The Mind Virus

  Lacy shook her head. “Skylar does what Skylar wants,” she said, but the venom was gone. “You’re not responsible.”

  “But I am. My father is. My family. Her place in this whole situation, this war between worlds, began as a pawn. She was a tool for barter between all of us, between realms. No one considered she might have a will of her own, that she might resist or even that she was capable of it. Me included.” I took a step closer to Lacy, encouraged when she didn’t take a step away. “I’m as guilty as anyone. I didn’t even really think of Skylar as human until that day when she escaped from her sister on the cliff. I’ve been trying to make up for this ever since,” I confessed—so many admissions tonight, making me feel lighter, even as hearing myself say them made me feel pain. And shame.

  Lacy’s hands felt for the wall behind her, as though she didn’t trust them not to reach for me. “Your love for her,” she began, hope in her voice. “Was that you making up for all that you’ve just said?”

  I shook my head. I didn’t want to lie. Not anymore. “No. That was real. Is real.”

  Lacy seemed to deflate, her shoulders curling forward, her chin tilting downward.

  “But it doesn’t work,” I went on, quickly, hating to see Lacy so upset. “Skylar and me—we’ve tried. I’ve tried. It’s just not meant to be,” I said, yet another admission. Painful, but true, and one I’d known for a while now, even if I hadn’t yet spoken it out loud. I crossed the rest of the distance between Lacy and me. She didn’t seem to be breathing. “And it’s also true, even though I’ve avoided saying it, that I love someone else. That I have for a long time. For years.” I placed my hand gently underneath Lacy’s chin. Tilted her face upward toward mine. “And the person she’s become since arriving in the Real World has only confirmed it, Lacy.”

  Her eyes were watery, a tear leaking down her left cheek.

  I pushed everything else from my mind. Before she could say anything in response, I kissed her.

  27

  Skylar

  distrust

  “HI, SWEETHEART,” MY mother said.

  She came to me and pulled me into a tight hug.

  Kit hung back by the doorway.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, still stunned to find my mother in this place with Jag, of all people. Of course, my mother knew him, since he’d worked so closely with my sister. But flashbacks to so many unpleasant surprises the night I first saw Jude at the mansion and all the horrors that followed filled my mind and made my stomach churn.

  She let me go. “Things are getting worse. Far worse. And quickly.”

  I pointed at the large man staring at me with unfriendly, suspicious eyes. “But why are you with him?”

  “Keeping enemies now will only serve to destroy us and hurt everyone else, even if they don’t know it yet.” My mother’s expression was grim. “There’s been more deaths. A lot more.”

  Dread bottomed out in my stomach. “How many?”

  “Dozens.”

  The other woman in the room approached. She was tiny. Her hair was shiny and black, cropped short along her chin. “Seventy-two more at last count. And rising.”

  I gasped. “Seventy-two?”

  The woman bobbed her head once. “Things are deteriorating quickly. We can’t keep up with all the dead.”

  “Skylar,” my mother said. “This is Grace. She and I trained together to be doctors. Grace is my contact here at the Body Market.”

  “What’s left of it,” Grace said. She strode forward until she was close. “It is nice to finally meet you.”

  I hesitated. “You work—worked for my sister?”

  Grace glanced at my mother. “As I’m sure you know, many of us had no choice.”

  My mother turned to Kit. “And since we’re doing introductions, who is this?”

  He stepped forward and extended his hand. “Hello, Mrs. Cruz,” he said politely. “My name is Kit.”

  She shook it, but her eyes were wary. “This is the boy who kidnapped you and held you hostage during the blizzard,” she stated, then arched her eyebrows at me. “Isn’t it?”

  Kit’s hand dropped to his side. I suddenly wanted my mother to like him. To approve of him. “That was a long time ago.”

  “But Skylar—”

  “You don’t even know him. All you know is what Rain told you about him, right? And I’m sure he’s poisoned you.”

  My mother didn’t deny it.

