SPECTRE

6| DATA CORRUPTED

Back at the room of the son of my 'hosts', I was tapping away at the computer, trying my best to fill in all the missing pieces from the citywide security system caused by SPECTRE. It was quite hard to find every loophole, but I would accomplish it eventually. I didn't leave much traces after all.

Enraptured in my work, I didn't notice someone behind me.

"Who the frick are you?"

I jumped out of the chair and nearly knocked it over, coming face-to-face with a girl with looked about my age. "How can you see me?" I accused.

She snorted. "You're right in front of me."

"No, you aren't — you're not supposed to — " I squinted at her. "Wait a second. You don't have optic implants."

My heart was hammering inside my chest, but I was trying to stay as calm as possible. How could this have happened? Every single potential and already-known acquaintance of the family had cybernetic optic implants, ready for SPECTRE to hack into the optic systems and render myself 'invisible'.

Without cybernetic optic systems, SPECTRE wouldn't be able to hack into their vision. I would be exposed. And here I was, seen, for the first time in years, by an ordinary citizen.

Where had my research and planning gone wrong?

She snorted. "Of course I don't have cyborg implants. I mean, cool, but seriously, having someone just take your fricking eyeball out and put a cold robot one in its place is seriously freaky, and not something I want. I faked the surgery, y'know. Hacked into the records, wore contact lenses, all that. I just never liked the idea of having robot parts much."

I immediately scrambled for my grappling hook gun and pointed it at her. Without implants, she would never know that it wasn't a real gun. Why? The grappling hook is made with a cloaking device that completely obscures the entire hook and line. She won't be able to see the hook.

"OPTIS grappling hook guns?" She raised an eyebrow at me. "Nice try, but I'm not falling for that one."

She knew about OPTIS?

I slowly lowered the gun. What were the odds?

"Who are you?" I hissed.

"I used to be OPTIS trainee Isla McClaire. Escaped before they tried the takeover."

Takeover? That sounded ominous.

She seemed trustworthy, so I removed the helmet and lowered my head to make sure she couldn't see my features too well, then looked at Isla, face tilted downwards. I tried not to notice the gold flecks that dotted her hazel eyes.

"What did they take over?"

I didn't even ask if OPTIS had succeeded. I had been in the organization for long enough to know that every step they took was carefully, painstakingly planned, with lists of backup plans that stretched a mile long.

Not succeeding, for them, was unthinkable.

"The Galactic Council."

At this, my head snapped up.

That wasn't possible.

The Galactic Council?

But the government — Earth, and the Galactic Council — hadn't changed one bit in twelve years.

"You're an escaped agent too?" Isla asked curiously. "But you're, like, only my age. You must be mad talented."

Talent.

The one thing that had ruined my life.

My hacking talent.

I laughed bitterly. "Oh, I was."

She nodded. "Then...why did you even go?"

As soon as she asked the question, flashbacks flooded through my mind.

A training court.

Endless holoscreens.

A tiny cubical room.

Bandages.

A surgery table.

The glint of bright light shining off sterile metal tools.

A machine with wires and hooks attached to a helmet.

And so, so much blood.

I backed away, shaking my head, willing the tears and memories and emotions to stay back. Shoved it into the back of my mind, like I always did.

"Don't you dare ask that." It came out as a warning.

"But — "

"DON'T YOU DARE ASK THAT!" I screamed.

At the shock on her face, I realized what I'd said.

"Oh my god," I whispered, backing away. "I'm so, so sorry."

My one chance at having a — a friend of sorts, and I'd blown it.

I hacked into the hologlass window and fled, jumping and swinging across rooftops, wiping silent tears from my eyes.

The thunk of the magnetic grappling 'hook' as it thudded into the walls of the skyscrapers had never sounded so dull.