Page 148 of Coldwire
“That’s—that’s—” Kieren stammers. “Lia, what? I’ve seen my father downcountry.”
I risk a glance over my shoulder, checking our surroundings. B Street hovers on the quieter side. Its highest concentration of establishments are bicycle rental shops, dotted every few blocks. But I can hear the first rumble of disturbance in the distance. Surprised commotion from civilians.
“NileCorp can download the bots into our chips, too,” I say shortly. “Listen to me: he’s far from the first person they’ve done this to. It’s all government retirees. Politicians. Activists. Anyone who could be a danger to the company. They’re comingright nowbecause they want me, and they’re going to Indispose you, too, and no one will know because they’ll use all the data they have on you to replace you with an imitation.”
Kieren shakes his head, a flash of clarity finally entering his eyes.
“Lia, I need you to backtrack,” he says firmly. “What happened when you logged out? How are you here?”
“It’s too much to explain right now.” I can’t get into all of it. There are too many moving parts—too much to explain aboutme, not AI like the thing that replaced his father, but something that evolved differently. Somethingsentient. “Where’s Rayna? Hailey?”
“One block away. I ran ahead when I heard from you.”
I hear the roar of the motorbike first. At once I’m sprinting for the overhead walkway again, my heart pounding against my ribs. Along the top, I have a perfect view down the street, into the next block. There, Rayna and Hailey are hurrying forward.
“Rayna!” I scream.
Her head lifts. She spots me.
Another roar of a motorbike engine, this time furiously close. The sound cuts me off when I try to shout again, and then it doesn’t stop reverberating, nearer, nearer, nearer. I assumed the motorbike would be coming from the south, but it shoots out from an avenue ahead, screeching to a halt in the middle of the road. I wasn’t paying attention. I should have opened every camera in the vicinity. I should have sped through them to keep track of where the soldiers were.
The rider is facing Hailey and Rayna. He hefts a rifle upright, his eye pinned through the scope.
“Ready,” he announces into his earpiece. “Please activate malware.”
He fires, and the world slows to a crawl. The bullet hurtles from the gun, wrapped with a faint white aura. It travels through the air on an unmistakable arc toward Hailey, dead center for her head. It’ll land and launch with malware, scramble the consciousness she’s trusted to this system.
“No!”
When the world speeds up again, the bullet hits nothing. Hailey is gone. The soldier freezes, his gun halting at the end of its kickback.
I have no idea what I just did.
“Rayna, log off!” I shout.“Log off!”
She makes a strangled noise. Her eyes meet mine, frantic, desperate, uncomprehending. But Rayna trusts me, and despite everything she risks, she logs off, disappearing in a blink.
“What’s going on?” Kieren exclaims behind me. “Lia,what—”
The revving of the engines is coming from all sides. They’re going to have us surrounded.
“Kieren, listen to me.” I pull him to a crouch, using the barrier of the walkway for cover. He doesn’t resist. “You are the person who knows me best out of anyone in the world. The only person who can talk to me and understand everything I’m saying and everything I’m not.”
He blinks rapidly. “Thank you?”
“They want me in my full form. They want me as an all-powerful weapon, and I can’t give it to them.”
Kieren shakes his head. Bikes screech to a complete blockage, north and south, on each side. “Lia, I have no idea what you’re talking about—”
“Me, I’m talking about me.I’mProject Wit.”
He searches my face. Traces my features to the point of memorization.
“Project Wit,” he echoes softly. “You?”
I know what he’s asking instead. I nod.
“I’m going to hide myself along this posting we’ve shared,” I whisper in a rush. I’m code. I can create a duplicate. “Three locations. I’ll lead you when you’re there. Nobody else will be able to find me, but you will, when you’re ready. I’m not going to let NileCorp have me. If they take me now, there will be no end to what they do with me.”
