Short Story: Takes a Hacker

by Mary Fan

A Jane Colt Story

“Could you come outta there? I wanna see who I’m talking to.”

This was a bad idea. Sneaking out of your room in the dead of night and meeting a stranger in the shadowy depths of a space habitat? Who did that?

But this was Kozen Float in the Kyderan system, the center of interstellar civilization, and not some sketchy Fringe world. Should be safe enough, even for a lone sixteen-year-old girl… right?

I should’ve brought a stunner or something. Somehow, a hundred ten pounds of willowy-girl frame didn’t seem like the best fighting machine in case her mysterious summoner turned out to be a psycho.

Jane waited, pressing her shoulder into the elevator’s doorframe to keep the car open. One step backward and a punch of a button would whisk her out of there.

Before her, giant machines stretched from the metal floor up to the high ceiling, humming in perfect fifths. Only a music nerd like me would notice that, she thought with a slight smile.

The area was the float’s central air processing center, and it was huge. But the only illumination came from the devices’ glowing screens and blinking lights. What spilled out of the elevator was by far the brightest.

No one went down there. Ever. All maintenance was done by repair bots. So why the hell had she decided to come?

Whatever. I can take care of myself. Besides, they need me. Won’t whack me just yet… I hope.

The message she’d received on her slate earlier that day had been so short, she’d memorized it: “Help me, Jane Colt. If you don’t, my life is over. But they might be watching me, so I can’t say more over the Net.” Plus a time and location for meeting. How could anyone say no to a desperate cry like that?

Jane watched the shadows. Annoyed by the lack of response, she said, “Look, you called me here. The least you can do is show who you are.”

“Please don’t freak out.” The voice sounded like a woman’s, or maybe a girl’s.

Jane spotted a glimmer of light and whirled toward it. Footsteps neared, clunking against the ground. The speaker must have been wearing boots with metal soles. How tacky.

A silhouetted person emerged from the darkness. She was… shiny. Though Jane couldn’t make out any details yet, flashes of light reflected off the gleaming limbs. What’s she wearing? An ancient suit of armor?

The stranger stepped into the rectangle of light from the open elevator.

Jane gasped.

It was a girl—sort of. She wore a sleeveless red top, which revealed her two metal arms, and a pair of black shorts that stopped a few inches above her mechanical knees. The left side of her face looked human enough, with its round, golden cheek and tilted eye, which was darker, even, than Jane’s own deep-brown irises. The girl’s small nose and plump lips were normal, too. Pretty, even. But the right side was a whole other story. Silver metal ran from her forehead down to her chin, and her right eye was clearly fake. Someone had tried to make it look real, but it gleamed too brightly. Plus, the iris was neon blue. Obsidian hair streaked with cobalt topped the whole thing, yet its plastic-y sheen told Jane that it, too, was artificial.

There was only one cyborg among the students sent to Kozen Float by the galaxy’s top schools to compete in the Acuitas Interstellar Cyberengineering Competition, better known as the A-Comp.

“Vieve Hua. So you’re the one who sent the message.”

The other nodded, and Jane suddenly noticed how scared Vieve looked. The girl’s lips were tight, and her eyes wide with worry. Her mechanical hands clutched her arms.

Jane felt incredibly dumb for having been so jittery. She realized her own face had inadvertently twisted into something not-so-nice, and she consciously relaxed it, doing her best not to stare.

She’d known about Vieve, but she had never seen her in person before. Everyone talked about her: the girl who had survived a starship crash last year and was pieced back together with synthetic body parts. Some rumors said that her whole body was fake and that even her brain had been wired. A few thought it unfair that she was competing against them, since, as they said, “She’s practically a computer herself! How are we supposed to win a coding contest against her?” And others snickered at her for being a charity case, since while her school was as elite as the others, she was a scholarship girl.

Jane had let the talk go in one ear and out the other. She hadn’t come to Kozen Float to gossip. Of all the Cyber Club members at the Academy, Zared, the student president, had picked her to represent the school. Well, he also happened to be her boyfriend, but she liked to think that hadn’t affected his decision. And she didn’t intend to let him down.

So it was goodbye social life, hello programming cave. Jane and the other contestants had been given three weeks to code their entries. Hers was supposed to be a synthetic instrument that would automatically harmonize to a live singer, using the old rules of counterpoint. It was getting really complicated with all the variables. Only five days remained before judging, and she was nowhere near finished, so she’d been determined not to let anything distract her. Until now.

She crossed her arms. “What do you want?”

Vieve bit her lip. “You’re not weirded out by how I look?”

Of course I am, but I’m not gonna be a jerk about it. It suddenly occurred to Jane that she hadn’t seen Vieve around before because the girl had hidden herself away. She felt bad and thought about saying something nice, but she couldn’t come up with anything other than cheesy clichés. So she just shrugged and said, “I’m a big fan of colored hair. Always wanted to dye mine purple, but my dad would kill me.”

It was a lame attempt at a joke, and yet Vieve smiled—a wide, genuine mix of amusement, relief, and happiness. Jane didn’t think her dumb comment merited such a response, but she was glad that Vieve no longer looked scared.

“So.” Jane flicked a lock of dark brown hair out of her face. “What’s up?”

“Someone’s out to get me.” Vieve shifted her weight nervously. “It’s my A-Comp entry. They say I violated the ban on artificial intelligence. And since that’s an interstellar law, they’re taking it very seriously. They haven’t arrested me yet, obviously, but if they do… they could send me to a prison planet. For life.”

Questions exploded in Jane’s mind, from the impressed—How did you manage to code an AI?—to the curious—What’s the program for?—to the worried—What’re you gonna do? But the one that made it out her mouth first was: “You finished already?”

The A-Comp’s rules said that you could turn in your program any time before the deadline, and the judge, Dean Florentina Reyes of the Thern School of Cyberengineering, reviewed entries as they rolled in. Everyone would present their creations at a public assembly, and then the winners would be announced. Some people thought getting your entry in early would impress the judge more, but Jane hadn’t known that someone had done it.

