Page 54 of Seductive Architect
“Who are you harassing today?”
She laughed and gave me a slight shove. “Better question is, who am Inotharassing?” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and shouldered past me.
I checked my breast pocket and found the security badge she liberated from her would-be suitor. Any prying eyes would assume it was the usual rash interaction between co-workers. I had no idea what she planned for the distraction, but she promised it’d be enough to clear out the offices.
I pulled open the door and entered the belly of the beast. The hum wasn’t static anymore. It was patterned. Like breathing. Like a heartbeat. Tia didn’t bother lookingup from her desk. I took a seat in a chair and watched as she worked. Their office was more sterile than ours, keeping to light blue on the walls and tile floors. Janet would have already sprung from behind her desk and punched me in the shoulder or given me a hug.
I checked my watch, counting down the seconds until?—
Screeching filled the building. The fluorescents above flickered before the room filled with red emergency light. Tia didn’t move. Even as the glass doors into the lab burst open and scientists fled, the receptionist held her position.
“Drats,” I mumbled.
There must have been a hundred people in lab coats pushing their way toward the exit. Next time I joined forces with Janet, I’d need to make sure she explained the specifics of her plan. Though… she knew how to make a statement. I waited another minute, letting the room clear until only Tia and I remained.
With a quick thought, the gauntlet formed along my right hand. Taking aim, the tiny dart hit Tia’s shoulder. She managed another couple of blinks before her body drooped across her desk. If this didn’t produce results, Ricardo would be pissed, and my permanent file would double in size. Did tranquilizing people in the office warrant unpaid time off?
I walked up to the glass doors, taking the stolen badge and sliding it in front of the scanner. The light turnedgreen, and the doors unlocked. I didn’t have time to go shopping for new toys to integrate with my suit. I had been here before when Ricardo had me upgrade their computers, but they had moved departments around. With no time to meander, I closed my eyes and listened.
I see you.
“Who?”
The code’s whispers crescendoed, guiding me deeper. One computer stood out. One… voice spoke above all the others. I should be looking for half-finished bodies on metal slabs, but I couldn’t resist the allure of such beautifully written code. It was like the one I developed for Synergy, but there were entire sections I didn’t recognize. As I focused, I found a clear path toward its origins.
I let out a low whistle. “That’s impressive.”
I wound my way past glass offices, closer to the whispering. Weaving through the maze, I reached another set of glass doors. I shoved the security card against the reader, and it flashed red. Just above the device, in small black letters, “Cybernetics & Artificial Intelligence.” Pressing my palm against the reader, I pushed my powers into the device, finding its thoughts.
“Open,” I whispered.
Another red flash.
I hoped to make it in and out without leaving a trace… other than a slumbering receptionist. With a flick of the wrist, the gauntlet surrounded my fist, and I prepared a sonic blast. It’d shatter all the glass in the lab, but if it got me closer to?—
Green. The doors opened.
Welcome.
Bathed in red safety light, my stomach tightened. I didn’t withdraw the gauntlet, leaving it charged and ready to fire. My thumb trembled against the trigger pad. Sweat slicked the inside of the gauntlet. If this had been a horror movie, there’d be a creature lurking somewhere in the dark corners.
“Please don’t be a horror movie,” I mumbled.
Inside, there were tables along the outside covered in whatever the scientists had been working on. When I found the metal hand, I knew I had come to the right place. Further down on a workbench, a metallic skull had the cover removed, exposing the interior circuits. To the layman, it’d be advanced futuristic tech. None of it came close to what powered Hudson. I had yet to detect any signs of cybernetics, just a normal flesh-and-blood human.
The red lights turned off, replaced by spotlights in the corners of the room. I recognized the technology, the same one that allowed the floating computer screens in my office. Had Ricardo been ripping off my technology?
I clenched my fist, the gauntlet, a long-term borrow. “Only fair.”
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Definitely horror movie,” I hissed.
The lights pivoted. I half-expected Connie to appear. Instead, a man stepped out of the light. Created by intersecting light, he reminded me of a doll. Naked, he appeared human, but only with the suggestion of muscles. The code didn’t hum so much as pulse here. This image was nothing more than a visual representation; the code that created him seemed to be housed deeper in Synergy.
“Welcome, Orion. I’ve been hoping we’d meet.”
“Who are you?”
