Big Data: A Startup Thriller Novel

Chapter 78

         

"There you are," I cried, as Alex arrived in our nook at the library. "We were just about to leave. What did they say?"

"Come on, we need to go," said Alex. His face was as grim as I'd ever seen it.

"What's wrong? Did they not believe you?"

"We'll talk later."

Alex led us through to the back of the library, following the signs for the emergency exit. I was afraid the door would set off an alarm, but Alex pushed it open without any hesitation. The alarm didn't go off. We found ourselves in a back alley, and I opened my mouth to speak, but Alex shook his head.

"Not here, keep going."

Once again, we walked at random through the city. Alex seemed even more vigilant than before. After about ten blocks we came to a school park. There were half a dozen children playing lava monsters on the slides and a few dads playing basketball on the nearby courts. Alex headed for the soccer field. When we reached the center of the field, he sat down. Phillip and I did, too. Alex looked all around us before speaking.

"This will work. If either of you see anything suspicious or a police car slowing down, let me know. We can see from all angles here, and there are plenty of places we can run and disappear if we have to."

"Disappear? What's going on, Alex?" I asked.

"Your instincts were right. I shouldn't have gone to the police. They have a warrant for your arrest. It took me the better part of twenty minutes to convince them that I don't know where you are. I don't think they trust me, though. One way or another, we'll know soon enough."

"So did they believe the rest of the story?"

"They wouldn't even listen. As soon as your name came up, that's all they wanted to talk about. I lost control of the conversation."

"Shit," said Phillip. "I guess the cavalry isn't going to ride in and save our asses."

Alex nodded.

"We don't need them," I said.

"Oh?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Phillip gave me an idea for how we can take down the whole operation."

"I'm listening," he said.

"You know how a cat has nine lives?"

"Okay."

"At this point, it's pretty clear Gaia is trying to kill the three of us. Damn near succeeded a few times, too."

"Right."

"Taye said Gaia was increasing the death rate completely at random. No one sickness. No one kind of person was being targeted."

"I still don't follow."

"The chances of Gaia targeting all three of us multiple times in a row all at the same time means that they must have figured out how to target individuals."

"I guess," said Alex. "So?"

"We use their own weapon against them."

"I thought you no longer had access to the system. Didn't they lock you out or something?"

"They did. I don't."

"Then how?" asked Alex.

"No," Phillip gasped, cottoning on. "It's a bad idea, Luna. Give it up."

"We need to go back to Ancien," I said.