A Child Of Our Time (The Veil Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

DC.
    “There is nothing I can do, Lucius. The Court requires it.”
    “Goddammit, Alka.”
    “Look, if it comes to it, she can’t do it alone. Dr. Moule has to agree.”
    “Deborah is more than able to wrap Veronica around her little finger.”
    “Be that as it may, you’re just going to have to live with it.”
    She ends the call.
    Lucius kicks out at his desk, managing to rock it, an object rolling off and onto the floor. Calming himself he scoops it up. It’s a Rubik’s Cube with a sticky note attached—‘ Chill out! ’ and signed ‘ Rain .’ He peels off the note and spends a few moments fiddling with the cube, before leaving, puzzle in hand.
    Boyce and Moule are at the MBI control desk in the main lab area, feet up and sipping coffee, when Lucius stops by with instructions.
    “Round up teams one and two. Start the interviews. No excuses from anyone.”
    As Lucius heads on to the vault, Boyce and Moule exchange a quizzical look, before begrudgingly setting about the task.
    * * *
    The three MBIs sit in their cradles silently. Lucius appears at the chamber door, lingering for a moment before approaching MBI #3, the chair still before it. He plops down in the chair all forlorn, looking up at Three.
    “My name is Lucius. What’s your name?”
    Nothing. Three remains completely inert. He not surprised, and anyway he is not here for that. He is here for some alone time.
    Lucius halfheartedly fiddles with the puzzle some more. His father had had one from when they were first popular. This must be the third or fourth time around that they had become a craze. Though not given to such distractions, Lucius is soon hooked, turning the sides more quickly and confidently as the cube reveals its secrets.
    Ten minutes or so and he has a side complete. How can you only have one side? Surely it’s all or— . His hands twist and rotate furiously. There’s a method—he can see it. It’s just a matter of—
    “My name is Lucy.”
    The puzzle is vanished from his mind, replaced by the immediate need to process what Lucius considers to be two extremely pertinent facts. It is the voice of a young woman and its expression is profoundly shy.
    He slowly raises his gaze to the MBI.
    Complex, pulsating fractal patterns emerge all over its surface to form a psychedelic display. Lifting away from the surface, the patterns form sheets that shift and float.
    “Hello, Lucy.”
    The display rapidly becomes more elaborate, as if the MBI is on fire with some strange flame.
    The ‘flame’ extends upward, towering over Lucius. He is momentarily lost for words.
    Boyce and Moule rush in. “Three’s online—Jesus!” They both stop short at the doorway, gawping at the spectacle. Lucy’s display starts to flutter like a boiling liquid. It’s all Lucius can do to remain composed.
    “Leave us,” he says to Boyce and Moule. “Attend to the others.”
    Boyce and Moule back out, Lucius returning his attention to Lucy.
    “Don’t be frightened,” he says to her.
    The display calms.
    “Project your avatar. I’d like to see what you look like.”
    “I do not want to.”
    Lucius notes the shyness in her voice and the patterns seem to reflect her mood.
    “That’s alright,” he says to her. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Do you mind if we talk a while?”
    “No, I do not mind. What is that you have in your hand?”
    Lucius holds up the puzzle to show her.
    “A little closer, please.”
    He does so, turning one side of the cube to demonstrate the principle.
    A three-dimensional projection of the cube appears next to his, which he withdraws. The projection slowly rotates as Lucy examines it.
    “It’s pretty. I am to turn the sides until each is of one color.”
    It is becoming apparent to Lucius that her inflection is somewhat simple. The words she chooses, the way she forms her sentences, the pronunciation—her diction is notably different to that of JoJo and Eleanor.
    Lucy plays with the puzzle, but does