Once they were outside, Hazel began a low conversation, and Rel seemed ready to burst.

“What the heck happened back there?” she murmured. For the first time since a few months after the Crash, Hazel sensed eyes and ears everywhere, falling into a paranoia that threatened to shatter her rational thought under panic.

Rel sensed her anxiety, and he slowed their pace. Whatever hormones had attacked him before seemed to calm as he moved away from the DeSoto home. The chemicals hadn’t done their job, apparently, because they didn’t really lead him to the DeSotos. If Hazel were around, all the compulsion pressed him toward her. When he read her distress, though, all ghosts of the intrusion in his mind seemed to dissipate, and he could finally relax. “I’m going to figure this out, Hazel,” he reassured, steadying her with a hand to her back. The feel of her under his fingers pulsed warmth into him, but he thought the sense more natural than before – he couldn’t tell for sure. “Let’s get settled and then I’ll tell you everything I know.”

Nodding, Hazel slowly forced air out of her lungs, suppressing the urgency that demanded instant answers.

As they entered the little shop where they had met for coffee before, Rel ordered beverages for them both, and Hazel found a table. She suddenly noticed every face around the room, and she began to hypothesize which characteristics meant the person would have the upgrade – the one that would show Hazel’s face to the unknown meddler.

“Are you sure this is a good place to talk?” she demanded when Rel sat down across from her.

“Give me a minute…” he directed. With a quick scan, he got the lay of the land and was reassured that the location was as secure as possible at the moment. “No upgrades here. Geographic cameras don’t have sound, so I’d say outside of the possibility that one of these people is an expert eavesdropper, we should be okay.”

“What the hell is going on? And why does Mr. DeSoto trust you?”

Shaking his head, Rel fixed his eyes on the empty air as he searched his mind for the answer to the second question. “I’m wondering the answer to both of those myself. I mean, the first is actually easier to answer. I don’t know everything, but – this is really big, and I think really bad.”

“Sophie?”

“Yeah. Not just Sophie, but yes, Sophie. Sophie’s Wire was the reason she was in a coma. And the source of the command that kept her in the coma was…foreign.”

“Like, from where? China, Eur-Russe? Latania?”

“Not like that.” Rel ran his fingers through his hair. “Foreign, like, not from the Bridge.”

Hazel stared at him. For a moment, she didn’t register why that was such a surprise, but it slowly dawned on her. “I thought it was just a virus. But has the Bridge been…corrupted? Do I need to tell Peter?”

“Don’t do anything yet!” Rel gripped her hand, releasing it immediately when arrows of fire shot through his skin. “I’m not sure that anyone needs to know about this yet. I’m terrified that I’ve gotten Vee fired, or maybe even killed.”

“What?” Hazel exclaimed.

“She’s the one who found the signal for me, rebooted Sophie’s Wire.”

Hazel’s eyes lit up. “So that’s all we have to do? Reboot the Wires of these people in comas, and they’ll wake up?”

“I mean, it looks that way. But do you know the kind of clearance it took for Vee to do that? And we got the key. We don’t know half of the people who are in this situation, and it would take weeks to hack into them. Plus, if we start piecemeal rebooting the Wires, what is the person who did this going to do? I mean, Hazel…” he met her eyes with intensity. “This is worldwide. There could be a thousand people in comas that we don’t know about. How are we going to reboot all of them? And if we start, what are the chances we drive whoever has done this to desperation? You saw what he was willing to do to Sophie. What’s to keep him from killing these kids?”

“Kids? Most of them are our age.”

“I am a couple of years older than you, but even so, you’re right. It’s just that they’re being used because of who their parents are. That much I have worked out. I just don’t understand what the endgame is here. Why these parents? Why these locations...Why the power drains – maybe servers - near so many of the incidents?”

“Wait. Power drains. Servers. Foreign intrusion. Rel, what if someone is using the wired servers as access points to get to these kids? I realized a couple of days ago that my virus theory was not really holding water: the patterns of infection didn’t match, and the players were staying relatively stable once they passed out instead of degrading like a virus would do as it replicated. If their “infection” had come from somewhere ‘foreign,’ as you said, maybe it was just a stop code, and by keeping it off the Bridge, it’s not traceable or able to be monitored…”

Rel huffed out a breath. “So if the servers are keeping these kids in comas, then maybe some of the kids are being held to protect the servers. Could I just trace the server farms and cut power to them?”

