The Girl Who Dared to Descend Read online

  I pushed the daydream aside and focused on what Leo was saying. “Why are you so tired?”

  “Well, after everyone fell asleep yesterday, I accessed the history and protocols of the Knights, learned that you could test out of the Academy, and spent several hours memorizing the course materials. I then went to my advisor’s office and declared my intention to test out. He offered me several dates, but I indicated that I wanted to start today, so he obliged me. I took all the tests first. I think he was impressed by my scores.”

  He moved back into his apartment as he spoke, giving me space to enter, and I did. The room was small, with Spartan-style furniture inside. Four twin-sized beds, one in each corner of the room, each flanked by an identical nightstand in a flat, gray color. At the foot of the beds were matching chests with digital keypads on the front. There was a row of narrow, locker-style doors on one side of the entry hall, and a door on the other side that led to the washroom. The kitchen and dining area took up the center of the small room, and was efficiency sized: one small sink, one refrigeration unit, one cooking element, and a handful of cabinets.

  I had never gotten the opportunity to stay in the apartments shared by transfers, because I had a home with my parents, which was more efficient. But as I looked around, I found myself wishing I had. Maybe it would’ve made me more of a people person.

  I returned my focus to Leo and saw him standing in front of the mirror, combing Grey’s dirty blond hair. My brows came together—that look was decidedly not Grey—but then I decided that it was okay. Maybe even better. It would help me remember that he wasn’t Grey. At least right now.

  “So that was a lot to unpack,” I said slowly. “I trust you’re being cautious and not testing too well?”

  “Of course. I kept my grades varied. Still within the top 10 percent, of course.” He beamed at me through the mirror, and I hesitated. It was good he was performing well, but I had to make sure he only achieved the rank of Knight Elite or below, just like Ambrose.

  “Your physical trials will be tomorrow?” I asked, and he nodded. “How do you think you’ll fare?” I knew Leo could fight; he had demonstrated as much when we were fleeing the Medica. But Leo had to be having some difficulties adjusting to being inside a real body, right?

  “Oh, very well, I assume,” he said with a pleased smile as he looked down at his body. “Grey took remarkable care of his body, and his strength and agility are great boons. With my mental acumen and reflexes, as well as several different styles of martial arts that I’ve studied, I think we should succeed with flying colors.”

  Disconcerted by how he referred to Grey both as an individual and as a part of him, I blinked—then tried to block it out and focus on the vein of the conversation itself. “What time?” I asked, stalling for a follow-up thought.

  “Eight a.m. Right around the time when Maddox will be taking her tests.”

  My eyes bulged in surprise, and then I smiled. “You guys got to this before I could even tell you about it. I’m glad; it turns out I’m going to need you to round out the team for the Tourney. Is Quess also at the physical trial?”

  Leo shook his head and ran a hand over his jaw, inspecting Grey’s face in the mirror. The sight threw me off, and I looked away, still finding it difficult to reconcile that he was Leo, and not Grey. It turned out that it still made me uncomfortable when he acted less like Grey. Something I was going to have to work desperately hard to get the heck over.

  “No, Quess has declined that route,” he finally said. “I believe he intends to do just enough here to get by, while dedicating himself to… other tasks.”

  He refrained from saying what task he was referring to, but I knew: Quess was making sure that Sanctum was getting packed up so that we could move our supplies as soon as Tian found us a new home. I owed him bigtime for it, and planned to let him know that. Soon.

  “How was your first day with Knight Elite Klein?” Leo asked, turning to me. He now looked presentable, but I barely noticed it, thanks to the irritated sigh that exploded from me before I could stop it. He cocked his head at me, his curiosity now spreading into concern, and I rolled my eyes.

