Oakley holds up his phone, which shows the same message. “What does this mean?”
“We operate a group that monitors the Hell_AI app in our region, and whenever something goes down, we intercept it. You might remember that’s how we found out there was a hit placed on Maverick and Boone.”
“Oh. Interesting.”
Despite his words, Oakley looks as though he doesn’t quite get it.
“We’re trying to stop a bad thing before it happens,” I explain.
“I get that,” he says, randomly rubbing Cupcake’s ear. “I just… If you intercept everything on the app, why are people still using it? How can you tell they aren’t lying to draw out the WhiteHats?”
I should’ve realized he’d ask the smart questions.
God, that is so fucking hot.
“Oh, uh…we prioritize what is harmful over what is illegal, and, uh…Jake does a thing where he makes it look like the plan, or whatever, was a success.”
“How?”
“Um, well, a lot of these guys aren’t that bright, so he just signs in as the guy we took out and puts up a celebration GIF and some message about how the mainstream news might cover it up, but, you know, mission accomplished, blah-blah, red pill, blah-blah.” I lift a shoulder. “It’s pretty effective.”
“Thank God for stupid evil people,” he says, standing with me. Like maybe he means to join us.
“Oh,” I say, looking down at my phone. “I think for you this is just a notification. I’m the one who has to go.”
He shakes his head and switches to a new message from Hedy.
Hedy: Ride in with Sy. This is a low-stakes takedown, good for observing.
I sniff. She knows I don’t love being observed.
He holds up his hands. “Guess I’m riding with you.”
“Okay.”
Fuck.
“Is this really what passes for low stakes?” Oakley asks as another bullet whizzes over our heads. He leans against me, close enough for me to see the vein in his neck pulse.
Night has fallen, we’re on a dark country road, and my body feels alive.
“Nope.”
Gosh, he smells nice. Expensive. Like a hotel lobby.
Focus, Sy.
What should have been the easy takedown of an aging Epsteiner in his country estate turned into a firefight on a stretch of abandoned two-lane somewhere outside of Leander. He’s basically hired a private army, and we were ambushed.
Makes me think of Oakley’s question about how we use the Hell_AI app as our personal mission finder.
I peek out from our hiding spot, clocking the asshole with the rifle who is firing from the passenger side of a big SUV.Got ’em.
I have one of the newer, more compact pistols, and it’salmostas fun as killing people with my bare hands. I take aim at the driver and ash his head clean off, along with part of the roof.
I examine the tiny pistol and do a shoulder shimmy.This thing is adorable as fuck.
Meanwhile, the SUV angles off the road, slow rolling into a ditch, dead grass glowing in the fractured beam of the headlights.Score.
