Even though I deactivated my own HiveMind account last night, I reconnect myself the next morning. It’s the only way, despite all the risks. To rescue Sebastian before the press conference begins, I need the tools that HiveMind offers me. If Sebastian isn’t there, my mother has no proof of concept to present to the world.
When I check on Sebastian via HiveMind, all I see is darkness. Cold air. Fear pumping through his body. Longing for me. He woke up like this, in captivity, in a room with no identifiers, in complete panic about what’s to come.
I tense, leaping to my feet. I pace the room, unable to shake the feeling of unease.
It’s okay, I think. I’m coming for you. Somehow. I transfer the memory of me thinking this into his mind, hoping it gives him some form of comfort.
Zoey brings Sebastian breakfast, but the quick glimpse of the door opening and shutting offers only a peek at an empty gray hallway. It resembles the ones on the Varga Industries floors, but there are forty of those and over a hundred rooms on each. This only narrows his location down to what I’ve already guessed: Zoey’s keeping him somewhere in the building.
She tries to reassure him, promises this is only for a few more hours, tries to absolve her guilt with another vow: that she’ll delete the memory of this room so he won’t ever have to think about it again after today. It’s not a reassurance.
My heart aches for him, sitting there all night, in total fear, knowing he’s going to lose this very moment just like he may have lost me.
Zoey’s careful. As soon as I deactivated my account last night, hers disappeared too. She doesn’t want me to be able to access her most recent memories and follow her, one step behind. My mother also took my cue and removed her account as well. Still, they have the admin console and can continue to view the memory tags that populate in everyone’s queue. They can still archive them. They can still make people forget everything I need them to remember.
Which means there’s only one way I might be able to find Sebastian.
With shaky hands, I dial a number I rarely call. Teddy picks up on the first ring. “Arden.” It’s just a single word, but the gravity of his emotions comes through loud and clear. I can hear the heavy swallow, the way his voice cracks at the end of my name. “They’re making me go to the PC. Told me it was the only way I could get any sort of credit after missing my review this morning. I can’t go. I can’t.”
The two of us have never been the type of friends who vent to each other, but I’m the only one he has now. The only person who understands.
“I have a plan. Sort of. But it does involve you going to the PC.”
He groans.
“We need to rescue him. Please. I know he’s not Bash, but please.” My voice cracks. “If your only motivation is to mess up the PC, then fine.”
Teddy lets out a shaky breath. “What do I need to do?”
“Get there early, find Zoey, and flirt with her. Really really flirt. I need you to get her to confess where she’s keeping Sebastian. But we have to act fast. Before they move him to the stage.” If I can rescue Sebastian before the press conference starts, then my mom’s entire presentation will be ruined. Without her precious clone to show off, she’ll have nothing to demonstrate. It’ll all just be talk, nothing to back it up.
Teddy’s silent for a moment, though I think I hear a faint squeak from the back of his throat. “Okay.” There’s another deep sigh, as if he needs to convince himself. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
We agree that Teddy will text me with the info as soon as he’s able to get it out of Zoey. I head to the school parking lot and lie low, ready to make my move. Just in case, I keep Teddy’s account open in HiveMind, refreshing for the instant HiveMind logs the memory. Transferring it into my mind is plan B.
An hour passes with no text. I grow more and more antsy, shifting in my seat. HiveMind refreshes and a new memory pops up, this one automatically tagged with the title: Tries to trick Zoey.
My heart leaps into my throat. Does tries mean he doesn’t succeed? And why didn’t Teddy send a text?
There’s only thirty more minutes before the press conference. I really need answers now.
I copy the memory into my mind and close my eyes as I lean back against my car. I peer out of Teddy’s eyes as he shows his ID to security. The guard checks his ID and then directs him to a technology checkpoint, where all nonapproved devices must be surrendered for the duration of the press conference.
“Cell phone, please,” the clerk tells Teddy, holding out her palm.
Fuck. Sorry, Arden. Hopefully you’ll find this via HiveMind.
I let out a breath at his forgiveness for spying on him again.
He turns over his cell phone to the woman and waltzes toward the auditorium. Inside, Zoey’s on the stage, looking adorable in a frilly white dress. Her blond hair is curled into little ringlets. She’s been keeping my boyfriend captive yet she had time to use a curling iron?
