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

“Are you ready?” Reed asked.

She ignored his question. She would never be ready. Hesitantly, she took a seat next to her father.

“It’s okay if you change your mind.”

Ari reached for her cable. “Go to the original program in his history. It should be the cruise on the Rhine River.”

“If I get word from Marco, I’m pulling you out. You understand?” Reed had received an old HUB from Marco, so they could stay in touch.

“I’ll be quick. Promise.”

Ari bit down on her lip and slid the cable into her port. She closed her eyes, sensing the program was ready for her, and floated into a whole different world.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Now familiar with the transition into the VRs, she wasn’t surprised when the cool breeze off the water brushed against her face. The world around her had turned green and blue. A lush countryside lined the water, dotted with villas and even a small castle in the distance. As the sun set, it gave everything a beautiful golden hue.

Turning away from the water, she pushed off the railing in search for her father. With the size of the ship, it might be harder than she’d thought. Several stories tall and long, there was no end to the white railing winding around the length of the ship.

“Excuse me, miss. Would you care for a drink?” An exotic waiter with a heavy accent offered Ari a glass of what looked like champagne. The waiter’s face with his crystal blue eyes and chiseled cheek bones was perfect, too perfect. The prison held enough beauty and luxury that was hard to leave, but it was still a prison.

“No, thank you.” Ari replied. “But can you help me? I’m looking for Enrique Mendez.”

“I’m not sure about him, but I know most people are upstairs dancing.” He motioned to a set of stairs to her left. “There is a live band tonight.”

“Thanks.” Ari headed to the stairs. Looking down at her outfit of jeans and a t-shirt, she decided to go dancing. Her clothes morphed into a simple blue dress that her mother handed down to her years ago. What Ari used to struggle with in the program, now didn’t take more than a second to fix. The music and laughter rose as she walked up the two flights of stairs.

Her hand trailed along the handrail made from dark wood lined with gold accents. The texture felt off, too smooth for the detailed engraving it showed. Dr. Coleman would be pleased with her observations, but there would be no more tests for her.

Stepping onto the dance floor, she noticed the clouds mingling in the background. High above the water, only the fading night sky surrounded them. The railing turned to soft white fabric laced with lights. Elegantly dressed couples floated by on the dance floor, spinning, smiling, and laughing. Maybe her father really thought he’d died and gone to heaven. She finally spotted his tall frame in the middle of the floor with a woman whose red dress exposed more skin than it covered.

Ari reached for the nearby railing. Despite her anger over the years, her heart leapt to see him so alive and happy. Granted after a minute of watching her father hold this woman tight against him, her joy fizzled. Vacation time was over.

Ari fought against her initial desire to strip this ship down to mere wreckage. It would just push him further away. She strode onto the dance floor, brushing off an approaching gentleman asking for a dance. He wasn’t real. None of this was.

“Excuse me.” She placed a hand on her father’s shoulder, stopping them cold. “Can I have this dance?”

Her father kept his long black hair tied neatly in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. Without his beard, he looked younger. His hazel eyes peered out behind his heavy brow.

“Enrique?” The woman turned to her father.

Staring at Ari, he didn’t hide the confusion that flashed on his face. Ari wasn’t sure he would recognize her.

“Isabelle?” he asked, calling Ari her mother’s name.

“Not quite.” Ari remembered that he hadn’t seen her for eight years. She had changed a lot since she was eight.

Her father dropped his hands, dismissing the woman he was with, or rather ignoring her. She strode away towards the bar. He then reached for Ari and drew her into his arms. The resentment of years past, constantly eroding Ari’s soul, quieted, and she was back in her father’s arms, like a little girl dancing on his feet in the kitchen. She had to fight the urge to get lost in this dream as well.

He reached into his pocket and handed Ari a simple white cloth. She noticed the tears that had been silently falling onto her cheeks. She gave an embarrassed smile and brushed them away.

“Are you going to tell me who you are? I thought you were Isabelle at first glance. But not quite. A relative, perhaps?” His lips pulled up into a big goofy smile, a favorite of Ari’s and one she never thought she would see again.

She took a deep breath, needing the extra air to draw the words out. “I’m Ariana ... Ari, your daughter.”

He stopped dancing. “No, you can’t be.” He pulled his hands away from her and stepped back. “That would mean ...”

“I’m sixteen. You’ve been gone for eight years.”

Rubbing his jaw, he shook his head but kept his gaze locked on her. The music played on while the couples danced around them in an artificial state. The perfection of it all was absurd, especially with the tumult of emotions happening in the small little bubble that contained Ari and her father.

“It’s time to come home, Dad.”

He shook his head slowly. “I can’t leave. Your mother and I must finish our vacation. It’s not every day one can celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary.”

She stepped towards him. If only she could reach him, hold onto him. “It’s been more than ten years, Dad.”

“How did you