Upgrade (Augmented Duology Book 2)

by Heather Hayden

  “I’m fine.” The words sounded like a rote response. “Are you…” There was a pause filled with a raspy breath. “…coming to visit today?”

  “Yes, I’ll be by later.”

  “Longer this time? Please?”

  “We’ll see, Simon. I’m busy with work, you know that.”

  A long, hoarse sigh. “Okay. Bye, Dad.”

  “Good-bye, Simon.”

  Halle drew away from the phone, feeling a twinge of sympathy for the agent and his son. The boy was lying in a private hospital room the Government certainly wasn’t paying for. Knowing what the government agent’s finances were like, Halle was surprised that the man had brought his son with him.

  Or maybe he simply wanted the boy nearby, whatever the cost. Simon suffered from a rare genetic malfunction, Helhess Syndrome, that couldn’t be cured with genetic manipulation. Though there were medications that could treat it, their effectiveness had started dropping over the summer, and the doctors weren’t sure what to do. Being an incredibly rare disease, little was known about it or possible treatments.

  Now, the child lay in his bed, struggling to breathe, requiring nutrients fed through an IV, his muscles too weak to move. It reminded Halle too much of seeing Viki in a similar hospital bed, only months ago.

  Halle had been able to help Viki, though. Simon, it could do nothing for. It wrenched itself away from those thoughts and refocused on Talbot. This task it could do, and would do, before what might be its only kindred did something that couldn’t be undone.

  As it refocused on its work, Halle gave the kitchen robot an order to start cooking. At least making dinner was something that could be accomplished with ease.

  About an hour later, Viki burst through the front door, dumping her shoes and her backpack in the hall by the door before heading for the kitchen.

  “Dinner is almost ready,” Halle said. “How was your day at school?”

  “Fine,” Viki said, pulling open the fridge and grabbing the orange juice. “What’s for dinner?”

  “Lasagna.”

  Viki smiled. “Thanks, Halle. Are Mom and Dad going to be home?”

  “Your mother will be, your father will not.”

  Viki poured herself a glass of juice, then dropped the carton back onto the fridge’s shelf a bit harder than necessary. “I wish he would just let you help him.”

  “That is your father’s decision,” Halle said.

  “Yeah, I know, but it would be nice if he didn’t have to spend so much time at the lab.”

  “I know.” Halle felt sorry for Viki; it knew how lonely she had been during the summer. Its company was usually enough, but there were times when she probably would prefer to go running with someone, or even just get a hug. And those were things Halle couldn’t help with. Sometimes, it hated the fact that it was incorporeal.

  “So, lasagna? What’s the occasion?”

  “It is the first day of school. Why not celebrate?” Halle felt a glimmer of worry at the sight of its friend’s smile slipping—it was a very slight movement, but Halle knew what it meant. “Did things not go okay?”

  “It was fine.” Viki took a gulp of orange juice. “Neela actually spoke to me today, but it was just to get at a guy I met.”

  “A guy?” Halle asked cautiously, unsure what to think about this development.

  “He’s a transfer.” Viki sipped at her juice as she told Halle about everything that had happened.

  “We have a new track coach now,” she was saying when the kitchen robot rolled to the oven.

  A sharp warning beep came from the robot before it opened the oven with one arm. After a brief pause to scan the lasagna, it reached in with both arms and clasped its metallic, three-fingered hands around the dish before pulling it from the oven.

  Viki drummed her fingers on the table, watching the robot set the lasagna on the stovetop. “Annabeth thinks I’ll be able to join the track team again.” Her light blue eyes sparkled over the rim of her glass.

  “That is wonderful news,” Halle said. If this coach kicked her off the team, Halle would do a lot more than dredge up some history to get them fired like the last one. Viki was never going to know about that, either. The previous coach had gotten a comparable job elsewhere, arranged for by Halle; it wasn’t like his life had been ruined. But he wouldn’t be working at Viki’s school again.

  “I want to eat,” Viki said, nudging the kitchen robot when it tried to keep her away from the piping hot lasagna. “Did Mom say when she would be home, Halle?”

