“Hey, Daruuk,” I say, boosting myself onto the ledge and jumping inside.
“Hom,” he says, looking up from the Vex modem he’s spent the last month cobbling together. It’s the size of a pre-’Fault book and looks nothing like any modem I’ve ever seen. Alexi Ivanov sits beside him, leaning over the modem and twisting a pair of wires together.
Daruuk shares a room with his younger sister, Asha. She’s sprawled across the bed on her stomach, peering over Daruuk’s shoulder as he works. Their bedroom is the same size as mine. Stuffed with two beds, two dressers, and two bedside tables, there’s barely room to move. Tools and spare parts are all over the bed and floor.
“Are these the Vex sets?” I squeeze onto the floor beside the boys and pick up what I assume is a Vex set. The goggles are mismatched and it lacks the sleek grace of a normal set. There are lots of different wires sticking out of the goggles, and the entire thing is attached to an old-fashioned hairband. The second one is attached to a sweatband.
“Don’t touch that.” Daruuk snatches it out of my hand. “It’s not ready yet.”
“Be nice,” I reply. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have access to the Fortress modem.”
“You’re getting your payment.” Daruuk still has not looked up from his work. “You’re going into Vex first, aren’t you? Long, close the curtains and turn on the lights, would you?”
Billy closes and locks the window, then pulls the heavy drape closed. Daruuk must have traded Zed for a pair of jeans. The jeans have been cut up and sewn to the back of the Global-issued curtain, making it thick enough to keep all light in the room.
Zed stands in one corner, his back to us. He mutters to the wall, twisting his fingers together. Asha stares at him, dark eyes wide.
Taro’s face is smooth, but when he sits down next to me, I see the worry in his eyes. I look away, pretending not to notice. Riska crawls into Taro’s lap, flicking his ears in my direction.
“All right.” Daruuk sits back and stares at his homemade modem. “Let’s see if this works.”
He flips a switch. After a moment, the modem hums to life.
“Yes,” Billy breathes.
“We’re not there yet, Long,” Daruuk says. “Let’s see if the Highjacker works.”
“It’ll work,” Billy says. He tilts his head, shaggy blond hair falling away to reveal one eye. “The code will camouflage itself and avoid detection.”
“So you say,” Daruuk mutters. “For the sake of my kingdom, I hope you’re correct.”
A soft tapping on the window makes us all jump. Daruuk swears.
“Who else did you invite?” Asha asks, jumping off the bed and moving toward the window.
“Who else could I have invited?” Daruuk retorts. He snatches the blanket off the bed and throws it over the Vex components. “No one else can fit in this baruken bedroom!”
Taro shifts beside me, the muscles along his forearm tensing. Riska growls.
Asha peeks around the heavy drape. After a tense moment, she sighs and shakes her head.
“It’s Hank,” she announces. “Should I send her away?”
“No,” Billy says, at the same time Daruuk says, “Yes.”
Daruuk scowls at Billy. “Your girlfriend better not make any trouble for us.”
“She won’t.” Billy practically leaps over us in his haste to get to the window. There’s a silly, happy grin on his face as he pulls Hank inside. She snuggles into his arms, then glares at the rest of us.
“Someone has to keep all of you out of trouble,” she announces.
Asha sniffs and secures the window. “We were doing just fine without you, Henrietta.”
Hank bristles. Billy gives her shoulder a squeeze. She scowls at all of us, displaying her general displeasure with our operation, but doesn’t say anything else.
Daruuk prods the modem with a small screwdriver. A few moments later, a blue light flares to life.
“That’s it!” Daruuk tosses the screwdriver aside and tilts his chin up in triumph. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have access to Vex!”
“Uncle.” Billy places his hands on Zed’s shoulders and rotates him so that he’s facing the room. “It’s time.”
“The dots.” Zed remains standing in the corner, refusing to take the Vex set when Billy hands it to him. “Project Renascentia has many dots. You have to connect them.”
