Power Hunt (ArcMed Book 1) (ArcOn 3)

by Erinn Price

  “Now. What do you need from me?” Scarlet asked.

  I grinned at my new sister and said, “My necklace, in the jewellery box in my room. Can you get it to me without anyone seeing? I am sure they will be watching my apartment.”

  “I can, and they are.” Scarlet informed me. “This is going to be so much fun.” I heard the excitement and eagerness in her voice. “My first b&e in the real world.” With that the hologram disappeared and Matthew and I were alone in the cabin.

  “Should we be more worried that she knows the slang for breaking and entering, or that she used the word, first?” Matthew asked.

  I just laughed and said. “Just be thankful she is my sister and on our side. I might have been brain damaged if she had not been.”

  “I would have given you CPR before that happened.” Matthew interjected.

  “Yeah, yeah, I am sure.” I teased Matthew.

  “You scared me there for a bit.” Matthew informed me.

  “I scared myself there for a bit, as well. I knew it was going to be tough, but not that tough.” I replied.

  “Just promise me that you will not do anything like that ever again.” Matthew asked.

  “You know I can’t.” I honestly replied to him. “If needed I will do it and more again.”

  “You are a very stubborn and independent girlfriend.” Matthew said. “I wonder what I am getting myself into after meeting your sister, is the rest of your family like Scarlet?’”

  “I am not your girlfriend and yes the rest of my family is exactly like Scarlet. We all would do anything for the others.” I told him seriously.

  “Excellent.” Was Matthew’s surprising response.

  I gave him a curious look, while he just lay back and looked innocent.

  “I am going to clean myself up a bit.” I informed him. I could feel the dried blood on my face and wanted to wash it off. Fortunately, Matthew had gotten us on one of the fancier trains and the first-class private cabins had their own small bathroom, with a bath. The baths were small and shallow, but it was perfect. I was absolutely dying to contact Alexis and ask her about Scarlet. I was sure that how they met and how Scarlet became our sister, let alone the first recognised true sentient AI, would be an amazing story. But now was not the time and well, frankly, my brain felt a little bit tender.

  Chapter 10

  The next morning, we arrived in Cairo. I was still tired and suffering from the effects of the day before. Matthew had not said much, but I could see him carefully watching me. I had not tried to link to my network again, trying to give my brain time to recover. Once we found a safe place, I would begin to research for any information on the Book of Thoth. As I was not controlling nanos to change our clothing and looks, it was up to Matthew to ensure we were not being followed. He managed to buy many articles of clothing as well as two bags, while we walked. Matthew did not try to force me to talk or to participate and just accepted my zombie-like state. He did not seem to mind, if I had been paying more attention, I would have seen that he was in his element. We got on trains and busses throughout the day, with Matthew handing me clothing to change into and giving me instructions. It was just after lunch time that our solitude was interrupted.

  “Are you two done playing with the transport system? Or do you want to play on a few more trains and busses?” I heard Scarlet ask, just before her holographic image joined us.

  “We are done.” Matthew said. “How did your first b&e go?”

  “It was awesome.” I could hear the satisfaction in Scarlet’s voice. “They did not even realize I was there, let alone taking the prize from right under their noses.”

  “They were watching?” I asked.

  “Watching? Heck, they were in your apartment.” Scarlet said.

  “Wait, what? Inside? What about the house security?” I asked.

  “Well, it did not seem to bother them at all.” Scarlet said.

  I shook my head. I would worry about what had happened to my security later. “How did you get the necklace?”

  “I threw it away with the garbage.” Scarlet giggled, as she tells us this. “I used your handy invisibility trick and made the necklace invisible. Then I moved it to your fruit. That was really disgusting by the way. How you eat anything that could turn into that, I do not know. I attached the necklace to the fruit and then reset the cleaning bots to clean then, instead of later. Those idiots in your apartment did get a fright when the cleaner bots first appeared. When they realised what they were, they let the bots get on with their work, without interfering.”

