In Love and Diplomacy

Chapter Forty-Nine: Brake Us

"Just stop your crying
It'll be alright
They told me that the end is near
We gotta get away from here"

- Harry Styles, "Sign of the Times"

Chapter Forty-Nine

Something was wrong.

I'd driven a car enough to know that when the brake was pressed, the car was supposed to slow down—not speed up.

We were flirting with dangerous speeds, especially on these particularly curvy and narrow roads found on that stretch of interstate. The car only seemed to be speeding up even as Reed jammed his foot down on the brake. Reed cursed, and his hand flew to the screen in front of us, jabbing at it until it lit up. The outgoing call hummed in the car speakers as Reed took us around a precarious curve. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel, and I looked down to see I was gripping the seatbelt with one hand, and the handle above my head with the other. As the car whipped around another bend, I was reminded why it was called an 'oh shit' handle.

The call rang three times before a voice filled the car with sound, and me with relief. "Ramos."

"Pull up vehicle 2213 now!" Reed's voice boomed immediately.

I heard a shuffle on the other side of the line before Beck's voice returned. He didn't immediately ask questions, knowing instead from experience to follow orders first in case it was urgent. And from Reed's tone of voice, I figured we were all on the same page about the state of emergency.

"Pulling it up now. I see you, I've got your location. What are you doing out there?" Beck cut himself off with a sharp inhale. "And why are you going seventy miles per hour and rising?"

"The brake's not working. Slow us down!" Reed ordered, gritting his teeth as he wrestled with the wheel around a sharp curve.

I could hear computer keys clicking on the other side of the line. "Us? Who else is with you?"

"Avery, and we're still gaining speed. The car isn't listening to commands. Can you slow us down, and figure out if it's mechanical or computer?"

"What the hell is going on?" Beck murmured to himself after a moment, distracted as he disregarded Reed. The sound of keys being forcefully hit was getting louder. "I programmed my own openings into our car's defenses. I should be able to remotely gain control... so why the hell is the car and it's effing programming acting like this?"

I don't think we were supposed to hear that.

My mind stumbled on the programming part. I knew from my brother-in-law that some cars could be remotely controlled or drive themselves. I wasn't an expert in technology, but all cars had varying levels of programmed commands to follow. From self-driving cars to simpler vehicles, cars had computers controlling its various parts. Computers to control the brakes, airbags, automatic transmission, locks, climate control, and more. Risk was higher these days for vulnerabilities, especially the fancier cars churned out in modern times with higher levels of technology engrained in their build. Especially this car, with its screen nestled next to the dashboard, and its fancy tech. As a Greystone vehicle, Beck had given himself access to control the cars; he should have been able to slow us down. Our car was fortified.

And apparently unresponsive.

Or maybe only unresponsive to us.

My stomach jolted. Whether due to the sharp drop we'd narrowly avoided—or the realization there could be someone else controlling the car, I wasn't sure. Because my brother-in-law had said something else; something about how car hacking was a new concern, hard to do but not impossible.