Foresight

"Would you have done it otherwise?" Asked Scimitar.

"Probably not," Gideon said. "They’re too small to be a threat, and they are progressing much more slowly on their research than we are on ours."
"If you move quickly enough, I think you’ll be surprised what you’d find lying about on uncorrupted hard drives."

Gideon’s eyes widened slightly. "What were they to become?"

"The future," Scimitar replied.

Oryx pulled a passkey out of his pocket and swiped it through the reader. The light on the small unit flickered green. Steadying his bag of tools on his shoulder, Oryx slipped in through the open door. It was ten o’clock, and the empty building echoed his every step. With certainty, he turned down the hall leading to the company’s server farm.

Time to corrupt a few hard drives.

The car door slammed, startling Scimitar.

"The day will come when I get caught," Oryx observed as he settled into the passenger’s seat, "because my partner can never remember to stay alert while I’m on the job."

Scimitar put the car into gear and pulled out of the parking lot. "You’re too good to get caught."

He chuckled, then pulled off his gloves and ran a hand through his short, spiky hair. "Did the check clear?"

"The World Bank has verified that we have a bankroll large enough to be a third world country."

There was silence, then:

"Are you sure about this one?"

She sighed.

"Have I ever told you about my parents?"
"No."

"That’s because I have no parents to tell about."

"Orphan?"
"Lab rat."

"What?" Oryx turned to face her. She didn’t look at him, but waved her hand vaguely toward the company they had just left.

"Scim. I’m sorry."

"It’s okay. But that’s how I…came to be."

"So we just prevented more you?"

"Essentially, yes."

"And made a boatload on the side in consulting fees."

"I’d hate to see you starving on the streets."

"Would it really have been so bad, more of you?"

A light rain began to fall, blurring the lights through the windshield.

"Yes," she replied.