CHAPTER 44
STEWART STANDS STILL ON THE VIRTUAL BATTLEFIELD and stares in disbelief. “Eileen! How the hell did you get in here?”
Eileen steps forward slowly. Like Stewart, she’s carrying a phase rifle, but she keeps it pointed to the ground. “I’m still here, at Northridge. Didn’t you guess?” She studies Stewart’s reaction, and she smiles. “Whatever you may think, Stewart, I’m not a quitter. I was never going to cut and run.”
“What the hell are you playing at? We’ve been tearing the place apart looking for you.”
“It’s complicated, but I’m still at the old house, in a room you don’t have access to.” She shakes her head as if in regret. “I can’t explain, but we’re on the same side. You’ll just have to take my word for it.”
Stewart lets out a snort of contempt. “I don’t know what your agenda is, Eileen, and I don’t care. I’ll deal with you later, but right now I’ve got a student trapped in a scenario and I intend to get him out.”
Eileen purses her lips. “Jungle Combat?”
“Yes. The scenario locked down for some reason and that node is the key. I’m going to shut it down and seal the breach.”
“No, Stewart. You can’t do that. It’s a physical connection. You can’t just switch it off.”
“All right.” Stewart shoulders his rifle. “Then I’ll have to destroy the connection.”
Eileen lunges forward and pushes his rifle aside. “Idiot! You can’t just go blasting away in here! This is a live battlefield.”
“I’m well aware of that,” Stewart growls. “But I’m out of time, and I won’t stand by and wait while a student is in danger.”
“All right, but that’s not the way.” Eileen takes a breath. “That node is open, Stewart. There’s a route from here, directly into the scenario.”
“I can log in from here? How? You’ve got to tell me.”
“All right, but you can’t do it without my help,” Eileen says. “We didn’t leave an open node just lying around for anyone who might find it.”
“We? Who else is in on this? Is it Agrippine? Brunner?”
“I can’t tell you that, Stewart. Not yet. It’s not over. We still have things to do.”
Stewart hesitates. “I saw your recording. I think you left it for me to find.”
“You’re right. Of course you are.” She smiles sadly. “I should’ve wiped that headset clean and crushed it.”
“But you wanted to leave a trail,” Stewart says. “You wanted some kind of insurance policy.”
Eileen’s eyes are suddenly dull, as though clouded by a painful memory. “I was afraid. Things were getting too much for me.”
“And what about Marcus?” Stewart demands. “Where does he fit into your schemes?”
“Is he all right? Is he…” her voice trails away.
Stewart lets her squirm for a long second. “We found him, and he’s not doing too well, Eileen. They’re looking after him, but he’s been logged into something for a long time. Kwan is trying to figure out a way to disconnect his headset.”
Eileen looks down. “It wasn’t meant to be like that. He was only supposed to use that headset for a few minutes at a time.”
“No excuses,” Stewart says. “Whatever this is about, you should never have dragged him into it. If he’s hurt, it’ll be down to you.”
“No.” Eileen lifts her head and meets Stewart’s gaze. “I’m not behind this, Stewart. This goes beyond both of us, whether we like it or not.”
Stewart’s blood rushes to his face. “Not good enough, Eileen. You had a responsibility. You had a duty of care.”
“I know that! Do you think I wanted it to work out this way? Do you think I had a choice?”
“Yes! There’s always a choice, goddammit!” Stewart scowls for a moment, then he lets out a grunt of disgust. “For God’s sake, this is getting us nowhere. There’ll be time for recriminations later, but right now, you can start making up for what you’ve done. Just get me into that scenario, then I can find Hank and get him out.”
“Hank is the name of the student who got trapped?”
“Yes,” Stewart replies. “I don’t know how he managed it, but he got in before the lockdown.”
Eileen looks at him for a moment, as if deep in thought. “All right. But there’s something you need to know first. The system locked down because we used another student to deliver a package—Asmita Sanjay. She could still be in there, Stewart. Although…”
Stewart finishes her sentence, “Although it isn’t really Sanjay, is it?”
