Cipher (3 page)

Maze-like metal hallways ran throughout the building. Everything at the compound was temporary, or semi-temporary. The site changed every couple of years, and the layout was designed to confuse intruders. Before anyone was allowed to wander around alone, they had to have the whole map memorized.

Eva paused before the door to the holo room and entered her security code, turning on the room’s computer system. “Go on. I’ll give you a few minutes before going in. If you have a lead, work it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I placed my hand on the holo room’s lock.

“Name and rank,” the computer prompted.

“Marquez, Hunter. Psi one eight three beta seven one three.”

“Welcome, Raven Marquez.”

I smirked. Only Lady Eva would give a shit about making the computer polite. Returning the greeting was a habit I couldn’t break. “Thanks.” The only lasting thing my mom had taught me. Mind your manners.

The room was a massive square with matte-black walls that made the holographic projections as accurate as possible. I pressed twice on the hidden panel beside the door. If you didn’t know what you were looking for, you’d never see the panel, but I’d used this room, or one like it, after every major battle I’d been through. As if living through it once wasn’t enough, we had to get our brains scanned and watch the replay in high-def 3D to pick out every weakness in our strategy.

I put on the headpiece—pressing sticky electrodes against my skin and scalp.

Being a Black Helix had taught me how to steady my nerves, but even that was a little fucking hard right now. I’d never relived this day before. Only lived it.

I focused on the memory I wanted. “Computer, begin scan.”

The 3D holographic projection filled the room. It was a mishmash of my mom cooking in the kitchen and a dozen other images that reminded me of her. On the side, an image of her coffin flickered as it lowered into the ground.

My mind was scattered. It’d been too long. The farther away from the event, the harder it was to reproduce. It’d been ten years.

I just wanted to see the one thing. Not relive my whole childhood.

I sat on the floor and closed my eyes, focusing on Emma. The color of her light red hair. The sprinkle of freckles across her nose.

I thought about the first time I met her. Even with my eyes closed, I could see the scene start to play out. I almost opened them, but didn’t want to get distracted by what I saw. Instead, I let the memory play out as I sat there.

The sun was shining so bright that day. I’d thought she was a dumb kid. I wasn’t going to be seen hanging around with some little girl. Or
anyone
. I was too afraid that they’d ask questions about the daily beatings Dad dished out… No dice.

But eight-year-old Emma had showed up in my backyard at the end of April, with her deck of pink cards and a bright blue frozen gel pack, and my eleven-year-old self couldn’t ignore her. I hadn’t wanted to take the pack, even if it would stop my eye from swelling, but she hadn’t given me a choice.

“This will help,” she’d said as she sat beside me in the grass. Our yards were joined into one big space. The neighborhood didn’t allow fences.

Accepting help wasn’t something I did easily, even when I needed it. I’d stared at that gel pack like it was foul. “I’m fine.”

“Don’t be dumb.” She’d pressed the icy gel pack to my swollen eye, and it felt good. Painful, but good.

“Thanks.”

“Wanna play a game with me?”

“Uh.” No. I didn’t, but I hadn’t wanted her to take the pack away either.

“It’s just cards. I’m not allowed to use anything with an on-off switch unless my parents are around.”

Which was weird. Everyone had a hand console to play with. Even I did. It was old and busted, but it worked. Why would her parents restrict her like that?

With a father like mine, I wasn’t about to question her parents’ rules. So we’d played cards. She made me laugh, and let me forget about real life for an hour.

After that, she kept coming back. Bringing me food. Telling me about the constellations. She had a way of making me feel like less of a piece of shit. She took away the pain of dad’s daily beatings.

Thinking about that memory was bittersweet.

As my thoughts drifted through our relationship, chaotic images flashed across the room. My eyes were still closed to save myself from seeing them, but the bursts of light and color played against my lids. I had to focus.

I concentrated on the day I wanted before finally opening my eyes.

Hiding emotions was part of my training, but as I saw Dad standing over twelve-year-old me, that control was gone like it had never existed. Years of him telling me that I was worthless hit me. I’d believed it then. Sometimes I still believed it.

