Storm (Swipe Series)

given free rein to snoop, pry, open, hack, and swipe their filthy Markless hands along every last DOME office, trinket, and surface they could find. “The more swabs you can take, the better,” Mr. Arbitor said. “As long as you don’t get caught.”
    It was a game Tyler understood all too well.
    “Do you think we’re doing it right?” Tyler said, slinking out of a hall closet and already on his fifty-third Detection Swab.
    “I think it’s hard to go wrong,” Blake said, while behind him,Shawn “the Tech Wiz” hacked into the floor’s filing system on one of DOME’s many state-of-the-art plastiscreens.
    “I can’t find a single thing in here that actually mentions the word ‘Trumpet,’” he told the others as they rummaged through yet another supply closet. “Nada. Zip. Closest thing I’ve found so far is some annexed note from home about one of these mogul agent’s kids forgetting his musical instrument at school.”
    “It’s not going to be advertised,” Jo said. “This thing’s clearly top secret, even among DOME officers. And if this protein were hiding anywhere obvious, everyone here would already be sick—Tyler? Hey, where’d he go?” Jo spun around a few times and eventually found him poking his head out of a heating grate.
    “I am getting all sorts of bonus points,” he said.
    And the four of them continued like this until the earliest hours of the morning.
    “You wanna know the funniest part?” Tyler said, a few hours in. “I don’t even really like Erin.”
    But a favor was a favor, and the Dust was happy to do it.
    Plus, Tyler left with a brand-new pair of prototype hover boots.
    “It’s complimentary,” he told Mr. Arbitor on the way out.
    And Charles didn’t even put up a fight.
    3
    “General Lamson?” Lily asked. She stood at the threshold of his office, waiting to be invited in.
    “Yes, Advocate, come in already. What is it now?”
    Lily took a deep breath. For weeks, she’d promised herself that if it came to this moment, she would not allow herself to do what she was about to do. But Lily couldn’t help it. Connor’s letter had said too much for her to leave the matter alone. Lily knew she was supposed to act without question. To do anything else would be to question Cylis’s orders. And yet in the moment, three thousand miles away from the chancellor and all his charm . . . she simply had to ask. She had to give Lamson at least the opportunity to explain himself, and to explain what he was thinking. She owed him his side of the story, at least. She was still an American, after all. She could give her general that much.
    “Sir,” she began. “There’s a message here that I’d like to ask you about.”
    “You know I don’t have time for the personal ones, Advocate. Read the thing over and answer it yourself. You don’t need my permission for such trivial—”
    “This isn’t personal, General, despite coming from a citizen.
    “You must forgive me,” she added, clearing her throat. “I never would have opened it, had I known—
    “Sir,” she said, interrupting herself and getting right to the point. “This letter is from Connor Goodman of Lahoma. It is a matter of national security.”
    4
    Back in Acheron at the end of the morning, a world away from her position at the Capitol, Lily rode the elevator down to Level Six. She squeezed her eyes tight. She made sure to composeherself before stepping out into the array of desks and helmets and IMPS. What the general had told her that afternoon had left her feeling sick, nervous, betrayed by her own country . . . but it also gave her resolve.
    She knew, now, that she had to do it. She had to stop Connor Goodman. She would betray her general for the chancellor, after all. It was her only choice.
    And she had the perfect idea as to how to do it.
    But first things first , Lily thought. This was the fourth time in as many weeks that Moderator Eddie Blackall had been sent down for Revision. It was time to pull him out. She hoped this would be the end of it.
    It was a game to him, Lily realized. It must be. How many times can he beat the system? How many times can he shake loose from his Pledge? It was the one act of defiance he could still manage to make. And he was milking it for all it was worth.
    This infuriated Lily.
    His was a game with only one end.
    And it was torture for Lily to watch it unfold.
    She approached Eddie’s desk and was surprised to find him sitting outside of his BCI helmet