What could I say to that? “So you shot him in the head.”
“Terrible, I know.”
I stiffened to stop the instinctive shudder at his casual confession. I didn’t want the muscle on either side of me to feel my fear, but if Alling was admitting everything, that didn’t bode well for my survival or Mom’s.
“But it’s better that he should die before he sold off our discovery to the highest bidder,” Alling said. “What could a terrorist do with it?”
“And you’re any better?”
“Yes!” Alling rounded on me. “The medical implications alone could usher a new era of health and longevity. Our technology could correct the damage done to your mother’s spine and nerves. But that kind of power cannot be unleashed indiscriminately upon the world by some greedy, conceited young man.”
“Even thieves usually get a trial.” I cursed my smart mouth, but shutting up was harder than stopping the shivers. “You could’ve called the police. Brayden should be in jail for stealing BantaMatrix’s property. Not dead.”
“Brayden was such a promising team member,” he said in a mournful tone. “He was a really smart, sweet kid, with lots of potential. I picked him as an intern myself, you know. That’s how much I trusted him.” His expression hardened. “But then he stole from me, and he knew too much.”
“DoIknow too much?”
“You have a good story to tell, maybe you could make a comic book out of it, but I sincerely doubt that you could help another development team replicate our success. Brayden not only had that potential, but he also wanted more money and more recognition. He believed he deserved it. You’re not like that, are you, Imogen?”
“No.” I barely managed to whisper the denial through my desert-dried throat. God, what I wouldn’t do for a smoothie right now. “I don’t think I deserve any of that.”
I’d thought poor SunSummoner had potential too. And where had it gotten us both? Not that it mattered anymore. I swallowed back a noise that might’ve been a snivel. As Swann had reminded me, I had to choose who I wanted to be, and I definitely didn’t want to be a sniveler. Or dead with a bullet in my head. “You could fix my mom?”
“Yes. Theoretically. You are the first person who has reached symbiosis with this technology.” Alling swiveled back to the front for a long moment, and when he turned back to me again, all his smiles were gone. “Here’s the thing, Mo.” So much for waiting for my permission to call me that. “There’s a new world beyond this doorway ahead of us. A world where old rules don’t mean anything anymore, where humanity itself might transcend the confines of the body and mind that have always limited us.”
“Riiiiight,” I drawled. This guy really liked to hear himself talk.
He was quiet for a second. “The question we need to ask ourselves is what side of history—”
“Your side,” I interrupted.
He blinked at me. “What?”
“Your side.” I gave him a brisk nod. “I want to be on the side where I get my mom back and stay alive to see this new world.”
I’d think about the rest of what he’d said if I survived. Because I couldn’t trust him no matter how reasonable he sounded about killing Brayden. Dane had sounded reasonable too, and the whole time he’d been lying.
Jen 2.0 snorted. Carlo 2.0 grunted.
I mean, yeah, if I’d had the chance, I’d’ve fried those suckers just as fast as Dane, but here we were, so…
Alling thumped the cannister rhythmically on the headrest of the driver seat, probably annoying the driver, and my heartbeat stuttered along with the patter because I sensed he was doing some quick calculations of his own. “I like you, Mo.”
“More than Brayden, I hope.” Ugh, stupid mouth.
He laughed, and for the first time I was almost relieved to see those fake white teeth. I needed some predictable normality. “I think I do, Mo. I really think I do. Brayden stole from me, but you, you brought back my life’s work…and in a manner that gives me renewed hope for our program. You’ve already proven yourself far more valuable than Brayden.”
Cuz I was still alive. Unlike that poor, poor MageLord. “Well, technically, that asshole Dane brought me back,” I heard my dumb mouth saying. “But I guess I’m not really worth ten million dollars anyway.”
Alling scoffed. “Worth ten times that.”
I choked.
He flung up one hand in anexactlygesture. “You’re a design student, you said? I’ve heard that a few humanities classes make for better rounded science-technology students. We’ll have to look into that.” The reflection of the dashboard lights were like lasers in his augmented eyes.
Was he trying to sell me on BantaMatrix again?
“I just want my old life back,” I whispered. It was a boring life, a failing one. At least it had been mine.
