n

n

nQuicksilver was still driving, even though they'd been on the road nearly nine hours. Her curiosity got the better of her when Dex mentioned his message to Gene.

"Really? What was in the file?

"

n

"Circumstantial stuff, traffic cams, local security footage, even some random social media clips.

" Dex was sitting in the van's passenger seat; he had swiveled it so that he was facing backward.

"Nothing concrete, but it points out a few lies that Kendal told.

"

n

"Couldn't help yourself?

" Darsi removed her sunglasses, stretching slightly to relieve the soreness that came from sitting too long.

nDex smiled at the question.

"He was a smug bastard. He made sure my defenses were stripped bare and then had the balls to come at me.

"

nQuicksilver didn't comment; she knew plenty of people like Kendal. Kenji's talent was average among hackers.

"Thanks for coming with me. I would have worried if you stayed behind.

"

n

"I had the feeling things wouldn't turn out well for me if I stayed.

"

n

"My real name is Darsi; use that when it's just the two of us.

"

n

"Understood.

" Dex opened the bag that had been buried since before his home confinement. He removed two thin gloves that had circuitry sewed into the palms and fingers.

n

"The ** is that?'

" Darsi flipped a switch on the dashboard that allowed the car to drive itself. She turned the seat sideways and watched as Dex pulled a pair of goggles out of the bag and slipped them on.

n

"The gloves or the goggles?

" Dex grinned as his visual acuity immersed into a virtual workstation.

nDarsi glanced at the GPS on the dash.

"Still got an hour before we arrive. Brief me on your toys.

"

n

"The gloves have a virtual keyboard programmed into memory. I move a finger, and it knows what should be there. It also has a memory bank of ten petabytes, a portion of that has been partitioned with my Exe and some special ICE.

"

nAs someone in the trade, Darsi knew without a doubt that she was looking at custom gear.

"You made this?

"

n

"A while ago,

" Dex's fingers started weaving in the air. To an outsider, it looked like he was playing an invisible harp.

"Didn't expect to be using it for a few more years.

"

n

"I wanna see, little bro!

" Darsi loved new **, especially when it looked cool.

n

"There's a jack on the goggles; feel free.

" Dex wasn't looking at anything, in particular, just riding the wave.

"

nQuicksilver removed a small case and slipped on a pair of spectacles that closely resembled mirrored sunglasses. She plugged a micro-cable into one side before attaching the other to the port on Dex's goggles. Instantly the world in front of her changed.

nDex's hands glowed while he weaved effortlessly through data streams. He would occasionally come up against firewalls, but the toughest of them lasted only a few seconds.

n

"You've got splicers programmed into the memory?

" Darsi shook her head slightly; he was in the Massena Police Departments' server.

"How many breaker files do those gloves have?

"

n

"Seventy, wrote the code myself.

" Dex pulled up Kindal's data for a moment before moving to his financials.

"He seems to have a bit more money than the average government salary allows.

"

n

"Three deposits of ten grand, that means he's just a cog. Otherwise, it would be a lot more.

" Darsi waited while Dex checked his own status. He was listed as a missing person, with no mention of parole violation.

"My 4 sat-system is anonymous for thirty minutes before I have to turn it off.

"

nDex slipped the gloves and goggles off, placing them back in his bag.

"I was just looking around. Where are we going?

"

nDarsi smiled when she eased by him to walk into the van's kitchen area.

"We're going to the hive.

"

nDex had no idea what that was, but the name sounded cool.

"Remember you're talking to someone that's been unplugged for three years.

"

nDarsi grabbed two bottles of water from her fridge and tossed one to Dex.

"It's an old missile silo that's been repurposed into something beautiful.

"

nDex wanted to say something clever, maybe a reference to her being 'something beautiful,' but he realized it would come out weird if he said something like that.

"Who owns the silo?

"

n

"The guys at the bottom!

" Darsi winked at him but refused to say anything else.

nA few minutes later, the van stopped next to a debilitated-looking warehouse. Darsi used a remote from her glove box to open the door before driving in. She parked next to a blue and white 1965 Shelby Mustang.

nDex glanced at the assorted rows of cars; there were at least twenty, a couple of them were exceedingly rare...

"Is that your Shelby?

"

nDarsi shook her head.

"No, I'm more of a bike girl

" She pointed to a red motorcycle parked near a rusted-out pick-up.

nDex blinked once and then wiped his eyes.

"That's a Ducati Panigale!

"

n

"The kid knows his classics… you just keep getting better and better.

"

nDarsi headed toward a small winding metal staircase that descended into the concrete sub-basement. They arrived at a small cinder block-lined room where a single uniformed guard sat behind a desk, kept company by a serious-looking german shepherd that eyeballed Dex as soon as he entered.

n

"Good puppy,

" Darsi winked at the guard and held out her wrist to be scanned.

