Simulated, p.6
Simulated, page 6
“It’s the shortest job we’ve done in months and it’s an office job,” Pens says. “Since China, all of our protocols have changed. We operate under full security with privately hired bodyguards now.”
By the looks on Harrison, Eddie, Pens, and Felicia’s faces, they’re not going to give up. Most likely their gifts are even showing them ways to convince me. They’ve seen my sim records. They know about the rush in my blood compelling me to take risks in my sims. I’m a liability. Simulations are one thing, reality is another.
“I’m sorry. If my gift was back, I’d consider it, but…”
Ms. T stands. “Jo, can we talk privately?” By the look in her eye, I have no choice but to follow her.
The woman stepping out of Com-Hall is not afraid of mistakes or failure. The truth doesn’t scare her either. When she found me, she promised she wouldn’t let me lose who I was. She swore she’d be my advocate even if no one else would. I believed her. There’s no reason not to come clean. Still, it doesn’t mean it’ll be easy.
As soon as the door closes behind us, Ms. T cocks her head to the side. “Josephine, what aren’t you telling me?”
I shove my hands into my jean pockets and bite my lip. Even though she’s shorter than me, she stands as confident as the President of the United States. But more than that, she stands there as a woman I admire. A safe and caring woman who actually believes in me.
She has poured her trust and support into me these last few months. I haven’t had that since my mother died. I don’t want to lose that.
I shake my head. After what PSS has done for me, I have no other choice but to tell her it’s my fault we’re in this predicament.
“Turns out this job might not be so boring after all,” I say picking at a frayed thread from my jacket string. “I have reason to believe whoever stole the Blacklist is there.”
Ms. T’s face tightens. “Hmm. What else?”
“And Coral Hacker…” I pause, breathing in, “texted me today about Tunisia. I thought we could trap him in my simulations…he showed up. Now the Blacklist is gone because of me.”
She clears her throat. “Then he is trickier than we thought.”
“Why?”
“He used a program called Still-Night. We blacklisted that program four years ago.”
My face pales and my heart skips a beat at the revelation. “That would imply—”
“Yes, he has been breaching our security for much longer than we could have imagined, which means he’s more dangerous than we first thought. And if he told you about Tunisia, we have to assume this is a trap.”
It’s logical. I want to agree, but something doesn’t add up. Ms. T implied years of theft, but Coral Hacker first contacted me six weeks ago. It’s true he knew all of my former names, but the way he helped me in the sims wasn’t malicious. My fingers tap K2 with a sharp pinch in my stomach. The Coral Hacker stopped my car this morning so I wouldn’t hit those kids. How can someone like that be bad?
“What if Coral Hacker didn’t steal the list?” I ask. “What if he’s trying to help?”
“What if he’s trying to steal more from us, Jo? He’s beaten us a few times. And let’s not be blind in all of this—his goal is you. You’re the only one he contacts.” Her tone is serious.
“Which is why I shouldn’t go. Even if my dad would allow it,” I say. “I want to help, but without my gift, I’m clearly a liability. I shouldn’t have even suggested the team go there. It was stupid and dangerous…”
I swallow hard, thinking back to the helicopter and the robotic voice. I can help you get your gift back…that’s not the way…I’ve given you all you need to help them. With my history, it’s ludicrous I would believe this hacker will make good on his promise.
“I’m not saying we back down,” Ms. T says. “I believe in my kids. This hacker might be smart, but we’re smarter. Right now, he’s our only lead, and just like you set a trap, I think we can too. We don’t give in to fear around here—ours or anyone else’s.”
Her eyes fix on me. It’s not the first time I’ve heard her match the edge in my voice or the resolve in my stare. I bite my lip. “So you aren’t mad that we…?”
“Oh, no. I’m livid. You broke the rules, and it was incredibly foolish. But I believe in the prods I choose. There’s never been a job without some risk. We need our Blacklist tech file back. And this is a chance for you to make up for your mistake to your team.” She doesn’t flinch.
