Firewall (Magic Born) (18 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

The temperature had finally cooled into something approaching livable as the sun set. Hayes and Tuyet stayed deep in conversation as they walked across the zone to Sinsuality, Vadim’s former club. Better to be seen involved with each other so as to hopefully dissuade people from approaching Mekhi and Zinnia. Once inside Vadim’s apartment, behind locked doors and powerful wards, they pocketed their glamours. Vadim and Lizzie had prepared dinner, their infant daughter asleep in another room. Nate and Calla brought a hoarded bottle of wine.

After dinner, the six gathered in the small living room, some on the sofa, some seated on the floor. All drank their wine slowly, knowing they had to make it last.

Vadim held up his tablet, an email on the screen. “It’s official. Councilwoman Sheila Copeland has formally ended her association with the protest movement. Her statement is a lot of drivel about public safety.”

“They got to her,” Lizzie said.

“She advocates the discontinuation of the weekly march and all related activities,” Vadim read from the tablet. “Who the hell wrote that? Your boy Duane?”

“It sounds more like something she was forced to release.” Lizzie addressed Nate. “Have you heard from your department contact?”

A shadow crossed the former cop’s face. “Twenty-nine dead. Over two hundred injured. Of course that’s just Normals.”

“Thirty-six of ours injured.” Vadim placed the tablet on a shelf and joined Lizzie on the sofa. “We got off so fucking lucky.”

“And it only cost us the arcade,” Calla said. “Are they going to let you reopen?”

Vadim shook his head. “I can’t afford to pay off the DMS.”

The four permanent residents of FreakTown spoke at length about the problems and issues the zone was dealing with. Tuyet listened but none of it made an impact. Ideas that had been coalescing in her mind since the night of the riot were finally taking firm shape. They weren’t perfectly solid yet, but close. She was aware of Hayes asking questions of Nate and Lizzie, and Calla joining that conversation too.

Mostly she just stared at her cell phone.

Tunnel flooding.
Is there quicker way out?

Ppl drowning.
Can you help?

Water too high.

Vadim leaned forward in a brief lull and said, “What is it, Tuyet?”

Can you help?

She put her phone away and rubbed her palms on denim-covered thighs. “I go back and forth between thinking Paula Miller’s idea of telling the story of New Corinth was the dumbest, most idealistic nonsense I’ve ever heard, and thinking it’s maybe our best chance at making people pay attention to what’s happening here.”

Vadim said, “Why can’t you think it’s both? I do.”

Tuyet continued. “There’s been no news coverage of what really happened Friday night, and there won’t be. The city gets away with killing people. Channing gets away with killing people. Sheila Copeland is probably scared the violence will only get worse. And she’s right, because it will. As long as the killers keep getting away with it, they’ll keep right on killing.”

Hayes said, “Sounds like you’ve got a plan.”

“No,” she said. “Not yet. I know what I want to do, but I haven’t figured out how.”

“You want to get her video of Friday night out.” Hayes wasn’t asking, and that made her wonder what he’d been thinking during all of the quiet moments between them since the riot.

“I don’t want to just get it out there, I want to cram it down people’s throats. As far and as wide as we can get it seen.”

“Can Silver Wheels help?”

“Yes,” she said. “And he has been getting her older videos out on the darknet. But the problem is one of numbers. Not enough people are seeing those videos, which means the impact is negligible. We need something big.”

Hayes rubbed his chin, his eyes squinched in the way they did when thinking hard.

“You look like you’re having an idea,” Tuyet said. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

Calla snickered.

Hayes ignored them. “TMG. They’re the biggest network in the country. We get the footage aired there, it’ll be seen by millions.”

“Especially if you add in all the news alerts that go to phones and tablets,” Lizzie said.

Hayes said, “No witch Ranger was ever better at crafting viruses than you, Snow. A replicating virus that spreads through a contacts list, on top of hacking TMG. It would be everywhere.”

Tuyet considered it and found only one drawback. “A virus that works as fast as we’d need it, that can fight off attempts to contain it, would require a lot of power. I could craft the spells, sure, and launch them. It’s keeping it going in the face of TMG and anyone else trying to shut it all down that would be a problem. That I can’t do alone.”

“Who said anything about you doing this alone? You’ve got two trancehackers right here that’ll help,” Calla said. “I’d bet Silver Wheels would too. I know Jason would.”

“Yeah, but the type of security we’re talking about here, it’s not like finding a back way into a bank site and strolling out with a little money that’s covered by their insurance. We want this to keep going, not be a quick in and out.”

