Artificial Absolutes (Jane Colt Book 1) Read online

  “Thanks.”

  Devin’s slate beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket and unfolded it.

  Corsair: Real ghosts? I believe in them, funny things.

  Archangel: What?

  Corsair: Like that unnamed murderer. Either dark blue or computerized. Yeah. What a scary bunch that guy was involved in. I think. Nastiest, really. Kind of ghost, that is. Like, he could be anywhere or anything. Eh, that’s my opinion. Please understand. Living with the opposite of my first swim’s teacher is hard—you know, the famous one.

  Archangel: You’re not making any sense.

  Corsair: Eh. Coming clean here. Kind of hard to admit the truth about ghosts.

  Archangel: What are you talking about?

  Corsair: Stop. First. I want you to help me as you did back when you were your own opposite. Figure it out. Don’t talk to me until you have.

  Was Corsair trying to send a message? Or was he simply babbling under the influence of alcohol or something? Devin had planned to tell Corsair about the computer chip he’d taken from the deep blue machine. Doesn’t seem like a good idea right now.

  Jane peered at the slate. “What’d he say?”

  “No clue.” Devin folded the slate. “Tell the ship to keep going like this for about three hours, then have it turn around and head toward the tunnel. That should give them enough time to give up on us.”

  “Okay.” Jane programmed the autopilot. When she finished, she slumped onto the control panel and buried her face in the crook of her elbow.

  “Hey, Pony—”

  “I’m tired, that’s all.” She turned to him, resting her head on her arm as though too tired to lift it. “I know this is our third big getaway and all, but I’m still not used to having to run for my life like I’m in a freaking holodrama.”

  “I’m taking you to an IC hospital as soon as we’re out of here.”

  Jane bolted up. “Like hell! You know we can’t go anywhere near the IC! What about Dad? What about Sarah? What about justice, Devin? You know the system’s not gonna sort it out for us! I’m telling you, I’m fine. Sorry I’m not a tough guy like you, but that’s no reason to act like I’m some fragile ninny.”

  “You fainted.”

  “I got knocked out, you idiot. In case you didn’t notice, I fell down the stairs.”

  Adam reached forward and felt her forehead.

  Jane raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Temperature’s normal,” Adam said. “Still, you really should get some rest. You’ve been through a lot.”

  She groaned. “Not you too!”

  “I’m just worried about you. You really scared me back there.”

  Jane looked up at Adam and smiled sweetly. Too sweetly. Devin turned away with a mental grumble. “Adam, I… um… wanted to say thanks. For saving my life. I was surprised when you shot that thug. I mean… I never thought you could… you know?”

  “I did what I had to.” Adam’s voice was almost a whisper. He paused, and then continued in what sounded like an attempt at offhandedness, “I’m just glad I hit him, because unlike your brother, I have the shooting skills of a repair bot.”

  “Hey, it worked, didn’t it? We can’t all have super mercenary skills. Speaking of which, Devin? Where’d you learn to do all that?”

  Devin turned. His sister brimmed with unasked questions. Might as well come clean about some things.

  “I got mixed up in a… gang… back at university. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. They taught me some of their tricks, and I helped them with some of their jobs. After I found out who they really were, I tried to leave, but they have their ways of keeping a person around.”

  Jane leaned toward him. “Is that where you were after Mom was assassinated? When you disappeared for all those months?”

  Devin nodded and told her he’d become an informant for ISARK, the Intelligence and Security Agency of the Republic of Kydera. “That’s how I got out. They gave me immunity in exchange for my help in taking down the bad guys.”

  “Whoa.” Jane looked surprised, but mostly impressed. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

  “Didn’t seem relevant.” The agonizing guilt Devin always felt when he thought about what he’d done seeped into his mind.

  Jane looked as though she had more to ask, but she didn’t pursue her questions. “That’s pretty awesome. So my brother’s a super-spy.”

