“Yet?” she looked back at him.
“The media got wind of the raid at MasterSlave. Except they don’t know it was MasterSlave. They think it was a fertilizer factory. It’s only a matter of time before they discover the truth.” Mitch sighed heavily. “Then there will be a lot of people asking a lot of questions, and a lot of answers will need to be given.” He looked at her. “And if we’re lucky, we might see some of those dominoes finally fall. I guess it depends on what names Riverton can scrape from the uncorrupted files and what those arrested will tell us.”
“And what internal affairs will do about it if they find badges on there.” She locked eyes with Mitch. “I want to know if any names match Attis Solme’s list too.”
“Riverton will soon tell us if they do.”
Salvi nodded, picturing Riverton’s golden androgynous form, unsure as to how she felt about it holding the key to controlling her neural implants. Cyber believed their AI could never be hacked, but could Salvi ever be sure of that?
Salvi looked back to her reflection in the glass, saw the silver neural tech against her skin, wired inside her brain.
Just like Subjugate-52.
Her eyes blurred with tears again.
“Don’t lose hope, Salvi,” Mitch said quietly. “You’re a good cop and we need you. The people out there need you to fight for them. They need you to not give up on their justice.”
“Is there justice, though?” she whispered, picturing her sister, Faith, hanging from the ceiling fan.
Mitch looked at her. “There is as long as people like us wear the badge and do the right thing, Salvi. As long as people like Ford, and Hernandez and Bronte, Beggs, Kara, Sorenson, Noble…”
Tears began to run down her cheeks. She wiped them away. Mitch tried to pull her into a hug, but she pushed him back.
“Salvi–”
“I swore, Mitch,” she said through clenched teeth. “I swore when I got away from my childhood, I would never let anyone control me again.” She turned to him, pointing to the neural-tech. “And they have. They put this inside my brain and I will never be free of it. I will live the rest of my life under the threat of being hacked and controlled.”
Mitch clasped her shoulder and she knocked his hand away.
“I am no different now from the Subjugates at the Solme Complex! I am just like Subjugate-52!”
“No, you’re not!” he said firmly. “You have free will.”
“Do I? For how long?”
“For as long as you refuse to let anyone control you. Don’t let them get to you, Salv. Don’t let them wear you down. This is what they want. You fight it! And I will help you fight it.”
“But I may not have a choice, Mitch. If Riverton fails and they get to me… I have the ability to flip either way. I can flip to Master or can flip to Slave. Fyte or Flyte, Mitch. I could fuck you or I could fucking kill you!”
He took firm hold of her upper arms and stared her in the eye.
“We won’t let that happen. Riverton won’t let that happen.”
Her eyes blurred with tears again. “But how can you know that?”
“Because I’ve never met anyone stronger than you, Salvi. You haven’t survived this long because you are weak. You won’t let them break you. You will keep fighting. And I will fight alongside you.”
She stared at him a moment, a brief saddened smile breaking her torment. “I guess that does seem to be my default code… Fighting against the system that tries to control me.”
Mitch smiled softly. She looked out the window again, at the reflection of her neural tech. She ran her hand over her face.
“Why are you still here, Mitch? I’m a fucking mess.”
“So was I…” he said, looking out at the bridge, then back at her. “But I’ve been slowly repairing myself. And you will too. Right now, we’re two broken halves that fit together to make a whole.” He smiled softly. “And we won’t let the bastards grind us down again.”
Salvi nodded, then her face hardened as she stared back into his green eyes. “I don’t want to settle for the battle, Mitch. I want to win the war. Against the Ghost Network, the corruption. All of it. The whole fucking war.”
“So let’s do that,” he said firmly. “Let’s keep riding until the war is won.”
Salvi nodded, then turned to look out the window again. She stared at the Golden Gate Bridge peeking out of the mist, as her neural implant devices reflected in the glass.
Whether she liked it or not, just like Subjugate-52, this was her future now.
There was no turning back.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It’s great to be back in Salvi Brentt’s world, visiting all these characters again and continuing their journey.
A huge thanks to the team at Angry Robot for backing me and this series. To Eleanor for signing up The Sensation, to Gemma for all her assistance with my queries, and to my editors and proofreaders: Simon Spanton, Robin Triggs, Andrew Hook, and Sam McQueen for all their feedback – thank you. Thanks also to Kieryn Tyler for a cracking cover!
As usual, a thanks must go out to my family and close friends who perhaps don’t see me as much as they’d like due to me working all the time, but who support me none-the-less as I chase my dream. Thank you!
To all the awesome folk who loved The Subjugate and left wonderful reviews – thank you so much, you rock! Reviews and shout-outs on social media mean the world as they help spread the word to others, so you play a large part in a book’s success. Again, thank you.
I hope you all enjoy Salvi Brentt’s second outing. If you do, please spread the word via reviews and across social media. I’ve planned a four book series, so I would love to bring you the other two books soon!
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