Vieve nodded in response to the question. “I wanted to finish as fast as possible so I wouldn’t have to hang around here the whole time. Thought I could take a few days off before the presentation, get away from all these rumor-spreading dirtballs. But now they’ve put me on probation, which means I can’t leave Kozen Float until they either arrest me or clear me. I’m not betting on the latter, especially since everyone hates me for existing.”

Guilt pricked at Jane’s conscience. She hadn’t been among the busybodies who’d talked smack about Vieve, but she hadn’t stopped them, either. And she couldn’t deny the knee-jerk sense of revulsion she’d experienced when she’d first seen Vieve. Cyborgs were weird and unnatural—that was what everyone else said.

But it wasn’t Vieve’s fault her starship had crashed. And who could blame the people who’d saved her life for using machines to restore her body?

“That sucks,” Jane muttered. “Um…”

“Okay, let’s get this part over with.” Vieve put her hands on her hips. “Yes, most of me got replaced. No, not including my brain, though I do have implants to connect me to my metal bits. Yes, I can feel with them, so don’t punch my arm, thinking I won’t notice. No, I don’t have wires in my gut.” She swept her hand from her stomach to her chest. “This is all organic, though not all of it is what I was born with. They grew me a new set of lungs in the lab, but if you looked at them, they’d look just like yours.”

“What about your face?” Jane’s curiosity got the better of her, and she figured as long as Vieve was in a show-and-tell mood, she might as well ask.

“Skull got crushed, so they reconstructed it with metal. Sadly, they can’t grow bones yet. They can create new organic stuff for anything in your torso, though, and they only give you mechanical parts if they don’t have anything squishy.” She smirked jokingly. “Which means if you do meet someone with wires in their gut or with a mechanical shoulder or something, he’s an actual bot.” Her expression sobered. “Hurt like a mother to get all this done, but it beats dying.”

“Sorry you had to go through all that.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Vieve rolled her eyes. “I’m a real sob story. Get smashed up in a crash, then shunned for surviving. Wanna know what my entry was? A conversation bot, so I’d have someone to talk to again. Not exactly original but whatever. Reyes thought I created an AI that could respond as if human, which is too close to an artificial life to be legal.” She let out a dry laugh. “I wish I were that good! But no, I just faked it really, really well. Pieced together a ton of prerecorded responses, bit by bit, until I made something that reacted like a real person would, without actually being alive. Which I could prove if I just showed them the code, but someone deleted it from the judge’s computer.”

Jane nodded, understanding. “They think you did it to cover your tracks.”

“Yup. I don’t know who set me up—or who I can trust. I need help, though. I don’t really know anyone here, but… you seem different from the other contestants. More real, not so stuck-up. So I thought I’d take my chances.”

Jane knitted her eyebrows. She didn’t doubt the story. Vieve had no reason to lie. And she certainly wouldn’t have reached out to Jane, who didn’t even know her, unless she had no other options. Jane wondered who would be twisted enough to ruin someone’s life over a contest. That had to be why the culprit had done it, right? Take Vieve out for a better shot at the prize?

The competition’s sponsor, Acuitas, was an influential Net company, and they would award the winning contestant and his or her school with hefty checks. But only elite schools were invited to take part, and all the contestants were already rich, so it wasn’t the cash they sought. Rather, it was an internship dripping with prestige no money could buy. The winner would spend three months working for and learning from arguably the greatest master of code in programming history: Marcus Streger, the head honcho of all things programmed at Acuitas. The only thing better would have been interning for the President of Kydera or the Chairman of the Interstellar Confederation.

And apparently, someone wanted it bad enough to frame Vieve. Which meant it was someone Jane knew. And whoever it was probably wouldn’t stop at one contestant, so Jane had to watch her back, too.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

Vieve hesitated. “You’re… um… really connected, right? I was hoping you could use your pull to convince the judge to leave me alone before the interstellar authorities get involved. You know, withdraw the accusation and say it was all a misunderstanding. Which it is.”

Jane pursed her lips. Yes, she hung out with powerful people, so calling her “connected” wasn’t wrong. Her dad was the famous Victor Colt, who ran the most powerful bank in the galaxy. And she was dating the son of Melchior Ramos—a.k.a. Mr. President.

But she was just a schoolgirl and not a particularly special one. Dad had always told her she could go farther in life by being pretty than by being smart. According to him, her best career option was politician’s wife—hence the beaming “I’m so proud” he’d given her when he’d learned she’d snagged Zared Ramos.

Still, she had to do something. And she hadn’t missed the part where Vieve had said she trusted her. If it was just connections Vieve wanted, she could’ve gone straight to Zared—who, along with the student presidents of the other schools, had come to Kozen Float to supervise his peers. Or George Blumenthal, the contestant from East Olara Secondary School, whose dad owned one of the galaxy’s biggest tech conglomerates. Or any of the other heirs and heiresses taking part in this competition for the Interstellar Confederation’s most elite schools.

So there must have been something about Jane that Vieve believed in—though what, Jane couldn’t guess, other than that she was “real.” Whatever that means anymore. She wasn’t above faking her way into getting what she wanted, but the act never lasted long. Because in the end, she could only be herself; she didn’t know how to be anyone else.

Jane hadn’t realized how long she’d hesitated, but Vieve must have taken it for a silent refusal, because she said, “Forget it. This was stupid.”

“Wait!” Jane grabbed Vieve’s arm as the other girl started to leave. The touch of metal where there should have been flesh made her stomach twist, but she ignored the sensation. “I’ll help you!”

Vieve turned to face her. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Jane released her grip. “Sorry, I was just thinking about what I could do. I mean, I don’t wanna promise something if I can’t deliver.”

“Any help would great.” Vieve relaxed visibly. “Thank you… seriously. I wouldn’t have messaged you if I weren’t desperate.”

“I’ll do my best. One question, though: how do you know I didn’t set you up?”

Vieve grinned. “Because you snuck out alone to meet a stranger in the dark, just because someone called for help. Gotta be one of the good guys to do that.”

Jane snorted. She’s got a point. “So meeting here was a test?”

“Yeah. You passed.”

“Ugh, you suck! All right, let’s get outta here. This place gives me the creeps.”

