The Unseen by Jake Lingwall Page A

couldn’t think of anything else.”
    “That makes sense. Explains where you got your handle from as well.”
    “Yeah?” Joseth was intrigued that she knew so much about mythology.
    “Oedipus from Greek mythology, right?”
    “Right again. And I have to say, Kari Tahe, I am most impressed with you.” Kari blushed this time; even the slightest praise from him caused her to swoon.
    “Please tell me you didn’t choose it because you have some serious mommy issues,” Kari said. She didn’t remember the finer details about Oedipus, but she knew he was famous for having children with his biological mother. Those Greeks had some messed up imaginations. Joseth almost spat out his latest mouthful of wine, but managed to swallow it before bursting into laughter.
    “No, no, no, no, no!” Joseth protested. “Nothing like that. Gross.” Kari let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. “I chose it because Oedipus is blind.”
    “After he stabs his own eyes out.”
    “Yeah . . . but blind nonetheless. As a blind person, I felt it was therefore an appropriate handle.”
    “You’re blind?” Kari bit her lip after asking the question. Not the most tactful response, genius.
    “Yes, I am. I’ve never seen a spec of natural light.”
    “Wow! I’m sorry, I would have never have guessed.”
    “Well good, that’s what I’m going for. These are my eyes, but I had a number of complex surgeries performed where I had cameras and other sensors inserted into them. I can see as well as anyone else, better even, but it’s all digital,” Joseth said. He held her gaze despite Kari’s urge to look away.
    “I’ll stay,” Kari said, when she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
    “Excellent! You’ve kept my predictive streak alive.”
    “Is that the only reason you’re happy to hear me say yes?” What am I doing? This is Oedipus the famous hacker, not just some boy I met at school. I have to stop letting his fame get to my head. Play it cool!
    “I don’t think it’s fair that you get to ask all the questions,” Joseth said. They both watched as a group of drones carried an electric net into the air before dropping it. Kari couldn’t see what they had dropped it on, but a small explosive sound and smoke made her want to lean over the edge to see what the victim was, but since Joseth didn’t move, she didn’t either. This place is too cool.
    “What do you want to know?”
    “How about you tell me why you chose Freelancer as your handle?”
    “I don’t like having a boss,” Kari said. “I wish I had a better, deep explanation like yours, but, really, I just don’t do well taking orders.”
    “I can appreciate that. I don’t like anyone telling me what to do either. But luckily for you, there aren’t any bosses here.”
    “So you all just . . . hang out?”
    “We do whatever we want, whether on our own or with other guests.”
    “So what are you working on?”
    “Want to see?”
    “Yes!” Kari said, embarrassed that she answered his question so eagerly. Really, acting like you belong here as a peer, Kari? How about you tell him how big of fan of his you are while you’re at it.
    “Great. Here, I’ll send you an invite to join my dev session.” Joseth’s eyes rolled back in his head as he closed his eyelids.
    “Ummm . . . that’s going to be a difficult session for me to join. I’m afraid my processor dropped offline thanks to some of those flashy blue lights the Middle Staters had back at my place.”
    “You mean you’ve been going this whole time without a functioning mind chip? Why didn’t you say something sooner? I swear I’d go mad without one.”
    “I was a little busy with the house tour and everything.”
    “Well, I’ll order one up for you, and we can do some pair programming in the next couple of days. But tonight, maybe we’ll just talk.”
    “That sounds nice,” Kari said. She took another small sip of wine. Funny his algorithm didn’t tell him that I hate wine, but