Awaken (29 page)

I walked downstairs the next morning to find a party in the living room. I stared with shock at about twenty people, milling around, drinking coffee, the front screen door slamming open and closed. There were kids running around and dogs loose and I almost tripped over a soccer ball that suddenly rolled past my feet. A young boy ran up to me, grinned shyly, and kicked it away, disappearing down the hall, and another boy sprinted around the corner and yelled after him. I walked into the kitchen and Elaine was in there with about six other women and there were heaps of food spread out on the kitchen table. I felt a pang of guilt seeing this, because it reminded me of my mom and how much she would love all this noise and commotion. Elaine was talking and gesturing wildly and the other women were talking and I just watched with fascination. When Elaine saw me, she smiled and quickly came over to plant a huge, motherly kiss on my forehead. I blushed in return.

“This gorgeous young woman is our guest of honor,” she announced to her friends and quickly introduced me, rattling off so many names I couldn’t keep up, so I just smiled and nodded at all the friendly faces. Someone handed me a cup of coffee and before I could respond Elaine handed me a plate piled with muffins.

“Madeline, can you take these out back? Thomas is on the deck with Justin. You need to go introduce yourself, he can’t wait to meet you,” she encouraged me. The next thing I knew I was being ushered toward the back door.

I walked outside to find Justin sitting on a wide deck that overlooked the ocean. The waves crashed in the distance, just past a sandy hill scattered with some brush and stalks of weeds. Justin turned to me and so did the man sitting next to him, a man who had Justin’s build. He smiled and stood up. He had the same intense eyes as Justin, the same confident stance. I squinted up at him in the bright daylight.

“I see Elaine’s already put you to work,” he said, and grabbed the plate from me just as I was starting to tip it over. He shook my hand and studied me. He smiled broadly, like I was a close family friend, which made me uncomfortable since I was more like a family enemy.

“Madeline,” he said. “It’s been a long time.”

I stared back at him and creased my eyebrows. He was talking like he’d already met me.

“We’ve been looking for you a long time, is what I mean,” he told me, and I nodded. “Have you been given the full tour?” he asked. Justin and I both shook our heads and I watched the two of them, equal build, equal height, walk in front of me toward the house. Thomas gave his son a surprised glance. “You haven’t shown her the computer room?”

“I wanted to give you the honor,” Justin said. He looked at me over his shoulder. “It’s one of his toy rooms,” he said.

I looked back and forth between them and waited for the punch line. “You have computers here?” I asked with surprise.

“Madeline,” Thomas told me, “we may be backward in our ways but we like to know what we’re up against.”

I followed them down the hallway and he opened a door that led into a giant storage closet and food pantry. When I assumed the back wall was a dead end, Thomas pressed a code into a panel on the wall. One of the shelved walls swung open and a metal door appeared behind it, like the opening to a bomb shelter.

I stared at Thomas. Something told me this old Victorian house didn’t come built with a disguised, security-encoded entryway. He scanned his fingerprint and the door buzzed open. A narrow stairway illuminated as soon as Thomas walked through. I followed behind him and when we met the foot of the stairs I looked around at a room the size of a conference center. Screens filled every inch of wall space. Dozens of computers sat on white tabletops sprawled throughout the room. I walked past the screens and marveled at them, as if being reintroduced to a drug addiction. In the center of the room was a large circular table with four monitors spread out.

I ran my fingers along one of the keyboards and smiled to myself. It was like greeting an old friend that you’ve grown apart from. I wasn’t sure if our relationship could ever be the same again. My fingers and eyes had seen and touched so much in the past few weeks; it was strange to think this keypad and all these buttons had been my world practically my entire life.