#

The alarm beeped. High and piercing—the most annoying sound in history. Sleepiness clung to Jane’s head, but she couldn’t laze around. Vieve was counting on her.

Jane banged the touchscreen on the wall to make the alarm shut up. The shades over the wide window at the back of the room automatically lifted, revealing the glowing surface of Yemico, the planet Kozen Float orbited. Stars twinkled against the infinite blackness surrounding the blue-green globe.

She sat up then yelped at what she saw.

There was a guy in her bedroom. Zared, her boyfriend, was sitting at her desk with his long legs stretched out before him. He swiped her slate—a small, portable computer with a touchscreen. A smirk curved his lips. He looked as handsome as ever, with his black hair falling over his dark, mesmerizing eyes. His blue T-shirt made his tanned skin glow and clung appealingly to his toned body while revealing his muscular arms.

But it didn’t matter how good he looked—she hadn’t invited him! “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Oh, hey, you’re awake.” Zared flashed her a devilish grin and approached, still holding her slate. He glanced at it and chuckled. “Your code’s a mess.”

“Shut up.” Jane stood, not caring that she was in her pajamas, or that her hair was a poofed-out mess of dark brown tangles. “How’d you get in here?”

“With a universal access card.” He shrugged. “All the student supervisors have them.”

“But what gives the right to barge in while I’m sleeping?” She was near enough to slap him and seriously considered doing so.

“Because you’re mine, babe.” He pulled her close and kissed her.

She pushed him back. “That’s not a reason!”

He sighed and tilted his head down, looking up at her with something of a pout. “I wanted to see you, okay? You’ve been so busy, I feel like you dumped me for your code.” He brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “You’re hot when you’re mad.”

Jane lifted an eyebrow. “A hot mess maybe.”

“I mean it, sweetness. You always look like a princess to me.” He flashed her that grin once more, and he looked so rakishly handsome, she found she couldn’t stay mad at him. Besides, he was right—she had been neglecting him.

He kissed her again, and this time, she didn’t stop him. She wasn’t sure how much she actually liked making out with him—seemed like an awful lot of spit-swapping while her mind grew bored—but she was his girlfriend, and this was what people in relationships did. And he was so ridiculously good-looking, she didn’t exactly mind, either.

He’d been the only guy at her school she hadn’t thought she could get if she wanted. Every girl wanted to date the President’s son. Rich, handsome, charming—what wasn’t to like? She’d always been among the pretty ones, with her big eyes and shapely lips, and had plenty of admirers, but Zared Ramos, she’d believed, was out of everyone’s league, including hers. She would’ve bet her slate on him strutting into the school’s winter dance with a holodrama star on his arm. So when he’d asked her, she’d had to say yes, even though she found him a bit of a jerk sometimes. Declining would have been like winning a lottery and refusing the prize.

Zared finally freed her lips from his and threw her a half-smile. “So how’s the entry coming?” He held up her slate. “Looks like you’re in some trouble. Don’t worry, though. No one’s expecting you to win.”

“Excuse me?” Jane cocked her head. “Thought you were supposed to be rooting for me.”

“Just trying to take the pressure off, babe. You don’t wanna be some nerdy programmer anyway.”

She narrowed her eyes. Everyone wanted his or her school to win—why wouldn’t Zared? He’d picked her because he believed in her, hadn’t he? “Why’d you choose me, then?”

“Because you can out-code anyone in Cyber Club and look smoking hot while you’re at it.” He kissed her forehead, but both the gesture and his words rang false. “All right, I’ll leave you to your program.” He tossed the slate to her and turned to leave.

She rushed to block him. “You’re lying.”

“Why would you say that?” He angled his head. “You are smoking hot.”

“I mean about why you picked me for the A-Comp. Don’t try to charm your way out of this one, Zared. I want the truth.”

“What? I’m not allowed to think you’re the best? Stop acting crazy.” He tried to maneuver around her, but she blocked him again.

“The truth!” She glared, certain that he was hiding something. And she wasn’t about to let him get away with calling her crazy.

Zared huffed. “Fine. Doesn’t matter at this point anyway.”

“What’re you talking about?”

“The A-Comp’s not the Academy’s thing.” He shrugged. “We’re not a tech school. Whoever interns with Marcus Streger, it doesn’t affect our reputation. East, on the other hand, is all about this cyber crap. George Blumenthal would do anything to win, especially considering who his dad is. Even throw another competition.”

Jane suddenly recalled all the times Zared had complained about how much pressure he was under to win Model IC—a contest simulating the debates that took place at the Interstellar Confederation’s headquarters. The victor would intern in the office of the actual IC’s Chairman. Zared’s goal was to be President, like his dad, someday, and his future career hinged on his political abilities, so he wanted to win bad.

Jane realized what was going on. George, student president and contestant from East Olara Secondary School, had agreed to throw Model IC if Zared would make sure the Central Academy of Kydera Major—her school—lost the A-Comp.

Which meant Zared hadn’t chosen her because he thought she could win but because he was sure she wouldn’t.

Rage flared in her chest. “You thought I was too stupid for this.”

“C’mon, sweetness.” Zared reached toward her face. “That’s not—”

She smacked his hand away. “It’s true, isn’t it? Is that why you were in here? To wreck my code? Make sure I wasn’t cooking up anything good and ruining your little deal?” She gritted her teeth. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”

“Of course not!” He widened his eyes with mock innocence. “George asked me to pick you because you’re the only girl in Cyber Club, and—”

“Oh, so that makes me the worst?”

He rolled his eyes. “You wanna be a musician, right? What do you care about cyberengineering? Stop being so dramatic.”

“Dramatic? You just confessed to cheating!”

“It’s not cheating, really. I only—”

“Get out.” She couldn’t take any more of his crap. Stepping away from him, she pointed emphatically at the door. “Now. And if I ever find you here uninvited again, I’ll report you.”

He snorted. “Like that’ll stick.” As he opened the door and stepped out, he grumbled, “Crazy bitch.”

Furious, she smashed the button to close the door, and it slid shut abruptly, clipping the back of Zared’s head. The cursing that followed gave her a mild sense of satisfaction.

