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

They spoke about something, but Ari couldn’t hear what. She should have dived into the code to see, but she was still in shock that he was here. A rush of memories flooded her mind as she took him in. His hair looked freshly cut, but that could be the program. His shoulders were strong and wide. Her body wanted to puddle in the middle of the walkway, real or not, while at the same time, guilt gnawed at her stomach. She had left him behind. He was supposed to be safe, not here in VLEX.

Patrick pulled her to the side as to not upset the flow of pedestrians. “Hey, you still with me?”

She snapped back to the present. “Sorry.” She stepped close to a shop. The crowds pushed them close together, closer than any business acquaintances should be, but her attention was on Reed and Marco.

Just then, she felt a tall presence behind her, breathing heavily. “And here I thought you missed me.”

Chapter 17

Ari didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know it was Reed. His voice, rich timbre tones, resonated in her ear. VisionTech had even got the smell down, his spicy warmth tugged at her emotions. She cursed her body’s immediate reaction to seeing him.

Turning her head, Ari saw the other Reed still carried on a conversation with Marco. Her brother didn’t realize they had more than one Reed here. As she turned around, she found the skin was modified slightly. VisionTech couldn’t have little clones walking around here, that would be too obvious. Even though she didn’t know how they got these two inside the program at all.

The person before her wore Reed’s face, but it had matured ten years or so. He had a little more weight in his cheeks and longer hair that was neatly pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck.

An odd feeling crept over her, like they had entered some aging stimulation to see how they looked when they grew older. It was disturbing, really. She realized his eyes were wrong, too dark and narrow. Enough that the average person wouldn’t recognize it, but Ari did. She who had studied that face for longer than she’d want to admit.

It wasn’t Reed. But it if wasn’t him, who was it?

Patrick stepped around her, putting space between her and the fake Reed. “Maybe we should take this discussion to another location.” He motioned down the street to Marco and the other Reed.

This fake Reed shook his head. “This way.” He turned, waiting for them to follow.

Ari looked at Patrick, questioning. “If they were going to attack, it would have happened by now.” Blur’s theory of warping triggering the virus could possibly be right.

Patrick nodded, and they hurried to catch up. He turned into an alleyway that opened to a private courtyard containing small benches and a few trees. She never remembered it being here. “That’s far enough,” Patrick said, stopping at the entrance. It still gave him a visual on Marco.

The impostor turned, a sick grin on his face.

“What do you want?” Ari asked, tired of the games.

His dark eyes held pleasure as he watched Ari. “I guess what you want is pretty obvious.” He motioned to his body, then waltzed towards her provocatively. “What is it about this form that draws you in? I would have thought you’d put your boyfriend in this skin by now if that’s what you’re really after.”

Patrick stepped in front of her before the man could reach her. “You’re going to a new low. Where does VisionTech find scum like you?”

Anger pounded in her heart, and she forced herself to control it before Joe pulled her out of the program. “Don’t protect me.” She spoke in low tones. “I could take him out with my bare hands.”

“Please,” the impostor spread his hands out wide in invitation.

Ari stepped next to Patrick. She didn’t need her abilities as a warper to attack. Even though she couldn’t do real physical harm, she’d love to try. She’d hate for Niomi’s training to go to waste.

“I’ll ask you again.” Patrick spoke calmly. “What do you want from us?”

“To turn yourself in. You play by different rules and act like gods in here with no thought of the real world.”

“God, Reed,” Marco said from behind. “Do you get uglier by the minute or what? That makeover is the worst. At least the last prick had the common sense to keep the hair short. Reed could never pull off long hair. He tried it once in the sixth grade. I spit gum in it on purpose just to do the poor guy a favor.” Marco pushed past the others and sat on a nearby bench.

“So the last one wasn’t him either?” Ari hoped one of these skins would be the real deal.

“Hell no. Didn’t have the nerdy charisma that drew you to him.” Marco lifted a leg on the bench casually, but Ari knew him enough to know he could be off the bench in a second.

“You had a long enough conversation with him,” Ari said.

“These wannabes are fun to chat with, aren’t they?” He motioned to the skin in front of them.

“Personally, I’m not enjoying it.” Patrick kept his eyes focused on the impostor.

Without warning, Ari felt the presence of others at her back. Two men and a woman. They weren’t there by accident. Ari stepped closer to Marco, trying not to feel intimidated.

“I didn’t think VisionTech had this many resources.” Patrick motioned to the others, while turning so they were no longer at his back.

The fake Reed shook his head. “This is bigger than VisionTech, when you had your girl announce to the realm that we couldn’t police our own. VisionTech is paying its dues and so will you.”

“If you had the virus, you would have used it by now,” Patrick called his bluff.

Ari wondered if that was true. If this was bigger than VisionTech, it had