The Octagonal Raven Read Online Free PDF

clean systems of a ship, after the ice whispers of space, the mists of faint hydrogen, the best human nets were filled with noise and scum. When I could, I just used a holo projection, but the net was where I had to start. First, I wasn’t in shape enough to travel physically, and second, the net was the easiest way to eliminate possibilities quickly. The screen was too slow for that kind of a search.
    For a moment, I felt myself standing in a green-shaded darkness. It could have been red, or a marble entry hall. I’d chosen darkness as my standard entry to minimize the sensory shock, since everything’s slightly off . Even with a full palette, and millions of shades, the colors are too harsh, and they scream past you. And the sounds…. There are clicks, and hisses, and low freqs that climb up your virtual back like dull knives scraping stone. Some netfans have scent in their systems. I’d avoided that. The last thing I wanted was off-scent roses, and lilacs with the hint of oil and metal.
    Gerrat once told me that it was all in my mind. He was right. I couldn’t trick my mind into believing electronically re-created reality was the same thing as physically experienced and perceived reality. So…don’t tell me that netting and VR beat full-body reality. Unless you’re a dep or down—or a latent masochist—they don’t.
    Finally, I took two virtual steps forward, through the curtain of darkness and into a long hallway, plain metal gray, with roughly a dozen doors on each side of the corridor. Again, I could have had one virtual door, with the name changing each time I blinked. But I didn’t.
    For a moment, I stood there, thinking. Despite what Kharl had said, anyone who had the capability to create an Elysa, and instant anaphylactic shock, had to have left a trace somewhere. And a good methodizer ought to be able to find it. The place to start, obviously, since I had the keys, was with the UniComm net.
    I walked down the VR hall to the third door. Having it third was my own affectation, as was having it of brass, trimmed with silver. I’d always imagined Father would have had his door of gold, trimmed with silver, and perhaps an understated eight-paneled mahogany or cherry door. No matter. My door into UniComm was brass, trimmed with silver.
    After mentally extending the first key, the one any subscriber has, I watched the door vanish, leaving me standing in a yet another VR hallway, this one like the holos of Karnak. The sunlight poured down around me and the pillars. Yet the sunlight had no warmth. Nothing on the net does—all light and no warmth.
    I couldn’t help frowning, since I’d coded in images of a dusty room filled with wooden filing cabinets, not a re-created ancient temple. The frown dropped as a silver cloud appeared, then disappeared, leaving the smiling figure of the director general and chairman of UniComm. Father looked almost as imposing as a VR figure as he did in person.
    “Slumming, Daryn?”
    “I thought I’d check out the family treasures, sir.”
    A flat smile crossed his face. “She’s not here. Neither is whoever created her.” He extended a symbolic file, brass-bound.
    I had to grin at the brass edging of the file, but waited for him to continue.
    “Right after I heard about your allergy attack, I had my own team do a search. I don’t believe in coincidence, especially when your companion is unknown.”
    “You talked to Kharl?”
    “Of course. He claims he doesn’t know her, and I think he’s telling the truth there.” Father paused. “There’s not much on the net. That file has what’s there…and the keys you don’t have in case you think we missed something.”
    “Thank you, sir.” I always disliked Father’s superiority…but then, unfortunately, in many areas he was unquestionably superior.
    “I wish you well. Gerrat or I will let you know if we discover anything you might find of interest.”
    I nodded. I wasn’t so sure I’d hear from Gerrat.
    Then the