“No. I don’t think so,” Eileen says. “I think someone’s taken her place.”
“I knew something didn’t add up. But who is it? Another student?”
Eileen shakes her head slowly. “I don’t know, Stewart. It could be anyone.”
“Right, I’m going in. Tell me what to do.”
“I’ll get you into the scenario, but I’m going with you.”
Stewart frowns, but she holds up her hand to stop him before he can refuse. “That’s the deal, take it or leave it. I was just about to go in anyway. You can try and follow me if you want, but I’m telling you now, you’ll never make it.”
“All right. It looks like I don’t have much choice. But I’ll be watching you very carefully, Eileen. You’d better not put a foot wrong.”
“Understood.” Eileen looks Stewart in the eye. “I’ll take us in, but first I need to give you a mod. It’s a bridging tool, and you’ll need it before you can cross into the other system, OK?”
Stewart nods, and the standard warning appears on his UI as Eileen sends him the mod. Should he accept the it? There’s a chance she’ll double-cross him. This mod could infect him, leave him powerless and at her mercy. But he’s got to find a route into the scenario somehow. And there’s something about Eileen’s story, perhaps the undercurrent of corporate conspiracy, that rings true. Eileen didn’t confirm Agrippine’s involvement, but she didn’t deny it either. This has got Agrippine’s fingerprints all over it, Stewart thinks. And if it suits their purposes, those bastards will burn me in a heartbeat. But he’s got to get into that scenario; he’s wasted too much time already. Accept mod, he thinks, and his UI confirms a new addition to his inventory: a mod called AGILE.
“Walk with me, Stewart.” Eileen waits a moment and then turns and heads for the node. “Stay close.”
Stewart follows, and in seconds they arrive at the pulsating point that links the two systems. “What do we do?” Stewart asks.
“Activate AGILE then accept the data packet I’m going to give you.”
Stewart gives her a sharp look. “What is it? Coordinates?”
“It’s an encryption key and a self-loading set of protocols. All you have to do is accept it. I’ll do the rest.”
“Go ahead, Eileen. Send it to me.” Stewart activates the mod and when he gets a notification for the data packet, he accepts it. He watches in his UI while the panels rearrange themselves, and the data packet starts loading. Come on, Stewart thinks, but the progress indicator creeps along, one agonizing millimeter at a time.
“Are you ready?” Eileen asks.
“Wait. Just a second. There. It’s finished loading.”
“Good. But you’d better prepare yourself, Stewart. It’s going to be rough.”
“I can handle it.” Stewart grits his teeth. And in that moment, a savage sensation rushes through his body, setting his muscles on fire. His fists clench. A shudder shakes his arms and jolts through his shoulders. He turns, looking for Eileen, but she’s no longer there. And a swirling shroud of darkness sweeps over him, swallowing him whole.
He falls, tumbling through an inky void, his arms flailing, his fingers finding nothing to cling to. Something must be wrong. He should never have trusted Eileen. But then there’s solid ground beneath his feet, and the world turns white. Dazzling light floods his vision, and he squints against the glare.
He’s in a room with white walls. What’s happened? Ha
s she tricked me? But when his eyes adjust to the light, he sees Eileen standing to one side, a concerned expression on her face.
“Are you all right, Stewart?”
“Yes. But where are we? This isn’t the jungle.”
“Don’t worry. This is my secure entry point into the scenario. We’re safe here.”
“To hell with being safe,” Stewart snaps. “We need to get out there and find Hank. And if we can find the student masquerading as Sanjay, then so much the better. You dragged those poor devils into this mess, so you can bloody well help to get them out.”
Eileen looks him in the eye. “No, Stewart. We need to wait.” She hesitates. “That other student, the one who took Sanjay’s place, she’ll be on her way here.”
“You can’t be sure of that. Why would she come here?”
“Because, if I’ve set this up right, Jacob Grimwood will be with her.”
