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Back Unleashed Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Part One
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. Part Two
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. Part Three
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. Part Four
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. 33
  42. 34
  43. 35
  44. Part Five
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. 38
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. Epilogue
  54. Acknowledgments
  55. About the Author
  56. Back Cover

He’s more solid than I realize, and I don’t manage to topple him over, only knock him slightly off course. But it’s enough time. Jinx plugs into Monica’s leash, the sloth struggling to the ground under the weight of other cats pinning him down.

There’s a beat as both of us watch what’s about to happen to Monica. I close my eyes, whispering a prayer to whatever tech gods might be out there, listening. But Eric reacts faster than me. He snarls like an animal, pushing me off him and reaching toward Monica.

I stumble onto the floor, sliding on the slick polished floor. One of the security guards strides forward and grabs me underneath my arms, clutching them behind my back. Eric grabs Jinx and throws him to the floor, and I cry out, watching my friend being treated that way. He lands on his feet—but only just.

“We have to get out of here, now,” says Eric. “You, take Monica,” he says, pointing at one of the guards. “And grab Pardem. We have to make sure everything is as planned before proceeding.” Then he turns to the guard holding me. “Escort Miss Chu out of the building and make sure she has no ability to get back inside. If she’s ever seen here again, confiscate her baku and disconnect her leash. She’ll be banned from ever being able to own a Moncha product again. And get these mangy creatures out of here.”

Just like that, I’m marched out of the building as Monica is taken the other way. All the cats—including Jinx—dissipate into the various hallways. I hope that means Jinx has escaped and is unharmed. I have no idea if Jinx managed to uninstall the update in the short period of time he was leashed up to Monica.

Or has all of this been in vain?

41

The security team unceremoniously pushes me out of one of the side entrances to Moncha HQ, tossing me so I tumble into a snowbank along the edge of the sidewalk. I zip up my jacket and pull my gloves back over my fingers. But I find myself frozen for a different reason. I have no idea what to do now. I don’t know if our plan has worked, or if we’re in as much trouble as before.

If it hasn’t worked, how will we be able to reverse the update? Will Jinx have to find every single person in the city, one by one? And what if Eric rolls the update to the rest of the country, to the world? What then?

Then, there will be no stopping him.