Chapter 20 #2
“That is a very good question,” he replied.
“Since Softbiotics is so anxious to reclaim the prototype, we know it’s valuable.
We’re hoping that we can leverage your amp in some way to our advantage.
At no risk to you, of course. Maybe we start by running scans to see if we can’t copy it, something like that. ”
He’s lying.
My brow rose. “Oh?”
He smiled. “Yes. We won’t know for sure until we learn more. I hope you’re willing to spend some time with me to tell me about your amp.”
The data on his armlet is encrypted, but the access point took me only eight point four seconds to bypass.
He intends to duplicate me to create amps for all his friends.
If that isn’t possible, he intends to use me as bait to gain entry to Softbiotics Tower as part of his plan to take control of their headquarters on this world.
He has several ideas regarding that action depending on our capabilities, and the timeline is based on how soon he can replicate me or use me.
He intends to study me with or without your permission; he even hopes to remove me, though I would expect Andra would explain the illogic in that scenario.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t agree with any of his plans and recommend you leave at your earliest convenience.
My muscles went rigid. I wasn’t an idiot—I knew all along they were protecting me only because of Byte and for accessing Dr. Katz’s lab.
But I’d assumed they had more humanity than Softbiotics.
I should’ve known better. I hadn’t failed to notice that the resistance on the moon was no less hostile than enforcers.
I should’ve split the moment I saw that big red flag.
Lyra .
How much did she know? She genuinely believed in the cause—she couldn’t fake that kind of soul-deep dedication. But did she know about Kynan’s plans? I’m sure Byte had accessed her armlet by now, and it hadn’t found anything. What would she do if she knew? Should I tell her?
As Byte continued detailing Kynan’s plans in my head, I asked Kynan, “You just want to talk to me? That’s it?”
“For starters. Then, I hope we can figure out how best to leverage your… assets for the resistance. Lyra told me about what happened to your friend. I’m sorry—once they disappear, it’s nearly impossible to find them, and when we do manage to find them, it’s almost always too late.
But I’m having my people running searches for him. Nolan Brynn was his name, right?”
“Nolan Brynn is his name,” I corrected.
“I hope we can find him, but I can’t promise you a happy ending. Those are in short supply these days. Especially after the enforcers killed Grandmother. Riots have been ensuing across Dreswick since word of her death made the rounds.”
“Riots, huh? Let me guess, you helped with those,” I said.
He shook his head. “I didn’t have to. Grandmother was universally loved across Dreswick.
She didn’t have a single enemy, unless you count Softbiotics, of course.
All I had to do was make sure people knew the truth…
that she didn’t die from a heart attack—that’s what the news posted, in case you haven’t heard. ”
“I hadn’t heard how they spun it.” I’d just known they’d spin it. Most low-towners didn’t make the news, but Grandmother had never been like most low-towners. She was the closest thing we ever had to a leader… the queen of the slums.
“We can stop the killing and the disappearances,” Kynan said. “You can help us. Join the resistance, and I can promise that we’ll make a real difference.”
Byte had continued to tell me what it’d found, and I almost jerked when it told me, He forwarded his plans for us to Lyra before you traveled together to Solace Moon.
Kynan hadn’t noticed anything change. He continued, “So how about it? Are you ready to commit to the cause and help us make sure no one else is disappeared? We’ve come a long way, but we need the best people and assets to see it through. You’re someone who can make a difference.”
I glanced at her.
She watched me intently. We’d spent the last week together—she knew Byte talked to me often, and I could tell she was trying to figure out if it was talking to me right now. Or maybe she was just worried about what I’d say.
“What do you think about all of this?” I asked her.
She seemed to relax as if she expected me to say something else. “I hope you join. You and Byte have already been a huge help in finding Dr. Katz’s lab. I think that if you talk to Kynan and let him scan Byte, we might find out even more.”
She’s lying. She knows everything.
My heart turned to ice at Byte’s words. “Just talk and scan, that’s it?” I asked calmly.
“Of course,” she answered a microsecond too quickly. “One step at a time.”
“Uh-huh, got it.” I took one more drink before setting the glass down on the table. Then I stood. “I’ve got a lot to think about. I’ll be in touch.” Maybe, maybe not.
Kynan held up a hand to stop me. “Wait.”
