Halcyon by Catherine Fitzsimmons

Author:Catherine Fitzsimmons [Fitzsimmons, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Brain Lag
Published: 2012-08-16T04:00:00+00:00

chapter.FOURTEEN

Seven weeks ago

IT WAS THE kind of place that many, if not most people his age spent their free time. However, Chen preferred to be alone, and even with entertainments ranging from karaoke to bowling, he couldn’t get comfortable in the club. Even as he took a seat in a quiet booth surrounded on all sides by heavy curtains in a secluded corner, music thrummed through the walls and floor, a constant reminder of the crowds of people swarming close by.

A bouncer hovered outside the curtains at the exit to the booth, quietly keeping people away from the table. Chen couldn’t help but worry that the bouncer would listen in on their conversation, despite his promises of discreetness. Desperation and fear had driven him to this meeting, however, and neither of those had faded as he spoke. He looked across the table at the stranger who had helped him recover Dwayne’s data drive. His hair was now blood red with two locks of black hanging over his forehead. It had startled Chen at first, but not as much as his statement now startled Zander.

He lowered his drink, staring back at Chen. “An antivirus for Halcyon? Does it work?”

“It’s gone. I only have his notes.” Chen took a sip of his water. This club was supposedly renowned for its food, but the cover charge for the club had eaten away at enough of his grocery budget for the week that he had ignored the menu, despite his grumbling stomach. “But it was supposed to. The army hired my friend to develop it.”

“So where’s your friend?”

Chen hunched his shoulders. “He’s dead.”

“Oh.”

He shifted in his seat, consciously aware of the bouncer hovering just outside their table. “All he wanted to do was finish the antivirus, but the army will never finish it now.”

“Why not?”

“Contract disputes with the company that provided the technology for the project.”

Zander let out a scoffing noise as he took another sip of his drink. “Politics.”

“He must have wanted me to finish his work if anything happened to him. I don’t know why he’d tell me he made a copy of his notes otherwise. I just want to finish it.”

Sensing something in his voice, Zander gave him a quiet look. “You’ve lost someone, haven’t you?”

Chen frowned, staring at the table top beneath his sweating drink. “My mother’s best friend since elementary school died from Halcyon a few years ago. She hasn’t been the same since.”

Zander bowed his head. “I’m sorry.” Raising his eyes, Zander faced him again. “What do you need from me, though? I’m not a programmer.”

“I just… can’t do this alone. I don’t have the same knowledge my friend did, I don’t have any way to know if what I do write works, and the only person who might still have a copy of the antivirus is missing… or also dead.”

Zander considered that. “So what did you want from me?”

Chen hunched his shoulders. “I don’t know. I just need help to finish the antivirus, but I’m afraid to go to anyone I know because the army and IPD are still looking for the data drive I have.

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