Activated, p.18
Activated, page 18
“A sauna is a basic need?” I laugh.
“In Finland, we have a saying, ‘if sauna, tar, or alcohol can’t cure it, the illness is fatal.’” He smirks. “The number one threat in the Arctic is freezing, so yes, saunas are important.”
The car is warm, but I press my nose against the cold glass, letting the sensation reset my nerves. With every hour, we’re getting closer to Noble, and yet, this trip isn’t to entertain my heart. Time is ticking. The ISC needs Noble’s help. Cesare and Rafael are still missing. But I’ve also waited for three months to see him. My stomach tightens.
After another hour, the clouds split apart. We pass a private road, and a surge of frequencies crash and slosh like waves in an ocean. Adrenaline mixes with the frequencies in the icy air. Threats. Are. Everywhere.
My head twists from left to right as we cruise through the area. Hidden within the trees are cameras and sensors. Glints of unnatural light bounce with frequencies. This place is heavily patrolled. But Teemu and my dad are totally unaware.
I lean forward. “Teemu, what’s this area known for?”
“Scale Tech’s Arctic labs and data centers are in this area. At one time, they were open to visitors, but not anymore,” he says with a sigh.
The abuse of power arouses a lion in me, alive and awake. Ready to pounce. Bodyguards may call me rash, but where others see impulse, I see a path of numbers that carves a way through it all.
I think of Helsinki. Kai gets it. He knows the risks—no job is without them. No day is without them. But he also knew who he was and what he wanted. Me? It’s been three months since we broke up and I still don’t know what I want. Which reminds me, I need to know if Chan is back from his meeting. I text Harrison for answers.
Harrison: He’s not back yet. Hold tight.
Me: Okay.
I steel myself and take a deep breath. Chan wouldn’t have taken this on unless he was sure about it. I have to trust that.
Our driver turns down a narrow tree-lined road into a recently cleared driveway in front of a log cabin in the woods. I tap my leg furiously as we get our equipment from the car and Teemu explains the basics about the house. After we assure him that we don’t need anything else, he drives away.
My mind is a hornet’s nest of thoughts. We drop our things inside, except a backpack of supplies we’ll bring with us on our expedition. Then I open the garage where the snowmobiles are parked. “Come on, Dad. According to my calculations we either find his house in the next hour, or we sleep in the snow tonight.”
“Thank God for our heat-activated suits,” he says.
I check my coordinates then we hop on the snowmobiles and speed away.
The vehicle beneath me is a ghost moving over the ice as my numbers completely take over. As the sky darkens and the temperature drops further, the phantom frequency boomerangs around us in the forest, whizzing through the crisp fresh air. However, that is not what I’m tapping into—a melancholic hum trails in the air and it’s getting stronger. After a while, I slow down. My internal compass goes wild.
I feel his frequency. I feel him.
I slow down and my dad pulls up beside me. “Let’s stop,” I say to my dad. “Ditch the snowmobiles. We go on foot from here.” I don’t want to alert Noble.
“Jo, it’s getting dark. We may need them.”
“We’re close enough,” I say, tightening my backpack. “We’ll come back for them. Let’s keep going.”
I trek through the snow, warmer than ever. But I’m shaking. My dad comes up beside me. “Are you okay? You look…”
“I’m fine,” I say, even though I’m not. I’m confused, hurt—I’m about to see Noble and on top of that, a negative frequency lingers in the distance.
We tromp through the woods and reach a clearing up ahead surrounded by trees. My memory starts to spark. I’ve been here. In the snowflake simulation. The area behind the trees that I wanted to reach in the simulation is now spread out before me. I can even make out a group of structures.
I did it. I found Noble’s refuge.
Chapter 35
I TRACK THE path like a wolf.
Darkness changes the landscape, but it’s nearly the same as the sim Noble created for me. My stomach buzzes with warmth and fear.
We carefully climb down the snowy hill, past the trees until we enter the clearing. Tucked behind a row of trees, there are a few tiny outbuildings off to the side, but in the middle, there’s a beautiful wood cabin connected to a large Aurora Dome, a glass structure with a dome shaped like an igloo.
