Rising Tomorrow (Roc de Chere Book 1) by Mariana Morgan (essential reading txt) 📕

‘What?’ He seemed confused.

‘Article 6, Section 5, Subsection 45b of the World Government’s constitution from 2178, ratified by the Afro-European Alliance in 2315,’ Eloise recited. ‘I am legally bound to assist the police in their investigation—that’s what Tilly said.’ Tilly… The memories sprung back full force. ‘What have you done with Tilly?’

‘Who?’ His brows furrowed even deeper, visible clearly despite the low light.

‘Tilly. The computer. The security system.’

‘Ah, don’t worry, she’s rebooting as we speak. You will have, erm… Tilly, you call her, up and running in the next’—he consulted his watch—‘fifteen minutes and forty-one seconds.’

‘How?’ Maybe she wasn’t fully herself after all; she sounded oddly calm, oddly confused.

‘How what?’

‘How did you take her down? How did you get in? Why fifteen minutes and forty-one seconds?’

‘Tilly was built upon a security system that the military used over a hundred years ago. It’s solid stuff, but we upgraded when a simple method of shutting it all down was devised. I’m surprised you didn’t get an upgrade.’

‘I…’ Eloise felt the fury rising within her. Tilly was her masterpiece. Better than anything she had ever created. Her circuitry, her processing power and her AI functions were the best. She was the best. She was… based on a freaking old security system her grand-uncle had built her on. ‘Fuck.’

The man chuckled.

‘Don’t worry. All your data is safe. I couldn’t even begin to break the encryption code. I simply, erm, convinced Tilly to see her main processor as fried. The military might have upgraded decades ago, but we still know the old tricks. Your computer shut down to analyse the damage and fix it. There is no damage. As soon as she runs self-diagnostics and re-calibrates, she’ll be back up with no understanding of what happened.

‘Now, it might be better if I leave before she comes back online. Please tell me you understand. When you talk to Wagner tomorrow give him nothing. Say there’s no data you can retrieve. That you would have to bring the VRP back here to run more in-depth scanning. Anything! Make it up. He won’t be willing to part with the evidence. Not without asking for permission from higher up. It will give us time. Do you under—’

‘Yes, I understand. I’m not dumb, you know. But what about Article 6, Section 5, Subsection 45b? I’m not quite sure I understand why I should commit treason just because an overgrown adolescent who broke into my home and drugged me says so.’

‘First of all, it’s not treason if no one tells you it’s a matter of the Alliance’s security—and trust me, no one will say anything of the sort. And second, I’m not an overgrown—’ He cut himself off, and his features hardened. ‘Listen, you have no idea what Commissioner Wagner is capable of. He is the sort of dangerous man you know nothing about. He will dispose of you if he finds out you have information that could threaten him. Feel free not to listen to me, just don’t complain if your body gets taken to the mortuary instead of back here tomorrow.’

And with that he left, leaving Eloise on the floor. There was something so bloody irritating about the woman.

There was a reason why he had gone into military service after a series of youthful, adolescent mistakes. It was predictable and structured; it also felt noble, which soothed his inner guilt. Dealing with fucking civilians was not. His arm still ached where Eloise had sunk her teeth in, and the urge to go back and hit her again before the CNI-16 wore off entirely was strong. It was probably a good thing he kept walking.

The colonel will be pissed off enough as it is with how I manhandled her.

***

Eloise had no choice but to stay on the floor, listening to his footsteps fade away, unable to move.

The presumptuous, entitled asshole! The fucking overgrown adolescent!

She wasn’t really sure why she thought of him as an adolescent. The faint blue light hadn’t let her see him clearly, but somehow she knew he was younger than her, if not necessarily young. The brain fog was clearing fast now, and she was relieved to move her fingers as her body metabolised the drug.

‘Tilly?’ she tried unsuccessfully. She sensed another surge of panic rising and it made her want to weep. She couldn’t possibly deal with another emotional roller-coaster. She needed calm. She needed another blue nano-patch.

Shakily, she tried to move, bringing herself up into a kneeling position. Her body trembled with effort, strange sensations running through her flesh. She knew she shouldn’t move yet, that her body was failing to respond correctly to impulses sent from her brain, but the panic was rising beyond control. The patches were in the medicine cabinet. Always in the same place. Third shelf on the right. She needed them.

Her legs buckled when she tried to stand up, and she collapsed. Her face smashed into the floor as her arms failed to brace. She felt a wet, sticky puddle forming under her cheek, and her body spasmed as something like an epileptic seizure took over her body.

The effort of trying to stand up induced a violent response within her. Her body, in shock, trying to protect itself from the strain, started shutting down unnecessary processes. Her stomach muscles spasmed and she felt acid rising in her throat. Her mouth was salivating rapidly. She retched hard, half-digested food mixed with stomach juices forcing their way up. Blood, puke and snot mixed on the floor, caking her face and hair.

She curled into a foetal position and cried. She couldn’t understand why. She loved scary and edgy VRPs. She liked risk and adventures. She was strong. But this…

Feeling her body collapse into a pile of useless flesh made her feel angry, humiliated and scared. That asshole had invaded her sanctuary, her home. Her bubble of safety, the child-like naivety, was gone. She had never even considered how vulnerable the security system was. She had never thought about someone wanting