‘Kill people,’ Lachlan clarifies.‘Those who deserve it, forself-defence,obviously,’ he adds quickly.‘CQC, you remember?’
‘Yeah but…’ Jules’ frown deepens.‘I thought it was like martial arts or some bullshit.’
Lachlan shrugs.‘It’s the backbone of what I was taught.’
‘What would it do?’
‘Make you strong and capable, make you a weapon.’
‘My father would never allow it.’
‘As long as it doesn’t damage you, he will.’
‘So… what?This’ll teach me to kill someone with my hands?’
‘And a lot more, yeah.Then if anything ever happens to me—’
‘You’d better not let it,’ Jules says quickly.
‘Some things happen whether you let them or not.’
The waves lap against the shore.
This landlocked body of water still answers to the moon.
Eventually, Jules gets up.‘I’ll think about it.’
Lachlan follows.‘Sounds good.’
CHAPTER NINETEEN
September is a busy month for Lachlan, who goes about reinstalling security elements that Penhalyx had removed, but also improving them.
He and Blaire are brainstorming upgrades together during lunch when Jules looks over to suggest something truly ingenious in an offhand tone of voice, and Lachlan blinks, astonished.
‘Oh,’ he says.‘Yeah.Of course.That’s.How did you think of that?’Jules shrugs and Mimi giggles.‘That’s really smart,’ Lachlan tells him in earnest while Vasily reads at the table.He readsallthe time.The kid loves nothing more than burying his nose in a book.‘Hey, come here and help us,’ he bids Jules who makes a face but does so, sliding his chair across.
Lachlan points down to his plans.
‘We’re thinking of changing the way we monitor the interior.’Jules nods.‘Something that can’t be cut off or interrupted, what do you think?’
‘Well,’ Jules says, taking the pen and starting to draw.A big rectangle to begin with, then he makes it a 3D box.‘This is the room, and typically, the cameras are here,’ he says, drawing dots in the corners and giving them little legs.‘Like ugly spiders.The problem is that they only work as basic monitoring devices.You need to zoom for anything better, and that’s flawed in motion, right?’
‘Yeah, exactly.’
‘So what about,’ he says, now drawing meticulously spaced dots on each of the walls, and connecting them with swirls that resemble ivy, ‘fibre optics that combine to create flow capture?’
Lachlan stares.‘Flow capture,’ he echoes.
‘Yeah.’
‘Did you just invent that?’
Jules blushes.‘Very funny.’
‘I’m serious.I’ve never heard of that before.’Lachlan looks down, touches Jules’ drawing with the tip of his index.‘Will you tell me more?’
‘I mean, I don’t know how it’d work—’
