Data Dump
Torrent Headquarters, Terra
Heid sat at the desk in her room at Seda's retreat and reread the message from Vapor for the umpteenth time.
Data file is clean. No risks detected.
She blew out a breath and leaned back. She never expected she'd be sitting there, deciding whether to open the file or not. She'd assumed the file was dirty, with a Trojan, virus, or something else. But the best hacker in the Collective verified it's clean, so it has to be clean, right?
She tentatively placed her hand on the scanner. After the system accepted her DNA as a match, it took several seconds to open the file. She began to have second thoughts, when it finally opened. A recording of her father started playing. She frowned.
Hello, Gabriela. I'm glad you opened this file. I wish we could have spoken again, but I suppose that's not possible, since my daughter died the day she betrayed me, the Founders, and the Collective.
Heid's eyes grew wide, and she tried to shut off the playback, but it wouldn't stop.
Today, the person who continues to bear the name Gabriela Heid will cease to exist so that my daughter may rest in peace. Goodbye Gabriela.
She jumped to her feet at the same time the computer exploded with the force of a small bomb.
Gabriela Heid never felt a thing.
YOU ARE READING
The Fringe Wars
Science FictionWar looms on the horizon... After the colonization of Mars and Europa, it took us fewer than five generations to reach beyond our solar system and discover new planets capable of supporting human life. Too far away to be governed under Earth law, t...