It’s been a while now that I’ve wondered about her past, if she’s faced more than she’s told me. Even without the ability to count cards, I’d bet she’s been in my shoes somehow.
“You know my father won’t allow it,” I say, bringing up the other issue.
“Your father used to be a very confident CEO who made risky decisions every day,” she says, her lips tight. Suddenly she smiles at me, a whimsical look in her eye. “Besides, everyone agrees it’s a boring job, right? Maybe he’ll make an exception.” She taps the side of her nose with a long slender finger. “I just may have a way to convince your father if you want to come along.”
“I don’t know.”
“Think about it. Go meet with the team. I have to make some calls.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I leave Ms. T’s office, heading back to Com-Hall. The moment I enter, everyone’s eyes focus on me. Their social intelligence training is hard at work, surely seeing my conflict. If I were in China, I wouldn’t be hesitating right now.
Pens is taking notes with both hands and it dawns on me. All the students here are operating within their gift, except me.
Red taught me to follow my gut and trust my gift. My gut says I need to join them in Tunisia but without my numbers I’m likely to make the wrong call. Like in the car and helicopter, like with Coral Hacker. In China, I operated as a rogue individual. But PSS is a respected company. After today, I can’t mess up anymore.
Pens and Harrison look at me for an answer.
“Sorry, guys,” I say.
They’re about to argue when my phone buzzes. I glance at the name. It’s Bai. Finally.
“Excuse me.” I bolt out of the room, hitting accept. “Bai?”
“Jo, ni zai PSS ma?” he asks in Chinese.
“Of course I’m at PSS. It’s Monday. I need to tell you something.”
“Kuai yi dian, step into that private room of yours,” he says, sharply.
I rush into my sim box, which is soundproof. “I’m in,” I say. “Have you heard from Kai?”
“That’s why I’m calling,” he says, his voice even more serious than usual. “Kai’s gone dark.”
“You mean offline?” I ask, hopeful.
“No.” He clears his throat. “His biotag isn’t registering.”
A lump sticks in my throat. “What does that mean?”
“In our line of work,” he says, a deep chill in his voice, “he’s either gone rogue…or he’s dead.”
Chapter 9
TELL YOUR BOYFRIEND to back off.
Coral Hacker warned me. And I did nothing. Said nothing to Kai.
“No,” I say pacing the small room so fast it feels like it’s spinning. “Kai’s alive.”
“Jo, it’s been three days since he checked in,” Bai says, devoid of emotion like he’s just spouting off the facts. He’s upset, but he’s tough and I can feel him preparing for the worst. “Today the tag went cold. Two hours ago.”
Bai doesn’t know I spoke with Kai. He called and told me about a lead. “Look,” I say, “He was alive three hours ago.”
“How do you know?” Bai snaps into the phone.
My face twists up with regret that’s already stinging me in the gut. I really shouldn’t admit this to his boss, but desperate times call for desperate confessions. “Don’t be mad but Kai called me this afternoon.”
“That boy…!” Bai curses in the background. “He knows our protocols. There’s a reason we stay offline. That call could be the very reason he’s dead!”
My jaw tightens. “No, he was fine. And he’s not dead.” My numbers knot up in my head, and I have to squeeze my eyes shut to make them go away so I can focus. “I admit there was some kind of trouble, but I’d know if he was dead. I’d feel it.” It’s strange to think, but I think the hacker would also tell me if he was. I think my gift would know too. “Just because his biotag isn’t working doesn’t mean he’s dead. He could’ve disabled it. He could’ve gotten into an accident or there was a malfunction. Or…”
“Biotags are extremely hard to dismantle and unless you’re beaten half to death they don’t malfunction.” His voice cracks. “Jo, he’s my cousin. I don’t want it to be true either. But you knew you had to prepare for this possibility. And it’s better than him going rogue.”
My eyes close, picturing his face. “He’d never go rogue.”
