Hard Wired Trilogy

by DeAnna Pearce

  She dug through files wondering where someone would put their own childhood address. It’s not like she’d be writing a personal plan for a visit. Despite Antoine’s threats, Ari really did want to find the address, to find out for herself whether she killed Kari by being willing to take over her life.

  File after file and she couldn’t find anything. Ten minutes had passed, and she still had a lot to do besides this. Ari turned to Kari’s email in hopes maybe she found a meeting with someone for coffee or something. Then she remembered she wouldn’t contact outside people or at least she shouldn’t. Ari had been reading her emails for weeks now and would have seen something. When else would someone refer to something personal at work? Then it came to her. School.

  Ari searched for any mention of schools, colleges, and then resumes. She found it. A message from a college six months ago that mentioned an upcoming reunion. It wasn’t an address, but it would have to be enough. She saved the information to the drive Antoine could access. At least she found the school Kari had gone to, and who knows, maybe she grew up nearby. Ari closed the computer then stood to leave when President Higgins walked in.

  “Good morning, sir.” She stiffened slightly, realizing she had no idea what VisionTech told him when she left. They oversaw the real life deception of this program.

  Pausing mid-step, he looked at her with bewilderment. “What are you doing here?”

  “Just finishing up a few things. I’m all set, so I’ll be heading out though. Have a great day.” She walked past him, eyes focused on the door behind him.

  He reached out and grabbed her arm. “You should not have access to this floor anymore. You shouldn’t be here.”

  “I’m leaving now.” She pulled on her arm, but he didn’t loosen his grip.

  “Security,” he yelled. He didn’t have to yell, since inside the VLEX calling for security notified them electronically. They would be here in mere seconds.

  “I wish you wouldn’t have done that.” She considered fighting him. He was tall, but with his age, she’d have the advantage. She couldn’t chance though that she couldn’t be gone before security arrived. They could track her electronic signature and possibly track her down physically.

  As he started to drag her outside, she focused on the code around her. In mere seconds, President Higgins was left grasping on to thin air. She poured through the code enough to find herself outside nearby the fountain. A small pain throbbed behind her eyes. She pinched the bridge of her nose until it passed, not dwelling on what it meant.

  Instead of donning Kari’s appearance, which may now be linked to security. She chose another of the skins she memorized, Stacee. Her dark skin blended with the variety of ethnicities found in VLEX. Ari kept the clothes and hair simple focusing more on getting through the shops undetected.

  When she arrived at Emil’s offices, she waited impatiently at the door. A few passersby gave her awkward glances as she waited in front of a door that was obviously open. Finally, an unfamiliar man opened the unseen door to Emil’s rooms and without a word he escorted her in.

  Once inside Ari spoke, “I need to see Emil right away.”

  “He’s been waiting for you.”

  They entered the room, where Emil stood to the side of his desks staring at an empty screen. Empty to her at least. Who knew what Emil saw in this place.

  “You shouldn’t have alerted security.” He remained focused on the screen. “The place is on high alert.”

  “I have my file,” she told him, uncertainty tightening her stomach.

  “I know. I found it when I realized you were here. You’ll need to learn how to hide your information better in here.” His calm demeanor infuriated her.

  “I need help and I need money. I’m no longer with VisionTech.”

  “Good girl.” He turned with a smile. “Go to worldwide game Gaia and search out Bacchus. He will set you up with what you need.”

  Ari recognized the reference to Greek mythology but had no clue where to find this Gaia. “Don’t you get it. I’ll be homeless by the end of the week, stranded in some foreign country.”

  Emil stepped towards her. “You’re smart and more than capable if you got away from VisionTech. We can only do so much inside the VLEX. We have connections all over the world. You’re part of the team now and will be taken care of, but it’s not for free. You have to do your part.”

  Ari swallowed, wishing for damn water, as she wondered what exactly she’d have to do. She’d do what she had to, to get by and then get those she loved and get the hell out of here. “Okay. I’ll talk to you in Gaia.”

