“Have any of the attacks gotten through?”
Mendez scoffed. “Our cybersecurity team is very good.”
“That’s a no?” She raised her brow. That was what reminded her of Ash.
“That’s a no. There have been no successful incursions to our system since he did it.” He indicated Ash with a chin lift.
Portia’s lips pursed. Ash’s little trick wasn’t something she wanted to be reminded of. “You’re sure?”
“Double and triple checked. Ash even scoured the system.”
That was a relief at least. “And you’re sure they won’t get through?”
“There are no guarantees. But we dug into who they might be hiring as well. While they’re good, they’re not better than we are.”
“Is everyone on the cybersecurity team as confident as you and Ash are?”
His expression sobered. “Yes. And the team has been briefed on what to watch for and to report any suspected attacks by the Solveig Consortium immediately.”
That was smart. Somehow she didn’t believe that it was the head of cybersecurity who had made that decision. The man in front of her was definitely someone to watch. “How did you end up here, Mr. Mendez?”
“Same as everyone else, got caught by Tremaine Security.”
His words told the story she expected, but there was something off about his tone.
“I’ve got it!” Ash said. “Found the file. And a lot more.”
Portia left the question of Mendez hanging and hurried to peer over Ash’s shoulder.
Chapter23
“I foundthe original file I sent you. The short version is that it was an implant anti-rejection drug that showed promise, only to have devastating side effects.”
Portia placed a hand on the back of her chair and leaned over Ash’s shoulder. Staring at the screen, she quickly read the first page of the document. “And?” She waited for him to turn to the next page.
“It gets pretty grim from there. Want your chair back?”
“Yes, please.” Reading over Ash’s shoulder was too much like peering over her father’s on the rare occasions he actually spent time with her. She didn’t have time for bittersweet memories right now.
Relief swept through her after she and Ash changed places. This was where she belonged.
Her fingers danced over the keyboard—not as quickly as Ash, but she could hold her own. Tapping out a command, she turned one of the floor-to-ceiling windows opaque, transferring the file to the makeshift screen.
Ash whistled. “That’s a cool trick. Why didn’t you ever use it when I was here?”
“Because you didn’t need to see it.” Ash had access to way too many Tremaine secrets already. Not to mention, she’d had the experimental tech installed a few months ago after she’d purchased a small tech company. It saved her eyes when she was tired of staring at a small screen.
As she flipped through the file, she struggled to keep her breathing calm and her stomach steady. Ash hadn’t lied when he warned that the file contained gruesome images of the failed trial subjects.
According to the file, Vyne had been created several years ago as an anti-rejection drug for augmentations. It was designed to prevent the body from rejecting some of the more intrusive mechanical modifications, as well as computer–brain interfaces. Portia shuddered. Thankfully, she didn’t think that Aleks had received something like this after his surgery.
While the drug had been moderately successful at preventing rejection, the side effects had been too severe to keep it on the market.
“‘Drug produces unfortunate side effects.’” Mendez approached the window-screen and read the note just before the photos. “Yikes. That’s one way of putting it.”
The images showed a variety of limbs, all with green, vine-like patterns marring the skin. Some were just thin threads, while others showed excessive pigmentation. Once the vines appeared, generally users had a few weeks before their veins weakened and they died.
“‘Test subjects report euphoric highs,’” Ash read. “This is really fucked up, Portia.”
