Standby (The Emile Reed Chronicles, 2.5) Page 2

  “That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” she said. “He’s more valuable than her, Charles. His free will has managed to survive. He’s able to overpower his programming without needing to have his human identity restored on his system. He has managed to exist even after the erasing.”

  You are ordered to do as instructed, a voice echoed inside of my head, and I did everything I could to drown it out. But with each pull, and each tug, it only grew louder.

  I bit down on my lip, hard enough to break the skin. I waited for the warm sensation of blood to spill down my chin, but it never came. Neither did the pain.

  You can’t ignore what you’ve become, the voice said, you can’t fight the truth.

  Maybe not, but I would sure as heck try.

  McVeigh gripped the side of the Pod with one as he leaned in closer, his eyes locked on mine. “He’s uncontrollable,” he said curiously.

  “You don’t know that,” she responded. “You’d be surprised what people are capable of when forced into complying.”

  At that, he laughed, as though she’d revealed some private joke that was apparently meant to go over my head. “My dear sister, have you forgotten what we’re here to accomplish? We are trying to create a perfect society – a society that we are able to control. I can’t control a Program that has managed to retain it’s free will. He’s too strong to be of any use to me.”

  “I could think of a few ways to make use of him,” she said.

  He stood above me, his finger pressed against his lower lip as considering a few himself.

  The cold stare on his face was enough to alert me that something was off.

  Something was wrong. It wasn’t exactly hard to deny that. His discomfort, disgust, and caution were written all over his face.

  I could feel the looming threat of danger tightening its hold on me, but I didn’t move. I didn’t move, because I knew that if I were to run, something bad would happen to her – the girl that had buried herself deep within my thoughts.

  “He’s dangerous,” McVeigh’s voice cut through my inner monologue. “He’s flawed, Janet.”

  “He’s useful, Charles.” She moved in front of the Pod, easing him away from the glass door. “He is the key to everything that you want. He is the key to bringing Emile back home, don’t you see?”

  He is the key to bringing Emile back home.

  I allowed Janet’s word to replay in my mind.

  Emile. The one thing I’d fought so hard for, and I had nearly allowed myself to forget her name.

  “He is your only way to bring Emile back, Charles. We don’t know where Colton and the others have gotten off to just yet. Hayden is your only chance,” she said. There was a slight hitch in her voice as she spoke, and I turned to eye her suspiciously.

  I knew that I should’ve been more concerned with McVeigh and whatever form of torture he’d had in store for me next, but right now, I didn’t care because Janet Ward was hiding something. And secrets inside of Vesta Corp? Even inside of their off the radar locations? Well, secrets were deadly.

  5 MISLED

  I listened from inside of the Pod, the only place McVeigh trusted that I wouldn’t be able to hurt him apparently, as they discussed their plan to lead Emile to me.

  They planned to use me as bait, and then destroy me the second that they got what they wanted.

  Maybe the idea of truly dying this go round should’ve upset me, but my life was nothing in exchange for hers.

  When it came down to either me or her? She would always be my first choice.

  “You know the boy is going to fight,” a male voice stated.

  “I wouldn’t expect any less of him,” McVeigh answered calmly.

  The doors to the room opened and heels clanked against the tile floor. “We’ve found her.” Janet’s voice rang throughout the room as she made her way over to the two men. “It shouldn’t take too long now.”

  “And what about the other one? That troublesome daughter of yours? Have we been able to locate her yet?”

  “She’s still at Vesta Corp.” Janet shot me a wary glance.

  McVeigh shook his head as he fought back a laugh. “I always knew that boy had weakened her.” His eyes trailed over to where I lay inside of the Pod. “I just never understood what she saw in him. He was far too naïve; far too driven by his emotions, and yet, she risked so much to try and protect him. It’s quite foolish, really.”

  “Quite foolish indeed,” Janet agreed.

  I watched as Janet followed McVeigh out of the room, leaving only Douglas Todd to watch over me in their absence. My eyes met hers for a brief moment before the door slammed shut. It was only for a moment, but it was enough time to show me that there was something there – something that wasn’t there before – a spark of life, of hope, of something more than the lifeless woman that had willingly assisted in my death.

  6 REGRETS

  Hours had passed before they’d returned.

  Hours spent lost in silence, of memories that had forced themselves to be remembered; an entire life that my thoughts wouldn’t allow me to forget.

  They were going to take her from me again.

  They were going to destroy the last living thing that I loved all over again.

  And I couldn’t allow for that to happen.

  The glass doors to the Pod opened up and my hard drive slid out of its slot in the back, freeing me of its hold. I wrestled with the idea of stepping outside the small confines of the Pod, when Janet’s voice caught me off guard.

  “Scared are we, Forty-Six?” she teased. “I can assure you, child, no one is going to hurt you. You’re free to leave the Pod, if you wish.”

  I turned to glare at her. “And why should I believe a single word from your mouth?”

  “You’re not the only one with regrets, Hayden.”

