Page 117 of Coldwire
“Conveniently,” Weston retorts, “when classes start over there, you’re usually going to sleep here anyway.”
“As if you have some sort of responsibility to be following us?” Kieren bellows. “This isdangerous.”
“I’m not doing anything.” Weston taps his hand behind him. Twelve wakes up, chirping a tune. Without Weston inside it, the bot doesn’t talk at all. The bus starts to drive, its wheels slowly screeching out of its parking spot. I’ve forgotten, for a moment, why we even boarded the bus.
“I heard Dad pull you aside that night you came home, right before your posting,” Weston goes on. “He said he was proud of you, which was freaking weird. And then it sounded really dangerous if he was insisting you had to earn the secret assignment—”
Kieren immediately slashes his hand across his neck, cutting Weston off. His manner stiffens, different from the shock that emerged before. Ratherthan concern for Weston, it’s panic. I tilt my head, trying to make sense of the switch. Kieren’s gaze, unintentionally, swivels and lands on me.
“Secret assignment?” I echo.
Our posting is confidential, but that doesn’t seem to be what Weston meant.
“No more!” Kieren declares. “Go to school!”
Frustration etches a heavy mark into Weston’s brow. His fists clench. “You and me and Hailey always talk about how NileCorp has brainwashed Dad. We said we were going to protect each other from him. I needed to make sure I could help you. I’ve been guarding your Pod downcountry, by the way! I have emergency bags waiting in the antechamber in case you need to log out quickly and get help.”
“Weston, this is not the time nor the place,” Kieren urges.
“What if he brainwashes you too! I don’t want you sacrificing yourself for NileCorp!”
“Okay!” Hailey interrupts. Her manner has grown softer. She takes a step forward, putting her hands on Weston’s shoulders. “I know you had good intentions. But you have to go back to school now before you’re noticed. Thank you for watching our Pods at home. I’ll check in with you later today, okay?”
For a moment, it seems that Weston is going to keep arguing. Hailey must be more convincing than I thought, because he nods, defeated. He disappears before our eyes, as quickly as he blinked in, and Hailey’s arms drop to her sides with a thunk.
The bus is still driving. It’s picking up speed, rolling onto the expressway, where the traffic has since eased. The dashboard continues to display the time to Offron. Seventeen hours and forty-seven minutes.
“Can I speak to you?” Kieren says to Hailey.
Hailey nods. She catches Rayna’s gaze before walking over, offering a small smile of assurance. Rayna smiles in return, her cheeks faintly pink, but Hailey has already passed by. She and Kieren march to the backof the bus, settling at the farthermost row. They duck their heads to whisper.
“Well,” Rayna remarks after a beat. “That was something.”
“Sure was,” I say slowly. My suspicion has been stoked. I feel it as a small ember at first, charring where it touches, but then it starts to grow. The flames find kindling. Kieren glanced at me when Weston spoke about Headmaster Murray.Insisting you had to earn the secret assignment…
“Wanna sit?” Rayna asks, cutting into my thoughts.
“Yeah,” I say. “Let’s sit.”
The bus sways, hurtling at high speed. It’s going to be a significant journey. I suppose Rayna and Hailey are throwing their lots in with us now and are going where we go, surveying where they need. Easier than finding their own mode of transport while their names are temporarily logged in multiple precincts’ warnings.
Rayna slides into one of the rows first. I follow after her. As soon as we’re comfortable, she drops her head onto my shoulder, and I give her a small pat, letting her settle. She closes her eyes to rest, but mine stay wide open, locked out the window to resist inspecting the back row, to resist asking what the Murrays are hissing about. We drive through the city’s outer periphery, yellow beer glasses projected into the night to mark the bars and silent movie trailers beaming above the theaters. I can pinpoint the exact moment we leave city boundaries because the scene outside the window turns an eerie black.
I lean heavily into my seat, syncing my breaths to Rayna’s soft snores. If I could hear Kieren at all, it would be so easy to turn the volume meter higher to try to eavesdrop, but he keeps his voice below that threshold. I open my display, opting to waste time on the feed. My suggestions provide news on Dad. The headlines, the think pieces. I’ve scrolled for only a few minutes before I’m tired of it, because what I really want to do is call him and ask him to explain that email, but where do I evenbegin?
Rayna’s snoring gets louder. I rest my head on top of hers. Maybe Ishould follow her example. My eyes are straining. I tap my main controls, wanting to play music from my central panel.
But the page looks different. It isn’t only my usual controls—there’s another pathway here. I’m staring at it for too long before realizing that I recognize the user ID. When Kieren sent the remote access request, he connected our displays. He could rummage through mine, but that also opened the link for me to rummage through his.
He forgot to disconnect after he finished.
I take a very shallow breath, trying not to be obvious about my finding.
I have access to everything in Kieren’s display.
33EIRALE
When the first rays of the new morning trickle in, I’m half convinced I’ve imagined the creak overhead.