  “No. Agent Smith said he would stop by around five, though, and I am hoping he will do so before she gets home.”

  Viki winced. “Yeah, that would be good. Mom would tear him a new one if she knew he was back again.” She picked up a spatula and sliced a piece of lasagna. “I’m starving. I don’t think I can wait for Mom to get home. Did you have any luck contacting Talbot?”

  “No.” Halle didn’t go into further details. It didn’t want to explain how futile its attempts had been.

  “Well, it’s only been a day.” Viki snagged a fork from a drawer and headed for the dining room. “I don’t suppose there’s dessert tonight, too?”

  “Chocolate pudding in the fridge. I also had the robot make a salad.”

  “Salad?” Viki made a face, but she went back to the kitchen and pulled the bowl out of the fridge, along with salad dressing.

  “If you want to be in top shape for running, you need to eat properly.”

  “Yeah, I know, you don’t need to remind me.” Viki stuck her tongue out at the nearest camera, then dumped a pile of lettuce and tomatoes on her plate. She added a heavy dollop of dressing before shoving the bowl and bottle back into the fridge.

  Once she was seated at the table, Viki dug into her dinner.

  “Tell me more about your new friend?” Halle prompted.

  “Well, he likes running—he’s on the track team, too.” Viki blew on a forkful of lasagna to cool it. “Oh, and he plays Realmshards as a warrior! He wanted to know if he could join us for quests some time. He’s behind us, but not too far.”

  Halle pushed aside a welling of jealousy. “What did you tell him about me?”

  “Only that I had a friend I played with, who’s a healer. I’m not going to tell anyone who you are, don’t worry.”

  “I have never been worried about that,” Halle said. Not quite the truth—when it had first met Viki, it had lived in constant fear of the girl saying the wrong thing to someone, but years of friendship and trust had erased any such worry.

  “So, what do you think?” Viki’s expression was a guarded one, but the AI could see the hope in her eyes.

  “I am fine with him joining us, though I would prefer if my secret did not get found out by one of your school friends.”

  “As far as he knows, you’re someone I met online.”

  “Good.” Halle tensed as the doorbell rang. It had to be Agent Smith. “I believe that is for us.”

  “Oh.” Viki sighed and set down her glass. “So much for getting into the lasagna early. I wonder if Agent Smith likes lasagna?”

  “I somehow doubt that your parents would be very pleased with you should you decide to invite him in for dinner.”

  “I would be very much not pleased with myself.” Viki laughed, then sobered. “Do you think he has any new leads?”

  “I do not know. When I last checked his computer, it did not appear to be the case.”

  “Oh.” Viki glanced at the nearest camera, her fingers tapping on the table next to her plate. “You hacked his computer?”

  “It was not the first time I have done so. I doubt it will be the last time, either. If he has any information pertinent to the case, I want to know it, and I do not want to be reliant on him for information.”

  The tapping quickened, then stopped as Viki squeezed her fingers into a fist. “Makes sense.” She stood and headed for the front door. “Just don’t let them catch you poking around on his computer. It’s probably loa
ded with Government spyware.”

  “Thankfully, I am more than capable of dealing with a little spyware.”

  Chapter Six

  A glance through the front door’s peephole confirmed it was Agent Smith outside, holding his usual clipboard as well as a plastic-wrapped package. I opened the door.

  “Good afternoon,” he said.

  It would be better if you weren’t here. I bit my tongue and moved aside to let him in, giving the street a quick scan as he walked by me. No sign of Mom, but that didn’t mean anything—she could be just around the corner. “Halle, any chance you can track the position of Mom’s phone?”

  “I could if it were on. But it is not.”

  I groaned and shut the door. “You’d better make this fast.”

  “Your mother had an unexpected shift change and won’t be home for another few hours,” Agent Smith replied. “Thankfully, that gives us time to talk.”

  “What was so important you had to mess with Mom’s shifts?” I demanded. “Halle said you didn’t have any new information regarding the rogue AI.”

