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

He shrugged. “Maybe not right now. But I like the idea of us getting married.”

“Second, you distracted me.”

He leaned back on his elbows. “I would say that I’m sorry, but I’m not.” His swollen lip curved up into a big smile to prove just that.

Ari couldn’t help but lean into him. He laid back again, one hand under his head and one around her as she laid on his warm chest.

“So, what did you want to tell me?” He traced a finger on her arm.

“You know how I’m not supposed to talk about what I’m doing to anyone outside our team.”

“Yeah.” His arms tightened around her. “Has that rule changed?”

She swallowed a lump in her throat. “No. But things are happening inside.”

“Did you talk to Tessa again?”

Ari had told Reed what happened with Tessa and how she was helping her family. “I see her tomorrow, but it’s more than that.”

“Okay.” Reed was never the type to really push Ari and his silence confirmed that.

“You remember me telling you about VLEX? The community made available only to the governments and the wealthy?”

“Yeah. Everyone knows about them here, but no one’s willing to elaborate. So, it’s mostly rumors.”

“It’s not just rumors to me, it’s my job. And the things they have me doing in there…”

His grip tightened around her waist. “If they’re asking you to do things you don’t want to, you just need to say so.”

“It’s not that clean cut. You know it isn’t.” She had responsibilities to her family and Reed.

“Nothing ever is.”

His heart continued to beat out a steady rhythm as the waves climbed up to splash at their feet.

“Things will be okay. We made things work before and we can again.”

In between heart beats, she heard everything he didn’t say. How he enjoyed his work, loved his art internship even more. They both had been given opportunities they may not find anywhere else. But at what cost?

The next day after lunch, Ari headed to the lab to visit Tessa. Niomi stood at the ready, the private room already scheduled. As Ari looked at the screen, it reminded her that Niomi would be able to see everything as it transpired.

The setting Niomi picked this time was at a coffee shop. The quaint shop had outdoor seating overlooking a park. Birds flew in a scheduled pattern, something her old teachers would find abhorrent.

“Hey, friend.”

Ari turned away from the birds to find Tessa sitting on the other side of the table. “Glad to see you.”

“What’s going on?” Tessa currently had dark blue hair wrapped in a bun on top of her head, the bottom half shaved. Numerous piercings filled her ears, and a jewel in her nose.

In excitement, Ari hurried forward and wrapped her in a hug.

“Ugg,” Tessa tensed. “I guess we’re doing hugs now.”

Pulling back, Ari tried to stir some of the same worry she had last week when she first learned her family was missing. Ari didn’t know what Niomi knew but thought it best to keep up pretenses. “We lost Marco and my mom. Have you heard anything from them at all?”

Tessa paused for a moment before she realized the situation Ari was in, then relaxed into her chair. “Not recently, but he checked in last week. They had to go underground a little bit more to get off people’s radar.”

Releasing a big sigh, she leaned on the table. “Thank God. Are they getting the money I sent you?”

“Yeah. They’re doing okay and wanted me to send their love.” She sipped the small cup in front of her.

“Thank you.” Ari knew Niomi was watching this interaction, so she had to be very careful what she said. She needed to ask about Kari, but how? “Can I ask one more favor?”

Tessa cocked a brow. “Like a stray cat, I’m unable to tell you no, so go ahead.”

“Great. I’m a cat now.” Unsure how to go about doing it, Ari raised her hand for a drink. How could she hide from Niomi in here?

Tessa must have sensed her hesitation. “Remember when Professor Coleman used to go on and on about how talented you were?”

Not remembering any time Coleman complemented her, she was hesitant to reply. “What?”

“Yeah. I never saw it myself. Maybe that’s because you sucked at my game, especially when you never changed weapons. I thought you were really dense.”

Was Tessa telling her to use her power? Maybe how she pulled back when making out with Antoine, she could layer what Niomi saw in the VR. People go layers deep in the VR. Just because she hadn’t done that yet, didn’t mean she couldn’t. The thing was, writing a whole other conversation while talking to Tessa would be tricky, maybe impossible.

While Tessa continued rambling on about school, and friends. Ari focused her vision to the code. A rush went through her as the world around changed to letters and numbers spinning in a perfect orchestra. She kept the world Niomi sent her to and created a simple scripted play between the two girls that involved drinking a lot of coffee to keep her trainer occupied.

Then she created a second layer with no visuals, just a black screen. Niomi would only be able to see this if she pored through the code, which would take a normal person hours. Ari’s fingers tingled as she finished the work and pulled Tessa inside her blank world.

“It took you long enough to catch on,” Tessa said when the surroundings changed.

“We don’t have much time,” Ari said.

“What’s going on?”

“Can you have your lawyer see if there is any way to get out of my contract? Leave a message in your game for me if so. My friend will get it.”

“Why do you want out?”

“I don’t know if I do yet. It’s just inside VLEX…” Ari fisted her hand unable to put in words her concerns. She didn’t know what really happened to Kari and President Higgins. “I’d rather work for you.”

“I’d love to have you, but if