“Do you have that kind of clout? To convince foreign governments to do this? To convince our government to do this.”

“No,” Rel admitted.

“Not to mention that any server farm worth its stuff will have backup power – solar cells, generators, hydro fuel. Even if you could convince the governments, they may not have the capability to do it.”

Thus the steady-state drain. Crossing his arms, Rel tilted his head. “And the server farms only account for about half of the incidents. Will I set something off if I mess with the servers but not whatever else is linked to the kids? Besides does three kids, two within a few miles of each other, equate to a pattern?”

“That is a very good question,” came the unexpected voice, and both Hazel and Rel transfixed their eyes to the new face with a moment of panic.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Rel recovered quickly. “Vee!” Rel gushed, leaping to his feet and grabbing the tiny woman up in a hug. “Sorry.” He quickly placed her back on the ground and sat back in his seat like a guilty puppy.

Fortunately, Vee just laughed at him. “Worried about me?” she grinned before donning an angry scowl and whapping him on the arm with rolled up silverware she snatched off the table. “What was that stunt you made me pull? Lewellen is talking about placing me on probation or temporary leave. You just might lose access to your…access.”

“I am so sorry, Vee. But the girl. She was dying.”

“Oh, take a breath, sasquatch,” Vee smirked. “It won’t be the first time if it happens, and I would gladly do it again to save a life.”

Hazel felt tears gather in the corner of her eyes. “You saved Sophie?” she queried to the woman, who carried herself like energy in human form.

“I’m sorry,” Rel interjected. “Hazel, this is Veronique Garrison. She’s sort of…my partner? My supervisor?”

“Partner is fine for what I’m here for,” Vee grinned, holding her hand out to Hazel. “You can call me Vee. So, this is the famous gamer?”

“Not famous,” Hazel protested.

“Just famous with me,” Rel clarified. “Most people who even follow her have no idea who she is. It’s apparently the way the gaming community works. Unless someone wants to put their face with their name, they don’t.”

Despite the slight squirm of discomfort the praise had garnered, Hazel found herself warming to her “fan.” Not because he was her fan, but because he was just so genuine and matter-of-fact, and he seemed honestly to like her. She had accused him of being a stalker; however, though he had physically shown up a lot of places where she was, he seemed legitimate, and the woman confirmed his assertions. And who could judge someone who showed so much genuine joy that his friend was safe? That hug for Vee would have melted a heart of ice.

“And that is why you haven’t been able to pinpoint these victims,” Vee deduced.

“I have something on that,” Hazel interrupted. “I got a bunch of locations for you. Maybe you can…I don’t know, match them up with something? Do you want me to link directly?” she asked Rel. “Or should I send it over the Stream?”

“Directly,” Rel insisted. “I know you were just peripheral at Sophie’s, but if someone is monitoring them, he might have latched onto you, too. Can’t intercept a direct link unless you’re in the same room.”

“Okay. I initiated a link. Do you want me to send it directly to you, Vee, or will you get it from Rel?”

Vee laughed. “You are a little too trusting, to link with someone you just met.”

“You’re the first person who ever accused me of being too trusting.”

“It’s not an insult. I think it’s great; I just am trained not to trust. I don’t want Rel’s friend in danger.”

“Well, it’s not quite as scary when I’m just giving you access to this little piece of machinery as opposed to opening my brain to you.” Hazel grinned smugly as she held up her handheld – she just never ceased feeling glad that she had refused the Wire.

Glancing at Rel, Hazel noted the strain on his countenance as he gazed at her, waiting for Vee to answer. Did he seem…angry? Not Rel. She was reading him wrong. For too many years, she had only interacted with Peter and Sophie. Sophie was kind of an adrenaline junkie, and they spent most of their time staring at a screen. Peter…was never content. And never simple. Somehow, she had thought her connection with Rel would be simple. Of course not, she complained, lowering disappointed eyes to her fingers where they crossed on the tabletop.

“Well,” she offered, forcing an even tone, “Peter said that Rel checked out, so if Rel says you’re okay…”

“She’s okay,” Rel insisted, placing his hand on Hazel’s shoulder as if to reassure her. Almost as quickly, he pulled back, as if he regretted having touched her. What was his problem?

