“They’re not so bad,” Ani said. “I mean, for orgs who hate us,” she added quickly. “They think they’ve convinced me I’m evil, and I’m going to… I don’t know. Get all my friends to just give up. So they’re pretty nice to me. They let me see things I shouldn’t, and what I’ve seen is that they’re planning something big. Maybe even bigger than the corp-town. They want to turn people against us once and for all.”
Jude shook his head. “I knew it,” he said in disgust.
“They lock everything up at night,” Ani said. “But I know the code to Savona’s office.”
“This is perfect,” Jude said, beaming at Ani. She looked away. “We’ll send a few people in, dig up the dirt on Savona—I say we go tomorrow.”
“Just like that?” I said. “No more discussion?”
“What’s to discuss?” Jude said. “It’s a good plan. Unless you have a problem with it because it’s not your plan.”
“Maybe I have a problem with breaking the law,” I retorted.
“Savona kills forty-two people and you get squeamish about a little unlawful trespassing?” Jude asked. “Aren’t you worried about what he may do next? Or maybe you don’t care who dies, because they’re ‘just orgs,’ is that it?” He smirked, knowing that was exactly the same accusation I’d been silently leveling at him.
I didn’t take the bait. “You don’t think it’s all a little too easy? Ani just happens to stumble onto rumors about the corp-town attacks, just happens to hear about security details? That doesn’t make you wonder?”
Ani stood up, her posture rigid. “Are you accusing me of something?” she asked stiffly.
“Ignore her,” Jude said. “None of us would ever question your judgment.”
“Shut up!” she snapped. “I don’t need you to protect me anymore. I’m a big girl now, aren’t I? And if Lia wants to accuse me of something, she can go ahead. But say it to me, Lia. Not him.”
“I know you’re trying to help,” I said slowly. “But what if they’re just showing you what they want you to see?”
Ani sucked in her lip like she was biting down hard to stop herself from spitting out the first thing that came to mind. When she spoke again, her voice was low and deliberate, laced with anger. “So you’re just accusing me of being a moron,” she said.
“No, of course not—”
“You think I’m oblivious, is that it? I just see what I want to see. I don’t understand what people are really like. I’m too stupid to know what’s really going on?” She shook her head, hard. “Whatever.” Glaring at me, she stalked to the door. “Let me know when you’re ready to make a plan,” she said, and although she refused to look at Jude, it was clear the words were for him. “Or listen to her if you want. I don’t care anymore.”
By the time she slammed the door behind her, I was already halfway across the room, determined to go after her and make things right. Not just the fight but the last several weeks, the conversations I should have forced her to have but didn’t, because it was easier just to leave her alone.
“Don’t,” Jude said. “Trust me, it’s better you don’t. Not right now.” He jerked his head at Riley. “Can you?”
Riley nodded. He flashed me an apologetic look, then slipped out the door after Ani.
“What?” I snapped at Jude. “You’d rather she hate me?”
“I know her better than you,” he said. “Give her some time.”
“Is that what you’ve been doing?” I asked. “Giving her time? Hoping she’ll forgive you for—”
“Shut up.” It wasn’t like Jude, always so restrained, every word measured, calculated for maximum impact. That one had just slipped through the defenses, popped out. And we both knew it. “Besides,” he said, returning to an even tone. “We’re not done here. You want to convince me that raiding the Temple is a bad idea? Go ahead. Convince.”
“You’re telling me you don’t think it’s possible that Ani’s being misled? Or…”
“Or misleading us?” he said.
“I didn’t say that…” I couldn’t look at him. I felt too guilty to even be saying it out loud. Especially with Ani thinking I didn’t trust her. “Tell me you don’t think it’s possible.”
“I don’t think it’s possible,” he said without hesitation. “And like I say, I know her better than you do. If she says she’s sure, if she says she can do this, then she can.”
“Jude, she’s…” I flicked my eyes to the door. “Fine, you know her. You don’t think she’s acting a little… erratic?”
“No. I don’t.”
“And you accuse me of denying reality?”
“I trust her,” he said, loud and slow. “And if you trust me, that should be enough. But that’s the problem, am I right? You don’t.”
“I… trust that you think you’re doing what’s best,” I said, choosing my words carefully.
“No, you think I’m still hiding things from you,” he said. “Even after I told you the truth about the trackers. And about everything else you ever wanted to know. I may keep some things from some people, but all I’ve ever told you was the truth.”
I had to acknowledge that, as far as I knew, he was right. I’d never thought to wonder why. “I think I’m tired of you telling me what I think.”
“Reagan Wood,” he said.
“Are your language circuits malfunctioning?” I asked. “Because that wasn’t a sentence.”
“The name of my source at BioMax. That’s what you’ve been burning to know, right?”
“Why are you telling me this?”
He smiled so fakely that he couldn’t have intended it to look sincere. It was a game for him, just like everything else. “Think of it as an act of good faith.”
“My faith in you?” I asked. “It’s dwindling.”
“My faith in you,” he said. “No secrets. Starting now.” He flicked a hand through the air and grinned, knowing how much I hated the fearless-leader thing. It made him all the happier to act the part. “You may go.”
I gave Ben a name.
It just wasn’t the name he wanted.
It wasn’t until I had the real name, Ben’s zone keyed into my ViM, staring at his ugly, lifelike av, that I finally decided what to do: lie.
So I sent Ben the information. William Dreyson, the name of the doctor who’d first treated me after the download, the one responsible for transplanting my brain into a new body. He had personal contact with all the mechs he worked on, and the technical skills to know which upgrades were test-run ready. The perfect candidate for a rat—and, added bonus, he even looked like one.
Ben would buy it and leave me alone. Riley would never know I’d considered betraying Jude. And Jude would never have to know any of it.
Things could go back to normal, whatever that meant. And they did—for about six hours.
I was sitting on the sidelines of the skate park, a wide plain of concrete just left of the poolhouse. It was the perfect spot for rollerslam, a game some of the newbie mechs had invented when one of them stumbled across some retro skates on the network. Spinning out of control while a fleet of wheeled mechs sped toward you and smashed you into a cement wall wasn’t quite my thing, but Sloane had become slightly addicted, and I’d promised her I’d at least give it a try. I was just gearing up the nerve to strap on a pair of wheels when Jude grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet.
“What do you want?” I said, shaking him off.
He shook his head. “Not here.”
“You better come back!” Sloane shouted as she saw me follow him into the nearby orchard. “You promised!”