Hard Wired Trilogy

by DeAnna Pearce

  They waited until the following morning’s meeting for Marco bring it up. Even though the others knew Ari better, she knew he had the gift of persuasion in the family. When it was his turn, he remained seated but used his hands to accentuate his point. “They are on the lookout for warpers. If they are smart, and I’m sure they are, there is probably some sort of trigger or warning system in place for code manipulation. Maybe that’s what Tricky hit? I don’t know. But I know Reed, or someone looking like Reed, was there for a reason. He’s our only real lead right now, and I’m best suited to go after him.”

  “Best suited how?” Patrick asked.

  The fact Patrick didn’t dismiss Marco outright made Ari think they had a chance.

  “Look at my history. I know about sneaking through the cracks in the system. I survived with my mom for months with a price on our heads. And if that really is Reed, I’ll know. I spent nearly every waking moment with him growing up. I would know if it was him or someone pretending to be him, maybe even better than Ari.”

  She narrowed his eyes not wanting to agree with that statement. He wouldn’t know how Reed kissed, she thought instead. She wasn’t childish enough to say it aloud, though.

  “Let’s talk it out. What does everyone think?” Patrick opened the floor for discussion.

  Harini spoke first. “It makes sense. The only hard part would be getting him a good cover. Then if he looks different how would Reed recognize him?”

  “It doesn’t matter what I look like. He’ll know it’s me.”

  When Harini gave him a questioning look, Ari said, “They grew up together in and out of VRs, best friends since they were six. If it’s really Reed, he’ll know it’s Marco.”

  Patrick nodded at Joe for his opinion.

  Joe rubbed his chin. “He knows the threats, and he’s right. If you take away our abilities, he is just as capable as us.”

  Patrick didn’t agree or disagree, just turned to Ari. “You’re okay with your brother going in?”

  “I think it’s a great idea, especially because I’m going with him,” Ari said.

  All of a sudden everyone had an opinion. Harini and Patrick were the loudest as they voiced their displeasure at the same time. Ari tried to appear confident about her decision.

  Marco turned to his sister. “I almost had this settled. Are you sure you need to be there?”

  “I’m sure.”

  Patrick cleared his voice and waited until everyone quieted. “Why would we chance you going in? If Reed is the bait, then it is you who they want.”

  “This goes beyond just me. They are attacking all warpers.”

  “Exactly why you shouldn’t go in.” Harini spoke up.

  Ari and Harini had grown close since Ari arrived, but she didn’t need Harini’s concern right now.

  “Two reasons: first, I won’t contact Reed or go near him. I’ll just watch the code and see if anything is suspect. Second, Marco needs protection if this goes south. If they do attack him, I’ll need to come back and manually pull him out. Don’t tell me any one of you would have your family go in there without backup.” Ari looked at the others around the conference table, daring them to argue with her.

  Patrick leaned forward in his chair. “We consider each other family, Ari. Everyone here is a brother or sister. That is why we are worried. I never thought of sending Marco in without backup. But since you just went in with Tricky, and since VisionTech is hunting for you, I think it best for someone else to go with him.”

  Ari took a deep breath, fighting to keep emotion out of her argument. “I appreciate your concern. Everyone’s, really. But being in there with Tricky…” Ari swallowed a lump in her throat. “That’s why I need to go back. If this is VisionTech, and I got distracted when this thing attacked… well, no matter what everyone says, I need to make this right. I need to go in.”

  Everyone was silent for a moment, while Ari tried to reel in her emotions.

  Joe finally broke the silence. “If it was me, I would go. As much as I don’t feel comfortable about it, I think you earned the right.”

  “She won’t be alone,” Marco reminded him.

  “Neither of you will be. I’m going in as well.” Patrick stared at Ari as if daring her to object.

  “What?” Harini asked, the fear evident in her eyes. “Why risk it? We all have enough money to go our own ways and never have to go back in. We may act like gods inside, but we’re not. We’re destructible, look at what they did to Tricky.”

