Cipher (7 page)

“Give me a break. No one’s seen her since she was eight and the one image we have is from my brain, so it could be a little off.”

Wilton snorted. “Right. Memory from that long ago isn’t accurate at all. This is probably more a shadow of what the girl really looks like.” He zoomed in, taking in each part of her face separately. “It’s on the tip of my tongue. I know I’ve seen her and recently, but something’s off. Something’s different. She’s changed her appearance to make herself unrecognizable.” He zoomed back out and then in again. “Shit. I don’t know. Does that look like Cipher to you, Oliver?”

Oliver took my com from Wilton. “No.” He squinted. “Maybe around the mouth and chin? But the eyes and forehead are different. Color is right but the shape is off. Eyebrows, too. Cipher didn’t have freckles, but maybe it was too dark in here to tell. And she’s short. Barely brushed five feet, if that.”

“Yeah. Girl made me feel like a giant, and I’m only five five.”

“So Cipher isn’t Emma?” I asked, holding my breath while I waited for his answer.

Oliver handed my com back to me. “I don’t think so. Sorry.”

I blew out a breath. “Would’ve been too easy.” I turned to Dex and Oliver. “I’ll do the initial meet with Cipher, and then intro you two, but I need to move on finding Emma. You guys figure out if she’s the legit Cipher, and why she’s being shifty about her Raven.” I met Wilton’s gaze. “Do you think she’s turned?”

“I didn’t get that from her,” Wilton said. “She was guarded and distrustful, but mostly spooked. As soon as I recognized her tattoo, she wanted out. Maybe one of us betrayed her?”

“I agree. If anything, this girl was hiding. Must’ve gotten burned before,” Oliver said.

“Either way, we’ve got her more than covered,” Dex said. “You can focus on Emma.”

“Yep,” Oliver said. “And I know where Cipher’s friend works. If she doesn’t trust you, I’ll get in through there.”

“Good.” I glanced back at Wilton. “I want you on the streets, at the Trials, at shops, scanning any public area you can get into, searching for the girl in that photo.” I checked the time. “I’m going to head to the center of the blackout area. See if I can find anything there.”

“You want us to come?” Dex asked.

I considered it, but it’d be easier if I went alone. “No. I got it covered. If I find anything, I’ll link you in.”

He pulled three little devices out of his pocket. “Want one of these to watch your back?”

I stared at Dex’s little bots. He made them himself and always had some stashed in his pockets. They looked like little balls of scrap now, but when expanded, they turned into mini-drones. They usually carried a bit of explosives and could be given minor orders. Like blowing up a small target.

“No, thanks. I’m going to keep it really low key.”

“Cool,” Dex slid out from the booth so that I could go.

I gave them a nod and headed out. As soon as I was back on my bike, I tried to think about what Emma’s next move might be—the only thing that made sense was leaving town. I needed to find out if she was gone already. Sticking around would be pointless if she’d already hit the road.

People packed the Void around the old city of Tempe. High rises were stacked nearly on top of each other, and the traffic was crap. Thanks to my bike, I could weave between cars. The city lights slowly faded as the high rises turned to tiny houses stacked nearly on top of each other and then to endless shanties. Beyond that was the desert. Trailer parks filled up the space as far as I could see. Some couldn’t afford anything else and others liked the mobility. Crime ran rampant in the parks, and I hated the idea of Emma in one of them, but that was where the coordinates led.

I slowed when I reached the park gates, but no guards were on duty. The arm of the gate was up. What a joke. This place had dick-all for security.

The park seemed like a maze until I found the pattern in the madness. I slowly made my way through the aisles to the center of the blackout area.

Power had been restored and I had to assume that Parson or his goons had already been by. But they weren’t here now.

I put down the kickstand, and turned the bike off. A trailer sat at the dead center of ground zero from my readings. The hints of other tire tracks cut through the sand, but no way to tell if this was Emma’s place or not.

I took a wild guess and knocked.

No one answered, so I knocked again.

After the third knock, I decided to let myself in.

Whoever owned the trailer didn’t give a shit about security. The lock was old school. I didn’t even need a pick. I ran a card along the jamb, and the door swung open.

