Light & Shadow

Chapter 4

The old man behind the desk is a little less than chipper when I check out just after six am. I make sure to give him the rest of the money I owed and slipped in a little extra. Money's tight when you're on the run, but it's pretty obvious this place isn't getting a lot of business, so I can spare a little bit more than usual.

I walk back to the ferry station. All I can think about is if I should just break cover and talk to Peter directly, but it would risk everything. Six months of running and shutting down parts of the REM trials operation would be virtually undone. If I'm arrested, it's only a matter of time before they gets their hands on me.

Even knowing what's happening, I can't. It would put Peter, Morgan, and countless other people in danger. I'm working with a pretty much non-existent margin of error. How I'm going to pull this off is beyond me, but I'll never forgive myself if I don't try.

The moment my feet touch down on the mainland, I look around for my next ride. Luckily, there's a rental lot nearby with a small selection of different sized cars. "Okay, ARTI, I'm gonna need you to work your magic." I say and walk through the small section of cars. "Can you get into their system and create a fake rental agreement?"

"Already done." He tells me. "I've also accessed the car's systems. It won't sound any alarms, and the skeleton key will work."

"Perfect. Then we're off to Prague." I mumble as I slip on my gloves and toss my rucksack into the passenger seat and slip the skeleton key I've pieced together over the months into the ignition. ARTI pulls up the route, which starts the over nine hour drive.

It gives me time to think of ways to warn Peter and make sure Beck pays for everything he's done and is trying to do. I crank up the radio and listen to the wide variety of songs pouring through the radio to help me ease my nerves, but it doesn't really help. Especially when ARTI gives me the news I've been simultaneously hoping for and dreading since last night. "He just accessed EDITH."

"And?"

"He asked about you."

I crack a half smile at that, but it quickly fades as the worry settles back in. When I first got access to EDITH's systems, I did some digging. Dad had spent a large chunk of the Blip cultivating her database and systems, but it felt too real. Even her name was a reminder that he died—that he knew it was going to happen. I mean, he  named her EDITH—even dead, I'm the hero.

The man loved his acronyms, which is another thing he passed on to me.

I kept with ARTI, letting him be my gateway into EDITH if I ever needed her. The day I got the call from Claire was the first and last time I've accessed her systems. She helped me set up what I needed to run and stay off the grid entirely, and I put in protocols that made sure when Peter got his access to her systems, he wouldn't be able to know where I was. Not to mention, they both helped process all the paperwork for me to officially test out of the rest of senior year and 'graduate.'

"Then I guess it's a good thing I made sure to keep my location shielded from her, huh?"

"In a way, yes, but you need to remember there's only so long you can carry on like this. Need I remind you why we had to leave Prague so quickly?"

"I didn't have a choice, and you know that. There was no way I could leave those people there, or let that lab stay intact." I drum my fingers against the steering wheel. "I couldn't stand by knowing that no matter how many cells I unlocked, they'd fill them back up in no time."

"I'm not saying you did the wrong thing, but it was a narrow escape. You need someone to have your back if we're to truly stop this for good."

"That doesn't give me the right to just ruin his life—again." I sigh and hold back the tears, "He's moving on, finding new ways to be happy, and creating his new normal, which I'm pretty sure doesn't include me. After everything we went through, I don't want to put him through this too, and that's final."