Keystones: Altered Destinies Read Online Free Page A

was only four meters by two meters. It was his entire world.
    He had years left to spend in this space. His bed was spartan and uncomfortable. The matte steel walls were devoid of even basic decoration. He wasn’t even allowed an Uplink. A few paper books rested on his table.
    He had developed his Keystone ability while quite young, and he had reveled in it. Doors unlocked themselves and opened to his touch. When he learned that electronic systems would roll over for him, a whole host of delights presented themselves. Bank accounts, private e-mails, and videos were at his fingertips. All that should have been secure was his for the taking. Looking back, he realized that his arrest had been inevitable.
    The most interesting information was that which belonged to people in the public eye. These people also tended to have longer arms than most others. Cay had specialized in upsetting them.
    Now he spent his days in a cell with a door that wasn’t locked but welded shut. He was never allowed out, and he was forced to accept his meals through a slot in the door because it was a more cost-effective solution than hiring guards to prevent his escape.
    After a year in that prison he wasn’t sure whether he regretted his crimes or just getting caught, especially now that he realized there were legal ways for someone with his particular talent to make money. The terms of his sentence dictated that upon his release he wasn’t to use his Keystone ability for twelve months. He had to prove that he was a reformed man and no longer a menace to society. Whatever that meant.

    A voice called through his meal slot, “You have a visitor.”
    Cay jerked in surprise, twisting to stare into the hall. A visitor? Who was it? Not even his family was allowed to see him.
    Standing there was his usual guard and an unknown woman dressed all in black. Her face was serious, her hair pulled back in a severe bun. Wrinkles etched deep grooves in her forehead. Her mouth was surrounded by lines, none of which seemed to have been formed by laughter.
    Cay’s voice was hoarse from lack of conversation. “Who are you?” he croaked.
    Her crisp, businesslike voice was impossible to read. “My name is Helena Baldstone. I believe that you may be the answer to a problem I have.”
    Cay glanced left and right before he popped a single eyebrow. “You may have noticed that I’m kind of limited in here, right?”
    When she spoke, she reminded him of school administrators. “Yes, yes I have.” She tapped the transparent pane in his cell door. “Would you like to get out of here before you finish your sentence?”
    Cay’s thoughts leaped at the idea, his eyes traveling the confines of his small cell, a journey they had made a thousand times a day. He did his best to keep the enthusiasm from his voice. “Who are you?” he asked.
    “I’m from FAME, and I am authorized to commandeer your services.”
    “Can you get my records expunged?” Cay replied.
    Baldstone shook her head. “What good would that do?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You are the only Keystone to have been imprisoned. Do you think that getting your records wiped clean would hide who you are or what you’ve done?”
    This was a reality that Cay usually refused to contemplate. He would never be able to escape his past. “What do you want from me?” he asked in a smaller voice.
    “I want you to unlock something for me.”
    Cay’s heart bounced around in his chest like a ball thrown hard against a wall. “Oh, I could do that,” he scratched behind his ear, “but it would be a violation of the terms of my sentence.”
    “Those are not immutable.”
    A spark of hope lit in Cay’s soul, and for a moment he didn’t trust himself to speak. “They’re not?”
    “Not right now, and not if you succeed.”
    Cay tilted his head and looked at her. “Not right now?”
    She held an Uplink up to the glass. “I have a test for you.”
    Cay licked his lips. An Uplink! Not having access to one had