  Patrick’s gaze softened as he turned to Harini. “You’re right, but I never did this for the money.” He turned, letting his gaze rest momentarily on everyone in the room. “If they can use this virus against us, think of the leverage they will have on other warpers. Again, corporations can steal, manipulate, and threaten warpers to do their business for them, but they’ve never had the ability to take out the competition entirely. People’s lives are on the line now. I can’t sit here and let anyone do that, but I can’t expect anything from the rest of you. I won’t pressure any of you in the slightest to go back in.” He turned to Ari in particular. “If anything, I’ll try to keep you out of it.”

  “I’m in. You know that,” Ari said.

  “So am I,” Joe said to Patrick. “I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you.”

  “Me too,” Harini said.

  Then, walking through the door, Sketchy added, “Me too. I’m always up for a good time.”

  The mood in the room automatically lightened. “We count on you for that. Please have a seat.” Patrick turned to Ari and Marco. “You two can go in, but not without me. We’ll need to get ready.”

  Chapter 16

  It took longer than Ari wanted to go back into VLEX to find Reed. Security was beyond tight. Governments, corporations, and other worldwide dignitaries went there. You not only had to have a paycheck to afford that VR realm, you had to have a reason to go in. Joe worked on finding skins. Patrick never liked using the same ones repeatedly if possible.

  A couple of days into working on covers, Blur surfaced from his time with Tricky. The dark circles under his eyes hadn’t changed. Tricky continued to wake up for short periods but not long enough for anyone to evaluate her mental state.

  “Any change?” Joe said keeping his gaze on the screen—a common habit of these guys that drove Ari crazy.

  “Same.” He scratched his head. He looked like he could use a good wash. He pulled back his hair into a tight, short ponytail in back.

  Ari and Marco worked on the other side of the table. She had been showing him the layout of VLEX so he would look like a regular when he went in. She pushed aside the screen, needing to get something off her chest.

  “Blur?”

  He turned, looking half alive.

  The guilt eating a hole away in her gut wasn’t going to lessen anytime soon. “I wanted to say that I’m sorry, Blur. I tried to help her, but it wasn’t enough. I was too slow—”

  He cut off her rambling with a hand. “No. I’m not going to talk about that. Not yet. I’m here to work. That’s all.”

  Joe patted the seat next to him. “I could use the help. This woman from Croatia is looking very promising.”

  Biting her lip, Ari buried her remorse. Blur had the right to not be reminded of his sister for one moment. He had to the right to choose how he dealt with it.

  Marco patted her shoulder in understanding. “Want to walk me through where you found Reed again?”

  They continued working, wanting to be prepared for whatever they found in there. Blur, of course, sped up the process, turning days of work into hours. After an evening meeting with Patrick, they were set to go early the following morning.

  Ari woke to her alarm at five in the morning, thinking she’d beat everyone else up. Her mother wasn’t in their shared room though, and by the time she made it to the kitchen Patrick and Marco were already eating. Steaming eggs and bacon mounded their plate, Marco’s nearly gone. He always had a good appetite.

&nbs
p; “I don’t know how you talked me into this,” Patrick said when Ari came down.

  “I didn’t talk you into it, that was all Marco.”

  “No, it was both of you. The same way your mother talked me into a big breakfast. It must be in the genes.” He reached for the coffee and pushed his plate away.

  Ari reached for a strip of bacon off his plate and bit into it. “Sorry.”

  Her mother walked into the kitchen. “Get your own plate, Ariana.”

  “He isn’t finishing his.” She covered her mouth when she spoke to hide the bacon.

  Her mother gave them both looks of disapproval.

  “We won’t be in that long. We’ll get breakfast when we’re back.” Ari realized there were tears glistening in her mother’s eyes. She forgot how hard it must be for her to watch her children do this, when she already lost her husband to it.

  Ari hugged her. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

  “No, you won’t, but I’ll be here waiting and praying, mi nina.”

