Simulated, p.13
Simulated, page 13
“What about the job?” he asks, a slight change in his voice.
“We already found the problem,” I explain. “If everything goes smoothly, it should be fixed in three days and we’re back within the week…”
“That’s great news,” he sighs with relief. We talk about the landscape of Tunis and the Medina, where we are staying. He seems satisfied I’m safe, for now.
After I hang up, the ride back is silent and confusing. I wrestle with all the new information I’ve just received from Coral Hacker...Noble... and rub my hand over my arms where a tingle lingers from that strange frequency between the two of us.
I don’t understand how or why we share this odd connection, and I don’t like that I can’t control it. I don’t know where it’s coming from or what’s causing it. It’s puzzling but I don’t have time to think about it right now. Once we switch the holothumbs, we can stop the radicals and help Kai stop the Loyalists. After that, Noble promised to tell me how to get my gift back and he will be out of my life forever.
The leaf he gave me is still in my hand. The edges are shaped like tiny triangles. I try to count them, but my mind is too full of thoughts swirling around the Loyalists. Agent Bai and Hansen were slowly shutting down the webs of Madame’s organization all over the world. I didn’t think I’d ever be entangled in her web again. I should have known it wouldn’t be over so easily. This deal was already in the works. Regardless of what I want, Noble’s right—I’m the only one who knows Madame well enough to pull off this plan.
I take out my phone and scroll through videos of Kai training at the Sang Brother’s daochang. I touch his face on the screen. That crazy boy convinced a mafia-led loyalist group that he was part of them. I’d laugh to myself if I didn’t understand how much danger he is in. But Kai has always held his own. I refuse to doubt him—even if the thoughts running rampant in my head make me sick to my stomach. He was almost killed. Thanks to Noble, who’s obviously not a fan of Kai, he’s alive.
I groan, rubbing my temples. Kai’s new job is my fault. If he had never met me, he’d be safe and working for his dad right now…but he’d be unhappy, dissatisfied, and lost. So, yeah. I wouldn’t want that for him either.
But is this the life he really wants? When this is over, I need to find out what Kai wants. More importantly, what we want.
Entering the Medina, Goliath pulls around to the back of Dar Alzaytun and escorts me inside.
The team scurries over, relief in their expressions. “You said one hour,” Pens exclaimed. “We were worried sick. Thankfully, Mr. Qadar called us to say you were fine.”
My eyes sneak a side-glance at Goliath, his straight face revealing nothing. He called the team for me after I tased him? How could he have possibly known I was safe? Had Goliath seen us on the roof? If he saw me talking to Coral Hacker, he didn’t say anything.
My gift may not be guiding every decision, but I know enough to pay more attention to Goliath–who he is and what his motives might be.
“I’m fine,” I say to my friends. “But everything else is not.”
Chapter 26
DAR ALZAYTUN, THE MEDINA, TUNIS, TUNISIA
ONE OF THE first times I sat in on a PSS thinktank meeting, there was a problem they couldn’t solve. My thoughts had been wandering the whole day, back to the Pratt. Out of nowhere a solution came to me, something I’d do for King. Without thinking, I rattled it off to the team in its entirety, sure it would work, until their eyes gawked wide, and Harrison started laughing.
“You’re joking, right? That would be breaking like ten laws.”
I snapped back to reality. “Of course I’m joking.” I laughed alongside them, but my heart raced like a traitor…a faint pulse of numbers behind that risky idea. I was not Phoenix anymore in an underground prison full of thugs where one makes their own rules. I’m Jo now, but even as Jo, I struggle. How does someone go from giving to following orders?
The gang, squished in my room, has that same horrified look on their faces as I tell them Noble’s plan. But this time, no one is laughing. And one thing has changed since then. They’re not in familiar territory anymore—I am.
Pens paces the room, one hand taking notes on her phone, and the other hand running through her red hair angrily. “Let me get this straight—not only is an extreme radical group planning a coup in Tunisia with tech from our Blacklist, which is being sold again tomorrow, but our Blacklist will be distributed to a Loyalist group, whose former leader kidnapped you?”
