Sleepwalker

Haze

   "The probability that any of them would survive isn't exactly in their favor."

"Then you make sure that probability changes."
......

Ace didn't like the idea of traveling through the range on foot. They were exposed, and his scans of the terrain were incomplete. There was just too much data for him to sift through, and he couldn't do it as efficiently as he wished because he also had to keep an eye on the Sleepwalkers.

"We need to get to higher ground," he said, breaking the heavy silence that had followed them up their first three ridges.

"We're getting there," Diego complained, "Some of us have to take a break every now and then."

Ace rolled his eyes, grateful that he didn't have the same endurance as a human. But at the rate they were going, the Embassy would quickly discover what they were doing before they could hope to reach Ring 2. They had to pick up the pace if the probability of their survival was to remain over 40 percent.

He glanced up at their destination—the highest peak in the range, and the one nearest to Ring 2's outer layer. The summit itself cut through the sky's artificial haze and split in two and curved over the glowing Gateway like two fingers about to pinch the white light out.

It'd take them days just to get to the mountain's base, and he didn't want to calculate how long it would take them to actually climb it. He also didn't know how much longer he could stand Diego's whining grating on his nonexistent nerves.

"What if we used the mechs?" he mused aloud.

Amber shook her head. "They won't work without an activation port."

All of that power confined to a set of manmade rules and a small form, Ace could begrudgingly sympathize. He turned his back to them, eyes glowing blue as he began a more in-depth analysis of the code. There had to be a way to free Rerek and whatever other interesting pets they had hidden on their person.

Cho sided up to him and slipped her mech card into his hand. "Here, see if you can find a connection from her code to this place."

"Her?" he asked. She shrugged, tugging on the oversized sleeves of her black hoodie.

"Her name's Keiko. It means--"

"Lucky," he finished, "Huh, fitting name if this works."

She huffed but said nothing as he focused on the card in his hand. His blue eyes unknowingly shined brighter as he read the digital strands crisscrossing over the surprisingly complex template. No wonder Cho was their go-to programmer.

"Find anything yet?" she whispered, standing on her tiptoes to hover over his shoulder. He waved her back, and his eyes never left the mech card.

"Not with you staring like that. Give me a minute."

A pause. "I'm currently up to five seconds. Any luck?"

Ace glanced up to glare at her, but she returned it with a cheeky grin. He didn't think he had an "annoyed" button, but if he did, she was definitely pushing it. When he didn't back down, she eventually relented and allowed him to go back to analyzing in peace.

Come on, please give me something to work with.

A tremor of acknowledgement ran up his hand when he touched the card, fingering a particular series of commands. The light shake grew into an electric shock as soon as he activated the final command. He jerked his arm back, bumping into Cho and dropping the card as it sparked and fizzled on the ground.