“You don’t think so? He’s good at what he does, Jo. Better than most guys I’ve seen, but jiche, he’s arrogant. This wasn’t his mission. He doesn’t know when to back off.”
Tell him to back off. My throat tightens. The hacker also said I could help them. “What other info can you give me? Maybe PSS can help. You know we have access to all the right tech.”
Silence. I can picture Bai weighing the pros and cons of gaining our Intel and getting roasted by Director Kane for telling me anything. “Jo, you know the rules. Our partnership in the past was different. You were different.”
I want to scream at him, remind him who saved the entire economy from crashing. That I am still the same person who lived and breathed the Pratt and figured how to take down King and Madame. But he’s right. I don’t have a mathematical advantage anymore. But I do have one thing he doesn’t. A connection to Kai. He called me.
“I can still help. Just give me anything you can.”
There’s more silence, then Bai lets out a long sigh. “Kai was on a solo trip watching a pretty tame contact that was going to get him a meeting with an important person somewhere in the Middle East.”
Somewhere. “You don’t know where he is?”
Bai grunts. “That’s classified.”
They have no idea where he is. Whatever tech he had is now destroyed or worse, being used against him.
“What are you doing to get him back?” I say, focusing at the screens on the walls and willing my gift to resurface.
“Everything. Look, if he’s alive, he knows what to do in this situation, and our guys are there on the ground as we speak.” He draws in a deep breath. “Kai’s a natural. He’s well trained. Better than anyone I’ve taught in years. He’ll make the right call.”
That’s what worries me the most. He’ll do what’s best for everyone, not necessarily for himself. “What can you tell me about this pretty tame contact?”
“Kai was tailing a crooked professor name Montego, that’s all I know.” Bai swears in Chinese. “I shouldn’t be telling you this.”
“It’s not much, but I’ll do everything I can,” I say.
“It’s not your fight, Jo. Just wait it out. Keep your eyes and ears open, let me know if you hear anything. But stay back. Don’t get involved.” Bai’s voice is harsh, full of warning. He’s on edge. He doesn’t want anything to be wrong either. “Kai wasn’t supposed to call you—I won’t mention it to Director Kane this time because of your unique relationship with him, but Jo, if you want to help, stay safe and let us do our job.”
“Kai is more than just my boyfriend, Da-ge. He saved my life. His family is the only reason I’m free. I can help. I know it.”
“It’s not safe. I’ve probably already told you too much,” Bai says, a tone in his voice that says we’re done. “I’ll let you know when we have news.”
Not safe. A buzz of adrenaline under my skin causes my hand to start tapping, an old habit I had when my gift was at work. Whatever is out there is calling my name. The hacker could have called anyone, but he called me.
I laugh, a bitter edge to it. “You don’t even know where Kai is.”
Agent Bai is silent. I can even picture the way he narrows his eyes when he gets smug. “And you do?” he snorts.
My gift sparks strings of longitudes and latitudes forming a map in my head and igniting a flood of adrenaline. Two seconds later it’s gone but the feeling isn’t.
“Not exactly,” I say. “But I’m going to find out.”
Chapter 10
THE DOOR TO the Com-Hall swings open as I rush in and set my hands down on the table in front of the team. “I changed my mind about Tunisia. Count me in.”
“All right,” Pens says. Her keen eyes narrow on me as she crosses her arms. “Any particular reason why?”
All four of them are giving me weird looks. They know something’s off with me. Over the last few months, these prods haven’t just been colleagues to me, they’ve become friends. Even now, they’re willing to go along with Tunisia even if they don’t have all the facts. But before I can answer Pens, K2 informs me that I have an incoming message from my dad.
He’s checking in already? I groan. Today is one long string of fire drills.
“I’ve gotta get home early today,” I say, grabbing my stuff. “Tell Ms. T she’d better work her magic on my dad. I’ll do everything I can to come but no matter what I do, you have to choose Tunisia. Trust me.”
I head for the door, without even a glance behind me. Thanks to my missing gift, I trip into a table.
