Wildcard (Warcross)

by Marie Lu

  An hour has passed when I finally get an invite to connect from someone I don’t have in my contacts.

  I’m about to accept it, but it goes through before I can. I freeze, clutching my towel closer. Has someone hacked into my NeuroLink?

  “You’re awake.”

  I recognize Jax’s voice. I feel a curious mix of relief and unease at her words. “Are you watching me?”

  “I just saw your status blink green.” She sounds as clipped as I remember.

  “And where am I, exactly?”

  “A hotel, of course. You should probably stay here for a while, at least until you’re no longer at the top of the lottery.”

  “Why’d you drug me yesterday?”

  “Two days ago. You’ve been asleep for an entire day.”

  I’d lost a day? I blink. So this isn’t the sunset after the night Jax had come for me. No wonder all the Riders sounded so worried.

  “Why’d you do it, Jax?” I ask again. After my argument with Hideo, I’m in no mood to play around.

  “Relax. I needed to get you here without you causing a scene. You said you didn’t trust me entirely, so I couldn’t trust you not to attack me in the car. I could’ve thrown a sack over your head, but I didn’t want to freak you out.”

  I make an incredulous face. “Because I totally didn’t freak out when you shot me instead.”

  She responds with a bored sigh. “You’re fine. Now go get dressed.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Zero is heading upstairs to see you.”

  That brings my sarcastic comments to a halt. The thought of Zero coming into my suite sends a trill of fear through me, and I find myself stepping toward the bathroom before Jax can say another word.

  “I’ll be ready,” I mutter.

  I pull on a fresh change of clothes that I find folded neatly in my room’s closet. They’re crisp in their newness and fit a little loosely. The sight of myself in the mirror, dressed fully in black, only reminds me of how foreign everything feels right now, how deeply I’ve gone into a hive and how likely it is that I might never come out of it, and I look quickly away, wishing my old clothes hadn’t been ruined by blood and smoke.

  I’m smoothing down my new shirt when I hear a soft knock on my door, followed by silence. I hesitate.

  “Come in,” I say, feeling strange giving someone permission while I’m the one here against her will.

  The door of my suite opens and closes, followed by the soft sound of footsteps against the carpet. He’s here. I take one more deep breath. My heart won’t stop racing, but at least I don’t see it spelled out on my face.

  Then I step out to see someone already seated in a chair by the window, waiting for me.

  5

  There are three of them, actually.

  Jax stands beside a chair, her hand resting casually on the handle of her gun. She looks relaxed, but her gray eyes follow me without blinking, and I know that if she wanted to, she could whip out that gun and kill me before I could even open my mouth.

  Sitting in the chair next to her is an older woman with glasses, her silver-streaked hair tied back into a neat bun that matches her neat clothes. A faint, pleasant perfume hangs in the air around her. She has the sort of face that belongs to a scholar—careful eyes, a controlled mouth, a stare that analyzes me for the unspoken things. Her hands are folded neatly in her lap. She gives me a sympathetic smile when she sees me looking her way.

  But it’s the third person, the one whose presence owns the room, who stops me in my tracks.

  He leans back against the wall, his arms crossed casually over his chest, one of his legs propped against the other. His face is no longer hidden behind a black helmet, and instead of his armor, he’s wearing a simple black sweater and dark pants, his shoes polished to a shine. But his mannerisms are unmistakable to me.

  One side of his mouth tilts up in a smile. “Well, Emika,” says Zero. “Welcome.”

  The first time I ever crossed paths with Zero, he was nothing more than a snippet of code, a glitch in Hideo’s matrix that runs all of Warcross. And the first time I ever saw a virtual version of him, he was standing in the middle of the Dark World’s Pirate Den, surrounded by people all hiding behind fake names and exaggerated avatar monsters.

