Page 64 of Coldwire
I’m definitely in the right place. My eyes gravitate to the only illuminated part of the room: the adjustable cabinet lamp clipped to the bookshelf and a photograph tacked at its side, perfectly in that beam of gold. I inch closer, almost afraid that the photograph will disappear like a startled wild animal.
It’s a printout of a digital article. Dad and Chung stand side by side, posing for the Atahuan media. The text of the article has faded into an indecipherable blur. But the headline is fully legible when I run my finger along it.
PROJECT WIT KICKS INTO ACTION
I’ve always known the story of how Dad and Chung became friends. Before I was born, right as the cold war was reaching its peak, the government announced a week dedicated to policy and technology, then sent itssenators to its national labs so media outlets could cover what was most pressing for the civilians of Atahua. We weren’t knowledgeable enough about our breakthroughs, our projects funded by tax money. We were proud of being a democracy, and so elected officials ought to put a face to elected projects, make sure the country was on the same page.
I’ve never looked into what exactly Dad endorsed. How did the media not drag Dad in when Chung left for Medaluo? Surely I would have seen the chatter, if not on my own feed at the time, then later, by algorithm, when I was hovering over Dad’s contact.
I open my display again, intentionally avoiding the updates from Kieren while he’s checking the other side of the facility for the office I’ve already found. In the search engine, I type “PROJECT WIT” “HENRY SULLIVAN” “CHUNG YIN.” When another message from Kieren comes in, I set my display to Do Not Disturb.
SENATOR SULLIVAN ANNOUNCES PROJECT WIT, GROUNDBREAKING AI TECHNOLOGY
From the press release, we see Senator Henry Sullivan cite this as a diplomatic venture….
KIEREN:LIA
I jolt in fright, registering the message. I hate it when people use the loud effect to get past my settings. I close the article quickly, confirming that Dad did endorse Chung.
LIA: i was just reading up on something can you CHILL
I put him on Do Not Disturb again, intent on making a proper searchof Chung’s office. Unfortunately, Kieren must know what I’m doing and sends everything following his initial message in loud mode.
KIEREN:I CAN SEE YOUR LOCATION IN FIND MY FRIENDS
KIEREN:YOU’RE IN THE OFFICE?
KIEREN:I’M COMING
KIEREN:YOU’RE SUCH A WEENIE
I swipe his messages away as fast as I can. In the rapid bursts, my display gets confused, not certain if I’m trying to pull open the article again or make another search or reply. When I flail my eyes in the other direction, trying to exit out of everything at once, my display freezes entirely.
“Comeon,” I groan. I swing my eyes across my display so furiously that I feel my head try to mimic the maneuver too. I really hope the academy doesn’t watch this when they’re playing back my recordings.
My display is dead frozen. Not even a flicker. I need to do a hard reset. Ihatewhat NileCorp decided would be the hard reset mechanism for the displays sitting in our heads….
I turn to face the inside of the door. Without time to grit my teeth, I pick up speed and run right at it, putting my full force behind the collision. My whole vision goes out for a second, pitch-black when I land with a solid thud on the floor. I wheeze an inhale.
When my vision snaps back, my display is clean and moving normally. I’ve only had to hard reset twice in my life, and unsurprisingly, it’s always unpleasant. I blink, closing the display properly to avoid the risk of overwhelming it again. My forehead is pulsing. I’m going to have a bruise.
“Ow…”
And that’s when the door opens, bringing Kieren in. He halts at the threshold.
“A little help?” I ask after several moments pass, lifting my hand.
Kieren bursts out laughing.
17EIRALE
“You stole theentirebox?”
Miz resisted saying anything while we were in Xixi’s car fleeing the scene. She was silent while Blare inputted instructions to find the nearest mall, the car taking us into an underground parking garage beneath the mammoth structure. Unspeaking until the moment we pulled into the garage, the doors slamming after us to shut out any listening capabilities on Xixi’s dashboard.
“Why would youdo that?”
It’s impressive given how her arms are gesticulating now. Her voice bounces off the low ceiling. I inch closer to a pillar on my left, keeping out of the way. There’s one other car down here. It looks like it hasn’t been moved in years.
