Code Breakers Complete Series: Books 1-4 (119 page)

But if it was someone, why didn’t the crowd react?
 

Was she seeing things? Perhaps a sign of exhaustion. She shook her head and stifled a yawn. She put it down to the stress and sudden excitement of the crash.
 

She’d been focused on the journey entirely for the last week and had seen nothing but desert and abandoned towns. And now in return, she had to take in all this extra stimulation: Enna’s revelation, Holly, and now Jachz.
 

Yawning again, Petal placed her arm around Holly’s shoulders and followed Enna and Jachz. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw a dark figure standing in the shadows of the trees to her left, watching them. She blinked and it was gone. Her limbs felt heavy and tired. She hadn’t had any sleep for over twenty-four hours.

Once they got inside, Petal excused herself. Enna had provided her with a room to stay in. She hit the bed face-first and within minutes drifted off to dreams of shadowy presences that gave her a sense of foreboding, but they were too thin, film-like and spectral to give her any concrete detail.

Chapter 11

Light streamed through Petal’s bedroom window, warming the side of her face as she sat at the small breakfast table. She bit off the last of the bacon from her fork and swallowed the filling meat. Her stomach bulged from devouring the meal. It was the first proper meal she’d had in months.
 

Outside, a video clip of her arriving on her quad bike played on one of the large media screens. The video cut to her pulling Jachz out of the wreckage of his craft. A headline scrolled beneath the video: “The hero of Libertas returns in typical style.”
 

Good to see Libertas was still fully operational with its surveillance, Petal thought sarcastically. She longed for the days when she and Gabe had their hideout in the downtown area and sneaked in and out of the dome undetected.
 

Being here on official business only made her a visible target for the cameras, even if they meant well. She’d have to talk to Enna about this later. She’d prefer to keep a low profile. But then if it all went well with bringing Gerry back, she didn’t intend on staying around for very long.
 

— You’re awake. Enjoy the breakfast?
Enna sent across their VPN.
 

—
It was great, thanks.
 

— Jachz and I are calibrating the servers. We’ll be ready for you shortly. In your own time.

— Okay, oh, by the way, did Jachz mention anything at all about a passenger?

— No, why’s that?

— No reason…
Well, there was a very good reason. She’d definitely seen someone in the wreckage and in the trees. She’d gone over it in her head numerous times and couldn’t explain it away as a figment of her imagination. Sure, no one else noticed, but that didn’t mean it didn’t exist.
 

Petal continued her thought.
 

—
It’s just that I thought I saw someone exit the wreckage and then again in the trees. Can you trust Jachz is telling you the truth? AI’s do have the capacity to lie if it’s in their programming.
 

While Petal waited for Enna’s reply, she poured another cup of coffee and switched on the blinds so she didn’t have to stare at herself on the video screen.
 

—
Sorry,
Enna sent,
I’m just working on something right now… chat later when you come up?

— Sure, no worries.
 

A knock came from her door. Petal scanned the vicinity with her internal network software. Nothing. Meant the visitor was human. Petal got up from the table and moved across the two-meter gap to the door. She looked through the one-way spyhole and smiled when she saw Holly.
 

She opened the door and stepped back. “Hey, Hol, how’s it going? Wanna cup of coffee?”

“I’d kill for one, thanks.” Once inside, Holly closed the door, and her pleasant face turned serious.
 

“What’s wrong?” Petal said as she sat down on the edge of her bed. “You look freaked out.”

“I am,” she said. “Last night, someone visited me.”

“Oh?” Petal raised an eyebrow and smirked. “You and Franklin got a little frisky, eh?”

Holly crossed her arms and rubbed her elbows. “Nothing like that. It was the freakiest thing. And that’s something, considering what I put up with Jericho back in Baicheng.”

Petal remembered the guy well. She and Gabe were carrying out a job for Shelley—extracting data from Jericho’s secure servers, which ultimately turned out to be Alpha. On the surface he seemed friendly enough, but he’d been abusing Holly, using his secure apartment and general shitty manipulation as a way of keeping her in line.
 

