Synthetica Page 23

  “Just to be on the safe side,” he said, chucking the wires over his shoulder. He took hold of the edge of the door – it didn't have any door handles – and pulled, grunting with effort. At first, the door stayed stubbornly shut. But gradually, inch by inch, it began to slide backwards. Eventually, Clay had a gap big enough for them to squeeze through.

  “Come on,” he growled, sweat beading down his forehead at the effort of keeping the door open. Anais and Xander squeezed past him into the dark room beyond. Anais had barely stepped inside before Clay jumped in behind her, the door slamming shut with an ominous clang. The darkness in front of them was now complete. Anais tried shutting and then opening her eyes as wide as she could, but it was no use.

  “Nice job, Clay,” Xander hissed through the darkness. “The idea when we broke into the building was that, ideally, we'd be able to get back out too.”

  “Well I didn't see you coming up with any better ideas,” Clay shot back. “That ID chip of yours wasn't any bloody use was it? Sometimes the best way is the simplest way, you ever think about that, peacock?”

  “Not if you've blown our cover with the amount of noise you made,” Anais growled.

  “It had a muffler on it, sweetheart, you would've realised that if you hadn't been screaming your pretty little head off,” Clay snapped.

  Light suddenly flooded through the room, causing Anais to close her eyes against the glare. When she opened them again, Xander was standing a few paces away. He pointed towards the corner of the ceiling.

  “Light sensors,” he said.

  The lab was bigger than Anais had expected. At least a dozen different workstations were lined up in military precision along the length of the room. At the moment, with the lab shut down for the night, their surfaces were clear; but Anais could see boxes of tools and equipment stacked neatly under each station, ready for the morning. Underneath one of the benches, she thought she could see the workings of a HV set and under another one, the edge of a Virtual Reality console was poking out.

  “Right,” Clay said briskly, barging past them both. “Let's get this over with.”

  He picked a station at random and swiped his hand over the work surface. A holographic screen flickered in the air as the station's computer warmed up. He began typing in commands, a look of pure concentration on his face. The change in him was almost instantaneous. As he hacked into Civitas' system, he stood up straight and the years seemed to fall away, as his fingers flew over the holographic screen. He pulled a minute computer drive out of his pocket and jammed it into one of the tiny ports embedded in the top of the workstation. As she watched him work, there was no doubt that in Anais' mind that this was where Clay was born to be. His movements were so deft, like he was so sure of himself, that Anais feel a twinge of pity. He would never be able to return to work at this place, or any other tech company for that matter, ever again.

  The feeling quickly passed, however, as Clay smoothly shut down a window he'd been looking at just as Anais approached. But as he did, Anais could've sworn that the tiny drive had bleeped, indicating a file had been downloaded. Clay glared at her.

  “Can I help you?” he asked.

  “What are you searching for?” Anais asked with interest. “How exactly do you hack into restricted files anyway? Do you just search for them, like you would if you were searching on the NIC, or do you -”

  “Look, why don't you just go and keep a look-out?” Clay said shortly. “Then I can get some peace and quiet, and do what I came here to do, alright?”

  Xander and Anais stepped away as Clay began muttering to himself and bringing up a multitude of files on the computer. Xander pulled a face at Clay's back and walked off back towards the door. Anais smiled and turned in the opposite direction.

  Anais couldn't help wandering up and down the lab, marvelling at how clean everything was. It was nothing like the picochip factory. Here, the air was so crisp that she had a suspicion it was being filtered into the lab to stop any possible contaminants getting in. She ran a hand gently over one of the metal surfaces, it's face was so shiny that she could see her reflection in it. She prodded the VR console that was languishing under another desk, it's wires spilling out of the hatch on the side of the sleek metal box. She jumped as it crackled and sparked. She hurried away, back towards where Clay was working. Xander was back to hovering over Clay's shoulder which, judging from the stiffness of Clay's back, Clay wasn't too happy with.

  Clay swore loudly as she drew closer.

  “What?” she asked. “What is it?”

  But even from where she was standing, she could see the error message flashing on the screen: ACCESS DENIED.

  Clay's fingers flew over the holograph as he tried to hack into whatever part of the system it was that he wanted. But the message stayed the same.

  “What's wrong?” Anais repeated, even though she could probably guess by the message on the screen hovering in the air in front of them.

  “I can't access any of the R&D files,” he said, still resolutely trying to hack into the system. “There's a whole section of the system that's completely blocked.”

  Anais' heart sank. There has to be something we can do, she thought desperately, but there was nothing she could do but watch. The hologram stayed the same no matter what Clay did. She couldn't bear the thought that there were no SLP program files. If they couldn't access the system, they couldn't see whether Civitas had changed the coding in the program deliberately, or whether it had been hacked.

  Xander began swiping at the images of the files that were hanging in the air. His fingers and Clay's hands were almost a blur as they worked together, occasionally muttering at each other. Anais watched them both anxiously, wishing for the first time that she'd paid more attention in Computer Sciences at the Academy.

