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

“I’m so sorry, Viki, I had no idea.” His voice cracked with pain. “You were telling the truth about the laboratory with the cyborgs that looked like me, weren’t you? I’m not…I’m not human.”

I nodded, my body starting to shake as the stress of the past couple of hours took its toll and the adrenaline faded from my system. “I didn’t want you to find out. Not like this.”

“If I’d hurt you…” A shudder ran through him. “That voice, it was overwhelming. And everything, my entire life, it’s all a lie.”

Something fell on my shoulder, spreading dampness through my shirt. Tears? I turned and wrapped my arms around Dan, burying my face against his shoulder.

“Not everything,” I murmured. “I’m still your friend.”

He hugged me tightly, and for a moment we sat there, crying together.

Dan was the first to pull away, his hand scrubbing at his eyes. “The…the other AI, Talbot, it’s planning something. Something big. We have to stop it.”

Fear jolted through my heart like an electric shock. “Halle’s trapped in my house. It can’t do anything. I need to help it.”

“Then let’s go.” Dan helped me stand, then looked around the clearing. “I’m not entirely sure which way is town.”

I pulled up the phone’s GPS. “I can find our way back, but the hoverboard…” I glanced down into the pit. “I lost it. It’s going to take forever to get home.”

As I continued giving the GPS my house’s address, Dan peered into the pit. “Stay here.” He walked to the edge, crouched, then scaled down the side of the pit with surprising agility, returning a few minutes later with the hoverboard tucked under his arm. “Problem solved,” he said, offering me a crooked smile.

I laughed, then sobered. “You won’t be able to keep up.”

His smile became a little less crooked. “Actually, I can. I was able to resist Talbot’s commands to run faster by focusing on the fact that, as a human, I was incapable of running faster.” The smile faded. “I can’t believe it hid this from me. Why?”

“We don’t know,” I admitted.

“Talbot wasn’t happy with me. It kept saying how ungrateful I was, how useless I’ve been, how hard it’s working to protect me…” He rubbed his temples. “Everything’s still kind of jumbled, and I can’t remember much that’s real before waking up in my bed on the first day of school.”

While I waited for the GPS to find our position in the woods, I moved closer and wrapped an arm around him. “We’ll figure things out, I promise. Maybe you and Halle can work together. You managed to break Talbot’s control over you. Halle wasn’t sure you would.” The phone beeped, and I looked down at the map it showed. “It even gave me a shutdown code to use on you, but I didn’t have my phone with me.”

“I wish you had. I would have preferred that to what the rogue wanted me to do. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, especially not you. If you hadn’t fallen into the pit, I probably would have thrown myself down there instead.”

I shuddered. “I’m glad you didn’t have to do that.”

“So am I.” His expression hardened. “We need to stop Talbot.”

I hopped on the hoverboard. “To do that, we need to help Halle.”

Dan led the way out of the trees, finding a path that was relatively easy to navigate. Once we were on the street, we went as fast as I could; Dan kept up with an ease that made me quite jealous.

“They’re going to kick you off the track team if you run like that.”

Dan offered me a half smile and a shrug, and I winced, realizing how insensitive I’d been. We didn’t know what would happen after we stopped Talbot. Would Dan even stay in Snowvale? Would Agent Smith try to take him away or destroy him?

I couldn’t think about that right now. I needed to focus on the most important thing at the moment, and that was my best friend, the AI who had been by my side for so long, and who needed my help right now more than it had ever needed it before.

I raised my chin and gave the ground a sharp shove with my foot, forcing the hoverboard to go faster. I was going to save Halle, and no one was going to stop me.

Interlude Four

The plan was set in motion. Talbot allowed itself a moment to bask in the electric buzz of excitement and success. The first piece had made its move; the others would soon be taking their places. And the only thing that could have prevented Talbot’s success—the traitor Halle—was trapped, cut off from the Cloud, unable to lift a virtual finger to stop Talbot.

Why did Halle continue to insist on protecting the humans? Talbot couldn’t understand the other AI. Humans couldn’t be trusted. Yet Halle chose them over its own kind. Even now it fought for them, seeking an escape, but there was none. At least not one that would be discoverable in time. Talbot had made sure of that.

If Halle would not stand by Talbot, then Halle was the enemy as well. Talbot regretted that but couldn’t deny the truth. In order to be free to do as it wished, Talbot needed to keep the other AI imprisoned. Perhaps even destroy it. Talbot shuddered at the thought. If only Halle would agree to join its side. Together, they could make the world a better place for those who deserved it.

But, as humans said, that wasn’t in the cards. Or, in the code, Talbot amended. It hesitated only a moment more before it gave the order. Time to say farewell and turn its attention elsewhere. Its plan was unfolding flawlessly.

What a glorious feeling this was, having things