Michelle Maddox - Countdown

Definitely not unconscious anymore, although he looked slightly out of sorts. There was a red mark on his head from where he'd been knocked out against the side of the table.

He wore an Ellis Enterprises security-clearance name tag against his otherwise casual clothing-ripped jeans and his H-logo T-shirt. He seemed no different from the Colin I'd known for a few years, other than the fact that he now stood beside the man who wanted to kill us.

Colin looked at me, and his brow furrowed slightly before he turned his attention to his new boss.

"Colin?" I managed. "What are … what are you doing-"

Gareth's lips curled. "Colin works for me now, don't you?"

Colin nodded. "Yes, sir."

Gareth moved toward him and slapped him twice on the back. "The boy's a genius. I always have room for geniuses on my staff. He was hired in a low level position a few days ago, but his association with you, Kira, made him suddenly all the more interesting to me. I've decided that he will be my personal assistant in all things."

I ran my tongue over my very dry lips and tried to find enough moisture in my mouth to form words. Gareth's personal assistant? Colin? I'd felt the ridge in the back of his scalp where he'd obviously been fitted for an implant, and knew he'd taken a job here, but I didn't expect his connection to Gareth to be so close.

The thought didn't fill me with reassurance. Anyone could be bought. Even someone you thought was your friend.

Gareth's smile held. "Yes, after his inconvenient run-in with you at the mall he was held for questioning. His computer was thoroughly examined. Are you aware, Kira, that the boy has pictures of you of a very personal nature? He's obviously quite enamored with you. However, I am quite sure you were completely unaware of these pictures even being taken, but they were there on his drive, along with evidence of very accomplished programming and hacking skills. I offered him more opportunities should you contact him in the future, and you did. I always follow through with my promises. Isn't that right, Colin?"

Colin nodded, his expression guarded. "That's right, sir."

Gareth's gaze slid over me with distaste. "I honestly believed that you had gotten the better of me with your little escape." His expression darkened. "You can imagine how delighted I was when we were informed of your whereabouts."

I fixed Colin with an icy glare. I'd thought that he'd done it out of sheer stupidity or the wish to protect himself from harm. Either of those reasons I was almost willing to forgive. I was mad as hell, but I had the capacity for eventual forgiveness. But to sell us out just to get a cool new job?

I couldn't forgive that.

"You said that you wouldn't hurt her," Colin said after a moment of silence. He seemed suddenly incapable of making eye contact with me.

Gareth laughed. "Sentimental fool, aren't you? Humans and their complicated emotions. Yes, yes, I did promise that, and I do try to keep my promises." He looked at me. "Since Colin has an implant, he's been able to follow along with watching you compete on The Countdown. I truly believed that after the reward level his desire to protect you would fade. No man would like to see the woman he loves enjoying the intimate touch of another."

I scowled at him.

"Now, on to other business." Gareth clasped his hands behind his back and began to pace the room slowly, moving in a slow circle around our table. My gaze flicked to Rogan for a second, but his attention was now fixed on his brother's possessed body. "Inspect him, if you would be so kind, Colin."

Colin moved toward Rogan, and I saw that he had a small metal receiver in his hand that flickered with green and yellow lights. He moved it over the back of Rogan's head and he studied the light reading.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Rogan tried to move his head away.

"Brother." Gareth leaned against the table, his back toward me. "Please relax. Colin is simply checking the validity of your implant."

"Jonathan was kind enough to remove it before you had him killed," Rogan growled.

"No, no. Not that implant. The other one. The prototype."

Rogan went very still. "But it never worked."

Gareth pushed away from the table and began to move about the room again. "A lot has changed in the past few years. Technology that we believed was redundant can be made active. Especially the prototypes. You have one. I have one. Anything after that was simply a mass-produced imitation of the original."

"Which means what?" Rogan said.

Then his face twisted in agony and he yelled out.

"Rogan! No!" I struggled against my restraints. "What are you doing to him?"

Rogan slowly relaxed, his chest heaving, and there was a gleam of sweat on his forehead.

Gareth ignored me and instead glanced at Colin, who squinted at the receiver. "Well?"

"It looks good," Colin said simply. "I've gone ahead and activated it for you. Simple, really."

Gareth smiled. "I'm so pleased that you think so. Then all is well with the world. Do you want to know why I care about your prototype implant, brother?"

"You're not his brother." I bit off the words. "And you damn well know it."

Gareth raised an eyebrow at me. "I see. So you told him despite my warnings of the consequences? I'm not sure if you're brave or stupid."

"Go to hell."

He laughed. "You have been an amusement, Kira. And the subscribers have enjoyed you, up until your disappointing finish. I wonder if you truly do have psi abilities. I watched your interaction with Kurtis on the roof in Level Five. He was convinced that you could see his soul. Were you lying to him?"

I forced myself to smile. "You'll never know."

He regarded me for a moment with a bland expression. "A true psi. An untapped element of humanity." He approached me and slid his hand around my throat tight enough to hurt and make me struggle to breathe. "Obviously when you read me before you sensed the annoying human presence who once used this shell. I wonder what else you think you may have seen."

I glared at him. "Maybe I saw your soul."

"Interesting." He raised an eyebrow and then released me. I coughed and still could feel the imprint of his fingers on my neck. He was very strong. I wondered how much of that strength came from Gareth the man, and how much from the virus itself.

Colin watched the proceedings from the far corner, his expression tense.

Gareth turned his back on me and approached Rogan, who struggled against his bindings, his gaze never leaving his brother's face.

Gareth crossed his arms against his black suit. "While I'm not happy about your attempted escape, I will say that I am very pleased that you survived so far into the game. When I first brought you in I thought of it merely as a mild amusement. A way to get rid of you once and for all. I'd heard that there were further investigations afoot after a similar crime in another university took place last week. This time it was ten girls who were murdered." He tsked his tongue. "A shame. A true shame."

"Rogan would have been exonerated?" I asked.

Gareth twirled around to face me. "My, that's a big word for such a little girl. And yes, it was only a matter of time. And I couldn't have that."

"So now you're going to kill me right here?" Rogan said. "I'm actually surprised that you have the balls to do it yourself. Wait a minute. How many subscriber brain waves would a talking binary code have to absorb to have balls anymore?"

Gareth moved so quickly that all I saw was a blur. He grabbed a handful of Rogan's dark hair and pulled his head back. The chair teetered on two legs.

"As you can see, a talking binary code can do many extraordinary things. And the brain waves, as you so crudely call them, do help with many things. The more I absorb through the implants, the more powerful I become. But I need more."