Ugh, I hate him. She thought about following him and dumping him on the spot, right there in the middle of the hallway for everyone to see. But she couldn’t. He may have been a jerk—and a cheater, apparently—but he was still Zared Ramos, the most desirable eighteen-year-old in the Kyderan system. And her dad would be so disappointed if she squandered her opportunity to claim him, since she’d never do better.

Part of her wondered if she should apologize so he wouldn’t break up with her, but every inch of her mind balked at the idea. Screw him! Just to piss him off, I’m gonna win this thing.

Jane clenched her fist around her slate and marched toward her desk, aiming to dive back into her code and see whether Zared had screwed it up. Even if he hadn’t, she wouldn’t come out until she’d made it work already. If she had to, she would spend all day untangling nested “if” statements and taming her functions, never mind what the rest of the world was up to.

Then she remembered why she’d been so anxious to get up that morning. Vieve! I promised to help her! What was more, Zared had given her the answer she needed. She’d just been too angry to see it at first.

George Blumenthal must’ve set Vieve up. If he’s desperate enough to throw another big competition just to win the A-Comp, he’d definitely sabotage someone.

Her blood boiled. Vieve could go to jail because George wanted a gold-star internship on his résumé. Well, he wasn’t going to get away with it.

Jane changed out of her nightclothes, throwing on the first outfit she spotted, and then folded her slate from its usual rectangle into a smaller triangular form. She stuck in the pocket of her purple skirt. After slipping into her shoes, she stormed out of her room.

George’s dorm lay at the other end of the smooth gray corridor. She marched up to it and punched the touchscreen to request entry. When he didn’t answer, she banged the door with her fists.

“Dude, chill!” George, audible only through the intercom, sounded irritated.

“Open up!” Jane kicked the door.

It slid open, revealing George’s irritated face. She’d always thought his upturned nose and narrow green eyes gave him a haughty look, as if he were always looking down at her. Which he kind of was, since he was almost a foot taller than she was. His dark brows were low and his short brown locks unkempt.

He glared. “What’s your problem?”

“You’re a dirty cheater!” she exclaimed.

He snickered. “Didn’t know you were pals with my girlfriend, but we agreed that what happens on Kozen Float stays on Kozen Float.”

“Ew! That’s not what I meant!” She made a face at the idea of anyone dating the scumbag. “Zared told me about your little deal. I—”

“Shut up!” He looked down the corridor, alarmed.

“So you admit it then? You—”

“Get outta here.” He pressed a button inside, and the door started to slide shut.

The instant she saw the movement, Jane leaped forward, jumping inside before it could close. It slammed behind her. “You’re not getting rid of me so easily.”

George gave her a look of disbelief. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Having a bad morning, so don’t try me, or—”

“Or what?” He rolled his eyes. “All right, you got me. Zared said he’d pick—”

“I know about that! What about Vieve Hua?”

“That freak should never have been allowed to enter this competition.” George scowled. “Yeah, I called the authorities on her entry. And, yeah, I deleted it so she couldn’t prove anything. Now will you leave?”

Jane clenched her fists. “I’m reporting you.”

“Who’s gonna believe you?”

Too angry to retort, she spun toward the door.

“Hey!” George called.

She turned to him. “What?”

“Glad Zared picked his girl.” He winked with a nasty grin.

Something within her snapped. Her balled-up fist shot into his shoulder, sending him staggering back. Her tongue itched with a rant about how utterly stupid he was to think that being a girl made you less of a coder. But she’d wasted enough time with the clown and couldn’t stand the sight of his ugly face anymore.

So she marched out without another word. She started toward the elevator then thought better of it. An accusation from her father would stick more than one from her would. That was why Vieve had come to her in the first place, after all. Dad probably knew the people who owned the A-Comp.

She returned to her room. After unfolding her slate and snapping it flat, she found her father’s contact info.

Her video call was answered but not by Victor Colt. The person who appeared instead looked like a twenty-two-year-old version of him, except with dark hair sweeping his forehead instead of cropped grayish-brown locks.

“Jane?”

“Hey, Devin,” she said. “Where’s Dad?”

“Corporate retreat.” Her moody big brother never said much.

“I need to talk to him. Now.”

Devin shook his head. “He’s unreachable. At one of those week-long closed-door sessions, where he and the other masters of the galaxy decide everyone’s fates.”

Her stomach sank. She was all too familiar with those kinds of summits. Even President Ramos couldn’t get a hold of Dad now.

“Crap.” She considered asking Devin for help, but without Dad, he’d have no more luck than she would. Guess I’m on my own.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll figure it out.”

“He’ll be done in three days, but after that, he’s heading to the Iothe system for a week. He’s booked for back-to-back meetings with some pretty important people, so it’ll be tough to get his attention.”

“What, are you his secretary now?” She gave him a joking smirk. “And you used to be such a rebel.”

He glanced away, and a pained look clouded his dark eyes. “Yeah, I remember.”

Though she didn’t understand why her brother seemed eternally anguished, her heart ached for him. He’d always been tormented by unseen demons, but their mother’s death a year ago had really broken him. She would have given anything to see a smile—a real smile—from the person she loved most in the universe.

“Hey,” she said. “I love you, bro. No matter what—you know that, right?”

His expression warmed. “Love you, too, Pony.”

She grimaced at the childhood nickname then changed the subject. “So, my A-Comp presentation is in a few days. I know that between business school and working for Dad, you literally have no time, but… come see me if you can, will ya?”

“I’ll do my best.”

I miss you. After saying a brief goodbye, she hung up.

Her pulse rushed with impatience; she wanted Vieve Hua cleared and George Blumenthal brought to justice immediately. Since her high-status boyfriend was in cahoots with the culprit and her influential dad was completely out of reach, she’d have to take matters into her own hands.

No problem. She left her room and strode toward the elevator. I can still throw around Dad’s weight. The judge doesn’t know I haven’t talked to him.

By the time she reached the float’s second level, where Dean Reyes’s office was, she had a whole speech planned out in her head. But as she raised her hand to request entry, the door to the office slid open. And Zared was the one exiting.

