Page 167 of Heartless Legacy

“You do what?” I don’t mean to sound as incredulous as I do, but I can’t help it.

He swirls his fingers around his face. “I am way more than just a pretty face. Everyone likes to use me and my charm to get information, but nobody ever worries that I’m hanging onto the things I hear. They really should, you know. The people I hung out with overseas and on base here taught me a lot more than just jumping rooftops and picking locks. I’ve got tools for dismantling small governments too, and that all starts with information and dissemination.”

I’m looking at my friend like I’ve never seen or talked to him before. Finn isFinn,and still waters and all that, but this is something I’ve never heard from him before. “Finn, are you telling me that these people trained you to be an actual spy?”

“I’ve never been to a formal school, and we don’t use that word on US soil, but theoretically. Yes.” He shoves me over to take up position in front of my computer. “Holden, I love you and all, but I’m gonna need to put in the password and stuff myself.”

I watch as he goes through what looks like several,I’m not a robotscreens, and a video game level on a one person shooter game. “Who created this for you?” I ask.

“You did.”

“I did?”

“Yup. In high school. Every time I asked you to find the cheat code for something for me or to add a difficulty level.”

“I thought you were just trying to win the game.”

“I was doing that too, but you liked coding things and always told me you had ideas on how to make games more secure, so I let you do that for my server.”

He finishes the level, and the answers or solutions flicker and expand on the screen, creating a mosaic pattern. “Okay, it’s open.” He says, pushing away from the desk. “Each tile is a file. It’s not really in any order, other than by upload date.”

I tell him I don’t mind going through each one. I start on the most recent files, because Gregory is a second year prospect and we’ve had at least two mandatory social outings in the last few months. “Wait.” Finn says. “Back up two files.” I do and click the play button. The date stamp is the night of the mixer at the social club.

I’ve been too busy working on other projects, so I haven’t followed up on the issue with the cameras that night. The video clip shows Thea starting conversations with people she’d normally have no interest in talking to. Finn points to the screen. “She’s recording them.”

I replay that section of the clip again. Each time Thea engages with a person, she fiddles with her pendant. I zoom in and see the tiniest of red lights flicker on it. Finn groans. “Oh. My. God. Ilooooveher. If she was here, I’d bend her over this desk and fuck the shit out of her.”

I’m feeling pretty aroused myself. Then next time Finn catches her on camera, she’s slinking around the edges of the room. Then she slips out of the room unnoticed, several minutes before the entertainment arrives. She comes back roughly twenty minutes later, which is way too long for a bathroom break. The last thing Finn catches is someone with an ear piece pulling a council member to the side before they both rush out of the room. It’s both unsettling and exciting to think Thea may have had something to do with what happened at the club.

If it was her, how did she get access to the computers? How did she even know where the server room was? I walked around the social club the first time we were there, because I wanted a copy of the footage they had on us, and I couldn’t find the room.

Finn leans in closer, and says, “Play it again.”

Thea

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Finn says, stepping away from the wall as I enter the stairwell I take to get to my next class. “Somebody’s been a very naughty little girl.”

“Is that somebody supposed to be me?” I ask, giving him innocent doe eyes. “Because the last time I was naughty, you were there groaning for more right along with me.”

He flashes me a dazzling smile and says, “It’s not those fun and games I’m referring to.”

“Then you can’t be talking about me. I haven’t done anything remotely interesting lately.”

Finn circles me and purrs, “That’s not true. I’m very interested in knowing what you were doing here.”

He pushes play on his cellphone, bringing up the image of me tapping my pendant, to record what was going on around me. “And here.” He speeds through the footage and captures me again exiting the ballroom.

“I was being bored out of my mind and going to the bathroom.”

“Something weird happened that night.” He says, dragging his nose through my hair.

“Oh?”

“Not even the security council can explain it, but Holden and I think you can.”

“Me?”

“That’s right.You.”

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