Reclaiming Shilo Snow Page 18
Miguel stared at the screen. At the faces of those they’d chosen.
“This was no vote,” Sofi said. “This is an elimination.”
A smart one, Miguel thought. And a sick one.
“We’re simply waiting for Ambassador Alis to show now,” the news announcer continued. “Although, according to Lord Ethos’s last vid communication, it seems she may not make it for the event. In which case for the first time ever, the Fantasy Five will be fighting as the Fantasy Four. And we can only hope it doesn’t make for a much shorter game.”
“Hey, guys?” Claudius suddenly called out. His tone odd. Strained.
Miguel could see his friend standing at the door of a connecting room but not what he was staring at inside it. But whatever it was, Claudius’s face had gone white.
He swerved his gaze over onto Miguel’s.
Miguel frowned and strode over as the others hurried to follow. The kids instantly curious.
Claudius held up a hand. “Hey, kids, I don’t think—”
Miguel stepped into the room.
Oh. Oh crud.
Alis and Heller were lying on cots where they’d been plugged in.
Her bald head. Pale skin edging the soft dress suit she’d been wearing at the meeting yesterday morning. Her eyes staring up at the ceiling. Blank. Cold.
Heller looked exactly as he had in the shuttle on the way up to Delon. Except now his lips and skin had a blue tint, and his face was frozen in an expression of pain. His cheek piercing still blinked with myriad colors.
¿Qué?
One of the kids let out a cry and the rest came crowding in. Miguel grabbed the three closest and turned them away, sending them to Danya and Shilo, who pulled them all over to look out the shuttle hall’s massive window. “Shh, it’s alright,” Danya whispered. “Everything will be alright.”
“She’s barely cold,” Sofi murmured, leaning down to place her hand on the body. Then moved over to Heller. “He’s likely been dead since yesterday. I saw it happen in my mind. They virtually sent him into a poisonous fog—although it appears that was an elaborate mental simulation. They’ve both been suffocated.”
Miguel caught the grieved lilt in her tone and moved toward her just as her voice hardened and she swung her gaze his way. “What I don’t understand is—what exactly is Ethos doing? He had to know the alarms went off on this shuttle. How is disappearing to Earth going to help anything? Let alone leaving Alis and Heller here dead while the rest of us are alive.”
“I’m thinking we check the shuttle’s bridge,” Miguel said quietly. He led them back out into the hall and listened as Sofi slid the door shut behind them. Sealing Alis and Heller in so the kids wouldn’t see.
“He’s cleaning up,” Danya said from her space at the window where she held an armful of children. “He knows the alarms went off, but this ship and his peacekeepers are fully capable of maintaining control. Or they should be. Which means he knows you hacked into our systems and their firewalls kicked you back out but has no idea that you’re able to read and assimilate into them. That’s likely what’s confused Delon too.” She peered back and forth between Sofi and Shilo. “He believes their tests of you were yielding the results he wanted—that he was accessing your minds. Instead, you were accessing ours.”
“But what does that mean for us?” Claudius glanced between Miguel and Sofi. “Are we stuck here in space until he returns, or are you gonna get on trying to fly this ship?”
Miguel watched the siblings eye each other.
“What do you think?” Shilo said. “Maybe if we get into the system and—”
Sofi sniffed. “I think we’ve never flown a ship before.”
Shilo shrugged. And grinned. “How hard can it be?”
29
INOLA
Inola had never been to a rave before.
Not that this was a rave, but maybe it was and she didn’t know. And whatever they called this, it was how she’d imagine a rave to be.
Loud. Colorful. Dark. With a giant guy in a black trench coat and tie-dyed hair guarding the door.
The giant nodded to her and she nodded back before Ranger led them down a dark hallway with speakers overhead blaring a tune she’d heard more than once when Shilo had his headphones up too high. Usually during one of her monthly drop-ins when she stopped by his and Sofi’s apartment to check on the nanny and their lives.
