Unawakened

by Trillian Anderson

  Why was education so restricted if there was such an obvious need for intelligent, trained people? What was so dangerous about learning how to write, read, do math, or apply logic to problems?

  It took me three days to build a sane structure, but without someone who also understood how the system was supposed to work, there was no one to double-check my method of organization.

  Stuffing my pride in the deepest, darkest hole I could find, I went in search of Sergeant Gildroy with a printout of the database structure. I found him in his office, and he waved me inside.

  “You have something for me?”

  “Yes, sir.” I held out the printouts to him. “This is the draft of the new database structure.”

  “Draft?”

  “I wanted someone to go over this to make sure it was sane, sir. While all tables connect and references can be drawn from any of them to find matching criteria, I lack familiarity with the original registration databases, so I may have missed some important piece of information. The set up should allow us to import entries from the original database to this one, but I won’t know for certain until I make a copy of the database and load it into the new system.” I shifted my weight foot to foot and kept the rest of my misgivings to myself.

  “The maintainer of the old system went missing during the Dawn,” Sergeant Gildroy replied, frowning as he looked over the papers. “Those with the knowledge of working on such systems are difficult to acquire. While we have quite a few tech-oriented people, they have no interest in working with the actual databases. They maintain the hardware and make certain the search and entry forms work, but that’s the limit of their expertise. Most of the merit students are immediately hired in military or higher government capacities.”

  “I can correct any logic problems as we go, but there may be delays involved. Systems this complex are easily broken.”

  There was a huge difference between working on a spreadsheet and accessing databases to pull out information. Building one tested every bit of knowledge I had scraped together over the years.

  How could a fringe rat who served as a drug dealer’s bitch have more education and skill than the children of those in the elite caste?

  It was madness.

  “How long to make this functional?”

  “I would need a day at the minimum to look over the old registration system, check over record formats, and make certain there are no logic errors in what I’ve designed. After that, it depends on how good the servers are. I’ve never worked with a system quite this robust before, sir. The education system has nothing quite like this available for student use.”

  “I’ll have someone give you access tomorrow. Take the rest of the day. Good work, Miss Daegberht. Do you mind if I keep these?”

  “They’re yours for your review, sir.” Instead of bowing or curtseying, as they liked at the college, the police had a fondness for saluting each other. The gesture felt awkward, but I did it anyway. Sergeant Gildroy nodded his acknowledgment and turned his attention back to his work. I backed out of his office before he could change his mind.

  An entire day with the primary registration database would be a good start. Once the data import was complete, my real work would begin.

  Dean Lewis and Kenneth Smith would fall, and I smiled at the thought of masterminding their demise.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The first day with access to the master registration database filled me with foreboding. The database’s haphazard construction warned me of future days of misery, when it would be my job to undo years—if not decades—of poor judgment and illogical decisions. The only consistency in the system was the inconsistencies plaguing it.

  I wanted nothing more than to find the original creators of the database, take them into a dark alley, and beat sense into them. With the resources available to the government, couldn’t they have built something better?

  From the outside looking in, the world of the elites was a place of wonder and wealth. They had everything, including the wits and means to advance themselves. I had expected a whole new world to open up to me, one where I would be among intellectual peers.

  Instead of joining a group of the intellectually superior, I faced a mess of incompetency, doomed to correct someone else’s mistakes—an elite’s mistakes. At least the database’s creator was probably long dead. I couldn’t blame the man who had maintained the system; there was a high chance he had been devoured by his dae.

  Then again, maybe he had been smart and had made himself disappear on purpose to avoid working with the police database systems any longer.

  I’d do my best to create a usable system without sacrificing my dignity to mediocrity. Rocking the boat was a good way to get sent back to the fringe and lose my Bach student status. While the system was a mess, I doubted any elite would want to know the truth about it.

  If I wanted to survive among them, I needed to smile, pretend my head wasn’t throbbing due to their idiocy, and work hard. I’d take what I needed right out from under their noses, and I’d wait until I was in the privacy of Rob’s home before exploding.

  Of course, I’d have to check myself for bugs every time I returned home. In the last four days, there had been six of the black discs stuck to my clothing, and Colby had located them all. He ate the first four before Rob had managed to grab the fifth one to examine it.

  I smiled at the memory of Colby chasing Rob around the condominium in its desperation to eat the device. The surveillance bothered Rob a lot more than it bothered me. Someone was somehow touching me without me being aware of it. I found the problem interesting.

  Someone had the ability to sneak up on me, touch me, and get away without catching my attention—or triggering my allergies. Who was doing it and why remained a mystery. I doubted it was Jacob, unless he could be in two places at one time.

  We still didn’t understand what the devices did; Colby ate them before we could do anything with them, but Rob and I doubted they were cameras. Cameras required a place for a lens, and as far as both of us could tell, the discs lacked one.

  Long after I should have headed home to sleep, I lingered at the police station working on the cantankerous database system.

  “You were scheduled to leave thirty minutes ago,” Sergeant Gildroy commented from the doorway of the server room.

