“You’ll do great. I know it.” She raised up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Ping me later.”
While Ari was in the shower, Niomi sent her a ping that they’d set up a meeting with her family. It took a team to arrange, so they would be untraceable. Ari dressed in a pair of dark jeans, comfortable old favorites that reminded her of home, and a blue t-shirt she couldn’t figure out how they got so soft.
She didn’t want to wear her Fit Suit in this VR to let Niomi monitor every heartbeat and pulse. These VR’s were different from normal for her. The program connected to an illegal market, which cost plenty, but let them contact VRs around the world. And breaking through the barriers Ari’s government set up wasn’t easy either.
“You ready?” Niomi greeted her as Ari entered the VR lab.
“Have been for weeks.” This would be only the second time she had spoken to her family in months.
“Get on it.” Niomi motioned to the seat. “I’m just finishing the connection. Any setting you want in particular? Better to not use your powers if you can help it.”
“How about an island or beach? Like what we have here?” She’d love to show her mom what her view is every day. Even her brother, Marco, might be jealous.
Her trainer shook her head. “I can’t do the exact location. Too dangerous, but I’ll find something exciting.”
Ari rolled her eyes as she sat in the leather seat. Exciting to Niomi could be a volcano or something. Ari leaned back and reached for the cord.
With her hair already in a high pony, Ari slipped the cord in the base of her skull, where her port resided. The metallic click still sent a cold shiver down her spine. She’d never get comfortable with a machine invading her mind, and she never wanted to.
“You have thirty minutes,” Niomi said from the computer. “We’ll be monitoring for eavesdroppers.”
“Thanks.” Ari tried to relax, closed her eyes and let herself go.
When she opened her eyes, she stood at the edge of a great canyon. One step forward and there was at least a hundred-foot drop. Her muscles tensed as she stepped away from the edge. Exciting was one way to look at it. Stepping back, Ari took in the landscape. Browns and reds colored the canyon walls, with a clear blue lake carving a path down below. Tall bushes surrounded her and set in the middle was a wood bench.
She sat down and didn’t have to wait long before her brother appeared—alone. He wore a black buttoned up shirt and jeans, his hair a bit long and starting to curl around his ears. Every day he looked more and more like their father. Her heart ached at their loss. Last time she saw her father, he was babbling to himself inside a VR program, one which he’d never left for the last seven years.
She shoved those memories aside and rushed to give her brother a hug.
“Good to see you too, Ari.” He returned the hug, his arms wrapping around her waist and lifting her in the air. “Putting on some poundage, sis.”
Pushing back, she whacked Marco on the shoulder. “Shut up.”
“Ouch. Muscles too.” He rubbed his arm, over-exaggerating.
“I’ve been working out, so watch it.”
He laughed. “It’s good to see you’re doing well and can fight off unwanted advances.”
She ignored the dig at Reed. “Where’s Mom?” She turned, hoping to see her mother join the virtual.
“Couldn’t make it.” His eyes lowered, a soberness falling on his usually jovial features.
Ari grabbed his arm. “What happened?”
“What didn’t? The government tried to put her into a labor camp, saying that she needed to pay back for your education. I was underground at the moment—”
“She can’t be at a camp.” Ari had constantly worried about the backlash for running away from her schooling, but people reassured her they would be safe. “I’m coming home, now.”
“Whoa, slow down and let me finish.” He led her over to the bench. “Don’t worry. She’s not at a camp. I broke her out and she’s hiding off-grid with me.”
Ari slumped against the bench. “Good. But what does that mean exactly? Why isn’t she here?”
“They only told me about this meeting an hour ago, for security reasons they say. I’m out on business and had to find a place to hook into an off-country network. Not the easiest thing to do with an hours’ notice. And it’s not the most upstanding establishment. Mom would have to clean this machine for an hour before using it.”
“Probably.” Their mother was a clean freak that hated VRs to begin with. “So how is she doing with everything?”
“Given the alternative, good. I think she’s finally come to see the value of the black market.”
“Are you getting the money I send you?”
“Yeah. Dave makes sure I get it in cash. It helps Mom’s conscience. She looks down on my methods to earn money.” He grinned the same naughty smile from when he was eight.
“Good. Is everyone else okay? Reed’s mom?”
“Yeah. I give her cash on the side, but she refuses it most the time, saying to save it for Reed. How is he?” Marco had been best friends with Reed since they were kids.
“Good. He’s learning a ton and gets to do his art and graphics at night.”
“Is he keeping his hands to himself?”
“A bit too much, actually. Could you talk to him about that?”
“Gross, sis.” He pushed her slightly. “Also, Tessa wants you to say hi soon. I have a couple messages for you to download off the server when we’re done. And that idiot Garrett from school keeps posting on all the gaming boards for you. Saying you owe him or some trash like that.”
Her stomach sank at the idea of Garrett. She did owe him a favor but didn’t see how to return it here in the middle of the ocean. She’d worry about that later. Maybe Tessa—her old roommate—would have an idea. “What else have I missed?”
