. I got it. We got it.” I placed the card down on my kitchen counter. Amahle didn’t pick it up. “They think you’re in Ireland, right?”

“Iceland,” she groaned. “Pay attention.”

“Iceland, one of my top locations to visit. They think you’re all the way over there, so we have time. If I had to guess, probably a week until they notice.”

“Less than that.”

“Okay. Less than a week.” I had gotten accustomed to her corrections. She was particular about details and didn’t appreciate my poetic approach. Amahle’s qualities made sense for her job, though I had expected her to act differently off the clock. “Still, that’s plenty of time to reverse-engineer this thing.” I waited for Amahle to respond. “So, when are we going to get those engineers? Maybe we should call them anti-engineers since they’re reversing the process.”

“How are you so energetic?” she asked.

“Good question. Probably the caffeine.” Acknowledging my growing hunger and waning alertness, I went to make myself a meal. I was in the mood for something easy, so I opened the freezer and scanned my inventory. I turned back.

“Do you need anything?” I asked. “Literally, I mean. Do you need food at all?”

“I don’t, but I still eat,” she responded. “It’s a difficult habit to break.”

“So is that a yes on dinner?”

“If it’s good.”

“That’s a yes,” I replied. I picked out a premier frozen curry and placed it in the microwave. While I waited, I got curious. Amahle had told me the essential details when we were in the diner, but as always, the more she explained, the more I was confused.

“How do you know you’re immortal?” I questioned. Amahle looked at me as if I had disappointed her.

“Explain.”

“How can you be sure that the Perma Tech works on you the same as it works on phones and simple things?”

“Do you think I just assumed it did?” Amahle retorted. I paused. That was exactly what I thought. I didn’t admit it, of course. “The human brain, and the body in general, is more complex than anything else Antler manufactures. When I realized I had been transformed,” she stopped, “Forcibly altered, I was not leaving anything up to assumption. It was my life. It is my life, Nathaniel.”

“Amahle, tell me you didn’t-”

“I don’t want to talk about this. Your food is almost done.”

I nodded. It was not in my nature to make someone reveal their secrets. I swiveled around to a delicious smell and retrieved the now steaming curry. I gave Amahle and myself a serving and then poured each of us a drink, though I knew full well she could no longer feel intoxicated. It was odd to interact with someone immortal, but I wasn’t complaining.

“It’s ready,” I told her. She must have smelled how good my cooking was. She pulled the chair back and sat down. I prepared myself for the necessary sustenance, while she prepared herself for an indulgence.

“They aren’t coming,” Amahle said without moving a muscle. My smile froze on my face in disbelief.

“What are you talking about?”

“There aren’t any anti-engineers coming, Nathaniel.”

“I believe you said-”

“I didn’t say we were going to have outside help. I know quite a bit, so I’ll be the one reverse-engineering.”

I paused, processing her words.

“Amahle, you lied.”

“I didn’t lie. You just misheard me,” she argued calmly. My smile disappeared.

“Don’t pretend that’s different,” I stated. She still did not turn to face me. “You knew full well that I believed something untrue. What’s the difference between that and a lie?” I waited, anger building inside me. “Amahle!” I yelled.

“Fine!” She screamed back. In one movement she stood up to face me, her eyes both competitive and sad. “I lied! You believed whatever I said, so I misled you! We can’t have other people in on this, Nathaniel. You may not have realized it, but you just committed a crime. A crime against the last man you want to make an enemy of. I couldn’t have you hesitate.”

“Why me?” I asked. She stared at me, eventually sighing her frustration out.

“It’s because I knew you. I knew enough about you to know how you would act. You just fit the profile.”

“Profile?”

“Nathaniel Hensley, impulsive former thief turned straight-laced fashion agent, given full immunity for his actions that led to the arrest of more than thirty infamous thieves and criminals,” she said blandly. I was surprised.

“Ah, so that’s what you heard,” I replied. She raised an eyebrow. “Since I was a criminal, you thought I would go along with anything.”

“More or less.”

“I suppose there wasn’t any engineer who also would be on board with all this.”

“No. I checked.”

I took off my jacket, resigning to her reasoning for now. I needed to sit down. My meal was getting cold.

“How long do you think it’ll take you to figure out how Perma Tech works?” I asked. She shook her head. Before she could speak, my phone made a peculiar noise. I pulled it out and read what appeared. It wasn’t often an alert was sent out to residents of Echo. The only time it had occurred since my arrival was to inform the citizens of high winds later that day. As always, the prediction was correct. I turned on the TV and was greeted with unfortunate news.