  I laughed as I imagined how chagrined they would have been, if they realized they had been watching the object they wanted, being thrown away. It also meant that they had just deactivated the security and not the apartment AI, otherwise the cleaner bots suddenly going active would have alerted them. I would have to investigate the security system I used. It had looked the best, but obviously I had to have missed something. The Shadow Organisation had to have gotten to the security system directly. Which meant there was a connection between the security system and the Shadow Organisation. Otherwise, they never would have gotten access into my apartment without the security being activated. I was just glad that Alexis was not in the Virtual pod in the apartment. The security I had been counting on to protect her, would have handed her to them on a silver platter, if she had still been there.

  “I then just collected the necklace from the garbage, changed the invisibility nanos to a box and mailed the necklace to you.” Scarlet said.

  “That is all great Scarlet, but what address did you use to mail it to?” Mathew asked.

  “Duh! Toby’s of course.” Scarlet replied to Mathew, as if he was an idiot for not knowing that.

  “Um, Scarlet. Who exactly is Toby and how do we get the necklace from him.” I asked.

  “My best friend, of course, and you get it from him when you get to his house.” Scarlet told me.

  “Where is Toby?” Mathew asked.

  “In Cairo, of course. Why else do you think I allowed you to go to Cairo without stopping you?’ Scarlet told us, her tone hinting that we were silly to not have figured all that out.

  “Could you give us Toby’s address?” I asked Scarlet. There would be no use in pointing out to her that there was no way we could have known about Toby, or that he was in Cairo. I was concerned about all the co-incidences occurring around me and my family. But as there was nothing I could do about it, or a way to figure out why it was happening, I just decided to go along with it.

  “Is that a rhetorical question? How else would you get Toby’s address, unless I gave it to you?” Scarlet asked. I heard Mathew groan at her response.

  “Toby knows to keep the necklace for us, and that we are coming to get it?” I asked.

  “Well, it would make sense for you to get the necklace while you are staying with his family.” Scarlet told me. “Did you hit your head? You are asking questions I would expect of him, not you.”

  The implication was that I was asking dumb questions and I could not help but laugh, Scarlet was anything but boring. “I am fine, just a bit dazed and tired.” I informed Scarlet.

  “Mmm, that might account for it. I am glad this won’t be permanent. As it would have been, if I left things to him.” Scarlet said.

  “I am not dumb, and I would have given her CPR in time. I managed to get us here without being followed or found.” Mathew said.

  “Yes, yes. Congratulations for having a talent for playing dress-up and catching as many trains and busses as you can.” Scarlet told Mathew and her voice was sincere. She really was congratulating him for that.

  “Scarlet, Toby’s address.” I said, before things could escalate. I could see Mathew dying to say something, but I knew it would not help. Mathew should have realised by now, that he could not win an argument with an artificial intelligence. Even if that intelligence acted more like a young child than an adult. No matter how clever Scarlet was, she was a child emotionally and still de
veloping and growing. That she had a personality and needed to grow, is what made her a truly-sentient artificial intelligence. She really was a younger sister and Mathew had to think of her as such and not as an artificial intelligence.

  “You will be safe there and I will monitor to ensure you stay so.” Scarlet said, as she gave us Toby’s address.

  “Well, it seems we have a place to stay.” Mathew told me, as Scarlet once again disappeared.

  He grabbed our bags and took my hand as we left the bus we were on. “Fortunately, the place is close. I am pretty sure Scarlet let us bus and train hop, just waiting for us to get close to Toby’s house.”

  I saw Matthew shake his head as he spoke, but he also had a smile on his face. “I cannot wait to meet your other sister. You Dumont women are fascinating.”

  “Where are we?” I asked. My brain still felt hazy. I felt like my brain wasn’t there, thinking was difficult. As soon as I got hold of a thought, it drifted away. I was not worried, this disconnection I felt did not allow for worry. Everything felt surreal to me, like I was dreaming.

