Something New Under the Sun by L.A. Witt

Author:L.A. Witt [Witt, L.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Published: 2013-01-11T00:00:00+00:00

“Holy shit,” Gizmo said. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. I have to go.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He put his hands up again. “Daniel, you can barely stand. You want to get yourself killed before you do anyone any good?”

“I’ll take my chances.” I shoved my cell phone in my pocket. “Liam’s on a death clock, my friend might be bleeding out, and God only knows where my kid is. I’m going.” I hesitated and looked at Liam. There wasn’t much time, but if anyone knew that code . . .

“Hang on,” I said to Gizmo, and pulled out my phone again. I speed-dialed Venus.

“Hey,” she said.

“Is Felix conscious?” I asked.

“Barely. Why?”

“Fuck.” I raked a hand through my hair. “I need to talk to him.”

“Daniel, he’s barely—”

“Unless you know anything about antitheft protocols on mods?” While I talked, I carefully picked my way around Gizmo’s lab, relearning how to keep my feet under me.

“I don’t know much about them,” she said. “And Felix, he’s—wait, hold on.” Her voice was muffled on the other end. The response was barely audible, but distinctly Felix.

My hip brushed a workbench, rattling a computer monitor. Gizmo threw me a concerned look, and I gave a thumbs-up before I continued my clumsy attempts at walking.

“Daniel?” Felix’s voice was weak. “What’s going on?”

“Liam’s in trouble.” I gripped the edge of a workbench as my balance faltered again. “The UV mod, it’s got some sort of antitheft protocol.”

“Oh shit.”

“Do you have any idea how to crack it?” I asked. “It wants a . . . some sort of code.”

“A code?” I could almost see him furrowing his brow. “That’s weird. I’ve never heard of that.”

“Never?”

“No. With everything I’ve seen and heard about . . . about the mods, I . . .” He trailed off. When he spoke again, his words were badly slurred, “No. Never seen . . . never seen anything like that.”

“Damn it,” I whispered. “Do you—”

“Hey, it’s me,” Venus said. “He needs to sleep.”

“I know. Listen, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Looks like you and I are going into Cybernetix.”

“Into—”

“We don’t have much choice. I’ll be there soon.”

After we hung up, I took a few more cautious steps. I was still unsteady, but I didn’t have a lot of choice. Sitting around waiting for my balance to come back wasn’t going to wake Liam up or get Anna back.

Gizmo looked at me over Liam’s still form. “If you’re going in like that, at least cover that thing up first.” He gestured at my temple. “You don’t want it showing down here.”

He gave me some bandages, which we quickly taped over the mod until no titanium or silicone showed.

“There,” he said. “As soon as you’re in the Gutter-Sky transfer, take that off. It’ll give you some credibility on the top side.”

“I know.”

“And one more thing to make sure you find your way back here.” He lifted the bandage, manipulated something on the mod, and then taped it down again. “There. It’s marked in your GPS. Get lost, just go into the—”

“I’ll figure it out.

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