If she’d known they were hanging out at these kinds of clubs, she would’ve dropped by far more frequently. Or so she wanted to tell herself.
At the end of the black-lit hall, the space opened into a large room filled to the brim with teens all talking and walking or huddled around the tables and wall teles. And toward the back there appeared to be some kind of oxygen bar.
“So we’ll hydrate you first”—Ranger turned to yell—“then get you settled.” He waited for them to nod, then waved his hand toward a row of blue tables flickering oddly beneath the rainbow-colored strobe lights.
Inola pulled her coat tighter, despite the blood soaked into it, and hurried after him, past the group of kids, who couldn’t be much older than Shilo, wearing mullets and neck piercings. And past a huddle of girls all dressed up as some type of anime animals with oversize eyes.
“I take it you’ve never been here before?” Nadine shouted in her ear, not even hiding her amusement as Inola tried not to stare.
Inola kept her chin up, scanning the room for anyone ready to knife them.
“You’re the most dangerous thing here, you know,” Nadine said, this time closer to Inola’s ear.
Inola nodded and slid into the seat Ranger had pulled out and quickly said yes to whatever oxygen drink thing he offered, then glanced up, only to catch sight of herself in a wall mirror.
Oh.
Nadine had a point.
Bloodied clothes, messed-up hair, tear-smeared face. Inola looked like one of the people she’d seen down at the black markets.
Between that and the fact that she was the person who sent kids like these to Delon for testing . . .
Inola swallowed. Nadine hadn’t just been jesting.
Pressing back her shoulders, Inola smoothed her fingers over her face and hair in a way that fit her status. Or rather, fit Shilo and Sofi’s status—since that seemed more appropriate here. She watched the waiter with the twinkle-light skull apron as he brought over a basket of fries, tortilla wedges, and some type of fizzing drinks—and abruptly Ranger disappeared to go do something. Nadine pecked. Inola took a few sips to be polite.
The thought of Jerrad still lying out in the street made it all she could do not to get up and go find the restroom. She couldn’t get the image out of her mind. Or his last words out of her heart.
Or the grief from her lungs.
She blinked and refused the tears access. Not now. Not in front of this crowd who had gradually begun to turn their eyes her way.
“Is that—?”
“I think so.”
“What’s her mom doing here?”
The room grew even more interested the moment Nadine pulled back her hood.
“It’s Nadine.”
“I dare you to ask to be on her show.”
“I dare you to ask Sofi’s mom if you can be CEO.”
Inola swept her hair off her forehead and stared right back at them the same way she did the politicians. If they were going to recognize her, she at least had to own it.
Except these kids were no politicians. They had colored hair and tattoos like Ambassador Miguel, but unlike him they wore garage clothes and kitten ears and vid-game controllers that appeared to have been grafted into their skin.
She inched closer to Nadine. How often did her kids hang out here? Two weeks ago Inola would’ve forbidden it. Now? “Dude, check it out—they’re here with Ranger!”
Three seconds later most of the room was crowding their table as Ranger took a seat beside her. “Hey, Range, are you helping them tomorrow?”
“Doing what I can.”
“You know it.”
Inola eyed this Ranger friend of Sofi’s. The way he spoke and the way they admired him—he was far more important than she’d realized. A new rush of gratitude swept over her for this guy who’d taken it upon himself to rescue her and watch out for her daughter. Especially if he knew what Sofi knew about Inola. Maybe it meant that Sofi could find a way to forgive her.
The kids stayed clustered round and studied them. She overheard one say, “It’s a lost cause, man. Corp 13’s Matthers is going to clean their clocks tomorrow. You know how he plays.”
Ranger sniffed and set down his drink. “That may be, but if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna pull our s—” He looked at Inola. “Stuff together for them to try on. Be right back.”
The moment he left again, Inola’s voice froze. Unlike Nadine, who simply smiled and answered an endless stream of questions about her shows, her travels, and her latest skin-care products.
