Prodigy Eternal (book 2)

Chapter Eighteen

Glitch took advantage of the warm weather to coax Aris and Alex out of the house. He offered to show them some parts of the city they had yet to see. First up was Tokyo’s Skytree, which was built over 100 years prior. It had remained intact throughout the war and was still one of Japan’s tallest structures. At the top of the large broadcasting tower was a restaurant with the best view in the city.

Alex reverted to wearing her head wrap and sunglasses, which was uncomfortable since it was hot out and she had a slight headache. Since Aris was seen with her, he too had to wear a hat and glasses so he would not be recognized. It was Alex’s first time leaving the house since the night they were chased, but with Glitch and Aris with her, she felt safe.

From their location, there was a direct line to the tower. Glitch was never very talkative, but he was even more despondent than usual. There seemed to be something on his mind, but it would require a lot of patience and persistence to earn his trust and get him to talk.

When they arrived at their stop, the three walked up the stairs of the underground subway station and saw the giant structure in the distance, towering over everything else. They continued westward until they reached the renowned Skytree.

Once at the base of the tower, they boarded the elevator and rode it to the top. After a quick ascent, the elevator doors parted and the three stepped onto the upper deck of the tower. They casually strolled around and took in the magnificent view of the city, the ocean, and the river that separated Tokyo proper from the wastelands they had visited last week.

“So have you ever been to the Skytree before?” Alex asked.

“Just once,” Glitch responded. “I’m actually afraid of heights.”

“Really?” Alex responded. “You strike me as a person who is not afraid of much.”

“Back in Megalopolis, Aoki and I lived on the top tier of the Megaplex pyramid, Green View Echelon. It was about as tall as this tower, maybe taller.”

“I lived there for about five minutes,” Alex added.

“So I’m just curious, why take us up here if you’re afraid of heights?” Aris asked.

Staring out at the city, Glitch returned his attention to Alex and Aris, and with sorrow said, “We haven’t been completely honest with you guys. What we do, and the reason we got together… we have deliberately been keeping you two ignorant of those details. That may explain why some of us have been a little standoffish at times.”

“What are you saying?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything,” Glitch assured. “We found each other through Link — hence the name. He wanted to assemble a small team of elite hackers to make money by hacking online accounts, learn people’s secrets, and mess with governments and corporations. We did all that stuff and more, but when we became bored with that and had extracted enough money to last a thousand years, we got into grinding.

“Things were going well. We had these amazing new abilities, we were travelling all around the world, and then it all came to a crashing halt.”

“The government shut you down?” Aris asked.

“No, if it were the government we’d be in jail right now. This was much worse. Our identities were exposed online, our bank accounts emptied, and it seemed like we couldn’t move a muscle without some hassle.”

“So what happened?”

“He calls himself The Fox — we have never met him and we have no idea who he is. He may even be a woman for all we know. As silly as his name may sound, his hacking abilities are many levels above ours.”

“What does The Fox want?” Alex asked.

“At first, he just liked to mess with us, like a cat batting around a toy mouse. We have to assume he has enough money, and he doesn’t seem to be after power.”

“What then?”

“He’s a grinder just like us. We think he wants to be Superman or someone like that.”

“Okay, so this Fox character,” Alex began, as her mind began to process the facts, “uses you guys for grinds? But, if he’s so brilliant, wouldn’t he already know everything you guys know?”

“Yes, you’re right. Apparently draining our bank accounts and exposing our identities was just to get our attention and strip us of our power. I take it he saw you two on the news a year ago, just as the whole world was introduced to Alex. He must have discovered a connection between Aris and Yuri, and used their relationship as a way to get closer to you.”

“Get closer to me?” Alex said, “What does he want with me?”

“He wants to learn how your brain works. I guess he figured we could do it for him. He offered us a lucrative deal — we develop a hack that would give him your computing abilities, and in return he promised to make us very rich.”

Alex was stunned when she heard this information. It was distressing to know that someone had violated her trust and wanted to use her. For the most part, she had lived a pretty sheltered life and had never experienced anything like that before. She was more confused than angry… then again, she had yet to hear the full story.