  I lifted my foot onto the tile below, easing myself out of the Pod. “Where is he?” I glanced around the room, expecting to find McVeigh waiting nearby, but he was nowhere to be found.

  “He’s attending to other matters right now,” she answered with a shrug.

  I looked around the room once more, this time turning my attention to the small cameras tucked away in the corners of the room. The red lights indicating that they were recording were off, but that hadn’t meant much of anything.

  I’d worked for Vesta Corp.

  I knew just as well as they had that it was easy to hack a camera; that it was easy to make people see what they wanted to see.

  “They’re off,” Janet said. “I promise. I’d be risking far too much if I allowed them to record any of what I’m about to tell you.”

  There was a part of me – a rather large part of me, frankly – that didn’t want to believe a single word that escaped from between her lips. After all, she was part of the reason that I’d lost everything that mattered in my life.

  But there was also a part of me that wanted to believe her, because I knew just how desperate people could become when they allowed their selfish needs to drive them.

  Her daughter’s selfishness had destroyed my family, but in the end, she had done everything that she could to try and fix the destruction that she’d caused.

  Unfortunately, not everything was that simple.

  There was no undoing death.

  “Where’s Emile? Where is my sister?”

  Janet leaned back against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest. “She’s fine,” she said. “She’s on her way here, which I’m sure you’ve already overheard, but Charles isn’t going to hurt her. You and I both know that.”

  “That’s funny,” I snapped. “You know, given the fact that he killed her.”

  A soft sigh escaped her lips as her eyes fell over me. “She’s his precious gem, Hayden. He won’t destroy her, not until he gets what he wants from her, at least.”

  Before I could respond, she waved her hand at me to stop me from speaking. “I don’t have much time,” she said. “Look, we both know what goes on inside of the
se walls, Hayden. We both know how power hungry my brother is. But what you don’t realize is that everything I’ve done, it’s all been to protect myself. All of the pain I’ve caused my daughter? It’s been to keep us alive, Hayden. I’m not proud of the choices that I’ve made, but I can’t rewrite my past.”

  “And why does any of that matter to me?” I asked.

  “Because I can’t save you,” she answered. “But I can try and save your sister.”

  7 THE RETURN OF EMILE

  Janet’s words still linger inside of my mind. Because I can’t save you, but I can try and save your sister.

  She’d left me there alone, strapped to a metal chair, to try and make sense of it all.

  And although there was still a rational part of me that believed she was lying, there was still a part of me that hoped she’d been telling the truth.

  “Hayden!” I listened as she screamed my name. It took everything inside of me not to call out back to her, just so that I could see her face one last time.

  “Where are you? Hayden,” fear and anger laced her words as her frantic screams grew louder. “Please, Hayden.

  Each second that passed – that I sat there, listening to the desperation in her voice – tugged at what little was left of the man I’d once been.

  I risked everything for her. Everything. And maybe I should’ve regretted that. Maybe I should’ve taken the time to worry about myself.

  But I didn’t because, as crazy as it sounded, I knew that my life meant nothing without her safety.

  I needed her to be happy.

  I needed her to be able to live her life. After all, that was my entire reason for risking everything in the first place. She deserved so much more from life. And I still had the chance to give that to her.

  “Emile,” her name slipped from between my lips in a soft whisper.

  I leaned forward in the chair snapping the straps binding my wrists, choosing to ignore the painful tearing of my flesh. I couldn’t be bothered to give a damn about that now. Not when none of it would matter soon enough.

  He’d stolen her life from her once, and I wouldn’t allow him to do it again.

  Even if it meant destroying my own.

  My programming kicked in, trying to overpower me, but I pushed past it, eager to overpower my system. But with each pull forward, with each bit of restraint, I found myself being pulled under.

  This isn’t a fight you can win, a voice sounded inside of my head, but I chose to ignore it. Emile was here, and she needed me.

  She needed me, and I couldn’t let her down.

  I broke free of the leather straps and took off towards the door, allowing my need to protect her to drive me. “Emile!” I screamed, slamming my fist against the steel door. “You need to run, Emile! Get out of here before it’s too late!”

  A side door to the room opened up, and McVeigh made his way inside.

  “Well, isn’t that sweet? He’s still trying to save her,” he said, a smug grin spreading upon his lips. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that, Hayden. You can’t help her this time.”

  “You sick piece of –“ before I could utter another word, something grabbed a hold of me from behind, covering my mouth.

  “Relax, this will only take but a second,” McVeigh teased. “Goodbye, Hayden.”

  A hand gripped my hard-drive, tearing it from its slot on the small of my back, and everything around me fell black.

  Keep reading for your first look at Rebooted, the final novel in the Emile Reed Chronicles, available December 31st, 2013!

  PROLOGUE

  Every ending gives way to a new beginning – a new start, a chance at something more.

  I stared down at my wrist, my fingers running over the lines of the barcode, and lowered my head. I’d lost so much, and for what? A chance to reclaim a life that’d already been stolen from me?

  There was no reclaiming my past. I knew that. But I had been so desperate, so eager for another shot that I ignored every rational thought in my mind.