"I'll be escorting this young man downstairs.

"

nThe guard nodded and gestured toward the elevator. He didn't speak or even smile.

nDex breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator closed.

"That guy a robot?

"

nDarsi shook his head.

"Russian… I'm taking you to the 10th level; you'll have to rely on yourself after that.

"

n

"Huh?

" Dex made eye contact with his companion, suspecting that she was holding something back.

"Is this a setup?

"

nDarsi nodded and laughed like he had said something funny.

"Without a doubt.

"

nA group of four stood in a circle just outside of the elevator, staring at the occupants when they exited. Darsi grabbed Dex's hand and pulled him closer.

"Dex, these are my guys.

"

nThe group consisted of two men and two women. One of the men appeared to be in his early thirties, while the other male was gray and wrinkled. The women seemed a bit closer in age, one being about Dex's age and the other in her mid-20s.

nDex paid attention when Darsi introduced them; counterclockwise from his position, they were Tesla, Beatriss, Jackson, and Gab. Tesla was the younger woman, and Gab, the oldest man.

n

"Nice to meet you.

" Jackson's voice had the barest tinge of a Mexican accent. He had dark skin and black hair that he kept cut short.

"So, who is he?

"

n

"This is Dextron, my new partner.

" Darsi squeezed his hand, seemingly unaware that her words caused immediate hostility in both Jackson and the younger woman.

"I'm sponsoring him.

"

n

"Sponsoring him?

" Tesla didn't bother to hide her distaste.

"I waited two years for someone to sponsor me, and you return with this guy after a few weeks?

"

nJackson pretended not to be annoyed, but it was written all over his face.

"What's the story here?

"

nOnly the old man remained passive, neither speaking nor jumping to judgment. Instead, his cool blue eyes scanned the young man, looking for anything familiar. Their community was quite small; if the kid was good, they should know who he is.

"Who is he really?

"

nDarsi's smile widened until it threatened to eat her entire face.

"He's **ing Da Vinci!

"

n

"Bull**,

" Tesla replied.

n

"No way,

" Jackson denied.

n

"Seems a bit young,

" Beatriss added.

nThe old man smiled but wasn't swayed one way or the other.

"Let's see what he has.

"

nDex heard Quicksilver use the term before, but he wasn't completely sure what it meant. Gab pointed to two square pillars approximately three meters in height. Each pillar was divided evenly into ten levels.

nDarsi smiled encouragingly.

"It's a test, Dex. The right pillar is defense, while the left is offense. How well you do decides where you live in the hive.

"

nDex stared at the pillars; both of them had virtual interfaces where you could download code.

"Where do you live?

"

nDarsi winked at him.

"The five of us are bottom feeders. The very bottom… But we have room for more!

"

nTesla shook her head.

"I'll cook your meals for a week if you qualify for the bottom on either pillar.

"

nDarsi seemed surprised when Dex walked to the defensive pillar first.

"If you choose this one, you'll have 2 minutes to set up your ICE. After that, you'll be bombarded with attacks. The goal here is to delay intrusion.

"

nDex slipped his gloves on and started inputting data into the defense pillar; he stepped away after a minute.

"Come and get it.

"

nDarsi clapped with excitement.

"Hold the line for at least 10 seconds per level. The standard for living on the bottom floor is to keep the 10th level clear for 90 seconds. Starting… NOW!

"

nAlmost immediately, Tesla's name popped up on the bottom level. She smiled evilly at Dex.

"Know what that means?

"

nDex shrugged.

"How could I?

"

nDarsi watched the first level intently; ten seconds had passed already.

"It means you're facing her, Exe.

"

n

"Face my demon code, Bitch!

" Tesla laughed like an evil villain until her name was replaced by Beatriss.

"What the **?

"

nThe old man glanced at the timer and nodded.

"Your demon code has already been neutralized.

"

nBeatriss waited for the intrusion to advance to the second level, but it didn't budge.

"Half a minute and still no advancement. That means his ICE is on point.

"

nAnother half-minute passed by before Jackson's name popped up. By that time, no one was speaking. The progression was still on the first level.

nJackson shook his head in disbelief.

"Fucking Da Vinci.

"

nNearly a full minute later, the second level lit up, and Jackson's name was replaced by Gabs.

nDarsi pointed to the counter.

"That's two minutes, and we're just now on the 2nd level. No one writes code like that.

"

nGab nodded in agreement and welcomed Dex with a grin.

"I've seen enough. Call me Gadget.

"

nJackson smiled and extended his hand.

"I'm Mongoose.

"

nBeatriss pointed a thumb at herself.

"Thumper.

"

nTesla waited a few more seconds before finally relenting.

"Stiletto…

"

n