“Thank you for your time, Dean Reyes.” He gave the judge a friendly wave as he stepped out.

“Always a pleasure, Zared.” Reyes, a middle-aged woman with short black hair, returned his smile.

Jane was too startled to do anything but watch as the door closed behind Zared.

He threw her a smug look. “Hey, baby. Come to talk about Vieve Hua? Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered.”

Jane scowled. “What did you say to her?”

“Jane, I’m a student supervisor.” He lifted his chin and spoke with mock formality. “It’s my duty to investigate any wrongdoing by A-Comp contestants. I simply turned in a key piece of evidence proving Vieve’s guilt: her slate. Did you know she’s been hanging around online cybercriminal forums, where they discuss illegal technologies—like AIs?”

She gritted her teeth. “You planted that. Or George did.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Now, now, babe. I know you’re worried about your best friend, and it’s making you act a little crazy. George told me about how you went nuts on him. So I warned Reyes about you—and how you’d do anything to help your sister in coding. Even lie to an official and falsely accuse a fellow contestant.”

“You lying scumbag!”

“Sorry, sweetness.” Eyes glinting with self-satisfaction, he put his hand on her face. “I’ll see you tonight?”

She backed away. “I hate you.”

“You’ll get over it.” He walked away. Actually, strutted was more accurate.

She was too busy seething to pursue.

“Jane!” Vieve rounded the corner in front of her, approaching.

“Hey, Vieve.” Jane gave a limp wave.

Vieve looked after Zared’s retreating form and raised her one eyebrow. “Why’re you with that guy? You don’t even like him.”

“I know, right?” Jane made a face. Then she sighed. “I couldn’t reach my dad, and, as you saw, Zared’s being a jerk. So my connections didn’t pan out. But you’ve still got me, and I don’t give up so easily.” She reached for the touchscreen, aiming to talk to Reyes anyway.

“Don’t.” Vieve grabbed Jane’s wrist. “I heard what he said. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this.”

The touch of metal fingers against her skin was slightly unnerving, but Jane pushed that thought away. “Don’t worry about it.”

She started to say that she’d make Reyes listen, but stopped when she recalled that “President’s son” held more sway than “bank tycoon’s daughter.”

Enough talk, then. She looked Vieve straight in the eyes—organic and mechanical. “We need to prove your innocence.”

Vieve released Jane’s wrist. “‘We’?”

“Yeah. This has gotten kinda personal for me.” She walked away from the judge’s door, thinking. “This whole thing blew up because your entry got erased, right? That means someone hacked the judge’s computer. And hackers always leave digital footprints. Reyes will probably get some cybersecurity team to look into it, but I’m not betting on that doing us any good when George Blumenthal’s dad owns half the programmers in Kydera.” She put her hands on her hips. “So you know what we’ve gotta do?”

“What?”

“It’s time to dive into cyberspace.”

#

It takes a hacker to catch a hacker. Jane picked up the virtual reality visor, which looked like a big metal blindfold. Vieve, meanwhile, was sitting at her desk and tapping her slate. Her dorm looked the same as Jane’s—rectangular with a view of the stars through the giant window at the back.

They needed to get into Reyes’s computer to prove that someone else had been there earlier to erase Vieve’s entry. But the judge didn’t use an ordinary system; hers ran on a new-fangled virtual reality platform. Vieve had spent most of the day figuring out how the thing worked while Jane got her hands on the VR visor, which she’d bought from a gaming company and had super-rush shipped—using her dad’s name and bank account, of course.

Once it arrived, she’d rigged it to record anything her avatar heard. It had been a horrendous hatchet job of a program, since she’d force-fed the visor’s code with bits from her A-Comp entry, which had a sound-recording element. She’d wanted to record everything she’d witness, but that had proved too difficult to accomplish in the few hours she’d had. If anyone ever looked at the results of her cut-and-paste hacking, they would have laughed at the mess. Well, it works.

She wasn’t sure how much good a sound recording would do when she was looking for evidence, but it was better than nothing.

The time had come to put the plan into action. Everyone else was asleep, so surely, the judge would have left her computer already.

Vieve glanced at Jane. “Ready?”

VR visors, which read and manipulated brain waves, wouldn’t work with Vieve’s implants, so Jane would be the one entering cyberspace. That made her nervous, since Jane had never used virtual reality before, but she wasn’t about to let that hold her back. She plopped down on the bed next to Vieve’s fluffy Klistosian gold-cat, whose tiny gilded horns glinted between its pointed ears.

Jane slipped the device over her eyes. “Let’s do this.”

The visor closed around the back of her head. For several seconds, all she saw was blackness while Vieve tapped audibly at her slate, connecting the visor to the Net and routing it to Reyes’s computer.

Suddenly, gray lines streaked Jane’s vision. The next thing she knew, she was standing before an enormous green wall, which glowed in an otherwise featureless black expanse. Looking down, she saw her feet but nothing beneath them. Yet she felt as if she were standing on something solid.

So this is cyberspace. She glanced around. Freaky.

“Jane, can you hear me?” Vieve’s voice broke the silence.

“Yup.” Jane knew her response, which she was actually saying in her mind even though she was moving her virtual mouth, would be transposed into typed text on Vieve’s slate. “All I see is a giant wall. This must be Reyes’s security barrier.” She walked forward, surveying the surface. “How do I get in?”

“You should see a door with a keypad. I couldn’t get Reyes’s passcode, but—”

“We don’t need it.” Jane stopped, staring in astonishment. There was indeed a door a few steps ahead—and it was already open. Though she couldn’t see what lay on the other side of the rectangular entryway, the uncanny sensation of another presence swept over her.

Someone was already inside the judge’s computer.

“Jane?” Vieve sounded confused. “What—”

“Sh!” She didn’t know if anyone other than her could hear Vieve, but she wasn’t about to take any chances. “Someone’s here.”

Was it the judge? Had she not left her office after all? Or was it another hacker?

Jane flattened herself against the wall so whoever was inside wouldn’t see her. Electric tingles ran through her when she touched the surface. Was hiding any use? What if the other could see everything going on in the virtu-world, like a cyber goddess?

