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Chapters (53)
  1. Dedication
  2. Chapter One
  3. Chapter Two
  4. Chapter Three
  5. Chapter Four
  6. Chapter Five
  7. Chapter Six
  8. Chapter Seven
  9. Chapter Eight
  10. Chapter Nine
  11. Chapter Ten
  12. Chapter Eleven
  13. Chapter Twelve
  14. Chapter Thirteen
  15. Chapter Fourteen
  16. Chapter Fifteen
  17. Chapter Sixteen
  18. Chapter Seventeen
  19. Chapter Eighteen
  20. Chapter Nineteen
  21. Chapter Twenty
  22. Chapter Twenty-One
  23. Chapter Twenty-Two
  24. Chapter Twenty-Three
  25. Chapter Twenty-Four
  26. Chapter Twenty-Five
  27. Chapter Twenty-Six
  28. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  29. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  30. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  31. Chapter Thirty
  32. Chapter Thirty-One
  33. Chapter Thirty-Two
  34. Chapter Thirty-Three
  35. Chapter Thirty-Four
  36. Chapter Thirty-Five
  37. Chapter Thirty-Six
  38. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  39. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  40. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  41. Chapter Forty
  42. Chapter Forty-One
  43. Chapter Forty-Two
  44. Chapter Forty-Three
  45. Chapter Forty-Four
  46. Chapter Forty-Five
  47. Chapter Forty-Six
  48. Chapter Forty-Seven
  49. Epilogue
  50. Preview of Malice
  51. Preview of Incognito
  52. Acknowledgments
  53. About the Author

“It’s right here.” Lightly tapping my pocket, I follow his lead, wiping the AMPs out of my eyes and throwing them outside, too.

“Good.”

“Where do we drop it? I’m exhausted.” I blink my tired eyes, blissfully happy to be AMP-free.

“We don’t.” He grins and pulls a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. “You’d better wake up because our night is just beginning. We have an algorithm to steal.”

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Two

March 20X6, San Francisco

My jaw drops. “We have to steal the algorithm?” I ask, heart thudding. “We got the ring. We’re not done?”

“Nope. Word came down from our undercover contacts that Simon plans to launch his Quinn update tomorrow—two weeks earlier than planned—so we need to get the algorithm tonight. If we pull this off, it’ll be the biggest Initiation Heist in history. We’ll win the first battle in the war over the Super Brain by shutting down Quinn and keeping people from uploading their minds into the Simulation. We’ll be legends.” He unfolds the paper into a large rectangle, studying it.

“Legends? What happened to ‘if we know, it’s enough’?” My eyes are saucers. “I don’t need to be a legend.”

“You may not have a choice if you don’t get rid of those nails.” He glances at my hands before returning his concentration to the paper. “You’re going to leave a trail right to us, and then you’ll be remembered for botching the heist that almost saved history. If we fail, if we get caught, we’ll end up in jail, but worse, Simon and Madden will succeed in uploading minds into their database, and humanity may not be able to come back from that.”

My nerves stretch taut at the thought that I could be our undoing, and, scowling at him, I chew on my thumbnail, trying to loosen the glue, which would be much easier to do if my hands weren’t shaking so much. “You mean I’ll end up in jail. The Disconnects will rescue you—their ‘best and brightest’—I’ll probably be left to rot or get sucked up by the Super Brain.” My thumbnail lifts. Positive it’s ripping my real nail off with it, I grit my teeth and toss it out the window.

“I wouldn’t go without you, Ellie. Promise. We’re a team. We’re in this together.”

“If we’re a team, why don’t you try doing something helpful, then, like choking on your tongue?” I mutter. “Or helping me?” Stealing myself against more finger-torture, I get to work prying off my index fingernail.

“Glad you asked. Already done. I had Stewart hack your manicure and deactivate it as soon as we left the salon,” he says, biting back a smile. “Less risk that way.”