Glitch in the God Complex (AmpCore #1)

42 - You Won't Like Me When I'm Angry

The statement wrenched her from her memories, and Piper looked at the young AmpCore agent.

She wants you to go out there, the voice growled.

"I think I could live with that," she said, half to Holly and half to the thing in her mind. "I guess you wouldn't have run all this way to warn me if you didn't have some ideas of your own?"

Holly gave an innocent shrug. "Maybe."

"You want to break her out," Arrow said, a knowing smile flickering across their face.

"I don't think there's much choice."

Piper glanced between them dubiously. "You really want to do that?"

"I'd rather not leave your friends in the hands of Cutter Jennings."

"Why?" A tremor of suspicion passed through her as she looked Holly up and down. "What's got you so eager to help?"

Holly hesitated a moment; her eyes flickered to Toran.

"Not that complicated really," he growled as he caught her look, shifting to face her squarely. "She wants the wraith."

"What?"

"The one that that bastard showed in the video."

"And why not?" Holly snapped. "Or do you want to keep everything in-house with Skiltron so you can avoid having to explain yourselves to the board?"

"Christ, what do I have to do, eh?" Toran rolled his eyes.

"Turn over the wraiths from the alley to Gammaton. Let someone unbiased investigate this." Holly turned to Piper in exasperation. "Yes, alright, I want to get out there and get our hands on that wraith. It's almost completely intact. You help me get that wraith, I'll help you save your friends."

"Wouldn't just do it out of the goodness of your heart, no?"

"I'm putting my neck on a chopping block by even offering you this. That should be enough for you."

"Do you actually have a plan?" Odiye interjected uneasily. "Moving around within the academy campus is one thing, but leaving without Demir and the others finding out is another matter."

"I can decrypt the message for the coordinates," Arrow said quietly, their visor coming to life across their eyes. "But we'll need to get past the scanners and an academy vehicle. We'll need some kind of order-log fabricated to get us out."

"I can get you a vehicle," Holly assured them, looking to Odiye. "If it's registered for your name we shouldn't have trouble leaving."

"We can leave," Odiye countered, inclining his head to Piper. "But if the scanners pick her up you can bet there'll be a lockdown order in place. It'll shut us down."

"Then I guess we need to make sure the scanners don't pick me up," Piper said.

Toran let out a derisive snort. "And how do you plan on pulling that off?"

She looked at him, her expression darkening. Her mind flashed back to that first day at AmpCore, the first time those bloody scanners had touched her mind. She remembered the searing pain of the connection – something abnormal. A reaction more violent than it should have been.

If you don't want to be seen, you don't have to be. I can show you.

Piper twitched and blinked, fighting her instinctive reaction to the strange voice even as she considered its words.

Show me what?

If you are dead, there will be nothing to find.

Dead?