Synthetica (27 page)

Skye pulled out her hair tie and shook her hair loose, so it
tumbled over her shoulders. She flicked back the strands that were
covering her face and snorted.

“
You'll
have to forgive me this time, if I don't take the word of three
trespassers seriously,” she sneered. “By rights, I should be
calling the police right now to arrest you all.”

“
Yeah,
well, you haven't yet,” Anais said. “And I don't think you're
going to. You know just as well as us that something strange is
going on - why else would you race from that press conference? If
you didn't have suspicions that someone else has hacked into your
system and has done
something
to damage Civitas' reputation, then I honestly don't know why you're
here.”

Anais took a step towards Skye as something else dawned on her.

“
Why
isn't anyone else here, Skye? Your technicians, your engineers, your
security team? Why is no one else rushing to Civitas' rescue? Oh
wait, that's right, because you just couldn't bear the thought that
Civitas
might
have done something wrong. That they might have a flaw in their
security systems, or that someone within the company has hacked into
your files and is now using your SLP program for their own ends.”

Skye remained silent, holding her head up high, though Anais could
see her jaw clenching.

“
So
you came here alone,” Anais continued, watching her closely. “You
came here to see if there were any truth behind the rumours. What
did you say? That people are suspecting your ID chips are
malfunctioning? That's what you were checking for, right? You wanted
to know about the ID upgrades we all had. And what would you have
done, if the rumours had been true? Spun another story about how
none of this is Civitas' fault, that they weren't involved at all?”

“
You
know nothing,” Skye spat, her lip quivering. “You don't have any
idea what it's like, to see the company you love, the company you
gave
everything
for, threatened. I will not allow everything I've worked towards for
the last forty years to be cast aside so easily.”

Anais
stared at her in shock. She knew that HelixPods were good, that
barely anyone looked their real age; but Skye was over
forty
?
She didn't look a day over twenty one. Skye took a shaky breath to
calm herself.

“
For
your information,” she said, her voice cracking slightly. “Yes,
I came here to double check the testing and analysis we did on the
new software upgrade for the ID chips. I heard one of the lifts
moving and came to investigate. When I got to the lifts, I saw one
of the lifts to the research labs was moving. Though why you thought
to come here, I don't know.”

“
But,”
Xander said. “This is your most secure research lab. You don't let
anyone but your top engineers and designers in here. Where else
would you store your sensitive files?”

Skye opened and shut her mouth, looking as confused as Anais felt.

“
You
didn't tell them?” Skye asked Clay with a frown. “I wondered why
you broke in here and not into one of the offices.”

“
What
are you talking about?” Anais asked, but there was a bitter taste
in her mouth as she spoke.

“
The
computers in these labs only house the files that the researchers
are working on at that moment,” Skye explained, her eyes never
leaving Clay's face. “Once a project is finished, the files aren't
stored on individual computers any more – they're sent to a secure
server that only members of the board can access, or grant access
to. It's been standard protocol for years now. I thought your little
friend here would've realised that when he tried to break into our
systems last week. After all, it's thanks to him we put the system
in place to begin with.”

“
That
was you who broke in?” Anais said incredulously. “But...why?”

“
None
of your damn business,” Clay grunted. “And where's your
evidence, sweetheart? Sayin' things like that without any evidence
is slander, in case you didn't know. I could sue you for that.”

Skye looked pointedly around the mess they'd created in the lab.

“
Somehow,
Clay, I doubt it,” she said.

“
Hang
on,” Anais interrupted. “Clay,
did
you know that the SLP files wouldn't be here?”

Clay still met her eye, but underneath his defiance Anais thought
she could detect a trace of guilt.

“
I
thought this would be the best place to start,” he said evasively.

“
Start
what?” Anais asked, trying and failing to keep the anger out of
her voice. “If you broke in here last week and didn't find
anything, what did you think you were going to find now?”

Clay didn't answer.

“
You
knew?” Anais asked him furiously. “You knew we wouldn't find
anything here, but you let us carry on anyway?”

Clay gave her an even look.

“
Look,
kid, I thought – I hoped – I was wrong. But ask yourself this -
where else could we have gone? What, we were just supposed to search
every damn computer in this place til we found what you were looking
for? You know how many computers are in this place, Annie? Trust me,
it's a hell of a lot.”

Anais could only stare at him as rage built up inside her. She was
trembling, her hands curled into fists as she tried to control her
anger. There was a light pressure on her arm and she looked up to
see Xander shaking his head at her, warning her not to rise to it.
She took a deep breath, but her voice was thick when she spoke.

“
Then
why did you even agree to help us? Why did you come here?”

“
Oh
sweetie, haven't you realised yet? He would've jumped at any chance
to come in here and destroy our work,” Skye said. Anais rounded on
her.

“
You
can't talk, you're just as bad as he is! You've been sneaking
around, making sure your precious company can't be implicated in
this whole mess. What else have you been lying about? If you can
pull a stunt like this, then why shouldn't I believe Clay, and think
that you are capable of murdering anyone who stands in your way? I
can't – I just can't -”

She broke off, shrugging out of Xander's grip and started pacing
across the floor, needing to get away from them all. The desks in
front of her swam out of focus, as her vision blurred from the tears
of frustration that were welling up. She could hear Xander
murmuring to Clay behind her back but she blocked out the noise.