Stewart stares at Eileen. “What? Grimwood is here?”
“Yes. This whole scenario is a trap, Stewart.” She gives him a sad smile. “Didn’t you think it was strange that we let students play with it, even though it isn’t finished yet?”
“Oh my God! You gave Grimwood a way in, didn’t you? That’s how he was able to attack MENT0R.”
“I hate to tell you this, Stewart, but there never was an attack. We engineered the whole thing. The only vulnerability is the physical connection, and we put that in place deliberately.”
Stewart looks away for a second, finally glimpsing the bigger picture as the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. He can see it now—the hints and lies that have led him to this point. “You wanted to lure Grimwood out of hiding, to make him bold enough to make a move.” He gives Eileen a stern look. “I don’t like this, Eileen. It’s all very well to set up a trap, but to let students log into the same system? You’ve gone too far.”
“Believe me, Stewart, I never intended for anyone to be at risk. We only used the students to deliver packages into the scenario. They took the software in for us, that’s all.”
“That’s no excuse. You could have installed the software yourself.”
Eileen shakes her head. “Grimwood isn’t stupid. If we’d just planted something in the code, he’d have sniffed it out in seconds. We had to think of a smarter way to appeal to him, and we know he likes to use people. He’s done it before.”
“I know that, Eileen. But to use students? To dangle them like bait for Grimwood?”
“I was supposed to be there alongside them at Northridge, but you jeopardized that when you forced me to go into hiding.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? I had no way of knowing whose side you’re on. And my instructions were to trust nobody. Grimwood must have contacts inside the Trust and we needed the breach to look real to everyone, including the staff.”
Stewart frowns. “So why did you threaten me on the battlefield? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Come on, Stewart—you were obviously hiding something. And you knew about the time stamps. I had to assume you were on to me.”
“No. But I see now that you must’ve covered up what the students were doing, altered the time stamps.”
“Yes. I helped them to cover their tracks, but they didn’t know it was me. I used an avatar called Scarlett. The less the students knew, the better.”
Stewart grimaces. “You’re no better than Grimwood. You used the students, just like he would.”
“We wanted it to look that way, but the students were never meant to be in danger. We were certain Grimwood could trace the Scarlett avatar back to me. I’m the bait. He was supposed to come after me.”
“So when I came around asking questions…”
“I did what a guilty person would do,” Eileen says. “I ran. We needed Grimwood to believe that I was working against the Trust for my own personal gain.”
“Leaving the students on their own.”
“I had no choice, Stewart. You were too close to unraveling the whole thing, and I couldn’t trust you. I had to make it look like I’d run away. It was the only way to keep Grimwood in play.”
Stewart rubs his brow. “I don’t care what you did to me, Eileen. But why did you have to drag Marcus into this mess? And what about the other student—the one who’s taken Sanjay’s avatar?”
“Grimwood looks for people on the make, and he uses their ambitions against them. So I set up a team, the Beta Program, and we gave them elevated privileges within the scenario—access to the code. Marcus was on the team, but he was just a delivery boy.”
“And did you have his consent? Did Marcus know you were using him?”
“No. I used the Scarlett avatar to contact him, so he never knew his instructions came from me. But Marcus was never meant to be in any danger. He was just meant to find someone who was desperate to be on the program. Someone hungry.”
Stewart nods slowly. “Someone who’d look vulnerable to Grimwood.”
“Yes. We needed Grimwood to feel confident enough to break through into the scenario himself. In the past, he’s used someone else as a proxy. We didn’t want that to happen again.”
“So you presented him with a ready-made stooge and hoped he’d take the bait.”
“And we also gave him a ready-made loose end to tie up.”
“You.”
Eileen gives him a strained smile. “Yes. I’m his endgame. He knows I made the mod. He knows I have access to MENT0R. And by now he’ll have realized that this room is my entry point. He’ll come after me and this is where he’ll start.”