  “Well then,” I went on. “Forget everything he said. Kit’s on our side and I need you to treat him that way. And besides, he’s . . .” I trailed off. I was about to say my friend, but that wasn’t right. “I care about him,” I said instead.

  There was hope in Kit’s eyes again. Hope and something raw. Pain. Or need.

  My mother stayed silent.

  But then Jag stepped forward. “Hello, Skylar.”

  My eyes became slits. “You speak to me as though we’ve met when we haven’t. Though I’ve heard plenty about you.” I glanced at Kit. “That you’re in charge of what’s left of the New Capitalists and those who chose to remain plugged in and forfeit their bodies.”

  “I forget sometimes that you don’t know,” Jag said.

  “Know what?”

  “That of course I do know you. Intimately.” He smiled. “You were just unaware for all that time, plugged in.”

  Kit moved so he was standing between us. “Jag,” he said, a warning.

  Jag put up his hands in a gesture of apology. But his eyes remained cold and calculating.

  A shiver raced over my skin. The thought of this man standing over me, while I lay there unconscious, was unsettling to say the least. “We figured you would know the status of those who remained plugged in,” I said, moving the conversation onto more pressing matters. And from the state of things downstairs, it doesn’t look like they’re here anymore.”

  Jag’s mouth was drawn in a straight line. “No. You made sure the Body Market failed.”

  “And I’m not sorry I did,” I said. “Especially now that the App World is becoming so poisonous to some.”

  “But we’re not here to debate the Body Market,” Kit reminded me, and perhaps Jag, too.

  The light fell across Jag’s face, but it was difficult to read what he was thinking. Or if he could be trusted. Ever. “We really do need to set aside our differences, old grievances. We’re facing death, potentially on a massive scale.” I turned to my mother. “Did you tell them about the possible virus?”

  She nodded.

  “In theory, it’s a rumor,” I went on. “But I don’t think it is. There’s too much chatter. And I saw with my own eyes the ways that parts of the City are deteriorating. We need to see if whatever is causing it can be fixed. But in the meantime, we can’t just let people go on living virtually as though nothing is wrong.” The five of us stood in a circle in the dimly lit room. The black of the night coated the windows in further darkness. It matched the mood of our conversation. “I think it’s time that we warn the citizens of the City. This isn’t about choices anymore, of whether to stay or go. This is about basic survival. If people stay in the App World, they are risking their virtual existence, not merely their bodies.”

  Grace nodded. “We need to get citizens of this city on board first. They’re unhappy with the refugee situation now. What you’re talking about is a whole new level of influx. We’re facing the restoration of the Real World as it used to exist before the exodus. New Port isn’t big enough to handle this alone. We’d have to repopulate the old cities.”

  “Then that’s what we’ll have to do.” I eyed Jag. “And where is my sister? If you’re suddenly on our side, then why don’t you get in touch with her and help us negotiate a meeting time for everyone to talk. Safely.”

  His eyes swept across the ground. “Contacting her is not an option. She’s . . . out of communication.”

  My mother lowered her gaze as well. “Skylar, your sister . . .”

  Grace stepped forward when she
trailed off and looked at me, without hesitation. “What no one wants to tell you is that your sister plugged in permanently.”

  I still didn’t understand. “So, why don’t we just unplug her then?”

  “We can’t,” Grace said. “Her body was destroyed.”

  My mother visibly winced.

  The breath went out of me. “Destroyed?”

  “Per her request,” Jag confirmed. “She decided she was never coming back. She didn’t even want to retain the possibility.”

  My brain did the math. “But that would mean if the App World is dying . . .”

  “Then your sister would die with it,” my mother filled in. “Just like anyone else whose body is gone. Those unlucky citizens will have nothing to come back to in the Real World. Literally.” Tears pooled in my mother’s eyes. “Skylar, there’s nothing we can do. What’s done is done. Not only for Jude but for lots of people.”

  “Jude decided she wanted a virtual life or no life at all,” Jag offered. “That’s what she told us before she left. Very clearly.”

