Page 47 of Tapeworld Induction

She couldn’t deny that part of her found the idea exciting. But what he was doing was scary, dangerous, illegal, striding the Tapeworld, a place few people even knew about. Just how dangerous was he? How much shit was he in?

“And you’re sure you’re not stealing stuff for the Russians? Or the Kingdom of America?”

His eyes narrowed. “I’m fairly sure it’s not the Russians. But it could be for the KoA. My boss… She—”

“She?” Chemicals flooded her system, anxiety spiking.

“Yeah.” He didn’t seem to be able to meet her eyes now. “Astrid.”

She felt like he was hiding something there. She wasn’t mad enough to assume that anything was going on between them just because his boss was a woman, but something was off. “Astrid, huh?”

“She’s the one who got me started in the Tapeworld. I was adrift after being kicked out of the Lazarus. After a while, she started sending me addresses to specific tape-spaces. I go in, find the data, copy it, then give it to her in the Boulevard. She tops up my wallet in return. She’s got the money for it.”

The arrangement felt like a giant, screaming red flag. Why didn’t this Astrid break into these places herself? She was abusing her connection to Isaak, getting him to take the risk for probably barely any money. The way he put it… After a while, she started sending him jobs. It did a lot of heavy lifting to mask the exact nature of Isaak’s relationship with her, the way it started at least.

“Okay. You’re entangled in illegal conduct with a woman you barely know. We can totally walk this back.” She started laying out a plan for him. “You’ll tell her you want to stop… and we’ll find you a job – I can ask around at the Outreach Centre if there’s any call-centre vacancies, and—”

“That’s not going to happen, Dylan.” Isaak sighed, resignation in his face. “I don’t belong out there. I’m happy like this.” He sounded like someone trying to convince himself as much as he was her. And she wasn’t buying any of it.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re happy at all, Zak! All the time you’ve been telling me this, I can hear your heart in your throat. Whatever she’s got on you, we can figure it out!” Helping him out of this dangerous arrangement suddenly felt like a cause she could get behind.

He pursed his lips. “What makes you so interested in my problems anyway? I promised you an explanation, but I’m not looking for help,” he insisted, clenching his fists, brown eyes narrow. He was getting ready to leave, shifting out from behind the table.

Panic shot up inside her chest. Dylan laid her hand on his arm, pulling him back onto his seat, “No, please! Stay. Tell me more about it. I won’t judge you.”

“Judge me?”

“Sorry, that’s not what I meant.” She wanted him to stay, genuinely. Meeting him, striding the Tapeworld… They were both things completely outside of her realm of possibility, now her past and present. She desperately didn’t want to alienate him and lose him. As a friend, or as something else. “I’ll listen. Quietly, this time!”

His eyes met hers.

Her throat tightened, stomach in a knot, her hand still holding his arm. Touching him in the real world felt nicer than in the other world. More real. He looked more human, less like a perfect version of himself. She preferred that, she decided, sharp edges included.

He sat back down, “Okay. Thank you.”

“So you stole something from that house?”

He nodded. “Yes. A box. It started vibrating and humming when the wolves came for us. That’s never happened before. The wolves, or the vibrations. It’s like, whatever is inside that box, it could detect them.”

“So what have you done with the box?”

“It’s still in my bag. I mean, it’s in my tape-space back in the Tapeworld. I’m going to meet Astrid and hand it over.”

She nodded slowly, thinking it through. Maybe they could return it somehow? But what would this Astrid woman do if he didn’t hand it over? It might be dangerous. It seemed like it would be difficult to convince Isaak to do it anyway. Fuck…

“Listen…” He paused. “Before I met you, something else happened that felt off. I… I don’t know how to say this.”

“What?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

“These tape-spaces are always deserted, right? I figure Astrid, or whoever is giving her the intel on the data, they find out where valuable data is being stored and when’s a good time to take it, and she fingers me for the job. We arrange the timing so that no one’s there when I stride in. Except the night I met you. In fact, it’s why I had to go to Aftershock afterwards and clear my head…”

“Why are you telling me this?” A metallic taste popped into her mouth as possibilities stirred in her mind. He was being hunted, chased by the people whose secrets he’d been stealing?

Isaak rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, taking his time to answer. He took a deep breath. “I don’t know who else to talk to. I tried asking Astrid about it, and she dismissed it just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “And Elodie…”

“Another woman?”

He had no problems maintaining eye contact this time, she noticed. “I get my rolls of tape from her. She’s cool. You’d like her.”