“More or less.” My teeth grind together in an awkward smile, weighing how much more I should say. I haven’t even told them about Kai yet. Not sure I should.
Pens goes on. “You believe they will wreak havoc on the whole region using our tech, and the only way we can stop them is a plan cooked up by a rogue hacker that we’re supposed to be bringing to justice?”
Harrison is sunk into a cushy chair in the corner of the room, chewing on his thumbnail. “Hate to be the one to say this, but isn’t this a bit out of our job description?” He pulls up his hoodie, covering half his face.
Eddie groans, his elbow grinding on the desktop as he slaps his face into his hands. “Much worse than we thought.”
“We’re already facing a threat of PSS being disbanded, but not sharing crucial information with the police about a crime syndicate and partnering with a hacker could potentially land us in prison.” Felicia purses her lips, and her eyes lock on mine as if to make sure I’ve understood. “I knew I should have hacked that phone call back in Seattle. You have a lot to fill us in on. Like why you actually came on this trip.”
“I will,” I say, “but right now we don’t have time. The sale is happening tomorrow. I won’t let PSS be disbanded. I’m going to Sidi Bou Saïd alone. So if anything goes wrong, PSS will have nothing to do with it. Do you want to hear the plan or not?”
The room shifts, and I bite my tongue. They’re obviously upset I didn’t mention my past in Seattle, and I don’t want to risk losing this new team by asking too much—they’re the first friends I’ve made that I feel like I can trust. But Harrison is right. It’s out of the job description. I hold my breath as the four of them exchange glances.
Pens looks at Felicia, who taps her chin. Eddie cocks his head at Harrison, who toggles his smart-watch, K1, then he holds up a finger commanding us to wait. Harrison juts his chin out at us when he’s done. “Room’s clean. No bugs.”
Pens sits down, cross-legged on the floor. “All right, tell us Coral Hacker’s plan.”
Even though the room is clean of anti-surveillance, I keep my voice down to a whisper because Qadar is still in the next room.
“It’s actually rather simple.” I hold up the tiny holothumb that Noble gave me at the museum. It feels like the weight of the world in my fingertips. “The Hacker made a holothumb identical to Montego’s except it has an encrypted virus in it called SMOKE. Once it’s uploaded, it leaves an electronic residue on everything it touches. It will also identify and alter any file unique to PSS metadata. Making PSS files unusable to the bad guys, but traceable for us. Coral Hacker designed it so that it takes 24 hours for the bad guys to notice, which gives us 24 hours to get our files safely into Cyber Island.”
“How do we switch the holothumbs?”
First, I explain Coral Hacker’s intel regarding Professor Montego, the radicals, and the Loyalists. “Montego planned a sale of PSS tech tomorrow in Sidi Bou Saïd to Amir Ben Slimane, the leader of the radicals. But Coral Hacker messed with the arrangements, sending Slimane off course, so that we can take his place. All we have to do is swap the holothumb, then Montego will deliver it to the Successor.”
“Why can’t we turn Montego over to the police? And tell them about the Successor?” Pens asks.
“We can’t do that. Montego is the key to tracing our Blacklist and stopping the Loyalists,” I say, not mentioning that he’s also the key to saving Kai. “He’s the only one who has access to the Successor. Once SMOKE is infected into the master-file, all the loose ends of PSS tech, the Successor, and an entire network of malicious plans can be stopped.”
“If Montego is taken into custody by the police, we’ll have enough to stop the radicals, but we’ll lose our connection to the Successor. We have to be able to get the rigged holothumb to the Successor and get SMOKE into Madame’s Master-file so we can stop the Loyalists and the Successor,” I say. “This is the only way the loose ends of PSS tech, the Successor, and an entire network of malicious plans can be stopped.”
“Who’s going to switch this holothumb with the one Montego has and how?” Harrison asks.
My face turns instantly sober. I squirm, knowing that the stares will come when I open my mouth. Just like the uncomfortable glances that my family gave me when I’d reveal illegal, violent, or criminal actions I’d witnessed or been a part of during my time in China.