  “Maybe they're saved somewhere else?” Xander suggested as he closed down one window and opened another. “Or they could be on one specific computer in here. Or in a different lab...”

  “They're not.”

  Anais' blood ran cold as a familiar, smooth woman's voice rang out. She looked up through the holographic screen, past Xander's head. Clay did the same, and his mouth dropped open. Xander whipped round and Anais heard him swear under his breath.

  There, standing by the now open door, was Skye.

  He waited in the shadows for the blue haired woman to move out of sight.

  The Civitas building rose up to sky, the vast expanse of glass mirroring the silver light that shone down from the full moon above. He was hidden in the small street next to the gigantic monstrosity of a building, positioned by a recycling bin. He'd been watching and waiting for the best part of half an hour, just to make sure there was no one around.

  He watched as the woman entered the building, her high heels clicking on the pavement as she walked. He was about to step out from the shadows when a solitary auto-cab pulled up outside the building. He gritted his teeth. The building was supposed to be deserted tonight. The message he'd sent around informing night security personnel that essential maintenance was being carried out, which required a minimal presence at the building, had seen to that. They were so sure of their remotely controlled security systems, they had believed the memo without batting an eye. The only guard who had had the unfortunate job of being on-duty was currently lying unconscious at his feet.

  He narrowed his eyes as three people stepped out of the auto-cab. With a hiss, he realised they were heading straight for him. He kicked the unconscious guard further back behind the recycling bin, before crouching down and pressing himself as hard as he could against the wall. He was so close to the ground, he could hear the guard's breathing. For a long moment he stayed frozen until he heard their footsteps bypass his hiding place and carry on down the alley. He raised his head slightly and peered around the s
ide of the bin. The tallest of the three scanned his ID chip and the group stepped through the door.

  As soon as they were out of sight, he stood up and turned to the body at his feet. Grabbing a fistful of the man's hair, he yanked the guard upright and began dragging him towards the door. Once they were beside the scanner, he hefted the security guard up, turning the man's head so the scanner could read the ID chip.

  The light flashed green. He opened the door, dragging the man's body with him. Once they were both inside and the door had shut behind them, his eyes flicked around the small corridor. He made his way to the nearest supply closet, hauling the unconscious man with him. He pushed open the door and dumped the body inside behind a pile of disused crates. He knelt down and drew out a small jackknife from his pocket. Roughly, he turned the guard's face to the left and made a small incision in the man's neck. Using the tip of the blade, he popped the bloody ID chip out into his palm. He released the man's head and stood up, leaving the body convulsing on the floor. After checking the corridor was still clear, he stepped out of the closet, leaving the dying man behind him.

  The ID chip opened the door at the end of the corridor, and he entered the dark atrium. He could see the faint light of one of the lift pods as it moved upwards. As soon as it had disappeared out of sight, he moved swiftly across the floor to the other bank of lift pods. He held out the ID chip to the nearest lift and it's doors slid open.

  The voice recognition program was slightly harder to fool, especially with his condition. But it took mere seconds to override the system and manually key in the floor number he desired. As the lift began its ascent, he unzipped his canvas bag and felt through the items inside, mentally checking off each one. His main concern was that his rope wouldn't be long enough, but he wouldn't know until he got there. He gritted his teeth. He hated not knowing.

  The doors slid open to reveal the dark floor beyond. He slipped the bloody ID chip into his pocket as he checked his wristwatch. He estimated he'd need about an hour to complete his job.

  He had a lot of work to do. There was no time to waste.

  Sixteen

  Skye glared at them all, livid.

  Her hair was tied back in a severe ponytail and judging from the outfit she was wearing, she'd come straight from giving Civitas' statement to the news channel to here. Her blue eyes flashed like chips of ice.

  “Explain yourselves,” she said. “Now.”

  Anais was too stunned to move or speak. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Xander and Clay looking equally dumbfounded. How on earth could she explain what they were trying to do, and her theory about Civitas to anyone else, let alone Civitas' Head of PR? When none of them spoke Skye stepped forward, her eyes glinting.

  “Well then, I think we're going to have to see what the police think about all this.”

  She half turned as if to leave, but Anais found her voice.

  “No!” Anais cried sharply. She took a deep breath. “Please, don't call the police. I can explain.”

  Skye raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow.

  “Oh, is that right?” Her blue eyes roved over to Xander “I expected more from you Mr Silvas. How disappointing that you'll be out on the streets without a reference, or the prospect of getting another job in this city, at your age.”

  Skye turned back to Anais.

  “And you...I knew you were trouble the moment I saw you sniffing around here the other day,” she said. Then her gaze fell on Clay and she positively hissed.

  “You.”

  Clay didn't flinch, though a lesser man might have under Skye's look of wrath.

  “What are you doing here?” Skye's voice was full of venom.

  “Do you two know each other?” Anais asked and Skye laughed, though the sound was full of scorn.

  “Who hasn't heard of Clay fucking Winterbourne?” Skye snarled, her face suddenly looking a lot less beautiful as she threw Clay a look of hatred. “The most ingenious man to ever work for Civitas; the company's golden boy, who threw everything back in their faces in a hissy fit.”