I want to punch her. Teddy feels the same way judging by the thought that surfaces in his mind: God, she’s awful.
Her sensors ping directly on him as soon as he starts walking toward her. She freezes, backing away from the admin console that’s propped up on the stage in full view of the thousands of cameras and an audience filling up with students, alumni, and the press.
Teddy walks right past Eliza, not even acknowledging her, and I have to wonder if Zoey finally removed every thought he’s ever had about liking her. I make a mental note to myself to give him back all those thoughts and feelings after this is over. I’ll give everyone back everything Zoey stole from them.
Teddy’s gaze zooms on Zoey. I can do this, he thinks. She deserves to be swindled. He swaggers toward her, crooking his finger toward his chest. Smile, damn it! This is your revenge. The shape of his vision curves just a little, indicating he forced his cheeks to tilt upward. Zoey’s eyes widen and she squeals before rushing down the stage steps and stopping with a hop right in front of him. Her smile is so wide that my heart nearly cracks in two at the sight of it. I used to trust that smile.
Teddy doesn’t even flinch. “Hey. Can I talk to you?” The image blurs as he whips his head around fast, left and right. He lowers his voice. “In private?”
Zoey bites her lip. “I’m not supposed to leave the stage.”
Teddy steps closer to her, so close her features blur in my vision. “Please. It’s important.”
Zoey lets out a little huff, flicking her eyes back at the stage and the security guards standing by the stage stairs. “Okay.” Her voice is low, conspiratorial. “But I only have a minute.”
In his vision, I can see his hand reaching out and stroking Zoey’s jaw, gently, from chin to cheek. “This’ll only take a minute.”
Zoey’s eyes flutter closed for a second and she nearly melts into a puddle right there. She follows beside Teddy, beaming up at him with the biggest smile she’s ever mustered. When they get in the hallway, he spins around fast and pins her against the wall. Security guards and members of the press mill about in his peripheral vision, but none of them pay attention to two teenagers with VIP passes. “So. I’ve been thinking.”
Zoey gazes up at him, completely lost in his eyes. Her voice is a breathy whisper. “I think I like what you’ve been thinking.”
“I’ve been thinking about us.” He hits her with his megawatt smile again, coaxing himself to turn up the charm as much as possible. “I like you. I just realized that this morning.”
“Oh God. You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for you to say that.” She wraps her arms around his neck, stands on tiptoes, and plants her lips against his.
His first thought is to abort the mission and abort it fast! Just kiss her. It’s meaningless. His lips sink into hers and I’m forced to witness the sound of their teeth clinking together and the wet squish of his tongue against hers.
“W-wow.” She wipes her forehead when she pulls back, completely dazed.
“Wow,” he echoes despite internally cringing. “I’m so glad this happened.” Is that enough time to butter her up before I start asking questions? Damn, I hope so. I don’t want to have to kiss her again. “I really needed this. Today has been awful.”
Her lips pout, playing right into his trap. “How so?”
“I’m just upset about my project. I failed, Zo. My—” Shit, need to correct that. “Our entire project is a failure.”
She reaches out and rubs his shoulder. “Don’t say that. Sebastian is here because of you. Because of us. That’s a win.”
Teddy shakes his head and I scrunch my nose at the abrupt way the image shakes. “I can’t find him though. I’m so, so worried about him. I miss Bash so much, but—Sebastian. He could fill the void.” A small voice in the back of Teddy’s mind echoes this thought, so quietly I’m not even sure he realizes he thought it.
Zoey waves her hand dismissively. “He’s fine. Promise.”
Teddy’s eyes widen. “Wait, do you know where he is? Can you take me to him?”
She bites her lip, glancing around. “I can’t. Not yet. But—”
Teddy backs away. Try to look angry, he coaches himself. “You don’t trust me?”
“No, I do! Of course I do!” Zoey takes a step toward him.
“Then why won’t you tell me if you know?”
I can see the decision weighing heavy in her mind, her priorities shifting. The person she’s wanted most of all just kissed her and now appears to be mad at her. She can stop this. She can get him back on her side. “I really shouldn’t.”
“Then I’m not sure we should be together.” Teddy starts to turn away, but Zoey circles him, moving into his line of sight.
“Okay, listen. I’ll tell you. But you can’t tell anyone.”
