Conduit

Ch. 2

He didn't move. And since he looked like he didn't plan to, I squeezed past him to step inside the room. The neatly made bed matched the yellow wallpaper out in the hall. I eyed it. Why was everything so sunshine?

As Victoria came to my side, the door shut behind us. I glanced back just as Mr. Suit stepped inside, never dropping his hands from his mouth. "She can really do all of that, huh?" His voice was muffled against his fingers.

"Uh, yeah," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "Are you here to talk about her? I have her licenses at the house and," I sucked my teeth, "her Series is so old, I doubt any patents are still in effect for her number. So—"

"Oh, no, I'm not here to talk about her. I mean," he threw his hands up and sat on the bed, "I am but I'm not if that makes sense."

It didn't. None of this made sense. Why would a random man in a suit with random knowledge of my family and the company I grew up with come looking for me to ask questions? To find me through one of my clients, of all people?

He folded his hands, sighing. "Look," he glanced at me with a weak smile, "I guess it's time for introductions."

It was past that. "Sure." I lazily waved my hand in front of me. "Since you already know who I am, who are you?"

"I'm, um," he rubbed his face again, "Frank Luis, a Lyons associate for the government."

Now the suit attire made sense. His being here didn't. I stared at him, waiting, silently telling him to continue. When he looked at me, I knew he got the message. "We've been watching you for a while—"

Oh, were they? Government surveillance was still a thing, huh?

"We know what you're capable of, and I see it." He looked at Victoria. "If your 100 can do all of the things she's displayed today, imagine what you're capable of."

My brows lifted. I didn't need to imagine. I knew.

Frank cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence that had settled in the room. "As you may know, we've released the 700 Series androids and machines."

I nodded. "Mhm, I know." The new androids came paired with an update I spent days protecting Victoria from.

He cleared his throat again. "And we need a programming engineer for the 800 Series."

I was taken aback. 800? So soon? "New sets come out every ten years."

"They did," he said, then looked me directly in the eye. "But we need someone to start on the 800s sooner rather than later, and hopefully," he gave me an awkward smile, "we can release the new series before expected."

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I shook my head. Here I was confusing myself when he was the one not giving me the needed information. "I don't know why you're telling me this," I whispered.

"We need you to build the 800s and create the newest update."

My hand dropped. My eyes widened. Me? "And Lyons decided on me because of what?"

Frank blinked. "Do you not see your 100?"

"Victoria," I corrected him, raising a finger, then continued, "and yes, I do, I see her every day."

Frank sighed. "Elijah, you're beating around the bush."

"Shit, not as bad as you are." I snorted and looked at Victoria. This was the first time in years that I'd seen her so silent. Ever since I broke through her programming, firewalls, and safeguards, granting her mental freedom with a vast amount of information, she was a chatterbox. She never failed to speak her mind. Yet, now, as Frank spoke to me, she kept her head down. I could see her emerald eyes pass over the floor. Her mind was racing.