Famous by Michael Anderle

Author:Michael Anderle [Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-10-13T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Led by a sullen-faced Firewall operative, Nasreen stepped into a small dusty room. Based on the counter and the long tables, she suspected it used to be a small cafeteria. Like many of Firewall’s other bases, this room was in a hidden base along an abandoned grav line station.

When Nasreen contacted the organization, they’d instructed her to go to an address across town where she’d met an operative with a code phrase. Her fleeting nervousness had left her when a group of stab-happy operatives looking to kidnap her didn’t jump her.

She didn’t recognize the operative, and he didn’t seem interested in communicating with her other than offering the bare minimum of orders and direction.

A circuitous walk led by the operative took her to a sublevel, an officially decommissioned grav line, and a waiting train. She’d not bothered with small talk. There wasn’t any point until she dealt with someone farther up the ladder. She knew that much about working with Firewall.

That was fine with Nasreen. She respected Tether and Lock. That didn’t mean she needed to befriend everyone in Firewall.

They’d passed through a guarded door without the fierce array of inspections she’d expected. That surprised her given they knew she carried several implants.

The operative motioned at a chair. “Sit. Tether will be here soon.” Without waiting for a response, he stepped out of the room. At least he hadn’t stabbed her or tried to kidnap her.

Nasreen took a seat, grateful she was meeting with Tether and not Exploit. A shudder passed through her as she recalled her treatment at his hands during her imprisonment.

Dante was right to be angry at the insane zealot. She clung to her anger, only having set it aside for the good of the alliance. Dealing with only Exploit would have taken all her self-control. Trusting him made her nauseous.

Lock had done what he had out of a sincere desire to ensure the safety of the organization and his belief that Firewall would save humanity. Exploit claimed righteousness and a higher calling.

She’d seen through to the truth. He was a petty, evil man who enjoyed hurting others, found a place to do it, and claimed a moral justification. Once they’d taken care of the Omega Syndrome, she’d ensure he couldn’t get away with hurting anyone else.

Nasreen didn’t have to wait long before Tether entered. Her gaze drifted to the operative’s arm. Block 9X blades had taken it in the club, setting in motion the chain of events that led to Nasreen getting kidnapped and tortured by Exploit in the guise of interrogation. All the while, her team had desperately tried to keep Tether alive.

Instead of an autoclamp or bandage, Tether sported a new biomechanical arm and hand, obvious by its dull gray color. The articulation of the fingers was stiff. She’d not even tried to match it to her skin tone or the skin tone of anything remotely human other than a corpse.

Nasreen’s brow lifted. “Of all the things I’d never expect from a Firewall operative, a major cybernetic augmentation is at the top of the list.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.