  “Zamalek. It is actually brilliant, we will have no problem blending in there. That neighbourhood is filled with foreigners. There are so many people transitioning through that neighbourhood, that two more will not be noticed.” Matthew told me.

  Egypt was a fascinating country. It had a mixture of ancient, old and new. There was extreme wealth and then there was extreme poverty and all those elements combined and lived side by side. No other country had their extensive historical preservation. History one could see and experience, as the country allowed outsiders to visit and see it all first hand.

  Matthew stopped before a huge wall and I saw there was a gate and intercom system. He pressed the button. “Hi, this is ..”.

  “Ahh, yes, my American friends. Come in, come in.” We heard a voice say and then the buzz informing us that the gate had been opened.

  Matthew looked at me and then opened the gate saying, “Here we go,” as he walked through.

  Following him, I was amazed at the complete change from outside the wall to inside. Outside was streets crowded with houses, apartments, shops and people. Inside was an oasis of green and spacious. We walked down a pathway between an abundance of flowers and water features. It was peace and comfort. The walkway opened up, showing a stunning house. The outside had huge columns with Egyptian art and hieroglyphics covering them. It made one feel as if you were about to enter an Egyptian tomb. Inside, the house was unbelievable, plenty of light chased away the tomb feeling, but Egyptian art and motif was found throughout.

  “This is my wife Sara, I am Kharim.” The man led us to a lithe dark-haired woman. “Welcome to my home, friends.”

  “Welcome Matthew and Morgan, Scarlet has told us a lot about you.” I could see her smile as she said Matthew’s name and I could just imagine what Scarlet had said about him.

  “You know Scarlet?” I asked, curious.

  “Of course. Thanks to her, our Toby is interacting with us a lot more.” Sara said.

  “Toby?” I asked.

  She led us to a room where I saw one of my latest pods. “Our son. He struggles to interact with the real world, but in there he is unbelievable.” Sara said, and I knew she was not only referring to the pod but to the ArcOn game world. “He is autistic.”

  I nodded in understanding. My pod and ArcCorp’s online world of ArcOn, had given people like Toby, a world in which they could function normally. Somehow, being in the artificial world allowed them to express themselves better and even interact with other people.

  “Scarlet has even visited us here and in those times, Toby has directly interacted with us.” Kharim said, and I could hear in his voice, how much this meant to him.

  “Now, with the Gnome Kingdom open, we will even be able to visit him and interact with him in the game.” Sara said. I could see how excited she was about that. “Our pods should arrive sometime this week.”

  Just then the pod began to open, and I turned around to give the young man some privacy. I knew that he would be naked and likely embarrassed, if strangers saw him. His father realised what was happening and quickly walked into the room and got a robe out of the cupboard.

  “Morgan!” I heard Toby say. “I am so glad you are here.” I was taken by surprise as a young body hugged me tightly. I had not been expecting that and by the surprise I could see on his mother’s face, I knew I was not the only one. “Scarlet has told me so much about you.” Toby was a tall, thin, young man, about fifteen years old.

  “Dad, we have to help Scarlet’s sister. They need information about the Book of Thoth, but it is a secret and no one else can know.” Toby had let go of me and grabbed his dad’s hand, pulling him towards Matthew and me. I could see his father swallow heavily as he looked from his son’s face, to the hand holding his and back to his son’s face.

  “Of course, my son. She will have anything she needs.” Kharim said.

  “Yay! Scarlet will be so happy. Thank you, father.” Toby said, and then surprising his family even more, he hugged both his father and mother. If I had not known from my own medical background, the looks on his parents’ faces, would have let me know that Toby hugging them, was not a normal occurrence. Sara had tears in her eyes.

  “Your necklace should arrive sometime tomorrow.” I heard Scarlet say and then her holographic image appeared in the room with us. I followed its source and saw a projector in the ceiling, looking around I saw that there was a similar projector in the ceilings of all the rooms I could see.

