CHAPTER ONE: LIFE RITE

  Jackie:

  I'll never forget what the man said.

  “When I jump, time bends. I’ve walked through eternity and haven’t aged a day. If you mortals try to stop me, I’ll rewrite the timeline without you in it, just to prove I can.”

  It was the last thing Feraz Tal—the most famous man in Twin Flames—said before he died.

  The nightmare kicked off when a man in a hazmat suit yelled, “We have a Code 80. He’s gonna jump!” His voice reverberated through the state-of-the-art laboratory six stories tall.

  “Code 80? What’s that?” I craned my neck from the trash chute to investigate the startling disturbance and bit my lip.

  Unfortunately, my prayers for a smooth first day cleaning this floor went unanswered.

  “Let me back in to check the probabilities.” Feraz Tal dangled his feet over the top railing, threatening to take his own life.

  Workers in hazmat suits scattered; their rubber soles squeaking against the vinyl floor as they fled.

  “Feraz, please don’t jump,” a technician pleaded.

  “Is that the Feraz Tal?” I squinted to see if it was really him.

  An icy sweat broke across my skin.

  Billionaire Feraz Tal often graced the cover of High Flyer Magazine. What Climber wasn’t enthralled by his celebrity status?

  “I’m eternal, infallible, indestructible,” he yelled.

  I’m just the janitor.

  “Engage safety protocols!” the technician yelled.

  An alarm wailed.

  Scientists escaped in droves, their long white smocks floating behind them. No one wanted to be the fall guy. Above their pay grade, I guess.

  I should have followed suit, but my curiosity got the better of me. I stood on my tiptoes to get a better look.

  A stocky scientist shoved past, slamming me into my cleaning cart and knocking the wind out of my malnourished body. Righting myself, I struggled to catch my breath.

  With arms outstretched, Feraz boasted, “I’m a god, and the probabilities are endless.”

  I suspected the elite class had unbelievable egos, and his rant confirmed the stereotype. Anyone living above the clouds would naturally think they’re better than us wallowing in the dirt.

  Another fleeing technician ran into my cart, littering the floor with trash.

  “Watch out, Duster.”

  The derogatory term spiked my already jacked adrenaline, and I flipped him off before my common sense returned.

  I scrambled after my lost garbage so I could run like everyone else.

  “Time to explore the madness.” Feraz’s diamond-encrusted watch sparkled against the fluorescent lights as he teetered on the edge of the top railing.

  Feraz let out a manic cackle. His body went limp as he leaned forward into a free fall.

  His sleek designer shoe hooked onto a loose cable hanging from the fifth-floor ceiling, and he swung upside-down like a bungee jumper.

  I gasped, covering my mouth with my hand.

  The commotion brought out the boss, Beatrice Claudi.

  “Lock it down, or heads will roll.” She crossed her arms, dripping with gold bracelets.

  I stood at attention. I’d never been this close to a Flyer, let alone someone as powerful as Beatrice Claudi.

  “Someone get him down.” Beatrice snapped her fingers and made eye contact with me for a split second.

  Is it my job to save him somehow? With my meager upper body strength?

  If I failed, I’d get marked Incapable in my DNA Identifier and thrown out with the rubbish.

  “Oh, um…” I lowered my gaze to remain faceless.

  I pushed my cart to leave, but the wheels were locked. I pumped the latch with my foot, struggling to unfasten it.

  The flimsy cable keeping Feraz alive buckled under his weight. He let out a sinister laugh, savoring the brink of death.

  How could someone so rich be so careless with their life?

  “Jackie? Is that your name?” Beatrice pointed at the tag on my janitor’s jumpsuit, then to Feraz. “Make yourself useful. Go help him.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  I grabbed the radio on my cart to call my Pops, the lead custodian, for backup.

  “Baxter, come in. It’s me, Jackie.”

  His kind voice crackled over the radio. “Go for Baxter.”

  “No.” Beatrice said, her tone laced with unwavering authority. “This lab is under lockdown. No one else needs to see this catastrophe.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Sorry, ma’am.”