  “Yeah, it was great,” I said. I didn’t want to rant, but it had been building up inside of me all. Damn. Day. Which meant Leo was about to experience his first human bitch-fest. Whee. “I had to spend thirteen hours with him, and he drove me insane. First at sparring practice, where he wouldn’t pay any heed to any of the things I pointed out unless I hit him over the head a hundred times. Which, admittedly, helped me feel a little better, but doesn’t change the fact that it wasted most of the time we had to actually practice. I mean, what kind of imbecile doesn’t listen to someone when they are trying to help them get better? An arrogant one, that’s what. And that’s what he is, Leo, a big, arrogant buffoon!

  “Oh, and then we went on patrol, and he made us stop so he could harass a group of kids for playing in the halls. He lectured them about every citizen’s responsibility to the Tower. ‘Halls aren’t for playing, children, they are for workers, and by impeding the workers, you are threatening the very safety of the Tower.’” I dropped my voice at the last bit, mimicking his voice, but repeating his actual words. I had been so livid, I had almost throttled him when one particularly small girl began to cry. “I managed to give the kids a chance to get out of there by yelling at him to shut up, but when I turned around to tell him where to stuff it, the smug, arrogant jerk had the nerve to look me in the eye and warn me not to undermine a superior in public, lest I get demoted.”

  I took a deep breath, and looked at Leo. His eyebrows were up and his mouth slightly open, his neck swiveling to follow me as I paced across the room. I realized that I was pacing, and stopped, let out an irritated breath, and tried to calm myself down again.

  “Sorry,” I said after my pulse rate had dropped a few notches. “That was a lot.”

  Leo smiled kindly, his eyes sparkling. “Lionel used to rant, although the experience is quite different now, under the circumstances. Did you know, my heart rate increased, and I felt this kind of tightness under my skin? This is tension, correct?” I nodded, and his smile deepened. “Fascinating. I am sorry to hear about your difficulties with Ambrose, though. Have you tried talking them out? Making these observations to him directly?”

  “Oh, believe me, I tried that,” I said, shaking out my arms to try to ease some of the stress. “I’ve learned that he doesn’t really excel at listening.”

  “That’s too bad. That will make your task much harder.”

  I chuckled, his matter-of-fact tone, laced with a thread of regret, amusing to me. He said it as if it weren’t the understatement of the year. The smile helped break some of the discomfort I was feeling, and I relaxed a little more.

  “Yeah, well, I’m glad you realized you could test out. I was going to ask you and the others to start working on it now. With Ambrose’s behavior and attitude in general, I’m going to need all the help I can get. I can’t trust a stranger as a teammate, so if you and Maddox can test out so I can get you on the team, then that’s one less thing I have to worry about.”

  Leo blinked and smiled tremulously. “You want me to be part of your team for the Tourney?” A moment later, his face fell. “But that means I have to score a seventy-four percent on the physical side so that I don’t get promoted directly to Knight Commander.” He looked up at me with rueful eyes. “I wanted to set a record.”

  His words were disquieting, and my immediate response was: it wouldn’t be you who would get the recognition. And that was a firm reminder that Grey wasn’t here. How would he feel when he woke up and found out Leo had set a record on his behalf?

  Luckily, I knew exactly how it felt. I had woken up to that—and recovered. And I would help him through it, as soon as he came back to me.

  Speaking of which…

  “Leo, how is Grey?” I asked, heart in my throat. “Any change yet?”

  “Not yet, I’m afraid,” he said. “I haven’t st
arted working on the connections to his long-term memory; there’s too much tissue to heal and regenerate first.”

  I shifted, his answer as disappointing as it was unsurprising. I knew I was expecting too much, but I just wanted to know that somewhere, under all of that damage, he was still there.

  “I don’t suppose there’s a way we could speed up the process, is there?” I asked, half bitter statement, half rueful joke.

  “Well, copious amounts of proteins and fats are needed to help me replicate neural tissue faster, but the ration cards restrict—”

  I jerked my head up at him and smiled. “I haven’t eaten dinner today, and I know a place in the Lion’s Den that’ll give anyone ranked ten a little bit extra. My parents used to take me there. We can both get one, and I’ll give you mine. Shall we?”

