Upgrade (Augmented Duology Book 2) by Heather Hayden (the top 100 crime novels of all time .TXT) 📕

I hurried out of the kitchen. “Hi, Dad! How was your day? Halle made lasagna for dinner.”

“Halle, you’re the best AI a family could hope for,” Dad said, shooting a grin at the nearest camera.

“Thank you,” Halle replied. “I am glad to be of service. I only wish I could dine with you.”

“Well, maybe someday they will perfect the machine-brain interface and we’ll be able to download you into your own body.” Dad ruffled my hair. “How was your first day of school, Viki?”

“Good. Mom said you made a breakthrough at work today?”

“A major one, which means we’re back on schedule and can relax a bit. And I can start coming home at a more reasonable hour.” He sniffed the air, looking toward the kitchen. “Is the lasagna ready? I’m starving. Where’s your mother?”

“She had a shift change, so she’s going to be home late again.”

“Really? It must have been a sudden one, she didn’t mention it earlier. That’s too bad. We haven’t eaten dinner as a family in a while.”

I nodded and followed him to the kitchen, relieved to see Agent Smith had made it out the back door. I opened the fridge and pulled out the salad and dressing. “James called to say hi yesterday. Apparently he has a new girlfriend, but we can’t meet her yet.”

Dad laughed and began serving himself a plate of lasagna. “What’s her name?”

“Sam. He’s helping her study and apparently she’s a big fan of Venus, too.” I set down the salad and dressing, then collected my plate from the dining room and took a seat.

“Good for him. Glad he’s not letting girls get in the way of schoolwork.” Dad sat down across from me and scooped a generous helping of salad onto his plate. “Tell me about your day, Viki.”

I kept to the highlights—classes, teachers, Dan, Annabeth’s news about the track team—my words automatic and thoughts focused on everything but school.

“So you’re going to join the track team again?” Dad asked.

It took me a moment to comprehend the question. “Yes. I think so. Depends on the new coach.”

“What happened to Mr. Halway?”

I frowned. “I don’t know.”

Dad shook his head. “I hope your new coach is a better one. I’m glad to hear your friends are doing well. When are they coming over again? It’s been ages since you’ve had a sleepover or something.”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Maybe they can come over sometime now that school’s begun, if things aren’t too busy.”

“Throw a study party.” Dad gave me a scrutinizing look. “Although if you’re going to invite this Dan guy, I want to know ahead of time, so I can meet him and assess his boyfriend potential.”

“What?” My face flushed. “Dad! We’re just friends. Hopefully. If you don’t embarrass him so badly that he’ll never want to see me again.”

Dad laughed. “It’s my job to be as embarrassing as I want. Dad privilege.”

I groaned and buried my head in my hands. Forget it. I am not inviting Dan over. Ever.

“All right,” he relented. “I’ll be on my best behavior. Promise. I do want to meet your friends, though, be they male or female.” He reached across the table and patted my hand. “I’m sorry Neela and the others were away all summer. I wish we could have spent more time together as a family. I know how lonely you’ve been. I’m glad you’ll have a chance to hang out with people again. And now that my workload is easing up a bit, we’ll be able to have more game nights, I promise.”

I forced a smile. “It’s all right. I had Halle. Besides, you were both busy with work.”

Dad looked down at his plate. “After everything that happened, though… Maybe I shouldn’t have taken on this project.”

I knew how important his work was to him, but having spent most of the summer wishing the same thing, I didn’t know how to respond.

Halle took the silence as an opportunity to change the subject. “Your lasagna will get cold if you do not eat it soon.”

“Thanks, Halle,” I said.

“Thanks for making dinner,” Dad agreed.

“My pleasure.”

I could hear more than a hint of pleasure in Halle’s voice—my friend loved being able to help out around the house. It had even reprogrammed the kitchen robot to be able to use the vacuum and wash windows. A few neighbors had asked after the model we had, since advanced house robots like that tended to be expensive, but Dad passed it off as his own tinkering on a prototype from work.

“It’s delicious,” Dad announced a couple bites into his lasagna. “Even more so since I don’t have to rush the meal and run back to the lab tonight. Viki, how about a game of chess or something?”

I had planned to talk to Halle about Talbot and Agent Smith’s latest visit, but saying no would make Dad worry—or suspicious.

“Sure,” I said. “Although Halle would probably be a better opponent for you.”

“No thanks,” they both said in unison.

I laughed. Dad always beat Mom, James, and me at chess, but Halle had proved too worthy an opponent for him. Although I was outclassed by both of them, chess remained my favorite board game. I hurried to pull out the board and set it up.

We settled down at the kitchen table and played a few games. I managed to take out his queen and both bishops early one game and finally cornered his king, but it was a long, drawn-out victory. The other games were much shorter and ended with my poor king trapped every time.

After our last game, Dad took the dishes to the kitchen and I picked up the chess pieces. Once the game had been stored away, I headed upstairs. A beeping sound from my backpack in the entry hall caught my