Lucky 7

by Rae D. Magdon

  “Hmm?” It’s back to Nevares now. Something about that feels weird, but I’m not sure what.

  “For the meeting.”

  Right. The meeting. “Yeah, sorry. There’s this fog...”

  Sasha walks over to the dresser. I roll out of bed in time for her to toss me a shirt and some fresh shorts. “It happens,” she says, turning her back to me. “I’m used to it, so I do what I have to do. But I don’t enjoy it.”

  I bite back a ‘Could’ve fooled me.’ It won’t help the situation.

  “So why do it?” I swap shirts and shorts while she’s not looking, too anxious to be turned on for once.

  Once I’m dressed, I clear my throat, and Sasha turns toward me. “Same reason you do. Because someone needed something from me.” I can tell she’s being straight with me. Her face has gotten easier to read. I can also guess who the ‘someone’ is, but I don’t say Megan’s name. Sasha’s not being a cabrona today, and I want to see how long it’ll last.

  I pull my hair into a sloppy bun at the back of my head. “So, meeting?”

  “In the kitchen. Crew’s waiting on us.”

  Sasha and I reach the door at the same time. There’s an awkward shuffle as we try to figure out who’s going first, and eventually, she tilts so I can leave. Even so, I can’t get out the door without my rear making contact with her pelvis. My breath hitches. My mind’s still fogged up, but my body has other ideas. Ideas that involve Sasha grasping my hips and pulling me back until my ass is grinding into the tops of her thighs.

  But Sasha doesn’t reach out, and I feel like an idiot for hesitating. I scurry out of the way and head for the kitchen, pretending my brain didn’t just take an all-expenses-paid vacation to whore island. If I don’t get my shit together, the locals might decide to make me the mayor.

  Everyone else is already waiting. Rock’s sitting in a chair that’s much too small for him. I’m surprised he managed to fit without snapping the legs. Cherry and Rami are being disgusting as usual, holding hands on top of the table and gazing sappily into each other’s eyes. Rami has a blond goatee, glasses, a silver nose ring, and a crisp cat’s eye. I still don’t get how they do it. Every time I see them, they look like a stranger. Doc’s the last one to notice me, because she’s perched on the edge of the table itself with her legs swinging a few inches above the floor.

  “Get your skinny ass off that table, chiquita. People eat there.”

  “Whatever,” Doc huffs, hopping down and slumping in the remaining empty chair. “But that means you gotta stand.”

  I find an empty patch of wall to lean against as Sasha arrives at the table. She braces both hands on it, all business, leaning forward so everyone can see the determination on her face. “Wiping ourselves from AxysGen’s database was step one. Now we need my brainbox.”

  “Okay,” I interrupt. “Before we go any further, I’m done with this cryptic bullshit. What’s so important about your stupid brainbox that I should put my ass on the line for it?”

  “Because whoever has the brainbox could theoretically acquire access to me,” says Val, popping into existence a few feet away.

  I flinch in surprise and take a step sideways, putting some distance between us. “Whoa, where the fuck did you come from?”

  Val tilts her head at me and smiles. Her avatar looks the same as it did in AxysGen’s intranet system—skinny, Black, feminine. She’s wearing a different outfit though, a purple blouse and grey pencil skirt. I guess AIs get the urge to play dress-up like humans do, although she seems to have a favorite color scheme.

  “This form is composed of condensed lightwaves. I am able to use it when my databox is plugged into the Hole’s main terminal. My servers exist in one of the back rooms. Now that everyone has arrived, I have chosen to project a light-based version of my avatar into the room so I may attend the meeting.”

  I barely have time to connect the dots—that’s why Doc was so sketchy about ‘more storage’ while showing me around my first night in the Hole—before Cherry butts in. “She means she’s a hologram. Check it out.” She lets go of Rami’s hand and waves hers through the air, cutting her fingers through Val’s stomach.

  I put a hand on my chest and exhale. “Ay dios santo. Warn me next time or something. You’re gonna give me nightmares.” More nightmares, anyway.

  “Noted,” Val says. “I apologize for startling you.”

  “Enough,” Sasha says, trying to get us back on track. “The databox you had—”

  “You know, Pocket Val,” Cherry says with a grin.

