The God Codex

28. Program

I take my seat and glance around at the faces of those present. Everyone sits except Light and his man.

Three against three — doable if needed. Fight, that is. Though, with Survival Mode still disengaged, I think it's safe to assume I'm on the losing side. Yeah, Dev was a soldier, but he was under someone else's control. Yeah, Nate's one of the best in combat classes, but those environments were controlled, safe. And yes, I got lucky with the crossbow once, on my own, but I can bite, and I know for sure those will hurt. I will bite my way out of this if I have to!

Dr Shah takes a moment to adjust her computer screen and fix her wire-framed glasses on the bridge of her nose. No one speaks for a long moment. I guess we are all lost for words.

She clears her throat and looks at us. "I suppose I should introduce myself before I take your questions."

I nod. Nate purses his lips, fidgeting with his hands on his lap. Dev stares at the doctor, still awed. He even sits up straight and at the edge of his seat. He has been waiting to hear her confirm his claim since he called her 'Billie' up on the platform upon arrival.

"I am the owner and lead scientist here on The Rig, our main research and developmental facility for our secret biotech company, ShahAmour, which my father and I started before his noted death."

She pushes her seat back and stands, straightening out her pencil skirt. "My name is Billie Quinn Shah-Amour, or sometimes known as Love."

My head snaps up at the mention of the name. It's my mum's name, except she goes by Billie Quinn Love. She dropped the Amour when I was young to keep our private lives private and not public. She and I — the only two surviving heirs with half of CodeTech share to our names, not that she wants to claim it.

"It has bad juju," she often says to me, whatever 'juju' means.

"I knew it was you!" Dev utters beside me, beaming at Dr Shah. "You have changed very little, Billie."

"You are correct in that I had a brother named Devendra Quinton Shah," Dr Shah says, with an awkward smile, but her reservation is clear as day on her face.

She's not convinced Dev is who he says he is. Maybe in her shoes, I wouldn't take him for his words either. He was one of Hill's men for a long time, even if she controlled him.

"It's me, Billie!" Dev tries to convince her. As he rises from his seat, Captain Light pushes him back down to sit.

I see why they are here now. Light and his man — to keep us in line.

Dr Shah clears her throat. "You can understand why I am sceptical, Dev. You look nothing like my brother. And you have no identifiable features. If you are my brother, we will know soon from the DNA test that was ordered. Until then, I'd like to talk about the other elephant in the room. The kids."

She turns to Nate and me as she approaches the front of her desk. She leans on the desk's edge and waits. "Ask me anything you want and I will answer, but first I must make certain you are the right Mia." She looks at me as she says this before nodding to Light.

Light approaches me with some scanner in his hand and reaches for my right arm.

"Left. Check her left," she instructs him.

I try to keep my arm away from Light. Hill prodded and poked me enough to send me skittering at any kind of test now.

"It's just a microchip scanner, Mia," Dr Shah says, calm as a cucumber — not that I've tasted actual cucumbers. "I planted it on the baby girl before I had to flee. It was the easiest tech to embed in you without interfering with their codex. Old ancient technology they probably don't remember existed."