"I gathered. Does she make them a lot of money or something?"
The technician made a disgusted noise. "Not that part. I mean she's different in her head. She's not like them. Her scans are too consistent. Not even a bot scans that clean every single day. She has a sense of humor, and she definitely has a personality. It's in there, but they won't let her have it." He took a long deep breath. "Brother Sinclair, you're the hand of God.Dosomething about this."
"A spoiled princess making enough money in a day to feed my entire apartment complex for a month? She's not exactly the definition of the type I'm meant to defend."
The man glanced up at the camera and said nothing for a few seconds. "Yeah, 'cept she's nothing like that. They're trying to fix the error, and when they do, she'll be reprogrammed. Do you have any idea what that means?"
Sin glanced at the monitor. "Yep. I do."
"Can you help her?"
Sin turned and looked in the man's face, his eyes flicking once to the camera then back. "I am the hand of God. I've been helping her. I think you need to worry a lot more about what they're paying you to do."
The technician nodded. "There's a reason I didn't lower the mask from my face, Brother. This room has no sound after hours."
"You monitor her scans for anomalies?" Sin asked.
He nodded. "Yeah, among other things."
"Let me know if today's trauma caused her any hardships?" He lifted his chin a bit, daring the man to say something more.
His eyes widened a bit, and he nodded. "Did you need a printout?"
"Nah. Just need to know if anything looks strange."
"I'd be glad to help, Brother. God trusts us all to protect those who cannot protect themselves."
"Amen," Sin told the man. "And keep that outfit. She almost looks human in it."
Then he looked over to Rissa. Meeting her eyes, he smiled before leaving her in the care of her technician, feeling better about her evening than he had before. Yes, he was leaving her to suffer a lot of misery, but only for a while. Just a few more nights, and if his plan worked, she'd get a little more freedom every day.
Walking into the deserted OutLink building, he climbed the glass staircase, shaking his head at how much things had changed. The last time he'd been here, he'd thought this assignment was punishment. Now, he hated leaving his angel behind.
It seemed working with a genius was a lot nicer than he'd expected.
Chapter Twenty-Four
At the top, two men still sat behind the decorative arch. Sin strode through it, expecting the green light of clearance. When the light flashed red, he reacted instantly, moving faster than either of the guards. The pistols slipped into his hands as if they were enhancements. The slap of his skin on the metal was loud in the hollow halls. One barrel was pointed at each of their heads.
"Sit the fuck down, and check that again," he snarled.
"You're not authorized for the executive level," the older of the two whimpered.
"I fucking am now. Tell Mr. Briggs I'm on my way, and he needs to see me."
The guard swallowed and nodded, deactivating the silent alarm. Sin smirked and continued on, glancing back before sliding his weapons into place. He passed a few more doors, then shoved open the next. A pretty girl behind the desk squeaked when the door slammed open and jumped back, her eyes wide.
"Where's Briggs?" he snarled.
"It's after hours," she gasped. "He's in a late meeting with the VPs."
"I shot six men tonight. Iwilltalk to him or I'll be shooting a few more, do you understand? Now, where is he?"
She pointed toward the office door. Sin simply shoved his way inside. Daniel Briggs and three other executives sat around a small table, their heads snapping up at his entrance.
"Meeting's over," Sin said.
"Legate," Mr. Briggs sighed. "I'm in the middle of something."
