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

hole away in her gut wasn’t going to lessen anytime soon. “I wanted to say that I’m sorry, Blur. I tried to help her, but it wasn’t enough. I was too slow—”

He cut off her rambling with a hand. “No. I’m not going to talk about that. Not yet. I’m here to work. That’s all.”

Joe patted the seat next to him. “I could use the help. This woman from Croatia is looking very promising.”

Biting her lip, Ari buried her remorse. Blur had the right to not be reminded of his sister for one moment. He had to the right to choose how he dealt with it.

Marco patted her shoulder in understanding. “Want to walk me through where you found Reed again?”

They continued working, wanting to be prepared for whatever they found in there. Blur, of course, sped up the process, turning days of work into hours. After an evening meeting with Patrick, they were set to go early the following morning.

Ari woke to her alarm at five in the morning, thinking she’d beat everyone else up. Her mother wasn’t in their shared room though, and by the time she made it to the kitchen Patrick and Marco were already eating. Steaming eggs and bacon mounded their plate, Marco’s nearly gone. He always had a good appetite.

“I don’t know how you talked me into this,” Patrick said when Ari came down.

“I didn’t talk you into it, that was all Marco.”

“No, it was both of you. The same way your mother talked me into a big breakfast. It must be in the genes.” He reached for the coffee and pushed his plate away.

Ari reached for a strip of bacon off his plate and bit into it. “Sorry.”

Her mother walked into the kitchen. “Get your own plate, Ariana.”

“He isn’t finishing his.” She covered her mouth when she spoke to hide the bacon.

Her mother gave them both looks of disapproval.

“We won’t be in that long. We’ll get breakfast when we’re back.” Ari realized there were tears glistening in her mother’s eyes. She forgot how hard it must be for her to watch her children do this, when she already lost her husband to it.

Ari hugged her. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

“No, you won’t, but I’ll be here waiting and praying, mi nina.”

“Love you too.” Pushing back her emotions, she stepped back and searched for the coffee.

Cynthia picked up a mug for her. “I already made it just how you like it with cinnamon and spice.”

“Gracias.” Ari snagged another piece of bacon and realized Marco and Patrick already left. “I better catch up,” she told her mom and headed back down the hall.

“You left me there on purpose,” Ari told her brother.

“I already had to deal with her crying over the pan of eggs. It was your turn.”

Ari swallowed the sarcastic remark she planned on, and realized he was right.

They headed down to the basement to the larger of the two VR rooms. While Ari powered up her chair, Patrick logged into the computer. There were four virtual reality chairs in this room, large leather recliners that took up most of the space probably meant for a bedroom. The small desk in the corner held the computer and ran cables to the chairs.

Joe and Harini came in as well, both with large coffees. Ari wondered how they made it out of the kitchen without eating a full meal. Maybe her mom listened to other people when they turned down food.

“You didn’t think you guys were leaving while we were asleep, did you?” Harini looked tired, with dark circles under her eyes, but managed a slight smile at Patrick.

“You didn’t have to.” Ari worried about Harini taking care of herself with everything going on. She had seemed stressed lately, but wasn’t everyone?

Joe ignored her comment and sat behind the screen as he sipped his coffee. “I’ll watch everyone’s vitals while you’re inside. If there are any big spikes in heart rate or blood pressure, I’m pulling you out. We can’t waste time waiting for you guys to tell us one of the others is in trouble.”

“I think that’s smart. Keep that in mind, both of you, if things get dicey. And don’t wait to be pulled out. If we’re attacked,” Patrick looked straight at Ari, “leave. Promise me you won’t be stupid. I can’t have another member of my team lying unconscious without answers.” His face hid all emotion, but she heard it in the roughness of his voice.

“I promise. I’ll pull out if I’m in trouble.” She met his gaze, trying to convey a wealth of emotion and words that she wasn’t even sure of herself.

“I’ll see you both on the other side.” Acting like this was any other VR trip, Marco plopped down in his seat and snapped the cable into the base of his neck.

She watched Patrick lie down and plug in as well.

He glanced over with a soft glance.

Nodding, she lay back, closed her eyes, and drifted into the other world.

As previously planned, Marco entered the program a couple of blocks in front of Ari and Patrick. Ari recognized the profile that her brother wore. He was taller, older, with gray sprinkled into his short black hair, and his tanned skin now a deep chocolate. Marco was right though, his experience and work in and out of VR made him an excellent choice. Ari just worried about him getting too comfortable inside these programs.

Ari’s mother reassured her that Marco hadn’t been in the VR since they moved to the church, so a couple of months at least. He straightened the collar on his suit and, with a confident glance over his shoulder, strode away.

“We’ll keep an eye on him.” Patrick laid a soft hand on her shoulder. “Let’s go get comfortable.”

She kept her breathing nice and even, trying to calm the nervous energy in her stomach. Ari and Patrick needed to keep a low profile. Nobody thought it was wise for Ari to get near to