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

HUB and a projection of various men and women from different countries appeared. “Now, these are the heads of the UN. They are not on the Board but are powerful figures that seem to have no connection with Maxim. They are currently preparing for the upcoming voting session and have been spending overtime inside VLEX and other UN approved political realms.”

The screen rotated, assigning each team one or two politicians. “We won’t be able to get to close by using our abilities. If they know we’re warpers, they will pull out immediately and alert security. But we need to get this file about Maxim and the Board’s activities to them.

“We have enough proof to show Maxim’s involvement in the murder of the VP of Asia and the creation of the virus.”

Ari leaned forward studying the screen. “You think it will be enough for them?”

“I don’t.” Tricky threw her pen at the women in the navy blazer. “I think she’s in bed with Maxim. Not literally, though that wouldn’t surprise me either.”

“We’re letting the people and the leaders we trust know. It’s all we can do at this point.” Patrick gave a tight smile.

“Not all,” Tricky mumbled, everyone knew her desire to personally take Maxim out.

Patrick ignored her comment. “Anything else we need to cover?” Patrick glanced around the room, but everyone remained silent. “We’ll head out in thirty-six hours. Harini will send you the exact travel assignments. Rest while you can.”

Chapter 31

Ari never had spent a lot of time alone with Blur. Not for any particular reason other than their work never seemed to overlap much. For the trip, he cleaned up but wore a hat to cover his blonde hair. Even then he attracted the attention of other travelers, especially women. He and his twin were stunning, almost exotic with their features. More than once as they boarded the plane, she wondered why Patrick assigned Blur to this country. His pale skin and blonde hair would stick out.

At least their plane landed after nightfall. He shouldn’t be as conspicuous as they made their way through the city. Most people thought they traveled together, so while many travelers appreciated his looks, they didn’t appreciate his companion.

They flew in silence most of the way. Only one passenger sat by them, wearing earbuds and watching a movie on his screen. Ari’s stomach tied in knots, not just about the mission ahead of them, but about Blur and Tricky.

“Hey.” She slightly tapped Blur’s shoulder.

He turned off his own ear buds and turned to her.

“You have a second to talk?”

Glancing around, he noticed the other guy as well. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to apologize about your sister.” The words were way overdue, and she hurried to get them out. “I shouldn’t have been distracted. The day that she… got sick.” Even though everyone looked engaged, she worried about people overhearing her. “If I had been more observant, it wouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry.”

He paused for a moment, glancing around. Emotion fought behind those beautiful ice-blue eyes. Then as if settling on a thought, he finally lifted his gaze. “She’s alive. She’s back. Let’s not dredge up what happened or could have happened.”

Ari knew Blur felt deeper than he’d ever admit and cared for his twin more than the world. “Okay. I just wanted you to know.”

Nodding, he flipped his music back on, the base leaking through just enough for Ari to hear. She faced forward, wishing that made her feel better than it did. Not that she was looking for absolution.

The rest of the trip went smoothly, and they found their way to the hotel. They had to wait the night and were scheduled to go into the program at ten the following morning. Between the time zone change and her anxiousness about the job ahead, Ari struggled to sleep. Blur must have had the same problem, as she found him up at three in the morning watching a movie.

“Wanna watch?” he offered, and flipped the screen so they both could see.

Ari couldn’t have remembered what the movie was about, some old sci-fi flick. The movie helped pass the time, though. Soon the sun rose on the foreign town and they started getting ready.

She messaged Tessa again. The announcement Patrick gave Ari would be going out soon, and Ari wanted to make sure everything and everyone was still on track. Tessa didn’t reply right away, but that wasn’t uncommon. After a couple cups of coffee, Ari and Blur headed to the address that Harini gave them.

“How do you want to play it? Want me to insert it while you distract the owner or make a diversion?” Blur wore dark glasses and he scanned the crowd around them as they walked to the shop.

“I think it would be easier the other way.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, especially if the worker is female. You’ve caught quite a few glances from women.”

He shrugged. “I haven’t been out in a while.”

“You forget you’re good-looking?”

He gave a dry chuckle. “No, I just don’t care. It helped me to get away with a lot growing up, but now it just seems… stupid. Anyone can go inside and be as beautiful as they want.”

“I get it, but let’s use that face today.”

“And if the person doesn’t lean my way?”

“Then I’ll swap you for it. The art of manipulation isn’t my best quality, but I can distract and annoy people with the best of them.” Ari didn’t think it would be too hard with an old VR joint.

“Deal.”

As they approached the store, a message beeped on Ari’s HUB. Encrypted. “One second,” she told Blur, then added in a whisper, “It’s probably from Tessa.”

Ari was right about Tessa but wasn’t prepared for the message.

Abort mission. I’ll release to my players but can’t ask anyone else. I’m going dark, and upping security. It’s worse than we thought. One gamer sent out the message early and here is the result.

There was a link to a video from a small country in Europe. A cold chill set every nerve on