  “Shut up, Cherry. Val’s databox is one of two keys. The other one’s in my brainbox. If AxysGen gets both of the keys, they’ll be able to access Val’s source code. Somehow, they figured that out.”

  Shit. That sounds bad. Really, really bad. “So, you’re saying AxysGen could take Val?”

  “I’m saying AxysGen could change Val,” Sasha says. “Make her do whatever they want, be whatever they want. And they will find a way to take her, unless we get the second key back.”

  I nod grimly. I don’t trust Val, but AxysGen is downright evil. I saw what she was able to do on the intranet, how immensely powerful she was. A corp like AxysGen could use her to sabotage other corps, build better cyberweapons, even take over the infrastructure of entire cities. The possibilities are endless—and terrifying. “Shit. I signed on to stay alive, not save the world.”

  “Well, too fucking bad, chaparrita,” Cherry says. “Looks like we have to do both.”

  “So, where is AxysGen keeping the brainbox?” Rami asks, looking expectantly at Val.

  “The good news is that I was able to ping its location.”

  I stare at her in shock. “You did what? Pings go both ways! AxysGen could be knocking down our door any minute!”

  “I retrieved the location when we were leaving Tokyo,” Val says in a calm voice. “Axys Generations does not have the Hole’s coordinates.”

  Somehow, nobody looks comforted. Doc sighs. “So what’s the real bad news?”

  “Sasha’s brainbox is currently being held at a private mansion owned by Veronica Cross, located several thousand kilometers outside of Hong Kong.”

  The table explodes with noise.

  “What the shit?”

  “Oh, come on!”

  “Fucking seriously?”

  “Of course it is.”

  Even Rock makes an unhappy grunt.

  “Question,” Cherry says to Sasha. “How much of your dick would I have to suck for you to not make us break into Veronica Cross’s house for your brainbox? She’s the CEO! That place has to be locked down tighter than your ass.”

  I snort. If I’m the mayor of whore island, Cherry’s at least on the city council.

  “This is serious,” Sasha says, her voice a warning growl. “And it’s about more than keeping Val safe and out of AxysGen’s hands, although that’s definitely priority one. I’ve been having…flashbacks. Intense ones.”

  The room quiets. I swallow hard. Guess I’m not the only one who bounces in and out of the present like a ping-pong ball, only to end up tangled in the net.

  “You know I trust you, cupcake,” Rami says to Sasha, “but you have to admit this is dangerous.”

  “We need the box, Rami. For Val and for me. I keep skipping back to that night, but it’s like trying to solve a puzzle with half the pieces missing. Some sections are grouped together, but I can’t get the full picture.”

  “You really think we can pull this off?” Doc asks. She sounds hopeful, and she’s looking at Sasha with admiration in her eyes. I’m reminded again of just how young she is. Sometimes it’s easy to forget.

  “Yes,” Sasha says, without hesitation. “Val? Lights.”

  Val dismisses the overhead lighting with a wave of her hand. At the same time, the surface of the table changes color, going from black to a pale, glowing white. Another holographic image appears over it, a miniature mansion surrounded by a wide green lawn.

  I grin. “Projectors
in the table? Cute.”

  “I would say the crew has found it useful rather than cute, but I will keep your preferred adjective in mind.” Val spreads her fingers, zooming in on the mansion itself. “We are fortunate that Veronica Cross decided to move the brainbox to this location. Originally, it was being held in one of AxysGen’s Mumbai facilities. That level of security would have been much more difficult to bypass.”

  All the wind rushes out of me. My hands tremble, and I can only stare at Val in shock. Mumbai. Mierda. The databox I almost died for and Sasha’s stolen brainbox are the same thing.

  “Nevares?” Sasha is looking at me, but I can’t read her in the dark. Is she confused? Annoyed? Worried? My chest is constricting and I can’t think clearly.

  I fight off a wave of dizziness. “Your brainbox. I’m pretty sure that’s what my old crew was hired to steal.” I don’t have proof. Shit, I can’t remember half of what happened during that op, but there are too many coincidences to discount.