Her body tensed, and she found it both funny and annoying that such physical feelings occurred when really, she was just an avatar—a figment of her own imagination. Her real body was sitting on Vieve’s bed. Still, the nervous sensations gripped her as tightly as they would have in the physical world. She reminded herself that she was sneaking up on either an upstanding dean or a cheating fellow contestant, not a crime boss or anything.

She inched closer to the opening. If it turned out to be Reyes, she would eject herself right away. If it turned out to be—

George. His haughty face came into view before she could finish the thought. He stood before an array of floating blue boxes, each translucent and glowing. They were large enough for her to make out the labels written across each in white block letters—the names of fellow contestants.

As she watched, George grabbed a box labeled “Quinn Borah” and opened it. Writing appeared before him, stating Quinn’s name, school, and the purpose of his A-Comp entry.

George sneered. “Another matching algorithm, Quinn? How plebeian. But Reyes is a sucker for that kind of crap, so sorry, dude.” He reached into the box, and when he pulled out his hand, a string of holographic code floated up after it.

He’s gonna sabotage Quinn’s entry! Jane scowled. She’d been right—he wouldn’t stop at taking Vieve out of the contest. The dirty, lying cheat! But it didn’t matter what her eyes witnessed; she had to hear him confess.

“George Blumenthal.” She strode toward him, articulating his name clearly so no one she gave the recording to later would have any doubt. “I knew you’d be here.”

George spun. “Jane? How did—?”

“What’re you doing to Quinn Borah’s A-Comp entry?” C’mon, you jerk. ’Fess up.

He glowered. “Get outta here.”

That doesn’t help. “Are you gonna delete it from Reyes’s computer? Like you deleted Vieve Hua’s?”

“I said, get outta here.” He punched his hands forward. An invisible blow landed on her stomach, knocking her to the ground.

Crap! He had control over the virtu-world, and she was just a player. But she’d come too far to leave without what she came for. Gotta make him repeat what he said before…

She started to stand, but George flung his arm toward her. She rolled out of the way just in time, and the ground exploded. Shards flew into her, stinging her skin. A scream escaped her lips. He’d tried to blow her up. “You psycho!”

George laughed. “You know, nothing happens to your actual body when you’re hit in the virtu-world. But that doesn’t mean it won’t hurt. Oh, and did you know that if you’re forced out, you’ll end up brain dead? Get out, before I make a vegetable out of you.”

“Freaking scumbag!” Jane jumped up. His words only fueled her rage. Make him confess, she reminded herself. Otherwise, she would’ve lunged at his throat. “What did Vieve ever do to you?”

“You don’t take a hint, do you?” He punched his hands forward again, and she dove out of the way.

She ran toward the blue boxes representing the A-Comp entries; they were the only cover around. But before she could make it, he shot a forceful gust at her, flinging her into the wall. The impact knocked the wind out of her, and her head spun.

She leaned against the tingling surface, determined to remain upright. Since he wouldn’t state what he’d done, she’d have to try another approach. “You’re pathetic. Too stupid to win the A-Comp, so you decide to cheat?”

George stalked toward her, hatred in his eyes. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He raised his hands.

She leaped into the floating boxes, ducking behind one just in time to avoid his blast. That’s right, get mad…

“Well, obviously, you were scared of Vieve.” She peered around the box and met his scowling eyes. “Terrified, actually, since you went through so much trouble to set her up. She’s a million times smarter than you.”

He made a derisive noise. “As if. But judges love rewarding charity cases like her. Disadvantaged and disabled? You can’t beat that. So I leveled the playing field.”

“By spying on her, making a false report to the authorities, and then deleting her entry from Reyes’s computer so she couldn’t prove her innocence?” Maybe listing his crimes was overkill, but she wanted this confession to be airtight.

“You’re a real ditz, aren’t you?” He swept his arm.

The box hurled into her, shoving her backward. She tried stepping out of the way but couldn’t find her balance. Then she recalled that the box was floating, and she dropped. It passed over her head and smashed into the wall.

She bristled but, instead of retorting, just feigned stupidity. “That’s what you did, isn’t it? Or was it Zared?”

George scoffed. “Like he’d get his hands dirty. He just turned in what I gave him.”

“So it was all you? Including the slate connecting Vieve to cybercriminals?” She stayed close to the ground, watching his hands.

“Yeah, okay? Now, get out!” He threw another blast at her, and she rolled out of the way.

Gotcha! But though she had his confession, she couldn’t just leave. Anger burned in her veins, demanding that she take action, and she sprang up.

A powerful gust sent her flying back. Pain exploded in her body as she crashed into the ground. A force tugged at her stomach from within. For a moment, she thought it was some new trick of George’s, but then she heard Vieve’s voice.

“Jane!”

Jane realized the tugging was from Vieve trying to eject her from the virtu-world, which would only work if the VR user wanted to leave. Something soft brushed against her ankles, but she didn’t see anything. Confused, she glanced around.

George, who was marching toward her, didn’t show any sign of having heard Vieve.

At the sight of his sneering face, renewed fury coursed through her. Too incensed to think about anything but forcing him out, she lunged at him. “You almost destroyed Vieve!”

He threw up his fist, but she blocked it with her arm and punched him in the gut.

“She could’ve been locked up for life because of you!”

George’s hand shot toward her. Before she could stop him, he gripped her throat. “Who cares? She shouldn’t be alive in the first place. She’s nothing but computer chips and metal plating—not even a real person.”

Jane struggled to free herself, but his grasp was too tight. Pain shot through her neck, and white spots filled her vision. That soft something rubbed against her ankles again, and she wondered if she were losing her mind. “Let me go!” she managed.

His face twisted. “You’re a real troublemaker, Jane Colt. But you’ll be too brain-dead to bother me again. Sucks for you. I’ll send my condolences to Zared. I’m sure he’ll find himself another trophy soon enough.”

Sudden heat flared through her entire body. Every muscle, every bone, every fiber of her being screamed with pain. She flailed, trying to tear George’s hand away, or twist her way free, or hit him hard enough to make him let go. Whiteness filled her vision. Her blows met nothing but empty air; it was as if he’d turned into a ghost. Though she felt his fingers pressing into her neck, she couldn’t find anything when she clawed at them.

