Configured: (Book #1 in the Configured Trilogy)

by Jenetta Penner

  "Why do they need so much space?" I whisper.

  Meyer turns to me. "Since when do you know your neighbors or coworkers enough to realize if any of them went missing?"

  He's right. I don't. Direction could take a quarter the city and store them here and most of us would never notice. Maybe they have.

  Below us, some drones escort a few shuffling prisoners, but other than that, this area is deserted. The EP directs me to the left, and Meyer signals the same. Jayson's wing is 118 feet away, and we only have five minutes and twenty-nine seconds to find him and return.

  Meyer sprints out first, keeping close to the wall and cell doors since the other side opens to the floors above and below. Lena grabs me, and I follow, but my heart's doing its best to escape again.

  "When we get there, you'll disable the lock, Avlyn," Meyer whispers in my comm.

  The EP displays there are two more doors until I reach my destination. Meyer skids to a stop, making more noise than he should, but the EP's still green. Once I reach him, he motions toward the pad, securing the door.

  "Once we're in, there should be a series of doors to individual cells, but don't unlock them," he says. "We can't risk releasing other people."

  I nod and glide my hand to the pad. My eyes shut, then snap to a white, a glowing version of the same scene, but I'm alone.

  "Unlock the door for four minutes," I command.

  The snowy version of the door glows orange, then dissipates.

  "And loop the cameras in all detention wings."

  The warm sensation stretches through my arm again.

  "Are you in?" Lena whispers as I release from the system.

  Before I say yes, the door slides back.

  "I looped the surveillance."

  Meyer's eyes widen. "Good thinking. Let's move."

  By now, the cameras are out, but we don't have much time before the guards notice. We all dart through the hall, peeking into the undersized windows on the upper half of each door. Lena and I on the right, since I've only really seen Jayson once, and Meyer on the left. Up ahead Meyer pauses at one, and his eyes brighten, but he moves on. Finally, he points to the tenth door in.

  Lena and I race toward it, and no sooner do I touch the security pad than the door clears. The system knows me. I've become a part of it.

  Inside, Jayson lies on a cot on the corner. At the sight of him, I go rigid. This man with a swollen, marked face is nothing like the jolly man from before.

  "Wha… what are you here for?" Jayson slurs. Drugged.

  Lena plunges her hand over his mouth. "Shut up. We're getting you out of here."

  "You release Jayson, Lena," Meyer says.

  "What about you?"

  Meyer pauses. "Lena, I need you to. I'm getting Sanda."

  Who is Sanda?

  "She's here? I thought intel said she was dead?" Lena whispers.

  Meyer shakes his head and motions behind us. "I saw her back there."

  "Get her too," Jayson mumbles.

  "I am," Meyer says.

  Lena nods a yes.

  Meyer squeezes my shoulder, and I suck in air, startled.

  "Come on," he says as he pulls me after him. "You'll need to free the door."

  I follow Meyer out of Jayson's cell, to the same door I saw him pause at. He stops and nods toward it. I drag my fingers across the pad, and it clears. This cell has no cot, only the balled-up frame of what could be a girl wedged in the corner.

  "Who is she?" I ask.

  "Go help Lena," Meyer says, ignoring my question.

  I hesitate as I watch the helpless girl.

  "Go," he orders.

  "Okay." I sprint back to Jayson's cell. Now he sits on the cot, blinking.

  Lena slaps her handheld to her wrist and gazes toward me standing in the doorway. "I gave him MedTech to counteract whatever's in his system. But his nanos aren't functional."

  The green cast in my EP wavers and turns a new shade.

  "Guardians are en route, probably to check out the camera fluctuations. Time to leave," Lena whispers. Jayson grunts as Lena places an arm under his and pushes up. "Let's go, Jayson."

  After she heaves him to his feet, I check the hall. Meyer careens toward us with a diminutive girl in his arms, unconscious. Her face is turned against him, and a mop of dark, curly, gold-tipped hair spills over his arms.

