A/N No I'm not restarting the series/season ( The Alpha's concubine is running very nicely thank you for asking). These chapters just drift to mind and demand I put them down on paper. RK.

[ Rockwood industries HQ ] 

I walked into the room to see a room which gave every appearance of being assembled by the most expensive designer on the coast. Looking around to my left I could see Brooklyn sitting in a large chair behind a large desk.

"Meta!" said Brooklyn smiling. He got up and walked over.

"Didn't anyone tell you should be looking enigmatically out of the window? "I said.

The receptionist looked at me with a 'no one speak to Mr Rockwood like that' set of bug eys.

"So what's so important it couldn't wait until the class reunion in eight years?" I said while the receptionist closed the door behind me.

"You're looking good Meta." Brooklyn said.

His words were a better reflection of himself. He looked stunning. I looked at him walk, it was more than fluid it was elegant. He came over and hugged me, he sniffed slightly.

"Hmm, you shouldn't use so much bleach. That brand is mildly carcinogenic. I'll send you a small stock of a much safer brand when you got back." He said. He was calculating all this in real time I could feel it. "Hmm there isn't a safer brand. I'll formulate one except a sample to arrive in a week or two."

He kept doing this - starting new companies on a whim.  People were amazed he could find the time to run so many different 'disruptive' companies. 

I looked at the view "You know you shouldn't do so much of that." I Said seeing the city flex below.

"So much of what?" Brooklyn said.

" Well Like your developing a rocket company, and a new car company, a truck company, green solar power, new types of transportation, that's just the big stuff. You want to add green products as well. How long do you think you can keep up the fake 'just running a company of highly motivated geniuses', before the government guesses it's all you. Even I can guess and I've got the reading age of five year old." I told him.

Brooklyn felt smooth, confident. 

"Hmm maybe your right. I'll produce a line of trucks which I can sell to the government. If the government feels like they will lose something from exposing me then they will be more reluctant to do it." Brooklyn said. 

"Nice view," I told him then walked to the picture window, here at the top of the tower you could see the city spread out. "oh and Nice legs." I said back.

"These are good." Brooklyn looked down. I have some sports legs I can clock 120 in them. Jump eight stories. Unfortunately, I can't show them off, people being who they are."

He came over to stand close to me near the window. He put his hands on my arms and I shivered. This was too comfortable. 

"Things have been happening while you been on your sabbatical," Brooklyn said.

I didn't look at him but stared at the city "What's a sabbatical?" I asked.

Brooklyn's voice changed "You're still on your whole absence thing. Even here, with me for ten minutes. How can you enjoy being a moron like this?"

I looked back "I've been clean for two years. I'm keeping it that way."

"Love the pride. What about the little old lady in the supermarket in Loyalty City?" Brooklyn said.

He caught me with that one. I have been in a queue in a check out with the old woman before me. She was struggling with the payment card. She was slow and the people behind me had places to be. Irritation was growing, an irritation she couldn't hear. The checkout clerk was as confused with the checkout system as she was. Eventually, everything worked but the old lady was short of a few cents in her state account to pay for everything. This would require rechecking everything. For a second I had enabled my ability to alter code. I had taken the payment card, pretended to clean it on my chest, put it back in the reader and a thousand credits appeared from nowhere. I had told my self it had been for someone else and no one would notice a glitch like that.

He noticed. I turned round to face him. It was a good face, the couple of years looked good on him.

Brooklyn looked down he noticed the book I was holding.

"That's what you're reading this day?" He said.  You could see the concern and the disappointment on his face. He saw me and remember what had been.

I smiled "it's trashy but its about my level." I told him. There was something of the pleasure of reading by my self which reminded me of the old days.

"I heard there are some plot twists but the ending is a killer," Brooklyn said.

"That's popular fiction for you. You got me here. What do you want?" I told him "and hurry up I've got floors to clean."

Brooklyn indicated his desk and we went and sat down. He reached into a draw and pulled up a box.

"A few months ago I was approached by the administrators to bid for the contract to make these" he said pulling a large metal ring from tissue in the box. It was shiny, steel, and hinged in the middle. There were a number of lights on it.

"What is it?" I asked looking at it.

"Part of the leader's new crime program. At any point 12 percent of males from 20 to 30 are in jail. They would like to imprison more but it's costly. They want to improve safety by increasing numbers and to do this they want to reduce spending by automating jails. This is part of the future judicial system."

"What is it?"

Brooklyn helt the ring up to his neck. "It's part of the new inmate monitoring system."

I looked at it and guessed it went round the inmate's neck.

"Hang on this goes around the neck? What the hell?" I said. I was immediately revolted by it and dropped it down. 

"So around the ankle is OK but round the neck is bad?" Brooklyn said then shrugged "well that's what they are saying. The design is very sophisticated. There is a phone like chip in the metal housing. It can record what you say. Take photos of what you're seeing. It knows where you are. It collects a number of biometric measurements. It can sense motion and guess what you are doing." While Brooklyn spoke he pointed to some tiny elements. "These pads deliver electric shocks if you don't do what the bone conduction stuff tells you to do. Everyone is geofenced to where they are allowed to be.  Escape is impossible." Brooklyn said. 

"This is bad stuff." I Said. "I can't believe you want to make these."

"I don't" said Brooklyn "At first I was intrigued by the design. It's elegant full proof. I'm not sure it was design by an administrator as they claimed. I checked with collin - it's not his. I think this is done by another cyborg someone very smart, but what caught my attention was the texture. It's actually got small differences in the ridges you can feel. They encode a binary message try it."

Brooklyn stroked the metal. I copied his movements with finger and felt the rough surface beneath it, but nothing more. 

"I don't get it what does it say?" I said.

Rockwood pulled a face "in Binary is says - 'Girl on the Bridge. Find Reconfigured.' I think it's a call for help. "