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

legs in front of her, putting one large multi-colored boot on top of the other. The freezing morning wind pushed at Ari and she zipped up her jacket. Sitting next to her friend, Ari pulled at a stray bit of fake grass, playing with the plastic perfection.

“We need to talk in private.” Tessa glanced around as if checking for others. “Who knows where they put recording devices.”

Ari shivered, thinking back to the video she watched in Advisor Williams’s office, and the key logger on her computer. She knew her roommate was right to be paranoid.

“What happened last night?” Tessa shoved an angry hand through her purple hair. “I thought something was wrong when you walked off with Garrett while Reed stayed out of the program. But I never thought it was bad enough to get us all caught.”

Tessa had a right to be mad. Ari shouldn’t have invited her. “I’m sorry you’re in trouble. I didn’t know that would happen.”

“I don’t care about the demerit. What happened with you?”

Ari swallowed realizing she needed to tell Tessa the truth. “I’m a warper.”

Tessa froze for a moment and then narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

Ari struggled to find the words to explain. “I see code. Everywhere in the VR, running behind the optical illusions they present. Even the smell, though those are harder to nail down as they float everywhere.”

“You see code?” Tessa spoke slowly.

“Yes. I first noticed it at the Grid. I met Garrett in the game and stripped his powers from him. That’s probably why your dad was mad at you. Sorry.” Ari glimpsed at Tessa’s expression of disbelief, and then turned back to the lake. “I went in last night to confirm what I thought. Not only do I see code, but I can manipulate it as well. I’m able to change it at will, though I’m still working on that.”

“You can change code from inside the program? It’s true? Warpers are real?”

“I guess so. I’m not sure what I am.” Ari threw the fake piece of grass into the lake. “I had someone approach me after our game on the strip. Someone must have seen what happened in the game.”

Tessa gave a hearty laugh from deep within her belly. “No wonder my dad was so pissed. Random people have been questioning my stepmom. That’s a good one.”

“Glad to help you out. Problem is, now what do I do? The school is watching my every key stroke. Do I wait until they find out? What happens next?”

Tessa’s face fell, all laughter gone. “I’m not sure. I’d lie low. I think there is a reason we don’t know about warpers.”

“I agree.” Ari planned on talking to her mom over Christmas break since she didn’t trust her computer. She prayed the recruiter was wrong, and she could lie low for long enough.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Ari welcomed Monday’s classes along with the homework that kept her busy all week. It gave her mind a break from worrying about the future. Unfortunately, after tests were completed on Friday, the thoughts that had been lurking in the back of her mind returned with full force.

She couldn’t get out of school, and she was required to work for the government after her three years of schooling in whatever position she was assigned. It could be at the North Pole. And there was no declining a government position. If she quit her schooling, her wages would be garnished at any other position she took. If she defaulted on payment, her mother’s wages would be garnished, which her mother couldn’t afford.

On the other hand, if she informed Advisor Williams of her gift or used her abilities in class, then she would be immediately transferred, leaving her friends and family. There was a reason no one really knew any warpers. Her other choice was to ignore her abilities in the VR. Not just for her schooling, but possibly for the rest of her life. And while it might not be the smartest choice, denial was the easiest choice.

If she didn’t change, nothing else did either. She could stay at school with Reed and ignore the recruiter.

By Friday she was exhausted. The teachers gave them extra assignments to prepare for their end of term final before winter break. She was laying on her bed, reading her tablet, and trying to keep her eyes open, when she heard someone at the door. With headphones on and absorbed in her game, Tessa didn’t hear their AI announce the visitor.

Ari answered, surprised to find Reed holding a flower. They had texted a lot throughout the week but hadn’t talked since the night they got busted. Before he could speak, Ari wrapped her arms around him, breathing him in. She thought he had to study tonight, but she welcomed the surprise.

“I’ll take that to mean you’re happy to see me,” Reed said.

“Definitely.” She pulled him inside. Next to him, the stress and uneasiness of the past week melted away. All that mattered right now was the present.

Reed laid the flower on Ari’s desk and then turned to her roommate. “Hi, Tessa.”

Tessa pulled her headphones off one ear. “Hey, Reed. What are you up to?”

“Nothing, sick of studying. We all don’t get to play games for class.”

“I wish,” Ari said. Marco and Reed often teased her for getting a placement that allowed her to be in VRs most of the time. Ari had never realized that playing was so much work.

Tessa stood up and stretched her legs, covered in silver jeans today. “I’m going to grab more caffeine. Want me to get you anything?”

“No thanks,” Ari said shaking her head. Tessa was being polite, giving her space with Reed, and she appreciated it.

As soon as the door closed, Reed playfully tackled Ari right onto her bed. After a few minutes of doing her new favorite thing in the world—kissing Reed—he pulled back to lie next to her. Reed’s lips pressed together as if he had something to say.

“What is it?” She placed a