Lyra jumped to her feet. “Where are you going?”
I wanted to confront both of them for lying to my face, for planning—likely my demise—just to get Byte.
I expected something like that from Kynan.
But Lyra had come awfully close to becoming the third person I’d ever trusted in my life.
That made her betrayal sting. But I didn’t say anything.
Too many years of clamming up to keep from getting disappeared or shit-canned from my job.
Festering was a part of my DNA.
I didn’t speak to Kynan. Instead, I looked at Lyra. “I’m going out for some fresh air to think things through… assuming I’m not a prisoner here.”
“Of course you’re not a prisoner,” Kynan said quickly. “Everyone is here by choice, and I hope you choose to be here with us, too. You’re safe here. If you leave this floor, I might not be able to protect you. I highly recommend you use one of my rooms. I have a guest room next door.”
So the resistance didn’t own the entire building, just a floor or three. Good to know.
“I’ll come with you,” Lyra said.
I stopped her with my hand. “I need space to think.”
“You mean, you need space to talk to your amp,” she said accusingly.
I bristled. “Do you have a problem with that?”
She pursed her lips and took a step back. “No problem at all. I’m sure Byte will point out how much safer you are with us, and that working together for the cause is the smart choice.”
I had no doubt she was speaking to Byte as much as she was to me. “Then you have nothing to worry about,” I said and left them.
Two guards followed me as I crossed the room, took the secret stairway. Before leaving the apartment, I grabbed a trenchcoat hanging off a hook next to the door. The hallway was empty, but I knew the guards weren’t far behind.
I don’t think Kynan was used to people walking out on him, and Lyra’s expression made it all too clear she hadn’t anticipated me stepping out.
After all, for the past several days, I’d done whatever she wanted.
She’d assumed I could be managed. But I played along, not because I was spineless.
Everything she downloaded on Softbiotics, Byte also copied.
Byte also now had access to their systems here.
The door opened, and the guards stepped out.
“So you’re my babysitters?” I asked.
One held up her hand. “We’re just here to make sure you stay safe.”
Uh-huh, sure they were.
“If you keep following me, we’re going to have a tussle,” I said.
They stopped, and she waved a farewell that seemed sarcastic. Can waves be sarcastic?
They might be giving me more space, but I knew they—or others—would be right behind me soon enough.
I started walking again, scanning for a camera or microphone but not seeing anything.
“Byte, do you have to be close to access their systems?” I asked quietly.
Yes. When you closed the door, I lost the connection to Kynan Kade’s armlet. I have copied all data from that, including his password keeper; however, it is encrypted and may be a challenge to read.
“That’s at least something, because I’m not staying here.”
I concur. Based on their plans for me—none of which I consider viable—our death is all but guaranteed. They may have different goals, but they want to do the same to us as Softbiotics.
“I got that vibe, too.” And Lyra… I couldn’t believe she was in on it. I felt raw from the betrayal, even though her passion for the cause had always been clear. The resistance would always come first. “Can you get us out of here and to somewhere safe from…” Them… Softbiotics… “Everyone?”
Yes, my last two upgrades included components directly designed to support evasion in a dangerous environment. I’ll prioritize survival attributes in upcoming upgrades.
That sounded… intriguing. “It’s safe to say we’ll also have to lose whatever tails Kynan puts on us along the way.”
His first course of action will be to track the armlet you’re wearing.
“Can you disable it?”
Of course.
“Wait. Don’t do that. Can you fake the tracker? Give it a false signal?”
Ah, yes. I can do that. That way, he will remain unaware of our knowledge of his tracking system.
“Yeah, but that still leaves whatever trails, human or drone, he puts on us as backup.”
I will handle them. I anticipate he has resources waiting at every building exit. As we do not currently have the skills to incapacitate them, we will apply evasion tactics by enacting the building’s security protocols.
A map displayed on my HUD, and I started walking.
I hadn’t walked ten feet when the door behind me opened. I kept walking.
“Bennett,” a woman called out. It wasn’t Lyra’s voice, and I glanced to see the hacker jog up to me.
“Ah, if it isn’t Skeleton Key.”
Her real name is Andra Locke.
I’d heard Jacob call her Andra, so I’d already known her first name. But the last name clicked her handle into place. Locke and Key… Skeleton Key… it made sense.