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

“Let’s watch it on mine. I have extra precautions in place.” He typed in the video’s address and they muted the sound.

The video was only twenty seconds long. A lone female gamer with teal hair sat at her desk, tear-stained eyes pleading with the screen in front of her. A man’s body appeared behind her. His head remained out of the shot. The gun didn’t.

In a flash it was over and the woman lay dead on her desk.

Blur swore.

Ari trembled as the icy realization of what she just saw struck her. “What did I do?” Looking around, she thought she was going to be sick.

Another beat passed, then Blur reached for Ari’s hands forcing her to look at him. “You didn’t do anything. He pulled the trigger, not you. If anything, we need to do this more than ever.”

“What if Tessa…” Ari couldn’t finish that sentence.

“She has the means to take care of herself. And the best way to make her safe is to take out Maxim. The best way to make all of us safe is to take him out.”

Biting her lip, she nodded.

“The store isn’t far. Can you do this?” His face was kind, but strong.

She drew from that strength. “Yeah.”

Blur notified the others of what happened. Now getting their intelligence to the few allies they hoped to find in VLEX became even more important.

When they arrived at the store, Ari double checked it was the correct address. It looked more like a thrift store than a VR joint. There was a feminine touch to the store, with bright colors that mocked Ari. How can things be so bright, when the world was going to hell?

The door slid open and they walked into the cluttered store. An older woman stood behind the counter, her long dark braid hung over her shoulder, and she wore a floral dress with puffy sleeves. The way she looked at Blue, they both knew he was up to bat. Ari couldn’t have flirted right now even if she wanted to. While he leaned forward and spoke to the women through his translator, Ari turned to take in the shop.

Old tech lined the front, everything from electronic cooking gear to hard drives. Any extra space on the wall was covered by electronic pictures of cute animals that Ari found disturbing. Continuing further into the store, Ari found the VR area. It wasn’t even a room, just four machines tucked into a space behind racks of used goods.

An older man was plugged into one of the machines, unconscious, though his eyes fluttered. While Blur chatted away with the woman, Ari turned to the computers. Two of them flashed welcoming messages. The woman must have turned them on while she talked to Blur.

Glancing around her, Ari began to load the firmware. It took a couple minutes, during which Ari prayed the tech would be compatible. Something stirred behind her, and Ari jumped and spun around. The old man in the nearby chair mumbled something. With his eyes closed, she could see the movements behind those closed lids. She exhaled a breath. He was still plugged into his own world.

As she turned back to the computer, Blur and the woman’s conversation drew closer. The program continued uploading, as Ari swore under her breath. This old tech moved so slow.

The competition box flashed, and Ari exited the screen, removing the USB. The manager entered the room with Blur as Ari slipped the drive into her pocket. Her hands trembled with nerves.

“Can I help you?” The woman asked in a heavy accent.

“Just waiting for you.” Ari turned to Blur.

“Let’s get going then.” Blur laid down in the chair.

Ari gave him one last look and saw his eyes swimming with emotion at what they were about to do.

“Of course.” Climbing into the chair, she plugged in and melded into the program.

Ari had spent so much time in VLEX while she was working for VisionTech that the world became intimately familiar to her. So, as she awoke in the program, she immediately recognized her surroundings as the center of town. Her skin was that of a woman, not too far from her own nationality. Harini had given them the skins of junior diplomats from the same country.

Blur and Ari didn’t have time to waste in the program, since the people who really owned these skins were only offline for lunch breaks. Blur took off, his pace a little too fast. He excelled at hacking and coding, but maybe not so much at wearing others’ skins. The goal was to blend in, not sprint across the square.

She hurried to catch up. “Let’s not draw too much attention to ourselves.”

“We’re on a timeline,” he said, but slowed his pace a bit.

As they headed to the industrial section of VLEX, filled with tall buildings and offices from all over the world, Ari gave him a slight tap as she veered to the correct building. While he may know the code part better, she knew the layout. Maybe that’s why Patrick placed her with Blur.

They found President Salomon’s office and stepped on the elevator. From their previous research, Ari knew she was an older woman who had worked hard. She was the president of a smaller country in the South Americas but had proved herself through years in world politics, and was recently elected to be Vice President of the United Federation of Virtual Countries.

Arriving at her office, they were prepared for a variety of scenarios they went over last night. Starting with basic and proceeding to them using their power and forcing a download through her connection. That was the last resort, of course. Most people would take that as a full attack. Either way, she was going to get that file and hear them out.

“Hello,” a young male assistant greeted them as they entered the office. His dark hair was styled to perfection, matching his sharp suit. “How can I