Pimpernel: Royal Ball by Sheralyn Pratt

Author:Sheralyn Pratt [Pratt, Sheralyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wicked Sassy
Published: 2017-12-10T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Kali

Rebooting into a new simulation was usually painless for Kali—a clean sensory slate where everything began anew.

This did not feel like rebooting.

This felt like waking up after getting tased, which meant there was a 99% chance she was still locked in the same 5-Tek scenario she’d gotten herself into when she got on that rickety airplane back on the island.

Mental note: Next time, take the jet.

If there was a next time.

A sinking feeling in Kali’s stomach had her wondering if the game had just been changed on her … like maybe she’d somehow been moved over to an updated system with a more immersive storyline. If so, residual pain across scenarios would be a new normal that she needed to factor into future actions. Because the pain and hunger weren’t less than the last time she woke up. They were worse.

Much worse.

The verdict might still be out on whether all this was real or just another scenario, but she needed a doctor and food in either case.

Feeling herself black out again, Kali forced her eyes opened until she saw light through her eyelashes. Then everything went dark again.

Hmm. She was weaker than she thought. That wasn’t good.

She gave cracking her eyes open a second shot, this time catching sight of a white-walled room, illuminated with UV lights. The air smelled like it came out of a can, a bit artificial in its purity, although Kali couldn’t quite put her finger on what was different about it.

She could feel the cool of a metal table through the fabric on her back, the chill of it not helping with her recovering muscles. A hot tub would have been a welcome sight right about then, but when Kali glanced to her side she saw a large lab space and a gaunt man with wild hair typing on a computer like he was Beethoven.

She grunted in disappointment.

Kali really didn’t need a mad scientist in charge of her quality of life—even if all this was imaginary.

Couldn’t she opt-out of the mad scientist subscript?

Please? she thought as loudly as she could. But if Doctor Beethoven’s melodramatic keystrokes were any indication, her plea fell on deaf ears. She was still on a metal table, muscles taut and chilled, with an IV going into the back of her hand. It felt like an actual lifeline, a faint charge originating where the needle dipped under her skin. The bag it was connected to was still half full, so Kali left everything in place and focused all her energy into turning her head and taking a look around the lab.

“Whoa,” she muttered when she caught sight of multiple full-body mannequins. Her body. Her face. They were each wearing replicas of tools and tactical clothing she’d created within previous scenarios. “Looks like someone has a stalker.”

If Kali retained any ability to be weirded out by the bizarre, she might have panicked right then. But all she could think as she looked at her replicas—including one that looked like it was wearing Lara Croft’s version of a swimsuit—was, Sure.

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