  Even then, he’d stood out. Against a backdrop of monsters, he was a lean, dark, armored shadow, as silent and unapologetic as the night. I can still remember the chill he’d sent through me at the mere sight of his virtual figure—the way my hands clenched and my nails cut into my palms.

  Now I gape at his exposed face.

  It’s like looking at Hideo through a dream.

  He’s younger by a couple of years, his features harsher and fiercer. Still, I can immediately see the resemblance between the two—the liquid dark eyes and hair—and I can easily recognize in him the small boy from Hideo’s reconstructed Memory.

  In a more normal setting, after a more normal day, he’d probably seem like a handsome stranger anyone might meet on the street, the kind of boy who’s never had trouble getting a date or making a friend, the sort who doesn’t talk much but grips everyone’s attention when he does. But here, there’s something unsettling about him that I can’t quite put my finger on. While Hideo has a piercing stare, there’s a wildness in Sasuke’s eyes, something deep and unfeeling. Something less human. I don’t know how to describe its unusual light. It draws me in at the same time it repels me.

  The older woman speaks. Her eyes are soft, sweeping over me from head to toe. “This is the girl, then?” she says to Zero in an accent I can’t quite place.

  “Emika Chen,” Zero replies.

  “Emika Chen.” The woman rests her chin against her hand and frowns. “She looks exhausted. We should have given her an extra day to rest.”

  “We don’t have that kind of luxury,” Zero says. “She was the only one of Hideo’s bounty hunters who managed to stay on my trail. She can handle a long day.”

  At that, the woman gives me a helpless look. “I’m sorry,” she addresses me directly. “Everything will make more sense once we explain.”

  Zero tips his head subtly in her direction. “This is Dr. Dana Taylor,” he says. “And you already know who I am.” He studies my face. “Jax tells me you gave her a little trouble.”

  I finally find my voice. “Well, it’s not like she killed anyone in front of me or anything.”

  “Come on,” Jax mutters to Zero. “She’s completely inexperienced. Did you know she’s never even fired a gun before?”

  “I’ve fired stun guns,” I say.

  Jax holds a hand out in my direction. “See?”

  “With you around, she doesn’t need a gun,” Zero replies.

  Jax makes an annoyed sound, but doesn’t counter that.

  Zero observes me in the same way he’d done in the Dark World. My heart beats a rapid rhythm at his gaze. For all I know, he’s doing a scan of all my data, checking to make sure I’m not signaling anyone to follow me here.

  Does he remember his brother? How could he possibly forget—or, worse, not care?

  “I sent her to save your life, you know,” he says.

  I turn my head up to meet his gaze as my anger flares again. “You forced me here under threat of death.”

  Zero’s eyes swivel to the black door I’d entered through before settling back on me. “You accepted my invitation.”

  “And how do I know you didn’t send those other assassins after me, too, just to set this entire thing up?”

  “You think I have nothing better to do with my time than mess with you.”

  “I think you play more games with me than you should.”

  Dr. Taylor frowns at Zero before she takes a deep breath and looks at me. “We’re glad you’re safe, Emika,” she continues in a soft tone. “You may not have heard of Jax before, but sh
e’s well-known in our circles. The sight of her defending you will send a clear message to every hunter watching the assassination lottery to stay away from you.”

  I look over my shoulder toward the door, feeling no safer at this knowledge. If I dared to turn my back on Zero and leave this place, would Jax put a bullet through my head?

  Zero points at my eyes. “I’m assuming you use the beta lenses.”

  “Yes,” I reply. “Why?”

  “You’re going to need some extra protection on your account.” Zero flicks his hand subtly, and a menu pops up between us, asking me to accept his invite.

  I hesitate.

  Zero gives me a wry smile. “It’s not a virus,” he says.

  I’m not in much of a position to argue with him, so I accept it.

  A download bar appears.

  It completes and vanishes as quickly as it’d arrived.