  Flames of rage licked at my skin. “And you just went along with her and destroyed the only connection she had to the Real World? You destroyed any hope that she had.” I let that sentence dangle there, unfinished. Any hope she had of what? Any hope we had of fixing our relationship? Was that what I really meant? I breathed deep, trying to calm myself. “I don’t trust you,” I told Jag now. “Not at all.”

  Jag opened his mouth, but my mother put out a hand to silence him.

  “Don’t blame him for carrying out your sister’s wishes,” she said. “Jude is not someone many people can say no to.”

  “Skylar, your mother is right,” Kit said.

  And you would know, I thought, but managed not to say. “So what next then? There are so many things to take care of. The relationship between the refugees and New Port City. The Death App. The possible deterioration of the App World and the threat of this to all its citizens. Bodies dying on the plugs. Which one do we deal with first? We need far more help than just the people in this room.” I thought of Rain, of Trader, of Zeera and Parvda. Inara and Lacy. Andleeb and Rasha. My Keeper. “We’re going to need anyone and everyone who’s able and willing to be on our side.”

  “Skylar, sweetheart,” my mother said to me now, soft and pleading. “You’re right, and there is a lot that needs to happen. We do need to recruit as much help as we can. But I know what needs to be done next, done now. As soon as possible,” she went on, then stopped.

  I tried to read her. I knew I wouldn’t like whatever she was about to tell me. “What?”

  “I’m going to plug in,” she said. “It’s time your father and I had a talk.”

  “I’m going with her. The two of us will shift together. It’s safer that way,” I told Kit as we descended the stairs of the hotel and started across the lobby. “I’m certainly not letting her go to the App World alone, or allowing her to just plug in and end up in the hands of the border patrol. Maybe it’s time I met with my father, too.” I swallowed, the words thick in my throat. “And saw my sister,” I added. For the last time? My strides were long. My heart pounded.

  “Skylar,” Kit said, catching up. The tiny rectangular tablet was lit up in the palm of his hand. “You’re wanted at Briarwood.” The screen of Kit’s tablet went dormant and he slipped it back into the pocket of his jeans.

  Since when was Kit communicating with people at Briarwood?

  “A message from Trader,” he explained.

  “Oh. I see.”

  Kit shrugged his shoulders.

  We pushed through the exit of the hotel and into the chilly night air. The stars shone bright above us and I thought of the ones on Kit’s shoulder. Wondered what else had joined them there on his skin. I longed to see. We made our way back across the rubble of the Body Market. “Well, let’s go to Briarwood then,” I said.

  Kit’s flashlight beamed across the ripped-up carpet. “You want to take me to Briarwood?”

  “I told you, I need your help. And you heard my mother. We all need to work together, so we shouldn’t separate. There isn’t time to go chasing after each other in the morning.”

  He turned to me, halting. I could feel his eyes burning in the darkness. “But I can meet you in the morning somewhere just as easily. There’s no need for me to stay at Briarwood tonight. Unless you want me there with you. Do you, Skylar?” he asked. “Want me with you?”

  “I don’t,” I began, hesitant, “want you elsewhere,” I finished.

  Kit didn’t respond and we continued, crossing the rest of the Body Market to the place where the car and his motorcycle were parked in the deserted street. “Are you still with him?” he asked when we reached them. Kit didn’t need to say Rain’s name.

  I had to think about this. Was I still with Rain? Technically, we hadn’t talked about our status or discussed what I’d overheard with Lacy. But in my heart I knew that Rain and I were over. For good. “No,” I told him, which was the truth. What I didn’t say out loud was that I hadn’t been with Rain in ages, not really, not in my heart, at least. Not since the blizzard and all those nights Kit and I spent huddled around the fire at his cottage. My heart had belonged to Kit from then on, regardless of what else I said and did. And despite how I’d done my best to forget him.

  I looked at Kit now in the moonlight, and I decided to stop trying.

  “Ride with me, Skylar,” Kit offered. “We’ll get the car tomorrow.”

