The Chimera Code by Wayne Santos

Author:Wayne Santos
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Rebellion Publishing Ltd

UNPLUGGING FROM THE simulation revealed the ceiling of the room as the real-world chair reclined to a nearly horizontal position. There was still a buzzing somewhere in Zee’s brain, the last remnant of the very real adrenalin from taking on a serious operator with a serious lockdown and somehow not fucking up and getting anyone injured or killed.

Darma’s image popped up on the nearby display, followed a second later by Athena.

“And that’s a wrap,” he said. “The tech support staff is analyzing how Azevedo broke in, and how you routed him. I’m guessing they’ll want a report from you, and maybe scraps of your clothing to rub against their consoles for good luck.”

Zee snorted. “As if they could learn anything from me.”

“That was good work you did in there,” Darma said.

“No, that was good work you guys did. It wasn’t exactly a fair fight, was it? Three on one, and one of them was an AI. I just released the hounds.”

“You stepped up in an emergency and delivered,” Darma said. “I’d say that counts for something.”

“It was an impressive performance,” Athena said. “Your code is inspired. A lot more precise than what I do. I just poke my finger at a wall repeatedly until I finally find a hole, and then punch it.”

“So how did we do then?” Zee asked. “I mean all of that was to make sure Miriya is not dead and okay. Is she?”

Darma shifted uncomfortably on the display. “The support teams are doing their thing but…”

“But what?”

“She was always delicate to begin with. I know Cloke doesn’t like to hear that, but it’s true. I’m sure she’s fine physically. Psychologically… she was already damaged. I can see this making it worse.”

“Miriya? The digital happiness girl? She’s damaged goods?”

“See for yourself,” Darma said. “Cloke’s in her room now. You should go see her. I think you earned it.”

“You’ll also get sued into the Stone Age if you speak publicly about it, or this whole endeavor,” Athena added. “It was in the contract you signed before going to work.”

Zee sighed. “Must have missed that somewhere in those thousands of millions of clauses.”

“Clearly,” Athena said with a smile. She waved. “Anyway, good work. I’ve already filed my report, but I expect they’ll want to be hearing from everyone. I’ve given you clearance with security, and I’ve embedded a bread crumb trail for you to follow on your visor. Go be a knight to the princess you just saved, and tell Miriya I said ‘Hi.’”

“I’ll see you in the room,” Darma said, and signed off.

Zee stood, stretched, and let out a long breath. The levels of stress after these jobs was going to take some getting used to.

As Athena promised, there was no interference on the way to Miriya’s immersion suite. No one even bothered to look up as cameras and other security scans all went green as soon as Zee was identified. Even the human security at the doors gave only a cursory glance and then went back into intimidating, no-eye-contact sentinel mode when Zee approached the door.

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