The Algorithm of Us

Echo Patterns

Marcus arrived at Cafe Analog seventeen minutes early, choosing a corner table with clear sightlines to both exits. The jade pendant sat heavy in his coat pocket, its weight a constant reminder of everything he'd learned and everything he still didn't understand.

The morning crowd moved in predictable patterns: students with laptops, professionals with travel mugs, baristas in choreographed efficiency. Marcus's trained eye caught the subtle deviations – the security guard who'd changed position twice, the woman whose coffee had gone cold untouched, the flickering of the traffic camera outside.

Sarah Chen was watching, even before she arrived.

He pulled out his notebook, its pages filled with his cramped handwriting. A new diagram had joined his investigation web:

Jade Pendants Traced:

- Jenny Walsh (Deceased)

- Michael Chen (Deceased)

- James Morrison (Active)

- Sarah Chen (Active)

- [Unknown Recipients?]

Distribution Timeline:

Jan 2020 - First pendants appear

Mar 2020 - Jenny's accident

Oct 2020 - Michael's death

Dec 2020 - GUARDIAN 1.0 terminated

Jan 2021 - Sarah joins PredictCore

The bell above the door chimed. Sarah Chen entered exactly on time, her appearance impeccable as always: charcoal suit, hair pulled back severely, jade pendant at her throat. But Marcus saw what others might miss – the slight tension in her jaw, the barely perceptible dark circles under her eyes, the way her right hand kept brushing her laptop bag.

She was afraid.

"You're not recording this," she said as she sat down. Not a question.

Marcus held up his phone, removed the battery. "Kate's monitoring from outside. Insurance only."

Sarah's expression didn't change, but something flickered in her dark eyes. "Ms. Reynolds has an impressive background for a research assistant. MIT dropout, ethical hacking certificates, two sealed juvenile records."

"Like you didn't know that before hiring me for the Tesla story." Marcus kept his voice low, steady. "That was you, wasn't it? Pushing the editor, arranging the leaks?"

A muscle twitched in Sarah's cheek – confirmation. She opened her laptop, fingers hovering over the keys. "What I'm about to show you... there are people who would kill to prevent this information from getting out. Some of them already have."

Marcus placed Morrison's jade pendant on the table between them. Sarah's typing faltered for just a fraction of a second.

"Tell me about the pendants," he said softly. "Tell me why my sister was wearing one when she died."

Sarah's screen filled with code – familiar patterns that made Marcus's heart race. His original GUARDIAN protocols, but evolved, complex in ways he'd never imagined.

"The pendants are markers," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Not for targeting. For protecting. Your sister was never meant to die, Marcus. She was meant to be saved."

The code on her screen shifted, displaying a pattern Marcus recognized instantly. The traffic accident that killed Jenny – but with new variables, hidden factors he'd never seen before.

"Someone corrupted the original GUARDIAN system," Sarah continued, her composure cracking slightly. "They turned your protection protocols into a weapon. The pendants were supposed to mark priority candidates for preservation."

"Preservation?" Marcus felt a chill that had nothing to do with the cafe's air conditioning. "Preservation for what?"

Sarah's fingers trembled slightly as she pulled up another window. "Have you ever wondered why certain people survive against impossible odds? Why some accidents seem to happen in clusters while others are mysteriously prevented?"

Before Marcus could respond, his phone vibrated in pieces on the table. Kate's signal.

Sarah's screen flashed red. "They're here," she said, her professional mask slipping to reveal real fear. "Morrison's team. We need to—"

The cafe's lights went out.

Through the window, Marcus saw traffic signals malfunctioning, cars swerving. A pattern of chaos he recognized – but not Sarah's doing this time.

"Someone else has access to the system," Sarah said, her voice tight with controlled panic. "They're using our own protocols against us."

The jade pendant on the table seemed to grow darker, its surface reflecting emergency lights that hadn't started flashing yet.

Marcus reached for Sarah's laptop just as the first gunshot shattered the cafe's window.

"Run," he said, grabbing her arm. "My safehouse. Kate has the address."

Sarah's fingers flew across her keyboard one last time, initiating a sequence Marcus couldn't follow. "There's something you need to know," she said as they moved toward the back exit. "About why I really hired you for Tesla. About what Jenny and Michael discovered."

Another shot. Glass exploded behind them.

"The pendants aren't just markers," Sarah continued, her voice steady despite everything. "They're keys. And someone is using them to access something much bigger than GUARDIAN."

The back door burst open. Kate stood there, car keys in hand, her expression grim. "Morrison's got teams at both ends of the block. But he's not working for Tesla anymore."

"Who then?" Marcus asked, already knowing he wouldn't like the answer.

Sarah's face went pale as her screen displayed a final message before going dark:

GUARDIAN OVERRIDE ACCEPTED

INITIATE PROTOCOL: OMEGA

ALL PROTECTION PARAMETERS DISABLED

"He's working for the original creator of the pendant program," she whispered. "The person who gave them to Jenny and Michael in the first place."

In the distance, sirens began to wail. But they weren't police sirens – they were tornado warnings, earthquake alerts, tsunami broadcasts. Every emergency system in Seattle, activating at once.

The city itself was being turned into a weapon.

And somewhere in the chaos, someone was rewriting the patterns they'd spent years trying to protect.