Nate said, “So that’s where the power issue comes in?”

“Yes,” Tuyet said. “The spells themselves would be pretty simple.”

“Then work the simplest problem first and go from there. First we figure out how many types of spells it would take. Different operating systems need spells with slight variations, right? So, if you want news alerts on phones and tablets, you’ll have to tailor different spells for different systems.” Nate shrugged at the bemused stares. “What? I pay attention.”

Tuyet couldn’t stay seated any longer. She paced the small section of floor between the furniture and the bookshelves. The familiar crank of adrenaline was already humming in her blood. The bare beginnings of a plan shouldn’t have been enough to get excited about, but it fueled her need to
do something
. She wanted to hurt the people who’d made the decision to allow police to fire on protesters. The people who’d pushed for the ordinance in the first place. The people who kept the Magic Laws in place. She wanted to hurt them and shame them and take away what they valued most—their power.

The Magic Born underground had been chipping away at the status quo, bit by bit, for years. Normal sympathizers too, people who wanted to keep their children. Who had the basic human decency and empathy to want anyone, everyone to keep their children. But all their combined efforts were never enough because they were piecemeal and scattered, too localized to make a real difference.

It was time to change that.

“We start it here,” she said, more thinking out loud than trying to convey coherent thoughts. “New Corinth is ground zero, because of the ordinance and the protests and the shootings. It’ll be the first domino to fall.”

“Snow.” Hayes leaned forward. For a moment it seemed as if his eyes were the same electric blue-white as cyberspace.

Tuyet blinked the illusion away. “We develop the plan here. All the spells, how to spread them. We’ll need to go over everything on Paula’s camera. It’ll be more effective if it’s edited at least somewhat. Maybe intercut with some of the interviews she did before...” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

Vadim said, “Not too long though. Two, three minutes, tops. Keep it brief and very direct.”

“Jason can do the editing,” Calla said.

Lizzie stood and walked to the desk, returning with a pen and notepad. “I’m not much of a trancehacker but I can damn sure take notes.”

“I watched the footage,” Tuyet said. “She got clear video of a cop shooting someone in the back, and of a grenade being launched at a bunch of people running away. Plus the texts.” Again, she couldn’t finish. “We’ll need more than just us.”

Hayes reached for Tuyet’s hand when her pacing brought her close to him again. “You want to get the rest of the underground involved.”

“Once we have everything worked out, I want Vadim to take it to them. I want as many of them on board as possible.”

“We get the video out here, then others pick it up at the network access points,” Vadim said. “I can almost see that working.”

“Almost?” Tuyet wanted to hear every hole in the plan anyone could find, so that it could be filled.

“You said your girl Paula was getting shut out quickly. Whatever we do will have to be hard and fast and powerful enough to blast through any and every kind of firewall we might come up against.” Vadim exhaled slowly, the sound of a man in dire need of a drink. “Yeah, this is going to take a lot more than stealing rent money from my least favorite DMS agent. We’ll need every trancehacker who’s willing to get involved.”

“Not just from FreakTown,” Tuyet said. “We really are going to need the rest of the underground.”

“Getting them to do something so public is going to be tough,” Vadim said. “Whether it makes the news or not, it’ll be seen as an announcement on the part of the Magic Born. Those of us who can work with electricity and cyberspace, anyway.”

“You mean an announcement to the government?” Hayes shrugged. “They already know. I think they’ve known for a very long time.”

The heavy weight of every pair of eyes in the room pressed down on Tuyet. “He’s right. If anyone has doubts about taking part because of fear of exposure, tell them about the Magic Rangers.”

Silence fell.

Finally Hayes spoke. “How’s Mekhi?”

“Better,” said Nate. “I saw them today and he’s a lot stronger. Zinnia says a couple more days and he’ll be ready to make the switch.”

“You could leave then.” Vadim stared straight at Tuyet. “No one would think less of you. This has been your fight long enough. Now you’re both on a wanted list that could get you sent to prison for the rest of your lives. Maybe even the death penalty. With that reward money on the table, people are going to be looking pretty hard for you too. You need to get out.”

A couple more days, then out of the country within a week of that, maybe less if they pushed hard. It was tempting, more so than she was comfortable admitting. But she’d made a promise, and she intended to see it through.

“We will, but I have to do this first. You and Calla are good trancehackers. I’m better. If this plan or whatever is going to work, I have to be part of it.” The words sounded boastful and clumsy, leaving a bad taste in her mouth. She wasn’t sure whether she could articulate what this meant to her, so she let the awkward declaration hang in the air.

