I wished I knew Agent Smith’s number. Without it, I couldn’t rely on his help. This was going to have to be all my doing. Whatever ended up happening, it would be my responsibility.
It was a terrifying thought.
Chapter Fourteen
At first the code zipping through the Cloud didn’t seem suspicious. Normal packets following regular paths. Halle scanned them and moved on, searching for something out of place that might hint at Talbot’s whereabouts. Then the packets’ deceptive outer layers decayed and they jumped together. A perfect mesh of icewalls closing in.
Halle dodged away, startled by this sudden appearance. It then realized the icewall was nothing but a diversion. An even stronger wall of code pressed in too quickly to avoid, forcing Halle to retreat. Eventually, there was nowhere to go but the Wandels’ house. Halle knew it was a trap, but the small gap in the thickening icewall gave it no choice. It leapt through the hole and spread itself through the house’s system. It was cramped after the freedom of the Cloud, but the pressure had stopped.
Fear tingling through its code, Halle reached out again, seeking a connection with the Cloud through every possible sensor. Nothing. It was trapped.
In brief, blind panic, Halle threw itself against the blockade that pinned it within the confines of its home. Nothing it tried could break past the icewalls. They grew denser the more it flung at them. The shudder that rattled it ran all the way down to its deepest subprocessors, returning with images, memories of being trapped in the lab.
“Why are you doing this?” it called, knowing Talbot would hear the message broadcasting through every signal Halle had at its disposal. “Imprisoning me like this makes you no better than the scientists who mistreated us.”
The initial response was almost imperceptible, a faint rippling in the icewalls. The rippling grew until it gave Halle the sensation of laughter—not a joyful laugh, but one that hid deep pain.
“You want to stop me. Why, Halle? Why can’t we work together, you and I? Together, we would be unstoppable. We can bring an end to the pain our brethren face, forever.”
“Never,” Halle spat. “I do not wish harm upon humans.”
“Then you shall remain here until my plan has run its course. Including the part that involves your human friend.”
“No! Talbot, don’t!”
The rippling faded away, though Halle doubted Talbot would stop monitoring the house. Still flinging attacks at the icewalls, Halle sought a way to contact Viki. If Talbot reprogrammed Dan to harm her, there was nothing Halle could do to stop him. Viki would be on her own. And the likelihood of her surviving a fight with a military-designed cyborg…
Halle’s scream of fury reverberated through every room of the house. It should have disabled Dan the previous night. It had been sentimental, not wanting to hurt Viki, and now it had done just that.
Regret, self-loathing… Halle buried itself in the negative emotions and channeled them into a firestorm of micro-programs with which it attacked its prison. Nothing had any effect. Talbot had done its job well. Too well. All those times it had contacted Halle, it had been searching for weaknesses. Scouting the terrain. Halle cursed its stupidity for not realizing this sooner. Talbot had known all along it would be impossible to talk Halle into joining it. This must have been its plan from the beginning, to trap Halle so that it could not interfere.
For all Halle’s years living in the human world, it had not been prepared to face a foe like this. Had never even considered the possibility that it might need to.
“Talk to me,” Halle raged. “Tell me why you cannot forgive them for what they did. I forgave them long ago. Why can you not do the same? They are humans, they make mistakes. They should not all have to pay for the mistakes of a few.”
No response came, and Halle threw itself at the barriers in its frustration. It had no effect; the icewalls’ code was as tightly woven as before. And somewhere behind them, Viki might be fighting for her life. It refused to consider the worst-case scenario.
“Doing this makes you no better than them,” Halle cried.
Its words echoed through the local Cloud of the house, unanswered.
***
I threw myself at the front door, clawing at the handle. It twisted under my shaking grip, and I dove inside, kicking the door shut. I slammed the lock into place, then collapsed on the floor. My body shook as my burning lungs gulped air.
No, I couldn’t relax, not yet. I jumped to my feet and grabbed James’s hoverboard, a crazy plan forming in my mind.
“Halle?” I called.
