of an extraordinarily unsettled day . But the elderly man was turned with his back to the bars , sitting quietly . Too quietly .
Despite his desire to go home and get out of his G-man suit, Zach drifted toward the holding cell . “Hey.” No response. “Turn around.”
Still , the old man wouldn’t move . And he was mumbling again .
Grant, of course, didn’t miss an opportunity to hurl a bar b . “Want me to grab the Tas er gun?”
Zach ignored the jab . S omething was wrong here . “Just watch my back.” He put the key in the door . “Mr. Loubom ?” Still , no response — just an increase in muttering . “Francois?”
Zach just wanted to go home . But , no . This old guy had to be doing some kind of freaky meditation . Zach placed his hand on the man’s shoulder . “Turn around , nice and slow.”
Finally , Francois complied, tears in his eyes . Then the old man extended a bloody arm . What in the hell did somebody do to him ? Then Zach realized that Loubom had used a pen cap to gouge more symbols into his arm.
“Can’t you see?” he asked , obviously feeling that his red - soaked arm held some kind of answer . “I must burn the painting.”
But all Zach could see was blood — and more blood . He yelled over his shoulder, “Call an ambulance ! Get me the first - aid kit ! ”
Despite the potential danger, he pulled the man’s sleeve back down and clamped his bare hands over the wound to stop the bleeding . For the love of G od, what had made the man mutilate himself like that?
“They speak to me , you know,” Francois said , sounding the most sane he had yet .
But Zach was still concerned that he had really lost it . “Who?”
The old man locked Zach’s gaze with his crystal - blue eyes.
“The angels.”
* * *
Angels sucked , or at least whoever was busy cramming angel - speak down their throat s , sucked big time . Quirk was running the defensive , while she was trying to counter-hack and break into the intruder’s server . That was the theory , anyway . The reality was that things were not going well . Not at all .
Sweat, actual sweat, poured off Quirk’s brow . He was never going to forgive her if his hair gel failed because of perspiration.
“Quirk…” She couldn’t believe what she was about to say . “Maybe it’s time to admit defeat.”
“Never,” he hissed though bleach-whitened teeth . “I am lord of the geeks.”
Overall, he might be . But right now , someone was seriously out-hacking both of them . Yet, Quirk was taking this much harder . The system defenses were his babies . His domain . Someone, somewhere, was outgunning him . Simply put, their opponents had cooler stuff.
“Look, I promise never to divulge tonight’s momentary, freakish coup.”
Quirk breathed out sharply through his nose . What she suggested ran counter to his über -computer geek ego, but the reality was that they were beat .
“Or even tease me about it?” he asked.
“Not even a pun.”
For a moment she thought her assistant would shake his head “no,” but Quirk showed her how much he had grown over the last two years when he gave a sharp nod . “Pull the input cables.”
Ronnie abandoned her post and dug around behind the towers.
“Holy Batman!” Quirk said as the symbols accelerated to lightning speeds . “It’s a self-propagating program , and it’s got a foothold . We can’t let it get into the core.”
“And you would suggest?” she asked, pulling cords as fast as she could .
He sounded downright panicked . “I don’t know , but put the pedal to the metal.”
The processor lights blinked faster and faster . They had dozens of interlinking cables —e ach one screwed in as if its life depended on it . She would never make it in time . There was only one thing left to do . Taking a kni fe out of her boot, she sliced away . Sparks showered and smoke b i llowed from the secondary towers, but the main processor went down and stayed down — safe from
Despite his desire to go home and get out of his G-man suit, Zach drifted toward the holding cell . “Hey.” No response. “Turn around.”
Still , the old man wouldn’t move . And he was mumbling again .
Grant, of course, didn’t miss an opportunity to hurl a bar b . “Want me to grab the Tas er gun?”
Zach ignored the jab . S omething was wrong here . “Just watch my back.” He put the key in the door . “Mr. Loubom ?” Still , no response — just an increase in muttering . “Francois?”
Zach just wanted to go home . But , no . This old guy had to be doing some kind of freaky meditation . Zach placed his hand on the man’s shoulder . “Turn around , nice and slow.”
Finally , Francois complied, tears in his eyes . Then the old man extended a bloody arm . What in the hell did somebody do to him ? Then Zach realized that Loubom had used a pen cap to gouge more symbols into his arm.
“Can’t you see?” he asked , obviously feeling that his red - soaked arm held some kind of answer . “I must burn the painting.”
But all Zach could see was blood — and more blood . He yelled over his shoulder, “Call an ambulance ! Get me the first - aid kit ! ”
Despite the potential danger, he pulled the man’s sleeve back down and clamped his bare hands over the wound to stop the bleeding . For the love of G od, what had made the man mutilate himself like that?
“They speak to me , you know,” Francois said , sounding the most sane he had yet .
But Zach was still concerned that he had really lost it . “Who?”
The old man locked Zach’s gaze with his crystal - blue eyes.
“The angels.”
* * *
Angels sucked , or at least whoever was busy cramming angel - speak down their throat s , sucked big time . Quirk was running the defensive , while she was trying to counter-hack and break into the intruder’s server . That was the theory , anyway . The reality was that things were not going well . Not at all .
Sweat, actual sweat, poured off Quirk’s brow . He was never going to forgive her if his hair gel failed because of perspiration.
“Quirk…” She couldn’t believe what she was about to say . “Maybe it’s time to admit defeat.”
“Never,” he hissed though bleach-whitened teeth . “I am lord of the geeks.”
Overall, he might be . But right now , someone was seriously out-hacking both of them . Yet, Quirk was taking this much harder . The system defenses were his babies . His domain . Someone, somewhere, was outgunning him . Simply put, their opponents had cooler stuff.
“Look, I promise never to divulge tonight’s momentary, freakish coup.”
Quirk breathed out sharply through his nose . What she suggested ran counter to his über -computer geek ego, but the reality was that they were beat .
“Or even tease me about it?” he asked.
“Not even a pun.”
For a moment she thought her assistant would shake his head “no,” but Quirk showed her how much he had grown over the last two years when he gave a sharp nod . “Pull the input cables.”
Ronnie abandoned her post and dug around behind the towers.
“Holy Batman!” Quirk said as the symbols accelerated to lightning speeds . “It’s a self-propagating program , and it’s got a foothold . We can’t let it get into the core.”
“And you would suggest?” she asked, pulling cords as fast as she could .
He sounded downright panicked . “I don’t know , but put the pedal to the metal.”
The processor lights blinked faster and faster . They had dozens of interlinking cables —e ach one screwed in as if its life depended on it . She would never make it in time . There was only one thing left to do . Taking a kni fe out of her boot, she sliced away . Sparks showered and smoke b i llowed from the secondary towers, but the main processor went down and stayed down — safe from
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