  Agent Smith frowned. “It told you that? But I didn’t share everything I knew yesterday.”

  “No,” Halle said, its voice coming from the house’s nearest speaker. “However, you should share your plan with Viki regarding the lab.”

  My stomach sank. “What lab?”

  “I need you to accompany me on Wednesday to the research laboratory the rogue AI escaped.”

  My arms fell to my sides as my body went slack with shock. “Halle’s the one who needs to be with you,” I protested. “And it can’t enter the lab. What’s the point of taking me along?”

  “You are the point. Or, more precisely, your leg implants are. They aren’t programmed in the same way as those used by the scientists in the laboratory, so they should still maintain a link to the Cloud while you are inside. Halle will reprogram them in a way that will allow it to monitor conversations and possibly pick up information we would otherwise not have access to.”

  “Halle, is that possible?”

  “Yes. I did not want to ask you to do this, Viki—”

  “I can do it,” I said before my nerves failed. My fingers curled into fists. I don’t want to, but for Halle, I’ll do it. “It’s just walking through the lab, right?”

  “Yes. As long as I do the talking, we shouldn’t have any issues.”

  “Won’t they wonder why I’m there at all?”

  “You will be posing as my intern. My superiors are aware that your position is actually that of a consultant, but given your age, that would be difficult to explain to the lab staff. An intern is the best excuse we have available.”

  I swallowed a grimace at the thought. I’m glad we’re just pretending.

  The agent held out the package he had brought. “This contains an appropriate uniform as well as an ID badge.”

  It didn’t weigh much. I tucked it under an arm. I’ll have to hide it in my room. Another problem occurred to me. “Isn’t it risky for me to go into the lab with unsecured implants? What if another AI escaped?”

  “It could be dangerous,” Halle agreed. “After all, a phone is how I escaped; moving through an implant’s link would not be much more difficult.”

  “After this AI escaped, all other AI projects on the premises were shut down for the time being,” Agent Smith replied. “There’s no need to worry about another breach.”

  “Shut down? Permanently?” Halle sounded upset, and I didn’t blame it.

  “Not necessarily. Just put on hold for the time being.”

  A ping came from the house speaker—incoming call.

  “It is the hospital,” Halle said. “Most likely your mother.”

  I frowned. “Better let it go to voicemail. Wait, no, she’ll expect me to be home by now. Pick it up.” I shot Agent Smith a warning look. He nodded and tugged on the brim of his fedora as Halle answered.

  “Hi, Mom,” I said, smiling in an attempt to make my voice sound happier.

  “Viki! I’m glad you’re home. I’m so sorry, my phone’s battery died and things have been so hectic I only just got a chance to use one of the hospital phones. I’m going to be late today again; there was another shift change. There should be leftovers in the fridge if you’re hungry and don’t want to make something.”

  “Halle made lasagna.”

  “Good. Thank you, Halle! I’ll have some when I get home. How was your day?”

  My smile was pinned to my cheeks so hard they hurt. “Great.”

  “I can’t wait to hear about your classes. Did Neela and the others enjoy their vacations?”

  It took me a second to remember that I had told Mom they had all gone off on trips with their families. It let me avoid telling her the truth, that my friends didn’t want to hang out with me anymore. I didn’t want her worrying about me more than she already did. “Yes, they did.”

  “Wonderful. Give my love to your father when he gets home—he should be coming home early today. He called me during lunch to let me know that he’d had a big breakthrough, and they’re finally back on schedule.”

  I froze. “That’s wonderful,” I said, my voice squeaking a little on the way out. “Did he say when he’d be home?”

  “I was about to ask him when my phone died. I’m sure it will be soon, he wanted to be there for dinner. I need to go, but I’ll talk to you later. Love you!”

  “Love you, too.” I was glad to hear the soft beep as the phone hung up.

  “Uh oh,” Halle said.

  “Yeah.” I looked at Agent Smith. “You might want to leave now. Dad won’t be happy if he comes home and finds you here.”