  “Love you too.” Pushing back her emotions, she stepped back and searched for the coffee.

  Cynthia picked up a mug for her. “I already made it just how you like it with cinnamon and spice.”

  “Gracias.” Ari snagged another piece of bacon and realized Marco and Patrick already left. “I better catch up,” she told her mom and headed back down the hall.

  “You left me there on purpose,” Ari told her brother.

  “I already had to deal with her crying over the pan of eggs. It was your turn.”

  Ari swallowed the sarcastic remark she planned on, and realized he was right.

  They headed down to the basement to the larger of the two VR rooms. While Ari powered up her chair, Patrick logged into the computer. There were four virtual reality chairs in this room, large leather recliners that took up most of the space probably meant for a bedroom. The small desk in the corner held the computer and ran cables to the chairs.

  Joe and Harini came in as well, both with large coffees. Ari wondered how they made it out of the kitchen without eating a full meal. Maybe her mom listened to other people when they turned down food.

  “You didn’t think you guys were leaving while we were asleep, did you?” Harini looked tired, with dark circles under her eyes, but managed a slight smile at Patrick.

  “You didn’t have to.” Ari worried about Harini taking care of herself with everything going on. She had seemed stressed lately, but wasn’t everyone?

  Joe ignored her comment and sat behind the screen as he sipped his coffee. “I’ll watch everyone’s vitals while you’re inside. If there are any big spikes in heart rate or blood pressure, I’m pulling you out. We can’t waste time waiting for you guys to tell us one of the others is in trouble.”

  “I think that’s smart. Keep that in mind, both of you, if things get dicey. And don’t wait to be pulled out. If we’re attacked,” Patrick looked straight at Ari, “leave. Promise me you won’t be stupid. I can’t have another member of my team lying unconscious without answers.” His face hid all emotion, but she heard it in the roughness of his voice.

  “I promise. I’ll pull out if I’m in trouble.” She met his gaze, trying to convey a wealth of emotion and words that she wasn’t even sure of herself.

  “I’ll see you both on the other side.” Acting like this was any other VR trip, Marco plopped down in his seat and snapped the cable into the base of his neck.

  She watched Patrick lie down and plug in as well.

  He glanced over with a soft glance.

  Nodding, she lay back, closed her eyes, and drifted into the other world.

  As previously planned, Marco entered the program a couple of blocks in front of Ari and Patrick. Ari recognized the profile that her brother wore. He was taller, older, with gray sprinkled into his short black hair, and his tanned skin now a deep chocolate. Marco was right though, his experience and work in and out of VR made him an excellent choice. Ari just worried about him getting too comfortable inside these programs.

  Ari’s mother reassured her that Marco hadn’t been in the VR since they moved to the church, so a couple of months at least. He straightened the collar on his suit and, with a confident glance over his shoulder, strode away.

  “We’ll keep an eye on him.” Patrick laid a soft hand on her shoulder. “Let’s go get comfortable.”

  She kept her breathing nice and even, trying to calm the nervous energy in her stomach. Ari and Patrick needed to keep a low profile. Nobody thought it was wise for Ari to get near to Reed, if it even was Reed. She could trigger something and link it back to the team.

  Patrick led the way to an Indian restaurant. The two of them ordered drinks to blend in and found a dark corner to sit in. It looked intimate, but it was ideal for the business dealings that often took place inside VLEX. Food was optional, so were drinks. They didn’t cost anything in this realm, since nothing was real. It was a stage for people to relax.

  “How long do you think it will take? He sounded confident it wouldn’t take long to find him.” Patrick sipped the steaming tea in front of him. They had planned for Marco to go to the same café Tricky and Ari had seen Reed at, and around the same time. They would only stay inside for an hour to avoid notice, so this could be a one-day or a two-week mission.

  “Depends. Marco gets easily distracted. A pretty diplomat that can offer him a business opportunity,” she did air quotes around business opportunity, “could keep him occupied for a good hour.”

