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

“I can’t. This is too important to trust them. They should have never lost them.”

Reed’s hub beeped. “Crap. I gotta go. Keep me posted and message me later.”

“I’ll call you when I get home.” Ari lifted her wrist to show she didn’t have a HUB on. Hers was embedded in the suit crammed in a bowling locker.

“I can grab you an old one, if you stick around until I’m done with work.”

“It’s okay. It’s nice to be free for a bit.”

He leaned over and kissed her goodbye. It may have been sweet, but it was enough to warm Ari’s insides. When he tried to pull away, she wrapped a hand around his neck and pulled him closer. He tasted a bit like his favorite mint coffee, and she loved it.

“I really…” he spoke in between kisses, “don’t want… to go… but have… to.”

She hated letting go. Somehow, with Reed by her side, everything felt like it was going to be okay, like her crazy plan would work. “I’ll call you tonight.”

“Be safe.” He placed one more kiss on her head before leaving.

Ari remained on the bench, watching the end of the rain trickle down and hoped she and Vinh could pull this off.

Chapter 11

An evening rain shower kept things dark and wet, so Ari stayed inside. The evening passed in a blur of greasy foods and hot drinks. More than once, she wondered if Niomi would show up and drag her back to her rooms. Granted, she probably had cameras watching Ari now.

As the center and nearby restaurants filled up when the five o’clock shift let out, she found herself drawn to the gaming counter. Anti-gravity bowling wasn’t for her, but betting on it was much more entertaining. The cheers and moans as people wiped out helped her push aside the worry that she couldn’t do anything about.

“Are you going to watch the game all night or bet on it?” a short islander asked. Her pretty, petite features were overshadowed by the woman’s brisk manner. “Huh?”

Feeling like she could do just as well as the semi-drunk people around her, she said, “Sure?”

The woman placed Ari’s hand on the scanner. It beeped with a green reading.

“Yes. Good credit. What do you want to bet?”

Ari scanned the board looking at the upcoming matches, realizing she had no idea what to do.

“Come on. I don’t have all day.”

“Yes, you do, Oliana. It’s our job.” A man stepped up to Ari’s side. “I’m Tamar. Forgive my sister. She’s used to dealing with the belligerent all night and forgets we have other customers too. Do you want a recommendation?”

“It would help. I’m new to all of this.”

“Number forty-five’s breath reeked of alcohol when he registered. I think the only reason he’s competing is because he’s tired of fighting against gravity. He’s one drink away from falling over.”

“Thanks for the tip.” She placed her bet with Oliana and a few minutes later was ecstatic to find she won.

She people-watched the rest of the night. Measuring up the contestants’ build and guessing on how they will do. She even placed some bets on the VR gaming going on. People could watch inside the game and place bets as the game went on. After watching Tessa’s game for hours at school, Ari knew what to look for and made out pretty well with that. Most people left her alone, only Oliana and Tamar make the rounds to offer her drinks and congratulate her.

At eleven o’clock she called it.

“No more? Come on, the next one will be a big one.” Oliana said.

“Sorry, I have to meet a friend.”

“Like that?” The woman looked Ari’s outfit up and down like a disgruntled mother.

“Yes, I don’t have much else right now.”

“There’s a shop down the street. You don’t want a man to think you are cheap and easy.” With a dismissive wave of her hand, she moved on to another customer.

Maybe the woman was right. As a romantic guest, she sure didn’t look the part. Jumping into the store, she picked up a pair of jeans and a dark blue shirt. It didn’t scream date, but it was practical, so Ari could always wear it later. She usually chose her clothes from a screen, so picking them out in person was a nice change of pace.

A few minutes later, she entered Vinh’s apartment corridor. Sleek gray tile, highlighted in soft lights, gave it a nice calming atmosphere. Unlike Ari’s rooms though, these had no view. Just gray walls with different panels highlighting community events. She pressed her hand on the panel to the left of the door to let him know she arrived. Soon the door opened, and she stepped through.

She didn’t know what she expected Vinh’s room to look like. Maybe a high-tech automated room where he didn’t even have to brush his own teeth? Instead cartoon graphics covered the walls, and the rest was covered with… junk. Maybe not junk, she found a computer drive on one counter next to a bowl.

“In here,” he hollered from the next room.

She headed into his bedroom, where the surfaces were just as cluttered. “Don’t they have a cleaning bot you can use? Or maybe a closet I can put these clothes in.” She held up the clothes he lent her.

“Not one I trust. The chute is in there.” He pointed to the hole in the wall partially covered by a shirt. “Last time they cleaned, I couldn’t find stuff for a month.”

Ari doubted that but didn’t want to criticize him as he was about to put his neck on the line for her. “How can we talk to Tessa from here? I thought—”

He spun around. “Every night at 11:30 they send a backup of the daily files to the mainland. I have a friend who works in the backup department. He’s willing to dump our records between 11:30 and midnight for a price.”

“And what would that price be?”

“It should only cost a week of