I swallow but sit up straighter. “That’s the catch. Montego won’t listen to just anyone,” I say. “Montego has to be convinced that the person speaking to him has authority and is connected to the one person he fears most: Madame. There’s only one person on the planet who fits the bill. Who knows her mannerisms, her speech, her past, her networks and her business—and who could pull it off convincingly?”
Their eyes nearly pop out of their head. “You? You can’t be serious.”
Harrison looks at me. “Jo, these people are the scum of the earth! What makes you think that you can walk in there without something going wrong? Who do you think you are?”
I briefly look at Eddie, whose face is paling. “I have more in common with them than you know.” I fold my hands in my lap, trying to shutter out flashbacks of all the Kings and Alexis and Gaos I studied over the years.
I sigh. “There’s only so much of your past that you can tell others without having to relive it. That’s why I don’t talk about it, but I’ve looked into the darkest souls, calculating their every motivation. I know how they think. How they move. What they want. I know what scares them.” A lump rises in my throat. “But it’s a bit more complicated than that…” I could tell them about Kai, but that might get me into more trouble.
Pens jumps to her feet. “Before you go on, we need to tell Ms. T what happened at the Bardo.”
“Tell me what?” The door swings open, and smooth black eyes survey the room before landing on me. “I’m all ears.”
Chapter 27
HARRISON JUMPS TO his feet to offer Ms. T his chair, which she accepts. Her impeccable posture makes her look like a queen. Something about it reminds me of Chan. If I played hardball with him, I should be able to play it with her, and come to a bargain in the middle. But the motherly look on her face wins out, and I remember the way she fiercely protects the prods she’s chosen. The hard tension in me drains away. I don’t want to lie to her any more than I would want to lie to Red or my own mother.
Goliath stands at attention near my door, eyeing me and my watch. The temperature in the room jumps a few degrees as everyone turns my way. A trickle of sweat slides down my back.
As a child, I learned that if I acted like that big thing I’d done was no big deal, my parents would change the subject quicker. I lay on thick that old technique now hoping it will work. “I got the answers we were looking for,” I tell Ms. T, “and yeah, it was through a face-to-face meeting with Coral Hacker. Hence the extra tech.”
“That was precautionary. But you must have known he might be there, and you didn’t tell me,” Ms. T sits calmly, like a parent talking to a teenager about sneaking out. She’s definitely been in this position before—so have I. A sense of honor rises in me. When I was with Red, he challenged me to always walk with as much honesty as possible. I want to do that. But right now, the stakes are too high. PSS. Kai. The Successor. I’ll only tell her what I have to now and share the rest at the right time. I just wonder how many chances she’ll give me.
“If I had sensed danger, I would have left immediately,” I say. “There was always the possibility of meeting him. He invited us here.”
“Invited?” Ms. T clears her throat. “Nice choice of words.”
I keep my chin up. I can’t back down now. “Mr. Qadar was close by. We hired security for that purpose, right?”
“Hmm.” Ms. T looks at Goliath. “What’s your professional evaluation?”
Goliath eyes me, a funny look hidden there as he purposely fiddles with his watch. I hold my breath. “Everything at the Bardo appeared harmless,” he says finally. I release my breath until he adds. “Josephine’s ability to handle herself was shocking. I won’t underestimate her again.” Goliath turns back to Ms. T, a smug look on his face. He’s not happy, but I’m grateful he’s covering for me.
Ms. T sighs. I appreciate that she hasn’t called me dicey yet. But her demeanor makes it clear that she’s not convinced of anything. She’s still weighing every possibility.
“So now what?” she asks.
“It’s an in-and-out maneuver with little risk and high reward,” I say, explaining the plan and why I’m the one who can pull off the swap with Montego. “Coral Hacker has already made arrangements at a public place, Ennejma Ezzahra, the Sparkling Star Palace—a cultural and historical landmark.” I ask K2 to pull up an address. Harrison instantly downloads a map. “After we make the swap, we’re done, and we get to kill three birds with one stone.”
