Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
Also, in the back of my mind, I’m processing the reality that I just brought said Spark Maiden to dinner with them.
And this is when it occurs to me that we might not actually make it out of here.
One thing. One slip-up. One little spark.
That’s all it takes.
And it’s over.
Me and Clara. The overlay, my augments, and Anneeta.
It’s all over.
A human man would panic here. Unless he was highly trained in stress warfare, he would not be able to react appropriately.
But I’m not really human. And the moment the panic begins, it also ends. Because my augments kick in. Stayn sees it. Hell, everyone sees it. Because, of course, there’s a blue light in my eyes to indicate that I’ve been turned on.
All of them gasp, even Stayn. And then the three of us who were sitting are now standing.
“Are… you OK, Tyse?” There’s not just suspicion in Stayn’s voice now, there’s a hint of alarm.
“I thought you said he was decommissioned? What the hell is going on here?” The old man is about to overreact.
So I play it all down with a smile. “That’s a good question.” But then I look straight at Stayn. “What is going on here?”
He repeats the old man’s concern. “You… were decommissioned, right? I mean, that’s why they discharged you, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then what is happening inside that head of yours, Tyse? Because from this side of things, you look very much like an operating augment. And you know as well as I do that all operating augments have to be registered as non-human active warfare weapons.”
I sigh, then set my drink down on a side table. I can feel the augments dial back, but they don’t completely turn off. There’s an internal overlay now with a few stats, but nothing else. I look at Stayn, then all of the men in the room. They don’t look frightened anymore, they just look like they want to lock me up somewhere in a lab and never let me see the light of day again.
The smile is fake, but warm. “Well, I see that a lesson in augmentation is in order here. As you know, we are chosen as kids and the process starts when we’re about fourteen. My brain isn’t entirely human anymore. The augments can never be removed, as I’m sure you’ve heard. Nor can they actually be turned off.”
The room is suddenly filled with murmuring.
“That’s not what your discharge spectra said.”
I meet Stayn’s gaze. “It was part of my deal. New name, pension, and official ‘off’ status. But before you guys all overreact, they don’t work. They haven’t really worked since I was like nineteen. It took a few years for it to really show, but they don’t work, Stayn. They’re there, and sometimes they flash a little blue light, but there’s nothing happening inside my brain as far as the augments go.”
“Why should we trust you?” This comes from some guy I was introduced to, but can’t recall his name. “You could just be lying.”
“I could. But do you really think Sweep would let me out if I still worked?”
There’s mumbling now. But they can’t deny this. There is no way in hell Sweep would discharge me if my augments were functioning.
“You have something on them,” Stayn says. “What is it?”
“What makes you think that?”
“Come on, Tyse. Don’t bullshit me. A new name, a pension, and official ‘off’ status? It’s the definition of a fresh start. You know something. Something they want you to keep quiet. But more than that, you know something so big, they can’t just kill you to keep it secret. There’s some… dead-man’s switch, or something. And ya know, what? Good for you. If you found a way to use this information to keep yourself alive, total respect for that. I don’t care. But I want to know what you know. What is it?”
They’re looking for something. Something I don’t have any actual knowledge of. Stayn is right—I did bribe my way back into civilian life—but he’s fuckin’ batshit crazy if he thinks I’d spill this secret to him. The Sweep would pick me up so fast, my head would spin. And I’d be dead within a day. Probably less.
No one, outside of a god, maybe, will ever get that secret from me.
Still, I gotta say something or Clara and I aren’t going home tonight. So I look at the old man now. Because this is the only way the lie works. “I know about the Looking Glass. I know what it is.”
The room erupts in excitement.
But I put up a hand to hush them. “I saw it. I saw lots of things in the Outlands. I know where it is.”
“Where?” The old man’s hands are in the air, like he’s about to throttle the answer out of me. But I shoot him a cautionary look that comes with a flash of blue light, and he pulls them back.