Fuck that.

“Computer. Pause program.”

The image froze in place. The colors were faded, and the projection of my past self was blurry. I focused on the walls. The tiny flower print Mom had put up a few months before she was killed. The projection adjusted. I stood up and walked around to see my father’s face. It sharpened—his jawline firmed. His eyes were exactly like mine, a bright sea glass green. Thank God my eyes were all that I had of him. My skin was the slightly tanned tone of my mother, my hair the same black.

I walked back across the room so that I could see the images from the best angle without interfering with playback. “Computer. Resume program.”

The scene unfolded in front of me. I knew it was a reconstruction, but that didn’t make it any less frustrating. My father kicked me and I rubbed my side. The injury was long gone, but damned if I couldn’t feel those ribs screaming in sympathy.

I watched him crack my jaw, and my blood boiled. I wanted him to die again. And again. Age and time hadn’t worn down the burning hatred I’d felt toward him. It was always there, simmering under the surface. He hadn’t always been such a fucking bastard, but after Mom died, he’d turned into a waste of space. Addicted to all kinds of uppers and downers. Whatever he could get his hands on. He hit me and tore me down any chance he got. It didn’t matter how good I tried to be. Nothing helped. No one helped.

Except Emma.

I wanted to fast forward the memory, but skipping something now might take away from what happened next. So I watched, trying to stay disengaged while Dad ranted about how much of a loser I was. Spittle flew from his mouth and I snorted. It wasn’t funny, but coming from him?
He
was the loser. I was just a kid. A helpless, innocent kid. And anyone that picked on someone smaller than themself was a fucking bully.

I took a breath, and let go of some of the anger. If I was being honest, standing there in that room watching it play out, I was a little less bothered by his words. Especially now that I could see the irony in them.

I should’ve done this years ago.

A small figure ran into the room, her white dress fluttering around her legs as she moved. I couldn’t feel anything but joy at seeing the image of her coming to my rescue.

I remembered seeing her that day and being so afraid for her, yet so happy that she’d come. I knew she was strong, I just hadn’t known how strong.

“Computer. Pause program.”

I stepped closer. Emma wasn’t dim and dull like the rest of the playback. Her long, strawberry blonde waves shone in the light. Her hazel eyes were more green than brown, a sure sign she was pissed. I couldn’t believe how this little girl had changed my life. She’d entered it with a bang and left the same way.

“Computer. Resume program.”

I stepped aside to make way for her, not wanting to ruin the illusion.

“Stop!” She screeched in a high-pitched voice.

I was four years older and had at least thirty pounds on her, but she moved in between my father and me like she could shield me from the next kick. My little avenging angel. She’d been doing that since she moved into the house next door three months before. Not physically stopping my father, but taking care of me.

My father tried to push her away, and my past self’s gasp of fear made me shake my head. I wanted to tell him not to worry so much. Emma was small but she could handle herself.

She pressed her finger to my father’s chest. A single finger. “Stop!”

The lights flickered twice before exploding, and the power cut.

Exactly what I’d thought. “Pause program. Play back last ten seconds at fifty percent speed.”

Slowed down, the lights actually flickered three times. The second time was faster and less bright. Barely perceptible to the human eye.

“Computer. Replay last ten seconds at twenty-five percent speed.”

At slower speeds, the flickering lights became more pronounced. I glanced at the tablet, and sure enough—it was exactly as Lady Eva had said. A fluctuation had hit right before the transformers blew.

I thought about leaving before the scene played out, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to see it, to feel the satisfaction of watching my father hit the floor. “Computer. Resume playback at one hundred percent speed.”

Dad gasped, clutching his chest.

Back then, I didn’t know what was happening and didn’t really care. All I knew was that she’d somehow made him stop hitting me. It was like a miracle.

Now, it was clear she’d jolted his heart with electricity.

Good riddance, asshole.

Light filled the holo room as the door opened. “Computer. Pause program,” Lady Eva’s voice commanded. “Are you alright?”

I wasn’t sure, but I answered anyway. “Yes, ma’am.” I turned back to Emma’s scrunched-up face. Rage stained her cheeks, making her freckles stand out. It was quite the image.