  “If you say so.” Devin noticed the color had drained from her face. “The autopilot’s set, so you can—”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Please, Jane,” Adam said. “I think—”

  “Will you guys stop being paranoid?” Jane looked at Adam, then at Devin. “I can’t fight you both. I guess you can’t take me anywhere I don’t want you to anyway, now that the computer’s befuddled.”

  She got up slowly and walked toward the door, holding the wall for support. Adam tried to help her.

  Jane shook her head. “I’m fine. Really. You two behave.” She left the cockpit.

  Adam stared after her, his eyes betraying a kind of longing Devin recognized and knew too well. So another one’s fallen for Jane. I wonder how long he’ll last. He put his focus on his slate.

  Why the hell was Corsair talking about ghosts? Was he even trying to say anything? Devin had no idea what Corsair’s life was like outside the Net. For all he knew, the alcohol theory was correct.

  “Devin?” Adam sounded timid. “I was… I mean…”

  Devin knew what the kid wanted to ask. “I’m a fugitive.” He didn’t look up as he answered. “Someone framed me for my father’s murder after I found out Sarah was replaced by an AI. It was that entity called No Name, the same bastards who took you and were chasing us just now. I had to run, and Jane caught up and insisted on coming. You know how hard it is to say no to her.”

  “I… I see. I’m sorry.”

  Devin waited for a follow-up question. None came. He found the kid’s quietness exasperating. “If you have anything else on your mind, go ahead and say it.”

  Adam hesitated. “Poltergeist.”

  Devin spun toward him. “What?”

  “Your friend on the Net—he said ghosts are funny things.”

  Damn, I should’ve seen that. No wonder Jane’s always calling me an idiot.

  Devin reread the messages.

  Poltergeist… Your own opposite… Hellion.

  In his communication, Corsair referenced the past, a past only Devin would remember. “Unnamed” must refer to No Name. Corsair said he was “coming clean.” Perhaps he was answering the question Devin had never asked, but had always wondered: What’s your name? Corsair wasn’t exactly a riddle master. The code had to be relatively simple.

  First swim… hard… The Hard Planet. Fragan, in the Anven system.

  A minute later, the meaning became clear, hidden in the words and the first letters of the sentences: My real name is Riley Winklepleck. No Name has made the Net too dangerous. I’m at the BD Tech programming facility on Fragan. Come find me.

  Chapter 13

  A Freakin’ Genius

  An automated message, reminding Riley to renew his access card, popped up on his company-issued videophone. He wrinkled his nose at the sight of his real name. Riley Winklepleck. Heh, with a name like that, it was no wonder he refused to share it with anyone he didn’t have to, even the one actual friend he had, about whom he knew almost everything, but to whom he’d told pretty much nothing.

  Devin had never asked, and Riley had no reason to share. Besides, who wanted another tale of a Fringe kid shuffled into a rundown Via shelter after his drug dealer parents got themselves killed? Who cared how, despite the Via’s best intentions, he’d grown up neglected in a worn-out system? How his intelligence was dismissed as arrogance and h
is talent ignored?

  Riley flicked the videophone across his desk. It slid into a pile of candy wrappers. He turned his attention back to the slate in his hand and continued coding his latest project for Citizen Zero: a worm that would capture info from Ocean Sky’s network and slow down their system. With all his reasons to be anti-establishment, who could blame him for being so involved? However, he often found their highfalutin’ mission statements and grandiose conspiracy theories too heavy to be a full-time thing. “We are the strangers here.” What failed holodrama writer came up with that?

  Which was why he enjoyed messing around with the Gag Warriors. Riley opened a new window and browsed the Gag Warriors’ forum. Someone had posted a video of a woman expressing shock at the Paladin Glen hoax. Riley snorted. Paladin Glen—hah! So many losers clung to the words of a fake fanatic generated by a clever program Riley helped develop. Insert rights or freedom or other bullshit buzzwords with plenty of references to the Absolute, and people ate it up!

