Chapter 24 · That wasn't an answer

"That wasn't an answer."

"It was the truth."

I picked up the transmitter.

Kane's face changed.

"Selah."

"Relax. If it wanted to explode, it would've done that before I opened the case."

"You don't know what it wants."

"Neither do you. That's the part keeping me warm."

The transmitter lit up. A line of text crawled across its surface.

LIFE-LINK DETECTED.

Then another.

PRIMARY HOST: KANE VALE.

I looked at him.

"Primary host?"

He didn't answer.

The transmitter chirped again.

SECONDARY SUBJECT: SELAH VOSS.

The room seemed to shrink around us.

"You told me the contract was mutual," I said.

"It is."

"Then why does this thing call you the host?"

"Because the Bureau designed the first version around my power source."

"Your power source?"

"Don't play stupid."

"I don't have to play. You do it for both of us."

He moved closer, keeping his hands visible now. The public version of Kane would have smiled. The private one looked like he wanted to rip the transmitter apart with his teeth.

"That device is an old monitor," he said. "It tracks contract stability."

"It tracks me."

"It tracks both of us.