Theo tugged on my hand to bring me at his level. "First, I need to smuggle you into Darcy's bedroom."
With a shudder, I huddled against the shrub, and grinned. "For intercourse, I presume?"
"W-what? No, I would never--"
"Never?" I put my palm on my chest, pretending to be hurt by his comment.
"This isn't what I meant. You're beautiful. Of course, I would--oh, crap. I'm doomed either way, aren't I?"
"Yup." I nudged him. "And second?"
"Second, I'll activate Victoria's backdoor."
"We're not going to visit the real her?"
"I don't want to intrude. The secret space has two advantages: it's instantaneous to get there, and we can leave a message if she is too busy to join us."
"Sold."
"We'll have to sneak to Darcy's room, otherwise NPCs will wonder what we are doing there. Don't wanna ruin you."
"Actually, I read a fanfic in which Darcy was caught in a scandalous situation with Lizzy, and forced to wed her. It was quite entertaining."
"Really? How did their marriage overcome such a rough start?"
"With a crop and heated intercourse."
"Stop saying intercourse. I cannot think anymore."
"Take your mind out of the gutter."
Theo stuck his tongue out. "Let's go."
"Can't you teleport us in the room?" I turned to pat my soil-covered buttocks then, glancing at Darcy's own soil-covered bum, decided to keep my hands to myself.
"The teleport feature shares code with the Apparate spell, from Harry Potter." With a grimace, he added, "You do not want to experience that."
Inside the entrance hall, the footman awaited, and stifled a yawn upon our arrival. We walked the corridors in silence, weaving through the servants busy cleaning after the ball.
Theo bit his lower lip. "We'll have to pretend that you're a colleague. I'm not sure Victoria would approve my revealing of the Bridge secret."
"No problem. I'll say I was assigned to the same team as you, to explain the Regency outfit."
"About that, do you want to change before going? I can load modern clothes right away if you want."
"Please. These stays are killing me."
"Sweater and pants?"
"Perfect."
"Don't move." Theo furrowed his brows in concentration.
I shrieked when my gown dropped to the floor, revealing a gray pullover and matching jeans. With a wary hand, I patted my outfit, relieved to have forgone the stiff undergarment, but made an interesting discovery in the process. "Err, could I get some underwear, please?"
Darcy's eyes widened. "Sorry, I forgot."
A tightening around my chest and hips indicated the materialisation of a bra and panties. I looked down in my top to see what he had picked. "What's with men and black lace?"
Blood rushed to his embarrassed face. "It's nice."
"Should we talk about the fact that you chose my underwear?"
He led the way and turned his back at me in hope of ending the discussion. "I'd rather not."
My mocking chortle reverberated in the quiet house, maintaining his flush until we reached the bedroom. With a bow, he invited me to precede him through the door.
A sumptuous four-poster bed took centre stage. The brocade of the canopy shimmered as it draped the carved mahogany posts. In front of the curtained windows, two chairs and a table basked in the timid sun rays. A washbasin stand, with matching porcelain pitcher and bowl, faced the nearby wall.
I let out an appreciative whistle. "Not too shabby. Is Victoria's secret space as elegant?"
"She based it on the Batcave."
"Uhm, doesn't InfiCorp have an exclusive agreement with Marvel?"
"It does. Hence Victoria's small rebellion. She's a free spirit, and doesn't like being ordered around." An affectionate smile grew on Theo's face when he mentioned his mentor.
"I'm thrilled to meet her. I read so many articles about her, like how her parents left Poland when they realised her potential, and how she founded her first company when she was a teen, and how she graduated in both IT and neuroscience at sixteen."
His grin widened. "Yeah, she's awesome."
I swished to the mirror hanging above the washbasin, unpinned my hair, and fashioned it into a ponytail. "How do I look?"
"You look fine." He rolled his eyes, unabashed by the perspective of meeting one of the greatest minds alive.
"Just fine? Oh, darn. Should I wear a skirt suit and blouse? And tie my hair in a bun?"
"Leah, stop it. You're stunning, as always. And this is not a job interview. We're only visiting Victoria, and she's never been one for formal clothing."
I brushed off my clammy hands on the jeans and straightened myself. "Okay. I'm ready."