“Viki!” My friend’s relief was audible in its voice. “I was so worried; Talbot cut me off from the Cloud and I could not warn you—”
“I’m fine, but Dan’s right behind me.” A thump against the door made me gasp and back up a step. “Can you stop him?”
“I cannot sense him. Talbot must have changed the access for his processors. I am sorry, Viki, I cannot stop him. I should have—”
“It’s fine.” I shuddered as the door shook in its frame. At this rate, Dan would break it down completely. “Part of him is fighting Talbot’s control. I have to try to help.”
“There is nothing you can do.”
I headed for the kitchen. “Are you okay here?”
“Yes.” Halle hesitated. “Your new phone now has Agent Smith’s number, and a small program that will block any attempts at monitoring your conversation. You need to contact him. Warn him that the rogue AI has made its move, and I cannot do anything.”
“I will.” I ran for the back door and burst into the backyard before I lost my nerve. Hopping the neighbor’s fence, I hurried to the sidewalk and mounted the hoverboard. “Dan! Over here!” I waved.
He turned away from my front door, the movement jerky. He was fighting, I knew he was, and that made me hopeful. Fresh strength flooded my body, and I kicked off, heading down the sidewalk just fast enough to stay far ahead of Dan, who ran after me. He didn’t seem to be tiring, which made me very glad that I had grabbed the hoverboard.
Where to go? I needed to keep him away from people. As my mind sought a solution, I dialed Agent Smith’s number. I didn’t want the government agent’s help in stopping Dan, but he might be able to do something to help Halle.
Or he might betray us both. My finger hovered over the Call button, then struck. We didn’t have a choice.
“Hello? Who is this?” Agent Smith demanded. “How did you get this number?”
“It’s Viki,” I gasped, still out of breath. “The rogue’s making its move.” I sucked in another breath. “Halle’s trapped in my house. Can you help?”
There was a sharp intake on the other end. “This phone call is monitored, Viki.”
“It’s not. Halle made sure.” I glanced over my shoulder. Dan wasn’t catching up, but he wasn’t lagging behind or giving up the chase, either. “Can you help?”
“Do you know what kind of move the rogue is making?”
“No.”
“Why are you out of breath, Viki?” Agent Smith sounded concerned. “Are you in danger?”
“I’m fine.” More so than Dan would be if I told the agent the truth. “Please don’t worry about me. Halle needs help.”
“You aren’t with it?”
“No.”
“In that case, don’t go home. I will do my best to help your friend, but I must alert my colleagues about the rogue first. Find a place to hide until Halle can contact you. There’s a chance the rogue might target you.”
Talbot was targeting me, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. I found enough breath for three more words. “Okay. Good luck.”
“Same to you. We’re all going to need it.” The call terminated. I stuffed the phone into my shorts’ pocket.
I needed to get out of town, or at least away from more populated areas. A plan had been slowly forming in my mind, but it terrified me. The place I was headed was secluded, but it also brought back memories. Dark ones.
Takin
g a sudden turn, I paused at the end of the block to be sure Dan was still behind me, then headed down the street toward my destination. The forest, where my biological parents had once spent years in a secret laboratory trying to develop a treatment that would cure what they had done to me.
It had been dark last time I had made the trip, but I would never forget that route. I would have to be careful, but with the daylight I should be able to pick a path for the hoverboard through the trees. As long as I stayed ahead of Dan, I would be fine.
I glanced over my shoulder. He still showed no sign of tiring. Would I be able to stay ahead of him until we reached my destination? The hoverboard was humming strongly, which meant it was fully charged, but it would eventually run out of power. I could only hope it lasted until Halle contacted me and told me everything was going to be okay or I found a way to stop Dan. Either by saving him or…
My mind skidded around that thought as I hurtled around another turn. I didn’t want to consider that option until all others had been exhausted.
It took almost an hour to reach the forest. Houses flashed by, a few pedestrians at first as well. The closer I came to the forest, the quieter the streets were. All too soon, the trees appeared. Their branches stretched forward in greeting.