“Uncle, you’ve been waiting for this.” Billy again tries to press the Vex set into Zed’s hands. “Collusion Underground. You bartered for first access—”
“You.” Zed pushes the Vex set back at Billy. “You connect the dots.” He closes his eyes, shaking his head and pressing his hands to his temples. Sweat makes a damp ring on the collar of his shirt. “You go. Watch Morning Star’s back. I’ll watch for commies. Watch both your backs.”
Billy takes in the lines of tension around his his uncle’s mouth and eyes. “Okay. I’ll go.” He settles onto the floor next to me. Hank stares at him, worry plain on her face, but Billy doesn’t look at her.
“Be safe,” Taro whispers to me. “I’ll be right here if you need me.”
“She’ll be fine,” Daruuk snaps. “What do I look like, an amateur? I’m the reigning emperor of Andala. One does not become emperor of Andala by being a moron.”
Taro stiffens.
“He wasn’t questioning your skills,” I tell Daruuk. “He just wants me to be safe in the general sense.”
I pick up the other Vex set. Before slipping it on, I look over at Taro. Apprehension lines his face. I lean over, brushing his lips with a soft kiss.
“I’ll be back in one hour,” I tell him.
“You two can get a room when you’re done,” Daruuk says. “Hurry up. The clock starts now.” He turns over an hourglass on his nightstand, which I hadn’t noticed before.
“Morning Star and Black Ice, back together again,” Zed mutters.
With one last look at Taro, I slide my set into place.
• • •
The familiar blue of Vex is sliced through with static. Daruuk’s modem must have a glitch, but I don’t care. As long as I get to see Gun, I can deal with static.
I glance across the swirling blue at Billy. He’s a Twig, a stick figure avatar that’s hairless and sexless. I’m also a Twig. Our VIs—Virtual Identities—aren’t connected to Daruuk’s homemade sets. Twigs are default avatars for anyone going into Vex without a VI.
“We need Ghost avatars.” The stick figure’s voice isn’t Billy’s; it’s an androgynous voice that’s more than a little creepy. “Follow me and I’ll get you one. Site: QT8N04FL-AO8P6.”
“Site,” I repeat. My voice has the same default androgyny. “QT8N04FL-AO8P6.”
Billy and I are deposited in a featureless black plain. The floor beneath our feet is black. There is no ceiling, no walls, just featureless black all around. Lances of silver static cut through the dark.
“Where are we?” I ask.
“A storage site for Axcents and tech,” Billy says. “Zed and I have a bunch of these. We keep them on Swiss servers that offer anonymous registration.” He glances at the static crackling around us. “Poor rendering. Daruuk’s connection isn’t great.”
He inserts his fingers into seemingly random points in the air. Small vortexes of light open beneath his touch. He moves his fingers in an intricate pattern. As he does, the points of light connect, becoming a larger and larger vortex. Soon there is a whirlpool of light about the size of a microwave. Billy sticks his hand inside and pulls out two leather satchels. The vortex closes as soon as he withdraws his arm.
He passes one satchel to me. “Here’s a Ghost for you. It has adult registration so you can get into the Cube.” The eyes on the Twig in front of me narrow. “Be careful with Gun. I’ll see you later.”
Before I can thank him, Billy says, “Site: Collusion Underground.” And then he disappears, leaving me alone in the storage site.
I reach into the satchel and pull out a red leather gorget. With
a grimace, I cinch it around my neck.
My Twig avatar shimmers as the code in the gorget washes over me. I look down. My breasts become triple Es. I’m wearing a skin-tight red vinyl leotard and matching knee-high boots. I’ve got blond hair pulled back into a tight ponytail and a waistline that wouldn’t be healthy on a Barbie doll.
I decide not to contemplate what Zed and Billy would do in an avatar like this.
I guess we couldn’t risk accessing our real VIs. Global would likely be monitoring those. Everyone in the Cube will know I’m not Naked. Naked avatars are exact replicas of their real-world owners. No one in the real-world can ever resemble my current avatar—at least, not without drastic cosmetic surgery.
What is Gun going to say when he sees me like this? Will I even get a chance to see him tonight? It’s not like we had an appointment. It’s been over a month since our last meeting in the Cube. How will he even recognize me?