  Patrick’s eyes widened. “He wouldn’t?”

  “I hope not, but honestly I don’t always know. He seems like he has changed, but he did set up an illegal VR ring at our school.” She hated the nerves that tangled in her stomach.

  A chuckle escaped Patrick, it looked good on him. “Good thing we can keep track of him and make sure he stays on task.” Patrick’s eyes glassed over as if he was staring off in space.

  As a waitress passed their table, Ari leaned forward and placed a hand on his arm to make his expression less noticeable. It took Ari back six months ago, when she was pretending to be an aide and he was pretending to be her boyfriend. A twisted game that turned out to save her life.

  Patrick had not worn a skin back then but wore his true face in the VR, a dangerous move considering. Looking back, Ari wondered why. She’d had to ask him when they returned to the real. Now she watched Patrick wear the skin of an older man, Caucasian, with blondish brown hair and a prominent nose. No one was ugly in VR, not with the skins they had, but this one wasn’t particularly attractive to her. This skin must have been close to this person’s real face.

  The skin Ari wore was similar to this man in nationality, but this skin was for looks. Her slender body curved in all the right places. Her golden hair flowed in waves around her while she tapped her long pink nails on the table.

  He blinked a few times and Ari knew he returned. She pulled back her hand, but not before he glanced at it. Nothing was said.

  “Your brother is pretty smooth. His talents were wasted on old tech. He could sell a lot more than illegal programs.”

  “It is his talent and his curse. None of my girlfriends were safe from his charms.”

  “Sounds like his friends weren’t safe either, if you ended up with Reed,” Patrick pointed out.

  Glancing down, she pushed back the embarrassment that crept up when she talked about Reed to Patrick. It shouldn’t bother her. She scolded herself and looked back up. “Guess not.”

  “Seems like no one is safe from Cynthia either. I think I’ve gained five pounds since your mother started cooking.”

  “You needed it,” Ari told him, then it was her turn to check in on her bother. They knew the path Marco was taking inside the VLEX, so combing through the code of the program didn’t take her long. She didn’t touch or alter the code in any way, nothing to alert anyone of their presence. They just watched to make sure he was okay. Ari found him leaving a coffee shop and flirting with an attendant.

&nb
sp; She pulled back to Patrick in front of her. “Is it possible that it was all in my head, seeing Reed? Maybe it was a hallucination. A symptom of the virus.”

  “Do you think it was? You’re experienced enough to know,” Patrick said.

  Ari shrugged. After she arrived, she had told Patrick of the experiences she had with her father. She was scared that the insanity ran in her family. He explained that using her power inside a program can produce true hallucinations. Just like the headaches and other side effects from her body were trying to warm her.

  “Can we move a little closer, just in case?” Ari asked.

  “Let’s stay here. He’ll move closer in a minute. We blend in more here.”

  Glancing around, Ari realized he was right. The restaurant held small tables, hushed conversations, and dimmed lights. Patrick and Ari looked more like lovers than a business transaction.

  Patrick faded out to check on Marco.

  She sipped her drink and pretended to interact with him. A word here, a touch there helped perpetuate the act to anyone who might be watching.

  “Something’s wrong. Well, not wrong, but feels off. He’s talking to a man. I can’t tell who. Maybe it’s Reed.”

  Ari shot to her feet, faster than she meant too. “Let’s go then.”

  “Wait.” He grabbed her arm with a grip that surprised her.

  “We’ll keep our distance. Promise.” Her nerves wouldn’t let her sit still. Ari could probably see the code for herself but reading the subtleties of Reed in code was more difficult than it sounded. Part of her wanted to see him again as well. Part of her knew it was crazy, but she thought she could will him into existence.

  Standing, Patrick buttoned up his suit jacket. “Alright. Just remember, no changes.”

  “Of course.” With them not knowing if their abilities activated any type of alarm, she wasn’t tempted to use them. Not yet at least.