Hard Wired Trilogy by DeAnna Pearce (smart books to read .TXT) 📕

know if it was him or someone pretending to be him, maybe even better than Ari.”

She narrowed his eyes not wanting to agree with that statement. He wouldn’t know how Reed kissed, she thought instead. She wasn’t childish enough to say it aloud, though.

“Let’s talk it out. What does everyone think?” Patrick opened the floor for discussion.

Harini spoke first. “It makes sense. The only hard part would be getting him a good cover. Then if he looks different how would Reed recognize him?”

“It doesn’t matter what I look like. He’ll know it’s me.”

When Harini gave him a questioning look, Ari said, “They grew up together in and out of VRs, best friends since they were six. If it’s really Reed, he’ll know it’s Marco.”

Patrick nodded at Joe for his opinion.

Joe rubbed his chin. “He knows the threats, and he’s right. If you take away our abilities, he is just as capable as us.”

Patrick didn’t agree or disagree, just turned to Ari. “You’re okay with your brother going in?”

“I think it’s a great idea, especially because I’m going with him,” Ari said.

All of a sudden everyone had an opinion. Harini and Patrick were the loudest as they voiced their displeasure at the same time. Ari tried to appear confident about her decision.

Marco turned to his sister. “I almost had this settled. Are you sure you need to be there?”

“I’m sure.”

Patrick cleared his voice and waited until everyone quieted. “Why would we chance you going in? If Reed is the bait, then it is you who they want.”

“This goes beyond just me. They are attacking all warpers.”

“Exactly why you shouldn’t go in.” Harini spoke up.

Ari and Harini had grown close since Ari arrived, but she didn’t need Harini’s concern right now.

“Two reasons: first, I won’t contact Reed or go near him. I’ll just watch the code and see if anything is suspect. Second, Marco needs protection if this goes south. If they do attack him, I’ll need to come back and manually pull him out. Don’t tell me any one of you would have your family go in there without backup.” Ari looked at the others around the conference table, daring them to argue with her.

Patrick leaned forward in his chair. “We consider each other family, Ari. Everyone here is a brother or sister. That is why we are worried. I never thought of sending Marco in without backup. But since you just went in with Tricky, and since VisionTech is hunting for you, I think it best for someone else to go with him.”

Ari took a deep breath, fighting to keep emotion out of her argument. “I appreciate your concern. Everyone’s, really. But being in there with Tricky…” Ari swallowed a lump in her throat. “That’s why I need to go back. If this is VisionTech, and I got distracted when this thing attacked… well, no matter what everyone says, I need to make this right. I need to go in.”

Everyone was silent for a moment, while Ari tried to reel in her emotions.

Joe finally broke the silence. “If it was me, I would go. As much as I don’t feel comfortable about it, I think you earned the right.”

“She won’t be alone,” Marco reminded him.

“Neither of you will be. I’m going in as well.” Patrick stared at Ari as if daring her to object.

“What?” Harini asked, the fear evident in her eyes. “Why risk it? We all have enough money to go our own ways and never have to go back in. We may act like gods inside, but we’re not. We’re destructible, look at what they did to Tricky.”

Patrick’s gaze softened as he turned to Harini. “You’re right, but I never did this for the money.” He turned, letting his gaze rest momentarily on everyone in the room. “If they can use this virus against us, think of the leverage they will have on other warpers. Again, corporations can steal, manipulate, and threaten warpers to do their business for them, but they’ve never had the ability to take out the competition entirely. People’s lives are on the line now. I can’t sit here and let anyone do that, but I can’t expect anything from the rest of you. I won’t pressure any of you in the slightest to go back in.” He turned to Ari in particular. “If anything, I’ll try to keep you out of it.”

“I’m in. You know that,” Ari said.

“So am I,” Joe said to Patrick. “I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you.”

“Me too,” Harini said.

Then, walking through the door, Sketchy added, “Me too. I’m always up for a good time.”

The mood in the room automatically lightened. “We count on you for that. Please have a seat.” Patrick turned to Ari and Marco. “You two can go in, but not without me. We’ll need to get ready.”

Chapter 16

It took longer than Ari wanted to go back into VLEX to find Reed. Security was beyond tight. Governments, corporations, and other worldwide dignitaries went there. You not only had to have a paycheck to afford that VR realm, you had to have a reason to go in. Joe worked on finding skins. Patrick never liked using the same ones repeatedly if possible.

A couple of days into working on covers, Blur surfaced from his time with Tricky. The dark circles under his eyes hadn’t changed. Tricky continued to wake up for short periods but not long enough for anyone to evaluate her mental state.

“Any change?” Joe said keeping his gaze on the screen—a common habit of these guys that drove Ari crazy.

“Same.” He scratched his head. He looked like he could use a good wash. He pulled back his hair into a tight, short ponytail in back.

Ari and Marco worked on the other side of the table. She had been showing him the layout of VLEX so he would look like a regular when he went in. She pushed aside the screen, needing to get something off her chest.

“Blur?”

He turned, looking half alive.

The guilt eating a