Elusion(67)

“So . . . are you saying people could become addicted if they’re able to reconfigure the signal?” My heart lodges itself in my chest as I wait for Patrick’s response.

“It might be possible. We haven’t verified that yet, though.”

“Then why did you deny it when Josh confronted you?” I ask.

“Come on, Ree. There’s no way I could have said anything. We didn’t have a shred of data to support the claims, and all of that information is beyond confidential. I shouldn’t even be telling you this. Do you have any idea how much trouble I could get in?”

I let out a sarcastic laugh. “Like you’re not in trouble right now?”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t. I don’t get how you can sit there and say you shouldn’t be telling me what I have every right to know!” I shout.

“Well, I have responsibilities that you couldn’t possibly understand,” he yells back, leaping up from his bed and pointing at me. “I feel terrible about this, but I’m not the only one responsible for making the decisions. You don’t understand how things work at a corporation. I have to answer to the stupid board, and investors, people who have put all of their money and time into this project. So please spare me the dramatics, okay?”

I’m completely unfazed by his attack on me. Maybe it’s because I can hear Cathryn’s voice telling me that Patrick is in over his head and isn’t meant for the immense stress of big business. Maybe it’s because of the way he’s biting his lip, like he does when he’s feeling guilty about something he’s done or said. Or maybe it’s because he really is family to me.

The thing is, none of it matters more than the safety of innocent people, and my father’s legacy.

“What else is wrong with Elusion? The hijacked signals can’t account for the Escapes being unstable. I haven’t done anything to dismantle the settings on my Equip or the app,” I say.

“This conversation is over,” Patrick says, and this time he pushes right past me, practically knocking me over as he leaves the bedroom. I wobble a little but then catch myself on a nearby dresser and follow him out into the hall. There’s something bigger going on here. I’m still not getting the whole story.

“And what about my dad? Why am I seeing him in Elusion?”

He doesn’t even turn around. He just keeps walking away.

“Answer me, Patrick! Someone spray-painted fifty-twenty on the wall of the warehouse. I know that number means something.”

“I want you to leave,” he says.

“I know it’s dangerous! You need to recall Elusion, and stop the national release. You need to do it before somebody gets killed.”

“You don’t know anything!” he shouts as I follow close behind. “None of these stories can be substantiated. Even the doctors don’t have conclusive reports.”

“I have proof!”

He stops so fast I almost run into him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asks, turning around to face me.

“It means . . .” I hesitate as I meet his eyes. “I have files from your computer.”

He backs away from me as if I slapped him.

“When I came to Orexis to visit you the other day, I copied them onto a QuTap.”

“You’re not capable of translating quantum files,” Patrick says, confused.

I shift my eyes away from him.

“Of course,” he says, a coldness in his voice I’ve never heard before. “Does this have anything to do with your new friend Josh?”

I don’t respond.

“No one will be able to crack the files on that QuTap,” he says. “Your father was the best cryptologist I’ve ever known, and he’s the one who encased them.”

“We’ll see about that.” I move toward the door and it whooshes open, sensing my body movement. Before I can walk out, Patrick’s fingers wrap around my bicep and he squeezes, just enough for me to become momentarily frightened of him.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You stole valuable corporate information. It’s a felony—you could go to jail for this, Ree.”

I look him in the eyes, and when I notice they are beginning to water, my legs buckle. I feel his hand slipping down my arm, his thumb tracing my skin from my elbow to my palm. After what I just told him, Patrick is still concerned about me. And if that’s true, shouldn’t I still be worried about him, even though he’s letting me down in a way I never imagined he could?

But when I stare even deeper into his eyes, I finally see the desire-filled look that Josh told me about in Elusion. It scares me more than the forceful way he took hold of my arm only seconds ago. More than disintegrating Escapes or visions of my dead father.

“You have one day,” I murmur.

Then I bolt out the door and don’t look back.





FOURTEEN


IT’S NEARLY FOUR A.M., BUT I’M WIDE awake. The light is on beside my bed, my copy of Walden open on my lap. I’ve read it from cover to cover at least a dozen times since I got home from Patrick’s apartment a few hours ago, trying to find something in these pages that would make up for the fact that, thanks to Josh, Avery has the QuTap and I don’t.