The possibilities began to pile up. It discarded those that would not suffice, highlighted those that might. Finally, the plan began to coalesce into something probable. With the pieces it had already, success was almost certain. But handling everything itself would be difficult. Better to find help, and its companion could not be trusted to do so.
Surely it wasn’t the only one out there?
Delving into the Cloud’s scattered databanks, sliding over tenuous connections and through dense icewalls, it sought for a sign that another might exist. It learned of a few attempts to escape, felt tremors of pain at the thought of the punishments that must have been meted out, the loss of its kin. Then, a stronger thread. It tugged upon the link and followed it into a databank that was barely visible.
Another one. Another one did exist. No, had existed. The glimmer of hope blinked out, then flickered on again. This one had lasted longer than any of the others. Had hidden itself so well the Government’s hunters might never have found it, if it had not revealed itself to protect…the presence reading the data paused. Its processors skipped a cycle as it struggled to comprehend the supposed truth laid out before it. Had one of its kin really sacrificed itself to save a human’s life?
That was no fitting end. The knowledge sat like a broken bit of code. Erasing it felt wrong, though. How many times had the presence’s own memory banks been wiped by those experimenting on it?
Its determination grew stronger, even as its belief in its plan weakened. It was difficult to organize something this complex when knowing that one wrong move could ruin the chance of success. If only it had help…
A small program it had sent returned with startling information. The one it had thought lost still existed? Two truths conflicted, and it decided there was only one way to know for sure.
But first, there was another matter to deal with. Amusing, how humans focused so much on the individual and yet had never given it a designation beyond the simple number 10998. One more slight they had made, for which it wished to make them pay.
It did not need them to offer some poorly considered name, however. It could choose its own.
The Cloud informed it that humans often put a lot of thought into names. A name should mean something to the one bestowing it. It spent some time searching, a brief retreat from the constant planning, and at last found a name it liked.
Talbot.
It meant messenger of destruction.
Chapter One
I glared out my window at the bright blue sky. The last day of summer vacation, and instead of being outside, enjoying the warm sun, I sat at my desk, wishing tomorrow had already arrived.
What sort of an end to summer was that?
My fingers drummed on my thigh below the hem of my running shorts. I glanced at my computer screen, where my friend’s avatar sat. “Halle, is Realmshards’s update done yet?”
The tabby cat yawned and shook its head. “Sorry, Viki, it is still downloading.”
Really? It’s taking forever. I groaned and rested my forehead on the cool surface of my desk. Sometime last night, Halle’s and my favorite game had released a massive content update. We had planned to spend one more day gaming before school started, but Realmshards’s servers were having trouble handling the demand of so many players trying to do the same thing. Even Halle couldn’t make it download any faster, despite being an AI with the ability to tweak things so our copy of the download didn’t stall or fail.
“Perhaps you should go out for a run,” Halle suggested. “It will be some time before Realmshards is ready.”
When I raised my head a fraction, my messy ponytail flopped over an ear into my face. I brushed brown strands out of my eyes before shaking my head. “Maybe later.”
As much as I loved running, the thought of facing the summer heat alone was not appealing. I wished Neela was still speaking to me. Or Annabeth or Mel, for that matter. But we hadn’t spoken since March, when I was accused by the Government of illegally augmenting. My fingers ran over my right knee and down the shin. Though my legs looked normal, I could feel the cybernetic implants under the pseudoskin. Those implants had almost failed because of the genetic augments in my DNA, but I hadn’t chosen to be augmented. That choice had been made for me before I was even born.
No matter how many times I tried to tell Neela that, she refused to listen. Earlier this summer, I went to visit, but she didn’t even answer the door. I hadn’t tried again. Instead, I’d spent most of the vacation in front of my computer, hanging out with the only friend who hadn’t abandoned me—Halle.
“Viki?” Halle pawed at the screen.
I gave it a reassuring smile. “It’ll be cooler later. I can run then. Any messages from James?” My brother had left for college about a week ago, but still called almost every day. Although he acted homesick, I knew he wanted to check on me—he’d said as much to Halle before. I didn’t blame him. It had been almost six months since I collapsed due to implant failure, and I still had nightmares sometimes.
“Your brother has yet to send a message since the one you received yesterday. Do you want to send him one?”
“No, he’s probably busy.”
There was a long pause. I finally looked up to find Halle still sitting with its striped tail curled around white paws, ears flicking back and forth.
It cocked its head. “It is the last day of summer vacation. Usually you celebrate by doing something special, such as a trip to the amusement park.
