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

specialized in jokes involving AIs. When Ari let a laugh escape. Dr. Coleman cleared his throat and glared at her.

She didn’t have time to apologize before gunfire sounded outside the class. A girl shrieked in the next room. Ari jumped at the noise hoping, praying, it wasn’t as close at it sounded. Several students cowered in their seats.

“Please!” Coleman said in a firm voice. “A gun cannot make it through these doors. And being hysterical will not help this situation.”

The air in the room hung heavy and thick. Ari struggled to breathe as she unconsciously scratched her fingernails along the inside of her palms.

“You guys have gone through enough simulations to know how to control your emotions. If I passed out weapons, I would expect you to be the soldiers you have been trained to be.”

Ari had never gone through those simulations that trained students in emergencies and even on the battlefield. It was one way the government could pick the perfect soldiers. Ari had always been exempt from all VRs with a note from the school psychologist. But by the look of the other students, Ari wondered if Coleman himself understood the difference between simulation and reality. These students were computer geeks, not soldiers, no matter what VR they did.

Dr. Coleman paced restlessly in front of the classroom, angry with his class for their less than exemplary behavior. He finally returned to his desk in the back. The class resumed its mumbled conversation, and Ari turned back to her screen.

She flinched as a hand fell onto her shoulder. It was the moron, Wake. “You’re not scared, are you? Maybe they want to destroy your brain from creating anything. Don’t worry, I’ll tell them it’s not worth wasting a bullet on you, on the other hand—”

Ari slapped his hand away. “Get lost,” She’d said it louder than she’d meant to and earned yet another glare from Dr. Coleman.

A brief noise sounded overhead, and a voice came on the speaker. “The threat was terminated. Please continue regularly scheduled classes and, as always, report any suspicious behavior.”

Terminated.

Ari wondered what that meant exactly as she left the classroom. In the hall, students pushed against the glass windows. She moved further down the hall and looked out a different window. Authorities had gathered on the grounds. A stretcher was pushed out of the front of their building with a black body bag on top, and she realized the gunshots they heard weren’t aimed at the students but at the intruder.

Chapter Eighteen

Once dismissed, Ari headed to her next class, art design. There was only ten minutes left in class after the lockdown, but she didn’t want to miss any assignments. The teacher had the door closed and locked with no note. Ms. Weber might have been just as rattled by the lockdown as everyone else and didn’t bother catching her next class.

On the main floor, several students stood at the glass doors, watching the darkening sky, and complaining about the intruder. Ari stood slightly apart from them and watched large drops of rain pelt the path. She loved the rain, but today it felt dark, melancholy almost. The dead body being wheeled out of school might have something to do with it. Tessa came running down the path, her arms full of white bags, distracting Ari from her thoughts.

Once inside, Tessa brushed water off her jacket. “Man, it’s cold outside. I wish it would snow already.” She passed a bag to Ari and ran her fingers through her newly colored dark purple hair. She even had purple eye liner on to match.

“Wanna eat?” Tessa asked, looking up, drops falling from her hair.

“I’m starving.”

“I got a lot of food just in case of another lockdown. Our fridge might overflow, but at least we’ll have food.”

“Bless you,” Ari’s stomach growled in agreement. They rushed up to their room and sat in the middle of their floor with their array of food in self-warming packages, steaming with a variety of flavors. They even kept their door ajar, sharing with some of the neighbors.

Stuffed to capacity, Ari leaned against her bed and watched the rain hit the window. The dark sky made it feel later than it really was. Coming from a desert climate, she excitedly awaited first snow, even if she didn’t have clothes for it. She’d have hit the student center soon to stock up.

Tessa sat on her bed with her tablet. “Have you started Tollingston’s paper yet?”

“No, I can’t believe he gave us a paper on our first night back.” Ari turned from the window and grabbed her bag.

“Probably was jealous that we actually enjoyed our break.”

“Enjoying your break was an understatement I believe.” Without notice, a richly dressed man had appeared in their doorway.

Ari jumped. The man, dressed in an expensive navy suit, had smooth tight features that had a too-perfect feel about them. What he spent on his appearance could probably sustain a family of four for a lifetime. A school security guard stood several feet behind him.

Tessa didn’t act alarmed, but her lip curled in annoyance. “Number Four is always telling me that I need to be more social.”

“Not so social that we have to face complaints from the condo board. Sheri’s pass is under investigation.”

“Are you sure Number Four wasn’t having some of her own fun?” Tessa asked in an innocent voice.

The barb hit its mark. The man, presumably Tessa’s father, stiffened and his jaw flexed.

“Her name is not Number Four, but Sheri. You will show respect to your stepmother.” His voice raised in volume.

“My roommate has a name too. This is Ari.”

“Hi,” Ari said, trying to turn invisible in the confrontation. Neither Tessa nor her father seemed to be worried about having an audience though.

“Ari, the girl from the block?”

Ari kept her chin up, refusing to react or be embarrassed by where she came from.

“Nice, Dad,” Tessa said.

“What? I think Ari should be proud. Not many scholarships are assigned such high-paying occupations. I wish my own daughter could rise to