  His words comprised a command, but his tone betrayed a question. His eyes, pleading. And there it was again in them: hope, and longing.

  Without a word, I climbed on the seat behind him.

  After a beat, I leaned forward and reached around his waist. Inhaled the familiar scent of his jacket, my eyes peering over his shoulder.

  Kit reached for the handles of his bike.

  The sleeve of his shirt rose up along his forearm.

  I saw the edges of the new tattoo inked on his skin.

  My breath caught.

  Snowflakes. Starting at the very edge of his wrist. Continuing upward. A swirl. A storm.

  A blizzard of them.

  28

  Ree

  a lady knows best

  ADAM WAS SITTING outside the door of my apartment when I arrived, head leaning against the wall. Eyes vacant.

  The code of my virtual heart went all jumpy with joy. “What are you doing here?”

  His face came alive. “Ree?”

  “I’m so impressed! You came back for me!”

  He pulled himself to standing. The color of his virtual skin was gray. He could really use a download to fix that. “I told you I would. I’ve been here a long time, but you were gone. Or I thought you were, since you didn’t answer the door. But I also wondered if maybe whatever it was that allowed me to see you before had worn off and you couldn’t hear me from in there. So I decided to wait. But honestly, I also just didn’t know where to go to next.”

  Adam was rambling. It seemed like he’d been through something, and not something good. I unlocked the door with my virtual fingerprints and it popped open. “Home sweet home.” I laughed. “I never thought I’d be happy to be back here! But shockingly, I am.” I waved Adam inside. The place was a mess. The last time I called up my App Store, when the Death App finally showed its glittery face, the icons were so zealous and numerous they’d knocked over furniture and shattered a light hanging from the ceiling. I righted a chair and a table.

  Adam stood there in the doorway, looking dazed.

  I shook my head. Boys could be so useless.

  “You could at least help me.” I brushed the glass from the broken light into the corner with my foot.

  “What?” He seemed to wake from shutdown. “Oh! Sorry.”

  The two of us cleaned and straightened what we could without the assistance of a download, since I doubted my deal with the government for unlimited Apps still held at this point.

  “Where’s Skylar?” I asked A
dam after we finished.

  “She went back to the Real World.”

  “Huh,” I huffed. I knew she wouldn’t keep her word. The girl always wanted to save everyone, and leave it to me to be the only exception. “Why didn’t you go with her?”

  “I told you. Because I promised to come back for you.”

  I waltzed up to him and studied his face. “Yup, nope, not sure I believe you.” He opened his mouth but I put a hand up to silence him. “The truth now,” I urged.

  He lowered his eyes. “Honestly, I just wasn’t ready to go back. And I really did come here because I promised. But I’m not sure it was a good idea to stay. A lot has happened since I last saw you.”

  I whistled, something I’d always been able to do since I was small, even without the help of a download. “You’re telling me! Boy, have I had adventures, and they were not all fun and games like in that ridiculous college party where we met. Who first—you or me?”

  “Skylar and I went,” he began, then hesitated. “We went to a . . . place . . . where we could access information. Top secret information. Well, and rumors.”

  “Of course you did.” That Skylar chick would have access to classified info somehow.

  “And what we learned and saw was distressing,” he said, then laughed a little. “To say the least. We saw the Death App in action, for one.”

  “Oh, poor you! No wonder you look like you have an App Hangover. Why don’t you sit down.” I led him to one of the couches and straightened the cushions, puffing them. Then I pushed him until he was sitting, since he couldn’t seem to do anything on his own. “Wasn’t it dreadful? Seeing the Death App in action has scarred me for eternal life.”

  “Yes.” He was nodding, that dazed look coming over him again. “But there’s more. There’s a hole in Loner Town. A giant hole. Like, it’s unimaginably big.”

  I gasped. “I know exactly what you’re talking about!” I clapped my hands. “My turn to share!” I plopped onto the couch next to him and crossed my legs underneath me. “I saw that hole, too. It’s gigantic. But it’s not the only one!”