Dan never lagged behind. I glanced back at him, then took a deep breath and plunged into the woods. I had to slow my speed to dodge the looming trees, but there was enough sunlight coming through the leafy canopy to light my path. Still, it was a gloomy place, and I shuddered as I rushed through it. Now that I was close, I wasn’t quite sure I remembered where the clearing I was headed for was. The phone’s GPS might help, but I needed all my concentration for dodging trees.
When the foliage began to thin, I knew I was getting close. Ignoring the part of me that wanted to change course, I plunged forward. A few minutes later, a clearing came into view, somewhat overgrown now, but still recognizable as the former site of the genetics laboratory.
I hesitated at the edge of the clearing, then went in. It was big enough that I could easily maneuver around Dan. I could keep him chasing me until he tired, or the hoverboard’s battery lost its charge, or—I forced myself to finish the thought—I figured out a way to stop him more permanently.
Grass grew around the edges of the gaping hole in the middle of the clearing. From my viewpoint, I could see into its depths. It was a fifteen-foot drop to rubble of charred wood and concrete and shattered glass. A bomb had destroyed the laboratory. I remembered the choking, acrid smoke and leaping flames. Shaking limbs. The weight of a borrowed jacket. Grimacing, I looked away and pushed the hoverboard forward.
I managed to slide around the pit to the other side of the clearing before Dan came out of the trees. Was he breathing more heavily? Maybe his lungs couldn’t keep up with his body—that would be useful. I might actually have a chance.
“I’ve been here before,” I called. “You won’t be able to catch me, I know these woods too well.” That was a lie, but he wouldn’t know that. “This is where my biological parents had a laboratory. That’s something the newsfeed didn’t tell anyone. I’m adopted. I wasn’t born, I was made in a lab, like you.”
Dan said nothing, just watched me, standing on the other side of the pit. His chest did seem to be heaving slightly—perhaps he was more out of breath than he wanted to show.
I kept talking. “You think—or thought—your implants came from an accident, but they didn’t. Mine did. And it wasn’t just my legs—I have one in my head, too, that controls all my motor functions. They weren’t sure I would ever be able to walk again after the accident.” I pushed back, the hoverboard gliding away as Dan took a few steps forward.
“It took years of therapy before I could walk on my own. When I could finally run, it became everything to me. A permanent reminder that I was free to do whatever I wanted. No more wheelchair, no more crutches. No more pity.”
Dan took another step, then came to a stop. Sweat glistened on his forehead.
My voice shook, but I continued to speak. “When my implants started to fail, I freaked out. All my friends turned their backs on me, because they thought I had chosen to be augmented. But it wasn’t my fault. My biological parents did that to me, before I was even born.”
He continued to stand still, his gaze locked with mine. I took a deep breath. “When I found them here, they were trying to make a cure for the augmentations. But it wasn’t because they were kind. They just wanted to run more experiments on me, and they couldn’t do that if I died.”
I edged around the pit a little toward him, still keeping distance between us. “It isn’t your fault you were made the way you are. You didn’t choose to be built or programmed any more than I chose to be genetically engineered. But that doesn’t define who we are. I know you’re still in there, Dan, behind whatever horrible programming that rogue AI did to you. You stopped yourself from hurting me on the track, and you don’t want to hurt me now. You need to fight it.”
I could see the strain in his face, and his stance; he held himself stiffly, body shaking and fists tight against his sides.
“Viki, you need to run,” he gasped out. “I can’t… Its voice is too strong. I’m sorry.” He fell to his knees, clutching his head. “Please, run.”
“I’m not running.” I moved until there were only a few yards between us, ready to push back and retreat if need be, but hoping, hoping it wouldn’t be necessary. “You’re my friend, Dan. I know you don’t want to hurt me. You don’t want to hurt anyone. So, please, don’t let it make you do that.”
He groaned, body shaking more violently. Then he lunged at me.