Marco continued updating her on all the neighborhood gossip and when done grilled Ari on what she was doing, eating, and playing. Her brother loved gaming as much as anyone. She told him what she could while remaining as vague as possible. The minutes flew by and took her back to the time when they last lived in the same house. They would sneak into each other’s rooms and talk until they fell asleep. Except this time neither came close to tired, and Niomi’s voice signaled three minutes left.
“That didn’t feel like half an hour,” Marco said, standing up.
“Not at all.”
“So when will we see you next?”
Ari shrugged. “Not sure. I’m starting the next phase of my training soon, not that I’m sure what that entails.”
“Well, don’t get crazy in there, you’ll—”
“Get out now! And cover your tracks.” Niomi’s voice boomed inside the program. “Now!”
Marco’s smile fell, and he nodded. “I’ll be fine. Get out.” And he quickly vanished.
Only then did Ari pull out of the program.
Chapter Four
“What the hell?” Niomi shouted as she pulled the cable out of Ari’s port. “When I said leave, I meant it.”
“I needed to make sure Marco was okay.”
“That was really stupid.”
Ari ignored the insult. “What happened in there?”
Niomi stormed back to her computer, her fingers flying over the keys. “Someone hacked into our site. Security is looking into it now. You didn’t do anything in there did you? Morph the program?”
“No. I was just talking to my brother.” Ari pushed up from the chair, slowly curling her fist. “By the way, the government is after my mother. She had to go into hiding. Did you know?”
“I don’t follow your mother. My job is you.”
Ari slammed her fist onto the table. “You promised they would be taken care of.”
“Take it up with HR. I have enough trouble taking care of you.”
“Niomi!” Fury raced through her veins. This wasn’t something Niomi could just blow off.
Her trainer slow
ly turned, glancing at Ari’s fist on the table. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “You’re right. Your family is important. Are they safe and getting the money they need?”
Ari realized her body trembled in fear. Would her family be okay? She forced herself to focus on the here and now. “Marco got my mom out, and they are in hiding. Dave has been getting them the money. But what about now? Will Marco be okay?”
“I’m trying to find that out.” Niomi motioned to the screen. “We take every threat seriously and will track down the hack. It could be just a bored troll out there or something more. But given what I read about your brother in your file, I think he’ll be okay. After hacking into the Mayor’s feed and escaping unscathed, he can make it. He’s smart and has connections. And if we have to, we can relocate them if they want.”
Sitting down on a nearby stool, the tightness in Ari’s chest lessened. “You’re right. Marco can take care of himself. And he’d hate for me to pull him out and trap him somewhere in a real job.” He told her no more than once when she tried to convince him to come with her.
“We have a team that will assess the situation. They’ll let us know as soon as they know. If people don’t connect you to them, the safer they will be.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Go grab a drink and calm down. I’ll go over things with Security and create an incident report. Vinh will be dropping off your upgraded suit soon as well.” Niomi turned back to her computer.
Trying to calm herself, Ari headed down to the kitchen to grab a drink. Since she’d accepted the position at VisionTech, she worried whether it was the right decision for her family. If she hadn’t, the government would have forced her into another position without ever seeing her family again. Was it selfish to want freedom, even if your family had to pay the cost? Next time, she’d talk her brother into coming here or at least sending her mom.
Sick of being stuck with her own thoughts, she called Vinh. “Are you heading over with my suit?”
“No hello? How are you doing, Vinh? I’m sad at how downhill your manners have gone since you arrived at VisionTech.”
Vinh continued rambling. As she turned the corner, she found he stood in the hall with a suit in hand. “I blame Niomi really. This isolation can’t be good for a person.”
Ignoring his lecture on manners, her lips curled up in a smile at the sight of her new suit. “You finished it.”
“You doubted me?” It was a shiny gray material that was clearly expensive.
“Never.” She reached for her suit, the soft material lighter than she expected. With the ache and worry of her family still present, she was grateful for the distraction. “Have time for a drink?”
He glanced at the time on his wrist. “Yeah. They won’t miss me for a while.”
They headed to the kitchen for some hot drinks. Ari thought the coffee machine in the communal kitchen must have authentic beans growing in the walls, along with farmers grounding them by hand. It was better than anything she ever tasted. They each grabbed a latte and sat down to chat. Talking to him about home, the fear faded to the background. Vinh laughed as she relayed some of Marco’s old stunts, and he shared some of his own.
Vinh grew up not too far from where they were and was recruited as an engineer. Making his own AI by the age of fourteen, he was brilliant and left his home in Thalasia when he was seventeen. He’d been here only a few months longer than Ari.
“So, did you ask out Tara from Marketing?” She’d been hearing about Tara for weeks now.
He shrugged. “She started dating some idiot from Security. I guess some people are into big muscles and not big brains.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. Glad I found out now and didn’t waste any of my brilliance on her.” A message pinged on his HUB, and he heaved a sigh as he read it. “I got to head out. Thanks for the coffee.”