  Surprised reactions ripple around the room. Rock’s giant hands clench in his lap. Doc whistles. Rami gasps, and Cherry mutters, “Oh fuck. So that’s why AxysGen killed your old crew and wants you dead. They think you’re involved.”

  I don’t respond. Instead, the sour taste of fear fills my mouth. Sure, the idea of AxysGen stealing Val is horrible, but I’d been able to stay calm by reminding myself that I could bail. This is supposed to be Sasha and her crew’s problem, not mine. But apparently I’m wrapped up in this mess now too, whether I want to be or not.

  “Who hired you?” Sasha asks sharply, boring holes in me with her eyes.

  I flinch, still fighting down panic. “I don’t know. Jento was our fixer for that op. It was anonymous.”

  “Well why the hell didn’t you ask him after it all went to shit?”

  “Calm down, Sasha,” Rami says. “Whoever hired Elena’s crew might not have known what they were trying to steal, either.”

  I recognize the expression on Sasha’s face. It looks like anger at first glance, but there’s fear underneath. “If someone else knows about Val…” Sasha mutters.

  Val hurries to reassure her. “At this point, it is only speculation. If an individual or group unaffiliated with Veronica Cross has indeed learned of my existence, I recommend attempting to locate them after your brainbox has been recovered. In my opinion, that is a more urgent issue.”

  Sasha exhales loudly. “Right. Okay. There are three levels of security inside Cross’s mansion.” She moves the holographic image in a circle, and several red dots appear around the mansion, connected by glowing orange lines. “First, there are guards. They’re nothing special, just guards getting a paycheck.”

  Cherry looks at Rock. “Say they’re ‘just guards’ again when they start shooting at us. Right, big guy?”

  Rock shrugs his massive shoulders, seemingly unconcerned.

  “You read my mind,” Sasha says. “You and Rock are on distraction duty.” She changes the view again with a flick of her finger. The walls of the mansion become see-through, showing the inner layout in greater detail. It’s big—five floors, more rooms than a person could ever possibly use. If I wasn’t still reeling from the Mumbai realization, I would have curled my lip in disgust.

  “I assume Doc and I are infiltration?” Rami asks.

  Sasha nods. “Second layer of security. We need you to sneak in through the back and access the security hub to let us in.” Another orange line appears, leading up through the back door to a small room on the third floor. “This is your route. You need to move fast, because Cross has assault turrets mounted on her roof.”

  “Crazy bitch,” Cherry mutters, looking almost impressed.

  “We’re going to trigger Cross’s security alarms,” Sasha continues. “There’s no avoiding that. So Rami and Doc need to shut the turrets down fast, let us in, and issue a fake all-clear to buy us a little time. Rock and Cherry won’t be able to hold out for long.”

  Rami’s sweet face looks more serious than I’ve ever seen it. “You can count on us. Right, Doc?”

  “Yup.” She nudges at Rock’s massive leg with her foot. “Patching up turret holes requires a lot of expensive parts.”

  “Right.” Sasha brings us in closer, highlighting a level underneath the house itself. “Once the turrets are down, you’ll need to open the basement for us. There’s a dual security system, one that requires access at the door and permission from the security hub itself.”

  I look at her. “Who is the ‘us’ going into the basement?”

  “You, me, and Val, Nevares. Once the door’s open, we’ll grab the box while everyone else clears an exit path.”

  “Why not send chaparrita with Rami and Doc?” Cherry asks. “You thinking there’ll be extra code to crack inside the basement?”

  “I know there is,” Sasha says. “How do you think I got the rest of this information?”

  “You sly fox,” Rami chuckles. “You paid someone off, didn’t you?”

  Sasha gives a half-shrug. “Credits talk. Wouldn’t you know, one of Cross’s security techs is going into an early retirement the night before our op goes down.”

  “You sure you can trust him?” Doc asks.

  Val answers: “Based on my calculations, I determined it to be a relatively safe transaction. The individuals you call ‘cogs’ subsist on an insufficient and unstable income. They have low to nonexistent job satisfaction, and many of them do not hold their employers in high regard. It is doubtful that this individual will inform Veronica Cross of our plans. He very likely resents her too much to reveal them.”

  That’s cold reassurance. Even if Sasha’s spy doesn’t double-cross us, the plan is still sketchy. “You don’t know what’s waiting for us in that basement, right?” I ask.