I walked past the monitors and did a double take when I noticed a Cerberix on the table, plugged into one of the computer outlets. I studied it closer with disbelief. A Cerberix is decoding software, designed to infiltrate any website. It can tap into anything from someone’s personal bank account to a corporation’s most secured data files. The software could override any password or security code and find information whether it was in use, saved, or being transferred. I knew there were only a handful of people in the country that had access to one. I knew that because my father was one of them and a few years ago, I taught myself how to use it. When kids my age were chatting and flirting and going to digital concerts I was hacking into confidential government sites and downloading information.

“Where did you get this?” I asked, pointing at the
c
-shaped computer drive.

Thomas looked back at me. “I have ways of acquiring things.”

I was shocked at his easygoing reaction, as if we were talking about a new television model, not a stolen piece of highly specialized government equipment. I put my hands on my hips.

“Do you know what would happen if you were caught with this?” I asked.

“Certain and immediate execution, I suppose,” he said lightly, and I cringed since he was already “executed” once before. I stared skeptically between him and Justin. Did this whole family think they were immortal?

“I’m not too worried, Madeline,” he said. “I designed them, you see, so no one’s going to find out that I have a few extras lying around.”

“You designed Cerberix software?” I asked with shock.

“He invented it,” Justin said.

Thomas nodded. “Biggest mistake of my life,” he said with a sigh. He pulled a chair back and we all sat around the computer table. I stared at Thomas like he was part hero, part villain to invent something so controversial, something that allowed the government to spy on anyone they wanted.

“I was working at a computer engineering firm in Phoenix when I was Justin’s age. It was a company specializing in warfare communication. When I designed the software, I was told the program would be used by the military as a means of protection. We’d use it to hack into enemy sites and freeze their communication or try to intercept attack plans. This is when the U.S. was being threatened with nuclear attacks from China, before the Big Freeze in 2040.”

I knew about the treaty signed in 2040. Every country in the world with nuclear warheads came together and agreed to dispose of their weapons. It was the most peaceful day recorded in history. The treaty, still called the Big Freeze, has been signed every subsequent ten years and is in effect today.

“I was willing to do anything to stop the threat of a nuclear world war,” he continued. “That’s why I agreed to design it. But it turned out the software had nothing to do with safety. The government turned my invention into a giant spy system. They used it to monitor everything we’re doing. They know what we watch, what we eat, who we talk to. They can read every single chat message we write. There’s no privacy left. That’s the kind of power I gave the government.”

“But if you invented it, can’t you figure out a way to shut it down?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“By the time I realized what they were planning to use it for, it was too late. They owned every file I ever created. And I was so young back then, so trusting, I didn’t think of creating a loophole. It’s easy to put too much faith in technology and think discovery and innovation are always going to be a step forward. When you get too excited about the possibilities, you don’t stop to consider the consequences. Just when you get too cocky, life has a way of putting you in your place.”

“So, now you’re trying to make up for what you did?” I asked.

“Well,” he said, “I’ve found a way to use it for a better cause. A peaceful cause, as it was intended.”

“You’re using it to fight digital school,” I said, amazed to meet the man whose invention had such an impact on my own life. “But if you’ve had a Cerberix this whole time, why couldn’t you steal my dad’s files five years ago like you tried to?” I asked.

Thomas grinned. “That’s a good question. There are a few limitations to a Cerberix. They act as protection against other hackers. It’s like a permanent security guard. Since your father has one, there are only about a dozen people in the U.S. who do, and we hit a dead end. Two Cerberixes cancel each other out.

“When Justin and I realized your father’s files were accessed from his own computer, it made perfect sense. That’s the only way it would have been possible. No one could have broken in unless they got to his computer and dismantled the security themselves, which I assume is what you did.”

I shook my head because I didn’t dismantle anything. He raised his eyebrows with surprise.

“How did you do it?” he asked me with a grin. It was so strange to see someone proud of what I did. I’d only explained it once, to my father and Damon, and they weren’t quite as encouraging.

“When I was little, I always played in my dad’s office when he was working, because he was always working. When I got older, I’d read in his office and watch the news with him; it was the only way I could spend time with him. I watched him work on the computer, but he didn’t know I was paying such close attention. My dad sometimes used a dozen passwords to get on a single site. So I started memorizing what he did because I was impressed and I wanted to see if I could do it, like it was a game.”

