Perception (12 page)

Within a couple of decades,
it seemed natural to add banking transactions which eased into buying and
selling information and ultimately eliminated the chance of stolen credit cards
and IDs.

Eventually,
everything that was left to know about a person was added to the chip,
including Social Security numbers, everywhere you’d lived and for how long,
marital status, children, parentage, ethnic background, employment records and
levels of post-graduate education.

I clicked on my
medical file. All my recent medical information was there, including
inoculations, height/weight, and mild illnesses. It also recorded in bold
letters that I was a GAP with GAP parents and one GAP brother.

I’d never had any
real health problems, most GAPs didn’t. The earliest recording was a check-up
when I was two and a half. Where were my earlier files, from birth to two?

Then I found it. It
was tucked under the rest, and if I hadn’t persisted in tapping, I would’ve
missed it.

The file wouldn’t
open when I instructed it to. It was locked.

Chapter 14

When I arrived at the
church, I found the back door had been left open and I assumed it was because
they were waiting for me to arrive. I heard voices but instead of waltzing
right in, I held back and listened.

“So you’re telling me
the brunette was a GAP?” one of the guys said. “In disguise?”

Then I heard Noah’s
voice. “I know.” He sounded amused.

“Ultimate,” the guy
said. “I’m surprised a GAP chick would actually do something like that. It’s
kind of cool.”

“I thought so, too,”
Noah said.

Despite everything, I
couldn’t help but smile a little when I heard that.

“But is it smart to
get involved with a GAP? Especially offering any kind of assistance?”

“She's going to pay,”
Noah said. “We could use the money if we want to keep going with things. And
maybe we can use her to get some inside intel.”

My smile disappeared
at that. This was just a business deal for Noah. I had to keep my unexpected,
stupid feelings for him in check.

Besides, I couldn’t
forget we weren’t on the same team. I couldn’t let my guard down.

I decided it was time
to present myself, before they got into trashing me or worse, trashing Liam. I
couldn’t take that right now.

Noah stood when he
saw me. “Hey. Come on in.” He shifted stiffly and said, “Zoe, you remember
Anthony from last time.”

“Hi.” The skinny guy.
I flashed him a warm, hopeful, fake smile. Diplomacy at its finest.

“Anthony,” Noah said,
motioning to me, “Zoe Vanderveen from Sol City.”

I caught Noah smirking
as Anthony tried to keep his composure. Last time Anthony had seen me, I was a
brown-eyed brunette called Chloe. I saw flashes of admiration as he took in my
looks, but then he leaned back, folded his arms and frowned.

Right. I was a GAP. I
was the enemy.

 “I know this is
strange,” I said to him. “I came in a disguise last time because I was looking
for my brother.”

“Why would that bring
you to us?” Anthony asked.

“She saw the news
broadcasting our rally in front of Sleiman’s,” Noah answered for me as he sat
down again. “Dexter’s name came up in the ticker.”

Anthony raised his
hands in question. “What’s Dexter got to do with anything?”

“I found a hand
written note in my brother’s room,” I explained. “It had the name Dexter on it.
Nothing else.”

“And you’re assuming
our Dexter is the same Dexter?”

“It’s a long shot, I
know,” I said. “But it’s all I have. Where is Dexter, by the way?”

“Good question.”
Anthony pulled his legs up onto a pew, his shoes hitting the wooden seat with a
clunk. “He’s either high or working. Or both.”

“I talked to him
about Liam,” Noah said, facing me. “He doesn’t know anything about it. I don’t
think you’ve got the right Dexter.”

I slunk to a pew,
sitting tentatively on the edge.

“We’ll try to find out
what really happened to your brother,” he continued. “And Anthony here isn’t
your run of the mill natural. He’s a hacker.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Among the
best. It’s why I let him hang around. All the guys have a little something
extra to offer.” He smiled, tilting his head.

“And Katy and Beth?”
I probed. “I assume they have talents as well?

“We just keep them
around for their good looks. Pretty girls attract a crowd.” He raised his
eyebrows up and down like Charlie Chaplin. “We could use more, if you want to
join us.”

I tilted my head and
batted my eyelashes. Just a little. “Ah, sounds tempting, but I think that
would constitute a conflict of interest.”

“Uh-hum,” Anthony
said, faking a throat clearing. “Task at hand?”

I almost blushed at
the thought that Noah and I had been caught flirting.

Were
we flirting?

“I know this might be
a little difficult,” Anthony said, “But it would be really helpful if we could
get a copy of your brother’s chip. Is there any way you could get one? From his
computer, maybe?”

“The authorities have
his computer, and I don’t know when we’ll get it back. His chip is gone.”

“What do you mean,
gone?” Anthony asked. “If you mean it’s at the morgue, someone could go there
to scan it.”

“No,” I said. “It’s
gone as in missing.” I winced before adding, “It’s been cut out.” Paul had
given me the report.

Noah wrinkled his
brow. “No way.”

I nodded, and closed my
eyes pushing back tears. I couldn’t cry in front of these guys.

Anthony sighed. “This
will be much harder to do without the chip.”

“Then I guess we need
to find it,” I said.

 “Any ideas how we
should go about doing that?” Noah asked.

I shook my head. “None.”

“Okay, Anthony,” he said,
“you start digging online. Get whatever you can find about research at Sol City
University and any connection Liam may have had to Sleiman other than the fact
that his father works there.”

