Synthetica (28 page)

Seventeen

Skye led them back to lift in silence.

They
travelled up the building, past the observation deck, right up to
the 300
^th
floor. As soon as the door slid open, Skye marched them down the
windowed corridor. This time, the lights didn't come on
automatically but the moon hanging low in the sky outside provided
more than enough light for them to see by.

Anais was still angry with Clay over deceiving them, but she forced
herself not to dwell on it. If he managed to discover who had stolen
Civitas' program, he didn't have to stick around after that. She'd
never have to see him again. And as for Skye – the same rules
applied. Once they'd upheld their end of the bargain, Skye would no
longer have anything to threaten them with. If they saved her
precious company from being dragged through the mud, she wouldn't
sell them out to the police. Not for the first time, Anais wondered
how on earth she'd gotten herself mixed up in such a messed up
situation. Everything still didn't seem real, as though she was
viewing the world through warped RetCom.

Almost subconsciously, she reached out and took Xander's hand. He
squeezed her hand back gently. Anais felt as though, at the moment,
he was the only thing anchoring her to reality. She needed his
reassurance that she wasn't going completely insane.

Skye stopped outside a large office. Through the glass walls, Anais
could see the plush carpet and a large leafy plant in the corner.
All four sides of the office were glass – the wall opposite looked
out over the glowing city. An artfully designed desk housing the
latest computer stood in the middle of the floor, but there was
still plenty of space to walk around the room.

Skye scanned her ID chip and the door opened soundlessly. Anais was
immediately drawn to the view outside the window. She let go of
Xander's hand as she went to get a closer look. The city sprawled
into the distance; the streetlights beneath her twinkled and
reflected off the dark river.

“
Who's
office is this?” she heard Xander ask.

“
My
own,” replied Skye, booting up the computer. She had to scan her
ID chip again before it would start up. The holographic screen
flickered into life. Anais watched as Skye began to call up
different files, Clay by her side.

“
What
kind of thing do you need?” she was asking him.

“
I
need to get into the mainframe, then into your secure server,”
Clay was saying, as he began to manipulate the hologram, almost too
fast for Anais to see. “If anyone's hacked into your system,
that's where they'll have gone. Have you got a copy of the SLP
program on your computer?”

“
Yes,”
Skye said, pointing to a file on screen.

“
It's
an exact copy of the original?” Clay asked, pausing in what he was
doing to look at her. Skye nodded.

“
That's
the back-up server, in case anything goes wrong with -” she
started, but Clay shook his head.

“
No,
I mean, do you have a copy of the file that's just on this computer?
If someone's hacked into your secure server, they'll have checked
for back-up files as well. I need a file that can't possibly have
been tampered with,” Clay said. Anais couldn't help being
impressed, despite the conversation going over her head. Skye
frowned.

“
One
of the designers sent me a copy of the file a couple of months ago –
he sent it to all the directors so they could approve it. I kept my
copy so I could write a press release about how the SLPs would work.
It'll have changed since then though, it was only the first
prototype. Like I said, all our final research files and designs are
on that secure server,” she said.

“
Doesn't
matter,” grunted Clay as he went back to the screen. “So long as
we've got something to compare the file with, that's all that
counts.”

Anais and Xander watched in silence as Clay accessed the systems he
needed. The computer bleeped and the hologram in front of them
turned red, as the system realised someone was trying to access a
sensitive area. Unfazed, Clay started to type in a code, his
expression serious as he concentrated. After a moment the screen
went back to normal and Anais could now see the blueprint of a
program on the screen – the SLPs. She had to admit it looked
impressive, even if she didn't understand all the diagrams she was
seeing. Clay touched a small part of the diagram, and immediately
the screen filled with code. Skye's mouth was open as she realised
that Clay had hacked into the secure server where all Civitas'
sensitive data was kept.

“
I'm
setting up a meeting with our Head of Security first thing
tomorrow,” Anais heard her mutter.

“
Right,
this is the file that was on the secure server,” Clay said. “This
is what the SLPs that are being launched tomorrow will have been
produced from. And this -” he stopped and pulled up another
diagram, and pressed it so the code appeared again. “This is the
copy Skye received.”

He reached out and resized the two windows so they sat side by side
on the screen. Skye frowned at the ease in which he was able to
access her private files, but she didn't say anything.

“
Now,”
he said. “Let's take a look at what's going on.”

Anais stared at the two windows of code that were floating in the
air, but to her it all looked like gibberish. Xander was
scrutinising the programs too. He drew in a sharp intake of breath,
just as Clay swore and began feverishly searching through the files.

“
What?”
Anais asked, looking at Xander. “What is it?”

“
No
– there must be – surely they can't have -” Clay was muttering
wildly to himself as he enlarged sections of code, before shutting
them down again and searching again.

“
Have
you found something?” Skye asked, her voice sharp with worry.
Anais couldn't help feeling a tiny glow of satisfaction at the
thought of Skye's distress that someone had managed to get past
Civitas' security systems. That feeling soon faded as Clay looked
grimly up at her.

“
Well
Annie, it looks as though you were right,” he said finally.

