BY THE TIME I finished working, the speed potion was beginning to wear off. I stood up, wiped my palms on my vest, locked the door connecting Babs’ office to Kiyoko’s, and waited.

I heard a low click from Babs’ desk. A second followed, then a third as her fingers slowly struck the keys.

Kiyoko turned her head toward me. Out in the hallway, two guards swore as their weapons exploded. I also had the satisfaction of seeing Russell Potts jump so hard he fell on his ass. The desk blocked me from seeing whether my sudden appearance had managed to make him piss himself.

“Hi,” I said brightly. “I’m here to give you the chance to surrender. I figure it’s what the Doctor would do.”

“What doctor?” Potts snapped as he recovered. “Who are you talking about?”

“Doctor Who?” I threw up my hands in exaggerated disgust. “Never mind.”

The gun at Darlene’s head never moved. Kiyoko cocked her head to one side. “I’m sensing an attempted intrusion into our systems. I presume that’s Talulah Polk’s doing? Order her to cease her efforts and surrender herself.”

“So you can kill millions of people? I’m not going to—”

“You can’t bluff me, Isaac Vainio. I’ve been inside your brain. I’ve seen your memories, the way you think, the lines you can and can’t cross. I know you’ve snuck more of your friends in to help cause mischief, and that you’re probably planning another clever quip right now to mask your fear and anger about losing New Millennium.”

“I didn’t lose it,” I muttered. “It was right where I left it.”

She smiled. “I know you more intimately than Lena. I know you’ve touched death before, and that the threat of death won’t make you cooperate. Not your death, at least. But you have a chauvinistic protective streak toward women, one that was compounded by your failures with Jeneta Aboderin.”

‹Found it!› Talulah exclaimed. ‹The IAS is running on a server bank in admin. Lena, Deb, you’re up.›

‹Be careful,› I said. Sweat trickled down the center of my back. My heart was pounding like I’d just run a marathon. I did my best to match Kiyoko’s smile. “When they pulled you out of that book and programmed you, whose idea was it to make you talk so much?”

“You can’t stop this, Isaac,” said Potts.

I pretended to stifle a yawn, then jerked a thumb at Kiyoko. “She’s scary. You’re just embarrassing yourself. You’re strong and tough and evil, sure, but Kiyoko could snap every bone in your body without breaking a sweat. So why don’t you shut up and let the grown-ups talk?”

He scowled and started to respond.