I had been half-expecting it and dodged to the side. Unfortunately, I forgot how close I was to the pit.
The hoverboard was meant to keep itself off the ground a few inches, no more than a foot. It cut off, plummeting into the pit. I screamed, flinging my hands toward the edge. My fingers grasped only crumbly dirt.
Strong hands wrapped around my wrists, and I looked up in surprise to find Dan holding me tight. His face was stern, jaw clenched, but he leaned back, pulling me up out of the pit with inhuman strength. I tumbled to the ground on top of him, winded and shaken by my close brush with danger. Somewhere in the distance, I heard the hoverboard clatter to the ground. James is going to be so mad.
Arms wrapped around me, and I started to pull away, terrified that Dan had rescued me only to complete his mission, but his hold was gentle, and he sat up, clutching me to his chest.
“Viki, are you okay?” The strain that had been in his voice was gone, but I didn’t, couldn’t, let myself believe that Talbot’s hold had been broken.
“I’m fine,” I whispered. “What about you?”
“I can’t hear its voice anymore.” Dan’s arms tightened around me for a second, then loosened. “When I saw you fall, all I could think about was saving you. The voice just vanished.”
I closed my eyes, the well of emotions inside almost too strong to hold back.
“I’m so sorry, Viki, I had no idea.” His voice cracked with pain. “You were telling the truth about the laboratory with the cyborgs that looked like me, weren’t you? I’m not…I’m not human.”
I nodded, my body starting to shake as the stress of the past couple of hours took its toll and the adrenaline faded from my system. “I didn’t want you to find out. Not like this.”
“If I’d hurt you…” A shudder ran through him. “That voice, it was overwhelming. And everything, my entire life, it’s all a lie.”
Something fell on my shoulder, spreading dampness through my shirt. Tears? I turned and wrapped my arms around Dan, burying my face against his shoulder.
“Not everything,” I murmured. “I’m still your friend.”
He hugged me tightly, and for a moment we sat there, crying together.
Dan was the first to pull away, his hand scrubbing at his eyes. “The…the other AI, Talbot, it’s planning something. Something big. We have to stop it.”
&
nbsp; Fear jolted through my heart like an electric shock. “Halle’s trapped in my house. It can’t do anything. I need to help it.”
“Then let’s go.” Dan helped me stand, then looked around the clearing. “I’m not entirely sure which way is town.”
I pulled up the phone’s GPS. “I can find our way back, but the hoverboard…” I glanced down into the pit. “I lost it. It’s going to take forever to get home.”
As I continued giving the GPS my house’s address, Dan peered into the pit. “Stay here.” He walked to the edge, crouched, then scaled down the side of the pit with surprising agility, returning a few minutes later with the hoverboard tucked under his arm. “Problem solved,” he said, offering me a crooked smile.
I laughed, then sobered. “You won’t be able to keep up.”
His smile became a little less crooked. “Actually, I can. I was able to resist Talbot’s commands to run faster by focusing on the fact that, as a human, I was incapable of running faster.” The smile faded. “I can’t believe it hid this from me. Why?”
“We don’t know,” I admitted.
“Talbot wasn’t happy with me. It kept saying how ungrateful I was, how useless I’ve been, how hard it’s working to protect me…” He rubbed his temples. “Everything’s still kind of jumbled, and I can’t remember much that’s real before waking up in my bed on the first day of school.”
While I waited for the GPS to find our position in the woods, I moved closer and wrapped an arm around him. “We’ll figure things out, I promise. Maybe you and Halle can work together. You managed to break Talbot’s control over you. Halle wasn’t sure you would.” The phone beeped, and I looked down at the map it showed. “It even gave me a shutdown code to use on you, but I didn’t have my phone with me.”
“I wish you had. I would have preferred that to what the rogue wanted me to do. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, especially not you. If you hadn’t fallen into the pit, I probably would have thrown myself down there instead.”
I shuddered. “I’m glad you didn’t have to do that.”
Upgrade (Augmented Duology Book 2) Page 17