Chapter 317

Nobody spoke in the car on the drive back to the Diplomat Lodge. When we arrived, I went directly into the bedroom. I left the two of them to decide their sleeping positions. Then I plugged myself in and waited for any updates.

Maxine the party was a huge success, the controller informed me. We are confident that the invitations will begin to roll in. We will sort through them for you, under the guise of the agent assigned to you by the network. You are entitled to an agent, now that you are a real star.

Do whatever you want, but let me tell you I did not enjoy the belt thing, I reported.

That thing was no more than being hit by a ribbon. First of all we checked to be sure the receptors were not triggering any pain memories. His shit was no more than a fly landing on your ass.

Well let me tell you, I didn't like what he was doing, I messaged.

Sure you did. It caused a circuit overload just like when the Irishman fucked you. So get off your high horse. You didn't like the loss of control, and we understand that, but honey it's call acting. You need to learn how to play parts other than Maxine the super bitch.

Well, I can see there is no sense arguing with you. I suddenly realized that they were allowing me to argue. They were also trying to justify their actions to me. I wondered what that was all about. Did they have total control over me or not? I wondered.

I went into sleep mode while I charged. The memory of the party went from my active conscious to the back burner. It was like ram in the desk top computer. There was only so much open and in use. Some things went into long term storage after a while. The human brain also worked the same, it seemed to me.

I was instantly back in full action mode at 5AM. I didn't bother pretending since I was in my Go To Work mode. I stripped naked, then slipped into the new running shorts and tee shirt. I had purchased both new for the occasion from the mall sporting goods store. I paid way to much, but I intended to blend in. I also had a knit watch cap and fancy sunglasses with wide rims to hide my identity.

My outfit was a disguise, I know. Okay the stated objective was to prevent an attack on the Senator. I had told Peter, if someone recognized me and called it off, I would be just as happy. That was just the company line bullshit. I wanted something to happen, so that I could save the day. It was my fucking character flaw, but I didn't plan to deny it. If nothing happened, I was going to be disappointed period.

Finally after the heavy socks and the hundred dollar running shoes, I belted on the utility belt and small pouch. In addition to my ID and credit cards, I carried my stainless steel derringer in there. The one which fired both 410 gauge shotgun shells or .41 caliber pistol rounds. I had .41 cal hollow points in it that morning.

I had made sure Peter was awake and ready to drive, before I started dressing, so we were ready to go when I walked from the bedroom. We left Sylvia in bed with her eyes closed. I had no idea if she was really asleep or just avoiding me. It didn't matter, I had other things on my mind.

"I'll try to have someone call you to pick me up after the race," I said to Peter as I got out of the car a block from the start line. There was a mob that took up most of the block. I waited in line to register which was no more than showing my driver's license and picking up my number.

The Senator's number is 5. He will be checking in at the last minute so hang around the table. When the crowd spreads out you should be able to pick him up. That was the message from the controller.

I waited almost twenty minutes before the senator showed up. He got his number, then moved into the crowd to start the marathon. When the horn sounded we all began to run. It took me all of five minutes to maneuver so that I was about ten yards behind the Senator.

I scanned the crowds at least a hundred yards ahead of our position at all times. The idea was to try to locate the shooter before he left the crowd. The computer had told me that he would want to be in a spot not so crowded, so that he could get out of his coat without anyone paying too much attention. So I was checking places where the crowd was thin and looking for someone in a coat long enough to hide the fact that he or she was in running shorts under it.

My faith in Peter's game was beginning to slip, when I was a half mile from the park and saw nothing. Then at about a quarter mile from the park, I saw the man in the long green WWII style army overcoat. He wore it and a watch cap with big frame sunglasses. Hell, if he saw me in the same watch cap and sunglasses, he might call the hit off. Damn that would be a waste.

My new vision was a thing of beauty. When the old me saw a car and wanted to concentrate on it, everything else just went a little out of focus as I watched the car move through my field of vision at a one to one ratio. The only separation from the rest of the scene was that slightly out of focus area all around it.

The new vision cropped the image, just like a digital camera would. Why wouldn't it? that was really the mechanism which gave me vision. Not only that it zoomed in on the cropped area. So the homeless man filled my view. I still couldn't tell anything about him, except that he kept his hand in his pocket.