Page 2 of Private Exhibit
Gods.How could something so simple feel so damned good?
Oliver squeezed his hand again. “It's getting worse, isn't it?”
Devon hesitated a moment before he nodded. The attacks were getting more frequent. That was to be expected. The longer he lived, the more his nervous system would fail. Most people with Ashworth-Grahams didn't live as long as he had, but for those who did, most of them wound up spending their last years confined to a wheelchair or a bed. Devon was lucky and he knew it.
But he also knew the end could still come at any time. He could feel fine one moment, and then his heart could simply stop in the next.
And that would be it.
Devon slowly got up, with Oliver right there keeping his hands out in case Devon collapsed again. Luckily, Devon managed to regain his feet without incident. He gave Oliver a nod of thanks, then slowly sank back into his chair with a heavy sigh.
Oliver hesitated beside him before going back to his side of the table.
They sat in silence for a long moment, until Devon heard five slow, deliberate keystrokes from just beyond his monitors.
He couldn't help smiling as he turned to the screen that displayed the chatroom for the Gentleman Hackers Club. On the left side of the screen was a string of running code, the task list—unfortunately, empty—as well as the list of users. At the moment, only Devon,Rogue, and their mysterious leader,Grim, were logged in. The rest of the screen was the main chat box, where the whole group could converse. That part had been idle for hours.
But at the bottom of his screen, a minimized private chat box flashed red, indicating new activity.
Devon clicked on it, seeing a new message fromRogue.
Rogue: Hi.
Devon breathed a laugh. Five keystrokes.Shift,H,I,Period,Enter. Five little keystrokes that had taken their relationship from a business arrangement to an actual friendship, once they realized they were both part of the anonymous group.
He remembered it clearly. The two of them had been sitting just as they were now, keeping to their respective sides of the table. Devon had been chatting withRogue, the one member of the club with whom he'd gotten close right from the start. They could talk about anything and everything. At least, within the confines of the group rules:Grimwas adamant about none of the members offering nor asking for any personal information, protecting everyone's privacy and safety. Across from him, Devon heard Oliver occasionally tapping away on his own keyboard, the two of them focused on their own individual pursuits.
Until the realization began to sink in. Every time Devon sent a message toRogue, he'd hear Oliver start typing almost instantly. When Oliver stopped typing, a new message fromRoguewould appear on his screen. Over and over, the same thing kept happening.
Finally, Oliver had peeked around his screen, looked Devon straight in the eyes, and executed those five little keystrokes. A moment later, the wordHiappeared in the chat box. One word, and they realized they weren't just roommates. They were also one another's digital best friend.
One little word that held so much meaning for both of them. Devon quickly replied.
Voy(ag)eur: Hi.
Oliver chuckled and went back to whatever he was working on.
Devon tried to do the same. For lack of any hacking jobs to complete, he'd been browsing the classified ad sites, looking for places to apply. There wasn't much left. He'd already sent off several applications every day that week. His entire work history was waiting tables, so he'd applied to a few restaurants from which he hadn't already been fired, but he wasn't holding his breath on those. There was also a job at an answering service, but Devon honestly hoped he wouldn't get that one. Talking on the phone all day sounded horrible.
Then there was the job post from University Hospital.Morgue Assistant.Devon wasn't sure if it was brilliance or madness that made him apply there. The job seemed to be mostly data entry, which Devon excelled at, but would it be too much of a morbid reminder? Would he be able to handle facing death day after day?
On the other hand, would he be able to get Oliver some answers?
Devon peeked between their monitors, seeing his friend deep in concentration. Poor Oliver had lost a friend, Dannika, to an apparent suicide a while back but had never found out how. Let alonewhy. And Oliver had gotten himself into heaps of trouble, trying to answer those questions. University Hospital's system wasn't unhackable, but Oliver had found no record of Dannika'sautopsy that way. Devon wondered if there was something Oliver had missed, something that could only be accessed straight through one of the hospital's own computers.
Working in the morgue might just give Devon the access he needed. He could try getting Oliver some closure.
One of two very important things Devon wanted to do for his friend before he died.
Devon paused, then switched screens and opened a secret file he kept on one of his computers. Just a text file, but he kept it doubly secured. Devon unlocked the encryption on the file and sat back, staring at the simple document as it filled his screen.
Death Wish List.
He started at the bottom, glancing at various items as his gaze slowly moved up the screen. There wasdrive a caras well aswalk through a starglass Gate. Then he sawhave sexandsave enough money to leave for Oliver. Devon winced. That last one was going to be impossible if he couldn't get another job.Grimpaid them very well, but considering they'd both lost their day jobs, they were barely making the rent lately as it was. And that didn't even touch on all the debts Oliver had piled up, keeping him in a permanent state of struggle.
At the very top of the list was the one thing Devon wanted more than anything else in the world.
Fall in love.
