I dug my nails into the tattoo I couldn’t look at just now. “I can’t see that there’s another choice.” How could I follow Eva after this?

“What about your girlfriend?”

“Cass.” This wasn’t the time for jokes.

“It’s a legit question. You’re leaving her to the Seligo and that Darren skeeze?”

“No.” I lifted my glasses to rub my forehead. I wasn’t that heartless, but I didn’t see how I could help Quanta now. She was a Red trapped in the system and the chance to get her out had passed. “I’ll see what I can find out about her.”

“Oh! Almost forgot.” Cass sat up straighter and started typing into an invisible interface. “You had me send you a couple gaming helmets during the week.”

Did I? It wasn’t hard to backtrack my thought process. I must’ve wanted the helmets for the same reason we were using them now—the secure line. “Did you recover them?”

“Nope. Got a fat stack of credits to replace them, so I’m guessing they’re scrap.” A screen popped into view and she flicked it toward me, across the white void. “Security blocked me from getting any session data, but the user specs automatically uploaded to my cloud before their system locked everything down. Got a pic of your girl.”

An image expanded.

My breath caught.

It wasn’t a real photo. Just a render of her face from the helmet’s data.

Her eyes were closed, rimmed in thick lashes. No colors. Just measurements. Some basic data. And yet…

I realized I was gripping the fabric of my robes, right above the spot where the ache lodged in my chest.

I knew her. I didn’t know her, but I knew her.

Quanta.

“You look like you just got punched.” Cass moved to me and peered at the picture. “Recognize her?”

“I’m probably reacting to my programming.” It was exactly what Eva wanted. Just one imperfect picture and I was compelled. I could only imagine the pull Quanta would have if we met in person.

I’d be helpless. Just a zombie. A pawn. An NPC. I’d gone to Eva to avoid a fate like that, and she’d fooled me into thinking her way would be different.

It wasn’t. I’d simply changed masters.

“Then you’re going after her?” Cassie asked.

“Maybe.” I’d joined Eva’s mission to help girls like Quanta, but I was working toward saving all of them. I couldn’t throw that away for one, no matter how much guilt I felt. “What are the odds you could hack me into the Seligo mainframe?”

“Yeah. No. You remember when I hacked the toaster?”

In spite of the situation, a smile quirked my lips. “At least we were allowed to move out after the fire.”

“Still…” She scratched the corner of her eye. “Maybe I know someone who could—”