Noah ran a hand
through his hair. “I’ll head to the eastern sector where Liam’s body was found.
Someone must’ve seen or heard something.”

He stood as he said
to me, “We’ll let you know if we find anything.”

“I’m going, too.”

“What?”

“I’m going with you
to where they found Liam.”

“Zoe...”

“No. I might think of
something that helps.”

“It’s not a great
neighborhood. Could be dangerous.”

I reached for his
hand and weaved my fingers through his. “But I have you.”

I’d defaulted to my
base instinct. Use my looks and charm to my advantage. I’d once thought that
Noah was immune to me, but it seemed that might’ve changed.

His lips tugged up at
the corners, and he nodded okay.

A sudden fit of male
adolescent fake coughing ensued. Noah pulled his hand away from mine as Anthony
gave him a questioning look.

Chapter 15

The thing about
hanging out with guys is they’re always hungry. Noah insisted on a pit stop at
the food court before we headed out.

“Fine,” I said. “But
it’s my treat this time.”

“Sounds good. Lead
the way.”

We skirted out from
behind the church and crossed the courtyard to the food court.

“What do you want?” I
said. “Indian again?”

He shook his head. “Nah,
I’m up for a good ol’fashioned hamburger.”

We headed down the
steps to an underground area. I blinked as I adjusted to the bright artificial
lighting. I spotted the sandwich place and stood in line while Noah found an
empty table. I ordered a hamburger for Noah, and since I didn’t trust outside
meat, I stuck with fries.

I waved my palm over
the scanner to pay, and it only took a few minutes for our food to arrive. I
carried the tray over to Noah.

“This is great, Zoe,
thanks,” Noah said with a muffled half-full mouth.

The fries were good,
too. Crisp and salty.

“Can I ask you
something?” I said, after washing down the fries with a sip of coke.

“Shoot.”

“Why don’t you have a
chip?”

He swallowed and
wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I don’t like needles.”

I scoffed. “That’s
it? You know they freeze the spot first. You don’t feel a thing.”

Noah shrugged.

“Your friends don’t
seem to have a problem with it,” I pressed.

“They’re braver than
me.”

“Noah, if there’s one
thing I’ve learned about you, it’s that you’re no coward. Come on, spill. Why
won’t you get a chip?”

He considered me
while he tossed a couple fries in his mouth.

“My father was a reverend.
A bible-believing Christian. The last book in the bible is called Revelations.
It supposedly tells us how the world is going to end.”

“And you believe it?”

Noah leaned back and
rubbed his full stomach. “I don’t know. I think so. My father did.”

I took a small bite
of my hamburger. “I still don’t get why you won’t get the chip?”

“There’s a passage in
Revelations that talks about a ‘beast’ that comes to deceive the world. This
beast works against God and everyone who follows him. In order to control the
people he makes them get a mark on their right hand or forehead. Without this
mark you can’t buy or sell.”

I pointed to my right
hand. “And you think this chip is that mark?”

“I told you, I don’t
know. I’m just not ready to take any chances.”

I tossed my crumpled
napkin on my tray and pushed it away. “Fair enough.”

“What else do you
know about where Liam was found?” Noah said. Clearly, he wanted a change of
subject.

“Paul was pretty
tight-lipped about the details. Outside of the location, all I got out of him
was that he was found by some kid.”

“Then, I guess we’d
better go find that kid.”

We cleared off the
table, separating the recyclable items from the trash, and depositing everything
in the appropriate bins.

I covered my eyes as we
broached the bright sunlight and followed Noah to the transit station. We
boarded a public pod heading for the eastern sector.

“Thanks for doing
this,” I said once we found our seats. I had this weird compulsion to reach for
his hand again, but instead, I crossed my arms in front of my chest and kept a
safe, friendly distance between us

“Sure.” Noah tapped
his fingers on his thighs like he was metering a song in his head.

“And Anthony. I
forgot to thank him.”

“That’s all right.
He’s not doing it for you.”

“He’s doing it for
you?”

His fingers tapped
and his knee bounced in rhythm. “Yes.”

“Do Anthony and the
other guys have the same belief system as you? Is that why they’re rebelling?”

Noah’s fingers and
leg went still. “No. They’re just pissed off.”

“Not to be nosy or
anything, but for a ‘rebel’ group, yours is kind of small.” I almost used
finger quotes, but thought better of it.

He turned to me. It
seemed the song in his head had turned off.

“It was bigger when
my dad was alive. Much bigger. Big enough that ‘your people’ felt threatened. He
had obviously heard the quotes in my voice, “Dad had a huge following online
and off that had spread across the state.”

“So what happened?”

“When he was killed,
it was like the queen bee had died. All the worker bees and drones scattered.
No one has tried to start it up again.”

“Until now?”

He stared out the
window, and I worried I’d said something wrong.

“I was a pretty
sheltered kid,” he began, still looking away. “My parents did a good job of
giving me a carefree childhood. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that my father
started bringing me along to his protests.”

He turned to face me.
“Of course on the day he died, my world changed. Even though I knew I should be
mad, mostly I was just sad. Turns out I’m more of a lover than a fighter.”

I held his gaze. “It’s
possible to be a lover
and
a fighter.”

“I suppose.”

“So if you’re not a
fighter, what made you start demonstrating now?”

“Mostly boredom. I’m
tired of apathy. And now that I’m older and understand more about the
inequalities of the world, I am starting to get madder.”