The smell of extreme B.O. and feces slapped me in the face. It took me a second to stop the gag reflex before I could step inside. Trash littered the floor and paraphernalia jammed the kitchen sink.

I wasn’t too shocked when I found the owner passed out in bed. Looked like he’d barely made it there. His feet hung off the edge of the mattress. One of his arms was out of his shirt. And no sign of Emma.

I let out a relieved sigh. As much as I wanted to find her, I’d lose it if she lived like this.

I slipped out and headed for the main office, following the signs to the center of the park. People were always moving in and out of these places. It was par for the course. Most people didn’t even register themselves, and if they did, it was under an alias. I didn’t expect to find much, but I wasn’t about to leave without at least checking it out.

The one-room cement office building was closed. A fence dotted with motion detectors surrounded the structure. Why this crappy park needed an office with so much security was beyond me. But it didn’t matter. Nothing was keeping me out of the place.

I pulled out my com and linked it to the security system. I had the key code in less then two seconds. Dumbasses. The security was mostly a facade. The system was active, but the wires from the cameras hung down behind them, clearly not hooked up, and one of the windows was open a crack. The alarm would work as a deterrent for sure, but anyone who really wanted in could get in pretty damned easily.

I stepped into the office and woke up the computer. The screen lit up instantly, already logged in to the park’s database. It didn’t even prompt for a passcode. The spot I’d checked out was registered to Sam Swan.

I laughed. Sam Swan. That had to be Emma.

The desk chair let out a pathetic squeak as I sat. Samantha the Swan was a character in a children’s book series she used to love.

My heart was racing. I’d never gotten this close to her before.

I opened up her file, but she hadn’t given any ID or pictures. No information about her RV. From what I could tell, she paid cash every week so they wouldn’t tow her. Sam Swan was a ghost.

I scanned through to see if she’d moved spots tonight, but as I expected, no checkout record was listed.

I put my hands on my head as I thought.

Would she stick around? Or ditch?

The park had more than five thousand spaces with registered occupants, so going door to door wasn’t an option.

Where are you Emma?

I’d come back during the day tomorrow and see if the manager had any information. Maybe she’d register for a new spot in the morning. If she didn’t, this might be a total dead end.

I locked up the office and headed back to the barracks. I needed to be on top of it in the morning. If Emma had stuck around, she’d be looking for a way out as soon as possible. I needed to figure out where she’d go, and if she had contacts out there…

I was giving this twenty-four hours before I assumed she’d left, and then I’d have to extend the search area.
Nearly fucking hopeless.

But I clenched my fists. This time, I wasn’t leaving for the Raven complex without her.

Chapter Five

CIPHER

I stuck to the shade as I wove between pop-up tents, trying to stop myself from sweating like a whore in church. Scanning through the entrance gate had been hard enough, but the cameras logging in all the faces in attendance put me on edge.

I’d prepared as best I could. My fake ID had my face and fingerprints associated with it, but even with that, I felt unsettled. Scanning in at Marx’s was one thing. A Seligo event was a whole new level of dangerous.

It didn’t matter that the only helixed people here were the ones working. The rest stayed away from the Voidies. Either way, I was too close to the enemy for any kind of comfort. Plus, swarms of people made me nervous, and this was more than a swarm. I tucked my arms into my sides and focused my gaze straight ahead.

I was going to kill Mona for making me come here. I’d all but decided to not meet up with Crackhead’s connection when she banged on my door to drag me out. If it meant me going out in public, Mona was all for it. And in the daytime, she was even more jazzed. Sunlight did good for you, apparently. My white, flowing sleeveless shirt was lightweight enough that it didn’t add to the heat, but it didn’t cover me from the sun. Neither did my cut-off jean shorts or sandals. I’d slathered myself in blocker, but I was going to have a million more freckles before the day was over.

As we walked, she regaled me with the benefits of the getting out during the day—something about vitamins and mental health—but I tuned her out. I’d already given in to her so she couldn’t complain. If I decided to bail like I wanted to in about thirty seconds, then it’d be all good. At least I hoped she’d understand.

My stomach rumbled as we strode by a stall selling funnel cakes. I didn’t know the last time I’d eaten one of those, but it’d been a while. The sweet smell was nearly intoxicating.

