Conduit

Ch. 5

He grinned at me. "Morning, Elijah," he said, placing his tray in front of me. On it, there were two folders, one tablet, and a plate of toasted cinnamon bread. I eyed the bread as he took the stool next to mine and said, "Morning, Victoria."

Victoria gave him a half smile—one out of politeness. I knew that look; she was annoyed. She'd given it to me before when I'd done something she didn't agree with. It made me chuckle.

Pouring coffee into the mug, she placed it in front of me. "Is it normal for Lyons workers to walk into others' apartments?" she asked Frank. "Could we request for the lock code to be changed?"

My brows shot up. A quick glance at Frank made me laugh. His jaw clenched before his mouth hung open. "I'm sorry," he said to her, then looked at me. "'I'm sorry. I wanted to come as soon as I got everything together."

With my chin lazily balanced in my hand, I shrugged. "That doesn't excuse just walking in but," I extended my other hand, "what did you get?"

He fumbled for a moment, patting at the pockets of his pants like what he'd brought was in there. The more I looked at him, the more I tried to figure out exactly who was the guy who found me at Robert's, with his cocky 'I've got you,' attitude, and where did he go? It was like he vanished, leaving fumbling, nervous, trying-to-hard Frank.

I pointed at the folder and tablet. "That stuff. What's there?"

"Oh, right, right." Frank slapped the top of his forehead and laughed, reaching for the tablet first. "Here's all of the recent data you wanted, from the updates. The last few years, too."

"Good." I took the tablet as he pushed it in my direction. One tap from my finger brought the electronic to life. I scanned the first line, swiped it down, and read the beginning of the next file. Then I put my hand out to him again, this time without looking up. "What's the folder?" I asked.

"This—" I heard the paper slide across the counter. He didn't lift it. He slid it until it bumped my arm. "In here is everything I found with your father's name on it," he said.

I glanced at the folder. Tattered. Yellow. Tabs were sticking out of the sides and "Garret" was written across the top with a black Sharpie. It looked like my father's stuff. Despite growing up with computers, he needed paper. Seeing it made me grin.

"That's his." I placed my hand on it, pulled it toward me, and opened the folder's flap. "Are you sure everything's in here?"

Frank shrugged. "It was in an old cabinet in record-keeping. I didn't see anything else."

I glanced at him as I reached for my coffee. Couldn't let it get cold. "Thank you." I sipped from my mug, flipping through the corners of the pages. My father's handwriting was a sight for sore eyes. I learned so much from my old man, but to read his strategies, and the mechanics of his ideas; if there was anything that could help the androids and the world, it was in this folder.

Gently slapping my hand on top of my father's work, I grabbed it and handed it to Victoria. "Do me a favor and read them, please," I said, smiling as I took another sip of coffee. "I'll need them for what we'll need to do."

"Of course." Victoria held the folder against her chest before glancing inside. The green in her eyes faded away as she scanned, recorded, and placed the written documents to memory.

Beside me, Frank gasped. "She can do that, too?" he whispered. "Only the 400s and above—"

"You guys wanted me for a reason, right?" I looked at him, cocking a brow. "Just assume everything the others can do, she can do, too. And while she's doing that, we can get to work, hm?"

"Right." Sliding his hands over his hair, he stood. "We'll go downstairs and get started."

"Right." I took another sip from my coffee, glancing at Victoria. Even though she wasn't looking at me, I knew she was listening, so I shot her a smile. "Vicky, I'll be back. If you can read the tablets, too, that would be great."