“You have me.” Modesty? She didn’t usually expect that from the man. “Maybe not my help, but someone else’s? We could be boots on the ground for you.”
“I have this,” she insisted. No doubt, no fear. She could do what needed to be done, it’d be easy. “In fact, I don’t want everyone else risking shifting things unexpectedly and making it harder for me. Just take a breather.”
“Odd hearing you worried about the ripple effects of the Severity of Exchange.”
Jo shared a brief laugh with him. “Well, we all have to grow up sometime, right?”
“So I’m told. Still waiting for it to happen.” The conversation stalled, no more momentum to carry it forward, but Wayne persisted anyway. “You sure?”
“I got this.”
“Because we’re a team and—”
“Wayne, I got this.” Jo sighed softly. “If Takako can believe in me, can’t you?”
“Okay.” He shrugged. “If you need anything Missus Lone Wolf, you know where to find us.”
“I won’t hesitate.”
He could’ve at least made it look like he believed her. Made it look like he had faith she could pull it off. But Wayne didn’t give her the courtesy, and departed with a small pat on her shoulder.
“It’ll be easy peasy!” she called, but he was already too far to hear. “Yeah. . . Easy peasy,” Jo insisted once more to herself. She knew what she had to do; she’d even explained all the steps for Wayne. But even with the steps laid out before her in perfect, simple-to-follow pathways, Jo still couldn’t help but repeat them over and over, drilling them into her own head. She spared no effort in attempting to convince herself that this was just another day at the office. Just a few things to hack into, a few scripts to run, nothing major.
Jo’s hands were slick with sweat when she fumbled with her watch. It forced her to take a breath, and still her slightly trembling fingers to get it off. She was not unfamiliar with failure, but never before had she been so afraid of it.
She wouldn’t fail. She wouldn’t let herself even consider it. Lives were at stake, and Takako’s faith in her acted as both a balm and a boost of adrenaline. She wouldn’t let her down—wouldn’t let any of them down.
With renewed determination (and a roller-coastering confidence that she did her best to keep in check), Jo finally removed her watch and placed it on the recreation room’s side shelf.
The same impressive set-up of tech greeted her the moment she opened the door. In fact, it seemed even more elaborate this time—the desktop from her last visit updated with yet another monitor. There were also wall-mounted televisions giving a constant playback of Japan’s current news broadcasts (now serving as a reminder for rewound time). A cooler in the corner filled with RAGE ENERGY begged to be drunk. Even a comfy-looking futon was on one side, offering the promise of a brief reprieve should one be needed—and Jo was already bracing herself for that particular inevitability.
These rec rooms really knew how to provide.
With an almost running start, Jo threw herself into a rolling chair, wheels nearly skidding as she slid to a halt in front of her updated setup. As usual, her favorite programs were already up and running on a few screens; the others downloaded with software written in Japanese, though she had to blink a couple times to read it.
Over the last couple of months, her ability to understand both written and spoken languages outside her native tongue had become almost second-nature. Even though Jo had studied Japanese in school, she wasn’t always the best student (especially in any classes that didn’t deal with programming). It was almost as if she had to flip the switch from her mind trying to actively translate it, to allowing her passive magical ability to take over.
It looked like everything she needed to get started was right within her reach, just waiting for her to dive in. Which was why she couldn’t quite figure out the reason her hands continued to hover, trembling just slightly, over the keyboard.
She didn’t have time to doubt her abilities, or to feel overwhelmed and intimidated by the task at hand. She needed to have this hack pulled off yesterday, and instead, all she could do was stare at the news broadcasts hung on the wall above her head. Everything looked so normal, so peaceful in comparison to the footage they’d been forced to swallow for the last few days.
Somewhere in Shizuoka was Takako’s sister, her niece and nephew, all alive and well and completely oblivious to the oncoming disaster. A disaster that they had no way of stopping. But theydidhave a plan, and Jodidhave a chance to save their lives—to save thousands upon thousands of lives. So, despite the way her hands still quivered, despite the way her heart had taken up what felt like permanent residence in her throat, despite Wayne’s words stubbornly lodging in her mind, Jo got to work.
Within moments, she could feel it. It wasn’t just the sensation of her magic bubbling back to life, helping her see alleyways in the dark web or data-routes that seemed otherwise invisible, but her own confidence spiking.
This was her thing. It was the one thing that she could hang her hat on, be confident in, and no one else could take from her. It was the value she brought to the Society. She could tear down walls and shred any defense that kept her from her goal. Nothing could be put before her that she couldn’t break.
If anyone knew how to get these evac warnings put in place, it was her and no one else.
The rush of magic-fueled adrenaline was intoxicating, thrumming beneath her skin like the buzz of an electric current. Her eyes bounced from screen to screen, fingers setting up a constant staccato rhythm against the keys. Second by minute by hour, she experienced her plan unfolding.
It started with a quick hack deep into the Japanese government's residential databases and ended with complete control of all citizens’ bio bands—which Jo was very careful not to alter in any unnecessary ways. From there, it was simply a matter of uploading the evac codes into their wireless drives and waiting for the warning to go into effect. All dominoes lined up and waiting to be knocked over.
This time, as Jo took a breath and hovered a finger over the ‘Enter’ button, her hand trembled not with nerves, but with eager anticipation. She could do this; it would all work out. She’d covered all her bases, made sure every detail was accounted for. Now all she had to do was find a computer on the other side of the Door (with a USB port), activate the evac warning, and wait.
Wayne was sitting on a couch just beyond the Four-Way, heading toward the common room, when she crossed back toward her room, as if he’d been waiting for her. His eyes drifted up from the tablet he’d been thumbing and caught hers for a long moment. Jo gave a quick nod before he could say anything, and continued on.
She didn’t need help; she needed the USB from her room and the trust of her teammates. There wasn’t anyone else who could do this. It all fell to her and she wouldn’t fail them.
