Page 89 of Cruel Master
Relief floods me for a second until my brain catches up. It wasn’t the door to my cell, but the other one, the door leading to the outside world. Someone has opened it, and it can’t be Hadrian. So who?
NOT ME. BAD MAN.
Is this his doing? It’s too much of a coincidence not to be. I give the door one last, useless push, then grab Charlie’s tank, race to the other end of the corridor, and rip the door open. I’ll find someone to help. Maybe Eve or the big guy. Someone.
I step into the office, freezing on the threshold. The ugly fluorescents are dead, and the only light comes from the bank of monitors. One screen shows Hadrian still at the door. His head is pressed to it, hands splayed on the wood as if he’s trying to hear through it. My heart lurches. Maybe he could hear my shouting. Maybe he wishes he still could.
The other monitors, though, strip my attention away from Hadrian. They all show numbers, counting down. 1:21:02. The bright red screens give off an ugly glow, turning the basic office into something sinister. What are they counting down for?
What happens when they hit zero?
Deep in my gut, I know.
The weird way Hadrian acted, the sick look on his face, tells me everything. Something terrible happens when that counter hits zero. He thinks he’s going to die. My hands shake, and I set Charlie’s tank down on the desk before I drop it.
Charlie. Hadrian made sure her tank was out of the cell. Why? Because something is going to happen in that room, and he didn’t want her to get hurt. My imagination has always run wild, and my mind fills with potential doomsday scenarios. The whole cell filling with water. Fire burning through it. Poison gas. Anything is possible, and if I don’t move now, it might be too late to stop it.
Get help. Stop wasting time.
When I reach the outside door and it doesn’t open, I scream. A real, bloody scream that hurts my own ears. Of course it doesn’t fucking open. It’s high-tech and electronic, like everything in this goddamn place. Whoever is running that countdown is controlling the lock. Why couldn’t it just have been a normal fucking door?
I stalk back over to the monitors and am about to start tearing into whatever asshole is no doubt watching me when somethingcatches my eye. A flickering pixel. The rhythmic pattern jumps out at me straight away. Morse code again. And subtle enough that the cameras won’t be able to see it.
I can’t act suspicious. I flop into the chair, as if frustrated, and call out, “What the hell is going on? Why can’t I get outside?”
There’s no answer, but I focus on the tiny light.
Stay still. I loop feed.
My body tingles as I slump in the chair. The same basic speech pattern, but the Morse is stronger this time. Smooth, not jittery, as if the speaker is gaining confidence. Is it Candice? It’s the only explanation I can think of. Some part of her escaped when Hadrian shut her down, and now she’s getting stronger.
Is she really capable of looping the video? It seems like an advanced operation for a fragment of an AI, but maybe I don’t understand what is difficult for an electronic creation. Maybe speech is hard, but tampering with a video is easy.
Hadrian is still motionless on his monitor, staring at my sketch pad. Will he show up on the looped feed and tip off the watcher? Will the numbers counting down show a glitch? Or has she thought of all that?
There are too many variables here, and I don’t even know what the threat is. Trusting everything to an AI would be hard at the best of times, and I have no idea what this fractured part of Hadrian’s masterpiece is capable of.
But I can’t see any other options.
I stay still, maintaining a dejected, slumped pose, until the flickering starts again.
Outer door open. Go to lab.
The outer door? If she’s opening doors, why couldn't she just unlock my cell and let Hadrian out? I’m dying to ask but don’t dare speak. Maybe that door is special. Or maybe whoever isdoing all this is watching him too closely for a looped feed to work.
Hurry. Can’t hide long.
Shit. It’s enough to get me moving.
I stand up, then freeze, waiting for…something. I don’t know what. An explosion. Or a “You there!” It makes no sense. Even if they can see me, I’m allowed to move, but it still takes work to get myself moving again as adrenaline dumps into my system.
Why does my panic response have to be freeze? So unhelpful.
Once my muscles unlock, I head for the door. This time, it swings right open. Fear tries to stop me in place, but I close the door behind me and stare at the weird, village-like street. Where was his lab? In the big building at the far end of what seems to be the main strip. Thank fuck my sense of direction is better than Hadrian’s.
I’m still dressed in the outfit Hadrian gave me. A dress and slip-on sandals aren’t ideal running gear, but it’ll have to do. I race off. I’ve lost some cardio fitness, but it shouldn’t take me longer than five minutes to get there.
To get there and do what, exactly?
