Code Breakers: Beta Read Online Free Page B

and outposts. They’re like a walking network, all exchanging data and receiving instructions from a controller somewhere. Elliot’s in charge, all right, and they’re dancing to his tune, but there’s one meat-bag down here who’s putting it all into place.
    “Jess here analysed the data and the traffic, and although we’ve yet to break the encryption, we can tell the level of traffic is increasing. More and more citizens are being turned into damned drones. If we find this meat-bag, we can find a way into the network and put a stop to it.”
    “Thank you, Sasha,” a man said with a growling, wheezing voice: Malik Silverman. He was presumed dead after falling in battle, but when the Red Widows were captured and imprisoned, Sasha and some of the others were tasked with clearing the battlefield and preparing the dead for burial. It was there, in a pile of limbs, she heard breathing. Somehow, against all the odds, Malik had managed to cling to life where his brothers, and many others, were unable.
    Requiring extensive surgery and implants, Malik was almost more of a machine than man. And yet his will to survive had kept him going. Jimmy, probably in an effort to prove he wasn’t a liar and betrayer, had taken Malik on as his personal project, working around the clock to treat his injuries.
    Malik was a war hero to the people of Libertas. Television, radio, and network media shows talked of his acts of bravery on the battlefield and played interviews where he spoke passionately about how Gerry, a Dome citizen, had led the way, showed him that there was more to the world, and life, than living under the Family’s rule.
    Due to his position within the city, he was elected as their defence minister. He worked closely with Sasha on dealing with the threat of these Elliot-controlled insurgents.
    “I’d like to add,” Malik continued, “we need to act quickly on this issue. Although most of the population are glad of their freedom, there are portions that cling to the ideas of the Family and would rather we go back to living under their control. It’s a splinter group within that number who I suspect are being targeted by the insurgent ronin.
    “Early estimates, provided to us by the guys at Cemprom, who are working with Jess to analyse the data traffic, show that this group are recruiting upwards of ten people a day, and we expect that to start changing exponentially as more and more are taken from us.”
    Rosario looked at both Malik and Sasha. “What would you suggest we do next? We’re still in the process of training new security officers, and we’re dealing with murders, looting, and civil unrest across a wide expanse of the city. We can’t manage it all, and we need to nip this in the bud before our citizens start to feel unsafe. We had another murder this morning—a reporter for the Libertas Daily.”
    “I’d like permission to take a small squad with me out into the financial district,” Sasha said.
    James looked at Sasha, raising his eyebrows. “Why there?”
    “It’s there,” Malik interjected, rubbing at the scars across his cheek, “that we believe we’ve identified a main ronin-chip dealer. He’s a relation of Kaden Willis’ mother. And I believe it was through that relationship that he entangled the boy into all this.”
    “I’m suggesting,” Sasha said, “that Malik and I, with a little backup, go pay this sleazeball a visit and politely enquire about this situation.”
    Rosario squirmed on her chair, anxiety tightening her face. She looked around the table, assessing the reaction of the others.
    “Well, I think it’s understandable that this individual is questioned. But we can’t just go killing and torturing people. We’d be no better than those that left us. Do we still have cell space after taking in the Red Widow POWs?”
    A blonde woman wearing bright red lipstick and a tailored suit with silver thread spoke up. “There is space, Justiciar. But I have to say, if we are