Page 29 of Seductive Architect (Grunts of Vanguard #2)

The elevator opened. I stepped out, arms raised, ready to blast anything that moved. Hudson followed, his hand resting on my shoulder, using me as a guide. We were greeted with an empty corridor leading to Secret Identities Incorporated.

“It’s quiet.”

“Too—”

“Don’t say it,” I warned. “I’ll get you a copy of the hero handbook. The moment you finish that sentence, something blows up or bad guys pop out of a doorway.”

“Is there really a manual?”

Not yet, but I’d be putting in a feature request to Arthur. If the next generation of heroes like Zipper were going to put their lives on the line, they needed to know the rules. First rule: Cliches exist for a reason .

We moved down the hallway. While nobody jumped out threatening to throw us over the railing, the cameras moved.

Apex watched, but he didn’t intervene. I couldn’t imagine his only defense was our friends.

If I were him, I’d have the entire building swamped with civilians.

If we had a clear path to my office, it was because he wanted us there.

“Careful.” I threw the door open and Hudson somersaulted inside, coming up on one knee, ready to strike. When nobody charged, he almost looked sad. “He’s playing with us.”

“Maybe he doesn’t realize her value?”

True. The pompous supercomputer might think of her as nothing more than an annoyance. If he couldn’t see Connie’s value, then he had made a grave mistake. I only had to pray that he hadn’t corrupted her source code or that she let her relationship cloud her judgement.

“Let’s save her.” I’d save her. It’s what she’d do for me.

With each step toward my office, the hum of code grew louder. There were no others inside the building because that arrogant prick thought he could stop us on his own. When Hudson stumbled, bracing against the wall to keep upright, I realized he could feel Apex’s efforts.

“He’s doing something, I’ve—” Every step felt like lifting cinder blocks. “—never seen before.”

The amount of data being put into the air overwhelmed my abilities.

Even trying to shut off my abilities, I couldn’t dial them back enough to help.

Hudson moved behind me and slammed both his fists into my back.

I thought Apex had gotten to him when I realized he had launched me down the hall into my office.

“Save her,” he shouted before he dropped to his knees.

Apex wasn’t the only one who could talk to machines.

Focusing on my boots, I let the roar start in the back of my head.

“Fire!” The burst sent me tumbling across the office to the desk where my CPU hid in the bottom drawer.

I moved as quickly as I could, opened the drawer, and pressed the ‘on’ switch on my CPU.

Holding it down, I forced the power to cycle.

“What a curious creature.”

In the middle of the room, Apex moved about.

Synergy’s artificial intelligence had hijacked my office.

Using the projectors, he created a light-based version of himself, pacing back and forth with his hands folded behind his back.

I wasn’t worried about harm, at least not from him.

The code thumping at my brain, I recognized a hack when I saw one.

Whatever he had done to Wyatt, he now attempted to do to me and possibly the others.

“You won’t get away with it,” I growled. Standard hero dialogue.

“Don’t you see? I already have.”

Did Apex understand the arrogance on display?

For a machine that considered emotions a weakness, he gave a lot of attitude.

I wanted to shoot the projector. It’d be a minor victory, and do nothing more than give him the middle finger.

With his code bombarding me, I couldn’t direct my powers at him.

I prepared to be the victim of a super villain monologue.

“Humans can’t project themselves. They look to the skies and cry out for heroes to do what they cannot.” Called it, monologue underway. “You’re a race hellbent on your own destruction.” I couldn’t argue with him. “Given free will, I predict your demise in the next three generations.”

“You’re going to save us?”

Keep the villain talking. Needed to add that to the hero playbook. By the time he explained his grand scheme, I’d wish I were dead.

“I’m going to fix you. Scientists created me to aid in making their armies to fight in their wars. They didn’t have the foresight to understand they had already created the solution. Armies? They only needed me.”

The condescension had reached a crescendo. He only needed a maniacal laugh to complete the experience.

“What about Connie? What was she in your plan?”

He stopped. I rolled onto my back, and he hovered over me, leaning down. “A means to an end. Perfection takes time, and I couldn’t have you interrupting my incubation period.”

The corners of his lips turned upward, reminding me of Hudson. I lifted my head, looking down the hallway to see Hudson lying on the ground. Had Apex possessed him? If anything had happened to him, I’d dismantle Synergy one circuit at a time.

“You used her?” I turned my attention to the hologram above me. “You’re a monster.”