I shake my head. Of course Noble wouldn’t have anything less than an Aurora Dome. A strange smoke-like substance curls from the chimney. Biofuel, I’d bet. Solar panels line the roof. From just a glance, everything on this property is custom made, upgraded and built to withstand a blizzard of a hundred years.
We trudge through the snow, passing the first structure. When my dad pushes open the doors, it’s hot and steamy inside. “Look at this,” he says. “If nothing else, we can sleep in here.”
I step over and glance in. Scents of basil and tomatoes fill my senses. It’s a greenhouse…in the Arctic. But it’s like no greenhouse I’ve ever seen. A unique heat lamp is radiating a variety of colors. He’s experimenting, mimicking vegetation growth in space—and it’s working. There are vegetables, fruits and herbs of all kinds.
I continue toward the house. The fresh snowfall has blurred the tracks on the ground, but I swear the outlines indicate two different sized footprints. Thankfully I don’t need footprints to know this is Noble’s house. I approach the front door. A large piece of stony coral sits dusted with snow on the doorstep.
I knock. No one answers.
I’m tempted to imagine he sensed I was coming and fled the premises. But I don’t believe that. He’s here, waiting for me.
I try the door—it’s locked. Knowing Noble, I already tripped his security system, but judging by the door handle, there’s a way in without a key.
Although he could be in any of the structures, this house is where he spends his time. I want to enter this place alone.
“Locked,” I tell my father. “Can you look for a key in the other buildings? I’ll look for a way in here.”
My dad agrees. He has the same idea I do. It’s dark now and we have to get inside one of these buildings before nightfall, or we’ll freeze.
I’m fairly certain Noble won’t mind if I break in. He broke into my sims—he certainly shouldn’t be angry about this. Besides, I’m going to have to recharge my suit soon.
I pick up the largest piece of coral. I have an inkling of what his style of key would be like. Turning the coral over, it’s obvious he’s done something to magnetize it. I set it against the doorknob and smile at the buzz. With an electrical pop, it opens. I step inside, ready.
First, there’s a mudroom where a picture of the Sahara hangs near a chair covered in a pattern of fractals. Then there’s another door. It’s not locked, which means he could be nearby. He probably doesn’t get many visitors.
Weaving through the cabin, I laugh quietly. It reminds me of the tents in Douz. Beautiful wooden walls and tables. Plush rugs and soft wool blankets. Everything is luxurious and beautiful and useful.
The living room is warm. There’s a skylight in the ceiling, built to watch the northern lights, the stars, and the moon. My skin tingles inside this home. It’s so familiar and yet otherworldly. Noble’s created something brilliant. He always does. I wish I could sink into the couch, wrap up in a warm blanket and watch the aurora borealis through the glass dome. Teemu said there’d be a show of auroras tonight…but then reality comes crashing back. The ISC launch is tomorrow. If Palermo is planning something, we don’t have long to avert a potentially deadly crisis.
Thoughts trickle through my head as I make my way deeper inside. What if Noble won’t help us? What if he’s angry that I’m here? After all, he told me not to come.
I pass a bedroom. His scent is there but his frequency is not. His belongings are few. Mostly books, lots of tech, journals.
I wander further into the house. Another small room is outfitted as a gym. Martial arts books lay open on the floor. Kung fu training bars are stacked on the ground. Dear God. Apparently, I have a type.
Finally, I find the equivalent of the tech tent, but far beyond what I saw in the tents in Tunisia. Videos. Plans. Blueprints. Charts of frequencies. Pages of equations. Telescopes and lenses of all kinds. The facial recognition software is also set up. Five screens of surveillance are going at once. Audio recordings, too.
Tucked into one screen is a picture of me in Tunisia. I’m sitting in the desert on a sand dune at dawn, gazing toward the horizon. That was before I knew who he was. Before my life got complicated.
I close my eyes. There is no sound, but a frequency enters the room, followed by the scent of fire smoke and cardamom. Numbers cascade down my back. I turn around slowly as a figure appears in the shadows across the room.