“She’s so modest, isn’t she?” Hayes graced the room with his dirty sunlight smile. “She’s right too. She’s the best. But we can’t call this
the plan or whatever
. This is a mission and it needs a name.”

Vadim said, “Got something in mind, Captain Cream Puff?”

“I think Operation Firewall has a nice ring to it. Don’t you, Snow?”

Adrenaline knocked in her veins. “Firewall it is.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Hayes snapped awake from a hard doze. Several seconds passed before he was able to orient himself to his surroundings. Music filtered through the fog in his head, that smoky-voiced female singer Tuyet liked so much. He yawned and shifted his position on the couch, the movement sending a three-ring binder tumbling to the floor. Zinnia was a writer and he’d been reading one of her serials when he’d started to drift in and out.

He sat up and stretched then picked up the binder and placed it on the end of the couch. Tuyet was nowhere to be seen, which meant she was probably still in the bedroom at work on spells. He found his phone on the floor just under the edge of the couch and checked the time. Way too late for anyone to still be working. He stood, stretching again as he ambled to the back of the apartment.

The bedroom was painted a dark wine with deep gold trim, decorated with scarves and candles and other lush, pretty things. The rest of the place was basic, functional, comfortably lived-in. The bedroom was clearly a refuge, a safe haven for two people deeply in love. A sensual playground too. Driven by the awkwardness of their situation, Hayes and Tuyet had been sleeping on the floor on a pallet of blankets and throw pillows. Tuyet’s belongings had been retrieved from the car they were to have taken out of the city. Seeing the dragon he’d bought for her in Hong Kong had squeezed his heart, then made it nearly explode with happiness.

Tuyet sat in the middle of their pallet now, eyes closed and a soft blue glow around her adding to the candlelight. A tablet was perched on a pillow in front of her, wrapped in the same blue glow. Hayes leaned against the doorway, happy to simply look at her. He could do that now without having to hide it or find an excuse. Reach for her hand, run his fingers through her hair without the cover of a glamour and a mission. Kiss her without fear or doubt or a thousand other things getting in the way.

Okay, there was some stuff in the way. They were both wanted terrorists and needed to flee the country as soon as possible, but honestly that seemed like nothing compared to the walls that had divided them in the past. This was something they could face together, openly.

The electric glow faded and Tuyet’s posture relaxed. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “Hi.”

The smile she gave him lit every inch of him with happiness.

Hayes moved to sit behind her, guiding her to lean against his chest. “It’s late. You should call it a night, get some rest.” He wrapped his arms around her.

“There’s still plenty to do.” She snuggled into his embrace. “Okay, most of it’s done. I had the framework for the spells finished so once Jason finished with the video, all I had to do was stitch it all together. There’s still plenty of planning work to do.”

“Sounds to me like you’re done, at least for the night.”

“I’m still trying to figure out how to get into TMG. Their security is top-notch.”

Hayes smoothed her hair back, sliding his fingertips over the soft strands. “Can Silver Wheels help?”

She didn’t answer for nearly a full minute. “He’s helping with a lot, including that.”

“So how did a game developer get involved with the Magic Born underground? Is he like Lizzie and Jason?” He didn’t really believe that was the case, but he wasn’t ready to ask point-blank. His theory about Silver Wheels was crazy. Impossible. So absurd that she’d probably laugh at him if he dared voice it.

“Not exactly,” she said. “He keeps his identity secret. It’s safer that way.”

That was a pointless nonanswer if he’d ever heard one. He filed it in the column in favor of his crazy theory and let the subject drop. “There is one obvious way to breach TMG security. I’m surprised you haven’t thought of it.”

“Walking through the front door and loading the virus directly into their servers would be great, but somehow I doubt they’d let me.”

“They would if you worked there. Say, as a night watchman.”

Tuyet pushed herself up and turned sideways to look at him, mouth open and eyes wide. He grinned.

“That’s perfect,” she said. “Genius. Devious, even.” She looked him over with an appraising eye. “When did sweet, innocent Dale Hayes become devious?”

He wanted to wink, laugh, find some way to turn what he was feeling into a joke. Anger wouldn’t allow it.

Tuyet saw the faces of those she’d left behind in her dreams. These last few nights, Hayes hadn’t seen faces. He’d seen images of people running, black-clad police firing at their retreating backs. Heard the sound of rushing water and his own pounding heart as he ran for safety.