“Anytime.” Ari realized that they didn’t even get to talk about her suit, really. Which must have been hard for Vinh. She traced a silver line that caught the light against the black material. Guess the time for moping was done.
Ari got to test out the suit sooner than she thought. The next day they went inside a basic VR program. With Vinh’s new suit on, Ari stood across from Niomi at what looked like a park of some kind. Cement paths curved around large grassy areas. Large trees were scattered around, providing cool shade as colorful flowers dotted the landscape, adding the perfect amount of color. It would have been a great place to spend the day with Reed, instead Ari stared at Niomi who looked ready to fight someone.
“Do you remember the first profile in the notebook I gave you?”
Ari thought of the strawberry blond woman and nodded.
“Become her.”
“Now?” Ari had never assumed another personality, though she’d been taught how.
Niomi looked around, her shoulders raised. “Anything better to do?”
“Okay.” Ari closed her eyes, thinking back to the woman, Kari. Most people would consider her attractive with wavy strawberry blond hair and dark blue eyes. Though Kari tried to hide her large forehead with bangs, her full cheeks took up a lot of real estate on her face. Her body was thin, except for a large chest, which Ari didn’t look forward to wearing or creating.
Taking a deep breath, she began the writing code. Instead of manually writing code number by number, with Ari’s gift, the world morphed around. Her heart picked up with exhilaration as she recreated herself, pulling from Kari’s picture. When completed, Ari opened her eyes.
“Look at yourself.” Niomi brow slanted in annoyance. “This ‘close your eyes’ thing has to go.”
Looking down, Ari saw the problem. She exaggerated all the physical aspects she remembered. This version of Kari could have passed for a cartoon character. Her chest was double what Ari remembered, while the rest of her thin frame lacked any muscular definition. Her face warmed at the embarrassing rendition. “I guess I need some work.”
“You guess?” Niomi cocked a brow, but her mouth twitched as if tapping down a smile. “First rule, keep your eyes open so you can make adjustments along the way.”
Ari lifted her arm and focused on the code that laid underneath the image. It took her a few minutes to complete the arm perfectly, and to add the freckles to the right locations. A perfect imitation proved harder than she thought.
With a huff of breath, she dropped her arm. “I can’t be expected to do this every time I enter a VR. I can’t possibly memorize every freckle and hair for every person you gave me. I may be a warper, but I don’t have a photographic memory.”
“That’s where your suit comes in. It can memorize files you create and recall them for you.”
“Really?” Ari chuckled with relief.
“You still have to create them all yourself and learn to do it fast.”
Nothing could be easy with Niomi. “Why? Why does everything have to be the hard way with you?”
“What if your suit malfunctions? What if you have to become somebody else to survive?”
“I didn’t think about that.” Ari swallowed, embarrassed for her overreaction.
“The VLEX is a world unto itself with a whole different set of rules. Imagine sneaking into a top-secret meeting, the punishment for which was life in prison.”
“Wait, wait a moment.” Ari rose a hand, grateful to find it hers. “What I’m doing could make me end up in prison?”
“If they could catch you or us, yes, but they won’t. It is that serious though. They will track you down if they can. Warpers have always been banned from VLEX. Not that it stops all the powerful countries and corporations from sending their spies in.”
“Then why am I going there?”
“To find out information about a new bill that has been introduced to the world council. They will not let private corporations in on the dealings, only governments, and we can’t trust them to tell us what this bill entails. Information is power and some small message or captured conversatio
n could be worth millions.”
Ari paced for a moment inside the program. She knew what she was hired to do couldn’t be easy, not for what she made, but the realization of what she had to do was a bit daunting. Steeling her resolve, she lifted her hands and began again, forming the arm into Kari.
Minutes, then hours passed as they worked on perfecting Kari. Ari felt almost embarrassed how intimately she knew this woman’s body. When they were complete, they saved the data and worked on the different ways the woman liked to style her hair. She looked forward to someone with a simple short crew cut, maybe a man.
If it ended at looks, maybe Ari could have handled it, but then there were even more things to perfect. The sound of her voice, how she took her coffee, her education, and they even covered her past lovers—which Ari found disturbing. Ari’s mind felt like a pile of mush. The thoughts of all the files on her computer overwhelmed her as well. Just when she thought she couldn’t do any more, Niomi had one more test for her.
“Kari,” Niomi began, she’d been referring to Ari as Kari for some time now. “What would you do if I did this?” Niomi shoved Ari backwards.
Ari stumbled back in surprise. Her training kicked in and she took a defensive stance. Niomi attacked, striking with her fists. Ari blocked, spun under to force Niomi to turn. Her face tightened, her lips pulling down in a scowl. Without warning, Niomi lunged forward, tackling her to the ground. It took mere seconds before Ari was on her stomach pinned to the ground eating grass.
“Give.” Ari mumbled from her position. With Niomi’s fierce attack, Ari tried to figure out what the hell was Niomi trying to prove here.
“There is no give, here.”
“What?”
Niomi dug her knee into Ari’s back. She grunted with pain. Ari had seen Niomi pissed before, but not like this.
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