Hard Wired Trilogy DeAnna Pearce (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud txt) 📖

the table. The hurt of being alone burned as she stared at the food. Logically she understood that he was busy and supported him, but emotionally… well… good thing she had two desserts to work through.

She grabbed her fork and dug in. After all the work it took to get here, she wasn’t in a hurry to leave. Given enough time, she finished both desserts while watching the moon over the dark waves. Maybe life wasn’t how she envisioned it, but it could be a hell of a lot worse.

The next day, Sunday, Ari was in the midst of studying when Vinh surprised her with a call. “Hey, can we meet up for lunch? At the beach?”

“At the beach?” Ari asked. There had never been anything romantic between Vinh and Ari, yet he’d never asked her out to lunch either.

His gaze narrowed on the screen in her room. “Get over yourself and be ready. Okay?”

“Okay.” Ari could use a break.

Still in comfy gray pants and a tank, she headed outside. and found Vinh parked with his hoverboard. More casual than usual, he wore shorts and shirt. They kicked off their shoes and headed to the beach on foot.

“You going to tell me what this is about? You don’t have any food on you?” She motioned to his thin bag.

“Trust much?”

“Just curious.”

“Your curiosity can wait. It’s my butt I’m more worried about.”

Ari bit back a retort about his back side and continued in silence. She trusted Vinh. He headed straight for the ocean and stopped in front of the water’s edge.

Sitting down, he pulled out a small box. He flipped a switch and a green light flashed in the corner. “That’s so we can talk or go online without any ghosts.”

“Okay?” Then she remembered her request last week. “Is this so we can contact my family?”

“Did you really think I was asking you out on a date?” Sarcasm was spread on thicker than necessary.

“I didn’t know what you were up to. But thanks for that.” She gently shoved his shoulder.

“Let’s see if this works.” He popped open a computer as well. “We can’t contact your family directly, but I thought we could troll any groups or sites they may frequent.”

Ari tried to think of the best way to reach Marco. He wasn’t a regular in any sites or groups. Maybe games, but Ari wasn’t sure which ones he frequented these days. Games. Now Tessa was a regular, because she created her own.

“How about Neptune?”

“I may have heard of that before. Let’s check it out.”

A nervous itch crept along her spine. “Are you going to get fired for this? I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

He rolled his eyes. “I won’t get fired, maybe suspended. A lot of the guys around here sneak in to check gaming stats or look up old friends. Let’s just not get caught, okay?”

They found Tessa’s game and Vinh already had a fake profile to contact her. “What do you want to say? And remember it can’t say much.”

“Don’t be easy or anything.” Ari racked her brain to think of a way to let Tessa know it was her. “Okay. Tell her it’s Oya, Goddess of the sky, wanting to reconnect and check on my family.”

Oya was from a VR game she played with Tessa last year at school.

Vinh finished the message and then shut down his equipment. “I’ll check now and again for a reply and let you know.”

“Thanks.” Ari extended her legs in the sand and stared out into the never-ending expanse of water. “You know, I never even visited the ocean until last year in the VR? I grew up in a desert.”

“Really? You know I grew up staring at this same ocean, just a different side?” He set down his bag and leaned back on his hands. “You are lucky to have such a secluded spot. I get sick of watching guys attempting to surf. There’s a reason we work here.”

“True.” Most people spent their time plugged in and the real ocean wasn’t as forgiving.

He glanced at her direction. “Have they scheduled your first mission?”

“Not yet, but soon.” She picked at her pants, pushing away the churning in her stomach.

“Nervous?”

A chuckle escaped her lips. “Yeah, guess so. It’s weird to study a person I never met before. Like really study, their family, co-workers, past lovers. Just weird.”

“I think weird has only just started. Wait until you get inside.”

“Have you been inside VLEX before?”

“No. I’ve just heard some rumors since I’ve been here.” He dug through the sand, picking up a seashell.

“Like what?”

“Just how different it is. People with no sense of morality except how it pads their wallet. You might be able to contact Tessa from there.”

She sat upright, turning to stare at him. The idea excited her. “Really? How?”

“You’re connected to everything in there, and I mean everything. Just be careful who is watching. There is more that goes on then anyone knows or is willing to talk about.”

“I will.” A tumult of emotions swirled around, excitement and nerves vied for the top spot. Not able to sit still, she stood and offered a hand to Vinh. “Ready to head back. If I’m out here too long, Niomi will wonder why I’m not exercising.”

He took her hand. “We don’t want that. You can probably take me down as it is.”

“Maybe.”

He did have a husky frame. “Don’t piss me off or I’ll shrink your suit.”

She raised her arms. “You win.”

“See, it’s not all about muscles.”

They headed back towards the Wave. “I agree with you. Now if you could convince Niomi of that.”

Chapter 7

As the next few weeks passed, Ari immersed herself into her work, trying to keep her thoughts off missing her family back home. Vinh did get word back to her that Tessa reported everything was okay. He even found out she was working for her father’s company and had some back channels to contact her. Ari didn’t want to press her luck though or jeopardize Vinh’s position.

So