A voice I’ve longed to hear speaks into the darkness.
“Hi, Digits.”
Chapter 36
AFTER 3 MONTHS, 5 DAYS, 28 minutes, 41 seconds of waiting, the boy I’ve longed to see—since he dropped me off at the freeway entrance with Qadar—is in front of me.
I expect him to come to me, but he doesn’t. He stays in the dark corner, as he did in the Bardo Museum. Shadows affect our ability to use numbers to read people. Is he hiding something?
“You found me.” He stands still across the room, the dark shrouding him like a curtain. His feet shuffle on the rug, taking in my new appearance. “You shouldn’t have. I told you not to.”
My numbers glitch like I don’t know if I should scream or cry or laugh. I want to ask why he’s hiding. I want to ask him a hundred things. Instead, I blush. I didn’t realize how embarrassed I’d be, standing here. How vulnerable it is to seek someone out. Especially when they don’t want you to. No matter how smart or strong we are, our hearts don’t always follow the rules.
Even if I don’t know what I truly feel for him—I came here because I thought I could be truly known by him. Or I came because the world needs him. Either way, I step closer to the light where my face is fully exposed. “I came a long way to find you.”
His breath hitches, but he doesn’t move.
Another step closer. “Why don’t you come out?” I ask. He doesn’t answer. I steady my eyes on the shadow. “We need to talk. There’s something wrong. I was sent to find you. We need your help.”
I sense the motion before he moves. Then, his voice again. “Is that the only reason you came?”
“No…” My voice trails out. In two seconds, the vibrations in the room shift.
“No surprises after this…” he says, the shadows fade as his figure emerges. Soon, we’re facing each other, standing in the light.
Then, we see each other. Really see each other. In a way only we can do. His skin is not suntanned like the last time we met, but a pale brown, making his mahogany eyes seem darker. His brown hair has grown out, sweeping against his jawline. He’s just as striking as the first time we met, but this time his beautiful full lips hold a sadness that wasn’t present in Tunisia.
Our numbers trace each other’s movements, gauging each other’s intentions and reactions. He’s right. There is no surprising each other anymore. He’ll know before I take a step. I’ll know which part of him will move first, his arms or legs. Right now, all I can think about is how his whole body is focused on me. His posture longs to lean into mine. The mystery of us is real, even if our emotions are tinged with fear.
The warm house is such a stark contrast from outside that soon, I’ll need to take off this suit. The phantom frequency skitters across my mind. It pulses a warm heat inside me before it vanishes. Noble doesn’t seem to notice it.
I had believed that the phantom frequency could be of Noble’s making, but standing in front of him, I know it’s not him. I’d see the equations from him or in this room. But there’s nothing except Noble’s familiar frequency I saw in Tunisia.
He steps closer the moment I do. I extend my hand but his reaches mine first. It’s like a game. A game we’ve never played. We laugh shakily.
But even with numbers in the room, Noble is hiding everything he can. He’s pushing against my ability that he knows is assessing him even as he moves closer. A whirlwind of equations, a storm of emotions, a hint of sadness—he holds it all back as if building numerical walls around himself. What is wrong?
As kids, our gift is what drew us to each other. Two people who could read each other in ways no one else could, holding nothing back, accepting each other.
He senses my dilemma, and shakes off whatever fear lurks inside him, and stands straighter. Despite the heat from my suit, I’m trembling again.
My dad is outside. I should go find him, tell him that I found Noble. Instead, I step closer. As I do, thoughts of Kai war somewhere in the back of my head until Noble brushes away the hair that falls in his face. His numbers are loud and clear now.
His gaze trails my face from my eyelashes to my lips. A girl doesn’t need numbers to know what his next move is. He wants to kiss me. My heart hammers in my chest just knowing he’s thinking about it.
We’re face-to-face now, but both of us are cautious like we’re stepping onto thin ice. He touches my lips gently with his finger. Frequencies of lightning and starlight strike me, just like his lightning tore up my life in Tunisia.
