Crack in the Kill Code (AmpCore #2)

36 - Wordsmiths and Forgers

Piper still couldn't fully wrap her head around the fact that she'd found Holly out here. After the long months, she'd given up any chance of finding the traitor again. She thought her former class-mate had fled for good, or been killed by displeased employers.

She would've been, probably, had she not gone to ground. But why stay in Hadrian? If the roles were reversed, Piper would have been on the first train, truck or boat out of the city and never looked back. Then again, she didn't have any love nor ties to the corporations here. Holly Lockley was a corporate purist, through and through. She believed – for some reason – in the overlordship of the city being entrusted to the fucking spivs, despite the calamity of Hadrian South, and everything that had followed.

Her eyes shifted to the creature.

We sure it's dead?

I believe so, Cassie answered. I cannot feel the ... emptiness anymore. Can you?

Nope. She pursed her lips thoughtfully. Anything we can use, do you think? Like a trace?

I don't think so. It's more man than machine. Organic functions, so it cannot be hacked or overriden.

You're joking.

Look for yourself.

Piper did. Carefully, she reached out and gave the thing's body an experimental prod, like poking an animal with a boot. Nothing stirred. She felt nothing inside the killing machine; not even the tiniest perserve spark of life tucked away behind last ditch firewalls. There was no hidden vault, no secret memory core. It was just dead. As she felt a little closer, she realised Cassie was right. Despite its bone-chilling, unnatural appearance, there was a surprising amount of actual 'human' jammed away amongst all those limbs and circuits.

Well. Shit.

We'll have other chances. Besides, given where it came from and what it is designed for, I wouldn't recommend trying to poke around inside it anyway.

So, we're staying 'no' to hacking the crazy hybrid killing machine?

Correct. And I wouldn't suggest staying here much longer.

Piper smiled faintly. The edges of stiff formality seemed to be gradually getting sanded off of Cassie's diction, contractions sliding into the normally robotic speech patterns.

"What's so funny?" Holly said, yanked Piper back to the here and now.

"Nothing." She fixed the other girl with a suspicious glower. "Let's walk. I'd rather not run into any more of those... things out here." Pointing her amplifier at Holly's chest, she jerked her head down the street. "Move."

Holly's face twisted with irritation, but she wasn't in a position to refuse. Shoulders hunched she trudged off in the direction Piper had indicated. Together, they walked through the narrow street and out into the broader roads around the transformer plant. Only when they'd reached something a little more like civilisation did Piper lower her amplifier, though she still kept it held tight, tucked up her sleeve in case Holly tried to make a run for it.

"Well, you know why I'm here," Holly said, breaking their silence. "How come you're out all by yourself? I heard you stuck around at AmpCore with Odiye."

"I didn't stay with Odiye," Piper replied sharply. "I stayed because I thought I might be able to get some answers about... me, and maybe help change things a little, from the inside."

"Ah. So, I'm guessing that didn't pan out?"

"You know corps better than me, Holly. How do you think it went?"