Code Breakers: Alpha Read Free

seemed more foreboding and darker than his upper-class district, but then Gerry rarely ventured into the communal zones. Had no reason too, either, being one of the Cemprom’s most gifted algorithm designers. Only the top echelons for him. He’d no choice now, though. Had to get word to his family, find Mike, and sort out this D-Lottery nonsense. The consequences of a compromised algorithm were beyond anything he’d contemplated before. City Earth’s systems and networks were rock solid. Impenetrable. Until now.
    “Ya’ve got some bad mojo in ya, man,” Gabe said.
    “Yeah? No shit.”
     
    ***
     
    Gerry’s escort stopped him in front of a rough wooden door, waved his hand over the lock. It chirped, and a small clunk sounded. The door swung open, casting a wide beam of golden light onto the dull street. A pair of brass-rimmed goggles with darkened lenses appeared in the gap. They gave the fragile girl wearing them the countenance of a nervous lemur. She wore her hair in a bright pink Mohican with complicated, almost filigree style tattoos on the side of her head.
    “Petal, I found him,” Gabe said.
    The goggled girl checked both sides of the street and then stood aside to let them enter.
    She was young and twitchy in her synthetic leather trousers and a fitted faux biker jacket. Her lips were tattooed bright purple. It always amazed Gerry how these young girls could put up with the pain. There were few countercultures in City Earth. Most were tame as the citizens wouldn’t, or didn’t want to, rebel against the norm. It mostly extended to a slightly different hair style or basic modifications to clothes.
    He’d never seen a girl like this before. She screamed rebellion, danger. He was quickly getting out of his comfort zone. As he passed her, she cocked her head to one side, assessing him. He wondered what was behind the goggles. The thought intrigued and scared him in equal measure. Without seeing her eyes, it was difficult to read her intentions. What was she thinking? What did she think about him?
    “Go through to the back, Gez,” she said quietly. “Don’t touch a thing.”
    Her voice almost sang to him such was the lightness. The vowels had a slight rough edge to them, making her sound alien to him. It didn’t have the clear pseudo-English accent that everyone within the Dome had. Where did she and Gabe come from? He’d never met anyone within the City who spoke so differently, which brought up a series of questions that he didn’t, or couldn’t dwell on.
    Inside, the room was far grander than what Gerry had expected from the grim aspect of the exterior. Panelled wood, probably mahogany, lined the walls. Expensive. Wood was so rare and to use it as wall decoration was so—the words escaped him.
    “Careless? Vulgar?” she asked him.
    “Wait, you can read my mind?”
    “Nah, you’re on the network. Your AIA’s freaking out, spraying like a panicked skunk. Don’t worry. It’s secure here.” Her goggles switched from opaque to clear, revealing glossy black eyes, reflecting Gerry’s face like mirrored spheres. He caught himself staring, falling.
    “I can see your code. It’s grim. You’re in a world of trouble.” Her head twitched.
    Gerry blinked, looked away, and gripped the sides of his throbbing head. He reached into his jacket pocket. Empty.
    “Where’s my comm?”
    “Smashed to bits. Your security peeps crushed it when they kicked you out.”
    “Great. Can I use yours?”
    “Off the grid. Don’t have one.”
    “Your network? I just need to get word to a friend. He can sort out this D-Lottery nonsense. And then you can let me go. I’ve got family. I’m—”
    “Exempt?” Gabe said. “Aye, should be, but a devil got inside ya and messed with ya algorithm. And ya can’t go transmitting out onto the main network. Way too dangerous.”
    “How the hell do you know all this? Just tell me straight. Who are you people?”
    The girl spoke up. “We’re specialists of a sort. A