Inola thought to join in, but what would she say—“Hi. Thanks for being friends with my kids”? “I hope they don’t do drugs with you”? As if they could even hear half of it over the pulsing music.
She was saved by the halt of said music and a strobing flash across the wall telescreens. The next second an image came on, of Sofi and Shilo. It was followed by a vid. Pics of them in the Games, but even more pics of them behind the scenes. Funny video clips Inola had never seen. Some with their friends. A lot training for FanFight routines.
Even some from events held here in this place—birthday parties and a few holidays. It was as if someone had scoured the online world for every important moment from the past five years and put them together just for her.
Something told her they hadn’t though—not just for her. The care invested in this montage said it’d been made a while ago as a part of what these kids did together. What they did for each other.
The vids were celebrations of the lives they all led.
Inola watched the last few images float by to the type of music Sofi and Shilo loved. And suddenly found herself wiping her eyes just as the lights came up, and the room full of faces, young and old alike, smiled at her. As if they had just given her both a gift and a thank-you. For Sofi and Shilo being part of this loud, strange gaming-room world that clearly valued them.
This time when the tears fell, Inola didn’t even swipe at them as she stared at these humans.
These people had been her kids’ true family when Inola had failed.
A swell of gratitude rose in her chest—even amid the grief and fear suffocating her lungs. Gratitude for this place and these tender hands that had been there when she hadn’t. That had helped and celebrated her children into becoming the people they were.
The people she’d not been able to see them as.
Even if Inola hadn’t always agreed with Sofi’s choices, she understood now more than ever why she’d made them. Why she’d wanted attention. And how much farther she would have run if these people hadn’t been there.
Oh gad. Inola wanted to hug every last one of them.
“Nadine? Inola?” Ranger appeared from a red hallway. “I’ve made up cots for you both to sleep on. If you’ll follow me, we’ll get your gear all tested and laid out, and I’ll introduce you to a tech friend of mine named Vic. Then I suggest you both get as much rest as possible.”
Nadine smiled and hugged a group of girls, and Inola stood to say a quiet “thank you” to the entire room. Then went to follow Ranger, only to be stopped by a teen barely older than her son. The boy glanced up at her with sincerity. “No need to worry, CEO Mama. No one will get in here tonight. We’ll keep you safe.”
Inola blinked back a new rush of warmth from her eyes and simply offered her hand in thanks to him. To them. For all of it.
30
SOFI
“Okay, i’ve got access to vic. I’m putting her on-screen.”
Two seconds later a holographic head of Claudius’s favorite Artificial Intelligence appeared on one of the wall comps in the shuttle’s flight bridge.
“About time—I’ve been wracking my sources trying to reconnect with you guys.”
“Oh, is that Vic?” Claudius asked casually. “Hey, girl.”
“Claudius, you bleeding idiot! You had me scared—”
The shuttle swerved and flipped.
“Shi, what are you doing?” Sofi yelled. “You’re—”
Shilo’s chuckle rang out beside her, the most charming, disarming, and irritating sound she’d grown up with and missed the last few days.
He spun the shuttle back over. “What? It’s not like it affects anything.”
“You don’t know that!”
“Fine.” He leveled it out to be completely even, then kept a steady pace with a look on his face that mimicked a grandmother.
Mentally she sent Shi an image of her rolling her eyes. “I realize you’ve had more practice at this tech thing, but I’m still finding my way around in the system. And Delon is trying everything to gain back control of this shuttle.”
“Fair enough.”
The next moment she mentally dove in and reengaged the fail-safe controls for the ship to effectively fly itself. Because disconnecting it from Delon and understanding the basics of toggling the shuttle had been one thing—and both had taken a few hours to learn. But making it through Earth’s atmospheric shield to then land safely? She and Shi would kill them all. “Don’t touch,” she said to him.
She looked at Miguel. Now for coordinates. “Any preference on where we land?”