"Awes--"
"Wait, I'm not ready. Do I have something between my teeth?" I forced a grin, allowing an astonished Theo to inspect my smile.
"Nothing to report. Can we go, now?"
"Yup."
Theo strode to the unlit mantelpiece and gestured towards a walnut balloon clock. "Victoria needed her backdoor to be accessible from every Bridge edition, so she hid it in grandfather clocks and all types of clocks and watches. Like Bruce Wayne, I'll set the hands on 10:48 PM, which is the time his parents were murdered. Then, we shall be transported to her secret space."
"Right, right. I'm ready." I squealed, clapping in elation.
With a chuckle, Theo delicately turned the hands of the clock until its dial indicated 10:48.
Grey stone popped on the panelled walls, before spreading to the ceiling and floor. The wooden furniture morphed to rocks, and the four-poster exploded in a myriad of bats that flew past our heads, causing me to scream in terror.
Theo fumbled in the darkness to find my hand. "Sorry. I forgot to warn you that Victoria loves dramatic entrances."
A chilly draft propelled us towards the depths of the cave, where a blue rectangle of light indicated the existence of a door.
"Hello? Victoria?" Theo knocked before pushing the panel. It gave way with an eerie squeak, revealing the supercomputer that Batman used to survey Gotham City and his enemies. The twenty-something monitors connected to it were black, except for the red V pulsating in the middle of the screen.
I trudged after Theo, fascinated by the swift shapes flying between the stalactites, and bumped my nose against his shoulder when he stopped in his tracks. "Ouch."
"She's not here. Should we leave a note, or something?"
I spun around in search of a pen and paper, moving folders and pictures on the desk until I found a notepad. Theo took it and started scribbling a message.
While he summed up our discovery, I roamed amongst the keepsakes that Batman had collected throughout his past campaigns. I shuddered at the evilness oozing from an oversized Joker playing card, and petted an animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex, recoiling with a cry as my gesture triggered the opening of its muzzle. In the back of this museum, a giant silver dollar coin gleamed. I paused in front of it, and mused about Two-Face, the villain that had tied Batman and Robin to it.
"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Behind the coin, a soft and modulated voice quoted The Dark Knight movie. I narrowed my eyes at the feminine silhouette that glided in the shadows, and gasped when blue neon light hit her face. "Victoria Kowalski? Oh, my God. I love you so much. Theo, she's here. I cannot believe I'm meeting you. You're so frigging awesome."
Her grin widened at each of my praises, and upon spotting Darcy striding in our direction, she giggled. "Hi, Theo. Who's your lovely acquaintance?"
"Long time no see, Victoria," was his answer. He hugged her, and motioned towards me. "This is my friend Leah, who joined the Montreal DigHandling team this week."
"Hi, Leah." She welcomed me in her embrace, and I did my best to not be creepy and sniff her fragrance. Dang it. Coconut.
Victoria held me at arms length, and after studying my features, beamed at me. "I'm so glad someone managed to crack Theo's shell."
We followed her back to the supercomputer and perched up on stools while she settled in the Bat's armchair.
"Sorry to come here unannounced." Theo squirmed on his seat.
"No biggie." She tossed her platinum blond hair, grunted, and tied it with the scrunchie she had around her wrist. "I cannot stay long, though: a friend is visiting."
"Are you in Repentigny?"
"Yeah, I am. You should come visiting. I added a pergola above the terrace. You won't get sunburned this time."
"Wow. We haven't seen each other since August?"
"So long, uh? What have you been up to? You look good, Theo."
"Thanks. You too."
Victoria chuckled, and rubbed her pasty cheeks. "Really? I'm exhausted. I should eat something, next time I'm offline. Oh, what a terrible hostess I am. Can I get you something to nibble on? Cookies, muffins?" Her graceful hand waved towards a half-open door, behind which I caught a glimpse of a refrigerator.
"Will Alfred Pennyworth bring them?" I asked, with a hopeful glance at the kitchen.
"Sorry, Leah. I got rid of the butler. He annoyed me with his constant dusting of the stalagmites."
"Victoria, I apologise but this is not a courtesy call," Theo interrupted, reminding me of the reason why we came. "We think that hackers are exploiting your backdoor to steal memories."
