The Girl Who Dared to Think (The Girl Who Dared #1)

The walls dimmed slightly for a second. “All right. I will analyze it and store it in a private server I created for myself. No one knows that I have it, so it will be safe there, even if they dismantle it. I can’t promise that I won’t lead the Medics toward any relevant information that I discover there, but I will destroy the pill. Will that make you more comfortable?”

I looked at Grey, and he immediately shook his head no. Biting my lip, I gave him an apologetic glance before reaching into my pocket and pulling a pill out—I grabbed from my stash, unwilling to risk one of Zoe’s just to give him the weaker dose. I held it out, and something small popped out of the wall in front of me, revealing a slot. I pushed the pill through it, praying I was doing the right thing.

I knew Grey wasn’t going to understand, but there was something about Jasper that made me want to trust him.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell the Knights,” Jasper said, his voice resplendent with irritation. “Believe me, I’ve noticed all sorts of problems in this system since being activated, and the doctors I am supposed to be assisting don’t seem to care about the suicide rate, or their own inability to keep some individuals’ numbers consistently high for extended periods of time.” He stopped suddenly, and I looked around, wondering if he’d maybe gone offline. “I guess I’m just saying that I was designed to save lives, not aid in murder. I’ll help you.”

“Really?” I asked, feeling surprised. “That would be... I mean... Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’ve created a path for you to your friend’s room, and given you special permission to enter. You need to get in and get out, and don’t stop for anything, because I can only hold back the alarms for so long. You understand?”

“I do,” I replied, barely able to suppress the thrill of success I was feeling. We’d gotten in... and gotten something rather incredible.





33





“Do you really think this computer is on the level?” Grey asked me as we followed the green indicator lights on the floor. I looked around. The hall here was empty, but the curve of the walls made it impossible to see more than twenty feet ahead.

“He’s different,” I said, my voice whisper-soft. “It was one of the first things I noticed about him.”

“He reminds me of Scipio,” he replied, and I looked over at him.

“He doesn’t sound anything like Scipio,” I informed him, thinking of the clipped, aristocratic voice that was generated in my ear whenever Scipio handed out orders. “I mean, he acts like Scipio, in a way, but his voice is completely different. And as far as I can tell, he really does care about people. Didn’t you hear the disgust in his voice when he talked about the suicide rate?”

“He’s a computer. I mean, Scipio is too, but he’s far more advanced, far more complex. Jasper was probably just designed to sound human. For all we know, those responses are based off parameters to get your enemy to trust you, and these lights could be leading us directly to a Knight’s station!”

I bit my lip to keep from giving him a sarcastic reply, partially because I didn’t want to risk starting a fight between us, but also because he was right. My interactions with Jasper made it seem like there was something more to him, but Scipio was the only AI in the Tower. There were other computer systems that were interactive, and some seemed personable, but at their core, their responses were based on an algorithm. There were no parameters for creativity on the part of the computer.

Still, I felt strongly that Jasper was different. I didn’t know how, and I couldn’t explain it, but I believed he was more than a series of programmed responses.

The green lights veered off into a side hall, and I followed them as they directed us toward a door leading to the staircase. Grey walked beside me, his hands in his pockets, but his eyes darting around, his shoulders hunched over.

“Relax,” I told him, trying not to give away my own nervousness. I checked my wrist by habit, and the nine was still there. “You look like a criminal.”

He rolled his eyes, but wiggled his shoulders slightly to work some of the tension out, and I pushed open the door into the stairwell. The green lights followed the steps up, and so did we, around and around and up.

“He led us up the stairs,” I announced after a moment, and Grey looked over at me, surprise and confusion flickering over his face. “Jasper. He’s making us take the stairs. Because he knows if we get scanned in the elevators, the Tower will be on alert.”

“He would’ve known that if he led you to the elevators, you would suspect a trap.”

“A machine that can think? So he is an AI after all?”

Grey shot me an annoyed look, and I smiled, pleased that I had found a partial flaw in his argument. Truthfully, though, his doubts about Jasper were making me nervous, and with each step I took up, I became more torn between the need to rescue my friend, and the need to turn tail and run. Because Grey was right—I was putting my trust into a computer that I had barely interacted with.

Even as it was happening, it all felt too easy. Like he had been too easily convinced. Which meant that he might not be on our side, and might very well be leading us into a trap. It took every ounce of my willpower to keep myself moving forward, and even then, it wasn’t my trust in Jasper that propelled me, but hope.

We climbed up four stories, and as soon as we drew near a door at the top of the landing, it clicked open, allowing us entry. The lights in this hall were significantly dimmer than the ones on the other levels, and I immediately sensed that this was the right area. It was too gloomy, too depressed, too devoid of color to be anything but where they held twos. And now threes.

The green lights, dimmer now, led us down the hall to our right, and I followed them as they curved around. Another left and right, and the lights dead-ended at a section of wall where a doorway stood.

Slowing, I looked down the hall behind us, and then back up ahead. I couldn’t hear anything coming from either direction, but the stupid design of this place made it difficult to tell whether we were alone. Grey didn’t seem to notice, and drew nearer to the closed door.

He came to a stop in front of it, facing the doorway.

“I really hope Jasper remembers about the door,” I heard him say as I turned and cast another glance down the hall behind us. “Because if not, I— Oh. Hello.”

A click sounded, and I turned just in time to see Grey’s expression change from surprised to fearful in front of the opening door, and then the next thing I knew, he was down on the ground with Zoe’s small frame straddling him, her fists flying.

“You killed my best friend!” she screamed, lashing out, and I winced at the loud noise as it went reverberating down the walls. Grey got his arms up over his face to protect his head, but Zoe didn’t seem to care as she let loose, her fists smacking loudly against his forearms. I started to move toward her when, to my surprise, Eric stepped out of the room and plucked her gently off of Grey.

Grey groaned as her weight was removed from him, his arms lowering. And then Eric’s heavy foot came down on his chest, pinning him in place.