The Astral Hacker (Cryptopunk Revolution Book 1) Brian Terenna (best novels to read to improve english txt) 📖

what happened. Eighty percent of the legislative branch is libertarian. How could they possibly support an attack on the first amendment? This is lunacy.”

“I’m with you, Boss,” says Alexander. “There’s no way people are going to stand for this. I can’t even believe this is real.”

Gabriel’s drink sloshes as he stands. “The secret power of lawlessness is already at work. But how does this promote the mark of the beast?”

“They can eliminate any negative news about the Evo now,” says Americus.

I remember what Barbra told me when she got the Evo. ‘Even President Toscano and VP Garza are norms.’ They didn’t have the Evo, and now they’re dead, leaving Falk in charge. It’s too suspect. I clear my throat. “Do congresspeople and senators have the Evo?”

“Only thirty-three percent are allowed to have the Evo to avoid complications,” says Americus.

I grimace at the confirmation. “I have a theory.”

Americus squints, and everyone else’s eyes land on me. I meet Nav’s eyes for a moment, then look down. My heart pounds, and my leg bounces.

“Yes?” asks Americus, tugging at his beard impatiently.

“What is it, Fae?” asks Nav.

I take a long breath and say, “You were surprised that this law passed despite the lower requirements. But the thirty-three percent of the Senate and Congress who have the Evo would tip the scales. I bet they all voted for the new laws. I would be surprised if President Falk doesn’t also have the Evo. And how about the top generals? I know that they aren’t allowed to have the Evo, and some were assassinated.”

Americus is shaking his head in disbelief. “If you’re right, we’ve lost our country, and whoever controls the Evo passed these laws to increase their military strength and control. Astrid, get answers to these questions.”

She searches for the information, then says, “The top three generals were the ones assassinated and President Falk does have the Evo.”

Knights and Loyalists exchange looks. Nav’s lips are pressed together, and she’s leaning forward. Alexander’s eyes are wide as he waits for the last answer.

Astrid looks up from the holographic text, her face pale. “Every single senator and congressman with the Evo voted for the new laws.”

Americus growls.

Gabriel makes the sign of the cross and swings his drink. “As the bible tells us, the Antichrist is coming. Evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. They took us over to spread the mark. We must attack now, Americus. President Falk is the Antichrist. This proves it.”

“Let me at him, Americus,” Alexander says, twirling his revolver on a finger. “I’ll storm the White House singlehandedly and take Falk out.”

A few nearby Loyalists give Alexander high-fives, while others nod or cheer.

Alexander is so brash. “I don’t think that Falk is in charge. He has the Evo. Someone is probably controlling him too,” I say.

“She’s right,” says Americus. “I know we put this on hold when we believed the RSA was responsible for the hack, but it’s time to see if we can connect Fae’s foster mother and the investigative reporter into this. We need answers.”

“Maybe we could just ask people that Sandra worked with at the Cardinal Post,” says Nav.

“Good. Get on that Naveha,” says Americus.

So much for asking nicely.

Americus sets his heavy eyes on me. I push even further into the couch.

“Do you have any way to discover what Barbra knew?” he asks.

How could I figure that out? I’m sure I couldn’t hack the military base even if it wasn’t destroyed.

“I have a call into a reporter at the Post,” says Nav. “She’s going to call back in thirty minutes.”

“Good,” says Americus. “Fae, you have until then to discover Barbra’s connection to this.”

☼☼☼

I lean back on the bed in my room, feeling stressed. Why did I have to get wrapped up in this mess? First, drones almost murder me, then a war breaks out, and now I have to figure out the impossible.

Obviously, Barbra is connected, and it must be because of her work at the military base, but how can I figure out anything else? She never told me anything. I doubt she would have told her sister or any of her friends anything either. What else is there?

I wrack my brain for a few minutes, but after my frustration mounts, I shut my eyes and sigh. I need a break. “Chim, load spacial puzzle program one.”

A three-dimensional holographic puzzle with various shapes appears before me. I quickly see the pattern and fill in the pieces, feeling my body begin to relax. After several challenging puzzles, I’m much more at ease, and my mind feels sharper. Most people would probably be more stressed after playing the complex game, but I’m not most people.

I close the hologram and pull my mind back to the question. How is Barbra connected?

I see her smiling face as she wins another game of Strife and remember her cheerfully cooking my first birthday cake in twelve years. She was just happy to have me around. Now, she’s only a memory and a problem to solve.

So where do I begin? Maybe her suicide note. Could she have been telling me something, or was she just hallucinating? Maybe it was both. ‘I can’t face him,’ she wrote. That could be anyone. ‘Run to the clouds.’ It just made her sound crazy. You can only fly to the clouds. Cloud…then a thought strikes me. Early on, Barbra gave me the password to her hidden decentralized cloud storage. Could she have been telling me to go there?

I access her data, then use one of my scanning programs to locate anything that may have been left for me. It finds one file. Maybe this wasn’t such a difficult task. I swallow and open it.

Her words appear before me. ‘I love you so much, Fae,