Justin and Thomas both watched me with the same intense expressions.

“Kids always mimic what their parents do,” I pointed out. “It just so happens my dad is the
CEO
of digital school, so that’s what I tried to be.”

“But isn’t his computer sensitive to his fingerprints?” Thomas asked me, and it was true. The keyboard in his office only responded to his touch, which was another security measure.

“I used a MindReader to do it,” I said. “My dad bought one, when they first came out. Since I knew all of his passwords and where the files were, I just used the MindReader to access them.”

“Very clever,” Thomas said with a grin.

“It was easy,” I said. I stared back at him and wished this was the way my own father would look at me, with admiration in his eyes, not constant disappointment.

“Let me show you what kind of a difference you made,” he said. I hardly noticed Justin stand up and walk upstairs, I was too mesmerized by the charts and graphs and statistics Thomas was showing me on the monitors, the lists and profiles of thousands of supporters they gained after my Rebellion. I never knew the inspiration it motivated. My dad made it his mission to make sure I never knew. No wonder Justin committed nearly three years to track me down. He was right. I was the key they needed.

For the rest of the afternoon, Thomas showed me some of the research they collected on me over the past few years, where I was going online, who they thought I was. It was like watching a documentary of myself. For the first time in my life, I was proud of what I did. Maybe it wasn’t a mistake. It was just my way in the door, into a world in which I’d always belonged.

I glanced around at the sheer size of the basement. “What do you do with all this room?” I asked.

“Training, mostly. We bring in people older than me and younger than you who want to bring down digital school and start over again. Get this world back on a wellness plan,” he said. “We wait until we have about forty people to train and bring them all in at once.”

Thomas looked up when Justin came back downstairs.

“Maddie,” he said, “there’s somebody here to see you.” Before I could ask what he meant, a voice interrupted us from upstairs.

“Madeline, you’re here!” Clare yelled. I jumped out of my chair, almost knocking it over, and raced up the stairs to meet her. Clare stood in the kitchen next to Pat and Noah and I practically fell into her arms.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as we separated. I stared at the three of them with surprise.

“Justin told me you’d be here. I couldn’t believe it when I heard what happened,” Clare began rambling. Pat and Noah were already helping themselves to food, and people were still coming and going like this was a community kitchen.

“So much has happened,” Clare said. “First the whole power outage in Toledo – I could have guessed that was Justin’s doing.” She raised her eyebrows at him as he walked into the kitchen. My stomach did flips at the sight of him and I wondered if that sensation would ever stop happening every time he walked in the room.

“Then, we heard about the interception and how you got away from the cops yourself. How did you manage that one?” Clare went on before I could answer. “Anyway, we knew you escaped, but we didn’t hear anything from Justin for two days. What was
that
about?” Clare stopped to glare at him and he just wrinkled his eyebrows back at her.

“I didn’t know I had to check in with you for daily Madeline updates,” he said.

I looked over at Pat and Noah and asked them how long they’d be staying. Clare’s face fell when the question left my lips. Noah rolled his eyes.

“Kid, I can’t live at home forever,” he said. Clare shook her head.

“It’s stupid, Noah. You haven’t even finished DS four,” she said. I looked between her and Noah for an explanation.

“Noah desperately wants more band groupies,” Pat offered.

“No, well, yeah,” Noah said and he looked back at me with a grin. “My band and I are moving to L.A. Pat’s coming with me.”

“Los Angeles?” I said with surprise.

Clare pouted. “Not only is my brother leaving, but he’s taking his band and stealing one of my best friends,” she whined. “And now you won’t be in Corvallis, which means Justin won’t. This year is going to suck.” Clare slouched down on a chair next to the table.

I set my hand on her shoulder. “You’ll have Molly and Scott.”