Unawakened (20 page)

I started working with the police before classes resumed, and I was relieved to learn Jacob would work far away from me, minimizing our chance of contact. My domain became the server room hosting the registration databases, and I took my time restructuring the system. If I wanted to have time to poke around the primary database, I needed every minute I could free up. By working at a slow and steady pace, I gave the illusion of productivity while buying the time required to explore data once I got my hands on the primary registration system.

Until I rebuilt the new database, the police wouldn’t give me access to the system they had used prior to the Dawn of Dae. I had, with a little cajoling, convinced Sergeant Gildroy I needed more information and had gained access to all of the table layouts and a sample set of records so I could build the new system to be compatible with the old one.

I had a feeling it would take months to finalize everything, and the scope of the task both excited and terrified me. The reality the police didn’t have many people capable of building a working system bothered me.

I knew of four merit students entering my year at the college, myself included. Were the children of the elite truly so superior to everyone else? The database I was correcting had been made in haste, lacking the logic to weave all points of data in a consistent, usable way. Had one of the younger elite built it?

Why was education so restricted if there was such an obvious need for intelligent, trained people? What was so dangerous about learning how to write, read, do math, or apply logic to problems?

It took me three days to build a sane structure, but without someone who also understood how the system was supposed to work, there was no one to double-check my method of organization.

Stuffing my pride in the deepest, darkest hole I could find, I went in search of Sergeant Gildroy with a printout of the database structure. I found him in his office, and he waved me inside.

“You have something for me?”

“Yes, sir.” I held out the printouts to him. “This is the draft of the new database structure.”

“Draft?”

“I wanted someone to go over this to make sure it was sane, sir. While all tables connect and references can be drawn from any of them to find matching criteria, I lack familiarity with the original registration databases, so I may have missed some important piece of information. The set up should allow us to import entries from the original database to this one, but I won’t know for certain until I make a copy of the database and load it into the new system.” I shifted my weight foot to foot and kept the rest of my misgivings to myself.

“The maintainer of the old system went missing during the Dawn,” Sergeant Gildroy replied, frowning as he looked over the papers. “Those with the knowledge of working on such systems are difficult to acquire. While we have quite a few tech-oriented people, they have no interest in working with the actual databases. They maintain the hardware and make certain the search and entry forms work, but that’s the limit of their expertise. Most of the merit students are immediately hired in military or higher government capacities.”

“I can correct any logic problems as we go, but there may be delays involved. Systems this complex are easily broken.”

There was a huge difference between working on a spreadsheet and accessing databases to pull out information. Building one tested every bit of knowledge I had scraped together over the years.

How could a fringe rat who served as a drug dealer’s bitch have more education and skill than the children of those in the elite caste?

It was madness.

“How long to make this functional?”

“I would need a day at the minimum to look over the old registration system, check over record formats, and make certain there are no logic errors in what I’ve designed. After that, it depends on how good the servers are. I’ve never worked with a system quite this robust before, sir. The education system has nothing quite like this available for student use.”

“I’ll have someone give you access tomorrow. Take the rest of the day. Good work, Miss Daegberht. Do you mind if I keep these?”

“They’re yours for your review, sir.” Instead of bowing or curtseying, as they liked at the college, the police had a fondness for saluting each other. The gesture felt awkward, but I did it anyway. Sergeant Gildroy nodded his acknowledgment and turned his attention back to his work. I backed out of his office before he could change his mind.

An entire day with the primary registration database would be a good start. Once the data import was complete, my real work would begin.

Dean Lewis and Kenneth Smith would fall, and I smiled at the thought of masterminding their demise.

Chapter Thirteen

The first day with access to the master registration database filled me with foreboding. The database’s haphazard construction warned me of future days of misery, when it would be my job to undo years—if not decades—of poor judgment and illogical decisions. The only consistency in the system was the inconsistencies plaguing it.

I wanted nothing more than to find the original creators of the database, take them into a dark alley, and beat sense into them. With the resources available to the government, couldn’t they have built something better?

From the outside looking in, the world of the elites was a place of wonder and wealth. They had everything, including the wits and means to advance themselves. I had expected a whole new world to open up to me, one where I would be among intellectual peers.

Instead of joining a group of the intellectually superior, I faced a mess of incompetency, doomed to correct someone else’s mistakes—an elite’s mistakes. At least the database’s creator was probably long dead. I couldn’t blame the man who had maintained the system; there was a high chance he had been devoured by his dae.

Then again, maybe he had been smart and had made himself disappear on purpose to avoid working with the police database systems any longer.

I’d do my best to create a usable system without sacrificing my dignity to mediocrity. Rocking the boat was a good way to get sent back to the fringe and lose my Bach student status. While the system was a mess, I doubted any elite would want to know the truth about it.