  “If you didn’t eat breakfast today, then shouldn’t you—”

  “I’m fine,” I said, ignoring my stomach’s indignant yowl. I just wanted to know Grey was all right, and if skipping a meal here or there meant finding out faster, then I was more than happy to go hungry.

  Besides, the Lion’s Den was perfect for why we were really meeting, which was to net Alex and fill him in on Leo and Jasper, and ask him to take a look through Scipio’s code for Jasper. I was worried about the AI, first and foremost. But also, we needed him. Grey and I had given him Paragon to analyze, and now that we had lost Roark’s notes, Jasper was the only one with the formula.

  But Leo needed him as well—because he was probably one of the other five fragment AIs that were used to make Scipio.

  It was a conversation that would require privacy and security. The noise within the Lion’s Den would provide better cover than even the most secure room in the Tower. Anyone following us would have to be inches away to hear us, and as long as we kept moving, we avoided long-range listening devices.

  Leo hesitated a second or two more, though, and then nodded, a smile coming to his face. “After you,” he said cordially. I turned and led the way.

  One elevator, a bridge, several turns through the twisting market stalls, and a short wait for our food, and Leo and I were walking and eating. Leo was picking apart grilled concoctions held in conical shapes by recyclable microfiber napkins. It was funny watching him trying to go back and forth between both cones, trying to decide which one tasted better.

  As we walked, he told me about the test, his first time sleeping, and his disappointment about the lack of dreams. He also let me know that Tian had slipped out earlier to begin her hunt for a new Sanctum. I hoped she was all right, but trusted Quess to net us if she failed to check in.

  Once he had finished his food, we took a moment to discuss how our net transmission was going to go down with Alex (just so Leo wouldn’t jump the gun and join in early), and then I started the call, ordering my net to put me in contact with my twin.

  The net buzzed on the inside of my skull as it connected, making me feel like my teeth would fall free, and a moment later, my brother’s voice filled my ear.

  Well, well, well, if it isn’t the hero of the Tower, the one and only Liana Castell. As I live and breathe.

  “Hardy har har har, you big doofus. I’m fine, thanks for asking, by the way. The parents would say hello, except I initiated a gag order on them, and then caught a twenty-one-hour nap, followed by readjustment to life inside the Tower. Is this line clean?”

  Of course it is, my brother’s voice informed me indignantly. I would never jeopardize your safety, you know that! And I’m sorry I didn’t ask how you were. I heard about the trial, so I assumed you were fine. Are you okay?

  I looked over at Leo and debated the safest possible answer. I was beaten and bruised from the fight in the Medica, emotionally drained from both my frustration with Ambrose and my concern over Grey, and mentally exhausted from trying to keep on top of so many different things.

  “I’m okay,” I told him, hoping my small fib would reassure him. I couldn’t afford for him to get worried now, not when I had so much more to talk about. “Listen, Alex, I have something important to tell you, and this is super top secret. You can’t even tell Mercury, all right?”

  All right, my brother replied instantly. You can tell me anything; you know that.

  I did know that. It was why I was okay with saying this at all. “Well, hold onto your hat, brother, because this one is a doozy.” I spoke in hushed tones as we walked through the market, knowing the implanted microphone would still pick it up, and told him about Lionel Scipio’s private office under Greenery 1. Then I told him about Jasper, and Leo now being inside my boyfriend.

  Alex was, by nature, a quiet person, and he remained silent as I talked, listening closely. When I was finished, several heartbeats of silence filled up the transmission.

  That is a hell of a lot to take in, Liana. I mean, I almost want to call you a liar, that’s how farfetched it sounds.

  “But…” I said, stopping there and knowing he would finish the sentence himself.

  But nothing. You sound like a loony toon. I laughed, and Leo gave me a curious look, but I just shook my head and waved it off. Alex waited until I stopped laughing before continuing. Unfortunately, I have no choice but to believe you. I mean, you’re crazy, but you’re not that level of insane, which means you are telling me the truth. Which is… wow.

  “Process faster, Alex,” I said, starting to feel paranoid. “We need your help. We need to find Jasper.”

