The Girl Who Dared to Think by Bella Forrest (e reader for manga TXT) 📕

she is. As a result, she paints directions for us, so we can find our way more easily and not get lost—the blue is for where we’re siphoning our water from, pink is for heading inside, green is for the nearest greenery, and purple is for the safe routes in and out of the Tower.”

I blinked, and studied the little marks. “So anyone can see these?”

“Not without the goggles. Quess designed the paint she uses to be visible only through these. It’s also a way for us to leave signals for each other, in case we need a safe place to hide. So keep the goggles with you, okay?”

“Okay. So where are we going?”

Cali’s answer was to whirl her lash once and launch it at the ceiling overhead as she leapt off the catwalk, trusting that her aim was true. I watched as she plummeted down another ten feet, and then the lash caught, arresting her fall and turning it into a graceful arc. I gathered my own lashes quickly and moved to follow her, praying that Quess’s modifications held.

Thanks to Quess’s goggles, I was able to keep pace with Cali fairly easily, although I held back some, letting her lead the way rather than attempting to catch up. The modifications Quess had made to my lashes seemed to be holding all right, although the amount of moisture in the air made me considerably twitchy at first. But after a while, I began to trust them more and more, and took the chance to really stretch out some stiff lashing muscles.

We lashed for fifteen or twenty minutes across the bottom of the Tower before Cali slowed to a stop and began retracting herself up to the structure above. As I watched, she pressed something, and suddenly a section of the ceiling drew back, revealing a dark hole above. Cali pulled herself through it, and then held out a hand for me a second later.

I drew close and grabbed it, and she heaved me up and in with a grunt. I grabbed onto the first stationary thing I saw, and helped her heft my body up farther, relaxing when I slid my hips into the room. She relaxed as well, and then stood upright and disappeared into the darkened room. Even with the goggles, I couldn’t see where she had gone, or anything at all really—the room had no discernible light anywhere.

Then I heard a click, and a light blossomed, nearly blinding me with its proximity and brightness. I took off the goggles and gave my eyes a second or two to adjust, letting Cali’s blurred form come into focus as she moved around. The light was being generated by a small lamp over a workstation—a workstation at which Cali was now sitting.

The rest of the room was fairly cramped and compact, rife with wires, conduits, circuit breakers, and pipes everywhere. There was maybe enough room to stand ten feet apart, but that was about it in terms of the size of the place.

She bent over and pressed something underneath the desk, and immediately the terminal turned on, the screen glowing white. Cali touched the screen, and began typing something into it.

“So this is a relay station?” I asked, looking around. “What’s it relaying?”

“Orders from Scipio, ranking adjustments, location updates... As much info as they can possibly collect on the people who live here.” She continued to type as she talked, and I saw screen after screen come up.

“Are you former IT or something?” I asked, impressed by how quickly she seemed to work.

“Ha, that’s a funny joke. I’m no better at computers than Maddox is at making friends, bless her heart.”

“But you—”

“Don’t read into it. I just memorized the instructions on how to do this years ago.”

Years ago? That was interesting. Especially if that meant she’d known the man in question for a long time, as that would mean he wasn’t likely to stray at the drop of a hat. I hoped.

“So, why are we here?” I asked, trying to dig for more information on this mysterious contact. “I mean, if he’s with the Eyes, doesn’t that mean he can... I don’t know, hide the calls or something?”

“I’m sure he can, but precaution is always the best form of safety. Using a relay station where thousands of terabytes of information are processed every day is the best way of avoiding detection.”

That made sense. I waited for her to continue, but she didn’t, and she hadn’t really left me any tidbits for continuing the conversation. She stopped typing and leaned back in the chair, going still. The seconds ticked by, and still nothing happened.

“What now?” I asked.

“Now I wait. He’s not always on time, but that’s understandable, considering that he’s doing it from the Core. It’s dangerous, and requires excellent timing and security protocols—or so he likes to remind me when I point out that he’s late.”

I considered this. “How can he still be up there? It’s obvious from how he’s helping you and Roark that he isn’t on their side. How does he avoid detection?”

“I’m not sure,” she replied. “I’ve often wondered the same thing, and the only thing I can think of is that he managed to trick the system somehow.”

I considered that too, piecing together the scraps of information that Roark had given me about him. He had contacted Roark before the old man had even finished refining the pill. Which meant he’d been helping him for some time. Cali as well. There was some trust there. It sort of dismissed the hope I carried that the contact was somehow Alex.

I exhaled, and turned back to the opening I was still half-perched in, looking down into the darkness beyond. “Can I ask you something?” I asked after a pause, and I heard the chair squeak. I glanced over to see her looking at me, her face mostly in shadows, save for the light being cast by the computer.

“I reserve the right not to answer it, but yes.”

“What is