Hacker

Chapter three

 "What, no pledge of innocent? A display of ignorance? Sudden loss of memory, perhaps? Nothing? " Lucien said with an annoying twinkle in his eyes.

 "Well, I’ve recently received a concussion so..." Alison said, leaving the comment hanging in the air. She shrugged and raised an eyebrow with an artfully blank expression. Ali felt a twinge of satisfaction at Lucien’s rueful face. He opened his mouth to defend himself and Alison quickly cut him off.

 "What would you do with the cure?" She asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from hacking. There was no use denying it, if these maniacs were so deranged that they believed she could break into a high security hospital they could believe that she was a hacker but she could still avoid the subject. Her distraction worked.

"Learn how to replicate it and then distribute it to the public" The doc said, his voice suddenly coming alive with enthusiasm and an eager glow flickering behind his eyes. The serious doctors change of mood was infectious. He was so genuine that Ali couldn’t help but sympathise. There was a niggling at the back of her mind but every time she tried to capture the idea it would slip like liquid mercury from her grasp. It came to her the moment she stopped trying and it struck like a lightning bolt on a clear summers day. Anger brooded like thunderclouds on the horizon and memories blew through her like a strong westerly wind. She shook with pain and anguish and half contained grief. They had killed him. They had not stood above as he drew his last breath or watched his organs forget how to function but they had killed him the day they kept the cure. The day they decided to use his death and countless others to their advantage. Alison’s breathing felt ragged in her throat and her blood pounded with rage. A great weight pressed down upon her chest. I will do it, I will break in and tear them down she vowed. She couldn’t fall apart yet. Right now she needed to be in control. Alison tittered on an uneasy equilibrium. Determination still remained as for the first time in a year she had a purpose.

 "How do I sign up?" Alison said, her blue grey eyes flaring with a new light and shocking everyone in the room. She watched their expressions with relish.

"That was easy" Overalls said, wearing her surprise more openly than the others.

 "Not so quick. We just need to check something first" Lucien said apologetically.

 "And what would that be?"

 "That you really can hack"

 "Your confidence in me is flattering" Alison said, and if you could cut those words they would have bled sarcasm.

 Lucien smiled crookedly and then gave Overalls an expectant look. She didn’t notice at first, running her thumb and forefinger along the edge of the metal leaf. She seemed to feel his gaze, meeting his eyes and jumping a little "Sorry Lucy, I guess this is where I come in"

 Lucien flinched at the nickname and acknowledged her with a sound crossed between a snort and a sigh. Overalls unwrapped herself and flowed from her position on the armchair, her long legs taking her to the side of Ali’s bed in moments.

 "Hello. My name’s Macy. Should I call you Gladys?" Macy asked with a sliver of a smile.

"I think Alison or Ali would do" She answered, wondering what the woman would ask of her to prove her ability. Macy grinned at her, flashing perfect white teeth.

 "It’s amazing what common courtesy can do" Macy glanced surreptitiously at Lucien who replied with a huffing noise. She held out her hand with palm up. Nestled there was the sheet of light metal; curving to a lopsided point. A gentle glow radiated from it’s spine that ran from it’s base to tip.

 "Ali, would you be kind enough to turn the leaf on?" Macy requested politely, emphasizing the use of Alison’s name.

With a nod Alison narrowed her eyes on the thin sheet of metal. She let her mind relax and allowing carefully laid walls to crumble just enough for her to feel the metal. Alison felt the invisible rivulets and protrusions pounded into the material on the day of it’s making. She felt the locked up energy that emanated from its very centre with a soft heat. Alison watched it curiously, the power ebbing and flowing through intricate little veins across the surface. A thrumming ache began in the back of her teeth and pressure built in her chest. Ali blinked and saw it’s coding through the light, the mismatch of numbers concealed beneath it. She knew no one else in the room could see the code or go so far as understand it. Alison did, the code was a language only she could speak and she was fluent. It was an instrument waiting to be played, a song written but unsung. She began to weave between the code tweaking and twining and unravelling. Alison found the trigger, a simple string code, and as she pulled at it gently it all suddenly clicked into place like the last piece of a puzzle. It was fingers dancing on strings, sliding down the fretboard, chords being formed with nimble hands. It was a song sung for the first time, the verses, lines and chorus rolling off a performers tongue. It was perfection. The glow spread along the leafs spine and then pervaded outwards to the veins. It was the colour of the sun on the brink of setting, wheat awaiting harvest, autumn leaves newly turned. Ali had seen none of these but glimpsed the faint images through the deep gold of the leaf’s light. It glowed with potent power and Alison shook with pure joy. Ali’s gaze sought the rough carpet, studying the dark brown pattern as she composed herself. Alison looked up proudly with a triumphant set to her shoulders and head held high despite the exhaustion that seeped deep into her bones.

"Happy?" she said defiantly and to no one in particular,

 "Yes" Macy breathed,her eyes dancing with wonder.

"What would have happened if I didn’t agree?" she asked Lucien curiously, unsure whether or not she really wanted to know.

 "The doc would do his thing and you would find yourself in bed tomorrow with a devil of a headache and no recollection of the last month" Lucien said humourlessly in his deep baritone.

 "Are you scared off yet?" Macy asked, dragging her eyes away from the leaf.

 "Not quite" Alison reassured the blonde woman and they shared a small, tired smile.

 "Good. That settles it then, do we have a deal?" Lucien said, clapping his hands together and looking hopeful.

"I believe so" Ali replied. Butterflies fluttered against the walls of her stomach and Alison wasn’t sure if they were from excitement or regret. And then Lucien’s words came back to her, Life in the camps or public execution. It’s not a very well known law as clear and daunting as before. I am so screwed she thought with the resignation of someone who knows that they are going to die.

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