  Please don’t flag me as Incapable, ma’am…

  I turned off the radio and circled my cart in a frenzy, searching for solutions.

  Inaction was a death sentence. Incapables rarely survived their first month on the streets, so I stumbled toward the elevator to help.

  I hit the call button ten times fast.

  If I go to the sixth floor and cut the cable, how can I lower Feraz to the ground safely?

  The elevator made its slow descent to collect me from the bottom floor. The longer it took, the sweatier my palms got. When it stalled on the third floor, I wrung my hands and shifted my weight between my feet.

  Will that stupid elevator ever arrive?

  A circular drone flew in to examine the crisis. “Recording Incident R64.”

  One of a kind, Alpha was crafted by tech genius Mark Claudi, the deceased founder of Life Rite and inventor of the Universal DNA Identifier implanted into everyone’s finger at birth. Top spec compared to delivery and patrol drones that peppered the Grid-covered sky.

  Alpha buzzed around Feraz. Blinking. Watching. Recording.

  Perfectly crafted to fulfill its purpose.

  A reminder that the machine was more capable than me.

  Maybe I am a useless Duster.

  Feraz squirmed upside-down like a fish on a line. “When I jump, time bends. I’ve walked through eternity and haven’t aged a day.”

  “How can you be so careless, Feraz?” Beatrice yelled. “You’re in breach of contract. I’m taking your treatments away, and I mean it this time.”

  “If you mortals try to stop me, I’ll rewrite the timeline without you in it, just to prove I can.” His jerky movements untangled Feraz’s foot, and he fell six floors.

  His gleeful snicker was followed by the splat of blood and bone against the vinyl floor.

  I flinched.

  The elevator doors finally opened with a ding, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the aftermath.

  The impatient elevator closed, trapping me with the heap of torn flesh and exposed muscle.

  A pool of radioactive blood seeped from Feraz’s lifeless body. Then it burst into flames. Under spontaneous and intense heat, his skin and brain matter melted from his skull.

  “This can’t be real,” I whispered through trembling lips.

  The sickening sight made my empty stomach heave. For once, I was grateful not to have money for breakfast so there was nothing to throw up.

  What remained of Feraz turned to ash.

  My heart pounded in my chest.

  A swirl of energy rose from the ashes. These glimmers burst like fireworks. From the flames emerged a newborn baby bird, hairless and hideous.

  The beast mangled and morphed into a leathery human form, consumed by fire. This creature grew from baby to adult in a matter of seconds.

  As it transformed, Feraz’s impressive stature, broad nose, and pointed jawline returned.

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  Another wave of intense nausea hit me like a freight train, causing my knees to buckle. I collapsed against the elevator to steady myself.

  Did Feraz Tal, infamous playboy Flyer, die and rebirth? Or is this a drug-induced nightmare?

  I blinked a dozen times to make it go away, but no, this was not a hallucination. I pinched my nose as the puddle of putrid bodily fluids inched closer.

  “It’s a full regeneration,” a technician said to Beatrice.

  “Logging Incident R64.” Alpha circled the messy scene.

  Blinking. Watching. Recording.

  I couldn’t look away, despite my horror. I lost myself in the fire that engulfed his rebirthing body.

  The flames danced, hypnotizing me with their rolling mix of red and blue embers. A flickering blaze was always my drug of choice, if you will, offering respite by transporting me into the empty void within. I sat still in its sweet silence.

  “Hey, are you stupid or something?” Beatrice’s voice ripped me from my daze.

  “Huh?” I snapped out of it.

  The Alpha drone scolded me. “Jackie Cooper, get the fire extinguisher, or you’ll be terminated.”

  My right eye twitched. You can’t ignore a threat like that in a city like Twin Flames.

  “Yes, whatever you need. I’m on top of it.” I scoured the lab for a fire extinguisher and cut my hand smashing its glass case.

  When I pulled the trigger, the precious flames extinguished.

  Feraz coughed as he lay in the fetal position, covered in the white foam I sprayed. His thick black hair returned with astonishing speed.