  No matter how human I might’ve felt, I was still a Program.

  Which was why I needed to do this.

  All I ever wanted was to give you a second chance at life. I hadn’t stopped to realize how many lives that I would be altering in the process.

  The words kept replaying in my thoughts like a haunting reminder of my past mistakes.

  It was my choice how this would end, and I was fully aware of the consequence of my impending decision. I’d accepted my ending. I’d come to terms with my choice, because it was the only choice worth making; the only choice that wouldn’t destroy any more lives.

  I took one final look at the heartbroken boy behind me, and I walked confidently into the storm.

  I had made my choice.

  1 THE UNDOING

  Alexis

  I wasn’t sure how long I’d been sitting here in the midst of the rumble. It almost seemed as though time had stopped when the bullet left the gun. All it had taken was one action – one moment – to change everything.

  He had accepted his ending, but that hadn’t stopped the ache in my chest.

  I looked around at the destruction that surrounded me, at the blood stained tiles, and all I could see was his face. Rage rolled throughout my body, and my fingers instinctively reached for the letter inside of my pant pocket. I couldn’t help but to wonder if she knew yet. If she knew that Hayden was dead.

  Did he have her? Had his men managed to track her down?

  I knew that I needed to leave; that I needed to find her, but I couldn’t move. A part of me had died inside of this room with Hayden, and I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him just yet.

  I’d lived many lives in my short lifetime, but none had been nearly as worth it as this one had once been. Hayden Reed had been the best thing that had ever happened to me, and I’d been the worst thing to ever happen to him. I had been his undoing. I had been his ending.

  But he would be my beginning.

  I knew what I needed to do.

  I would be the one to decide how this would end.

  Gripping the letter tightly, I rose to my feet and moved through the debris, towards the front doors. Glass covered the white tile flooring, and the covers to the florescent lights hung down. For a building that had housed so much death, one would assume the silence wouldn’t have spooked me. But it had.

  The entire building was silent; not an ounce of life insight.

  The floors in the hall were lined with the rotting corpses of the Purged Programs. Flesh, having not been treated, slipped off their metal casing, revealing their true identities.

  Their eyes, once vivid shades of blue, were empty and black.

  They were nothing more than empty shells of their pasts – of lives that once held promise. And then they’d met my uncle.

  He had destroyed so many lives, and yet, he failed to give a damn. It was something I should’ve been used to, hell, I’d been forced to live under his thumb most of my life. I knew how he was – how vile he could truly be, and yet, his cruelty never ceased to amaze me.

  This is your fate, my dear, whether you like it or not. This is your future. There is no life for you outside of here. His words echoed in my thoughts as my hand reached for the door.

  I watched as people walked by, oblivious to the destruction – the death – that had taken place inside of this building. But this time, I hadn’t found myself envious of them. No. Instead, I’d myself feeling sorry for them.

  We spent so much of our lives unaware of our surroundings; like passerby shadows living between two realms. Present, but unnoticed to one another until we’d made physical contact; until it had been too late.

  We kept our eyes open, because that was what we’d been taught, but how much did we truly allow ourselves to see? What did our eyes actually register?

  Honestly, it was crazy when I stopped to think about it.

  Death was always lingering nearby, willing and ready to claim its next victim. Hell, it’d been u
nderneath their noses for years and they hadn’t even sensed it. They’d been blind to the danger that surrounded them this entire time.

  I hadn’t. My life might’ve been fabricated, but at least my eyes had been open.

  I moved through the horde of people filling the sidewalk, ignoring the tears that covered my clothing, and the dry blood that had stained my fingers.

  I wasn’t sure what the hell I was doing; all I knew was that I needed to find Emile. That was going to prove to be a problem, however, as I didn’t have a clue as to where she was. If she knew about Hayden, chances were that she’d already gone after my Uncle Charles. But if she hadn’t found out yet – which I hoped would be the case – then I wasn’t sure where to even begin to look.

  I didn’t have a crazed uncle feeding me that sort of information these days. And even if I wanted to track her, it’d be useless. Last I’d checked, Hayden had found a way to completely disable her tracker. Though I doubted she knew that.

  The crowd of people stopped suddenly, and I nearly fell back onto the sidewalk, unable to keep my balance due to my mind going a mile-a-minute. It was only when a hand grabbed a hold of my arm, helping to me to study myself, that I realized how close I’d been to the edge of the sidewalk.

  “Watch it, girlie,” a male voice called.

  I turned to glare at him, when I took note of his suit. And his earpiece. And the white badge peeking out from his coat pocket.

  “Took you long enough.” Usually my uncle’s guards wasted no time going after their target. This one had waited for the right moment to make me aware of his presence. “Next time, might I suggest you steer clear of white buildings? Your stocky build and your black suit are a bit too noticeable against the white walls.”

  I tried to lace my words with anger, but the pain I felt made it difficult to worry about giving the jerk an attitude. It wasn’t as though it’d change things. They were just as cold and heartless as my uncle. Emotion – whether it be love, pain, or even sarcasm – didn’t affect them.