  We? Wait, so you want to help Leo and recreate Scipio? I take it back: you are that level of insane.

  “Alex, shut up and listen for a moment. Jasper has the formula for Paragon, and we need that. But now that you mention it, Leo has his own reasons for finding Jasper, and a request of his own, which I’ll let him explain to you.” I met Leo’s eyes and gave him a little nod, so he could start calling Alex. “Leo is going to net you. Combine the lines, please and thank you.”

  My net paused for only one second, and then suddenly it was rattling around against the inside of my skull again, hard enough to make me grit my teeth.

  “Greetings, Alex Castell,” Leo said beside me. “And thank you for accepting my call.”

  Um, hello. My brother’s voice was hesitant and wary. You’re welcome. You have a request for me?

  “Indeed I do,” Leo said. “And do not worry, your sister and her friends also share your fears, and do not wish to join me in this task. Nor should they. But Liana promised to help me while she could, and I am taking advantage of that, and through her, you. I apologize for the clumsiness of our introduction.”

  I smiled. Leo was the only individual I knew who could make the most formulaic speech sound posh and charmingly natural. I wondered how my brother was handling it, and found myself eager for his response.

  That’s quite all right, he replied, and then paused. Dear god, did I just say “quite” unironically? Liana, where did you dig this guy up?

  “I already told you that,” I replied tartly. “Leo? Why don’t you just ask my brother?”

  “Very well. I am transmitting you a sample of the code we recovered from the Medica, one that is from the fragment known as Jasper. I’ve sent with it the timestamp of the data transfer, and the IP address of the terminal used. I would like you to track him down and let me know where he is being held.”

  Why? my brother asked. What do you plan to do with that information?

  “We plan to rescue him,” I informed my brother.

  “After Liana and her friends have the formula for their Paragon, she will give his program to me so that I can find out what he knows about himself and the others.”

  Okay, now I think you’re crazy.

  “Alex, please. Leo thinks the problems with Scipio are much worse than even you suspect. Finding Jasper could be critical to his mission. And, aren’t you just the least bit curious?”

  My brother sighed, the sound a tonal cascade of descending and ascending harmonics. Yes, damn it. But this is going to take some time. I’m under a lot of scrutiny
from the department—apparently the Executive has a real hate on for you, so I’ve been getting nothing but scut work for the past few days. I will have to be careful.

  “By all means,” Leo said immediately, concern thick in his voice. “I would never ask you to endanger yourself for my sake, and I am sure your twin feels the same way. So please, only do it if and when you are safe. I want to know, but that cost is far too high for my tastes.”

  My heart softened a little bit, and for a moment, in my mind, I heard the words as if they had been spoken by Grey. He was every bit as noble and kind as Leo in this way, his concern for others always taking precedence over his own goals. I don’t know why, but it helped, and I found myself smiling at Leo, though he didn’t notice.

  Okay, Liana. I think I like this guy. I’ll look into it as soon as I feel it is safe.

  “Thank you, Alex,” I replied. “Now listen, we’ve been on this call for a long time, and while I know you’re covering your tracks, I—”

  Have to go, I know. Look, you still owe me the full story on what happened at that trial. I also want to meet Leo and examine his net and terminal. I want to see exactly what we’re dealing with here.

  “Okay,” I agreed. “I’ll net you tomorrow with a day, and we can have lunch, okay?”

  Sounds good. In the meantime, be careful, twerp. I am not designed for vengeance, so don’t make me die trying.

  I smiled. My brother always had the best ways of saying “I love you,” even if he could be a jerk about it sometimes. “I love you, too.”

  We ended the call, and I looked at Leo, who was smiling crookedly. “Thank you,” he said, and then on impulse, threw his arms around me, hugging me close. For a second, I just… slipped into the embrace, my hands, eyes, and nose all telling me that this was Grey. But my senses snapped back before I could fully get into it, and I held the hug for a moment or two for politeness, then stepped away quickly, smoothing my hands over my uniform to cover my discomfort.