“So what happened. Are you okay?” Petal rose from the bed and placed her hands on the girl’s shoulders.
 

Holly shook beneath her touch. “It must have been about three or four in the morning. I thought I heard a noise outside my room, which is just like this one. I checked outside in the hall, but there was nothing there. When I came back in, I smelled smoke. I thought it was on my clothes from the wreckage, but I’d given them to the laundry, and my window was closed.”

“That’s strange. Did you find out what it was?”

“Yeah,” Holly said, looking pale. “A ghost.”

Petal stifled a laugh, seeing how freaked her friend was. “Um, what? A ghost?” Although Petal carried no spiritual beliefs, she’d come to realise that they brought many people comfort, even if they also brought fear, so she didn’t pass any kind of judgement.
 

“It’s the only thing I could think of,” Holly said. “But it was definitely there.”

“Where exactly? These rooms are twenty floors up. How did it get in?”
 

Holly shivered. “It was standing in the corner, looking at me with black eyes.”
 

“Shit, that is fucked up.” Petal turned away from her and moved to the coffee machine embedded into the wall. She placed two cups on the tray and pressed the dispensing button. Twin streams of brown gold flowed out, filling the room with a rich, bitter scent.

“Here, get that in you,” Petal said, handing Holly one of the cups.
 

“I didn’t imagine it,” Holly said, cradling the cup between her hands.
 

“So what happened next? Did it say or do anything?”

“No, that’s the thing. I turned my back to run out into the hall to call for security, and when I came back, it’d gone. I felt movement of air as if it’d legged it out of there, but I couldn’t spot it. And to be honest, I kinda freaked and slammed the door.”

Holly sipped the coffee and exhaled, visibly relaxing after getting the story out. She sat on the edge of Petal’s bed and fussed with her hair. “You think I’m nuts, don’t you? I wouldn’t blame you if you did. You wouldn’t be the first.” She tried to smile, but Petal wasn’t buying it.

The girl was genuinely scared.
 

And that same fear prickled at the edge of Petal’s consciousness. Hadn’t she seen the very same thing? She didn’t for one minute believe it was a ghost. One thing she had learned in years of conflict and strife was that all evil remained the exclusive domain of humanity.
 

Apart from spiders.
 

They were the distilled essence of evil—everyone knew that.
 

Seeing no other way of consoling her friend, Petal said, “I saw it too. Earlier, back at the wreckage. Thought it was just my imagination, you know? From all the travelling and stuff… I don’t think it’s a ghost, though, Hol.”

The girl’s eyes widened, and her shoulders relaxed as if Petal’s words had literally lightened the burden. “Oh my freaking god, I thought it was just me. I thought some of Jericho’s experimental drugs were having some flashback effect on me—or worse, losing my marbles.”

“Nah, girl, your marbles are all there. Jachz has got some explaining to do.”

“You think it was him?”

“He’s from the Family—that always gets my suspicious antennae flapping. You up for a bit of impromptu interrogation?”

“Fuck yeah, let’s go get him. Beat the truth out of him.” Holly stood and placed the cup on the side, clearly excited about the prospect of dealing with Jachz.
 

“That won’t be any use; he’s a cyborg.”

“We’ll pull his plugs, then.”

“Haha, that’ll do it. Come on, then. He’s with Enna in her lab. Let’s go see if we can shake something out of his little computer mind.”

***

Petal and Holly entered Enna’s lab. Enna’s voice carried through the open space from the far left corner, behind the server stack. Standing in front of the impressive amount of CPU power was the still form of Jachz. A cable snaked from his neck port into the main server.
 

“Hello again, Petal,” Jachz said without turning around to look at her. At least his lips moved to give him some semblance of a human.

“Jachz.” Petal picked up his node on the Libertas network instantly. Enna had given him considerable privileges. Very few people were given the run of the network like this—not even Petal, though she didn’t exactly need permission for such a thing.
 

“I understand you feel I’ve obscured the truth with regards to carrying passengers.”
 

Holly rolled her eyes and gave him the wanker sign. Petal smirked and elbowed her in the arm.
 