  Zero takes a step toward me. He holds out one of his palms. As I stare at it, a black virtual cuff materializes to hover over his hand. Then he places that hand over my arm, and the cuff snaps into place around my wrist with a clean click. Like a shackle. A coat of black armor identical to Zero’s virtual gear clips all over my body in a ripple of movement, and for a brief moment, I look like I once did in that red virtual cavern, when Zero first approached me during the championships.

  The armor disappears again, as if it had faded away right into my skin. The cuff glows a soft blue before it vanishes. It reappears only when I stare long enough at my wrist. I’d seen the same thing on Jax when she first showed up during my attack.

  “It’s a Blackcoat mark,” he says. “You are now under our watch. No one else will touch you.”

  He’s officially claimed me for the Blackcoats. I’m theirs now.

  I rub at my new cuff. Even though it’s a virtual object, I can almost feel it burning into me.

  “So, what are you all? Vigilantes or something?”

  Zero returns to where he’d been leaning against the wall. “That term’s a little sensational. But I guess it applies.”

  Taylor turns her steady gaze on me. “We believe that too much power in the hands of a single entity is always a dangerous thing. So we fight that, whenever and wherever we can. We have wealthy patrons who support our cause.”

  I wait for her to tell me who those patrons are, but she doesn’t. My eyes flicker uneasily to Zero. “How many of you are there?”

  “Our numbers shift, depending on what we’re doing,” he replies. “We bring on those we need and part ways when we’re done—but there are, of course, a handful of us who are always involved. And as you know, our current target of interest is Hideo Tanaka and his NeuroLink.”

  So, I wasn’t wrong. I’ve known since Hideo first hired me that someone was lurking in the shadows, trying to undo his work and threaten his life—but it’s one thing to be investigating those clues and another thing to hear it confirmed.

  My gaze returns to Jax. “The assassination attempt on Hideo,” I say, my voice suddenly tight. “Right after the first Warcross game. Was that—”

  Jax fixes me with her cool gray eyes before I can even finish my sentence. She shrugs. “Would’ve succeeded had his security detail not been so tight,” she replies. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore. Killing him now won’t disable his algorithm.”

  Jax had been the one who tried to kill Hideo. My eyes dart to Zero, searching for a reaction from him that’s as horrified as how I feel. But his face stays calm and collected. It’s as if Hideo were nothing but a name to him.

  “Let’s talk about our common goals, Emika,” Zero says. “Because they’re one and the same, aren’t they?”

  I stare at him, trying to sound calm. “To take down the NeuroLink’s algorithm.”

  Zero nods once in approval. “And do you know what we need to do that?”

  The words come out of me, cold and calculating. “To get into Hideo’s account.”

  “Yes. Through someone who’s capable of winning that kind of trust. You.”

  They need someone to get into Hideo’s systems, and in order to do that, they need to get under his skin. But after my talk with him, I’m going to be the last person he’ll be willing to confide in.

  What about Zero himself? Surely Sasuke is a better option to use than me?

  A million questions threaten to spill out of my mouth. In the light, Zero’s eyes are a very dark brown, and if I look closely, I can see thread-thin slashes of gold in them. The vision of him as a small boy, his high-pitched laugh as he ran through the park with his brother, flashes through my mind. I think of him grinning as Hideo looped the blue scarf around his neck, and him calling over his shoulder as he went to retrieve the plastic egg that Hideo had thrown too far.

  Sasuke should be the only connection to Hideo that the Blackcoats would ever need. If Sasuke were to approach Hideo, he would give up the world for his lost brother, would move heaven and earth if Sasuke asked him to.

  Would Sasuke do the same in return? Why is there no hint of emotion for his brother in his eyes?

  I push down the rising tide of questions in my mind. There’s too little that they’re revealing about the Blackcoats, and something about the tension in the air tells me that I shouldn’t be openly asking about Zero’s connection to Hideo yet. I need to wait for a moment alone with him.

  “So, you’re trying to stop Hideo out of the goodness of your hearts?” I ask.