  Break’s over. Riley returned to the worm-coding window. I’ve got a job to do.

  Oh, he had a real job with a paycheck, but it was only so he could have money to buy equipment and food and stuff. The videophone beeped again. He ignored it. How important could a message to a maintenance worker be? He’d only taken the job at BD Tech’s programming center on Fragan—nicknamed the “Hard Planet” by Citizen Zero because its institutions were so difficult to hack—so he’d have an easier time spying on the company’s systems. Funny how he, the guy who directed repair bots to fix lighting units, was a million times smarter than those smarmy tools who sold their talents to the Man.

  Riley could’ve been one of those tools if he’d wanted, could’ve gone to a top-notch university and graduated with tons of honors instead of barely passing at a vocational school. But it was more fun using his amazing abilities for his purposes, not some company’s.

  Better yet, for messing with companies. Riley put the finishing touches on the Ocean Sky worm and posted it on Citizen Zero’s forum. Your turn, guys. He yawned. All righty, work’s done. Time for some fun.

  He found the file for his latest Gag Warriors prank and double-checked the code, which had taken weeks to perfect. The idea was to bombard Quasar’s security system with oceans of requests, all randomly generated and stupid. Quasar was the epitome of everything wrong with the galaxy: greed, corruption, other evil corporation things. The Networld had been quick to applaud the Collective’s hack a few days ago. Riley’s move would make that stunt look like amateur play!

  Yup, everything’s ready. He could pull it off whenever he wanted. Just for kicks, he spent a few minutes adding more stupid requests to the program. When he finished, he chucked his slate onto his desk and stretched in his chair.

  The star-filled view outside his window caught his attention. He got up, folded his body into the narrow window seat, and gazed into the night. Devin’s out there somewhere. Hope he figures out my messages before No Name does. Maybe I should’ve made them more weird. Or less weird. I dunno. Word codes are hard.

  Riley hadn’t seen Devin in almost seven years. They’d kept in touch, but Riley had always been vague. He was too used to being alone, and he didn’t want to depend on anyone. Still, it was nice knowing he had someone who’d help him out if he got in trouble.

  Will Devin recognize me? Probably. Riley hadn’t changed much since he was thirteen. Same pale face, same slanted black eyes, same skinny neck. Which sucked. Who wanted to look like a little kid at twenty? At least I’ve got normal-looking hair now, instead of a stupid black helmet cut.

  Maybe revealing his name and asking to meet in person wasn’t such a good idea. Riley’s entire life was on the Net, including the majority of his boring day job, where he was ordered around by disembodied transmissions and pretty much never talked to anyone. He wasn’t sure he knew how to interact with actual people anymore.

  Nah, I was right.

  No Name was getting scary. What started as a super-secret Net purist group had exploded into full-on supervillain stuff. Riley had heard about what happened on Travan Float from his fellow Gag Warrior Eaglewing. It had him freaking out. Faking docs was one thing, but hacking a whole float, including its bots and the ships docked there? Even Citizen Zero didn’t have the know-how to do that. Hell, maybe even the Collective couldn’t pull that one off.

  Riley wondered what had gone down on the float that had been his entire life for thirteen years. Not that he cared what happened to it. Last time he’d seen the place, he’d been in the copilot’s seat of a Barracuda, running away with no intention of going back.

  Back then, he was just another punk-ass Fringe demon. He’d been around eleven when he started going around the Net as a prankster called Poltergeist, screwing with the computers of people who pissed him off. Mostly mean Travan thugs and gooey Via volunteers.

  One day, a cybergang called Legion had asked him to join their cause: doling out Net justice to the rich and corrupt. Riley, always up for messing with authority figures, had gladly signed up.

  He’d been more than happy to help them hack into government systems to expose the hypocrisies of loudmouthed politicians and windbag bureaucrats. He’d been even happier when they asked him to get security codes and blueprints so they could steal money from rich people and big companies. They’d told him the money was to help the unfortunate Fringe planet Djuvai, but Riley couldn’t have cared less about that.

