“No.I can’t eat when I’m chasing something through the dark web.Grab me an Arnold Palmer.”She gestured to the fridge, where a case of her brain drink—a lemonade-sweet-tea mix—chilled.
“What are you doing?”Steinbeck asked.
“I got curious when you mentioned the UN General Assembly,” Nim said.She turned her screen.“This is a list of the exhibitions.The UN General Assembly meets every year, with the goal of discussing and trying to solve a wide range of international issues.Like peace and security, economic growth, human rights, and sustainable development.”She pointed to the screen.“Spectra Cybernetics is on the agenda.They’re exhibiting a search-and-rescue android for use in earthquakes, as well as minesweepers equipped with Axiom.”
Steinbeck nodded, his arms crossed.“How does that connect with someone trying to burn your house down?”
“Or kill Emberly.”Nim glanced at Steinbeck.“They had to have set the fire after I left.”
His mouth pinched, and he nodded.
“They’ve been after me since Portugal,” Emberly said.“Tomas was sure that I had a copy of Axiom.”
“Which is why they let you go,” said Steinbeck.“I’m convinced they were hoping you’d flush out Declan.And maybe Luis.”
“Why Luis?”
“We never got to the bottom of who hacked Declan’s bots at the fair.”He shook his head.“I’m worried it was a test.”
“I think it was,” Nim said.“I did some dark-web sleuthing, searching some forums known for cybercrime and mercenary services with a custom script to flag terms likedroids, andAxiom, andUNGA.”
Emberly sat down on the sofa.
“Then I created a fake user and joined the conversation.And I tapped a Russian hacker I know.He works for a security team in Europe.Artyom and I work together sometimes, and he created a different user and we started up a conversation.I posed as a buyer.And then this guy showed up.”She pointed at the user: @ZeroSum42.“He claims he has a copy of Axiom and is ready to sell.I asked him for a demo, and he sent me this.”She pointed at the message:40.756870, -74.001762.
“In case you’re wondering, that’s the lat and long of the Jacob K.Javits Convention Center, New York City.And where Declan’s exhibition is in three days.”
“You think they’ll hack the droids?”Stein asked.
“Maybe,” Emberly said.“We have the virus, though.So?”She lifted a shoulder.“Feels like a failed play.”
“How is the virus delivered?”This from Nim.
“It’s stored on a cloud and downloaded.The problem is, we can’t infect the droids if they’re not corrupted.”
“Who is @ZeroSum42?”Steinbeck had gotten up, walked over to stare at the screen, as if he could use his X-ray vision to reach through the computer and strangle Mr.Zero Sum by the throat.
“Down, boy.You’ll like this part.I told him I’d pay a deposit to secure it until the demonstration.He sent me his wallet information.I used a blockchain analysis to identify past transactions and other linked wallets.This guy has been paid by the Petrov Bratva.”
“And Bob’s your uncle,” Emberly said.
Nim pointed at her.
“So, what—this guy developed the hack that infected Declan’s security dog droids?”
“Maybe.”She turned her screen back.“I was able to hack into the cloud storage of the Russian Bratva a few days ago, and I downloaded the contents into my cloud.I spent the last couple days going through it, ran some malware, and found this.”She opened a file and clicked on an image.
A woman stood in the shadows, the light from the street just barely illuminating her and her backpack.
Emberly stilled.“That’s me.In Lisbon.”
“What are you doing?”Stein asked.
“I’m buying your dinner.”And she was on the phone.“I was calling you, Nim.”
“Maybe they tracked the cell call to me,” Nimue said.“And when I hacked into their server a few days ago, they found the trace and put it together.”
“So theydidlet you go,” said Steinbeck.
