Codename- Ubiquity by Wendy Devore

Author:Wendy Devore [Devore, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-15T16:00:00+00:00

The slice shifts were really starting to take it out of me, and a break was long overdue. An hour later, fortified by massive hydration and a meal of incredibly tasty butter chicken over rice, I headed back to the lab for another round of alternate reality torture courtesy of the Bug.

“Third time’s the charm,” I grumbled to myself, grimacing through the Bug’s agonizing stab and the accompanying lurch of nausea. I opened my eyes to the familiar white lab. Amir was still perched in his chair, coding away. I cleared my throat and he turned toward me. This reality’s black shirt read “Declare Variables—Not War.”

“Oh, hi, it’s you,” he said, all business. “Do you need anything?”

“No,” I sighed. “Well, maybe I do need a little change of scenery. Do you think that since I don’t really belong here, it’s okay if I break out of jail?”

Amir grinned. “That’s thinking outside the box. Can’t let you take the truck. Don’t want to have to go find it when you poof outta here. But if you just want a hike, then why not?”

It was a short walk from the lab to the heavy, windowless double doors of the entryway, and I encountered no one along the way.

The unexpected wave of dry heat that struck me as I stepped across the threshold gave me pause; the temperature differential from the air-conditioned lab felt like thirty degrees, but the evening light was golden, even through the thick, polluted haze. As usual for late in the day, a light wind had picked up out of the northwest, which helped alleviate the unnatural heat.

The gusts whipped my hair into my face; I cursed the fact that my hair elastic was on a table in an alternate reality. Impatiently gathering the tangled strands with my hand, I headed out toward a rise, walking briskly until I could no longer see the building below. I stomped down a small circle of knee-high vegetation and sat down in a half-lotus position, facing the setting sun in the west. I was far from the trails, and the only sound was the whisper of the wind in the dry grass and the cheerful chirping of grasshoppers, making it easier to push the Albaion Corporation and all it stood for far from my mind.

My practice was interrupted by a rustling in the grass. Startled, I stumbled to my feet. I anticipated a deer or possibly a dog off-leash, but instead it was Andrew. My shoulders immediately tensed and I dropped gracelessly into a crouch.

“Do not come near me!” I shouted, backing into the shelter of the wind-whipped grass. I scanned the field, but with a sinking feeling of dismay, I confirmed that I was otherwise alone. I considered a mad dash back to the building but quickly abandoned the idea—he was directly in my path.

My eyes narrowed in an accusatory glare. “Which Andrew are you?”

“I’m from your slice.” Of course he was the psychopathic, intern-assaulting lunatic from my slice. Just my luck.

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