Page 41 of Coldwire
I break into a run. My shoulder thuds hard against the entryway in my haste, but I ignore it, making a sharp right. We came in from the main road, so I go the other way, taking the obscure, small streets.
“Where are you going?” he bellows after me. “I can track you!”
I keep running. The system on his glasses can map exactly where I’m going, but I don’t need to get away. I only need to stay ahead.
Upsie unfolds grid by grid, most of its alleys and entryways hidden until I’ve approached directly. Where there aren’t operational buildings, its streets stay dark. I take a left to throw off Nik’s tracking, hurrying down a ramp and plunging into a parking garage. There’s a fire flickering here, burning from a metal box. Sleeping figures stir at my entrance, but I pivot fast for a stairwell, not waiting around to be noticed.
I don’t go far. At the nearest landing, I leap for the ledge of the window, easing the glass up. The frame is brittle—my foot almost eats right through the rotted wood before I’ve clambered out the window and dropped back onto the sidewalk, gritting my teeth. The impact shoots sharp pain up my feet and knees. I trace a line along the night. Count up the windows of the high-rise that looms over the otherwise dark pathway.
I almost miss it. Just as I’m about to charge at its base, the light comes again.
To my east, a drone rockets into the sky, beeping erratically to begin a search. I sprint forward, slamming through the glass doors and calling agreeting to the night guard behind the front desk, entering the back before he can respond.
There’s a man sleeping in the stairwell. The night guard isn’t doing a very good job. I leap over the man before his loud snort can turn into a proper rousing. It’s not as though he’ll have much luck on the floors or getting into any of the apartments, because if there are occupants inside their Pods, their security system will summon the police instantly on intruders.
Begs the question then about who exactly is shining that signal.
“Eight… nine… ten,” I count under my breath, turning and turning on the staircase, tracking each floor I ascend. I’m aiming for fifteen. My step only slows somewhere on the twelfth floor because I’ve picked up the hint of a breeze.
I stop abruptly when I round the landing. The windowpane here has been broken.
An arm closes around my neck.
“Don’t shout. He’ll be here in less than a minute. When he does arrive, you will play this off. He can’t suspect you saw me here.”
I recognize that voice.“Teryn?”
“Listen to me,” she says firmly. I’m not struggling from the grip she has on my shoulder, but she still keeps a tight clamp anyway. “NileCorp knows you’re innocent. They found artifacts that the footage was a deepfake as soon as they analyzed it. It’s enough proof that Nik Grant set you up.”
I don’t take the time to reel. I digest the new developments in a snap: Teryn has followed me into Medaluo; my employer has always known that I didn’t commit treason. Which suddenly means I’m not actually here for the reasons I thought.
“Then I can come home?” I hiss.
“No.” There’s a slam downstairs. “NileCorp was waiting to see why you were set up before contacting federal to clear the air, but then a better opportunity fell into their lap. Stay here. Keep going wherever Nik Grant wants you to go.”
The hole in the window makes a suctioning noise with the cold wind. The elements are picking up outside, bringing the first sign of a night storm.
“That’s not going to work,” I say. “He set me up because he wants me to get him intoKunlun, Teryn. I can’t get him into Kunlun.”
She pauses. Her arm doesn’t slacken.
“Offron, then,” she decides. “Take him as far as you can in his mission. Our forces will close in on him there.”
I can hear footsteps. The initial slam must have been Nik coming into the building.
“Can’t I hand him innow? He’s right within reach. He’ll show in seconds.”
“Company says no. It sounds to me that he’s after something we want.”
“We can’t get it after he’s secured? He said he’s searching for a program.”
“To my understanding,” Teryn says carefully, “that program is not something we can access. Nik Grant needs to acquire it first. Can you manage that?”
A slow panic bubbles up my throat. Coats my tongue.
“Okay. Yes. I can manage it,” I whisper. “What about—what about the charges against me?” My words jumble together, my speech tripping in a fit to cover everything before Teryn disappears. The company wants me to be the wheel steering Nik into dark waters, but I was trained to be an invisible cog in the backup motor. This isn’t my usual line of work. “The entirety of Atahua thinks I’m a traitor. Can you make it known internally, at least?”
“Your name will be cleared when this is over. We can’t risk tipping off Nik Grant that you’re in touch with us.”
