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

her brain’s way of protecting it from overload. Like turning off a car before it overheats. It’s still a waiting game, but definitely a good sign. I’m going to go back and check on Blur.” He left again just as quick as he came.

“That’s good, right?” Marco said. He knew the ins and outs of VR comas as he was even older when their dad had his troubles. “She was conscious for a few minutes.”

“Definitely good. Now we just need to figure out how it all happened,” Ari reminded him.

“We will, sis. We will.”

Ari and her brother spent the rest of the evening working on VisionTech. They hadn’t worked together since their mom made him tutor her in programming for her exams. In the past, he was usually distracted by gaming or girls. But the vibe was different between them now.

“Want some coffee?” she asked as she got up to get her own.

“Sure.” He kept his eyes glued to his screen, while his fingers tapped absently against the table.

They worked in the conference room, which was empty except for them right now. Harini and Blur were probably with Tricky. Ari assumed Patrick was working with Joe. She filled up their mugs and returned to the table.

“I wanted to say thanks, by the way,” she said, before sipping the steamy mug.

Marco pulled up his gaze from the screen and noticed the drink. “What are you talking about?”

“Not only did you manage to keep Mom safe while I was gone but look at you. You’re working hard and it’s not even about you.”

“Have you not seen my paycheck? It’s a little about me.” His lips pulled up into a familiar sarcastic smile that Ari could easily see beyond since growing up with him.

“I have seen our paychecks, but we have a while until we find a safe place to spend them.”

He took a drink. “True.” Then reached for the cream that Ari put on the table. “It goes beyond money though.”

Ari figured that but didn’t want to say anything.

“There’s Reed.”

His name hurt Ari a little to hear it. “Yes, Reed.” She echoed his phrase.

“Did you really see him?”

“I think so. It looked exactly like him, but he was acting a bit weird. Of course, he didn’t know it was me, and he was talking, maybe flirting, with some woman.” Ari was too worried to be jealous. After all, it probably wasn’t even him, and what better way to get Ari to react in VLEX than have her see her boyfriend flirting with someone else.

“Well then it must be him. He sucks at flirting,” Marco said.

“Does not.” Ari realized how young she sounded as she said that.

He shrugged, not bothered by her disagreement. Then he set down his drink. “I want to go in.”

“Why? I don’t think Patrick will go for it.”

“Why not? It doesn’t put any of his people in danger. And will anyone suspect me, someone who isn’t a warper?” Marco’s hand tightened into a fist on the table.

Ari realized he was serious, so she slowed down to think it through. “It’s hard to get into VLEX. Only certain people are authorized, and you have to assume one of their skins when they’re not online to even enter. We all have skins of people we mimic. Ambassadors that are on lunch. Secretaries that called in sick. We hack into their addresses. No alarms are raised, and we can change our appearance if needed.”

“I can’t change my appearance at command, but you can feed me a skin before I get in. You know I can blend in and sneak around better than anyone. If it’s Reed in there, I’ll be able to get at him without you getting into any danger.”

“I wouldn’t let you go in alone. Not after seeing what happened to Tricky.”

“We don’t even know if that works on normal people. Maybe it’s just a warper thing.”

Ari flinched when he said normal people, even if she knew he didn’t mean it in that way. “And maybe it isn’t just a warper thing. But you alone, unprotected, won’t work.”

His nostrils flared as if he wanted to fight more, but he didn’t. Dragging a hand through his hair, he leaned back. “Not sure we should tell Mom, though.”

“It might be one of those ‘ask forgiveness not permission’ things,” Ari said. Ari wasn’t sure how she just got talked into Marco going into VLEX, but that’s how her brother worked. “The tricky part is going to be convincing Patrick that it’s needed. Blur’s the best at hacking in and getting us lines. He’s out right now. They don’t care about finding Reed. They want to find the virus.”

“What if they are one and the same? I agree with Patrick. I don’t believe in coincidences that much.”

“Neither do I.” A sinking feeling started in her stomach. If it wasn’t a coincidence, then what role did Reed play in the virus? “That’s what worries me.”

They waited until the following morning’s meeting for Marco bring it up. Even though the others knew Ari better, she knew he had the gift of persuasion in the family. When it was his turn, he remained seated but used his hands to accentuate his point. “They are on the lookout for warpers. If they are smart, and I’m sure they are, there is probably some sort of trigger or warning system in place for code manipulation. Maybe that’s what Tricky hit? I don’t know. But I know Reed, or someone looking like Reed, was there for a reason. He’s our only real lead right now, and I’m best suited to go after him.”

“Best suited how?” Patrick asked.

The fact Patrick didn’t dismiss Marco outright made Ari think they had a chance.

“Look at my history. I know about sneaking through the cracks in the system. I survived with my mom for months with a price on our heads. And if that really is Reed, I’ll know. I spent nearly every waking moment with him growing up. I would