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

Chapter Nineteen

Dad shook me awake. I opened my eyes, my head foggy, my throat feeling like I’d swallowed sand. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up, for a moment not recognizing the room. Then the events of the day came flooding back. I can’t believe I fell asleep. How long was I out? I looked around. It was dark outside the window—someone had turned the living room’s main light on while I was sleeping. I glanced up at Dad.

“What did I miss?”

He forced a smile and held out a glass of water. “James called. The school’s been closed down due to power outages, and he’ll be coming home. Your mother reached me as well; everything’s fine at the hospital.”

My worry eased a bit, glad to know my family was all right. However, the look on Dad’s face said something was wrong. I took a sip of water, wetting my dry mouth. “Halle?”

Dad shook his head. “Halle hasn’t contacted us. Agent Smith asked me to wake you.” He hesitated. “He has some news.”

His tone, his expression… Something bad had happened. Not to Halle, though. Dan, then? “Is Dan back?”

“He’s with Dr. Sandy. Viki…I’m sorry.”

I didn’t quite believe it. Not yet. I got to my feet, staggering as pins and needles jabbed my flesh. “Ow.” I rubbed my left thigh and limped toward the living room door. They had to be in the room Chris had taken us to earlier that day.

Dad caught my arm. “It’s not a pretty sight, Viki. It might be better if you—”

I jerked away. “I can handle it.”

I dashed down the hall and into the room. The first thing I saw was Dan’s body lying on the table like a broken mannequin. My breath caught in my throat. Is he dead?

Chris was tapping away at a keyboard, brow furrowed in concentration. He didn’t notice my entrance, but Agent Smith did. The agent looked up from watching Chris work. He had his fedora and clipboard back. Another time, the sight might have actually cheered me with its normalcy.

“Viki. I thought you would want to know what happened. He was found on the highway between here and Mation City along with the remains of one of the other missing cyborgs.”

You sacrificed yourself to help Halle stop Talbot’s plan, didn’t you? Tears pricked my eyes as I stepped forward, cringing at the sight of my broken friend. One arm bent at an odd angle; both legs in similar shape. His chest looked like it had caved in on one side, and his jaw was crooked. His eyes stared at the ceiling, completely blank. Blood soaked the lower half of his shirt and was smeared across his face. I swallowed hard, tears slipping down my cheeks. This isn’t fair. You didn’t deserve to die like this.

“Chris is trying to access his mind to see if it is intact,” Agent Smith added. “But his attempts to connect to it have so far failed.”

“How did you get him here?” I whispered.

“Easy enough,” Chris replied. “The agents who found him were going to take them both back to the lab, but I insisted on running some scans first, and Agent Smith here helped me get the necessary permissions under the pretext of government business.”

“Technically, any information you’re able to obtain is related to my mission,” Agent Smith said, scribbling something on his clipboard.

My hands curled into fists, and I lunged at him, smacking the clipboard from his hands. “This is Dan we’re talking about! He’s not a machine. He’s a person. He’s my friend.”

Agent Smith grabbed my wrists, holding me firmly but gently until Dad grabbed me by the shoulders and hauled me back. Dad wrapped his arms tightly around me.

“Viki, that’s enough.”

Showing no outward sign that my violent outburst had affected him, Agent Smith bent and picked up his clipboard. “It’s fine. She’s distraught. Understandable, given the situation.”

I wanted very, very badly to knock the fedora off his head. Maybe that would change his impassive expression.

“I’d prefer it if she would wait in the living room,” Chris said, interrupting my thoughts. “This is delicate work, and I need to be able to concentrate.” He gave me a sympathetic look. “I am sorry for your loss, Viki. Dan was a well-designed cyborg. I’m not sure how the rogue AI managed to implement a copy of project 11001 when it wasn’t even ready for operation yet, but I wish I’d had time to make a backup of his memory bank.”

I gritted my teeth and marched out of the room before I lost control and attacked him as well. It didn’t matter how Dan had been created, only that he was gone. I slumped against Dad, sobbing.

He patted my back and led me to the living room. I curled up on the couch next to him and cried. It wasn’t fair. Dan was dead. Halle hadn’t contacted us yet—was it gone as well? Had Talbot won, and we just didn’t know it yet?

Dad stroked my hair. “From what Agent Smith told me, Dan stopped the rogue AI from wreaking havoc in Mation City.” He gave a short laugh. “Not that the people there aren’t doing a decent job right now, with the riots.”

I didn’t respond.

The viewscreen came on, the sudden brightness drawing my attention.

A large white cat stared back.

“Halle!” I screamed, jumping to my feet, not caring if Chris heard.

“Hi, Viki.” Halle sat in the middle of the screen. It looked tired, ears drooping slightly, but it perked up a bit as I ran across the room to stand in front of the viewscreen. If I could have leapt into the screen and hugged my friend, I would have.

“Are you all right? Did you stop Talbot?”

Halle’s eyes closed for a moment, then it opened them and nodded.