Glitch in the God Complex (AmpCore #1)

23 - Extra-Curricular Activities

"Well, where are her family?" Odiye demanded. "Why can't she speak to them? Every day we keep her locked up in here we make things worse."

"Her mother and sister are being kept away from this situation. For their own safety, and the fewer distractions Piper has around her right now, the better her chances of actually making it through our programme alive. Providing we can avoid any further unsanctioned duels."

A sizzle of anger burned in the pits of Odiye's stomach at the words, and he felt an abrupt jolt of empathy with Piper. No answers, just orders. An insubordinate tirade lurked just on the tip of his tongue, ready to explode forth, but with an effort he swallowed it back down. No need to make a bad situation worse.

Mattise stared at him, as thought waiting for the eruption. When it didn't come his face twitched and he almost looked disappointed. Taking a deep breath, he brought his visor flickering back to life, examining its contents.

"You were lucky," he muttered. "Lucky that Miss Thibault was only trying to show off a little. And lucky that Piper's a lot tougher than she looks."

"What now?"

"Well, Miss Russell has a few days at least to spend in the infirmary, so I suppose you won't be needed as a chaperone." The visor vanished again and Mattise's dagger of stare was waiting. "Get out. I'll think of something suitable to occupy your time, but right now I need to write up a report that can explain some of this without getting the lot of you thrown out of the academy."

*

When Mattise was finished with him, Odiye vented his frustrations in one of the academy training ranges, unleashing blast after blast of combustive energy and melting half a ton of metal into molten slag in the process.

With evening dragging into night, drenched in sweat and not really feeling any better, he eventually decided to apply himself to something a little more useful than random destruction.

The codewraiths.

They'd heard nothing about the investigation since they'd brought Piper here. No word, no explanation. Just go back to your lives and don't say another word. But Odiye hadn't forgotten. He hadn't forgotten the visceral fear that had clawed at his guts when he faced down that wraith.

Training was all well and good, but no-one – not him, not Toran, not the instructors – had ever seriously expected to find a live codewraith rampaging through Hadrian North. It shouldn't have been possible.

He wanted answers, for himself and for Piper. A wraith didn't just walk out of the water and try to kill some random girl from the docks. The connection had to be her implants, but right now he had absolutely no idea what that might be.

The codewraiths. The AmpCore agents cleaned up the site after he and Toran carted Piper and her family away. They must have. The evidence of the assault was within the academy walls, whether in files or shut in a vault somewhere. He didn't have access to the latter – only Demir and the senior operatives could authorise it, and something told him he wouldn't get the nod.

The data streams were a different matter though. And he knew someone who could probably help.

Towelling himself off, Odiye traded his sodden t-shirt for a long sleeved black top, and then sidled up to the nearest corporate advertisement that blared obliviously along the walls.

After glancing around quickly to make sure no-one was watching, he slid his amplifier out of the then black holder at his belt. Matte black and tinged with spidery ribs of red-gold, he felt the warmth of connection as it linked to his implants, opening his world up to something a normal person could never know. Right now he could have conjured a storm inside this room. He could have ripped the foundations from the floor if he wanted to.