Intrigued, Lila rubbed at her chin. She’d go home and dig into the code, just like Toxic had done. If she had to, she’d spend all day figuring out how the game was supposed to work and what the virus was supposed to do. It wasn’t like she didn’t have the time.
At least she’d be doing something to help.
She stood up and took a few steps away from the bench.
From the corner of her eye, she saw the aliens bobble.
Lila looked closer. Not only had aliens moved, but the score had ticked up by one.
“What the—” Lila walked around the block, watching the aliens move and her score tick up and down, though not by much.
Eyes fixed on the screen, she moved in the direction of the tail, letting her score drop lower. She knew it would freeze at three thousand, but what would happen when it hit zero?
The buildings around her didn’t make it easy. Occasionally she had to walk a block out of her way before she could follow the tail once more. Other times, she nearly bumped into someone on the street. Lila barely noticed, for they’d always move out of her way.
She was the chief and an heir, after all.
Gradually, the entire compound faded away, becoming only a blur of color and a wash of sounds, barely poking at her consciousness. The only thing that existed was her palm’s screen and the eight-bit game.
She didn’t see the lamppost until it was too late.
A blonde child in a red dress and black Mary Janes giggled, her laugh echoing in the quiet.
Lila rubbed her aching shoulder, only somewhat thankful she hadn’t smacked into the steel with her face, and looked around her. She remained in the northern part of her family’s compound, a maze of office buildings, condos, and garages looming above her.
Her palm vibrated, and she removed it from her pocket.
Alex wanted to know if she’d be back for lunch.
Ignoring her palm, the laughing girl, and her aching shoulder, Lila continued on her journey. For another fifteen minutes, the game led her through the estate and toward a pair of glass double doors.
Lila darted inside and roamed a nearly empty lobby.
“Can I help you?” someone called out.
Lila ignored the voice. Her score had frozen on ten, and no matter which way she went, ten was the lowest her score would drop. The aliens refused to show her the way. They had clustered around the center of the screen, darkening, becoming opaque.
Nothing she did elicited much of a response.
A hand gripped her sore shoulder, startling her.
“Are you okay, Chief Randolph?” Director Randolph asked, somewhat flustered, her red lab coat stained with coffee at the neck. “Sara called when you wouldn’t answer her. Did we have an appointment?”
The young woman at the front desk picked up her headset and did her best to look and not-look at the confused chief in the middle of the lobby.
“No. No, we didn’t.” Lila swallowed, her heart beating faster and faster. “What floor is your lab on?”
“The fourth floor. Why?”
“That’s about ten meters up, wouldn’t you say?”
Lila licked her lips as the woman nodded. The game had led her directly to the Burgess Building. It had led her right back to the tracer samples she’d given to the director the day before.
The game was the tracer program.
Chapter 26
Lila didn’t stop for lunch.