“I didn’t say that,” Petal said. “I didn’t call you a liar. My exact question was can you be trusted to tell the truth. I’ll send you the transcript if you don’t believe me.” Petal annoyed herself with having to justify her enquiries to a glorified toaster.
 

“That won’t be necessary,” Enna said, finally crawling out from behind the servers and standing up. She smiled at Petal and Holly. Dust covered her face, and her hair looked like she’d been indulging in bed sports.

“It’s okay,” Jachz said to Enna as he turned to face Petal. “And to answer your question. No, I cannot be trusted to tell the truth.”

“See,” Holly said now, stepping forward and jabbing a finger. “I knew it was him.”

“What he means,” Enna interjected, “is that he’s not just AI. Not anymore. You’re looking at a fully sentient being with emotions and a consciousness. Hence why he is here and not on the Family’s Mars facility being probed and torn apart for his essence.”

Both Petal and Holly just blinked, mouths agape.
 

“What the actual fuck?” Petal said.
 

Jachz gave her a courteous bow at the waist. “Enna is telling the truth. I began to develop—thoughts and feelings when they brought me back from the upload. It was small things to begin with, noticing myself passing judgement and feeling… slighted.”

“How is this even possible?” Holly said. “And this still doesn’t explain the freaking ghost.”

“Ghost?” Jachz’s pupils dilated a fraction as he tried to understand the sudden change in subject.

“It’s like I was saying earlier,” Petal explained. “I thought I saw someone else in the craft, then later on stalking about in the trees like a freak. For a brief moment, Jachz, when we pulled you out I detected your node, but also another.”

Enna and Jachz looked at each other and seemed to share a thought that Petal couldn’t quite make out. It wasn’t subterfuge or deception. Some kind of recognition perhaps? They were no doubt conversing over their own private network.
 

“Look,” Petal said. “I doubt there’s anything we can do about it now—unless, wait. Enna, can you get security to start scanning the camera feeds? There must be hundreds of opportunities to have caught who or whatever it was on film. It was in Holly’s room; you must have footage of the hallways or entrances, right?”

“We do,” Enna said. She pulled a slate from her lab coat pocket and gestured out a message. “I’ll have your friend Franklin look into it. I’m sure he’ll dedicate his efforts to finding this mystery person.”

“AI, ghost, freak,” Holly said. “No guarantees it’s an actual person.” She gave Jachz a wary look, and Petal couldn’t help but feel sympathy with her thoughts.
 

This idea of Jachz gaining consciousness troubled her. Where was the catalyst for such a thing? “So how did you evolve?” Petal asked.
 

“It’s… quite an involved story,” Jachz replied.
 

“Yes, we don’t have the time right now,” Enna said, speaking to Petal. “I’ve got a meeting with the cabinet later this afternoon. I’d really like to get you hooked up. See if with Jachz’s help and my new transcendent tech, we can coax Gerry out of that beautiful mind of yours.”

“But I will explain all,” Jachz added in. “As soon as we next have a moment.”

“Oh, before we start,” Petal said, making Enna halt in her tracks and place the slate on a desk.
 

She looked round at Petal. “Yes?”
 

“Where’s Xian and Jess?”
 

“Xian’s in Darkhan with a group of my techs. We’re going to try to get that place hygienic and safe for its residents. Jess is over at Cemprom, helping my programmers build a better security system. She’s really taken to the role. You’ll be able to see her later. I’m sure she would like to see you again.”

As quickly as Enna’s irritation showed, it had gone again, hidden by the facade of calm and passivity. Though that was a little unfair. Petal had no reason to think ill of Enna; she’d been nothing but an ally since they met. But she was definitely on edge this morning. Must be the pressure of running Libertas. And now with Jachz’s arrival, having to finally test her new tech. On Petal. For realsies.
 

“Are you okay?” Holly said, pressing her body against Petal’s as they both watched Enna and Jachz finish up wiring the servers to the transcendent tanks.
 

“Yeah, girl, I ain’t bad. Just a bit nervous, you know? Gerry’s kind of a big deal, and I still don’t know if he’s really in there.” She tapped the side of her head. “Or whether it was all just… well, you know.”