Synthetic Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page B

Panic burned at the edge of her thoughts, but she fought it. Even Corporation thugs were less likely to open up on people escaping a fire.
    Two more flights and she broke away, turning left into the dark, narrow passage that led to the escape ladder. She shocked the lock and kicked at the door. It swung open, groaning on rusted hinges. A gantry ran for a short length against the exterior brick of the building.
    “Move.” A man shoved past her, clambering onto the thin metal gantry and planting a boot against the mechanism. The ladder dropped with a sharp clang. Shadows moved, drawn by the smoke, the sirens, the prospect of so many people thrown out into full dark.
    Vyn let others surge past her before she risked the unsteady gantry and climbed down the ladder. She had to trust that Paul would get out and find her. He was her best plan in the riot of disaster that was now her life.
    She dropped halfway, hitting the rancid remains of what she didn’t want to dwell on. It was soft and cushioned her fall. That was all she needed to know. The chilled air kept the stink to a minimum, but still, as she pushed her way to the corner of the skip, her trousers became wet and slimed.
    She huddled down, listening to the alarms wail and watching the brown smoke curl into the night, mixing with the ever-present smog. Her hand snaked under her jacket and she blew out a hot breath. The simulacrum case still clung to her spine.

    More people dropped to the darkness of the alley, security—from their barked orders—swarming through the masses, hunting for her. Ossian would be convinced she’d been vanished but she couldn’t risk contacting him, assuring him that she was safe.
    The distant wail of sirens cut under the building’s alarms. Fire crews from the chemical factory had scrambled to deal with the blaze. Yet more gear to confuse the security watching and waiting for her. Good. Now, she just needed Paul to show up.
    “Out.” The quick tap against the skip resonated. “Vyn.”
    Her ears were still dulled, but it sounded like Paul. “That you, Meat?”
    He was silent, which gave her confidence that it was him outside the skip. She hauled herself up, swinging a leg over, finding her balance with her backpack and assortment of packets. She dropped to the alley floor.
    “You stink.”
    “Something died in there.”
    Paul gripped her arm and tugged her out into the darkness, guiding her through the dazed people, the thickening smoke obscuring them. He moved at the same confused speed, milling onto the main road and into the void of another alley. Within a few metres, he pushed open a narrow door and shoved her inside.
    Lights flickered on and she squinted against the quick glare. The garage was narrow and long, and a low vehicle squatted in the sharp light. Its black paintwork glistened. Not a Corporation transport—or not one she’d seen before. Liam’s family had been almost as wealthy as her own. It could be his off-duty vehicle.
    Paul flipped open a door. He paused and looked her up and down. “Get in the back.”
    Vyn eased past him, clambered over the driver’s seat and flopped onto the smooth, clean leather of the wide backseat. It smelled fresh, clean—for a few seconds, then her stench filled it. She pressed her hands to her face and let her brain try to catch up. They were out of her building in one piece, though her flat—and the building that housed it—were practically destroyed.
    “Where now?”
    Paul slammed the door and warm air circulated, filters battling to expel her stink from the interior. “My place.”
    “But you have to live…”
    “In N-District, yes.”
    Vyn stared at the back of his head. “Even senior security can’t smuggle a Fomorian across the checkpoints.”
    She heard the sharp smile in his voice. “You’d be surprised.”
    He turned over the engine, its soft hum vibrating through the vehicle’s frame. A film partitioned them, shimmering in the soft lights embedded into the curved