The Astral Hacker (Cryptopunk Revolution Book 1) by Brian Terenna (best ebook reader .txt) 📗

her the space she needs and leave to check on Alexander. He lost his mentor and was injured. I can only hope he’s holding up better than Nav.

“I was in an accident, Mom.” I hear Alexander say from around the corner of my tent.

I start to leave but then pause. Is it wrong for me to eavesdrop again? Maybe. I peek to see him still sitting at the base of a tree.

“My baby. Are you okay? I’m going to come there and take care of you.”

Aww.

“No need to come, but I got badly burned and lost my eye,” he says.

His mom starts to cry.

Ooo. This is getting private. I should probably leave.

“I should heal fine except for my eyes,” he says.

“You lost both?” she asks in a shaky voice.

“One, but the other is damaged. I won’t be able to shoot in the Olympics,” he says, his voice thick with emotion.

So he’s not dealing with this as well as he pretended.

“I know that was your dream, but now there are more important things. Can you still fight to save us?”

“I won’t be able to shoot as well,” he says. “I don’t know if I can do this anymore. I thought that if I believed enough, I could do anything, but…”

“It’s okay to worry, but remember who you are,” says his mom. “You’re a Fiore. We never give up.”

“Maybe I’m not a hero,” he says, sounding defeated.

My stomach drops. If Alexander feels that way, what hope do we have?

“You’ve done incredible things. You saved Americus.”

“He’s dead now.”

“You saved Gabriel, Naveha, Sprite, and many of the other Loyalists.”

What? He calls me Sprite to her?

“I know, but I don’t know if I’m that person anymore.”

Oh hell. He sounds vulnerable and real. That’s not Alexander. I want to run over and hug him to take away his pain, but that’s not what he needs.

“Don’t say that. You’re Alexander Fiore, and the country needs you.”

“I’ve got to go, Mom. I’ll call tomorrow.”

I wait a few minutes, then leave my hiding spot and walk over.

He sits slumped over, covered in bandages, looking like he’s on his deathbed. A shadow lies under his exposed eye, and a deep frown tugs at his lips. The lingering smell of charred flesh invades my nose.

“Hey, how’re you feeling?” I ask.

“Oh hey, Sprite,” he says, sounding more cheerful than I know he is. “I’m fine. This is nothing.”

I don’t want to reveal that I heard him talking to his mom, but I need to address this. “I...accidentally overheard your conversation.”

He looks down, and after a long hesitation, he says, “I’ll never win a gold medal now because of my eyes. I can’t get vision enhancements in the Olympics, but if I don’t, I can barely fight with you guys anymore.”

“I’m sorry. This is terrible. Maybe you—”

He holds up a hand to silence me. “I can’t talk right now,” he says. “I need to rest.”

He looks so defeated that it makes me sick. “I’ll check on you tomorrow.”

☼☼☼

I wake up on my cot with a groan, my body sore from my recent beating and the uncomfortable bed. Nav sits against the wall of the tent, talking quietly to Sunny.

I blink my eyes several times, stretch, and then drink water. “How’re you holding up, Nav?”

She shrugs. “Not great. I’ve been talking to Sunny, but losing my father is crushing.”

“Sunny, do you mind if I talk to Nav alone for a bit?”

He shakes his head and leaves.

“You know why this is extra hard for me,” says Nav. “It’s my fault my dad is dead. If we didn’t delay, we could have saved him.”

I shake my head adamantly. “We all would’ve died without the bullet shield and the variations you made in my hacking program.”

“Maybe,” she says, “but that changes nothing. We’ve lost far too much.”

I didn’t think I’d ever need to quote Alexander. “It’s true, but remember what Alexander told us? You can change your thinking, and it will change your life. Focus on me and what we still have.”

“How do I even know that you’ll stick around?”

Hell, not long ago, deciding that would have twisted my brain in knots, but there is no question now. “I said it before, and I’ll say it again. I am committed to you no matter what.”

She looks up, her sad eyes fixing on me. They linger as if she’s trying to determine the truth of my words.

“Besides, don’t you want to save everyone?”

She sighs, then nods, conviction returning to her eyes. “You’re right. We need to.”

Relief flows through me. I sit on the floor and settle my arm around her.

She twists and hugs me as she silently cries.

After a while, she pulls back. “It’s just so hard sometimes,” she says, her head lowered.

It sure is. “Always remember we all need you. Suicide is never the answer. I’m always here to talk, but you should see a counselor when this is over.”

She rubs her orange headband and smooths her tight curls. “I will. I’m also going to take my meditation to the next level and work on acceptance.”

Nav’s determination wakes something inside me. Something that has haunted me longer than anything else has. It’s time to open up about the Archfiend. I’ve never spoken about the experience to anyone, not even with Sunny. But I can’t think of a better way to connect with my closest human friend. Or a better way to finally move forward.

“I want to tell you something…” I say, staring at the knotty burn scar on my wrist.

“Anything. You know that.”

Where to start? “I consider all of my former foster parents, besides Barbra, to be demons. And all of my foster homes to be levels of hell. Six