She comes close, her hair blocking his vision. She must be whispering in his ear. “He’s upstairs. In one of the empty Varga suites.”
“Which one?” Teddy demands.
“Suite 1305. But—”
“Thanks.” Teddy reaches out to stroke her cheek again. “I’ll let you get back now.”
Zoey nods in a daze and practically stumbles back into the room. Teddy stares after her, and the memory abruptly ends.
What the hell, Teddy? She was about to say but except he cut her off!
Still, I know where Sebastian is now. I have to act fast. Before Zoey can figure out Teddy liking her is all a ruse.
I quickly type up an email and hit send.
By now, hundreds of cars pack the Varga parking lot. While everyone else ambles toward the main entrance of the school, I weave around the building until I reach the Varga Industries entries. Jay, my favorite security guy, kicks back at his desk, the lone guard for the side of the building no one wants to access.
“Hey.” I force desperate breaths in and out of my lungs to sound like I’ve been running. “My brother just emailed you.” I press my hand against the door as if I need to brace myself to regain composure. “He left something upstairs that he needs for the conference and he sent me—”
Jay eyes me suspiciously, the smile he usually greets me with gone. “Funny, because I also have an email from your mother telling me if you came by saying exactly this, not to let you in.”
Sweat coats my palms. Shit. “It’s an emergency. You have to let me through.”
He crosses his arms. “I don’t have to do anything.”
I reach into my purse and pull out a wad of twenties. “Please.”
Jay scoffs. “Bribing me won’t work anymore.” He lifts his walkie-talkie to his lips but doesn’t depress the button. “Leave now or I call for backup.”
My skin prickles. The only other entrance to the corporate floors is through the school and I can’t go in there without getting caught. Something dips in my stomach and I hate myself for what I’m about to do. “I know about the money you skimmed from petty cash.”
“H-how?”
I ignore his question. Most of the nonscientists who are requested to sync to HiveMind do so without having any clue what it does or how it works, despite the training sessions and one-hundred-page manual the Ethics Committee provides. “I don’t know what it’s for, but it doesn’t matter. No one else knows though. Unless I tell them.”
We stand there, both of us staring the other down with our respective threats in a game of chicken.
He breaks first. “Fine. Go.” He jerks his head toward the door.
My heels clack on the hardwood floors. It’s the only sound louder than my beating heart. I jam my finger against the elevator button, silently praying that it drops straight from the eighth floor to the bottom so I can get in faster. When it arrives, I launch myself inside and press floor thirteen several times, alternating between that and the close door button. The squeal of hydraulics as the elevator shoots upward nearly unnerves me completely.
The doors zip open, and I propel myself out of the elevator, my vision nearly blinded by cold, slick fear. I follow the door numbers until I reach suite 1305.
The door’s wide open, lights fully turned on. A sharp jolt of worry pulls me inside. I enter an empty suite, a generic-looking reception desk, cubicles spread out along the floor, all of it placeholders, waiting for someone with a brilliant new product to come in and take over. I race around the room, throwing open every door I can find, revealing empty supply closets and conference rooms and finally what appears to be an office, void of everything except a pillow and a blanket.… and the clothes Sebastian was wearing when I last saw him.
I sink to my knees. They’ve already moved him.
But I need to find him. Save him before it’s too late. I scramble to remove my laptop from my bag and hastily prop it open. My fingers fly across the keys until I manage to connect myself into the most recent memory of Sebastian’s.
The view of velvety red curtains obscures his vision for a moment until he shifts. A sliver of the stage and the audience beyond comes into view and I nearly vomit. He takes notice of the two security guards standing beside him, the ones by each backstage wing exit, the ones at the stage stairs, the army of them in the back of the room. Zoey, squarely onstage, hovering over the admin laptop on a table a few feet behind the podium like she’s the keyboardist at a rock concert. My mother, standing just ahead of Sebastian. If I run, there’s no way to escape. They’ll catch me. His next thought is even worse: If I expose them, if I say anything at all, they’re just going to wipe my memory again. I can’t risk that either.
A shiver runs through me, heart squeezing for the pain Sebastian feels from being so trapped.
I force myself to my feet, a new plan forming in my mind.
I have to be the one to confront them. I have to destroy Theseus and ruin everything my mother and, oh God, my father worked for years for. I have to do it live onstage.
I have to wreck it all.