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

reveals Navin Briggs dressed in a military jacket, his medals showing proudly. His raised fist glows with holographic radiance, and his raven stands guard on his shoulder, its wings spread.

Looks great. I glance at Barbra to see her reaction.

She’s staring into the corner, her brow furrowed.

I wait for her to turn back, but she just keeps staring. “Barbra?”

She starts and turns back to me. “What were we talking about? The garden?”

I squint at her. What? “No. You were watching the unveiling.”

“Oh, yes.” She turns back to the holograms. “That’s wonderful. Have you ever been to the National Mall?”

I shake my head. Not there or anywhere else.

“I’ll take you on a trip there now that school is over.”

I smile at her. My first vacation.

We finish eating, and I start washing the dishes. “Barbra, can I tell you—”

“Hold on. I heard something.” She jumps up and jogs to the living room with a surprising amount of energy for someone who has the flu.

What? I didn’t hear anything.

“You’re not getting in here,” she shouts.

Adrenaline shoots through me. What the hell? I grab a kitchen knife and sprint into the living room.

Barbra holds her bat ready, scowling out the window unlike I’ve ever seen her.

“What’s going on?” I ask, my heart pounding.

Barbra wheels on me. “How did you get in here?” she demands, her typically cheerful smile lines suddenly looking menacing.

I twist around, my knife ready, expecting to see a burglar.

There’s no one there.

“Get out of here now, or you’re going to get it,” she shouts, looking right at me.

“What? It’s me, Fae.”

She seems to recognize me for a second, but then it’s gone, and her eyes fill with anger. “Die!” She lunges toward me and swings wildly.

Diablo! I dodge away reflexively. Though I’ve never had to dodge Barbra before, it’s clear my instincts are still sharp.

She smashes through a lamp and into her Samuel Adams painting. I stare at its ripped surface in horror.

She swings again.

I try to leap backward to avoid the strike but slip to the ground. My knife flies from my hand. The bat whistles just above my head.

In a flash, I bolt up and into my room. I press myself against the door, panting and wishing it had a lock. Oh hell, this is crazy.

Barbra throws herself against the other side. Her weight sends me sliding back slightly. Not enough to allow her in but enough for the carpet to burn my bare feet.

Sunny, seeing me hold the door, jumps off the bed and runs over. He braces it with his extendable arms, and although he’s small, he’s stronger than he seems.

“How dare you threaten my child!” Barbra slams the door again.

It hits my head, but I barely feel it. What’s going on?

She pushes again with sustained strength. Sunny and I slide an inch but manage to hold.

“Diablo,” says Sunny. “What happened, Fae?”

I ignore him and shout, “It’s me. It’s me.” My eyes dart around my room, looking for a better solution to hold the door. The bed would help, but it’s too heavy to move quickly. The chair!

“Sunny, hold the door.” I jump up and bolt over to the chair.

Barbra pounds the door again, and Sunny falls backward.

My heart leaps. “No.” I sprint back and push the door shut, hoping I don’t hurt Barbra in the process, but terrified she’s going to hurt me.

I wedge the chair under the doorknob and hold it with both hands. Sunny pushes himself up and helps me.

A second passes. Then another.

Maybe she left—

Something crashes into the door with a loud bang, and then again, louder. “Don’t you hurt her!”

The hollow door shakes with each impact. Bang. Bang. Bang.

I was a fool to let my guard down.

The bat smashes through the middle of the door and slams into my chest.

I lurch back in shock and gasp at the pain, then in desperation, I regain my footing and secure the chair. “Stop. Stop. Go away!”

Sunny lets go of the chair and runs over to his bag.

“What are you doing?”

He ignores me, rummages around in his bag, and pulls out the tiny robot he made. He dashes back and throws the robot through the hole.

Sunny moves his mouth, but no words come out. Instead, a deep voice sounds from somewhere behind Barbra. “Ma’am. This is the police. We’re here to help.”

I jump at the voice, but then realize what’s happening.

“Thank God,” says Barbra. Her footsteps cross the room.

I hold the door, still tense, my heart pounding. I listen carefully for any indication she might come back as I glance at the two windows for a possible escape.

After a few minutes, I ask, “Do you think it’s over?”

“Impossible to say. I recommend we keep holding the chair.”

I nod.

We hold the chair for twenty minutes, barely moving.

Eventually, I drop down with a tense sigh and rub my temples. I’m exhausted and frazzled.

“That was not consistent with her personality,” says Sunny.

I shake my head, feeling like the world is spinning. That was cracked. “I don’t understand. She thought I was an intruder.”

“She saw you as someone else?”

“It seemed that way,” I say.

“A hallucination, perhaps.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“There are several medical conditions involving hallucinations, as well as several hallucinogenic drugs…LSD, psilocybin, mescaline—”

“No, not drugs.” I know what that looks like.

“Schizophrenia, perhaps. Does she have paranoia?” he asks.

“Apparently now she does.”

“Delusions?”

“Maybe…”

“Without more data, I can only assume it’s schizophrenia.”

I run my fingers through my thick curls and hold my head. “What do we—”

Boom.

I jump, but as I see the shimmer of another firework outside, I relax. “I could call child services, but they’d take me away.”

Sunny extends an