The Ghost in the Doll (Fox Meridian Book 6) by Niall Teasdale

horrible for you. Uh, but you’re looking good, very good. Picture of health.’
    ‘Yeah, I feel good, but there are a few… side effects which I’m still getting used to. I have power cells I need to charge every night now. That’s a chore.’
    ‘Wow,’ Crystal’s eyes widened. ‘They had to put in that much?’
    ‘It’s not ideal, but the alternative’s worse and electricity is fairly ubiquitous.’
    ‘Yes, but I’ve heard a few stories recently. People getting sick after new implants.’
    Fox frowned. ‘Really? Bart said something similar. Uh, but no need to worry about me. Jackson Martins supervised the work on me. You might say I’m a MarTech girl through and through.’ Which was certainly true; Fox had entertained the idea of getting them to tattoo the MarTech Technologies logo on her butt.
    Crystal giggled. ‘Well, it’s nice to know the man behind the company is looking out for you. I think I’ll go find Ray. He went for some drinks and hasn’t come back.’
    Fox turned her head a little, listening. ‘He’s over by the fireplace, talking to Bart and my father.’
    ‘How on Earth could you hear that through all this?’
    ‘Good hearing, and some audio-analysis software. Comes in useful at times.’
    ‘Fox,’ Kit said as Crystal walked away, ‘I did a quick search of the local LifeWeb sources and private pages.’
    ‘We’re on holiday, Kit.’
    ‘Yes, but… Just listen. I found eleven cases of unusual infections and deaths in the past six months, all of them concerning people who had recently had implant surgery.’
    ‘Okay. It’s weird, but medical facilities out here aren’t quite up to the standard of–’
    ‘I found two, none of them fatal, in the previous eighteen months.’
    Fox started across the lounge to the door, heading for the kitchen where the drinks were laid out. ‘Kit, are you trying to persuade me to investigate this to push me out of my funk or something?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Uh… Oh. I was expecting you to be a bit more equivocal about it.’
    ‘I see no point in doing so. This could be a serious public health issue and I can find no evidence of anyone investigating it.’
    ‘Well, check. Ask Palladium to look for any open cases on the deaths. If there’s nothing… I’ll think about it.’
    ~~~
    ‘Negotiations,’ Ross Runyard said, ‘are ongoing. Miss Hoarsen has been most accommodating.’
    Fox smiled. ‘You mean she’s answered your mail and hasn’t said no yet, right?’
    The local politician smiled back. ‘It’s strange. You clearly dislike politics, but I can see you’ve inherited a little of both your parents’ attitudes to it.’
    ‘I feel like I should be insulted by that, and yet it feels like a compliment.’ Fox considered it something of a sign of their improved relationship that, while Andrea was standing beside her, she was not hovering in anticipation of trouble.
    Runyard’s smile shifted to a grin. ‘It’s not an insult. Your mother is a little more perceptive regarding the language, and your father is more direct about using it. You cut right to the chase.’
    ‘Mariel’s a busy woman. Seriously busy. Jackson’s the nominal head of the company, but he’s more concerned with direction and research. Mariel runs MarTech and Jackson will tell you he couldn’t do it without her. Cutting to the chase, she probably gets a lot of approaches like yours and the best way to winnow out the good ones is to string them along for a while and see if they keep at it.’
    ‘I said as much, Ross,’ Andrea said.
    ‘You did, Andrea,’ Runyard agreed. ‘To be honest, some delay right now is not an issue. There has been something of a statistical anomaly in medical problems associated with cybernetics and biomods recently. It hasn’t really entered the public consciousness, but it will, and it could suppress public confidence. It will be easier to get this through once the numbers even out.’
    Fox frowned. ‘A “statistical