Reality Hack Read Online Free PDF Page A

try.
    ~~~
    ‘So, what’s the assessment?’ The speaker was a woman in her middle years but still fit and attractive, if a little tired around the eyes. Her hair was grey, but that was more to do with stress than age. She was watching Nisa, back in the gym, on a monitor.
    ‘Physically she’s recovered well,’ Sandra said. ‘She’s fit, exercises regularly. She seems to be taking what’s going on in her stride. She’s inquisitive, obviously, but she’s also observant and retains information well.’
    ‘Magically,’ Norbery put in, ‘she’s off the chart. The System seems to like her. She’s got the highest tolerance for Probrum I’ve ever seen, enormous potential. She’s clean. There’s no indication of influence or malefic activities. The difficulty is going to be her… nature. She doesn’t have a style; she sees magic as… as hacking reality.’
    The grey-haired woman gave a grunt. ‘Not far from the truth. So she just wills things to happen?’
    ‘There seems to be some thought-forms involved, but that’s about the size of it.’
    ‘Kellog? You’re going to have to teach her.’
    ‘She talks too much,’ Kellog said from his place leaning against the wall beside the office door.
    ‘You don’t talk enough,’ Norbery commented.
    ‘More to the point,’ the woman said, ‘you need a new partner and getting one any other way is a pain in the arse.’
    Kellog sighed. ‘If she’s as powerful as Frank says, then we’re going to have to take her on. Reprogramming may not work. She may say no, of course.’
    The woman behind the desk looked down at the monitor again. ‘For her sake, I hope she doesn’t.’
    June 13 th .
    Nisa was putting her exercise gear on in the hopes of going to the gym again when the door opened and Sandra walked in.
    ‘Forget that,’ the nurse said, tossing a bag onto the bed. ‘Put those on. You’re going to see the chief.’
    Frowning, Nisa dug in the bag, finding a pair of dark jeans and a cream blouse, and a pair of knickers which were really, really not the kind Nisa would have selected herself. She grimaced.
    ‘I know it’s not exactly your style, but I had to make do. You can’t go in athletic knickers.’
    ‘The jeans aren’t bad,’ Nisa relented. ‘I just wear skirts a lot.’
    ‘I had no idea what size bra you took either… Maybe I should’ve got a darker blouse.’
    ‘I’ll be fine. I don’t wear bras much either. Exercise or bed, mostly. My boobs’ll probably be down around my knees when I’m thirty, but I’ve never liked the restriction.’
    Kellog walked in as Nisa was doing up the buttons on the blouse. He looked her up and down, noted her high-heeled clogs with dispassion but a slight pause, and then glanced at Sandra. ‘A darker blouse might have been appropriate.’
    ‘I know,’ Sandra whined, ‘but I was in a hurry. She’ll do. Hanson isn’t going to judge her on her wardrobe.’
    ‘No.’ He looked back at Nisa. ‘Come on,’ he said and turned around again.
    They went down the short corridor outside, past the gym, and through a code-locked door onto another, equally bland hallway. There he turned right, walked to the end which was all of twenty yards, and knocked on the door, not waiting for a reply before pushing it open and waving Nisa through.
    The office beyond felt more like someone cared for it than the rest of the place Nisa had seen so far. The walls were painted a mildly pleasant brown, heavy on the red, which made it feel warm. There was a big, oak desk, some filing cabinets, two chairs in front of the desk, and one big, comfortable-looking, leather office chair behind it.
    Sitting in that chair was a grey-haired woman who Nisa assumed to be Hanson. Somehow she had not expected a woman, but there she was, peering at Nisa with sharp, blue eyes. This, Nisa decided, was not a woman to be trifled with.
    ‘Have a seat, Miss Harper,’ Hanson told her. ‘I’m Melody Hanson, Chief Inspector Hanson, Metropolitan Police