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

“You know how expensive it is—”

“I don’t care. Take it out of my paycheck.” Her account had been growing substantially even with her transferring money to Marco.

Niomi shut off her screen. “Truth is, we can’t locate them at the moment.”

It took Ari a moment to process this. They didn’t know where Marco was. What if her mother got captured? “You lost them?”

“Good thing is if we can’t find them, then the government can’t find them either.”

“Unless they found them first.” A chasm of fear threatened to overwhelm her.

“With our most recent intelligence, we have no reason to believe that. Marco probably took your mother underground.”

“We need to pull them out. They needed to leave as soon as my mother lost her work.” Ari stormed over to Niomi’s computer and tapped it on. “Contact Security. I’ll go back if I need to. I know some of Marco’s old joints.”

Niomi stepped towards Ari, gently pushing her to the side. “You can’t go back. It’s too dangerous.”

“If it’s too dangerous for me, it’s too dangerous for them.” She faced her trainer.

About the same height, they stood less than a foot apart. Heat flooded Ari’s face and body, like if she didn’t do something right now, she would explode. Niomi’s gaze gave nothing away as it bore into Ari.

“I don’t think I feel well enough to exercise today.” Without giving Niomi a chance to respond, Ari stormed out of the room. She kept going until she made it outside, passing the hoverboards and bikes, knowing she didn’t have the patience for them and ran.

She headed away from the ocean and towards the center of the complex. The ocean held peace for her, and she didn’t want peace but answers. Though her heart thrummed with every step, she didn’t feel a thing. A numbing fear or rage took over. Niomi needed to learn that until Ari found her family, she wouldn’t work for them. Not ever.

Checking her watch, she realized Reed was still working. He wouldn’t be able to break for a couple hours. She didn’t want to cause trouble for him. Maybe Vinh.

Unsure of the last name she gave her AI, she pressed the button on her suit instead. “Call Vinh.”

“Calling Vinh.”

After a moment he picked up. “Hey, Ari. What’s going on?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“I thought we were talking right now.”

“No, in person. I’m in front of the center community of the Wave, but not sure where you live, or work, or whatever it is you do right now.” She paced in front of the doors as several other workers flowed in and out. Talking without an earpiece she probably looked crazy.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes. No. I’m really not sure right now. I just need to talk to you.”

“Stay where you are. I’ll be down in a minute.”

She picked at a seam on her Fit Suit and realized Niomi knew exactly where she was and was probably monitoring her blood pressure or something insane. “Hey, can you also bring me some clothes?”

“I don’t even want to ask.” He ended the connection.

She ran a hand through her hair and ended up pulling out the tie and redoing the whole braid. By the time Vinh made it out, she had worn a good path in the dirt with her pacing.

“Hey, want to go bowling?”

“I’m not in the mood for bowling.”

“They have bathrooms to change in and so much noise and chaos that we’ll blend right in.” He cocked an eyebrow the best that he could and ended up with an odd face looking like he was trying to wink at her.

Thinking past his odd face, she realized the noise might give them the privacy they need. “Okay.”

Ari changed into an old gray shirt that said something in a foreign language, with crossbones behind it. It fit well, though she had to roll the cotton pants a couple times. Her necklace rested again on her skin, a comforting reminder she wasn’t alone. She couldn’t throw out her smart suit—Vinh would kill her. She remembered lockers nearby and stored it inside.

Looking around, she realized the bowling she remembered from old games and movies was nothing like the bowling they had here. There were anti-gravity vacuums where people flew across to knock down some sort of rings that hung in space. People cheered loudly after a girl flipped into several rings, scattering them. Even though the normal workday wasn’t over, everyone had different shifts, and the room was littered with people drinking and playing different games.

She quickly found the bar, where Vinh sat in front of a drink. “Thanks for the clothes. I’m just not in the mood for Niomi, you know.”

“She can still find where you are,” he said, referring to the chip in the back of her neck.

“I try not to think about that. At least she can’t check my heart rate and perspiration levels.”

“So, what’s going on?”

Ari briefly closed her eyes, trying to rein in her emotions. “Niomi can’t find my brother or mom. Which means they haven’t been getting money either.”

“Dear God, I’m so sorry, Ari.” He placed a hand on her arm. “It doesn’t mean that anything bad has happened to them though.”

“It sure can’t mean anything good.”

“Don’t panic until they find out.”

She flung her hands in frustration. “I’m not going to wait around for them. I need to find them myself. And I need your help.”

Vinh pulled back slightly. “What are you talking about? I signed a similar contract as you did when they hired me. Everyone did.”

Ari leaned forward, resting a hand on his forearm. Anyone watching may think it was romantic how she whispered into his ear. “If my government finds them before me, there is no hope. They’ll keep both to get to me. They won’t be safe. You know that.” She bit down for a moment, pushing back the tears in her eyes. “I refuse to work until I find them. Your job is to help me work. Help me, please.”

After a long moment, he nodded. “I don’t