  “Scarlet, your sister is here, and my parents are going to help her. You do not have to worry any more, my Dad will protect her.” Toby informed Scarlet. I could see tears begin to form in Kharim’s eyes, as Toby spoke with full confidence and belief in his father’s ability to protect me.

  “Hey, Toby. I see so.” Scarlet said. “Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Taher. My sister is a bit loopy at the moment, at least I hope it is temporary. I am also afraid that, that one,” she pointed to Matthew,” does not perform well under pressure.”

  “I would have given her CPR in time.” Matthew interjected. “And I perform fine under pressure, thank you very much.”

  I grinned, and I saw Kharim and Sara grinning as well. “I do not have any information on the Book of Thoth on hand, but it will be a simple matter to get some.” Kharim said.

  “We seem to be very open about what should be a secret.” Matthew said. “There is a large secret organisation, just dying to learn what we know.”

  “Stop being a worry wort. Toby’s family is safe.” Scarlet informed Matthew. “They will also be able to help you. Toby’s father is an expert on Egyptology and his mother on languages, especially the dead ones.”

  I looked at Matthew and saw he was looking back at me. I knew both of us were thinking the same thing, the co-incidences were adding up. They were exactly what we needed, and Scarlet led us here, to the parents of her best friend. A friend Scarlet met in the virtual world ArcOn, which is where she met my sister and how she became my adopted sister.

  “Thank you, any information you could give us, will be appreciated. I am afraid Scarlet is right, I am still recovering from yesterday.” I said.

  “She nearly fried her brain and the strain stopped her heart.” Scarlet told Toby. “If I had not electrocuted her, she likely would be brain dead.”

  Before Matthew could say anything, Toby said. “Cool! Alexis is creating a party to go explore that new cave. She thinks it may give clues for the World Event, want to join?”

  “Yes! Should be fun, when?” Scarlet asked, the rest of us forgotten as she and Toby made plans. It seemed discussing near-death experiences, came second to exploring a cave in ArcOn.

  Kharim motioned for us to follow him and leaving the two teenagers behind, we followed him to the lounge. He then pointed to a passage to the left. “Your room is there, it has its own bathroom and twin beds. I know as your protector, Matthew would want to be close to you.”

/>   “Thank-you, Kharim.” Matthew said, before I could say anything.

  “Why don’t you two get settled in. Kharim and I, will see if we can find any information on the Book of Thoth.” Sara said.

  “Please be careful, there really are people chasing us and they seem to be prepared to do anything to get this information. They are very dangerous.” Matthew warned them.

  “Do not worry, I will watch their backs.” Scarlet suddenly said, as she appeared. “Toby has gone to take a shower.”

  “You cannot follow them everywhere Scarlet.” I said.

  “I really am worried about you Morgan, maybe you need to go see a doctor.” Scarlet said. “Their electronic backs. I will make sure that there is no trace of their enquiries and no notifications of their activities.”

  I should have known that was what Scarlet meant, but I really was not thinking clearly. Her wiping any trace of their search was not only clever but necessary. There likely would be alerts set to notify them. Alerting them if anyone searched for knowledge of the Book of Thoth. The Shadow Organisation did not need my grandfather’s diary to tell them the name of the artefact. They wanted the diary because they believed it would give them the location of where the Book of Thoth was. Matthew and I needed to read through it again. It had to have hidden information.

  “Scarlet, can you scan this book and see if there are any hidden messages concerning the Book of Thoth?” I asked Scarlet, showing her the book.

  “Of course.” Scarlet said. “Just hold it under the holographic projector and flip through all the pages. You can do it quickly, I will just make copies as you go.”

  I moved and stood directly under the projector in the lounge, flipping through the diary quickly. “I will get started immediately.” Scarlet said, as I finished.

  “Thanks Scarlet.” I smiled at her image.

  “No worries, sis.” Scarlet replied, as she disappeared again.

  “Come, I think that brain of yours needs rest. If you are not back to normal by tomorrow, I just know your sister is going to blame me somehow.” Matthew said.