Page 59 of Human Reform
I carefully isolated the infected thread, creating a quarantine bubble around it while I analyzed its structure.It wasn’t just any kill switch.It was elegant and vicious in its simplicity.If triggered, it would cascade through every security system in the colony, leaving them defenseless against whatever CyberEvolution had planned next.
My fingers raced efficiently across the keyboard, disassembling the toxic code piece by piece.When the last fragment dissolved from the system, I leaned back and exhaled deeply.
“Got you, you bastard,” I whispered, a smile crossing my face.Relief flooded through me.I’d caught it before it could execute.Now I needed to tell Daxon.
I stood up, straightening my white T-shirt and running a hand over my braid to make sure it was still neat.The rush of adrenaline from coding was familiar, but the fierce protectiveness I felt for this colony was brand new.These were my people now.
Just as I reached for the door, it swung open.Tegan filled the frame, his tall muscular form blocking the exit completely.
“Working hard, Dr.Bridges?”His smile never reached his eyes.
“Just finishing up,” I said, trying to sound casual.“I need to find Daxon.”
Tegan stepped inside, closing the door behind him.With deliberate movements, he grabbed the spare chair and wedged it firmly under the door handle.
“What are you doing?”I backed away, suddenly very aware of how small my office was.
“I know what you just found.”His voice had dropped any pretense of friendliness.“And what you deleted.”
Before I could react, he lunged forward, grabbing my wrist and wrenching the communicator off with a painful twist.
“Hey!”I pulled back, but he was too strong.
“You know, you’re quite the troublemaker, Bridges.”He tossed my communicator onto the desk behind him.“Nine years I’ve been working on this project.Two and a half years embedded in this pathetic colony.And you waltz in and dismantle it all in a week.”
My blood ran cold.“You?You corrupted my original code?”
“For a brilliant programmer, you’re remarkably slow.”He laughed, a cold sound that made my skin crawl.“CE pays very well for loyalty.And they’ve been planning this endgame since before the war even ended.”
I edged slightly toward the door, calculating distances.“Why?These cyborgs just want to live in peace.”
“Peace?”He spat the word.“They’re property.And CE doesn’t like when their property gets ideas about freedom.”His eyes glittered with malice.“Do you know how much I’m getting paid for this job?When I’m done here, I’ll be living in a mansion on Earth while this colony burns.”
“You’re insane,” I growled, inching closer to the door.“You being a cyborg yourself should know that they are people.They think, they feel, and they love.”
“Most of them are just replaceable machines with a god complex.But me, I have it all figured out.Get paid handsomely to work for the enemy and be set for life,” he gloated, blocking my path again.“And you—you could have been comfortable too if you’d stayed with CE.Instead, you grew a conscience.How’s that working out for you?”
I lunged for the door suddenly, trying to dislodge the chair.Tegan was faster.His large hand caught my throat, slamming me back against the wall.
“You stupid bitch,” he hissed, his face inches from mine.“You could have just refused to help them or escaped when you had the chance.But no… You had to go and play the heroine and save the colony.Now you’re going to die here, and so will your boyfriend and everyone else.”
I kicked at his shins, clawing at his arm.“Daxon will?—”
“Daxon won’t do anything because he’ll never find you.”Tegan’s other hand came up, a syringe glinting in the office lights.
I thrashed wildly, managing to land a solid kick to his knee.He grunted but didn’t loosen his grip.The needle plunged into my neck, a burst of cold fire spreading instantly.
“No,” I gasped, my lungs already feeling heavy.
“Don’t worry,” Tegan whispered as my vision blurred.“I’ll tell everyone I helped you get back to Earth.That you said you just wanted to go back home now that you fixed the glitches.Back to your isolated life away from everyone and everything.Poor heartbroken Daxon will be too distraught to chase after you.”
The world tilted sideways as my legs gave out.The last thing I felt was Tegan hoisting me over his shoulder, carrying me through a rear exit I hadn’t even known existed.
Consciousness came and went as he trekked through the jungle.Glimpses of thick foliage, the distant roars of unfamiliar creatures, and the humid air becoming cooler and damper.
When I finally came fully awake, I was propped against a massive boulder in a cavern, my wrists and ankles bound with some kind of metallic restraints.
Tegan loomed over me, backlit by the faint glow from a natural skylight far above.