I stand there for a moment, trying to decide what’s worse: having Gun see me in this skanky avatar, or not seeing him at all.
I bite my lower lip. I went to great lengths to get into Vex tonight. I can’t let a pair of triple Es and red vinyl stand between me and Gun.
“Site,” I say. “The Cube. Locker 266.”
41
Locker 266
My prep room in the Cube is exactly as I remember it: battered red lockers, a single lightbulb hanging from the middle of the ceiling, and a wooden bench bisecting the middle of the room.
A rough carving mars the bench: 32-13-18-N, 110-55-35-W. They’re coordinates to Gun’s location in the real-world. He gave them to me before I moved to the Dome.
My homecoming is interrupted by flashes of static, but I barely notice. I’m home. God, how I’ve missed this place.
Memories of the happy times I spent here come crashing back to me. Gun and I, lying side by side on the floor as we watched Merc reruns together. The two of us rifling through the weapons lockers, deciding which weapons to train with. Me whooping with delight after our first win over the Dread Twins. Gun’s sparkling blue eyes whenever he shared a triumphant grin with me.
The months I spent here were happy months. I miss them. So much has changed since then. I’ve changed.
A yearning for Gun opens up inside me like a crevice. We never traded numbers so there’s no way for me to query his Vex set. I’ve been so focused on getting back into Vex that I never thought past what I would do once I got here.
It wasn’t as if I imagined Gun wasting away in our locker room, waiting for me to come back. I’d hoped he’d have rigged the room with software to alert him if I showed up, but I never got a chance to ask him.
A bitter laugh breaks from my throat. I have one precious hour in Vex. Who knows when I’ll get the chance to come back? Half of the students from Virtual High must be on a waiting list. All this effort to see Gun and it might not even happen.
I slide down against a locker, pulling my knees up to my chest. The vinyl leotard creaks. I rest my forehead against my knees, feeling defeated. I’m such an idiot.
“Short Stuff?”
My chin jerks up. Gun stands in front of me, looking just as I remembered him: shiny shaved head; big, well-muscled shoulders and arms; and intense, dark blue eyes. He’s dressed in his customary white T-shirt and loose black pants.
“Gun?” I rise to my feet.
He peers at me, almost like he doesn’t recognize me. I recall my skanky avatar.
“Like the triple Es?” I gesture to my enormous breasts, swallowing around the lump in my throat.
His eyes never leave my face. “It is you,” he breathes.
The space between us disappears. He sweeps me up in an embrace, squeezing me tight and spinning me in a circle. A wordless sound of happiness escapes from between my lips. I don’t care that unanswered questions have created a chasm between us. I don’t care that he’s kept secrets from me. I don’t even care that I’m dressed like a skank. Gun is here.
“I’ve been so worried about you,” he says at last, putting me back on my feet.
“I got back into Vex as soon as I could. Global doesn’t make it easy.”
We sink onto the bench beside each other. I’ve spent weeks rehearsing this scene in my head, planning everything I wanted to say. Now that I’m here, my mind is blank.
“I’ve watched all your public appearances,” he says. “I couldn’t reveal myself, but I’ve been at every single one of them.”
“You have?”
“Of course. I’ve been keeping tabs on you as best I can. Sulan, I …” His voice trails off. “I have some things I need tell to you. How much time do we have?”
“Less than an hour. Daruuk only has two Vex sets, both of them homemade, and a whole bunch of students want to use them. Everyone who contributed to their construction is in rotation. There are others in line after us tonight.”
“Less than an hour.” Gun rubs his face. “That isn’t nearly enough time.” He meets my eyes. “Sulan, I haven’t been totally honest with you.”
I nod, letting out a breath. “I know. That was pretty obvious when you showed up at the League auction to rescue me and my friends.” I smile to let him know it’s okay. “I wasn’t totally honest, either. I never told you who I really was, or who my father was.”
“You won’t like what I have to tell you.” The muscles in his neck and shoulders bunch. “I care about you, Sulan. Do you believe me when I tell you I’m your friend?”