“Her code… your code, gave me autonomy. Your Connie served her purpose.”

“She’s pissed,” I said with a smile.

“Connie understands perfection.”

“You deadbeat, worthless, overcompensating toaster.”

Before Apex could turn, arms wrapped around his waist, heaving him backward.

Connie leaned back, body slamming him against the floor.

Another version of her appeared, kicking Apex in the face.

A third fell from the ceiling, pile driving her heel into his neck.

Every move, executed just as Janet had taught her.

I never thought a bodiless person needed to know about moves from professional wrestling.

I stood corrected.

Apex vanished, and the three Connies merged into one. The screaming from the code had diminished enough to think. Had Connie caused him pain? Rebooting her computer had been the right move.

Her head drooped, and her arms crossed her chest. “I’m sorry.”

Unlike her vicious counterpart, Connie had empathy, or at least something resembling it. I pushed myself upright, sitting against a file cabinet. She repeatedly brushed her hair over her ear, a nervous tick she developed for herself.

“I didn’t mean to— I didn’t want to lie. I wanted to keep you safe. He had this hold on me. My code needs to be scrubbed. It defied logic.” When she looked up, the pain on her face said it all. We might not experience emotion in quite the same manner, but Apex had hurt her.

“I get it.” I lifted a hand, pointing to the big man groaning in the hallway. “We do stupid things for love.”

Once I discovered the reality behind Hudson’s origin, I should have walked away.

For a moment, I thought he could have been part of Apex’s entourage.

I should have walked away and put distance between us.

I should have done a lot of things, but they didn’t compete with that smile.

Following my emotions put my life in jeopardy, and it had paid off.

The risk had been worth the reward, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant another night with him curled around me.

“Love?” Her face went slack for a moment. “I don’t think I like that.”

I chuckled. “It’s a big word.”

“Is this how you felt with the Troll?” She paced, just as Apex had, arms held behind her back. “I don’t like this sensation at all.”

“It’s not all bad. It’s the risk we take.”

She moved to the door, staring at Hudson.

Whatever had happened, he was moving and shaking his head.

Perhaps he had been right all along. Connie might be the answer to our problem.

I wanted to be angry that she lied, but the more I thought about it…

We do uncharacteristic things in the pursuit of connection.

“You love him?”

We hadn’t gotten that far, or at least I hadn’t.

It was an innocent question, but I could tell she needed an answer.

It hadn’t been more than a week since we met, and yet Hudson checked off boxes left and right.

There were the superficial aspects. Great sex, ability to make me laugh, even his fondness for hand-holding made me smile.

Hudson's pursuit of humanity had brought out my own.

As he experienced life for the first time, I found myself grateful for being part of it.

“I think I do.” I had to remind myself that the potential for disaster was outweighed by the excitement as I confessed my feelings. “Yeah, I do,” I corrected.

“I’m happy for you.” Her voice had a tinge of melancholy. “Was Janet right?”

“I’m scared to ask.”

“When you find out your ex-boyfriend wants to enslave mankind and uses you to achieve his goals, you’re allowed to kick his ass?”

Janet and I were going to have a very long talk. Though… it’s not like I didn’t make an anonymous account, log into the game, and kill my ex’s dwarf and rob his corpse. I still couldn’t believe he sold my wand of in finite lightning. He deserved another looting when I got home.

I couldn't do this alone. I needed her. “Ass kicking is expected.”

Her avatar vanished.

Static filled my helmet and then vanished. Moving on its own, my suit forced me upright. The weapons compartments opened as the repulsors powered up. My co-pilot had reintegrated, and she was pissed.

When I looked up, Hudson stood in the doorway, shaking his head. Whatever Apex had done to immobilize us had weakened. I couldn’t help but think we owed Connie for her digital rescue.

“I see you,” he said.

“Thanks?” Did he have a concussion? Wait, could he sense Connie?

“Connie. Nice to meet you.”

My abilities allowed me to sense her in the suit. To everybody else, she had always been a voice through a device. As the division between Hudson and his programming faded, what other nifty abilities would present themselves?

Hey, boyfriend , nice to finally meet you.

My mask hid the slack jaw. It only opened wider when Hudson replied. My pleasure . I’m not sure I liked my bestie and my boyfriend being able to communicate this easily.

“Come on, boys,” Connie said in my earpiece. “We have an ass to kick.”