Page 92 of Brutal Savior

“Doesn’t matter. My sister called, and…”

I listen to his story. My stomach churns, and my breath picks up as I start to grasp what’s really happening. Grandad or the hospital. That’s what Jacob has to choose. His sister is safe, but mine isn’t.

Marlowe.

No.

Not again.

He wouldn’t do it, would he? Blow up a hospital full of people?

If he doesn’t, though, he has to kill the person he loves most. Could I do it if things were reversed? Could I kill Marlowe to save Grandad?

I don’t want to answer that question.

Everyone starts talking at once.

“We’re already searching the grounds. We’ll find…”

“...disable the explosive…”

“...override the door lock. It can’t be…”

“It’ll take too long.”

“There’s no time.”

“No time.”

No time. No time to find Grandad, no time to find Kelly, and no time to disable the door locks. It scratches at something in my mind, and Hadrian’s voice comes back to me. I’d been asking him about Candice.

“Why can’t she explore the whole internet?”

“Cybernetic brains move so fast that we can’t comprehend it. Once she's loose, we can’t control her. We have to be absolutely sure she won’t do anything to harm the population. Give Candice five minutes, and she could destroy a city, if she was so inclined.”

Five minutes.

“Candice! Use Candice to stop this. She could do it in time.”

I shout it over the babble of voices, and the room falls quiet. Kendrick turns to me with a frown. “This is serious business. Keep quiet.”

I seethe as he turns away, back into discussions with a Gilda officer. He sees me as a stupid brat. Jacob’s little plaything. And really, I haven’t done much to change that impression. I have to get through to him.

“Kendrick!"

His gaze snaps back to me.

"Please listen!" I rush to get it all out before he shuts me down completely. "Call Hadrian. His CIs operate millions of times faster than a human."

His eyes narrow, but he doesn’t cut me off.

My words tumble out. "Candice can help. I know she can. What other choice do we have? This can work!"

Every second he thinks about it is a knife driven into my skull. This delay is wasting time we don’t have.

“She’s got a point.” It’s Sebastian, and I want to throw my arms around him. “But it’s a risk. End of the world, Skynet-level stuff.”

Maybe I should slap him instead of giving him a hug. "No. Candice doesn't think like that. She'll help." I turn to Kendrick. "Call him. Tell him to release her."

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