Exurbia: A Novel About Caterpillars (An Infinite Triptych Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

reasons. Firstly, I considered it an honour to be able to meet with the imp, if only for such a short while. And secondly, I was a perfect candidate since as far as we can tell, Governance is extremely lax with their security checks when it comes to young women. Two weeks ago, Seer Fortmann and Our Brother Mikhail Ivanov -’ 
    The Zdrastian smirked sheepishly at the mention of his name. 
    ‘- broke into a military cemetery and retrieved a neural implant from the body of a deceased political strategist, Dr. Kliment. We now have absolute proof that Governance is using exactly the kind of technology they have been executing their own citizens for trying to manufacture, as per the Pergrin Decree.’
    This would only have been proof , Fortmann thought, to a total idiot . Anyone who hasn't worked it out by now is either soft in the brain, or missing one entirely.
    ‘After retrieving the device and bringing it back to the Chapterhouse, a brave volunteer, Our Brother Charlie Takashi, offered to undergo the implantation procedure. I acted as a consultant to the procedure myself, and can confirm that it was a complete success.’
    Success . That's a rich term. Poor Takashi, lying on a medical bed in the basement producing puddle after puddle of spittle on his pillow and moaning incomprehensibly. All great causes require some degree of sacrifice.
    ‘Using Our Brother Charlie Takashi and the implant as a conduit, Seer Fortmann was able to break into the Governance mainframe and predetermine the outcome of the lottery, planting my name in the database. The rest was easy. Two days later, a small outfit of Governance men arrived at my apartment and informed me that I had been chosen to visit the imp in his dwelling. I feigned surprise and accompanied them to the Political District. They de-retinised me during the ride. We’re not sure how the device works, but it appears to disrupt all electrical signals between the optic nerve and the brain, rendering me blind for the entire journey. Seer Fortmann had already embedded a miniature geotracker in my foot, however.’
    ‘I was given grey overalls and told to remove all traces of make-up, which I did. The Governance men were extremely concerned with me not arousing the imp in any way. Then I was instructed to ask only very simple questions, and not to touch on any current events or moral quandaries, else I would be, as they put it, “ejected.”’
    She holds the stage well, Fortmann thought, arms free and easy, keeping constant eye contact with the crowd, sentences precise and succinct.  It hadn’t always been like this. He remembered her only a few years ago desperately begging to join up with the organisation. He was convinced at the time that she was nothing more than a mole. Everything reeked of it; her supple body, her desperation. He’d convinced her to undergo the Dmitrova procedure by explaining that it was the only way to be sure of her allegiances. The procedure was only designed to detect underlying mental illness, but she couldn’t possibly have known that. She had stepped into the machine without hesitation and stepped out with the same resolve. That had been enough for him. Either she was so conditioned that even she didn’t know she was a mole, or she was telling the truth.
    ‘I was then put into a motion tube and descended about one hundred feet below the ground, stopping at a partition. I heard slow footsteps behind the door. It slid aside to reveal an emaciated shadow of a man. It was of course the imp himself. He looked in perfect health, though the total absence of any hair on his head took me back at first. He was extremely well-mannered, and as far as I could tell, well-meaning. He offered me tea and welcomed me inside. The interior was as we assumed, if not a little worse. Everything inside is entirely beige so as not to excite him in any way. The cave is split into two sections; one side is his quarters, the other, the moral hub. There’s some kind of