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She bent down, popping her head back in the vehicle. “I know why the hologram doesn’t work on Earth.”
“Why?” Nazyn managed to say despite his body tensing in the most curious way at seeing Darcy’s back bend like that; it sounded like a growl.
Darcy’s smile grew. “I’ll tell you–but you have to keep it secret.”
7
DARCY
“Iwould have never thought about that,” Nazyn said, as awed now as when Darcy had told him her theory about the hologram half an hour ago.
Was it wrong that she felt giddy because she’d thought of something one of the most brilliant minds in the universe hadn’t discovered yet? Even though it was such a small thing and he probablywouldhave found out about it eventually?
It didn’tfeelwrong, that’s for sure. Especially since he didn’t seem to have a problem giving her credit for it.
“If you hadn’t started work this week, exactly when you did, you wouldn’t have come to the Forum with me, we wouldn’t have had this conversation, and you never would have had the chance to tell me that,” Nazyn went on.
“The universe works in mysterious ways.” Darcy beamed at him, which was really easy to do. She was happy, he was happy, and though he clearly had the heart of a scientist who spent too much time in the lab and not enough interacting with, you know, others, Nazyn was gorgeous. There was no other way to say it–he was a fantasy come to life. And her boss, which Darcy needed to remember. “And you would have figured it out eventually. You’re Deruzian, you haven’t dealt with something like that until now. It’s only logical that you hadn’t come up with that idea. Yet.”
“As I’ve heard the humans say, thank you for yourconfident vote.” He laughed and it sounded so nice, Darcy didn’t have the heart to correct him. She also loved the fact that he seemed to be able to poke fun at himself.
Whatever had happened during the ride from the city, Nazyn had relaxed. He was laughing, using normal words, and even his jaw had unclenched. She had a feeling they would work well together.
Which was great, because after her last job, the last thing she needed was an egomaniac.
They entered a narrow road, flanked with more beautiful trees and bushes. But it looked different than the wild, unruly forest that had kept them company so far. The shrubbery here was perfectly cut, the bushes planted exactly three feet apart, and all the firs looked identical. Someone had taken great pains to make everything look perfect. Even the pebbles at the edges looked to have been placed in the perfect haphazard way.
After a few minutes of ideal wilderness, a great big hill appeared beyond the tops of the trees. Embedded into one side of it was the fanciest hotel Darcy had ever seen. Its beige and gray rock walls faded into a green cobblestone roof that blended perfectly with the towering mountains beyond it. It had four towers, their spearing tops flecked with snow. The side of the hotel overlooking the snowy valley beyond it was completely made of glass.
As Nazyn stopped the vehicle in front of the entrance, Darcy spotted a pool beyond the glass, on the third floor. Oh, she could be checking that out as soon as she had the chance. She loved swimming and hadn’t had a chance to do it since The Asshole. Pools were few and far between in the city and regular membership to one cost about half a kidney; Darcy preferred to eat.
Her heart skipped several beats as she got out, inhaling deeply. The cool air of the mountains, infused with the tangy smell of fir, felt amazing to her city-altered lungs. She spotted a trail just beyond the valley, winding between the snow-covered trees, with a quaint little bridge in the distance. She was definitely going on a hike when she got a chance.
Until then…she couldn’t quite believe it.
She was at the Forum. Fifteen year-old Darcy would have just died. Hell, just last year Darcy thought she’d have to give her up robots and codes and find another career.
But she washere. She’d get to listen to the greatest minds and see the latest innovations. Darcy wasn’t “too good” to fangirl about this event, no matter what The Asshole had always said.
You’ll never make it without me, that slithering voice said in her mind. It always had a knack for showing up when she least wanted it to.
Darcy exhaled deeply, her breath turning into vapor.
Nazyn came around the silver bullet of a vehicle and looked at her with an amused stare. “I still can’t believe it. Humidity. Of all things.”
“Yep, it’s always the little details that trip you up,” she said. As soon as she’d stepped out of the vehicle–silver bullet, the most amazing ride of her life, whatever–to take off her coat and saw her puffs of air in the cold, she knew. “Humidity leads to signal attenuation, even with the good-ol’ Internet. Since you basically need a perfect network connection for the hologram to show every detail, when it’s humid, it can’t work. Deruzia must be super dry.”
“Drier than your Sahara.” Nazyn flashed a grin and picked up his luggage, a leather satchel that had seen too many adventures to count. “The sand sucks up every drop of moisture, even the ones in your body.”
When Darcy leaned down to grab her own backpack, Nazyn beat her to it and picked it up. Wow, talk about Deruzian speed. He was insanely fast.
“Thanks, but I can carry it,” she said, though her shoulders were already extremely happy not to have to lug the backpack around. She’d packed half her wardrobe in it; which wasn’t much, granted, but still.
“I am physically stronger than you. It’s only logical that I carry it, no?” he asked.
Darcy nodded and giggled all the way up the marble steps of the hotel. But her laugh died on her lips as soon as the doorman opened the massive wooden doors.
The lobby waspacked.
