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

reserve as he closed his eyes. Pulling out of the VR was instinctive to most people. Just like closing your computer, he willed his consciousness back to reality. The problem was when your brain already thought this was reality. His father had that problem, and he currently resided in an institution somewhere plugged into feeding tubes to support his loss of function. Even though his mother and sister worried Marco would turn out like him, Marco never truly worried—until now.

“What’s wrong?” his imposter mother placed a hand on his arm.

He smoothed out his features. Looking back at their interactions, he realized her little idiosyncrasies, things that only he and Ari would know, were missing. The silver and dark brown strand that now hung down her cheek would have never remained there. She always tucked it back up after looking at it with a sigh, as if for the first time she realized she was going gray. And this woman drank the coffee like it was delicious. Mom hated coffee. Even refused to kiss their dad when he had been drinking it. “Nothing’s wrong. Well, actually, I have a headache. I need to find a bathroom. Will you be fine here alone?”

“Of course.” She smiled and took another sip.

So without any guilt, he left the woman posing as his mother and went to the bathroom. He went inside a public stall and wondered who was watching the other side of this program. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he feigned a headache and closed his eyes. He had to pull himself out of the program. But every time he tried, he felt like a heavy blanket was keeping him in place.

After a few minutes of frustration, he went out to wash his hands. The cold water seeped through his fingers, and he splashed his face. Maybe he was wrong. No, that woman couldn’t be his mom. Could she? Anxiety crawled along his skin and for the first time he wondered if he was losing it.

He gripped the edge of the sink as his breath came out in heavy gasps. This had to be a program, but why couldn’t he leave? Sheer panic clouded all reasonable thought as he threw himself forward, slamming his head into the mirror. Pain flooded his senses and, in a blink, his surroundings changed. He sat up in a VR chair, the cords in the back of his neck tethering him to the VR console.

Hands pushed him down, but he struggled against them searching for a sign of where he was. Images blurred as he fought against those hands. Something sharp scrapped against his skin. A needle maybe?

“He was supposed to remain under,” a woman said from behind. “I gave him the required dose.”

Shouts rang out, calling to get him under control. He couldn’t focus on the words. He had to break free before they could steal him back to a world of their making.

The room spun, exacerbating the panic and fear erupting out of him. His elbow connected with something, and he heard a sickening crunch. Reaching back, he ripped the cords from the base of his skull. He felt it bend and tear at his port, but he couldn’t register the pain. Like a caged animal, he was fighting for everything he had. And he didn’t care the cost.

Grabbing onto small hands, he pulled a woman towards him. Using her weight to stand up, he spun around and placing an arm around her neck. The quick movement made black dots dance in front of him, and the woman helped steady him. After a few moments, his vision cleared, and he took the scene in.

This wasn’t a military operation. Not here. This was a medical hack. They drugged him to remain inside the virtual with medical help and an IT crew. How did they first catch him? How long have they been planning this? How long was he under? Unanswered questions bombarded his thoughts and fueled his anger.

A man in a medical uniform slowly stepped towards him, hands up. “There is nowhere to run. Let her go.”

“Stop, or I’ll kill her.” Normally he’d never threaten something like that, but as the rage pounded in his ears, he didn’t care. These people kidnapped him. Marco squeezed the woman’s neck, and she let out a high-pitched shriek.

The man stopped moving. “I’m sorry, but there is really nowhere to go. We called security.”

Marco glanced at the glass wall behind him. “What do you call that?” Originally Marco had thought that the wall was a screen. Then as he itched towards it, realized the room had a balcony overlooking some type of courtyard.

“Just a balcony. No way down.”

Marco didn’t believe him. And given there were four people in front of him and more on the way, his chances were better out there. Dragging the woman along, he opened the door and went onto the porch. Ideas spun around, and he tried to grab onto one that might work.

“Don’t hurt me,” she begged.

Her pleas turned his stomach. He wasn’t going to hurt this woman, but he had to leave. “Is there a net off the balcony here?” It was a common feature in tall buildings for safety.

“Yes.” It came out as a terrified whisper.

Ignoring any guilt, he spared a glance down to the courtyard. They were roughly seven stories high, but he didn’t see any net, which didn’t mean much. A resort this nice and discrete wouldn’t want anyone’s view obscured. Down below small shops, pools, and other structures littered the ground.

Back inside the room, armed men filed in and the medical personnel stepped aside. Their weapons were high tech. Probably not meant to kill him but put him back inside.

No. Not again. “Are you sure it will catch us?” he asked.

“Us?” The woman’s voice hitched up an octave.

The men took aim and time was out. He gripped her tighter and stepped next to the short wall. Without thinking what could go wrong, he pulled the woman over the edge with