  I spun on my stool, widening my eyes to portray innocence. “Ah. I lost track of time, sir. There’s a lot to be done.”

  “That’s how it always goes. When do you think you’ll be able to do the import of the old data?”

  I turned back to the computer I had taken over as my work machine and tapped in a few commands, looking over my set up for the database. I pretended to think about it, despite knowing the exact answer. I could have started several hours ago but had delayed the inevitable by doing check after unnecessary check. “Tomorrow, probably two hours after the start of my shift, sir.”

  “Excellent. How much monitoring will you need to do?”

  “I should be watching it as much as possible, sir.”

  “Noted. I’ll have a tech set up a tablet with monitoring access for you.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “All employees of the police, be they officers or support staff, are fully licensed and trained with firearms. While you have a carry license, we have come to the decision you require adequate training. Depending on your skill, we may issue you a new weapon, one a little more… modern.”

  It took every scrap of my willpower not to snort at the man’s understatement. “Understood, sir.”

  “It has also come to my attention it may be wise for you to be trained in non-traditional fighting methods, including the use of long and short bladed weapons.” There were so many unvoiced questions in Sergeant Gildroy’s statement I wanted to crawl under the desk and hide.

  Swords weren’t illegal, and I sat a little straighter to give the illusion of confidence. “I own a katana, sir. I thought it was pretty.”

  “Brin
g it tomorrow.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You’ll be issued a phone and a tablet tomorrow so you can do remote monitoring and receive police notifications. You’ll be expected to carry both with you. You’ll be briefed on their use and given everything you need to use them no matter where you are.” Sergeant Gildroy tapped his fingers against the metal doorframe. “Wear formal attire.”

  “Yes, sir.” I locked down the system to prevent anyone from tampering with it and stood, wondering why anyone in their right mind would wear formal attire during weapons training, but I didn’t question the man.

  Criticizing cops was a good way to get arrested. Would they arrest me for getting an attitude when I worked for them? Keeping my mouth shut got harder and harder each time I was presented with yet another ridiculous order.

  Who wore a dress when shooting weapons?

  Sergeant Gildroy escorted me out of the building, and I nodded and smiled through all of his reminders of things I already knew. After seeing the systems I was slated to work with, I couldn’t really blame him.

  Holding the hands of young elite was probably part of his job description, and it wasn’t giving me any hope of what I’d face when classes did resume in a couple of days. I swallowed my sighs and retreated to the comforts of Rob’s condominium.

  There were three discs stuck to my clothes, and Colby removed the devices with its usual efficiency. Instead of chasing my macaroni and cheese casserole around his condo, Rob patted me down and found a fourth one hidden in the leg of my jeans a few inches above the hem.

  “Strip,” he ordered, tossing the disc to Colby without inspecting it.

  My eyes widened. After being bugged so many times, I expected him to start ripping the devices apart to find out what they did instead of destroying them. I shuddered at the thought of someone—or something—pawing inside my shirt in order to plant the devices on me. Goosebumps covered me as I peeled out of my shirt, which Rob yanked out of my hands the instant it was over my head.

  An inspection raised the number of devices to seven. Sputtering at the thought of someone having toyed with my clothes without being aware of them, I reached behind me to unhook my bra and found another disc near the clasp. My dismayed wail captured both of the dae’s attention.

  Rob spun me around so my back faced him, and he peeled the disc off, tossing it to Colby.

  Four more were adhered to various locations in my jeans, but the worst one was located on my hip, firmly attached to my underwear. My mouth hung open, but all that emerged was a strangled croak.

  Maybe the discs stunned me into silence and immobility, but Rob had me out of my bra and panties in the time it took me to squeak. The lingerie wouldn’t be worn by anyone ever again, especially not after Colby finished with it.

  They both disappeared into my gluttonous noodle monstrosity along with the disc.

  “What is going on?” I hissed through clenched teeth.

  “I trust you haven’t been taking your clothes off at work. If you want to strip on the job, I’m sure we can find a nice, quiet, and private location tomorrow when you’re all mine.” Rob ran his hands over me, gentle, swift, and so thorough my face burned from a mixture of embarrassment and the desire to drag him to our bedroom and put an end to his teasing.

  He found a skin-colored disc against the back of my neck, and I winced at the tug of hairs as he pulled it free. “I can’t believe you didn’t notice any of that, Alexa. Please tell me you’re not going to be one solid rash as a result of this.”

  “How is this happening?” I whimpered, covering my face with my hands.

  “Someone wants what they can’t have for themselves,” Rob hissed, and I peeked through my fingers in time to watch him crush the disc between his finger and thumb. It cracked in two, revealing a tiny chip board and a few wires, and he tossed the device to the floor. Colby pounced on the pieces, leaving no trace of its existence.

  I stiffened, and my body temperature plummeted. “What do you mean?”

  Heaving a sigh, Rob headed to the couch, grabbed the blanket, and wrapped it around me. “You’ve captured someone’s attention, and it’s not mine.”