  I know where I've seen her. Other than the bright clothing being replaced by a baggy jumpsuit, she's as crumbled as when the drones swarmed and took her away on the street that morning before my placement meeting. She's the one who graffitied the words "Break Free" on the side of the building. The one who stared my way and smiled.

  The EP viewer fades to red, and the countdown estimates fifty-two seconds until security arrives in this wing.

  Meyer reaches the doorway as the three of us walk into the hall. "Here," he whispers and pushes his weapon into my hands. "I can't use this and carry her."

  "Use the MedTech," Lena says.

  Meyer shakes his head. "Tried. She's too damaged."

  I hesitate. The metal of the gun is heavy in my hands, and feels wrong compared to what we used in the sims. Since I'm the only one not helping another person, I end up leading the group. When we exit the main door to the cell wing, I touch the pad.

  "Lock this door and the ones to the unsecured cells."

  The system responds with an enveloping sensation, and the EP confirms everything's secure.

  Jayson walks ahead of me on his own as the four of them work their way back to the maze of halls we came in through. I race to catch up, positioning Meyer's stunner just like in training.

  18 seconds

  "Come on." I rocket ahead of the group.

  Halt 10 seconds flashes in my view.

  I stop and catch my breath. Meyer closes in behind me, but Lena lags with a slumped Jayson. His chest heaves to take in enough air.

  As we run, the countdown to move blinks 00, and we tear out of this corridor toward our exit.

  "Take out the segment from the next pad, Avlyn," Meyer whispers as he hoists Sanda. "Make sure to clear the same one. It's marked in the EP now. We're at sixty."

  I throw my right hand to the pad to open the door and the segments for sixty seconds.

  In my vision, the door disintegrates and floats away in my EP and then I blink. The real door slides back.

  Lena tries to pull Jayson along, but he slows down and they both lag behind.

  As I turn back to them, my EP switches to red.

  Guardian and human security activity.

  Meyer dashes toward the cleared segment in the electrodome out of site. My EP shows he's already made it through. Jayson trails twenty feet behind, and Lena drags him by his arm.

  "They're coming, aren't they?" Jayson asks.

  "I won't leave you," Lena's voice trembles in the comm.

  Danger. Warning: odds of survival 19%flashes in red.

  "Let's go, people," I whisper, turning back to help Lena, who's now running ahead of Jayson.

  We're nearly there. Only a few feet.

  A green laser lights up the darkness behind us.

  My heart lurches when a flat SI voice fills the air. "Jayson Brant, you are ordered to remain still."

  From the left, a drone swoops in, laser still scanning his body, tentacled pinchers ready to seize Jayson. It hasn't detected Lena and I yet.

  Jayson freezes, then raises his arms, but Lena's crazed eyes lock to mine. She turns and steps back toward Jayson. A green light from the Guardian snaps on and rakes over her body.

  "Lena Maeko Tran, you are ordered to remain still."

  I squeeze the trigger of Meyer's weapon and raise it toward the drone.

  Lena swings back, her mind returning to reason, and gives me a look that can only mean, No. She knows she made a mistake, and doesn't want me to make one too. Then she reaches to her eye and pulls out her EP, ripping it in half and letting it fall to the ground.

  Go, she mouths.

  At that, the d
rone emits a blue light and both Lena and Jayson collapse to the ground.

  I bolt the other way faster than I've ever run before.

  22

  The breach in the electrodome closes after I dash through. Still feeling conspicuous, I don't stop until the tree branches envelop me. Gasping, I turn. Guardians swarm the yard in front of the detention center. Jayson and Lena are already cleared away.

  Are they dead?

  Tears burn the corners of my eyes, but I squeeze my lids to squelch them away. The drones haven't detected me yet. Otherwise, they'd be out here.

  One drone floats toward the edge of the electrodome and a scanner beam combs over the perimeter. I crouch behind a tree and grit my teeth when the scan reaches the same spot we exited. The light seems to slow when it hits the spot, but then the Guardian moves on and continues to the right. A steady stream of air escapes through my parted lips.

  "Meyer?" I whisper.

  "Are they with you?" Meyer replies in my ear. "Lena's comm went out."

