I hoped he was better than the one I had taken out when I had kidnapped her last summer. Then an irrational fear gripped me, that I had somehow spoken this aloud, or that she could read the truth in my eyes. I took refuge on the rock wall again, not using a harness for the second time, needing to focus myself through sheer adrenalin. She didn’t say anything.

When it came to Daiyu and me, so much was better left unsaid.

CHΔPTER ELEVEN

On the sixth day, I finally ventured out so Daiyu could take me on a personal tour of Jin Corp as she had promised. Lingyi had instructed me to gather info on the building’s security setup and layout, to observe as much as I could. She had found Daiyu’s eight-digit personal code for access throughout Jin Corp on her Palm, but the restricted areas required a brain wave scan. She sent a grab device that could capture the brain wave scan for our use if I could somehow convince Daiyu to take me into a high-security area.

I talked to Arun via Vox; he had his own instructions for me. Convinced that the virulent strain of avian flu was being manufactured in Jin Corp itself, he wanted me to keep an eye out for any laboratories hidden behind thick vaults.

“I’m close to getting my antidote to work, Zhou,” he said to me. His face was tiny on my Vox, but I could still see the dark circles beneath his eyes. “I can help to curb this epidemic, but I need a sample of the actual flu strain to test and make certain my antidote can kill it.”

I turned on the wall screen after speaking with Arun. It lowered from the ceiling, and I clicked to a news channel. Muted, the screen showed paramedics dressed in full hazmat suits loading the sick into ambulances. “At least three dozen already infected with dangerous flu virus in Taipei” flashed across the bottom of the screen. “Three deaths have been reported.”

A reporter dressed in a black suit wearing a mask stood apart from two ambulances. It was clear from his rigid stance, leaning away from the scene, that he didn’t want to be there. “We have no information on this new flu, although scientists believe it is a mutation of an avian flu strain with a high fatality rate. Doctors are recommending face masks be worn at all times and for people to stay inside.”

I suited up. Even though I was feeling back to full health, my mood was grim. The last thing I wanted to do was tour Jin Corp with Daiyu and feign my rich-boy role. But time was slipping from us, people were dying, and my friends were relying on me.