Harrison catches me by the jacket. Pens and Eddie come up, too.
“Seriously, what made you change your mind?” he asks. “Who was on the phone? Looked like more bad news.”
“Sorry.” I feel bad keeping quiet because PSS has a code of conduct—full disclosure. But technically, I’ve only signed on to do my simulations and operate as a provisional member of the team. Besides, I don’t have liberty to talk about Kai. I straighten my jacket.
“You know we can hack that call, if you don’t tell us,” Felicia says, sneaking into the conversation.
My eyebrows tighten and I shoot her a dirty look.
“Fine, we won’t hack it. PSS never uses our gifts against the team.” She shrugs.
“Not to mention privacy laws and all, Felicia,” Harrison adds, bumping her. “What she means is, we’re on your side. We want to help.” Pens and Eddie are nodding beside him.
“Me too.” Felicia tightens her lips. “I should have helped you guys with the cyber trap. If I had, we might not be in this predicament…”
“We can’t second guess that now…because you’re right. It may be worse than we think. But Tunisia is the key.”
Felicia studies me for a moment, kind of like Mara used to do when we were younger. “Are you sure this isn’t a trap?”
I shake my head. “I’m not sure about anything. But losing the Blacklist is my fault,” I say. I could leave it up to the team to get the list back. But I can’t abandon Kai. I won’t let anything happen to him. “To get the list back, I need my gift, and the only way I’m going to get both is to find Coral Hacker.”
“What are you going to do?” Pens asks.
I shake my head, a crooked grin pulling at my mouth. “What any nerd would do—invite him to chat, prodigy style.”
Chapter 11
RIVERS RESIDENCE, WEST SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
THERE ARE FEW things worse than a daughter overhearing the man who raised her weep in his room in the dead of night, whispering prayers into the dark, Dear God, why wasn’t it me instead of her?
This is what runs through my mind as I watch him digest my proposal.
Before I was taken, I never understood the stories where the victims didn’t want to tell their loved ones what happened to them. I do now. They were sparing them from nightmares and guilt. After we returned to Seattle, I told Dad only a fraction of what I’d gone through. I wish I hadn’t. Those dark nights of his have only recently stopped.
But my dad still thinks his little daughter returned yesterday. He doesn’t really know the fire-forged girl I’ve become, and honestly, I’m not sure he’s ready to see me—the real me—just yet.
I keep the thoughts that remind me of King or Madame to myself because most of them wouldn’t be appropriate to share at dinner. Nor would the things that were funny in the Pratt be funny here. And my family doesn’t speak Chinese, either. So often, I stay quiet. They interpret my quietness as a wounded spirit still needing restoration. Which is why asking to leave now feels like asking my dad to throw me back into cell 88.
I shove a heap of mashed potatoes in my mouth as I calmly answer questions about the job in Tunisia.
“It’s only seven days,” I explain. “We’ll be lodged in a secure government-protected building…and a swat team of bodyguards are assigned to us when we go out…” I trail off as Dad goes still and closes his eyes.
The dinner table is as silent as a mausoleum. Mara, Lily, and I are all watching Dad. He’s not eating. His eyes are closed and he’s massaging a crease down the center of his brow as he listens, methodically breathing in and out.
Mara silently pushes broccoli across her plate with the side of her fork. Lily slowly slices pieces of filet, watching Dad. I swallow and continue.
“It’s the most boring job in the world. Installing new security software, boosting performance, basic maintenance...”
“But it’s in Tunisia,” he reminds me. “Far away. On another continent.”
“I’ve always wanted to go to Tunisia,” I add, as if that makes it any better.
Mara shoots me a look. Immediately I regret my comment—she’s right. It’s overkill.
Dad tears his eyes away from the mashed potatoes and looks straight at me. “You’ve mentioned Sicily, The Maldives, Chile. Not once have you talked about North Africa.”
I shrug, laughing it off. “What I meant was since I lived in Asia, traveling anywhere is exciting to me.”