  Jealousy coming from Rob didn’t surprise me, not anymore. In a way, I liked it. There was security in his awareness of me and his dislike of competition. The two words I dreaded, his verbal staking of a claim on me, didn’t come out of his mouth. Puzzled by their absence, I took hold of the blanket, tilted my head to the side, and muttered, “Probably Kenneth.”

  Rob’s breath left him in an explosive sigh. “Probably. I want to hang him from the Ivory Tower by his toes and let the pigeons feast on his intestines.”

  “While I fully support getting rid of him, that’s a bit gross. Aren’t you worried you’ll poison the poor birds?”

  “You can be the one to cut him open with your sword, however sad it would be to dirty such a beautiful blade with his filth.”

  “How gentlemanly of you, Rob.”

  Rob smirked at me, swiped his leg out, and knocked my feet out from under me. The blanket tangled me in its plush embrace, and his laughter rumbled when he caught me and tossed me over his shoulder. “Hardly. A true gentlemen would never kick a lady in such a ferocious way. I’m a scoundrel tonight.”

  “Scoundrels dress in suits? Since when?” During my recovery, I had gotten used to Rob picking me up and relocating me at his whim, so while I considered kicking my way free, I decided it wasn’t worth the effort of struggling.

  When he was ready to put me down, he’d put me down. Struggling would only amuse him, and breaking free was an option if I really wanted to escape.

  The instant actual fear set in, Rob would let me go as though my emotions burned him. The few times that had happened, he had worried himself into a frenzy.

  “Scoundrels do not listen to the ladies they’re stealing away for their nefarious schemes.” Rob sat on the couch and slid me down so I straddled his lap, but instead of releasing me as he usually did, he kept his arms around me, his body tense beneath me.

  “This is the couch, Rob. It’s ten whole feet from where we were standing. You need to work on your definition of nefarious. ”

  He dropped kisses on my forehead. “I’m saving the truly nefarious work for when I figure out who is planting those discs on your lingerie.”

  Rob’s vocabulary needed work; when he said nefarious, he actually meant either bloodthirsty or vicious. “I did not take any of my clothes off at work.”

  “It’s a good day when you don’t flinch away from me or Colby when you don’t realize it’s us. While I appreciate your willingness to take your clothes off for me, I’m rather confident I have no worries in that department. While you’re a tempting seductress, you’re mine.”

  There were the two words I so hated, and I bristled at their use. Scowling, I freed my arm from the blanket to jab him in the ribs in retaliation. He captured my hand and laughed, massaging my palm with his thumbs.

  “That’s cheating,” I informed him, narrowing my eyes. “I do not belong to you. I belong to me. I just tolerate you being around.”

  Instead of taking offense, Rob grinned at me. “You’re so stubborn.”

  “You’re one to talk.”

  He laughed. “Can’t you let me get away with it just once, Alexa?”

  “No.”

  Rob’s pout was one of the most effective weapons in his arsenal, and I resisted the urge to reach up and touch his mouth with my fingertips. Reminding myself of the reasons for his protective possessiveness kept me from succumbing to my desire to drag him into the other room.

  There’d be time enough for enjoying him later. First, I had to figure out who was attaching those discs to me and how they were getting away with it. The problem of formal attire also distracted me from everything I wanted to do to and with Rob, and I sighed at the mountain of obstacles blocking my way.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Getting annoyed at Rob for sensing what I hadn’t managed to hide wouldn
’t do me any good. I snorted, sighed again, and shifted off his lap and onto the couch beside him, stretching out so I could prop my feet up on the end and force myself to relax. “I have a list.”

  Rob’s lap always made a nice pillow.

  “I have time.”

  My schedule accounted for my every minute, and Rob’s wasn’t going to be much better. While I had to juggle multiple lives, he had to make up for all the time he had spent with me.

  “Okay, let’s start with the discs. Someone put one on my bra, Rob. My bra.”

  I had issues with people touching me, especially when I didn’t know who they were or why they were determined to attach things to me. My privacy—and my body—had been violated and invaded enough at the hands of Arthur Hasling and Kenneth. The idea that someone else was doing the same—so stealthily I hadn’t noticed who or when—birthed a cold sweat on my skin.

  “Someone was in your pants, and it wasn’t me.” Rob growled, low and deep. He balled his hand into a fist before splaying his fingers over my stomach. “A dae, for certain. No unawakened is that stealthy. Somehow, a dae is doing this.”

  “You don’t know how?”

  Rob grunted, stretching out his legs and shifting his weight beneath me. “I can speculate.”

  When Rob started speculating, hours could go by while he rambled through each and every possibility. Before he could begin, I blurted, “I have to wear formal attire for work tomorrow. I don’t have clothes.”

  “Formal attire?”

  I recognized my mistake the instant Rob smiled and his blue eyes brightened from excitement. While subtle, the tension in his body shifted, and he drummed his fingers on my stomach and plucked at the blanket, as though struggling with the urge to yank it away, pose me, and dress me to his liking.

  What was it with dae and their fetish for clothing? I had yet to meet a dae who didn’t like clothes. Were humans so fixated on what to wear it had infected the entire species with a fashionista curse?