Ms. T studies the other prods and I wish I knew what she was thinking. The team is looking to her for direction and assurance, but she’s hunting for something else. She’s a good leader with a reputation to uphold. Connections all over the world. Trusted by governments. She even convinced Jason Rivers to let me do the simulations, which was nothing short of miraculous.
“What’s Montego’s backstory?” The question catches me off guard, as if I’m talking to Agent Bai, and not Ms. T.
“According to Coral Hacker, Montego stole tech for Madame. But to everyone else, he’s just a typical low-level money-grubbing criminal, harmless and gutless,” I say, gauging her. “With the date set for the exchange, he’s been watching over his shoulder for Madame or her closest associates to appear. Coral Hacker thinks Montego will believe anything I tell him if I’m convincing enough. He may even believe I’m Madame. If we Veil news on her, he’ll believe it.”
“What about the radical leader, Mr. Ben Slimane? He’ll suspect something’s wrong after the Ministry is shut down and he turns up at a deal where Montego is a no-show,” Ms. T asks. Her voice gives away nothing, not one ounce of intonation. It’s steady, ticking away like a clock.
Ms. T knows all too well how this works. She’s asking all the right questions. I tense up. A current of numbers connects a series of events I’ve recognized in her before.
“I don’t know about him.” But I remember Noble’s eyebrows knit together when he mentioned him, like he was calculating new possibilities. I didn’t ask. I’m glad now I don’t know.
Ms. T inhales deeply. “Our names and much more are embedded in those PSS files.”
Pens starts fuming. “We create these things to help the world, and they twist them to destroy it.” With one hand she’s tinkering, while her other hand punctuates her words in angry gestures.
“Now you know how I feel!” Eddie says, kicking back in the desk chair.
Ms. T stands, her body rigid, like even her stature is set against me. I feel her words before she says them. “I can’t sign on to this. Nothing about it feels right. We don’t know enough about Montego, the hacker or the Successor.”
“Without Coral Hacker, it would’ve taken weeks to discover the Blacklist file was here in Tunis or to create a way to stop it,” I say to Ms. T. “Who knows when we would have learned about the Loyalists. If we don’t act now, it’ll be too late.”
“Coral Hacker still could be the thief. I guarantee he’s scoured our system.” She beckons Felicia who jumps up at her command. “Here at PSS, we don’t blindly trust someone who hacked our systems as our main source of information.”
“Yeah, I mean, he’s unhinged, right?” Eddie says.
I keep quiet. My gut says differently, but I’m not above being corrected. Red taught me that the ability to admit when you’re wrong is a mark of honor. “It’s a possibility. I’ve been fooled before,” I say. “Regardless I believe he’s an ally. He led us to this job knowing we’re the only ones who can track down our own toys. Just like I know I’m the only one who can meet Montego tomorrow.” I take out the holothumb and hand it to Ms. T. “Test it.”
Ms. T nods at me like a judge who’s finished hearing me make my case. She straightens her suit and takes out a phone. “Felicia, your blacklisted skills are needed right now. Let’s see if this “Smoke” does what Coral Hacker says it will.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Felicia takes the holothumb from her hands and leaves the room.
“Jo,” Ms. T says to me, “meet me in my room in one hour.”
I swallow hard. “Yes, Ma’am.” She charges out like there’s a house on fire.
Chapter 28
AS SOON AS the door clicks shut, Eddie turns to me. “You can’t meet this pyscho professor all alone.”
The word alone produces numbers bursting like firecrackers and graphs exploding into webs of numbers. It fizzles out quickly but the power that comes from my gift fills me with energy. I steady myself against the desk. Coral Hacker said the adrenaline rush I experience in my phase 3 sims won’t get my gift back, but I disagree. That death wish of mine really wants to do this.
“I won’t be alone,” I say to Eddie. “Goliath will come too. He’s a trained professional.”
“He’s a security bodyguard. And we’re nerds, not double agents on a mission.” Eddie shakes his head, mumbling something in Korean.
Pens nods as she works on a double set of notes again.
“I trust SMOKE will work, and if so, Ms. T might let me do this,” I say.