  “Not yet. I have a task for you before you leave.”

  “A task?” He made it sound as simple as getting coffee, but she knew better than that.

  “Yes.”

  “I have now,” she checked the time on her HUB, “eight minutes before I need to leave.”

  “Then we better not waste time debating this.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “Then I won’t be able to help you financially.” His smile vanished, an icy demeanor chilling her to the bone.

  “So that’s it, huh?” Ari didn’t have much to bargain with, but at the same time, it’s not like she could really hurt anyone in here. If Emil wanted money or something of the sort, he could get it himself.

  He waited for an answer.

  “Okay. I’ll give you five minutes, then I’m gone.”

  “Good choice. We’re ready to announce to the world that we are watching them. Hints and rumors have flown through the years. It’s time the world leaders know that they are being watched and will be held responsible for all their actions.”

  “And you want me to say that to who?”

  “To everyone.” His chagrined smile returned, full force. “I assume you can figure that out. I uploaded the short speech to your drive.”

  “Everyone.” The magnitude hit her, but she couldn’t dwell on it. On the physical cost it would take and how it would be painting a target right on her. “You have four minutes.”

  Without thinking too hard on it, she focused on what she had to do. As she fled his office, she realized she had wanted to do this for some time. Tired of the hiding and the lies, people needed to know warpers were real. Presidents and those in power already knew as they used them for the tools and weapons they could become, but everyone else should know. Parents raising their kids, and people whose lives were run by their oppressors.

  Ari knew exactly where she needed to be. As she worked the code through her mind, a code she learned back at school which felt like an eon ago, she rushed to the main fountain. The morning rush was heading in. People appearing outside buildings, some headed for a morning coffee. Was she really going to do this?

  Don’t think. Just do. With that thought she climbed on the edge of the fountain and turned to face the crowd. A few people glanced her way, but no one stopped. A quick glance on her HUB and she realized she had two minutes. Taking a deep breath, she put the code in place, pulled up the speaker, and exhaled.

  “To the people of VLEX.” Her voice boomed through the courtyard, startling her for a moment before she continued. People in the square now stopped with confused expressions. Ignoring their shocked faces, she stared at the building in the distance. “This is a warning. Warpers are rising up. We’re taking off the chains you want to bind us with. We’ll no longer be slaves to the highest bidder, no longer doing your dirty work. We’ll fight for the world we want to create. Starting now!”

  A firm hand gripped her arm as she finished the sentence. A tall guard pulled her to the ground. “You’re under arrest.” He quickly slapped something metal on her arm.

  After pulling back for a moment, she focused on the code, retreating to safety. As the code appeared around her, she realized the guard slapped her with something more than a mere restraining device. It was a tracking device of some sort. She didn’t dare take it back with her. If they traced her back to the real world, she didn’t have the mean
s to relocate or escape. Anger and frustration boiled under her skin.

  More security appeared in the courtyard, surrounding her. A myriad of thoughts colored in panic fled through her mind. The security guard locked her hands behind her, and it pulled her out of the code. Twisting, she kicked at the guard, and it took him by surprise. He stumbled back, and she took that moment to free her hands. She couldn’t flee though not until she took off the tracking device.

  She saw the tool on the guard’s hip. She moved towards him and another pair of hands fell on her. The alarm she’d set on her HUB began beeping. If Antoine pulled her out now, they would know where she was. Rage exploded coloring her vision, and she struck out at the man behind her. Instinct must have flowed through her as the guard flew backwards ten feet or so.

  Code flew in and out of her vision, mixing with the images around her. She didn’t think, just acted. She took the tool from the guard’s belt, some kind of program but made for an idiot. She hit the key which unlocked the tracer on her just as she was tackled to the ground. Others joined him, pressing down on her.