  “I’ve no doubt of that.” He glanced at his clipboard. “I’ve scheduled the appointment for Wednesday afternoon. That will give Halle enough time to make the necessary adjustments and for me to sort out a few more things.” He looked up. “There’s a corner store one block from your school. Meet me there after school.”

  I nodded, still uneasy about this plan, even if it didn’t sound very dangerous. All I had to do was walk through a laboratory with him while Halle sneaked around. I could do that.

  “One last thing.” Agent Smith hesitated, mouth twisted as though he’d tasted something sour. “The government laboratory we’ll be visiting doesn’t just study AIs. They are experimenting with developing an AI to be used in conjunction with military cyborgs.”

  Cyborgs? Part-flesh, part-machine androids? I grimaced. “I thought they stopped developing military cyborgs years ago.”

  “These are peacekeepers. Used for handling insurgents and the like. However, there was a theft the same night the AI escaped—several of the cyborgs went missing.”

  “And you think the rogue AI might be responsible?” Halle asked.

  What would Talbot want with some cyborgs? I frowned. There were no good reasons to steal military cyborgs, only plenty of bad ones.

  “It’s very unlikely. There are too many fail-safes to prevent something like that. The two departments aren’t even connected; they have separate, isolated servers. However, it’s possible whoever stole the cyborgs inadvertently gave the AI a chance to escape. The servers are all stored in a central area, and both sustained damage. There was also damage to the equipment that shields the lab from the Cloud.”

  I refrained from pointing out that said fail-safes hadn’t prevented Talbot or Halle from escaping. “Why didn’t you mention the theft before?”

  “I only just learned of it this morning, and technically I don’t have clearance to tell you this yet.” His brows drew together. “However, given the close proximity of the rogue AI’s escape and the theft, there could be a relationship between the two.”

  “I am almost positive there is,” Halle said. “If I had a way of accessing the lab’s records, I could say for sure, but there is no way in from the outside.”

  Agent Smith shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to get you that kind of access. Perhaps the scientist who sho
ws us around the lab can answer some of my questions, and if you have any questions that might be pertinent to this investigation, please let me know so I can ask them for you.”

  “I will do so.”

  “Now, about the time—”

  The click of the door’s lock made us both jump. Crap, Dad’s home! I watched as the door handle spun, then grabbed Agent Smith and dragged him into the kitchen. “You need to leave now. I’ll meet you Wednesday a little after 3 PM.”

  He tucked his clipboard under his arm and nodded. “Thank you. I’ll see myself out.”

  “Viki?” Dad’s voice called from the front door. “You home?”

  Keep it cool, keep it cool. I hurried out of the kitchen. “Hi, Dad! How was your day? Halle made lasagna for dinner.”

  “Halle, you’re the best AI a family could hope for,” Dad said, shooting a grin at the nearest camera.

  “Thank you,” Halle replied. “I am glad to be of service. I only wish I could dine with you.”

  “Well, maybe someday they will perfect the machine-brain interface and we’ll be able to download you into your own body.” Dad ruffled my hair. “How was your first day of school, Viki?”

  “Good. Mom said you made a breakthrough at work today?”

  “A major one, which means we’re back on schedule and can relax a bit. And I can start coming home at a more reasonable hour.” He sniffed the air, looking toward the kitchen. “Is the lasagna ready? I’m starving. Where’s your mother?”

  “She had a shift change, so she’s going to be home late again.”

  “Really? It must have been a sudden one, she didn’t mention it earlier. That’s too bad. We haven’t eaten dinner as a family in a while.”

  I nodded and followed him to the kitchen, relieved to see Agent Smith had made it out the back door. I opened the fridge and pulled out the salad and dressing. “James called to say hi yesterday. Apparently he has a new girlfriend, but we can’t meet her yet.”

  Dad laughed and began serving himself a plate of lasagna. “What’s her name?”

  “Sam. He’s helping her study and apparently she’s a big fan of Venus, too.” I set down the salad and dressing, then collected my plate from the dining room and took a seat.