The tugging force yanked at her insides again. “Jane!” Vieve yelled. “Time to go!”

Jane kept fighting. George’s cackles rang in her ears. She wouldn’t let him win. If it cost her the last breath in her body, she would defeat him. “Not until I take down this jerk!”

“You can take him down in the real world!”

The tugging grew stronger, but she ignored it. She couldn’t see anything; the wash of white was too bright. But her ears worked fine—and all she heard was George’s laughter.

“Jane!” Vieve yelled. “Please! Come back!”

Come back? Jane suddenly realized that in her frenzy, she’d forgotten that nothing she experienced at present was real. Vieve was right—there was an actual world beyond cyberspace, and what happened there was what counted.

Alarmed that she’d gotten her realities mixed up, Jane stopped struggling and focused on the tugging. She allowed it to pull her out, and swaths of darkness consumed the virtu-world.

Pure black filled her vision, and for a moment, she was confused. Then something loosened around her head. The blackness lifted—literally—as Vieve pulled the visor off her face.

Jane looked around, disoriented. She was sitting on Vieve’s bed again, but her whole body still burned from whatever George had done to her. Something soft brushed up against her leg. Looking down, she spotted Vieve’s gold-cat circling her ankles—that must have been what she’d felt in the virtu-world, too.

“Whoa.” She blinked. “George is insane!”

“Are you okay?” Vieve’s eyes were wide with worry.

“Yeah.” Jane stood, her head still reeling. None of that was real, she reminded herself—except the part where George had admitted to everything he’d done. “Think we’ve got enough to nail that dirtball?”

Vieve nodded. “Definitely.”

“Good. Because I’m never messing with VR again.” Jane approached the door. “Meet you at Reyes’s office in the morning.”

“Sounds good. Oh, and Jane?”

“Yeah?”

Vieve smiled. “Thanks.”

Jane smiled back. “You got it.”

#

Jane watched Reyes’s face as the judge listened to the recording from the VR visor for the third time. She twisted her hands behind her back, hoping her anxiety didn’t show. Confessing to having hacked into the judge’s computer wasn’t her top choice for proving George’s guilt, but there was no point in sending the evidence anonymously when Jane’s voice and name were clearly heard in the exchange. Beside her, Vieve shifted her weight, apparently edgy, as well.

Reyes, having finished listening, leaned back in her chair with her eyes narrowed. “You broke into my computer.”

“Technically, we didn’t.” Jane gave a nervous smile. “The door was already open.”

“But you were going to.”

“Um…” Jane bit her lip.

Reyes shook her head. “Luckily for you, I’m not in the habit of punishing students for things they were going to do, especially when it was to bring more serious matters to my attention. Like cheating and intimidation.”

“You believe us?” Vieve’s voice was tense.

“I’m considering it.” Reyes pinched her lips. “I’ll have to ensure your evidence isn’t doctored before I can make any definite statements.”

“Seriously?” Jane exclaimed. “Why would—”

“Sounds good.” Vieve shot Jane a warning look, and, as irritated as she was, Jane swallowed her words.

“For now, you’re both on probation pending the investigation.” Reyes eyed Jane, who had opened her mouth to protest again, and added, “As is George Blumenthal. This means that none of you may leave Kozen Float until this matter is resolved. Do you understand?”

Jane huffed. “Yeah.” Don’t have anywhere to go anyway.

“Good. You’re dismissed.”

“Thank you,” Vieve said. She grabbed Jane’s arm and pulled her toward the door. “Pipe down,” she muttered.

“I wasn’t gonna say anything!” Jane followed Vieve out of the office.

Vieve raised her eyebrow. “Yeah, you were.”

Jane started to reply then spotted a familiar—and despicable—face. George was approaching the office. She had to applaud Reyes for her quickness.

He threw Jane a nasty look. “If you think you can soil my good name with your false—”

“Shut up.” Jane strode up to him. “Your crap won’t save you this time. I recorded everything you did and said in the virtu-world. And in case you were considering deleting it, I already sent copies to a dozen people, including my dad. You’ve heard of him, yes? Victor Colt, head exec of Quasar Bank Corporation? Oh, he’ll be mad when finds out his little girl was attacked. Mad enough to pull all his bank’s investments from your father’s company and pour it into your chief rival. And Quasar owns—what? Forty percent of Ocean Sky? Ouch.”

A mix of anger and panic flashed through George’s eyes. “You can’t pull that.”

“Try me. I have a recording of you threatening to put me in a coma.” Jane smirked. “Which do you think would make your dad madder—getting kicked out of the A-Comp for cheating or destroying his company? And trust me, I’ll make sure your father knows whose fault it was when Ocean Sky goes under. So I’d tell Reyes the truth if I were you.”

George’s face reddened, but he didn’t respond. He marched away, his temples visibly pulsing.

Jane snickered. “C’mon, Vieve.”

Vieve stared after George. “I’ll never understand you elite types.”

“Ugh, me neither.”

“Could you really get your dad to destroy Ocean Sky?”

“Of course not. I was just messing with George’s head. Figured if he’s scared, Reyes will have a better time getting him to ’fess up.” She stopped in front of the elevator. “Well, I’d better get working on my entry.”

Vieve smiled and held out her hand. “Good luck.”

Jane clasped it. “May the best girl win.”

#

The time had come for the moment of truth. Sitting in the auditorium’s front row, which had been reserved for contestants, Jane surveyed her fellow competitors to see if they were as nervous as she was. They’d been assigned seats in alphabetical order, and “Blumenthal” was right next to “Colt.” She smirked with satisfaction at the sight of George’s empty chair. He’d been disqualified. From what she’d heard, Reyes had agreed not to press criminal charges if he confessed. Which was unfair, since he deserved to go to jail, but at least the judge had dropped all accusations against Vieve and cleared things up with the authorities.

Jane spotted her friend a few seats down. Vieve’s gaze was glued to the stage, where, any minute, Reyes would announce the winner. She twisted her metal hands in her lap, and Jane could read the stark anxiety in the girl’s face.