By saving me that afternoon, Emma had exposed her secret. She was a Red Helix.

Not knowing where she’d gone was killing me. Whether she knew it or not, she needed help. We’d been finding Red Helixes dead in the streets, left where people could find them. It was a warning to Lady Eva. For years, she’d saved every Red Helix girl she could. They always had the choice to join the cause or leave—whatever the parents decided. Most chose to leave, hoping to keep some semblance of a normal life in the Voids.

That was less and less a possibility every day. As gruesome as it was, death was better than ending up on a Seligo lab table.

I exhaled. Wanting to see the rest of the scene warred with wanting to keep it private. Who was I kidding? Anything I put on the computers here, Lady Eva could access. They were hers. “Continue program.”

The scene unpaused. I stood back to watch as Emma knelt down beside my childhood self, running her finger down his cheek. “Sorry. Does it hurt real bad?”

My jaw had been broken, so I could only grunt.

Her mother came in and froze. It’d scared me back then. No guests had come into our house since mom died, and now there were two. But her mother knew what the blackout meant—Emma was in danger.

Emma stood, protecting me from her view. “I’m sorry, Mom. I did it again, but it’s okay, right? He’s a bad guy, too.” The plea in her voice made me cringe. How many times did she have to defend herself before that day? How many times after?

Her father and another man stormed into the image, nearly knocking her mother over. “We have to turn her in! She’s a
Red Helix
. She’s dangerous to everyone around her,” said the one I hadn’t known.

Now I knew his face well. Jack Parson. I ground my teeth. If I ever found him, I’d end him for what he’d done to Emma and not lose one second of sleep over it.

After a Red lost control and burned down half of New York—state not city—the Seligo went on a crusade against Reds. They’d always been suspect, but that was the final straw. Even twenty years later, anytime someone tried to stop the Red slaughter, the Seligo pulled up pictures of millions of people burning to death.

“So they can kill her?” Emma’s father yelled. “How is that an option?”

Her mother picked Emma up and gazed down at me with tears in her eyes. “Please don’t tell.”

Then they were gone. I’d passed out and woken up in a hospital, but their high-speed chase through the Voids was all over the news. Swarms of Black Helix patrols followed them until there was a huge pileup with massive casualties, including Emma’s parents. Somehow Emma got away. The search for her lasted for months, but eventually the news died down. All our intel said that the Seligo had never found her, but neither had Lady Eva, who’d been searching ever since Emma disappeared. The trail had gone cold a long time ago.

Until the blackout today.

“Rewind program,” I said. The scene reversed until right after Emma ran into the room. “Play program.” I watched as the lights flickered again. “Computer, calculate the rate at which the energy fluctuates in the program.”

“Processing,” came the little voice.

“When done, run comparison with data from file…” I paused, searching the tablet for the number. “159S30XC4057.”

“Comparison complete.”

“What is the percentage of similarity?”

“Eighty-seven percent similarity.”

My pulse raced as I turned to Lady Eva. “I’m not sure how reliable my memory is. Whoever blew out the transformers today could be Emma, but it might not be.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s her. Whoever did it
is
a Red, and we have to help her.”

Lady Eva couldn’t predict when a baby girl was going to present with the code anomaly, but she helped when she could. As far as I knew, the Lady was the only one who could stabilize their DNA, but the results were dubious. She’d found that linking the girls to a partner who had the opposite ability helped achieve a balance, maybe even letting them have a normal life. Or it could. If they both agreed to genetic matching.

Emma should’ve been given that option, but I’d taken it from her by having Lady Eva pair us together. It had been a condition of my joining the Shadow Ravens. It was selfish, but I wanted to be the one to help her find balance. I’d see how she felt about it when I finally found her. I wanted to take care of her like she’d taken care of me all those years ago.

“I want to go to Arizona.”

Lady Eva’s eyes widened. “That’s not wise. It might not be her, and even if it is, the Trials are being held near the blackout location. I’ve gotten reports that Jack Parson is personally overseeing the proceedings this year. Going could compromise your cover.”