“Jerry?” Ellie gets the impression she’s supposed to know who that is.
“Jerry Neeson. He got in at the ground floor of some tech start-up bent on disrupting aglets or whatever and now he’s vice president of product development or something.” Daniel adds, not helpfully, “More to the point, he’s the Chief Verifier. In his copious free time, he’s in charge of that vast bug-finding infrastructure you mentioned.”
“It’s a bit more than that now.” The Chief Architect nods. “He’s been wrangling the verifiers, architects, and builders needed to inspect the skunkworks. It’s a work in progress.”
“Oh!” A candy-like lightbulb glows over Daniel’s head for a moment before it disappears. “That’s why there have been so many maintainers popping in and out of the skunkworks.”
“You’re not involved?” The Chief Architect looks surprised.
“No, he doesn’t like me.” Daniel’s face darkens with a grimace. “I don’t know why. I mean, I’m not incompetent, and I’m basically innocuous.”
Daniel with a grimace, as it turns out, does not look remotely innocuous. At best, he is that full-grown buffalo, some fifty yards away, minding its own business that you desperately do not want to charge at you. As though this has just occurred to him, he casts the grimace off his face. He reverts to his baseline expression of vaguely befuddled.
“Basically innocuous.” The Chief Architect side-eyes him. “Really?”
He holds his hands up in surrender and mock pain. “Hey, I am a ripe heirloom tomato. I bruise easily.”
“No. You’re Jerry’s worst nightmare.” The smile on her face is radiant. “Can you design and install whatever you want into the skunkworks and get away with it for a while? With a team of builders, sure. How hard would it be for you to scare some builders into doing what you want?”
Daniel bristles at her insinuation. His eyes bulge but, for once, his muscles don’t.
“I thought I was supposed to be trustworthy.” His hands go back to his waist. “With all due respect, pick a lane.”
“You would never do it.” The Chief Architect’s tone is conciliatory. “Frankly, anyone who tried, there’s an outside chance you’d calmly break them down the way a soldier does their rifle.”
“Excuse me?” Ellie leans forward in her chair. “What does that even mean?”
“Nothing. Jerry is convinced this is simply a bug. That’s why I need you to look into it.” She hands Ellie a list of names, numbers, and locations. “Most of them are working on the audit. Maybe they’ll tell you something they won’t tell me. I’m sure Daniel will be on his best behavior. Or maybe it’d be more productive if he isn’t.”
“We should get going.” Daniel hovers over Ellie, scanning the list. “Most of them are staying in hotels. We should catch them before they go home.”
“One last thing, kids.” The Chief Architect holds up a hand. “Try to keep this quirk of the universe a secret. Yes, whether there is a group of maintainers wantonly rewriting the laws of physics is more important but, as Ellie pointed out, nothing about this exploit requires any knowledge of or skill in maintenance. If it becomes public knowledge, anyone will be able to use it to grab or learn whatever they want. Security through obscurity is all we have until we design, verify, and apply a fix.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Daniel straightens and clicks his heels with a vigor too enthusiastic to be genuine.
With that, the meeting is over. If only because Daniel is already gone. Ellie didn’t even hear him sprint up the stairs. She shrugs at the Chief Architect before she starts up the stairs herself.
CHAPTER 7
Keys jangle with a steady beat. Sharp thumps alternate with metallic clangs in unerring precision. That exactness is the only reason Ellie thinks Daniel is waiting for her, as opposed to having bolted off to another universe. When she turns the corner out of the basement, she spots Daniel just outside the front door, leaning—not slouching—against the doorjamb with an exaggerated casualness. Daniel does not slouch. His car keys flip twice before they land in his hand, and he throws them up for another double flip.
“What was that all about?” Ellie nabs the keys in mid-flip to stop the noise. “What is going on between you two?”
“I have no idea. We’ve never met.” Daniel stands up straight. “I had no idea she even knew me. Maybe Aunt Vera mentioned me.”
“Daniel…”She starts to play with the keys in her hands, then stops herself, her fingers wrapped tight around them.
“I. Don’t. Know.” For three words, Daniel is as loud as Ellie has ever heard him. “Maybe she really is pissed off at me for not telling her about that contraption. I’m hardly the only one who didn’t. Or maybe she’s having some fun with me. You know, big guy. Must be dangerous.”
“Sure.” Ellie nods, deliberately not pointing out that “must be dangerous” is basically everyone’s first impression of him.
“Come on. There’s a list of folks we have to talk to.” He holds his hand out for the keys.
She hands him the keys. They don’t make it ten steps toward his car before she stops.
“Wait.” Ellie reaches for Daniel’s arm to stop him. “Someone has tampered with your car.”
“How do you know that?” Daniel winces when Ellie’s eyes bug out and her face blasts “Are you fucking kidding me?” at full force. “Oh, right. It’s any machine in front of you, not only in the skunkworks.”