  "You didn't see?"

  "I just ran. You all were right behind me." His voice quakes.

  "Meyer… I'm sorry."

  He curses and the comm goes silent.

  "I need to reach you. Can you find somewhere to stop?" I ask. Even though I would have never gotten myself into this without the stupid idea of tracking him, I'm thankful his locator still works in my EP. At least he's alive. For now.

  "Yeah," he whispers. "There's a spot farther up with better cover."

  Meyer marks three minutes fifteen seconds ahead to the southwest.

  "On my way."

  The EP guides me through the thick trees without too much effort, and by the time I reach him, other than a few scrapes, I'm safe. Meyer is hidden under the foliage of a fallen tree, and I lift a dry branch and climb inside.

  He sits with his knees pressed to himself, and Sanda lies on the ground curled up like a child. She's maybe nineteen or so. Her face twists toward me, and my stomach lurches. The skin surrounding both eyes is colored with bruises, and her sable lips and cheeks are marred with dried blood. For a second, her eyelids flit, revealing the brightest, sparkling blue eyes, contrasted with bloodshot whites. As fast as they opened, they flutter shut.

  "What happened?" he says without looking toward me.

  "The drone came faster than we expected and scanned Jayson." I place Meyer's weapon beside him. "Lena accidently turned back, and the thing scanned her."

  Meyer's face falls, the veins in his neck pulsing. For a moment, he stands, silent, but then curses and storms out of the hiding place, leaving me with the girl.

  Fear shudders through my body. What if he gets caught? There's a dying person here I have no idea what to do with.

  I rush out and find him crouched just outside, his head in his hands.

  "It wasn't your fault."

  "Yes it was," he mumbles. "If I would have stuck to the plan, I would have been the one helping Jayson. You and Lena would have gotten out‒‒"

  "Lena agreed with you, remember?" I remind him. "Please, come inside. It's not safe out here."

  Meyer nods and rises to come back.

  "Maybe it was me… I had no idea what I was doing back there."

  He shakes his head, looking me straight in the eye. "No… you were amazing. None of us would have made it out if it weren't for whatever you did."

  Something about him right now gives me the urge to go to him, hold him, but instead, he breaks our connection and bends to stroke the girl's hair.

  I flinch at him touching her. It's stupid, selfish. This lifeless girl on the ground probably won't make it, and I barely know Meyer.

  "Who is she?"

  Meyer stops stroking her hair. "Sanda… the girl you saw on the street a couple weeks ago. She was captured—"

  The feeling in my stomach warns me not to ask. "No, I know that. Who is she to Jayson? He told you to get her."

  "Oh. Sanda is Jayson's daughter."

  "She's your sister?" Part of me is relieved, but then ashamed at my jealousy.

  "Yes, and no. She's Jayson's bio daughter," he answers and returns to stroking her hair. "We grew up together in the Outerbounds. When we were old enough, she joined Affinity and started working missions in and out of the city. A few years later, I followed her. Jayson worried, but he couldn't stop us. We can both be loose cannons. It's why she ended up like this. She wasn't the one who was supposed to do that graffiti work."

  My stomach churns, and I squeeze around my middle to try to make it go away. It doesn't work. Thoughts, feelings of loss and desire, swirl in my brain. I've never had to do much with emotions except crush them into the unseen, dark depths. But these… these beg for exposure.

  I bring my hands to my face and try to control both the tears and words. Both spill out anyway.

  "I just left them…" I breathe. "I didn't do anything but run, and now Lena's going to die too… She believed in me. No one has ever done that." Sobs mix between choked gasps. "And we didn't get Jayson out. Then these dumb feelings I've never experienced…"

  As the words escape, I slap my hand over my mouth and turn away from Meyer. Heat pricks over my cheeks.

  I wipe my eyes and scramble to hide what Meyer doesn't even appear to notice.

  "Lena destroyed her EP…" I whisper.

  Meyer lowers his chin. "Smart girl," he murmurs. "I already wiped out her Affinity account. It would have taken time for them to break in through her Flexx, if they could, but now they'll get nothing."

