Page 79 of Hollow State

"It’s got a biometric lock tied directly to ORACLE. It's going to be a bit before Zadie can trigger it," Gideon said.

"We'll be ready when she does," Coulter replied.

"Just be careful of the guards," Gideon said. "They run rounds every half hour."

"Got it," Neve's voice cracked in Wynn's ear, but the static was super clear. And super loud. Another detail that seemed to be different on VKR-1.

Wynn entered the stairwell and took the steps two at a time.

Scout opened the door and peeked down the hallway on the third floor where Gideon used to work. It was darker here, the overhead lights dimmed to a soft, ambient glow. "Clear," Scout said.

They moved down the hall, passing a row of empty, glass-walled offices.

"This is it," Zadie said, stopping in front of a heavy oak door with a frosted glass panel. Some dude's name with Gideon's old title etched on a brass plate. Zadie flicked her fingers at it as if to show her displeasure at the fact Gideon had been replaced. "Need you to unlock this door."

"Done," Gideon said. "Three minutes, and not to put the pressure on you, but ORACLE is getting anxious. It's looping, searching, as if it knows someone is lurking in the shadows."

"I'll make it." Zadie pushed inside, immediately dropping to her knees beside a massive, dormant server rack in the corner of the office. She dumped her backpack and started pulling cables and held up the end of one. "Plug this into the blue port on that router over there." Zadie pointed her finger.

Scout grabbed the cord. "This thing?"

"That's it." Zadie pushed the other end into her tablet and tapped the screen. "You've got a bridge to the tablet. I'll get the rest of the connection going, but that’ll get you started."

"I've got it," Gideon said. "Now, patch that through to the main computer."

"I'll need another minute to do that." Zadie stood, snagged a few more gadgets out of her bag, then flopped into the big desk chair in front of six massive screens.

Wynn stood near the door. Her pulse had increased, but the intensity was different than what she was used to during missions.

"I'm going to stand in that alcove," Scout said. "I'll let you know if any guards are near."

"Sounds good." Wynn nodded. "Once she's set up, we can lock this door and go to Finch's office."

Scout disappeared into the corridor. "All's quiet out here," Scout said.

Wynn leaned against the door of Gideon's old office and watched as Zadie's fingers flew across one keyboard and then another. She was so focused on her task.

Zadie loved digital warfare. She lived for going to battle in a world where bullets couldn't actually kill her. This was the part of fighting the enemy she understood best. The part that got her juices flowing. She was a good shot and certainly contributed to planning. She was one of the smartest people Wynn had ever met, and more than anything, she wanted to hit Finch hard for what he'd done to them.

Even more so because of what he'd taken from Gideon.

Zadie liked fighting for others.

"ORACLE's taken the bait," Gideon said.

Zadie tapped a few more keys, and two screens lit up the room.

"Damn, that's bright," Wynn whispered.

"Turning that down." Zadie's fingers moved across the keyboard. "Starting downloads."

"Dropping the lock to the data center in three, two… go," Gideon said. "Coulter, Neve, you've got nine seconds, and then, it re-arms behind you."

"We're in," Neve said. "Moving to the core."

Wynn peered through the frosted glass panel into the hallway. There were no shadows. At least, none that she could see. Over the course of her career, she'd never been the kind of soldier who worried. She planned. She prepared. Bad things happened in battle, and she never expected things to go exactly as planned. That never happened.

But her job was to remain calm when chaos, fear, and pain were all that surrounded her teammates. She wasn't allowed to show emotion in the moment. If she did that, those she was treating on the battlefield might lose what little hope they held on to.