“Yes, but for obvious security measures, seeing as you are two completely different entities, each with your own secrets, you will only share access to certain parts of the other group’s database. Which parts those are will need to be decided by each group.” She says all this with absolutely no expression, unless “bored stiff” counts as an expression, in which case she’s nailing it.

“Okay, so what do you need now?” Siaka asks her.

“Guinea pigs,” she says. “We need to beta test. Could you get together a group of FF volunteers—say, ten–preferably from different countries? Then we can test the translations and global login capabilities, to start with. We’ll do any troubleshooting we need and be ready to launch in a couple of weeks.”

“Should we do that with my group, too?” I ask her. I wondered if there was a code name for the bardia, seeing as she used “FF” for Flame-fingers.

“I don’t see why not. We’ll run the tests separately, for now, keeping the systems separate until you decide what data will be shared and what will remain private to your respective groups.”

Okay, for a sixteen-year-old, this girl is scary-smart. I look at Siaka. “I’ll explain it all to Gaspard so he can tell me what he wants to share.”

“We’ll ask Charlotte to give her input,” Siaka says. “She’s the one you’ll be taking over bardia database management from.”

“Great. Let’s go,” I say, ready to get out of there.

“I can come along and describe what Livia...”

She shoots him the rankest stink-eye imaginable.

“...Liv has set up so you guys can get started,” Siaka says, and turns to go.

I start to say goodbye, but her eyes are already glued to her screen and her headphones back on.

“She’s really a sweetheart under that impenetrable armor,” Siaka says as we walk away.

“Adorable.” I glance back. Her eyes not leaving her screen for a second, Liv raises her hand and, instead of waving goodbye, gives me the finger.

Chapter Eight

“Are you sure you guys are related?” I ask as Siaka and I step out into the sunshine. The burnouts have disappeared, leaving empty beer cans and a lingering smell of cannabis.

“What do you mean?” he asks, holding the gate open for me.

“I mean you’re one of the most positive people I’ve met in a long time. She looks like her dog got run over and she’s holding me personally responsible.”

Siaka laughs. “Yeah, our moms are sisters, but we couldn’t have been brought up more differently. She had a lot of pressure from her parents to achieve and decided to go her own way. My parents were just happy that helping my mom morphed into a passion for chemistry, which could result in an actual salary-paying job. Liv and I share genes but that’s about it.”