It was the mocking notes in Belle’s voice that reassured Jacey that she was speaking to her fellow Shark. Despite outward appearances, Jacey doubted Belle had changed all that much since being reborn an AI. Maybe a little. Maybe.
Vaughan had said Belle was learning to love herself, but it seemed an odd notion to Jacey. For their past seventeen years together, Belle hadn’t shown anything but self-centered disdain for anyone who wasn’t her.
Except that wasn’t entirely true.
Belle had sacrificed herself to save Jacey.
“Did you just want to see my pretty face,” Belle asked, “or did you want something else?”
Dajeet fled around the side of the bus, but her choking giggles carried to Jacey’s ears.
“I’ve explained the situation to Vaughan, but he is hung up on a moral dilemma. I thought you might be more reasonable. You see, we have a boat and we are loading it with supplies, and soon we will be out to sea. But we need a destination. We need to install Elizabeth as an AI so we can ask her where her private island is.”
“And what do you want me to do? I don’t know how to install that woman on this server.”
“I want you to beat Vaughan into submission.”
Belle’s laugh was so melodic that Jacey had to blink and make sure she was actually seeing it happen. Two rows of perfectly white teeth flashed and Belle’s eyes squinted in unguarded mirth. Even Vaughan seemed shocked by the display.
“I’ll talk to him,” Belle said. “But I can make no promises. He’s thick-headed.”
“On that, I agree whole-heartedly.”
“I’m right here,” Vaughan said. “You’re talking about me right in front of me. A pretty bad strategy.”
“We’ll see,” Jacey said. Once Belle set her mind to do something, very little could stop her.
A tug on Jacey’s shirt drew her attention. Livy stood behind her.
“I need to get back to work,” Jacey said to Vaughan and Belle. “I don’t have my reader, so once Elizabeth is installed, have someone come find me. I want to talk to her.”
“Don’t concern yourself with it,” Belle said. Her voice had returned to its customary iciness. “I’ll get the information we need.”
Jacey was about to argue, but Belle disappeared in a swirl of white particles.
“You’d better go, Vaughan,” Jacey said. “You don’t want Belle too far ahead of you, whatever she’s up to.”
“She’s already arguing with another couple instances of me.” He grimaced and dissolved in a flash of fire.
Jacey turned to Livy and gave her a hug. She pressed a kiss into the mop of blond curls. Mimicking Jacey, Livy had abandoned the ponytail as well. “What have you got for me?”
Petite for her age, the Dolphin might have been mistaken for a Scion a year or two younger. Except for those wide eyes, green as palm fronds. They held a look of mature wisdom, giving off a sense of confidence not unlike Sensei’s.
Livy was all seriousness as she handed a slip of paper to Jacey. “Since you lost your reader, I decided to practice my writing skills with a pen. I can’t believe people used to have to do that to just record information they wanted to remember. They must have walked around with their hands curled up like claws from writing all the time.”
Jacey scanned the paper without really reading. “No unusual behavior from our suspects?”
“Not really.” Livy turned to frown in the direction of the mango grove. “Unless you count hiding in the mango grove to avoid carrying stuff.”
“Let me guess. Apollo and Mickey?”
“You got it on the first try,” she said with mock surprise. Apollo was nine, a Dolphin like Livy. Mickey was a year older, which made him a Pelican. Both were way too young to be Mr. Justin.
“I’ll mention it to Sensei. He can take out some of his fury on them, give them a workout they won’t soon forget.”
Livy chuckled. “I want to be there and watch. All the boys need an extra hard workout, if you ask me.”
Jacey agreed. With the boys’ Nine leaders dead, injured, or busy interrogating Dr. Carlhagen, they didn’t have the guidance they needed. That would change once they were all aboard the boat. Once Vaughan was back.
But even something as straightforward as restoring Vaughan to his body had proven frustratingly difficult. Setting aside Vaughan’s stupid objections, there was still Greta to deal with. The AI in charge of transfers had flatly refused to overwrite Dr. Carlhagen and Senator Bentilius. Jacey thought she could leverage a bit more cooperation from the medical AI once she had control of the AI servers. Madam LaFontaine—the master persona of all the School’s AIs—understood self-preservation. Jacey didn’t relish making threats, but she would. With the time constraints they faced, expediency always won out.
“I’m hungry,” Livy said.
“Mother Tyeesha took charge of the kitchens. I’m sure there will be plenty.”
Livy started away, then stopped. “There was one thing Sang did that I found odd. I didn’t write it down because it wasn’t precisely suspicious.”
Sang was the prime suspect on Jacey’s list of people Mr. Justin might have overwritten. He was the oldest boy, and he didn’t have an alibi for the time period when the transfer had taken place. “What did he do?”
“When Humphrey and Tytus went to the medical ward a little while ago, he stared at the door for a long time.”
“Where was he?”
“Across the quad, leaning against one of the tree trunks. I thought he was just avoiding work like Apollo and Ivan, but that didn’t really make sense because he’s not like that. He stared at the medical ward a long time and then went back to Boys’ Hall.”
“You said he was leaning against a tree trunk. Would you say that he was hiding behind it?”
“No.” She screwed her face up as she reconsidered it. “Maybe. I don’t know.”
All the other suspects were younger. Obu, Horace, Kirk, and Pedro. She doubted Mr. Justin would have overwritten anyone younger than thirteen. Even fourteen seemed a stretch. No. She was certain it was Sang, Obu, or Kirk. Horace was out, since he was too sadistic. Unless Mr. Justin was a much better actor that she thought he was.
“Thank you, Livy. I’ll study these notes in a bit. I need to see to something before we take this bus load to the docks.”
Livy dashed off to the dining hall. Even once out of sight, Jacey felt connected to the child, as if an invisible cord ran from the Dolphin’s heart to Jacey’s. They’d gone through some terrible things together, but Livy had always been a rock of calm and unusual common sense.
Jacey wanted all the Scions to be safe, but above all, she wanted to protect Livy. And she would.
No matter what it took.
Keep Reading!
The Scion Chronicles continues . . .
Sister of Shadows (The Scion Chronicles #3)
Scions of Sacrifice (The Scion Chronicles #4)
If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review! It really helps writers like me find more readers. Thank you.
Also by Eric Kent Edstrom
The Undermountain Saga
A fast-paced YA trilogy mixing epic adventure with science fiction and fantasy. Start the adventure today!
Undermountain (Book 1)
Afterlife (Book 2)
Starkiller (Book 3)
* * *
Visit EricKentEdstrom.com to discover all of Eric Kent Edstrom’s books and short stories.
Child of Lies
Copyright © 2014 by Eric Kent Edstrom
All rights Reserved.
Published by Undermountain Books LLC
This book is licensed for your enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
dstrom, Child of Lies
Child of Lies Page 31