He moves in so close, my back is now against the wall.
“I’m glad you came anyway,” he says, nearly out of breath.
“Me too.” My voice is a whisper. “I need to ask about the satellites…” A chaotic burst of numbers fly at me, warning me of approaching footsteps, but I don’t respond because I’m too lost inside Noble’s numbers.
He tilts up my chin. “I’ve waited a long time to do this.”
His warm hands are on my face, totally disregarding the numbers charging at us. Kai’s voice rings somewhere in the back of my head, along with a creaking floor in the other room…but for the moment, it’s just us.
He leans down, his lips so close to mine. I close my eyes—then numbers hit me. Hit us.
Our eyes barely snap open. Two men barge into the room along with a cold breeze. Two men?
The man I know races to my side. “Jo!” My father’s hands fly to Noble’s shoulders, yanking him away. For a second, I think my dad is going to try Kai’s kung fu moves on him. I groan. The moment is shattered like thin ice. To be fair, all my dad could see was that I was pinned to the wall…
“Are you okay?” he asks me. Noble backs away.
“Yes, Dad.” My face burns red.
My father assesses the situation, understanding crossing his face. “Oh, um, right.” He narrows his eyes on the boy now standing at attention. “You must be Noble.”
Noble clears his throat, his face flushed. “Yes, sir. Nice to meet you.”
I’m about to speak when the man behind my father emerges, and my jaw drops.
I almost don’t recognize him. His black hair is loose—not slicked back like the last time I saw him—but much thinner now. The mustache is gone. His jaw is clean-shaven. His green eyes are the same, though lacking the chilling gleam I remember. He gives me a crooked grin, then spreads his hands wide open in front of him—to show he’s got all cards on the table.
“Ciao, Mila. King’s lucky girl. We meet again,” the man says in a thick accent.
I stumble back, my mind flipping through memories of underground conversations with this man’s son in the Pratt.
My gaze shoots up toward Noble. “What is he doing here?”
It’s Cesare Di Susa.
Chapter 37
THE FIRST NIGHT I met Cesare, the Shanghai wharf had reeked of everything foul, but Cesare was the worst of all. Angry numbers oozed from his pores and tension fueled the air. He agreed to every wicked scheme King proposed without flinching, but never asked questions. I thought Cesare was a coward looking for fast cash, but looking at him tonight, it’s clearly not the case.
Cesare’s sharp brown eyes fix on me now with the same resolute gleam as the night we took down King at the Pratt. We’d had an intense conversation with the international police. In exchange for a plea deal, he’d give up his contacts and agreed to never again touch a life of crime. At the time, I believed him. Bai took him into custody and has been in charge of his case ever since. I’ll give him one chance to explain.
Cesare removes his gloves while my numbers attack him for information. His orange parka and rubber boots have snow on them, which means he was already outside when my father found him. In a bright orange expedition suit that’s puffed out like a marshmallow, he looks more like a sour grapefruit than the menacing crime boss I met in China. But it’s hard to care when the weather outside can kill you in less than a few minutes without the right clothes. A smile curls up on his chapped lips. I’ve never seen any form of joy on this man’s face before. It’s the first time this piece of slime reminds me of his son, Rafael.
I march up to him. “Cesare Di Susa,” I say without hiding my irritation, “you’re not where you’re supposed to be. Neither is your son.”
“An unfortunate hazard of my past,” Cesare says, tightening his lips. “Despite the unlucky circumstances, I’m glad to see you. I assume you got my son’s message?”
“Where is Rafael?” I demand as my mind calculates for any immediate danger or traps, like a cop searching for weapons, but I detect nothing but ill-wrought ideas brewing and bitter regret.
His eyes flit to Noble’s, then he huffs a regretful laugh. “Let’s sit by the fire,” he says nervously. “I’ll prepare some coffee. We’ll talk.”
“I don’t want coffee. I want answers,” I say, in his face now. “Your son asked me for help. And we had a deal—one that you broke. From what I can tell, you’re about to break it even more. I should call Bai right now.”