None of this was going like she'd planned. It wasn't adding up.
Skye was so determined that Civitas wasn't involved, that it simply
made Anais believe even more that she had something to hide. And
Clay had dragged them into this lab for no apparent reason. She had
trusted him to get them to the right place. She had trusted him to
help them. But instead it sounded like he had lead them all on. Why?
Why would he waste their precious time like that? It didn't make
sense.

Time. They were running out of time. Anais kneaded her temples with
her fingertips. They had come here to try and find some clue about
who killed Dalla. She'd be damned if she was going to give up now,
not when they were so close to getting some answers at last. Even if
it did mean working with a liar and a traitor.

Swallowing her pride, she wiped her eyes free from any lingering
tears before striding back to the trio, who stopped murmuring and
eyed her nervously. Anais wasn't even sure what she was going to say
until she was standing right in front of Clay.

“
You
betrayed us,” she said bluntly to Clay. “I trusted you to help
us, and instead you brought us to this lab for your own twisted
reasons. I don't know why you thought you'd bring us here instead of
were we actually need to be, but I don't care right now. I'll find
out the truth eventually, but I came here tonight for one reason and
that's to stop whoever it is that took my best friend from me. I'm
not going to let them get away with murder again. Whatever grudge
you have against Civitas and Skye, I don't give a shit. You said
you'd help us, so that's what you're damn well going to do.”

She rounded on Skye.

“
I
think it's despicable the way you're even trying to cover up
Civitas' tracks, even if they haven't done anything wrong - yet. If
you build something based on lies, one day, it's all going to come
crashing down. And when that day comes, I'll be the first one to
say, 'I told you so'. But for now, I'm going to choose to believe
you when you say you're not behind these murders. I think you're
sadly misguided when it comes to Civitas, but we need your help. So
I'm offering you a deal. We'll help you find out who's behind these
attacks, and you let us go free.”

Skye blinked at her.

“
Why
would I do that? Why shouldn't I hand you into the police?” she
asked, though the fight seemed to have gone out of her.

Anais hesitated for a moment, remembering that awful night she was
questioned over a murder she had had the bad luck to stumble on,
their suspicion at how she knew seconds before Marcus died that he
would die, and how she'd tried to flee from the police station.
There was no way she could get the police involved again. If Nox got
wind she was still involved, he'd have her thrown in prison faster
than she could blink.

“
It's
complicated,” she said finally. “Call them if you want to, but
think about this – you hand us in, and you're selling out your
only hope of catching this person. If we're arrested, we can't help
you. Don't forget, we've seen these SLPs in action. If any more
attacks happen and Civitas is blamed for them, well then, I hope
you're as good at PR as you think you are, because you're going to
need every last bit of persuasion you have.”

Anais and Skye stared at each other for a long moment. Anais' heart
was hammering in her chest. She prayed that Skye was as in love with
Civitas as she seemed, otherwise their last hope of going free had
gone. Eventually, Skye broke the silence.

“
Alright,”
she said. “But on one condition - you have to tell me everything
you know so far. About these SLPs, the murders, everything. And if I
get the slightest hint that you've double-crossed me, I'm calling
the police. Deal?”

Her eyes flicked to Clay. Anais nodded.

“
Deal.”

“
So,
where do we start?” Xander asked. “If you don't know who it is
that's hacking into your systems, and we don't know either...where
do we go from here?”

Clay
coughed and Anais looked at him coldly.

“
Yes?”
she said icily. “Don't tell me you've got another fantastic idea
for us.”

“
Look,
Annie, you may not like me any more than I like being here, but
right now, I'm the best chance you've got. I'm the only one of you
that can hack into a computer system and see what none of the rest
of you will be able to see,” he turned to Skye. “Now I think the
question should be, how can we access your actual research?”

Skye contemplated him for a moment.

“
Fine,”
she said finally. “Follow me.”

The wind was biting, but he couldn't feel the cold. He hadn't
felt the cold in years.

He hung, suspended almost one hundred floors up, in the air. The
rope creaked in the wind. His hands were slick with paint and his
clothes were flecked with red. He craned his head back to admire his
handiwork, a hidden smile creeping across his masked face.

It was perfect. His work would shine like a beacon; it would
become a symbol of hope to the lost souls in this city. He was their
light. He would show them the way.

He began to haul himself back up the length of rope to the open
window, the muscles in his arms taunt as he pulled himself upwards.
He reached the window and slithered back inside the small gap,
jumping cat-like to the ground and landing softly on his feet. He
untied the rough knot around his waist and began winding the rope
back inside. Once everything had been packed neatly back inside his
battered bag, he ran through all the items twice, making sure
everything had been accounted for. He zipped the bag shut and closed
the window carefully.

Now for the fun part.

This hadn't been part of his initial plan, but why let an
opportunity go to waste? There were four possible suspects in the
building; not that it would matter after tomorrow who got the credit
for his work, but he wasn't one to pass up a chance to have a little
fun.

He took the lift back down to the empty atrium. He padded across
the floor to the security desk. Using the dead security guard's ID
chip, he brought up the alarm system on the holographic computer.
After making sure that there wasn't a device that would lock down
the building before he could escape, he pressed the panic button
with relish.

The alarm began to wail and orange lights flashed on the walls.
An automated message boomed out over the speaker system, asking
everyone to remain calm. The lifts went dark as they shut down
automatically. He fled to the supply corridor, slamming the door
shut behind him. He reached the exit and, under the cover of the
commotion he had created, slipped away into the night to complete
his next task.