Quantum Break Read Online Free

their uniforms are frickin’ bangin’. ”
    “In Chiang Mai cops roll on tires with Monarch branding.”
    “Monarch Industrial, probably. That BearCat was Monarch Security. My sister’s kid’s daycare is Monarch Child. My dad’s meds are Monarch Pharmaceuticals. Monarch’s got this loyalty program, lets you rack up points all over the place, whoever you use. Dad’s meds paid for that coffee you’re drinking. It’s a good deal.” Nick backhanded Jack’s arm, friendly. “Hey, you know Monarch’s hosting a huge gala tomorrow night? A shitload of famous people are gonna be there. I could take you up to the parking garage across the way, give you a great view of the red carpet.”
    Jack’s phone vibrated in his jacket. Caller ID came up as Paul Serene. “Uh … I think I fly out before then. Just one second.” He thumbed the call button.
    “Hey buddy.” The voice was as familiar as his own. “Six years away and the first thing you do is go and pine outside her house?”
    Jack glanced toward the disappeared armored vehicle. “The BearCat.”
    Paul laughed. “I requested an alert on your arrival. The BearCat scanned the plate of the museum piece you’re leaning against. Monarch Security network cross-referenced with the RPD database, checked the photobank of the driver-cam that takes a shot each time Nick needs to blow-start the engine. Facial recog grabbed you in the backseat, the entry was logged into Monarch’s system, Monarch’s system texted me, I called you.”
    “Cause and effect.” All of a sudden Jack wanted to be on a plane, headed to someplace even he didn’t know. Someplace that didn’t have loyalty programs. He thought of Zed and her zero footprint.
    “Perks of working for Monarch.”
    “Which Monarch would that be?”
    “Monarch Innovations. Subsidiary of Developments.”
    “It’s like you’re here with me, buddy.”
    “The info stays on Monarch servers, but we make it available to law enforcement upon request. Part of our community policing initiative. Some reservations from rights activists, but mostly the town’s on board.”
    Yeah. Leaving. First chance he got. Maybe never coming back.
    “You’re still meeting me on campus, correct?”
    “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”
    “Jack? Thank you for making it. This is important to me. You’ll be glad you came, I promise.” The call disconnected.
    “You said something about a Monarch gala?”
    “The buzz is they’re revealing a new product line. They say it’ll ‘reinvent life as we live it.’ Probably just another game console. You want another espresso?” Nick asked.
    “No. Actually, yeah. Can I get it rolling?”
    “You’re the VP.” Nick opened the door for him. “I’ll have to take a less-short way around. Big protest at the university today. Thought it’d be over by now or I’d have mentioned it. Students pissed off about the city tearing down some old library. You know how it is.”
    Jack checked his phone, giving Nick a little privacy to huff-start the car. “Says here Monarch’s the one tearing it down, not the city.”
    The engine kicked over, purring like it had been put together yesterday. “Same thing,” Nick said.
    *   *   *
    Jack stared out the window of the Charger as it pulled up outside the main walk of Riverport University. “It’s all gone.”
    Gone were the few square blocks of lawn dotted with Colonial Revival–style wood buildings, interstitial spaces crowded with maple and birch. This was a modern, high-tech campus. Founders’ Walk remained in place, a token gesture to tradition, next to which a slab of locally quarried marble bore, in gold Sabon font: Riverport University—Innovations Campus. Someone had slapped a HISTORY NOT PROFITS ! sticker on it. A sticker slapped over that one read: NINJAS ARE COOL !
    A small black-and-gold plaque announced that the Quantum Research Laboratory was the winner of the 2013 Pritzker Architecture Prize. The manicured lawn behind