  Pain struck at her, clouding her thoughts. Just leave. But fuzzy spots blocked her now. Her vision blanked in and out, a sharp pain stabbing in her mind, and fury exploded. She screamed, the sound echoing through the program, blocking out all conscious thought, but it gave her the out she needed to leave.

  Soft hands pulled the cable out of the back of her neck as black stars danced in her vision.

  Antoine’s dark eyes bore down on her.

  “I got Kari’s information.” Her words slurred slightly.

  “Wonderful, my dear. Some were surprised you’d go through all of that. They even doubted your power when they saw you dancing with me.”

  He continued rambling on, and Ari wondered if that last trip caused some type of brain damage. Why was Antoine talking about dancing? She struggled to sit up.

  “Give yourself time, my dear. You’ve been through a lot. We have time to rest, then I’ll take you back to the others. Sarah has a great remedy for our special kind of torturous hangover.”

  Our? Our special kind of headache. Slowly sitting up, her vision finally cleared, and she struggled to put together the pieces of what was happening.

  Looking up into his dark eyes, Ari remembered what happened after her first trip to VLEX and Niomi’s surprise that Kari had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who stuck with Kari despite Ari impersonating her, a boyfriend with amazing abilities to hack security feed, and a boyfriend who put her inside VLEX without much resistance.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “I think you know.” A familiar smile flashed on Antione’s face, or who was also known as Emil. “Welcome to the team.”

  To continue Ari’s adventure with HACKED, turn the page

  Hacked

  Hardwired Book 3

  Chapter 1

  Ari stood against the mountain face, trying to appear nonplussed. She knew it was only a program and that she wouldn’t die if she fell, but her body instinctively responded to the thousand-foot drop in front of her. Relaxing her clenched hands, she focused on her breath and tried to calm her racing heart.

  “I forget how new you are to all of this.” Tricky stood next to her, dressed in the electronic skin of a young boy with ink black hair and olive skin. Nothing like the blonde beauty Tricky was in real life.

  Ari, wearing the skin of a young native girl, narrowed her eyes with a sarcastic smile, tired of the newbie comments. She’d been with the team, mostly warpers, for a few months now, and this wasn’t her first mission. Yet, she assumed she’d be the newbie until someone else joined the team. Given the rarity of warpers, that could be years.

  Ari motioned to the castle-type home in the center of this village. “Let’s focus on the job at hand, shall we?”

  “We shall. We don’t want to be late for our meeting.” Tricky winked at her with a dark joy for the task at hand and disappeared. Using her warper abilities, Tricky could manipulate this landscape with the best of them.

  Ari rolled her eyes, focusing on the code underlying the program, a rare skill in the world of virtual reality programs or VRs. Searching the code for her teammate, Ari found Tricky standing in front of the castle’s front door, dressed head to toe as nothing short of an exotic supermodel. Dark hair, full lips, and an hourglass figure that would make anyone turn their head in real life. In a virtual program, it was commonplace.

  Standing next to her, Ari took the form of her security guard: a handsome man with broad shoulders and smoldering eyes. She’d practiced this one for a while.

  Tricky lifted the old-fashioned door knocker and tapped it twice. It echoed through the house. Mere seconds passed before a maid opened the door.

  “Welcome,” she motioned with a hand for them to enter. Ari doubted she was real, but her programmed petite frame, angelic face, and golden hair made her the idyllic servant. “This way.”

  The maid led the way through an oversized entryway with a stone staircase winding up to a second and third story. They passed the staircase and moved into a sitting room or library of sorts. Expensive paintings, large bookcases, and ornate furniture littered throughout. Years ago, this might have impressed Ari, but now it only took a blink of her eyes to see past the program to the code underneath.

  Someone paid a programmer quite a bit to set up his house, but Ari could tear it all down in seconds. This was a program, numbers and characters built upon each other to create the illusion of wealth and power in this virtual realm. This realm was open to the public, but it cost a pretty penny or maybe your mother’s kidney to step inside.