  I gesture to Sanda. "Did you give her anything yet?"

  "I administered the MedTech back there, but it's not working. They must have deactivated her healing nanos, and I have no idea how to get them working again."

  I slump and sweep my hand through my hair. The tangles catch and my scalp smarts. For a few moments, we sit there, quiet, but I can't hold in my thoughts.

  "What about Lena and Jayson? And how do we get back to the city?" I don't even know if Meyer thought we would make it this far.

  He grimaces. "A couple areas around the city are generally easier to pass through. Level One isn't a prime choice. Intel came in on my EP that they've bumped security already. Wouldn't want usable bodies escaping."

  "Usable bodies?" I echo.

  "Direction can accomplish two things at once by drafting Level One citizens," he explains. "Reduce their population, and rid themselves of Affinity when they convert Ones into soldiers. Now they're valuable assets."

  I don't know what to say to this. He's right. Direction has worked for years to dispose of Level Ones, all under the guise of advancement.

  "You didn't answer my other question."

  Meyer massages his neck. It feels like a long time before he speaks.

  "Nothing. We're not doing anything about Jayson and Lena."

  No, we can't leave them.

  My mouth hangs open, but Meyer's right. We can't do anything. Going back is pointless—death.

  "But he's your father… and Lena…"

  Meyer's quiet. He only goes back to tend to Sanda.

  "Where will you take her?" I ask.

  "I have to move her to an Affinity camp. One's located not too far from here. The medics should be able to help her, restart the nanos."

  "I don't understand. Why disable them in the first place?"

  "Simple… to make her suffer."

  Sanda moans and her body begins to jerk. Meyer brushes her arms, but the shaking transforms into convulsing. He slips his hand under her neck and raises her head, as Sanda's body continues writhing.

  "Is she going to die?" I ask, horrified.

  Meyer's eyes radiate a mixture of terror and pleading. "I don't know. How should I know? Medical problems like this don't even happen anymore." Meyer grabs my hand. "What if you could do something?"

  Panic seeps through me. "Hack her? I can't hack a person."

  Meyer pulls Sanda over his legs, her body still writhing. "Not her… the nanos. If we can patch you into their system, maybe yo
u can reactivate them."

  My gut wrenches. "I… That's a bad idea. I've played a part in enough people's deaths today."

  "She could die anyway." Meyer raises his voice, but then looks around and whispers. "It won't hurt to try."

  His eyes are pleading. My intertwined fingers squeeze together, and I try to hide my face with them. "I don't even understand this yet."

  "Try anyway," Meyer begs.

  Sanda's body still writhes, and her lips turn purple.

  My mind moves to thoughts of Ben, my twin. If I had the chance to save him, no matter how small, I would go back and do it. This is Meyer's sister. I have to help him.

  "See if you can link us."

  He picks up his handheld from the dirt and, with a shaking hand, taps and slides over the screen.

  "I can't lock on to her due to the deactivation." Meyer mumbles a few curses unknown to me, and as if the whole scene takes place underwater, Sanda's body convulses in slow motion, and the words Meyer mouths refuse to reach my ears.

  I scoot in toward Sanda and nestle my fingers into hers. Everything dims. My breath hitches. The underwater experience fades, but now there's nothing.

  What did I do before?

  My mind is as blank as my surroundings.

  "Please. Please, make this work."

  Nothing. Maybe I'm dead now too.

  "Please," I beg. "Please… take me to Sanda's nano system."

  White replaces the nothing. I'm alone, and the space shimmers and falls around me. I catch one of the pieces in my palm. It glows, resting in my hand for a moment, then blows away as if wind took it. Along with the one in my palm, the snow disappears and leaves me in a white room. Ten white drones lie on the ground. Instead of long metal tentacles, they have delicate, spider-like legs coming from their bottoms. They're nanos, or at least I think they are.

  I dash toward one of them and throw myself on the ground next to it. I run my hand over the top, and a cylindrical panel rises, revealing a small screen. The screen lights, and I jump back when white, scrolling code pops up into the air. After a second, I lean in to watch it pass.