A shadow crossed his face as he flicked a glance toward the hall where the kids still were. Then ran a hand through his hair as his lips tightened. “I’d say they need a medical center, Sof. Probably the UWC.”
Behind him, Claudius nodded. Then snorted. “Let the politicians’ doctors figure out how to deal with our little bit of drama.”
“Vic, can you give us coordinates to input for that?” Sofi was already sliding her fingers through sections of the console comp. When the AI didn’t reply, Sofi glanced up to see her still glaring at Claudius. “Sooner than later?”
Miguel peered her way again. “Sof, are you guys able to ghost this shuttle from Earth’s radar?”
“Apparently we already are. Ethos likes his privacy.”
He nodded. “In that case, Vic, what are the chances of you having game-level handscreens and comps waiting for us when we get to that med center?” Miguel had been studying the news channels all covering the FanFights. Trying to learn what they could about the situation.
“You got it, boss man. By the way, I’m getting paid overtime for this, yes?”
“I’ll trade you. This for Claudius.”
“What? Hey, I—”
“Done. Claudius, you start tomorrow.”
“As what?”
The AI grinned and even Sofi chuckled. Then pointed them toward the flight-bridge window, which was quickly filling with Earth’s atmospheric blush. “Um, guys, you might want to brace yourselves—” But they’d already entered. Fiery flashes were burning past the window, with hardly a jolt or bump.
“Must be an upgraded model,” Shilo murmured in Sofi’s head.
“Sof, maybe keep the shuttle cloaked as is, so you don’t draw attention,” Vicero said.
“Hadn’t planned on figuring out how to change it,” Sofi answered, her voice higher than usual. “You guys might really want to buckle up.”
They were coming in fast. Too fast. Earth was looming bigger and bigger in front of the window.
The shuttle suddenly shuddered, then slowed. Just not enough.
They screamed through a puff of clouds and she thought she saw a few birds fly past, and then they were staring down at the ocean. And to the side of them—land.
“Manhattan,” Shilo said.
“Welcome home,” Sofi said.
“Stop talking and focus on not killing us,” Claudius exclaimed. “Because have you se
en me?” He splayed a hand down his two-day-old suit. “There is no way in heck I’m going to my grave wearing this.”
31
MIGUEL
“Sofi, where are we going? don’t leave.”
From the corner of his eye, Miguel saw Sofi kneel beside a little girl as he and Claudius and Danya rounded up the others. It was the first child she’d woken a few hours ago.
“We won’t be gone long. We just have to finish something we started.” Sofi took the girl’s tiny fingers in her own. “But when we get back, I’ll take you for dessert. How does that sound?”
“But . . .” The girl looked around. “I’m scared. I don’t want to go to more doctors.”
Miguel’s heart about shriveled in his chest. He set down the boy he was holding so he could grab more hands as Sofi pointed up at the sky overhead, where the invisible shuttle they’d just stepped off hovered. “Do you see the plane?”
“No.” The girl shook her head.
“But do you know it’s there?”
The girl nodded.
“How do you know it’s there?”
“Because we were in it. It helped us. And I can feel it.”
“Exactly.” Sofi picked up the child and moved toward Miguel and the door they were now heading for. “Just like I’ve been with you and helped you. And just like Shilo did too. We’ll still be with you—even if you don’t see us.”
“But how?”
Miguel caught Sofi’s soft smile as he yanked open the medroof door of the United World Corporations Manhattan branch hospital they’d landed on. She pointed at Claudius and Danya. “Do you see them? They’re going to stay with you. They won’t let you out of their sight. Not for anyone.”
“Promise?”
“Promise,” Danya said over her shoulder as she hurried them down the hall where medics began appearing with expressions of shock and panic. “Ambassador Danya, Miguel and Claudius, what a surprise. How’d—what are you—?”
“How may we help you?” one finally blurted.
“They need to see the emergency doctors immediately. Put them at the front of your patient line,” Danya said just as one of the children grabbed her leg and began to cry.