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

Especially because they weren’t concrete. Her migraines were of her own making. “He’s good. Just ran tests on a new suit he made me.”

“I bet his gear is killer.”

“Yeah. They work hard to take care of me.”

He reached over and grabbed her hand. “I’m glad. You deserve it.”

Sitting on the beach with Reed, Ari’s concerns melted away. Maybe Emil was just pushing her buttons for his own agenda. Why risk it all to get her own file? She ignored the voice saying her information shouldn’t be secret and enjoyed her time on the beach. Which was much easier when she leaned over and kissed Reed.

Chapter 25

Ari spent Saturday and Sunday blissed out with Reed, which helped her forget about the files of warpers for her to finish searching. By the time she made it to work Monday before dawn, she still had a smile on her face just remembering Reed’s soft touch and warm smell. Unfortunately, Niomi didn’t look as happy. Was she still mad about Friday and Ari’s stunt in the VR?

“Have a seat.” Niomi pulled up one of the tall stools at her desk.

“If this is about Friday, trust me, I won’t do it again. I like seeing straight.” Ari pulled up a metal stool.

“It’s not. I need you to be honest with me for a moment.”

“Okay.” Ari couldn’t fathom what she was talking about.

“How are you feeling? Your data looks good, but I need to hear it from you.”

“I’m fine. No headache this morning, and I didn’t even have coffee. What’s going on?”

Niomi shifted. “They have a new mission for you. It’s slow enough for Kari to take a day off, so they won’t miss her.”

“You’ll have to be more specific.”

“I will. First, though, I wanted to make sure you felt well because this assignment will be more difficult and will require you to use your powers. I don’t want to push you if you’re not at a hundred percent, but this is important. It could mean millions of cryptos and set the industry back a decade.”

Ari appreciated Niomi’s concern, but she did feel great. And curiosity tugged at her. “I’m fine. Really.”

“Alright. Let’s get to work.” Niomi turned to her computer and pulled up a profile. This wasn’t one of the priority ones Ari memorized, but it was in the pile so she recognized his face.

“Rajit Patel, but his friends call him Raj.” The man’s long face held a sober look. His Indian heritage left him with dark skin, black hair, and intelligent eyes.

“I vaguely remember him, but not enough to really impersonate him.”

“It’s a short assignment. You won’t be in contact with many people.” Niomi went through his daily schedule and assignments. “His VLEX connection won’t work when he first goes to plug in for work. That buys us thirty minutes. You’ll have to hack his system and find the committee nominations for next session. Copy it to a drive then send it out to us from Kari’s office.”

“Why Kari’s?” Ari could manipulate enough of the systems to send it from anywhere.

“They have security measures that we don’t even know of. We can’t chance alerting the authorities. The repercussions would be catastrophic if it was linked back to VisionTech.”

“Where’s this at?”

Niomi pulled up a map of the VLEX. “The UN building.”

Hailey worked in there. After the last meeting, Ari worried about Hailey recognizing her. “I’m going to steal the list from the busiest building there and hope no one Raj knows sees me?”

“He’s not the friendliest guy and keeps to himself. Don’t talk to anyone, maybe a nod of acknowledgment when necessary. Just make the copy and get out of there. It’ll be the easiest mission you’ve done.”

It may sound simple, but it didn’t mean easy. “Okay. Let me skim the file, and I can go under.”

“You have three minutes.”

“Great,” Ari mumbled under her breath. She didn’t gather much information in three minutes, and she soon found herself standing outside the UN building in a different skin.

No matter how many times she did this, arriving in a different world, in a different body caused her stomach to flip. Looking down, her long dark hands adjusted the navy tie. She dressed this body in a simple dark suit that she found in his file.

Before she could get used to her surroundings, a woman brushed by next to her. “Morning, Rajit. Something wrong?”

Ari turned to the woman. “No, just about to head in.”

The woman tilted her head to the side, her mouth pinching.

Mentally kicking herself, Ari bit down on her huge smile. Remember, smiling isn’t his thing. I can pull off grouchy.

Without another word, the woman finally turned and entered the building, Rajit right behind her. The large cream colored building had ancient inspired architecture, engraved columns rising up around them. She didn’t spend time looking around, though, just followed behind the woman.

It helped to follow someone in, to copy the little things Ari didn’t have time to learn, like standing for a moment on the scanner for clearance, then climbing into the large crowded glass elevator.

Ari clicked on the tenth floor and then faced forward, purposefully avoiding eye contact with anyone. She prayed that Rajit was as big of a recluse as Niomi said he was. They slowly rose, stopping to let others on and off.

On the eighth floor, Ari’s stomach dropped as Hailey stepped on board. What were the odds? After a quick glance, Ari continued staring forward. Since she was in a different body, maybe Hailey wouldn’t recognize her in Rajit’s skin. In her bubbly, happy voice, Hailey chatted with another woman in the elevator.

The elevator pinged, announcing its stop on the tenth floor, and Ari quickly stepped into the hall, shoving those long clammy hands into her pockets. She breathed a sigh of relief as she continued down the simple beige hall, only decorated with computerized paintings on the wall. No one questioned her as she made her way through the building. Following Niomi’s directions, Ari continued to the end of the