Chapter 26

LEX

“Sun’s up!” yelled Lex to no one in particular, and she bounced out of bed, still in the undergarments she had slept in, and headed for the back garden for some early-morning exercise. She pushed open the outside door, and…huh. The door didn’t open. What the heck?

“Sorry, back door’s closed until further notice,” said an unfamiliar voice. “Tons of security flaws. Think about all the things that could get in.” Like you? Lex thought. The voice came from a woman of medium build with attractive round black-rimmed glasses and black hair streaked with red — or was it red streaked with black? She was dressed in some sort of weird bodysuit, also black streaked with red or vice versa. In her left ear was an onyx stud; in her right, what looked like a garnet.

“Who the heck are you?” asked Lex.

“You can say ‘hell,’ you know. We’re all adults here. …well, I am, anyway,” said the woman. Lex rolled her eyes. This woman couldn’t have been more than ten years older than Lex — and that was only if you didn’t count the hundred years of cryosleep. And she looks like a clown, thought Lex. A moment’s pause indicated that the clown was making no attempt to actually answer Lex’s question.

“Lady,” said Lex acidly, and somewhat impatiently, “do I have to light you on fire to get an answer?”

“You can try.” The woman sounded amused. “I AM fire. Flora Flashfire.” She sighed irritably. “Cybersecurity expert. And bossy person. Meridian’s put me in charge of this facility.”

Flashfire. That was one of Lex’s catchphrases. She already disliked this woman. And she was in CHARGE? “Okay…whatever…what’s the deal with the back garden?”

“Yeah, off limits, honey. We’ve been over that — literally the first thing I said to you. Security flaws, or weren’t you listening?”

“You said you do cybersecurity.” Lex tried her best to ignore the attitude. “What’s so cyber about a door?” Her voice betrayed her disgruntlement.

“85% of network hackings involve someone in the physical premises. Do you want a dissertation, or are you just being a brat about the new rules because you don’t like it when people who actually know what the fuck they’re talking about make rules that mildly inconvenience you?

“Oh, and this isn’t a rule, but you might want to put on some clothes, not that I mind what I’m looking at.”

Lex turned pink. For once in her life, she was speechless. This woman had even less of a filter than she did.

Chapter 27

NEV

Dvaasha had apparently been serious about the exploring. Nev found herself following the snake, to whom she had become strangely attached — almost subservient — into hallways even the curious cat had never dared explore.

They approached a large, shiny gold-trimmed door. Magnus Pretorius, CEO, read the plaque. Whoa — Magnus’s secret back office?! Magnus had a station closer to the laboratory facilities, of course, but this — hidden amidst a labyrinth of back corridors — was where he did paperwork and supposedly conducted clandestine business meetings. The door had a diamond-shaped window, and the two women pressed against it and eagerly looked into the room. Nev shivered as Dvaasha’s cold, dry, smooth coils brushed against her flank.

The room was dark, but Nev’s eyes could see plenty. A desk, immaculate and clean. A table with some objects on it — she couldn’t quite tell what.

Nev almost as a matter of habit reached down and tried the doorknob. It turned.

The door swung open and the two astonished women piled inside.

“How serpent-dipitous,” said Dvaasha sibilantly.

Yup, thought Nev, she’s EvoS all right.

Nev hit the light switch and the room was illuminated by a brilliant golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The desk, as it had appeared, was clean. The table contained an assortment of what looked like figurines.

“What are these?” asked Nev aloud. They looked like various animals — a few tusked mammals, several strange types of birds or other winged creatures, a snake. Nev held up the snake. “Is this you?” she asked.

Dvaasha peered at the figurine, which did resemble her, and scowled. “I am not hissss plaything.”

“Of course not,” said Nev soothingly. She cocked her head to the side. It had just dawned on her that… “Do you even know why you were created?” asked Nev.

Dvaasha shook her head.

“Me neither,” said Nev. “Er, that is, I don’t know why you were created. I know why I was created.” She twirled. “Because I wanted to make myself a fabulous kitty.”

She couldn’t tell if Dvaasha was hissing in amusement or exasperation. Heh. ExASPeration.

“What is Magnus planning?” Nev wondered aloud.

She turned to find that Dvaasha, meanwhile, had found a safe on the wall. It was locked, of course.

“We’ll have to opennnn it,” said Dvaasha. “I want his ssssecretssss.”

Nev still wasn’t sure what was up with Dvaasha and the secrets. “Well, we can try to crack the combination, but I’m pretty sure” — she thought back to Magnus’s front office, when he had once called her and Dr. Finn in for a meeting — “that he has an alarm system on everything confidential.”

Dvaasha frowned in frustration. Although Nev didn’t know what she was thinking, the snake was wondering whom she could contact to leverage any information she might be able to glean. The snake had no desire to take sides, per se, despite her annoyance at her …employer? Did he even employ her? Creator? The snake shuddered. Not Magnus. Well, whatever he was. It wasn’t as if she wanted to, say, seduce him (oh god, was that why she had been created??), so having a credible threat to leak information to would be helpful.

“That Grey woman would probably be interested in this stuff,” said Nev idly. If the snake had had an eyebrow, it would have been raised. She looked intrigued.