  Clay drew himself up and looked Skye directly in the eye.

  “What are you doing here?” he demanded. Skye cocked her head to the side.

  “That sounds suspiciously like a group of intruders questioning why a Civitas employee is in the Civitas building,” she said in a voice dripping with sarcasm. “I can stay late if I chose to - you on the other hand are breaking and entering. So unless you have explicit instructions from someone higher up than me or a special permit to be here, I'm calling the police right now.”

  “No wait!” Anais held her hands up. “You have to listen to us. You're right, we're not supposed to be here. We were looking for information on your SLP programs.”

  The words seemed to hang in the air between them. Skye stopped short. For the first time, she dropped her ferocious act as she looked at Anais in disbelief.

  “What?” she asked.

  “We wanted to see...if the files had been tampered with,” Anais replied, avoiding Skye's gaze.

  "And why," Skye asked slowly. "Would you do a thing like that?"

  It was Xander who answered her.

  "Those murders that you're being framed for? We think they're something to do with the SLPs. We know for definite that two people who bought them ended up dead. One was Marcus. The other was Dalla. And there are similarities between their deaths and the way that all these murderers are dying too. We thought that maybe someone tampered with the SLP files, or stole them.”

  The slight emphasis on the word 'someone' and his hard look at Skye made it clear who Xander thought was behind it. Skye's eyes narrowed as her gaze flicked between the three of them.

  “And you think it's someone at Civitas who's doing all this,” Skye said finally.

  “Well...yes,” Anais admitted. “We - I - thought that Civitas altered the SLP programs and then used them to...” she trailed off nervously at the look on Skye's face.

  “I knew when I met you before, Miss Finch, that you obviously weren't stupid. So, I'm a tiny bit confused as to why you think an outstanding pillar of the community like Civitas would do something so stupid to damage their own reputation, to what? Get rid of a few competitors?” Skye's eyes had that fervent look Anais had seen the day she'd visited the building with Dalla and it dawned on her, too late, that in Skye's opinion Civitas could do no wrong.

  “We've seen what those counterfeit SLPs can do,” Xander said. “You're the ones that make the SLPs, you're the ones that are launching them tomorrow - can you blame us for thinking that you might possibly be involved somehow?”

  He was staring hard at Skye. Anais couldn't help feeling a tiny swell of pride as Xander stood up straight and met Skye's gaze. Skye simply stared back at him, unfazed.

  “Well I hate to shatter your delusions Mr Silvas, but Civitas had nothing to do with those murders, or these SLPs that you're talking about,” Skye said coldly. “It was news to us tonight that someone obviously suspects us of messing around with everyone's ID chips, let alone you thinking we've also somehow hacked into our own SLP programs and murdered innocent people that way. You're quite mistaken, This is someone – or something – else. It has nothing to do with my company.”

  The loving use of the word 'my' didn't escape Anais, but she was focusing too hard on Skye to say anything. For the first time that night, Anais noticed something beneath Skye's usual beauty. Skye's face, although still perfectly made up, was pale and the dark shadows under her eyes hadn't been concealed well enough. There was the tiniest hint of a wrinkle on her forehead. She looked completely stressed out.

  “So you're telling us that this has nothing to do with Civitas, despite your rivals conveniently being killed off right before you launch a new product?” Anais couldn't keep the edge out of her vo
ice. She simply couldn't let go of the idea that Civitas wasn't involved somehow. The SLPs were their product, they must have something to do with it. But at the back of her mind she knew what the real issue was; she didn't want to think about the consequences for them all if what Skye said turned out to be true.

  Skye gave her a withering look.

  “Of course not, why on earth would we? If anything, I relish the competition other companies bring,” she said, with a smile that made a shiver run down Anais' spine. Skye jerked her head at Clay.

  “Did he have anything to do with bringing you here?”

  “No,” said Xander. “We're the ones who needed his help.”

  Clay narrowed his eyes at Skye.

  “I wouldn't believe anything this man tells you,” Skye said, pointing straight at Clay, her lip curling “If he's here it's because he has his own agenda, not because he wants to help you.”

  “Forgive me,” growled Clay. “But for once, I'm not trying to sabotage your precious company. If I did, trust me darlin', you'd already know about it.”

  Skye actually stamped her foot in frustration.

  “For the last time,” she shouted, making Anais and Xander jump. “We had nothing to do with your family! Why won't you just give it a rest? It's over and done with, you stupid old man!”

  “And who else would it have been?” Clay shouted back, his hands trembling. “My wife and kids, just dropped dead of their own accord did they? No one else had any reason to murder them – just you, when you all realised I wasn't going to blindly follow you anymore!”

  Skye looked as though she was about to rip out her hair in anger.

  “WHY WOULD WE?!” she shrieked. “What possible motive would we have for murdering them?! They didn't have anything to do with our ID chips! All we wanted you to do was design them, and when you refused and destroyed our labs, we fired you! That's it! End of story!”