  The corners of Sasha’s mouth twitch slightly, but she shakes her head no.

  “It’s a trap, just like before. They want Val’s other key. Your brainbox is bait, and we’d be stupid to fall for it.”

  Sasha’s cold eyes eat their way into me. “Thought you had more guts, Nevares. Or at least more of a conscience.”

  I bristle, pushing off the wall and taking a step toward her. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

  “You know what will happen if AxysGen takes Val. Do you want to live in a world where the power they already have is multiplied? You know who’s going to suffer the most when that happens.”

  My blood burns, pounding hot and hard through my veins. Sasha has a point, and that only pisses me off more. I clench my fists until they throb, nails digging into my palms. “In what back-asswards universe does not wanting to go on a suicide mission make me a bad person?”

  Sasha and I pull toward each other like magnets, standing toe to toe. She glares down at me, using that height of hers to try and throw me. “Because you’re too much of a coward. You’re all talk, Nevares. Almost running over a lady and her dog messes you up, but when billions of innocent lives are at stake, you don’t care.”

  “I do fucking care,” I snap. Her stupid fucking face is hovering above me, and my hand flexes with the urge to slap her. “You think I want to see any of that happen? I don’t. I’m not some fucking sociopath. But you’re not doing this for the greater good any more than I am. All you really want is to shoot people and blow shit up to avenge your dead girlfriend.”

  The rest of the room reacts immediately. Doc’s eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. Rock makes a worried noise. Even Val looks surprised, like those fancy algorithms of hers weren’t expecting me to say that.

  Cherry gets out of her chair, reaching for my arm, but I shrug her off. Rami heads for Sasha, trying a different tactic. “Breathe, Sasha. She didn’t mean—”

  Sasha doesn’t respond to them. She stays fixated on me, close enough for me to feel her breath. “Don’t talk shit about what you don’t understand, Nevares,” she snarls, lips peeled back to show her clenched teeth.

  “Oh, I understand. I understand I gave us a perfect fucking op
portunity to go underground when I wiped that database, but you wanna go be some brooding, B-grade VR anti-hero with a tragic backstory. News flash: that shit isn’t sexy in real life. And who are you doing this for? A goddamn FRAI that your crew made! She fried someone back in Tokyo like it was nothing, and she’s not even human!”

  “She did that to save your ass, and don’t you dare say she isn’t human,” Sasha snarls. “Val’s a sentient being, and she’s family. If you have a heart in there, imagine it was Jacobo or Mateo. You’d kill anyone and everyone to keep them safe, so don’t talk like you’ve got some kind of moral superiority.”

  She’s absolutely right, which only makes me madder. “If I have a heart? Bitch, you’re the fucking Tin Man! The queen of the goddamn South Pole! ¿Te crees muy chingona? ¡Pues chinga tu madre!”

  Sasha grabs the front of my shirt, jerking me in close. Her face is an inch away, and I brace myself for a fight. But she just holds me there, dark eyes blazing, lips trembling with each ragged pant that passes between us.

  I’m not sure who leans in first. Maybe both of us? All I know is that one moment we’re spitting at each other like feral cats, and the next our mouths are crashing together. The kiss is furious. Violent, bruising, like we’re trying to hurt each other. Sasha’s fists tighten around the fabric of my blouse until the collar digs into my throat. I bite down hard on her bottom lip, feeling a spike of something as she hisses in pain. Bitterness floods through me, but her mouth is sweet, and somehow that pisses me off more.

  Fuck. She tastes better than I thought. I grip Sasha’s biceps, desperate to dig my nails in somewhere. I want to rake them across her skin, make her feel the same pain I feel clawing inside my chest. Every moment I spend sucking her tongue makes me want to rip her open, to scratch and tear. But I don’t do any of that. I melt. I fucking melt like a popsicle in the middle of summer, clutching Sasha’s shoulders and moaning into her mouth.

  Sasha’s deep growl feeds the white-hot fire in my core. A flash flood swells between my legs, soaking straight through my panties. Slickness spills down my thighs like there’s no barrier at all, and the ruined fabric clings close. I arch forward, trying to get closer, rubbing my body against hers.