  That guy Hellion, on the other hand, had cared, and cared a lot. He seemed… weirdly naïve. Riley had figured out early on that the justice nonsense Legion espoused was a sappy way to lure people in and disguise their real activities.

  But Hellion seemed to truly believe, and what was more, he wasn’t much of a hacker. Seemed as though Legion was a way for Faceless, a nasty gang of scary types who called the shots, to get him involved in their so-called missions. It hadn’t taken Riley long to figure out that Hellion was in fact Devin Colt, son of a Kyderan power couple. The knowledge shot him full of resentful irritation.

  Poltergeist: Stop it with your bullshit. You talk all day about fighting the system, but you are the system! This is your rich boy way of getting your kicks, isn’t it?

  Hellion: What are you talking about?

  Poltergeist: I unveiled you, you poser. Why’d you get involved in all this, huh? Trying to get Daddy’s attention? I’ll bet you don’t give a shit about anything but yourself!

  Hellion: You’ve got the wrong idea about me. I won’t deny that I used to pull all kinds of rich boy shit, but that’s over. I didn’t join Legion to prove any kind of point. I did it because I’ve seen how the system can fail and because it’s the only way I can make a dent in the injustice. So yeah, I do actually care.

  That attempt to sound all noble only ticked Riley off further.

  Poltergeist: Why? You have a nice, fancy life on your stupid IC planet, so why don’t you leave us Fringe types alone? I’ve had more than my fair share of shit, and I don’t need any more coming from some spoiled prince!

  Hellion: What happened to you?

  Poltergeist: What do you care? Do you really wanna hear about another Fringe kid who was left to rot in one of those stupid shelters? Wanna hear how my parents were blasted away? How nobody even cared who did it? How my first hack was to modify my record so the shelter people would stop treating me like shit?

  Hellion: I didn’t know.

  Poltergeist: I’m smarter than everyone in this stupid place, but I’m stuck here! I’ve got no life and no future, and I don’t need some trust fund brat hanging around!

  To his surprise, Devin hadn’t been defensive. He’d sent Riley several messages asking how he was and offering to help. Riley had ignored them at first. After a few weeks, he’d caved and responded after realizing that shit, the guy was as much a do-gooder as he claimed. Eventually, he’d even videophoned
Devin and revealed his face—something he’d never done before. It was weird, having a friend…

  Devin had tried to convince Riley to leave Legion, saying that even though their cause, which for some reason he still believed in, was admirable, their methods were too dangerous for a little kid like him. Riley had rolled his eyes at the suggestion, dismissing it as more high-minded idealist talk.

  Maybe he should have listened.

  Someone requested entry. Riley hopped out of the window seat and checked his homemade security system. He recognized the nice-faced guy in the hall as Adam Palmer, the dude who’d been kidnapped by machines and “slated for replacement.”

  Guess they made it, after all.

  Riley pressed a button by the door, which slid open. “Yo, Adam. Come on in.”

  Adam seemed a little thrown by the fact that Riley knew his name. As he entered, he reached into the black bag he carried on one shoulder and rummaged around. Reddish splotches stained his shirt. Must’ve been a scary getaway from Travan Float.

  Riley pressed the button again. The door slid shut. He twisted a bunch of physical bolts into place. As far as he could tell, the veiling devices he’d put in place to make sure BD Tech couldn’t track his Net moves still did their jobs. His puny room was the one spot on Fragan the evil corporation didn’t own.

  Satisfied, he sat in his chair and reclined. “So, how’d you guys get into an IC system without getting caught? Or did Devin send you and is still, you know, hidin’ out on some Fringe planet?”

  “No, he’s here,” Adam replied. “He’s with the ship, a few miles north. We got in the old-fashioned way: by being very, very quiet. Apparently the Stargazer’s untraceable because of modifications made by someone called the Seer.”