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Suddenly, a knight stood in front of Freda. Sir Galahad held his sword. He bowed.
She gasped.
What? How? He’d somehow programmed the game, his character, to deliver the rest of the message.
“How can I be of assistance, m’lady?”
She almost smiled at that. It felt just like old times. Mackenzie directed her character in conversation and movements. “I need your help. What can you tell me?”
“First, let’s catch up. It took you long enough. I was starting to get worried.”
Julian was good. Better than she remembered. He’d gone to so much work to program Sir Galahad’s responses. She didn’t want to catch up. She needed the details, and she needed them now. But she would have to play along to get the treasure she sought.
She groaned. “I’m fine. How are you?”
Please, please ... just tell me the answers. I don’t have time for games.
“Broken leg. But I’ll live.”
Broken leg? But I’ll live?Wait. “Let me clarify. These responses are precoded responses. I’m talking to a program, aren’t I? Julian is dead.”
Like he would have thought to program a response to that. He couldn’t have.
Sir Galahad stepped forward and held out his palms. “I’m not dead. I’m sorry if you thought that. So sorry. I’ve been waiting for days to hear from you.”
“A friend told me you died.”
“It must have been a hospital mix-up. I can imagine who arranged for that. And I’m surprised that I survived. As soon as I woke up, I refused an IV and meds. Too much could be tampered with. We both know who’s responsible for my accident.”
Julian had suspected it was Nebulous 2.0 all along. “You believe the hit-and-run was deliberate.”
“Yes. I tried to warn you.”
“I got the QR code, but if there was a hidden message, more details, I didn’t see those in time.”
“You didn’t read the message inside the message.”
“By the time I looked, it was gone.”
“I couldn’t risk leaving it up.”
“What about now? Isn’t it a risk being here—and now?”
“We never told Nebulous 2.0 about our gaming habits. If I’d left the QR code up too long, he might have learned that much.”
Or had he already? Was she actually talking to Julian? It sounded like him. “How do I know it’s really you? He could have discovered the QR code and known about Knights Alliance. After all, he knew you would be at the carnival trying to contact me, hence the hit-and-run.”
“Good point.”
“Well?” Mackenzie held her breath.
“Critical Alliance.”
Relief whooshed through her. He remembered. They had always had a secret code between them—nothing too cryptic. Just a phrase that only they would know in case they needed to confirm their identities. She could only trust that Nebulous 2.0 didn’t also know. Though she believed she spoke with Julian, she would look for tells.
“What more was on the message, Julian? I’m desperate. Things are bad. I think Nebulous 2.0 killed Rowan by tampering with his pacemaker. Last night, he hacked into Nora’s car. Please help me.”
“Don’t worry. I only left you instructions to meet me here. You’re here now, and that’s all that matters. I’ve been waiting since I woke up in the hospital and could get on a computer.”
