Which meant she couldn’t invest in new equipment yet, either. There would be no room for it.
Vee ate her sandwich and set her plate aside.
She glanced down at her wristcon and petted it with a finger. She turned to Cypher’s file on the bed next to her and then to her Terraform Zero equipment.
The championship was two months away. She had three separate simulations running, each testing her abilities in the hardest way possible.
Yria, a predominantly water planet with primitive sentient life.
Then there was Okran, a planet much like Earth but with hostile giant carnivorous beasts, three suns, and low gravity.
And finally, Juntao, a desert planet with constant sandstorms and tornadoes but with enough fossil fuel and minerals to be a goldmine for any extraction company.
There was much more to each of them—ethics, environment, economics, and industry—but she wasn’t going to get into that now.
Vee flopped back onto her bed with a sigh.The last thing I can focus on right now.She chewed her lip, spinning her network bracelet on her wrist. She kept glancing at the door. A paper-thin door that wouldn’t protect her for long if someone wanted to get in.
Cypher.
A shiver ran up her back.
She needed to get him out of her head—the fake freaking troll, not the one she roleplayed now for her fans. Sucking her lip into her mouth, she loaded up her site, eyes darting straight to the top of the screen where her messages were.
Her brow furrowed. Two messages waited for her now in her inbox.
I’ve never gotten two before.All of her fan mail came to her through less personal ways.
She kept her identity hidden because it was safer that way.
Most of her followers assumed she was a boy—though some insisted she was a girl. Some thought she was an AI.They’ll all find out soon.Her true identity would be on millions of screens in several days.
If I can’t deal with one creeper, then how can I deal with many?Ugh.
She clicked the first message and swallowed, preparing for the worst.
I don’t know who gave you my information, or if you stole it for yourself, but you will pay for this. -Cypher
Go away!Vee deleted it.
She opened the second.
1803-B345 Webber Rise, New America, NV 89100. I’m coming.
Her heart plummeted into her stomach.He knows my address.
A bang sounded outside her door and startled her out of bed.
She dove for her phone and called the EPED but was put into a queue. Ending the comm, she tried for the security office of her building but no one answered. A chime filled the space, and she jumped again before pivoting back to sit before her holograms. Another message.
Not a message, a call.Unknown number.
It rang and rang, and she just stared at it.
It stopped, and she wrenched her hands into her bedding in relief. But then it started again.
Heckfire!She swiped the receiving line and answered.
Silence met her on the other end. Vee bit down on her tongue to keep from speaking first. She wasn’t going to give the fucker the satisfaction.
