anywhere.”
Petal reached out for him. “It’s okay; I understand.” She didn’t, though. She could never even begin to understand what he was going through. “If you want to go, I’ll come with you. I’ll have your back all the way. Maybe there’ll be some redemption there. Maybe...”
She broke off, unwilling to suggest some of his family were still alive. That would be a cruel hope to give. But, unable to resist, knowing hope might be the only thing she could offer, she added, “Look, the video file is only a few weeks old. They could still be alive, right? It makes sense, no? We’ve got to go for them at least. We have vehicles now, plenty of food and water. We could take some Bachians with us. Let me have some time with the video, to see if with Gerry’s skills and mine we can crack the encryption and find a lead on where this was taken. All video data streams have data in there somewhere—”
“Ya can’t come,” Gabe said, cutting her enthusiasm. “We need to deal with the Gerry situation.”
“I think it’s getting better,” Petal said. “I mean... our minds seem to be merging, or at least finding a way of existing together.”
“It ain’t that simple.”
“What do you mean?”
“Enna analysed the transcendent. The reason it went mad? The capacity wasn’t enough to take all of Gerry’s consciousness. Only a fragment downloaded. Which means ya don’t have the full thing inside ya; he’s split and breaking down. It’s only a matter of time before his code mutates like Elliot’s did. Only this time, it’s inside ya.”
Falling back into the pillows, Petal sighed. “Life’d be much easier if that lying bastard James made me a damned sexbot or something. Seriously, Gabe, this life sucks.”
“It does so far, yeah. But who knows what the future holds? Get some sleep; it’s getting late. Tomorrow we’ll sort something out.”
“How?”
“Enna and I spoke with James and Jess—”
“You did what?”
“Wait, hear me out.”
“I don’t want that bastard anywhere near me, you understand? If he comes within an arm’s distance, I’ll fuckin’ rip his balls off. This is all his fault.”
“That might be, but with his and Jess’ help, he could also be ya only chance. Swallow ya damned pride and fury and give the guy a chance. Hell, he isn’t the only one who’s fucked up in this life, is he? Here’s the thing; he and Jess are bringing the servers over to Enna’s place in the morning. With their help and added processing power, we should have a better shot at sorting out the fragments of Gerry in ya head and that transcendent. But ya need to get some rest, okay?”
“Don’t look like I got much choice, does it?”
“No choice at all.”
Gabe leant in, kissing her on the forehead before leaving the room.
At least one thing was certain: Gabe had her back. Before he could leave, she asked, “What are you going to do about the video? Your family.”
He didn’t respond before closing the door behind him. But she noticed he’d left the slate behind. She took it, hoping to find a lead.
Chapter 4
Sasha yawned at herself in the mirror. She looked washed out, pale, beat up.
She liked it. Made her feel tough, gave her a sense of actually doing something, being productive. She poked at the scabs on her cheek, created by the ’Stem solution. She hoped to have a scar like Malik. Maybe that’d get her a little more respect for what she was capable of. She still seethed from Fuentes’ bullshit.
Instead of congratulating her on stopping the sniper and recovering information, Sasha got a strip torn off for endangering the public and summoned to the Presidential Suite for a debriefing.
The cold lights of the medical pod flickered. The city’s power system, mostly from solar and fission reactors, was still being regulated now that Cemprom had started dismantling the pervasive, citywide network. It was one thing disconnecting the lottery from the citizens’ inbuilt
Petal reached out for him. “It’s okay; I understand.” She didn’t, though. She could never even begin to understand what he was going through. “If you want to go, I’ll come with you. I’ll have your back all the way. Maybe there’ll be some redemption there. Maybe...”
She broke off, unwilling to suggest some of his family were still alive. That would be a cruel hope to give. But, unable to resist, knowing hope might be the only thing she could offer, she added, “Look, the video file is only a few weeks old. They could still be alive, right? It makes sense, no? We’ve got to go for them at least. We have vehicles now, plenty of food and water. We could take some Bachians with us. Let me have some time with the video, to see if with Gerry’s skills and mine we can crack the encryption and find a lead on where this was taken. All video data streams have data in there somewhere—”
“Ya can’t come,” Gabe said, cutting her enthusiasm. “We need to deal with the Gerry situation.”
“I think it’s getting better,” Petal said. “I mean... our minds seem to be merging, or at least finding a way of existing together.”
“It ain’t that simple.”
“What do you mean?”
“Enna analysed the transcendent. The reason it went mad? The capacity wasn’t enough to take all of Gerry’s consciousness. Only a fragment downloaded. Which means ya don’t have the full thing inside ya; he’s split and breaking down. It’s only a matter of time before his code mutates like Elliot’s did. Only this time, it’s inside ya.”
Falling back into the pillows, Petal sighed. “Life’d be much easier if that lying bastard James made me a damned sexbot or something. Seriously, Gabe, this life sucks.”
“It does so far, yeah. But who knows what the future holds? Get some sleep; it’s getting late. Tomorrow we’ll sort something out.”
“How?”
“Enna and I spoke with James and Jess—”
“You did what?”
“Wait, hear me out.”
“I don’t want that bastard anywhere near me, you understand? If he comes within an arm’s distance, I’ll fuckin’ rip his balls off. This is all his fault.”
“That might be, but with his and Jess’ help, he could also be ya only chance. Swallow ya damned pride and fury and give the guy a chance. Hell, he isn’t the only one who’s fucked up in this life, is he? Here’s the thing; he and Jess are bringing the servers over to Enna’s place in the morning. With their help and added processing power, we should have a better shot at sorting out the fragments of Gerry in ya head and that transcendent. But ya need to get some rest, okay?”
“Don’t look like I got much choice, does it?”
“No choice at all.”
Gabe leant in, kissing her on the forehead before leaving the room.
At least one thing was certain: Gabe had her back. Before he could leave, she asked, “What are you going to do about the video? Your family.”
He didn’t respond before closing the door behind him. But she noticed he’d left the slate behind. She took it, hoping to find a lead.
Chapter 4
Sasha yawned at herself in the mirror. She looked washed out, pale, beat up.
She liked it. Made her feel tough, gave her a sense of actually doing something, being productive. She poked at the scabs on her cheek, created by the ’Stem solution. She hoped to have a scar like Malik. Maybe that’d get her a little more respect for what she was capable of. She still seethed from Fuentes’ bullshit.
Instead of congratulating her on stopping the sniper and recovering information, Sasha got a strip torn off for endangering the public and summoned to the Presidential Suite for a debriefing.
The cold lights of the medical pod flickered. The city’s power system, mostly from solar and fission reactors, was still being regulated now that Cemprom had started dismantling the pervasive, citywide network. It was one thing disconnecting the lottery from the citizens’ inbuilt
Similar Books
