Glitch in the God Complex (AmpCore #1)

15 - Weapons of a New World

Holly assured them that tonight the security feeds would be otherwise engaged for a little while.

"Hello," Arrow said softly as they reached her.

"Hello yourself," Piper said, smiling thinly. "Odiye says you've got a present for me?"

"You could say that," they replied, mischief dancing in their eyes. "Theory is one thing, but if you're going to defend yourself in the real world, you're going to need a real weapon."

Her eyes brightened. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"So a little wand of my very own?"

Arrow frowned. "They're called amplifiers, and they are very intricate, and very dangerous pieces of technology."

"I'm just joking."

They raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Piper, I told Odiye I would help you, but you need to take this seriously. What we're going to do tonight is not a joke."

"God, alright, alright." She spread her hands in apology. "So how does this work?"

"We're going to skip a few steps in the curriculum, and by the end of tonight, you'll have an amplifier of your own."

"So ... what, we're raiding some kind of armoury?"

"It's not that simple." Arrow stepped past her, slipping their amplifier free from their jacket. "What I do... what we do here is an art form, Piper."

They drifted the wand over the control panel at the side of the door. It had a keycard slot for any normal people, but students of AmpCore didn't require such a pedestrian means of access. The tip of Arrow's amplifier shimmered briefly and Piper heard the clunk of disengaging locks.

"Let's go."

There was something reverent about the way Arrow viewed this section of the academy that stifled Piper's natural impulse to fire off sarcastic remarks. She swallowed down those thoughts, and instead fell into step, crossing into this sacred place.

The stream of corporate logos persisted even here, but they were thinner than they were in other parts of the academy. The walls had a darker tinge to them, and bulky white letters on either side of her read FORGEYARD 35. No extra frills or codes like any other designation, and surprisingly, no one taking ownership.

"Nobody can own this part of AmpCore," Arrow said as they walked, seeing her examining the halls. "The technology for the amplifiers, for the grafts – it was a collaboration. One of the only things the corporations have worked together to achieve for a long time."

"Sounds like you don't like them very much," Piper ventured.

"I think they are capable of a lot," they replied. "I just think it is hard to get them to do it. Ardenne have been good to me, but not everyone is as ... forward thinking."

"Like Toran?"

Arrow sighed. "He's got a Skiltron hook in his mouth, for sure."

"Is he always like that? With you, I mean."

"It comes and goes." They shrugged. "I'm not sure how much he actually cares, but he tows the line. Does what Skiltron want him to. Says what they expect him to say."

"He seems like a complete ass to me."

"That's one way of putting it," Arrow chuckled. "But I can handle him. There are worse people here than Toran Knox."

Those last words hung ominously in the air and Piper decided not to press for details. For one, she wasn't sure she wanted to know. More than that, she didn't really know Arrow. For all their friendly overtures, they were still neck deep in everything that she hated about Hadrian.