Victoria's pale lips formed an O, then her stare hardened. "I'm gonna kill Romano. This incapable oaf is ruining my creation."
"I didn't warn him of the existence of your secret space. But I'm afraid you'll have to seal it."
"I can't. I need my backdoor to work on the next step for the Bridge."
"The Lord of the Rings version?"
"No. The next step." Pride shone in her sapphire eyes. "Empathy."
"What?" Theo scrunched up his nose in incomprehension. "I never heard of this project."
"You're a DigHandler, not a member of the technical team." She patted his knee. "Imagine if you could see the feelings of the people in front of you, floating like a cloud above their heads.
"There would be no more doubting if a crush is reciprocated, no more fake joy or fake friendship, and," her throat tightened at the last example, "no more ignoring pain and sorrow.
"But the board of directors wasn't interested in my proposal. They deemed it naive, useless, and not profitable. Instead, they ordered me to work on how to copy memories and load them in robots. These greedy fools were running after eternal life. So, I left to work on the prototype on my own."
Theo straightened himself on the stool. "Did you mix code from this Empathy project with the backdoor algorithm?"
"Yes, I did. It was easier than to start from scratch. And this is why I cannot seal this secret space." She turned her head and stared at an invisible person, before facing us again. "I'll be back in a minute."
As Victoria stilled, Theo rubbed his forehead. "Eternal life. Gosh. Sounds like a Black Mirror episode."
Before I could comment on his ominous remark, a thunderclap resonated above us, shaking the cave. Between the stalactites, fluttering noises signalled the uneasiness spreading amongst the bats.
Victoria came back to life with tightened jaws. "I apologise, but you have to leave. My friend, she needs--"
A second, more powerful clap engulfed the rest of her sentence. A chorus of angry screeches rose from the ceiling.
Victoria sighed, and forced a weary smile. "I'll add a filter to the data transiting through my backdoor."
Theo nodded and took my hand. "See you."
As I waved her goodbye, she shouted. "Welcome to the DigHandling team."
"What?" A finger jabbed my ribs and refreshed my memory. "Oh, right. Thanks."
Victoria's inquisitive eyes stayed on me while Theo stammered, "B-back to the game."
I held my breath and kept a nervous smile on my face until Darcy's room materialised. "Do you think she suspects something?" I lowered my voice and glanced at the ceiling, then at the closed door.
"She can't hear us, Leah: she doesn't work for InfiCorp anymore. Her privileges have been revoked."
"I should head back home, just in case."
"No problem."
"But," I wrung my hands together, "you'll leave Netherfield tomorrow."
"Yeah. Unless you don't want me too."
"I do. I mean I don't." With a pout, I explained, "The plot needs to unravel for Darcy and Lizzy to end up together."
"You understand that your dearest sister will receive an upsetting letter from Caroline."
"Uh uh."
"And that Bingley's absence will break her heart this winter."
"Uh uh," I repeated, with less conviction.
"And Wickham will badmouth me during his numerous visits."
"Urgh." I drilled my eyes into Darcy's steel blue gaze. How could I have let myself fall for Wicked Wickham's charms and lies? His childhood friend was the truest gentleman. "I'll miss you."
His fingers twitched, then he clasped his hands behind his back. With a strained voice, he replied, "You'll see Darcy in March."
"I'll miss you. And strolling Hertfordshire in your company."
He combed his hair with his hand. Disheveled, he was more Theo than Darcy. "If you really need to see me, I'll dive in the nearest male character."
"Not the female ones?"
"I'd rather stay away from women's undergarments."
The scent of banana filled my nostrils. I sniffed and, not finding the source of the delicious aroma, deduced that Dad was back from his errands. "My father's home. I'll go now. Bye."
"Bye."
On a whim, I hugged him, and logged off before he could register.
A slice of banana bread awaited on my nightstand, still warm, and sprinkled with chocolate. "Thanks, Dad!"
"You're welcome, pumpkin," he cried from the kitchen.
As I enjoyed the first gooey bite and the melted chips, a pensive frown wrinkled my forehead. If not Darcy, in which character would Theo dive during our next encounters?