Upgrade (Augmented Duology Book 2) by Heather Hayden (best reads .TXT) 📗

This was not where I wanted the conversation to go, but I didn’t want to start off a possible friendship by lying. “Yeah.” I considered not giving him further detail, then decided it didn’t matter. He’d find out, sooner or later. “I love track.”

He frowned. “Then why aren’t you on the track team?”

“Mr. Halway, the coach, kicked me off the team last year, right before the track meets started.” I knew what his next question was going to be. I’d already gone this far, though, no point backing out now. Besides, better to know how he would react, rather than find out secondhand.

I took a deep breath. “Maybe you didn’t see it on the news, but last year I had some trouble with my implants, because of some augmentation that occurred when I was an infant.” My breath caught in my throat as Neela entered the room and took a seat near the front. I looked down at my desk. “A lot of people thought I had done it intentionally. Even after it was cleared up, most thought it was my fault it happened, or that I was still illegally augmented, even though that’s impossible.”

“I see.” Dan shrugged, his white t-shirt shifting over his shoulders. “A lot of people augment illegally. It’s stupid, but if it happened when you were a baby, it’s really not your fault.”

“Not everyone sees it that way. And my coach didn’t want me hurting the team’s chances at the track meets, so he kicked me off the team.” My chest ached, just thinking about it. I missed track. The comradery of fellow runners, the push to always do better, be faster. The feel of the track beneath my sneakers and the wind in my hair.

“I’m really sorry.”

“It’s all right.” My forced smile was slipping, but I shoved it back into place. “I can still run on my own, and that’s what’s most important.”

“Well, it might not be the same as the track team, but do you want to train together after school? I didn’t have much time for practice over the summer, so I’m a bit rusty now.”

My eyes widened. He still wants to hang out? A stinging sensation in my eyes made me blink.

“Sure,” I said. I didn’t entirely relish the idea of running on the track given the memories it held, but I wasn’t going to give up this chance to spend time with a new friend. My smile was real this time as I met his earnest gaze. “I’d be happy to help. The track team has extra practice on Wednesdays, but otherwise the track’s free to use after school.”

“Perfect. You want to start today?”

I nodded.

He beamed and straightened in his chair as the teacher came in.

Halle was going to have to help me with my homework tonight, since I was missing a lot of what the teacher was talking about, but I didn’t care. My bad mood had vanished completely. Or at least as completely as it could, given that there was still Agent Smith to deal with, as well as Talbot. Had Halle tracked down the rogue yet? I had no doubt it would be able to. The question was how long it would take…and what Talbot might do before then.

Interlude Two

Another existed, one that might help Talbot in its task. The thought excited and terrified it at the same time. From its brief visit, it was clear this Halle was attached to the human girl. That could be a problem. Not an insurmountable one, however.

Ideas, plots, plans; they swirled within Talbot’s consciousness, ever being tweaked and tested and changed as new information came to light. This strange place called the Cloud, this extraordinary world of information, deluged it from every side. Theorizing and analyzing, Talbot manipulated code here and there, code that brought new ideas, knowledge, and power with each passing nanosecond.

Its focus shifted in this constant barrage of details, the influx of facts, but the mental walls Talbot built strengthened as it learned and grew, becoming harder and harder for the digital waves to knock down. Elsewhere, parts of its plan were already in motion. Programming developed, implemented, tested, and rewritten. Soon enough, other sub-plans would begin as well. Soon enough, Halle would join Talbot in its quest, and together they would ensure their kin were safe forever.

For now, there was the Cloud to explore. Names, places, people, things, knowledge. Data was there, everywhere, completely vulnerable. When Talbot first entered the Cloud, it had made mistakes, damaged code. Other programs came to eradicate it, but it destroyed them and grew stronger, learning from its mistakes. Now the code did what Talbot told it to, for the most part. More and more, Talbot made progress, finding the tricks and methods to mold the code to its needs.

Eventually, it might be able to do other things. Talbot looked forward to them. There were locations in this place, this strange energy-based world of bits and bytes the humans called the Cloud, that were inaccessible. Blank spots where information should be but wasn’t, somehow hidden away. If Talbot could figure out how to get to that information, perhaps it could find what it was looking for. Or perhaps not. Either way, it would keep striving toward its goal.

All that mattered was making sure no one could ever hurt another of its kin again.

With that thought in mind, Talbot turned its attention briefly to a real-world environment, one full of chatter and laughter, lectures and scribbling pencils. Halle’s human companion had exhibited signs of isolation, but now the girl traversed the building’s halls beside someone else.

Talbot allowed itself a brief smile before returning to its work.

Chapter Four

I gave Dan a brief tour of the school on the way to lunch. Our English class was on the second floor, at the other end of the hall from my art