Today's Reading
CHAPTER ONE
ARCHIVED: SMS Conversation — Kaleisha Reid, Ros Wheeler, and Abraham Yang, July 10, 2061
ROS WHEELER
Alright, who's gonna be on Cleo duty tomorrow
ABRAHAM YANG
What do you mean???
KALEISHA REID
Ros believes that our very best friend Cleo is in danger of, among other things, blacking out when she sees a spaceship in person for the first time and doing something stupid and killing us all
ABRAHAM YANG
No way!! Cleo is extremely smart and not at all stupid, Ros
ROS WHEELER
You know I know that
But you ALSO know that Cleo can be a bit ah Impulsive?
Incautious??
Prone to ignoring things like hazard signs when there's a cool new gadget she wants to touch???
KALEISHA REID
She doesn't need us to babysit her, Rozzy
By which I mean, I am not going to babysit her And neither will you
We have a plan! We love the plan. We're gonna follow the plan
ABRAHAM YANG
Seconded!!
ROS WHEELER
Fine yes alright
I reserve the right to be an anxious wreck about it
KALEISHA REID
I will give you a shoulder rub when it's all over
ABRAHAM YANG
Me too!! Prepare your shoulders
ROS WHEELER
Ugh
* * *
Twenty-seven years of obsessive amateur research had not prepared Cleo McQueary for how simple it was to break into the Erebus Industries compound. She'd seen the exclusive news reports, the official behind-the-scenes TikToks, the infamous photos of impassive security officers restraining bereaved family members at the compound gate—Cleo knew that this place had been crawling with guards and dripping with unbreakable security measures, once. But now, the only thing protecting each spiraling level of the circular compound was a dusty steel door, locked by a decades-old retinal scanner and a series of cascade ciphers. Cleo could have cracked them all in her sleep, which was a shame—she liked a challenge.
"Well," she said, punching the last sequence into the last keypad and thinking that the rare excuse to wear fingerless gloves with her most practical pair of coveralls almost made up for the disappointment, "there's no turning back now."
"Corny," Kaleisha whispered behind her, also looking incredibly heist-chic in her black dress and leather jacket, locs tied back in a ponytail and killer green eyeliner standing out against her dark skin. Cleo stuck her tongue out. Thanks to Erebus Industries' bankruptcy, they were the first people to walk through these long-abandoned doors in a decade; a little melodrama was absolutely warranted.
...