  “Why else would we be doing it?”

  I throw my hands up. “I don’t know. You haven’t told me much of anything about your shadow group. Why’d you try to kill me when you blew up the Riders’ dorms? Was that out of your goodwill, too?”

  Zero seems completely unsurprised by my remark. “Sometimes, doing the right thing means making hard decisions along the way.”

  “And how do I know you won’t make another hard decision with me?”

  “You don’t believe me.”

  “No, I don’t believe that you’re telling me everything I need to know.”

  Taylor suddenly straightens. “You went to prison for a while, didn’t you?” she says. “Earned a red mark on your record because you saw an injustice done to some girl you barely knew?”

  My jaw tightens at her words. “You’ve been snooping around in my files.”

  She ignores my tone, her eyes bright. “Why did you do it, Emika? What did you get out of it, aside from years of hardship? What took you down that path? You used your talents to break into the private files of all your fellow students. You released that data onto the Internet. That was a crime, wasn’t it? And yet, you did it anyway—because you were standing up for a girl who had been wronged.”

  The memory rushes back—my arrest, my trial, the sentencing.

  “You’re still so young,” she goes on. “Is it so hard for you to believe that someone else might want to do the same? Try to remember how you felt at that time, then take that and expand it into something bigger than yourself, a group of people, all of whom might believe in a higher cause?”

  I don’t say anything.

  Taylor leans toward me. “I know you’re hesitant,” she says gently. “I can see it on your face, your distrust of everything I’m telling you, and I understand why. We didn’t get off on the best foot.” She glances at Zero with a lifted eyebrow. “But you’re now aware of what Hideo’s true plans are. And no matter how little you know about us or we know about you, we’re both on the same side. We have no intention of harming an ally. No one’s going to force your hand.” Her voice hardens now, a tone that doesn’t seem to match her face. “Nothing I’ve ever seen has frightened me quite as much as what Hideo Tanaka is doing with the NeuroLink’s algorithm. Isn’t that why you cut ties with him, in spite of everything he could give you?”

  She says this in a way that hints at my brief relationship with Hideo, and to my annoyance,
my cheeks warm. I wonder exactly how much she knows about me. My eyes flicker again to Zero.

  A sudden surge of rage grips me. All I can remember in this moment is the way Zero had stood there in the dark hall, hidden behind his virtual armor, mocking me as I discovered all my files had been emptied. All I can feel is the same skin-crawling sensation of Zero being inside my mind, his theft of my most precious Memories.

  This is someone who has betrayed me before. And now here he is, asking me to help him.

  “Why should I trust you?” I ask. “After everything you’ve done?”

  Zero regards me with a penetrating look. “It doesn’t matter if you trust me or not. Hideo’s moving forward, regardless, and we’re running out of time. We’re going to stop him from abusing his NeuroLink, and we can do it faster with your help. That’s all I can tell you.”

  I think of the colorful maps of minds that Hideo had shown me, then the ability he had to stop someone dead in his tracks by doing nothing more than shifting that map. I think of the eerie blankness on people’s faces.

  “So.” Zero laces his fingers together. “Are you in?”

  I’m ready to refuse him. He had taken my soul out of my chest and done something obscene with it; even now, he is messing with my emotions. I want to turn my back on Zero and step out of this room, do what Roshan said and return to New York and never think about any of this again.

  Instead, I scowl at Zero. “What do you have in mind?”

  6

  Zero smiles. He exchanges a stare with Taylor, then with Jax, and as he does, Taylor rises from her seat. She gives me an encouraging nod before she turns away.

  “Glad to have you on board,” she says over her shoulder, and then heads out of the room.

  Jax lingers a second longer, locked in a silent exchange with Zero that feels like something shared between familiar partners. She doesn’t bother looking my way before she leaves, too. “I’ll be next door,” she calls out as she goes. I can’t tell if it’s meant to reassure or threaten me that she’ll be on guard so close by.