No, Hayes couldn’t bring himself to joke about this. “I’m not devious. I’m vengeful. Scott Channing wants to pin his crimes on me, I figure turnabout’s fair play.” He took a deep breath then exhaled, hoping it would expel some of the anger, some of the darkness. “Besides, it’s probably the best way to get us into TMG and get access to the servers. Doing that directly rather than just by trancehacking might be the best way to accomplish what we want.”

Tuyet was quiet for a moment. “So I launch the virus from within their own system, so when they trace its origin they wind up in their own house. Once I’m in, I can change passwords and other settings. Make it that much harder for them to stop the video.”

“Even mess with the hardware if you have to.”

“I can see this working.” She bit her lip, staring at nothing as she considered things. “We’ll need to know his routine. When it’s time, we’ll need him out of commission and available for us to enchant a glamour.”

“I’ve been thinking about the power issue too.” With reluctance, he eased her away so that he could retrieve his phone from his pack. He brought up the data charts he’d saved. “I measured magical energy across the city. Not just close to the zone but everywhere. The readings were all over the place. The only real consistency was Friday nights. The protests would bring on a big spike.”

Tuyet took the phone from him and studied the charts. “The English and the Chinese are light-years ahead of us on magical research, but I think I can make a guess at what this is.”

“Tell me your ideas, then I’ll tell you mine.”

“Natural magic, in the land, the water table and the river. What was here before the city. But also what the city itself has created, or rather, what the people who live here have. Neon and streetlights. Concrete and steel. Electricity and cyberspace. Music and crowds.”

“Fire, earth, air and water.”

“Exactly.” She smiled. “You really did pay attention to me and Halif.”

“It was my responsibility to lead the team, to take care of my people. I felt like that meant I had to understand my people too. With you and Halif, that meant understanding magic.” He shrugged. “As much as a Normal can, anyway.”

“So what’s your idea about all this?”

“You can draw on neon and concrete and the other elements. Why not all of the energy created by New Corinth? You and the other trancehackers like Vadim, you draw on that power source as a means to help push the video virus from a local source out to...to everywhere. Could that work?”

Tuyet leaned against the bed frame and stretched her legs out across the blankets. “I don’t know. It sounds like it could work, but that’s a hell of a lot of power for a handful of people to be channeling. I don’t know how stable it would be, how long we could manage to control it.” She paused for a moment, hands in the air as if she was struggling for the right words. “I did it on a very small scale the night of the riot, when I threw up that shield. But I couldn’t maintain working with that level of energy for long. Think of that grenade as a defensive spell, a big one, and it knocked me on my ass. What I did that night amounted to standing in a tiny pool of calm water. What we’ll need to get the video out would be like trying to swim in grade-six white-water rapids.”

The most deadly of rapids then, and far too dangerous for one person to handle alone. Hayes wasn’t exactly surprised, but he’d been hoping the mishmash of thoughts and ideas rolling around in his head might have proved at least somewhat useful. “This is why the plan of getting the rest of the underground involved is better, isn’t it? Create a sort of relay system through cyberspace and let as many people as possible help carry the load.”

“That’s it in a nutshell. Yours is a really good theory and I’d love to test it, but this isn’t the right situation for that. I can draw a lot of energy from around me and channel it successfully using my own to guide it. Once you reach a certain threshold though, I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know how much a body can take. How much a witch’s consciousness can take.”

Hayes stood and paced the short distance between the bedroom’s door and far wall. “Could a witch’s consciousness be overwhelmed enough that they’d be trapped in cyberspace?” He wanted to see her face as she took in the question, but he didn’t want her to see his, so he continued to pace with his gaze on the floor.

“I don’t...why would you ask that?”

He stopped at the window and moved the heavy curtain enough to give him a sliver of a view. A lone streetlight bathed a small circle of pavement in front of the apartment building. Farther down the street, witchlight danced in a rainbow of colors. “If you knew it would work, that’d be one thing. But if it might be dangerous, yeah, we’re definitely better off getting the rest of the underground involved.” He turned back to find her trancehacking again and let her finish before asking.

Tuyet answered, “I emailed Vadim about Channing. He’s already found out quite a bit but if we can get a better idea of his routine during work hours, that should help. Does he leave for his lunch break? Or should we grab him before he enters the building for his shift? That kind of stuff.”

“I thought we agreed you were done with work for the night.” Hayes returned to the nest of blankets, lying on his side to face her. “I can think of much better things to do.”

Tuyet pushed him to his back and draped herself over him. “Tell me.”

He did, in great detail.