Perfect Gravity (Wanted and Wired #2)(26)

“Why did I have to hibernate mech-Daniel?”

“Because he’s obsessed with rules and processes and would try to convince you to ignore me. Also, he’s N series, a certified Vallejo bot, which means his core programming defaults to asshole.”

“He is a machine, not an asshole.”

Chloe shrugged. “Believe what you want. But about my original offer: what say we go get ourselves into trouble?”

A thrill of potentiality played Angela’s spine like an electric banjo. “How do you propose to do that?”

“Lots of ways. I’ve made a list. Let’s see, we could break into the underground gem vault on West and see what the Noor-ol-Ain tiara looks like on your head—oh, after you put the wig back on. You’re lots prettier with it on.”

Angela also itched to reattach her hairpiece, but she was too fascinated right now to do anything other than stare down the chatty hologram. Er, nanorobotic collective wassit. Whatever you called it, it was definitely the most interesting thing Angela had encountered since she’d been here. “Then what?”

“Zipline between building spires?”

“Not happening. We fall, you dissolve into holographic glitter while I plummet fifty meters and splat.”

“Oh right. Physical permanence.” Chloe looked off to the right and for a moment assumed the same expression mech-Daniel did when he was ticking things off a to-do list. “Did you know that only this spire and the east one are refurbished? Northy’s a ruin, but you can still clamber all over it. Super creepy. You’ll love it.”

Angela had toured her share of ruins. Washington, DC, topped her creepy list and probably always would. “I’ll pass.”

“We could visit the prisoner in the dungeon.” Chloe waggled her eyebrows. “He’s indecently pretty.”

Her face was just a little too animated. Trying too hard to seem real? She couldn’t really have a dungeon replete with prisoners. That part had to be made up.

“Do you live here at the Pentarc, Chloe?”

The hologram’s gaze shifted up and to the left. “Oh sure. I’m part of the team, part of the crew. Indispensable. Beloved.”

Wistful too, if Angela was reading the signals right. Hopeful. Excitable. Possibly delusional but definitely eager to please. In so many ways, this holographic intelligence reminded her of mech-Daniel. It was easy to trust. No, wait, she. She was easy to trust.

“Excellent. Then maybe you can help me,” said Angela.

“That’s what I do!”

Was it possible for a noncorporeal entity to bounce? She wasn’t bound to gravity, after all, and it was…weird.

“There’s some sort of firewall keeping me from getting messages in or out of here,” said Angela. “I need a way through it.”

Chloe’s face shifted to sad, but a kind of eerie comic-book interpretation of what sadness looked like. “I can’t. I don’t have admin access to the network. Only Heron and Kellen can poke holes in the firewall. Bummer.”

The words tumbled from Angela’s brain and out through her mouth before she could stop them. “Is Kellen here?”

Chloe paused a microsecond, then beamed. “Yup, up at the barn. Neither of us are supposed to go there. I’m not even supposed to be here.”

Angela shoved her feet into her pillow shoes, which had taken a beating on the climb out of the Riu but were far too comfy to trash. She snagged the hairpiece and fitted it onto her head, engaging the hooks to keep it from slipping. Thought about cosmetics, maybe some lip polish. Would that look too needy, too tarty?

Shall we fit our tongues to dialogues of business, love, or strife? She was about to see Kellen, to be with him in close physical proximity. Under such conditions, lip polish wouldn’t last long. Her body hummed in expectation of finishing their secret, flirtatious conversation.

Angela turned to her rescue-bot, the holographic blond with the gigantic boobs. “If I promise not to rat you out, will you take me to him? And then leave us alone?”

“Deal. Let’s go be naughty.” Chloe happy-bounced (she totally could, even without gravity), and the remote lock on the unit door disengaged with a pop.





Chapter 5


Up at the barn, lying to himself he wasn’t there because he was avoiding anybody in particular, Kellen stroked the miniature goat’s flank. “Don’t you mind that coy little camelid, Rook. She’ll come around.”

The goat looked over at the latest rescue to invade his pen and snorted. Almost like he knew exactly what Kellen was saying.

Kellen would have laughed out loud, but a sharp noise like that could startle the animals he’d collected up here, the wild hares in particular. Instead he gestured to Azul, inviting her closer. He’d already injected her first series of nanocytes, and she was eating solids, as was proper for a girl her age. She had a powerful suspicion of other animals, though.

“Come ’ere, Azulita. Rook and his goaties ain’t gonna hurt you. You’re safe here, girl.”

She took a wobbly step toward Kellen and Rook, but clearly she had some misgivings. As a cria, she’d been around people a mite too much. Gal got way too excited every time he paid her a visit, which was flattering and all, but long-term, not good for her. She might never reintegrate with her original herd, especially since it had all but abandoned her as a newborn, but he had some thoughts of where he could place her in the wild. If she was still capable of being a wild animal after all this.