Page 7 of Finders Keep Her

“Yeah, well, maybe I’ve got problems of my own.”

“Not legal?” I hear him shifting around.

“Not this time,” I admit. As much as Bruce can annoy me, which I pay back in equal measure, he still gives off wise uncle vibes.

“Are you going to tell me, kid?”

“Cyberius.”

“Cyberius is looking for you?”

“I think so.”

“You do something to him?”

“I didn’t know it was him when I was peeking around.”

“And what were you peeking around for?”

“Ah—” I can’t think of a lie.

“Marks.”

“Why haven’t you caught him yet? Sounds like your job, not mine.”

“Do I need to know what you were poking that got Cyberius’s attention on you?” In fairness, his attention has been on me for a while.

“Logic Byte Labs,” I admit, the real reason I wanted to get into contact with Bruce. He needed to know this information too, but I was also trying to keep Cyberius off my trail.

Bruce lets out a string of curses. “He’s working with them.”

“I think so. I went poking, and he popped out.” I’m not the only one curious about Logic Byte Labs. They’re a new up-and-coming tech company that is using heavy AI and other things. We all want to know what they are up to. “What if it’s his?”

“He’d need a partner.” Well, yeah. I knew that.

"This is above my pay grade." There are rumors that Logic Byte is a branch of Juno Gate, which works in defense. Only this was laundered not in the States, making it harder for anyone to regulate.

"Are you with your father?"

"We don't talk about my dad, Bruce," I snap back.

"I just want you to lie low, and I know when you're with him, you're low."

"I'm low," I confirm.

"All right, twenty-four hours. I want a check-in. I'm going to dig around."

"Make sure that fucker isn't framing me for something." Cyberius is tricky and unpredictable. He’s also fucking brilliant, which makes him a million times more dangerous. I have no clue what he might do if he is trying to find me.

“No one is framing you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“You do your job and I’ll do mine, kid.”

“Fine.” Is this a job?

“Twenty-four hours, Marks.”