“CEO of Antler Industries, Anders Askeland, has informed us here at ECN about some breaking news relating to the release of Perma Tech. For anyone unaware, the ubiquitous Antler Industries recently announced their line of indestructible phones.” I saw the anchor hesitate as though what she was being told was being edited on the fly. “We have been told there have been attempts made to steal Perma Tech, though none successful. Mr. Askeland has also clarified that the release will not be delayed, and should be expected within the next two months. With this news comes quite a few questions: which parties attempted this crime, will this affect the scope of the release, and many other concerns. We have a panel of experts who are here to talk about the implications, so please-”

I shut the screen off. I stood up and approached the window. All the citizens outside walked around in the fading light. Some of them gazed up at my building. It seemed like all of them were looking at me. They could be threats. I shut the blinds.

Anders had noticed the theft, and the rest of his words were covering this blunder. He was not a man to delay the release of a product, no matter how unimportant. He wanted to be infallible, and making public the heist of his newest product would only tarnish his impenetrable reputation. The fact remained that I didn’t have a week. I didn’t know how much time I had left. My apartment suddenly felt hot and my head was ringing.

“Nathaniel,” said Amahle Imada. She decided to stand up and face me. There wasn’t sufficient worry on her face. I didn’t know if she was trustworthy.

“How did they know?” I questioned. She took too long to answer. “How did they know? Did you do something? What did you do?”

“I don’t know. This only could have happened if someone already suspected us.”

“You. They suspected you.”

“Either of us,” she said. I narrowed my eyes. Her answers were not only annoying, but evasive.

“I’m harboring not just the most valuable invention on the planet, but a liar as well.” The frustration seeped back into the front of my throat. My thoughts began to run wild. I had been tricked, lied to, and backed into a corner. She was against me. This city was against me.

“Nathaniel, all we have to do is follow the plan-”

“Maybe I should just turn you in,” I responded. I wished to see fear on her face, but I saw calm. I hated Amahle Imada.

“You want to save yourself. I understand. If that was an option, I would fully expect you to take it. I didn’t hire you for your moral integrity.”

“What do you mean ‘if’?”

“It doesn’t matter if you call Anders and turn me in. The damage is done. You went against him, and he will not let you cleanse yourself of that sin.”

I stared at her but saw no signs of dishonesty. I paced to the door and locked it. My body was overheating. Yet again, I had been tricked. Amahle knew this would happen. She was just like him, an overbearing figure that believed themself a god.

When did she plan this out? Was it when I had walked into the headquarters on my first day? Was I placed on this cursed path months ago? The more I considered my situation, the more I felt hatred toward the people around me. There is no worse feeling than the upheaval of one’s world. She had caused it.

“How do I know you aren’t bluffing?”

“What are the odds of me lying about it? How much do you value your freedom? Plug that into an equation in your head and decide. I’ll tell you right now, it’s too risky to turn me in.”

I ran my hands through my hair as if with enough repetition and force I could morph the shape. It was never so easy to change. She was immortal, now disconnected from the fears that plagued humanity. It was easy for her to make decisions on life. That was her flaw, the same that Anders had. They had confidence where they should have had doubts.

People are flawed. The sentiment is echoed in philosophy, media, and the voices that speak to you while you try to sleep. That voice which makes it difficult to sleep, and worse to be awake. I always had a problem accepting this. When I saw the failures of someone great, I wished and believed that it was a purposeful fall. It was optimism. A world with geniuses is better than one filled with short-sighted idiots. Such a belief is what made me feel hatred toward Amahle, but she was not doing this with perfect foresight. I believed her to be a genius, but luck is rarely so kind. She was trying, but her mistakes were not intended. I cooled down. Amahle was not lying—not about anything.

“What’s the plan?”

“Same one as before. First step, I figure out this tech.”

“Take no offense from this, Amahle, but can you really do that? Didn’t you major in numbers?” I joked. She glared at me.

“Don’t be condescending. I have spoken to every person who has worked on this. I had to learn what they did, why it was important, everything.”

“Well, there’s no other choice. I’ll have to continue going to work. You’ll have to stay here.”

“Look, Nathaniel, I’m sorry,” said Amahle. I met her eyes, finding a mixture of human and something unknown. I looked away.

“Don’t be. I’ve always found that saying sorry is rarely needed. Either you did something on accident, which would mean an apology is unneeded, or you did something on purpose and regret the consequences, which means you’ve already learned.”

“That’s surprisingly wise. Not true, but it sounds wise.”

I sighed. She never let up. I went back to my now room-temperature curry and began to eat. If I had been the main suspect, I would already be caught. The fact I was here safe meant it must have been Amahle or someone else. The only reason she hadn’t come to this conclusion was because she couldn’t consider herself a criminal, even after all this. I smirked.

“What are you smiling about?” she asked.

“I just realized that Anders didn’t show his face on the news earlier. My guess is that he was too annoyed.”

Amahle laughed. It was a small victory, but it would have to do.