Wow, she really wants it. Jane turned back to the stage, where she and the other contestants had presented their entries earlier. Marcus Streger, with whom the winner would intern, was in the middle of a speech about the future of innovation and bright young minds, and blah, blah, blah. He was a terrible speaker, appearing both awkward and condescending, but she supposed that didn’t matter when you were a renowned genius. Watching him made her uncomfortable, and she realized she didn’t actually want to win the competition if it meant working for him.

Come to think of it, she’d never had her eye on the prize to begin with. Zared had been right about one thing: she wanted to be a musician, not a cyberengineer. But you didn’t have to work in tech for coding to come in handy. The harmonization app she’d written as her entry would sure be useful the next time she sat down to write a song. And mostly, she just wanted to prove she could do anything.

Streger wrapped up his speech, and Reyes took his place at the podium.

“And now, it’s time to announce the winner of the Fourth Annual Acuitas Interstellar Cyberengineering Competition.” She lifted her chin. “But before I do, I’d like to give two honorable mentions for entries that demonstrated exceptional aptitude and imagination. The first one is for Jane Colt.”

Me?! Jane blinked up in disbelief. She stood, as she knew she was supposed to, and made her way toward the aisle. The applause became a vague rumble in her ears as she approached the steps to the stage.

“Jane!” A young man called to her, and she spun.

To her surprise, her brother was standing in the aisle, clapping with everyone else. “Devin!” She ran and threw her arms around him. “You made it!”

“I snuck in right before your presentation.” He gave her a sheepish look. “Sorry I was late. I had to—”

“Doesn’t matter.” She only cared that he was there. “Thanks for coming.”

“I’m so proud of you.” He beamed then nodded at the stage, where Reyes was calling her name. “Go on.”

Jane rushed up, shook the judge’s hand, and accepted her small silver plaque. She was so busy reveling in her success that she didn’t hear who the other honorable mention was. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t taken the top prize. An honorable mention was good enough to prove to her jerk boyfriend—whom she’d shunned for the past few days to finish her entry—that he’d made a terrible mistake in thinking she couldn’t code. She scanned the crowd for his face and, spotting his shape among the other student supervisors, threw him a haughty look.

“And now, for the winner.” Reyes paused, and the corner of her mouth quirked. “This extraordinary student created something so brilliant, it nearly got her in trouble. Everyone, this year’s winner is Vieve Hua.”

“Yes!” Jane pumped her fist.

In the front row, Vieve stared up in stunned silence.

“Vieve!” Jane waved her arm in a beckoning gesture. “C’mon! You won!”

Vieve got up and walked onto the stage, where she was greeted with handshakes and congratulations. Jane clapped enthusiastically for her, happiness swirling through her head.

Reyes wrapped up the assembly, and the lights came on over the audience. Though Jane was still on the stage, the formal presentation was done, which meant she didn’t have to hold back anymore.

She gave Vieve a big hug. “Congrats! You deserve it! I—”

“Jane!” Hearing Zared’s voice, she stopped. He walked onto the stage, looking dashing in his businesslike blazer. “Nice job, sweetness.” There was something fake about the smile he flashed her.

She approached him. “You’re not forgiven.”

“What?” He cocked his head.

“Oh, I thought you were coming to apologize for thinking I was too stupid for this competition.”

He let out a dry laugh. “You’re not still mad about that, are you?”

Instead of responding, she just crossed her arms and glared. She didn’t need him to grovel or anything. A simple “Hey, sorry for being a jerk” would’ve been enough.

But apparently even that was too much to ask, since an annoyed expression crossed his eyes. “C’mon, babe. Wipe that look off. The local media’s here, and no one likes a sour face on holovision. Now, give me that pretty smile of yours and get ready to face the press.” He drew his hand across the air. “Can you see it? The Central Academy of Kydera Major’s honoree, Jane Colt, daughter of Quasar Bank Corporation’s head executive, and her mentor, Zared Ramos, son of the Kyderan President.”

“Excuse me? You didn’t mentor me.”

“I got you here, didn’t I? We’ll look so good together on all the news sites.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Is that all that matters to you?”

“Why are you being so difficult?” He sighed. “You’re beautiful, babe. Happy now?” He put his arm around her and steered her toward the staircase.

“Stop!” She twisted out of his grasp. “You’re really not gonna apologize?”

“For what? Enough with the crazy. Let’s just—”

“No!” She backed away from him. Did he really think he could order her around? Call her beautiful and assume that erased all the times he’d wronged her? Was that all she’d ever been to him—a decorative status symbol? Come to think of it, that’s all he ever was to me. Except she’d at least respected his intelligence. He, on the other hand, continued to insult hers and call her crazy for being offended. I don’t even like him… and I don’t need him.

She drew a breath, forcing herself to act calm. “Look, Zared, we had some good times, but frankly, I really don’t appreciate the way you’ve been treating me. And during these past few days when I didn’t see you… I didn’t miss you. So I think it might be best if we spent some time apart.” There. That was diplomatic enough. More than he deserves.

Zared scoffed. “Now, now, sweetness. I get that things have been tough, but there’s no need for dramatics.”

Anger flashed through her at his dismissive manner. Unable to feign politeness anymore, she strode up to him. “You want dramatic?” She inhaled. “I’m breaking up with you!”

The air shimmered with satisfying reverberations. The hum of the crowd went silent. Up on the stage, Jane gave Zared a disdainful look, glad that everyone was there to see. “You’ve been a jerk to me for the last time. Goodbye, sweetness.”

After throwing him a smirk, she walked past his stunned, still form and approached Vieve, who was grinning.

“That was awesome,” Vieve said. “Good riddance.”

“I dunno about you, but I’ve had enough scumbags.” Jane held out her hand. “What do you say we go celebrate the end of this crazy competition? Find that brother of mine and make him buy us some fancy food?”

Vieve laughed. “Sounds like a plan.”

The touch of metal fingers didn’t bother Jane anymore. She scampered down the stairs, with Vieve close behind, and together, they strode out of the auditorium, basking in the glow of triumph.