Anais' mouth went dry.

“
What
is it?” Anais repeated.

“
That
program has been manipulated,” Xander told her in a quiet voice,
his face pale. “Look.”

He reached over Clay's arm and brought up the two files again. He
pointed to a section in each.

“
This
is the part that has the subject information on it. It'll be
different for each SLP, but they'll all follow the same basic
blueprint – this one,” he pointed to the file that had come from
the secure server. “But look at this.”

Xander pointed to the copy from Skye's computer.

“
This
is what it should look like. It's telling us what subject will be
downloaded, and the process the SLP should follow so it downloads
smoothly into our ID chips. Even if other parts of the program have
been updated in the last few months, this part should stay the same.
But with this one...”

He pointed to the other file. And although Anais didn't have a clue
what it meant, even she could see the extra lines of code that were
present on the second file. And now that she could see them, they
seemed glaringly obvious, standing out from the innocuous code
around them.

“
What
does it say?” she whispered, her heart thumping in her chest.

“
It's
a link to another program,” Clay growled. “It's telling whoever
downloads the information from these SLPs to forget the subject
they've just supposedly learnt about and replaced it with something
else...but I can't tell what.”

Clay looked up at Skye.

“
Just
how many of these programs have you produced using this?”

Skye swallowed nervously.

“
We
– we manufactured around 10,000 for the launch tomorrow,” Skye
said, her voice barely audible. “And we have another 20,000 being
produced as we speak.”

Clay simply looked at her.

“
Well
then darlin' I hope you've got some way to recall all these SLPs.
Because if you don't, we're in a whole heap of shit.”

*

It was at that moment that a blare of noise blasted out of the
speakers.

Anais clamped her hands over her ears, wincing.

“
What
the hell is that?” she shouted.

Through the glass walls, she could see orange lights flashing down
the corridor. The alarm quietened for a moment as an automated voice
boomed out.

“
Please
remain calm. This is not a drill. Please make your way to the
nearest exit in an orderly fashion. The authorities are on their
way. Please remain calm...”

“
What
did you do?” Xander yelled over the noise at Clay.

“
That
wasn't me,” Clay shouted back. “Someone else must've set it
off.”

“
Everyone
out!” Skye barked. Anais had to hand it to her - even in a crisis
Skye was remarkably composed. Her face was still pale, but her eyes
glittered with determination.

Anais and Xander ran to the door, Clay hot on their heels. Skye
paused for a moment to shut down her computer. As soon as they were
outside the room, Clay grabbed Anais' arm.

“
I
can't be here,” he shouted above the noise, his fingers biting
into Anais' arm. His eyes were wide with fear. “You understand me?
I can't be here.”

“
Let
go,” Anais struggled under his grip. She pulled his hand off her
and ran to the window, peering down at the street way below. Several
police cabs raced around the corner, their red and blue lights
flashing frantically. She could see more flashing lights coming from
the opposite direction. She swore.

She whirled round. Skye was just coming out of the office.

“
They
can't see him,” Anais shouted over the chaos, nodding towards to
Clay. “The police can't know I'm here either.”

Skye paused just long enough to give her a searching look, before
nodding.

“
Follow
me.”

They raced down the corridor, but instead of heading towards the
bank of lifts, Skye veered left and led them towards the back of the
building. Anais' heart pounded painfully in her chest as she ran.
She could not be caught by the police again.

The orange lights still flashed on the walls, dazzling Anais' eyes.
Through the roar of blood in her ears, she could still hear the
alarm and the automated message playing on a loop.

Skye stopped by a large steel lift.

“
This
is the supply lift,” she shouted. “It'll take you down to the
supply corridor.”

“
Won't
it be cut off too?” Xander asked.

“
You'll
have to override it,” Skye said. She nodded towards Anais and Clay
as she spoke.

“
What
about you and Xander?” Anais asked.

“
We'll
take the normal lift. With any luck, they'll be focusing on the main
areas of the building. We can buy you some time, but you'll need to
move fast. Get yourselves out of the building, I'll contact you
tomorrow. We can meet at the parade.”

Anais turned to Xander, not wanting to leave him after being with
him through so much. But she knew she had no choice. He pulled her
to him and kissed her softly.

“
Message
me the second you get home,” he said in her ear. “I'll see you
soon, okay?”

She nodded.

Clay shouted for her, and she reluctantly pulled out of Xander's
arms. Clay had already managed to open the doors and he was waiting
impatiently inside the lift for her. She slipped inside beside him.
The doors began to close and she caught one last glimpse of Xander
smiling at her, though his eyes remained full of worry.

The doors clanged shut and Clay began manipulating the keypad. With
a rumble, the lift started its descent. The only good thing about
this situation was that this lift was much bigger than the others,
meaning that Anais could put a comfortable distance between herself
and Clay. She crossed the enclosed space and folded her arms as she
leant against the wall, deliberately ignoring him.

“
Look,
Annie, I know you're mad at me. But you gotta believe me, I was
doing what I had to do.”

Clay's voice was as gruff as ever. He wasn't looking at Anais as he
spoke; instead, he was staring straight ahead at the lift doors.