Stewart takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “All right. Now we know where we stand, and we know that Grimwood is the problem. If we take him out, will the system reset and let Hank and the other student log out?”
“Not immediately. The lockdown wasn’t part of the plan. Grimwood must’ve smuggled some malware into the system. We’ll have to make sure the students are clean before we can get them out.”
“Could Grimwood’s malware affect the students? Could it harm them through their neural interfaces?”
“No. The system will protect them,” Eileen says. “The lockdown will prevent any malware from migrating to their headsets.”
Stewart chews at the inside of his cheek. “All right. So, what’s our next move? We just wait for Grimwood to show up?”
“Yes. He’s definitely in the scenario—the mod called home when he broke through.” Eileen hesitates. “It was strange—you showed up just as I was about to go in.”
“A coincidence,” Stewart says. “I had no idea you were still around. I had one motivation—to get Hank out. But now that I’m here, I’ll help you if I can.” He hesitates. “There’s just one caveat. Before I do anything, I need your assurance—if it comes down to catching Grimwood or saving the students, we have to put the students first. Agreed?”
Eileen nods emphatically. “Absolutely. If everything goes to plan, the two things will happen together.”
“Don’t be too sure, Eileen. I know Grimwood, and if there’s the tiniest loophole in your plan, then he will find it and exploit it.”
“It’ll be fine, Stewart. Capturing Grimwood is the key, and this building is a trap—as soon as he sets foot inside, we’ll be able to trace his location in real life, and you can bet we have forces standing by to grab him.” She locks eyes with Stewart. “This can all be over in a few minutes. Once Grimwood is in the bag, the students will be perfectly safe. And you needn’t worry about Hank. Yes, he’s in the scenario, but it’s massive, and there’s no reason for him to be anywhere near Grimwood.”
“Fair point.” Stewart returns Eileen’s gaze. “All right. If there’s a chance to take Grimwood down, then we have to go for it. We need to make a plan, and we need to cover every eventuality. But you’re right—Hank can wait for a few minutes more. He knows how to look after himself.”
“Thank you,” Eileen says. “I’m sure Hank will be fine. He might be a little worried, but he’ll be able to log
off soon enough. If anything, he’s probably just getting bored.”
***
Hank creeps forward with Thomas, and together, they peer through the tangled mass of dangling foliage. The building in front of them is small, but it stands out a mile. It has no obvious doors or windows, but its pristine walls are picked out in pure, dazzling white.
“Stop here,” Jack says, and Thomas and Hank comply. Thomas leans against the trunk of a tree and wipes his forehead with the back of his hand. Hank just stands quietly, scanning his surroundings, taking in every shadow, every possible escape route.
“Don’t get too comfy,” Jack says. “Thomas, use AGILE to peek inside. Tell me when you find Scarlett.”
“All right.” Thomas screws up his eyes in concentration. “I’m not getting anything. No targets at all.”
Jack lets out a derisive grunt. “She’s in there, I’m sure of it. But I suppose she must’ve shielded her little hideaway somehow.” He sniffs. “All right, Thomas, you’ll have to go in.”
Thomas shakes his head. “Why don’t you do it? You’ve got my gun.”
“Oh no,” Jack says. “I’ve got something special in mind for your friend, Scarlett.” He grins, and from the sheath strapped across his chest, he draws a long combat knife, its blade viciously serrated. He steps forward and holds the knife up, turning it in front of Thomas’s eyes. “Take this and hide it in your belt. If she thinks you’re unarmed, you’ll be able to get close to her. But this will do the job.” He presses the knife into Thomas’s hand.
Reluctantly, Thomas takes the knife and stares at it, his face pale. “No. I can’t do it. She’s too strong.”
Hank steps forward. “I can. I’ll do it.”
Jack looks at Hank for a long second. “All right. I’ll give you a chance. But if you’re not successful in three minutes, Thomas will pay the price.” He turns to Thomas. “Give him the knife.”
The Trust (The Downlode Heroes Book 2) Page 34