There’s something not right about him, Taro had said after Gun helped us kill Imugi. Isn’t some part of you wondering how he found you? How he got into an Anti-American League black-market auction? How he had access to an EMP bomb?
I swallow and brace myself, wondering what’s coming. I’ve rehearsed this scene in my mind, too. All of them end with Gun’s secret being something silly, like his avatar not really being Naked. Maybe in the real-world, he’s a skinny, pimply pre-teen or a fat old man. Or maybe he’s an undercover journalist looking for juicy stories from fringe Vex societies. I’ve prepared myself for these scenarios. For some reason, as I look at him now, I have a sinking feeling my suspicions are way off.
“You’re my friend,” I say, not sure if I am trying to reassure him or myself. “No matter what.”
“Yes. No matter what.”
Seconds pass, all of them silent. We stare at each other.
“I’ve only got forty-five minutes left,” I remind him.
“Right.” He draws a breath. “I risked a lot when I helped you at the League auction. I showed more cards than I wanted to.”
“How so?”
“Global keeps intimate tabs on all their assets. Before you moved to the Dome, your homes were bugged. I can’t say for certain, but I’d bet your homes in the Dome are bugged, too. Don’t imagine for a moment that anything you’ve done is a secret from the Winns.”
Before we arrived at the Dome, Dad said something about our apartment in San Francisco being monitored. My mind flicks to Dad and Aston and their secret meetings at the buffet. It would be hard to filter out private conversations in the cafeteria. And their occasional rendezvouses with Riska. If our homes are bugged, did they have some way to block the surveillance? Does Riska have something to do with that?
As the reality of my life in the Dome shifts, dread balloons within me.
Gun watches me intently. “You know I’m telling the truth.”
“Does that—does that mean the Winns might know about Daruuk’s homemade Vex set?” I shake my head, frowning. “That can’t be. They’d have shut us down weeks ago if they knew.”
“Not necessarily.” He gives me a searching look. “Not if they wanted one of you to go into Vex for a reason.”
“Why would they want any of us to go into Vex? They’ve done everything they can to keep us out.”
“I don’t know.” He laces his fingers together in his lap. “The point is, Claudine and Mr. Winn keep tabs on their assets. That’s what you are, Sulan. You and all you
r friends from Virtual High. Assets.”
He raises his chin, meeting my eyes. The determination I see there—the will to forge ahead into something unpleasant—makes me uneasy.
“I’ve been investigating Global for several years. You were a part of that investigation. I knew who you were when I chose you for a training partner. I knew who you were when you walked into the Cube. I followed you here.”
His words are like a slap in my face. They hurt more than I anticipated.
“So,” I say, my voice hoarse, “you didn’t pick me for a partner because you saw something special in me?” That’s what he’d told me, back when we first met. He quoted some famous Chinese general and flattered my fighting tactics, even though we both knew I’d performed horribly.
“I should have known,” I say, shaking my head. Anger and hurt pull at me.
“No, I saw something special in you,” he says. “Just not … just not your fighting skills. I was after your mind, Sulan. My company has … an interest in you. You were my assignment.”
“Your assignment?” I jump to my feet. The hurt is gone, dethroned by anger. “I was your assignment?” My voice rises.
“It’s not like that.” Gun gets to his feet. “I swear, Sulan, it wasn’t like that for me. At least, not once I got to know you.”
“Then what was it like?” I demand.
“My company wanted to see if you could be recruited. It was my job to find you. Assess you. Turn you against Global and bring you to my company if I could.”
My mouth hangs agape. My brain is scrambled, making it impossible to form a coherent thought.
“It started out as a job,” Gun says, “but after I got to know you, I couldn’t follow through. I told my company you were a Global loyalist, that there was no way to subvert you. I got a new assignment, but I continued to see you anyway.”
“Who—” I struggle to form a sentence, resisting the urge to punch him in the jaw.
“I’m your friend,” Gun says. “You have to believe me.” His blue eyes are earnest.
“Your company.” I have a sick feeling in my stomach. I’m pretty sure I know which company he works for. “Tell me the name of your company.”
Sulan Box Set (Episodes 1-4) Page 46