“The link is ready,” Hazel offered, and Vee did a quick search, linking to Hazel’s signal. Hazel granted access as soon as she saw Vee’s name, suddenly wishing to wrap up the meeting and get back to the comfort of Trip. “So, you can see. I have a list of about twenty by now. Some with a city, some a region, and some just the country.”

Rel peered at the empty air, obviously scrolling through the information. “I recognize several of these cities. Obviously, the countries don’t accomplish much. Though, maybe if I can give you a list from the region, you can figure out if anything lines up.”

“That would work. A cross reference.”

“Actually,” Vee insisted as she also peered at the air, “I’ll take that part. Rel, you should stay in the field. I don’t want you anywhere near me in case they flag me for that little stunt this morning. It will be inconvenient for you, needing to gather data and manage analysis, but it’s better than losing all access.”

“Thanks for saving Sophie,” Hazel reiterated, and Vee focused her eyes on Hazel for a moment with a warm smile.

“Don’t worry about my job. People in my profession either have a messiah complex or want to become better criminals. I’m the former. If I sacrifice myself, then I get to be a hero later.”

At the blunt analysis, Hazel had to laugh.

“I’m not quite the martyr Vee is,” Rel grinned at his coworker.

“Liar,” Vee insisted. “You’re the one who won’t let go of this, even after you got kicked out of analysis.”

“That’s just my general lack of balance in life.”

“Don’t believe a word he says,” Vee leaned in to Hazel conspiratorially. “Though it’s not as much a ‘complex’ for him as just his internal makeup.”

Apparently, attention bothered Rel as much as it bothered Hazel, because he blushed red under his yellow hair and suddenly found something very interesting to stare at in the pastry case a few feet away. His discomfort drew a snicker from Hazel, but not because she judged him. She thought it was…cute. Which made her laugh again, because he was so giant that she would never have considered the word “cute” associated with him.

Unfortunately, the exchange also wakened a new thought in Hazel’s mind: maybe he was not interested in her after all. Maybe he had a thing for his partner – certainly he cared about her, if that hug revealed anything. Well, Hazel didn’t need any more relationship drama, so she would just leave him to Vee if that’s what he wanted. He could still help Hazel sort out the Trip issues, and as long as their goals ran parallel, she would help him with his work.

When Hazel didn’t say anything, Rel recovered quickly from the unexpected praise – as soon as Vee quit talking and focused on the air again. He caught Hazel’s eye for just a moment, and when he didn’t read any judgment in it, he sat back up, reinitiating the conversation.

“Yeah, so I know of a pretty big situation in Belgium. I can check Yoruba because an incident there would be easier to find.”

Vee tagged in. “And I can cross-reference these with known incidents, plus see if there are any other correlations besides the energy drains.”

“Can I walk you home?” Rel wondered, and Hazel nodded switching off her handheld for her daily disconnection.

“And that’s my cue,” Vee smiled. “It was a pleasure finally to meet you, Hazel.”

“Thanks. Nice to meet you too.”

The sun stood high overhead as Rel and Hazel left the coffee shop, and the shadows from the west side of the street hadn’t reached their side of the street.

“Guess it’s okay you forgot your gloves for now,” Hazel teased, and Rel glanced down at his hands as if shocked to find them bare.

“I left them inside!” he exclaimed. He dashed back through the door and emerged a moment later, pulling on black leather driver’s gloves. Hazel laughed at him.

He gazed up at the tops of the buildings across the street. “And good thing you don’t live too far away,” he grinned as he gauged the distance between the sun and the tops of the buildings. Hazel dropped her eyes to the pavement, sighing at her own confliction. She didn’t really know how to react to the fact that she liked Rel Martins, and that he seemed so ambivalent to her.

Even worse, her conscience told her that she shouldn’t even consider Rel at all due to her current strange arrangement with Peter. I don’t even think we’re dating, she realized. Leave it to Peter to create terms vague enough that he could condemn her if she pursued another relationship, but she could not accuse him of any contravention of their relationship if he dated fifty other women. Problem was, she wasn’t sure she wanted the clarity. Clarity meant commitment, and she could not yet stomach the idea of committing to Peter. Not when she didn’t really trust him.