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

around wildly in the air. “Ghosts. They’re everywhere.”

Down the road, an old woman runs into the glass window of a thrift store, then gets up and runs into it again.

Alexander gapes at her. “I don’t know what’s happening, but let’s get moving.”

We jog forward with increased urgency. The sky darkens, and rain pours down.

Alexander calls someone on his q-link. “Everyone’s freaking out in the streets, Boss.”

“We’ll figure that out later, just get back here,” says someone on the other end.

A woman in a sundress clutches her head, screaming as her eyes bleed. We dodge around her. Another shout, and a man falls to the ground, spasming.

“Oh my God,” yells a woman nearby. “I’m blind. I’m blind.”

Suddenly, people are wailing, dancing, screaming, and running in all directions as the day shatters into chaos. Gunshots followed by more screams cut through the pelting rain.

A thin woman darts in front of us and jumps on the back of a muscular man. “I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you.”

Diablo.

He spins around and falls on her. She grunts from the impact.

A wrinkled man in shorts points at me. “It’s President Toscano. Look, everyone.” He runs toward us.

Oh hell no.

Nav scoops up Sunny, and we all begin to sprint. Rain drenches the ground before us, and a crash of thunder splits the sky.

Nav slows when she sees a young boy smashing his face into the ground, blood splattering around him. “We need to help him.”

I stop to turn back for him when something heavy lands on me and smashes me into the ground. I struggle to rise in a panic, but the man who’s on me is too bulky.

Nav dashes over, and with her cybernetic arm, grabs the man off me. The man flails around, and his fist connects with Nav’s cheek. She grunts and tosses him into the building next to us.

He slumps down, but his eyes are wide and crazed as he yells, “But I love you, President Toscano.”

Nav stands like a gladiator, rain clinking off her metal arm. Blood drips from a new cut on her cheek, and her eyebrows are dipped in anger.

I look at my wrist in horror when I see that my q-link is crushed. Nav’s notices and hands me hers.

“Access cloud,” I say. “Download Chim. Password D7LR21B85.”

Two more men, one bald, the other short come charging toward us. One shouts, “He’s right. It’s President Toscano. Let’s teach her a lesson for being so weak on South America.”

Nav faces the men with a scowl and adjusts her balance, like she’s ready to fight.

Alexander runs back and pulls on her arm. “We have to get out of here.”

She hesitates, then relents as another gunshot sounds. We sprint down the wet streets, cool water splashing on our legs.

One out of three people we pass is screaming, flailing, crying, fighting, or laughing like lunatics. The rest are running like us or trying to help the people around them.

I take the opportunity to scan those who are affected and confirm my suspicions. They all have the Evo.

 “They’re trashing our ride, Alexander,” says a muscular woman in the group.

A large crowd shouts around an open-air military vehicle, rocking it back and forth, with frenzied expressions. We all gape at the lunacy of it.

Then, as if it’s just another rainy summer day, everyone around the vehicle stops attacking it, and everyone else with the Evo pauses and shuts their mouths.

Those without Evos are too stunned to react to the abrupt end of insanity. The silence is sudden and pervasive.

The crowd looks around, confused when their nightmares don’t fade after waking. Then all hell breaks loose. The people around the car run off in different directions as others scream in horror and shout in pain.

A man in a suit clutches his bloody leg, wailing.

“What just happened?” asks someone. “What is this?”

“Where’s my daughter?” yells a woman, whose wet hair sticks to her face. “Has anyone seen her?”

“He’s dead. Oh my God. He’s dead,” says a third as she shakes a small boy.

Diablo.

“Those poor people,” says Nav. “We need to help them.”

“It’s too risky, and that’s not the mission,” says Alexander’s bearded companion.

Alexander grits his teeth but nods. “Everyone in. Let’s get back to headquarters.”

We all cram into the vehicle and take off. Wind rushes by, cooling me from the ordeal. The driver presses a button, and a hologram of a sedan appears over us.

I hold Sunny tight and whisper, “Remember, no one can know what you are.”

  CHAPTER 8

CONNECTING THE DOTS

As we drive, we continue to pass by injured and crying people, who have others comforting them. I can’t even imagine why someone would need to hack everyone with the Evo. It feels like the world is falling apart around me. First, a prison escape, then the drones, and now this.

It was almost as if someone was testing out all the sadistic things they could do to people. I don’t know how I got wrapped up in this, but I don’t want any part of it.

I whisper to Nav, “Maybe we should just get out of this country. There are no Evos outside of America. We’d be safe.”

She shakes her head. “No. This is bigger than us now. We need to figure this out, or more people will get hurt.”

I sigh as my hope for a normal life dims.

“I can’t believe that Anna wouldn’t come,” says Nav. “I should have carried her.”

“If you had, we’d both be dead,” I say. “Besides, she has the Evo. They could have used her against us.”

She nods, but her sullen expression remains.

I glance over at Alexander, who rests his rifle between his legs.

It’s a long, sleek weapon with an advanced looking scope. It’s smaller than