  Their target, Maxim, sauntered into the room dressed in white linen that offset his gold tan perfectly. He had short black hair with neatly trimmed facial hair. Or at least he did in this virtual. Who knew how close this was to his face in the real world?

  Ari did know that this man must have given up a lot more than his mother’s kidney to have come this far. A known international weapons smuggler, his resume alone made him deserve to rot in jail for several lifetimes. Death would be too easy an out for this guy.

  “Cara, I’m so glad you made it.” The way he rolled the ‘r’ in her name sounded seductive. He kissed Tricky lightly on both cheeks. As he acknowledged Ari, his smile fell slightly. “You brought company.”

  “Yes, my colleague, Guy.” Tricky had a thing about giving Ari the worst names possible. At least Guy was better than Dick and Knob. Hard to keep a straight face while people called you Knob.

  “Nice to meet you,” Ari lied as she extended a hand, and noticed he had bare feet and smelled of the ocean.

  “Charmed,” he replied and turned his attention back to Tricky. “Let’s sit.”

  He waited for her to be seated, then took a seat close by, ignoring Ari completely—which she appreciated.

  “I was hoping this visit wasn’t completely business.” Maxim remained focused on Tricky.

  “Business first, then we’ll have time for pleasantries.” Tricky let her velvety voice trail off.

  As Maxim’s hand traveled across Tricky’s thigh, Ari turned before she got sick. Just get to business. This was why Ari was secondary. She didn’t have the stomach for this, not the way Tricky did. The only thing that gave her away was the twitch of her fingers.

  Tricky, an Icelandic twenty-year-old, had been working this target for months, trying to get names and codes out of him. He had security in place to protect him electronically inside this world, but with them both in here they hoped to grab enough information to prosecute him in several countries.

  So, while Tricky flirted and talked about the upcoming deal, Ari scanned the protections he had in place. Tricky’s twin brother, Blur, would be better at this, but Tricky didn’t think he could stomach Maxim. Ari couldn’t say she blamed him.

  She ignored the conversation behind her and inspected an art piece, only there wasn’t an art piece in her vision anymore. Letters, numbers, and unique characters flew past her. She dug
around for a bit, searching through his home. In the bedroom, there was more than she wanted to see, but she couldn’t leave anything unturned.

  A sour taste rose up her throat as she finished sorting through his personal items and found the home link. His firewalls kept anyone from hacking into his personal files. Hence the needed deal. When he gave them what they wanted, he’d transfer the file outside the program and that small window would be enough for Ari to slip inside.

  Ready to move, Ari turned her attention back to the conversation.

  “There. 3.2 million cryptos all yours,” Tricky said in the seductive voice that Ari had grown tired of.

  Without missing a beat, a servant entered the room and nodded at Maxim to confirm the deposit and then disappeared. Getting messages in and out of a virtual program could be difficult without leaving a trace. Having a man come into personally deliver it protected Maxim more than he knew.

  Maxim turned back to Tricky with delight. “3.2 million cryptos. Beautiful.”

  “My file?” Tricky leaned forward, touching his arm.

  “Should be already be there.”

  “What?” She pulled back with surprise. “You were supposed to be giving it to me directly.”

  “It’s better to be secure. Let your assistant check it for you.” He motioned to Ari.

  Stupid flipping arms dealers changing plans last minute. Ari was supposed to follow the delivery electronically to get more information. If the delivery wasn’t happening in here, then there was no chance.

  Struggling to keep her anger under wraps, Tricky turned to Ari. “Please check the delivery.” If Maxim wouldn’t transfer files in and out of the program in front of them, they couldn’t risk it either.

  Closing her eyes, Ari willed herself out of the program. Some people felt as if they clicked off a light when they left a virtual program, or even shut a door as they taught at school. For Ari, she imagined stepping backwards. She inhaled and something inside of her chest pulled her back into reality.