If I wanted to survive among them, I needed to smile, pretend my head wasn’t throbbing due to their idiocy, and work hard. I’d take what I needed right out from under their noses, and I’d wait until I was in the privacy of Rob’s home before exploding.

Of course, I’d have to check myself for bugs every time I returned home. In the last four days, there had been six of the black discs stuck to my clothing, and Colby had located them all. He ate the first four before Rob had managed to grab the fifth one to examine it.

I smiled at the memory of Colby chasing Rob around the condominium in its desperation to eat the device. The surveillance bothered Rob a lot more than it bothered me. Someone was somehow touching me without me being aware of it. I found the problem interesting.

Someone
had the ability to sneak up on me, touch me, and get away without catching my attention—or triggering my allergies. Who was doing it and why remained a mystery. I doubted it was Jacob, unless he could be in two places at one time.

We still didn’t understand what the devices did; Colby ate them before we could do anything with them, but Rob and I doubted they were cameras. Cameras required a place for a lens, and as far as both of us could tell, the discs lacked one.

Long after I should have headed home to sleep, I lingered at the police station working on the cantankerous database system.

“You were scheduled to leave thirty minutes ago,” Sergeant Gildroy commented from the doorway of the server room.

I spun on my stool, widening my eyes to portray innocence. “Ah. I lost track of time, sir. There’s a lot to be done.”

“That’s how it always goes. When do you think you’ll be able to do the import of the old data?”

I turned back to the computer I had taken over as my work machine and tapped in a few commands, looking over my set up for the database. I pretended to think about it, despite knowing the exact answer. I could have started several hours ago but had delayed the inevitable by doing check after unnecessary check. “Tomorrow, probably two hours after the start of my shift, sir.”

“Excellent. How much monitoring will you need to do?”

“I should be watching it as much as possible, sir.”

“Noted. I’ll have a tech set up a tablet with monitoring access for you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“All employees of the police, be they officers or support staff, are fully licensed and trained with firearms. While you have a carry license, we have come to the decision you require adequate training. Depending on your skill, we may issue you a new weapon, one a little more… modern.”

It took every scrap of my willpower not to snort at the man’s understatement. “Understood, sir.”

“It has also come to my attention it may be wise for you to be trained in non-traditional fighting methods, including the use of long and short bladed weapons.” There were so many unvoiced questions in Sergeant Gildroy’s statement I wanted to crawl under the desk and hide.

Swords weren’t illegal, and I sat a little straighter to give the illusion of confidence. “I own a katana, sir. I thought it was pretty.”

“Bring it tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’ll be issued a phone and a tablet tomorrow so you can do remote monitoring and receive police notifications. You’ll be expected to carry both with you. You’ll be briefed on their use and given everything you need to use them no matter where you are.” Sergeant Gildroy tapped his fingers against the metal doorframe. “Wear formal attire.”

“Yes, sir.” I locked down the system to prevent anyone from tampering with it and stood, wondering why anyone in their right mind would wear formal attire during weapons training, but I didn’t question the man.

Criticizing cops was a good way to get arrested. Would they arrest me for getting an attitude when I worked for them? Keeping my mouth shut got harder and harder each time I was presented with yet another ridiculous order.

Who wore a
dress
when shooting weapons?

Sergeant Gildroy escorted me out of the building, and I nodded and smiled through all of his reminders of things I already knew. After seeing the systems I was slated to work with, I couldn’t really blame him.

Holding the hands of young elite was probably part of his job description, and it wasn’t giving me any hope of what I’d face when classes did resume in a couple of days. I swallowed my sighs and retreated to the comforts of Rob’s condominium.

There were three discs stuck to my clothes, and Colby removed the devices with its usual efficiency. Instead of chasing my macaroni and cheese casserole around his condo, Rob patted me down and found a fourth one hidden in the leg of my jeans a few inches above the hem.

“Strip,” he ordered, tossing the disc to Colby without inspecting it.

My eyes widened. After being bugged so many times, I expected him to start ripping the devices apart to find out what they did instead of destroying them. I shuddered at the thought of someone—or something—pawing inside my shirt in order to plant the devices on me. Goosebumps covered me as I peeled out of my shirt, which Rob yanked out of my hands the instant it was over my head.

An inspection raised the number of devices to seven. Sputtering at the thought of someone having toyed with my clothes without being aware of them, I reached behind me to unhook my bra and found another disc near the clasp. My dismayed wail captured both of the dae’s attention.

Rob spun me around so my back faced him, and he peeled the disc off, tossing it to Colby.

Four more were adhered to various locations in my jeans, but the worst one was located on my hip, firmly attached to my underwear. My mouth hung open, but all that emerged was a strangled croak.

Maybe the discs stunned me into silence and immobility, but Rob had me out of my bra and panties in the time it took me to squeak. The lingerie wouldn’t be worn by anyone ever again, especially not after Colby finished with it.