“Want to grab a bite?” I asked Mona.

“Later. Don’t want to be late.”

I rolled my eyes. She wasn’t going to let me have even a little bit of my kind of fun.

We passed by the Green tents, where helixes showed off their latest tech. Huge screens mirrored what the Green Helix at the front of the demo area was working on. A satellite image zoomed in on one of the Black Helixes who was standing guard along the back fence. He was picking his nose.

“You can see that even from space, we can monitor every person who’s been chipped. All I have to do is look you up and bam. There you are. It’s linked into every helixes’ tattoo,” said the shrimpy-looking guy in a forest green T-shirt, marking him as a Green Helix.

Oh my God
. I stopped walking. That was new and completely horrible. I didn’t know the Seligo had this kind of tech. They were monitoring their own people? Were Nagi and the Senate that paranoid?

“Ensuring the safety of those in the Voids is a priority among the Greens,” he grinned big, like there wasn’t anything nefarious going on with the intel they gathered. “If you’re chipped, we can monitor your health and vitals. We can get you help when you’re sick. If you get attacked, we can send a Black Helix unit to you within five seconds. We hope to get everyone to leave here with a chip.”

If people weren’t looking so excited by the idea, I would’ve laughed, but the crowd cheered him on. Clapping excitedly.

I didn’t know what made me sicker. That the Green was trying to sell the audience on monitoring chips, or that the people were actually buying his bullshit. Nobody with a helix gave a rat’s ass about helping us in the Voids. This couldn’t be as altruistic as he was making it sound.

And these people were going to volunteer to be satellite tracked? Were they all morons?

“Who wants to give it a try?”

The crowed screamed.

“You, there. Who would you like to look up?”

“A Seligo!” A little girl yelled.

“Come on,” Mona said, tugging me away from the Green area. “It’s this way.”

I let myself be pulled away from the Green tents before I jumped onto the platform to give them all a piece of my mind.

Because that would be monumentally stupid.

We headed toward the Black Helix area in the distance. Two huge, black tents stood at the right of the entrance, with a demo stage set up in front of them. People in all black walked among the crowd, visibly showing their Black Helix tats.

“Do you see him?” Mona glanced back at me. Her long blonde waves fell nearly to her butt, and her blue eyes usually caught every male’s attention. Today her clothes were adding to the effect—Mona’s white sundress was tight, short, and totally backless. The girl didn’t own anything that went below mid-thigh. Totally annoying. Not because I was jealous of the attention, but because I didn’t want it spilling over to me.

I raised an eyebrow. “I see a lot of hims. Which specific one do you mean?”

“Oliver.” She moved faster through the thickening crowd. “He’s so tall, we shouldn’t be able to miss him.”

I wasn’t looking for Oliver. The only guy I needed was fighting on the stage. Once I found him, I was out of here.

The closer we got to the Black Helix section, the more antsy I got. I cracked my knuckles as we walked. This was not a place for someone like me, but my need for the processor outweighed anything else.

Even so, I’d be shocked if Crackhead’s guy ended up being cool. The only good thing about this crowd was that I’d be able to disappear into it. Even with my blue hair.

It was like everyone in the entire Void had shown up. Norms celebrated their imperfections, even if they secretly wished they ranked a helix. That meant that most everyone here was pierced and tattooed, with hair colors spanning the full spectrum of the rainbow.

Helixes were all about flaunting their genetic perfection. Most only had one helix tattoo and natural-colored hair. The only helixes I saw were wearing solid colored T-shirts. Some even had badges, signaling that they were the ones to go to with questions. Only helixes who were forced to work ever showed up for these kinds of propaganda shows.

I hadn’t seen anyone in a Seligo white T-shirt yet, but that didn’t mean they weren’t here somewhere. I made sure to keep an eye out just in case. The odds were low that my uncle would be here, but the sooner I was out, the better.

I pulled my hair into a knot at the nape of my neck. I didn’t get all the tendrils, but the heavy weight of it was making my back sweat. Plus, less someone could grab if I had to make a break for it. I wouldn’t let myself get caught. It couldn’t happen. I’d maintained my freedom by keeping to myself and staying on the run, and I was ready to bolt with nothing but the clothes I was wearing if it came down to that.