  Beatrice directed me. “Hurry, girl. Get water and linens next.”

  I handed her towels from my cart and rushed past the creepy drone to the nearest sink.

  My hand shook. A glass vial broke as I reached for a jug.

  “Check his vitals.” Beatrice handed the towels to the remaining technician.

  As the faucet ran, I took a beat to freak out.

  What did I witness? Are the rumors about Life Rite true? Will they dock my pay for that broken vial?

  Life Rite is a mega-corp with priceless anti-aging creams and other health-related products, but heaven forbid they lose a measly glass vial.

  The jug overflowed in the sink, so I turned off the faucet and carried it to Feraz, my arms buckling under its weight, knuckles turning white from gripping the handle. I waddled like a toddler, splashing water onto the floor.

  A drop spilled onto Beatrice’s pointed leather stilettos, and her lip curled with disgust.

  The technician snatched the water from me.

  “Stage two of the regeneration process is underway. He’ll be out for a while,” he whispered.

  “That’s what he wanted,” Beatrice replied. “To explore the probabilities.”

  Before I could ponder what she meant by that, Beatrice scrutinized me with her judgmental eyes. “You must be new. Where’s Jerry?”

  I shrunk within myself.

  “The previous janitor is on leave because of Incident F98,” Alpha said.

  Jerry got his face burned off in a lab accident yesterday.

  “And they appointed you?” Beatrice raised an eyebrow.

  I averted my gaze and stared at the floor, as any Climber would.

  She looked around the empty lab.

  I was the only witness.

  “Come with me.” Beatrice turned and left the bloody lab.

  I followed like a lost puppy, my temples throbbing with stress.

  The drone came too. Alpha hovered over Beatrice’s right shoulder as she walked.

  Where is she taking me?

  Pops trained me not to be seen or heard at work. Receiving attention wasn’t special. It was dangerous.

  Beatrice, Alpha, and I exited the lab through the double steel doors that locked behind us.

  “You sure you don’t want me to stay and clean up the mess?” I asked sheepishly.

  That’s why Climbers like me exist, to clean up Flyers’ problems.

  “I have ordered your replacement,” Alpha said.

  “Replacement?”

  The drone didn’t respond.

  I shoved my hands in my pockets, careful not to stain the pristine white walls of Life Rite adorned with glossy photos of radiant Flyers, each image accompanied by the slogan hawking their signature anti-aging creams.

  “Reclaim your youth with Life Rite.”

  A small jar of that stuff costs more than my yearly paycheck.

  We walked to the end of the hall. My stomach dropped with every step.

  If they marked me Incapable, maybe I could hack my DNA Identifier to remove the fatal classification. Sweat dripped down my back as reality set in.

  Beatrice’s high heels tapped against the tile, graceful compared to the scuffs from my worn-out sneakers. My fate was in her hands.

  A man with a clipboard approached Beatrice, and she said, “Not now.”

  I dreaded being more important than a man with a clipboard. How harsh would my punishment be?

  Best-case scenario, she’d fire me for inaction.

  Worst case, they’d murder me for what I saw.

  Beatrice scanned her DNA Identifier and opened the ornate gold-trimmed door to her corner office.

  “You may enter,” Alpha said.

  I hesitated over the threshold. “I don’t want to take any more of your time. I should scrub the lab spotless…”

  “Sit.” Beatrice motioned toward a blue velvet chair.

  “Yes, ma’am.” I stumbled inside the impressive office and sat stiff, not wanting dirt from my janitor jumpsuit to ruin her expensive decor.

  Blood splatter from Feraz’s fall covered my knee, so I hid it with my hand.

  Alpha flew close. A red laser spat out of its belly, scanning my DNA Identifier to assess my data.

  My rigid body tensed tighter under its all-seeing lens.

  Beatrice sat behind her power desk. “What a surprising turn of events this afternoon.”

  “Yes, ma’am…” I stole a glance at her.

  A hint of repulsion played across her face, but she hid it well. Poised to perfection.

  “Alpha, I’ll let you take the lead.” Beatrice watched me as her drone spoke on her behalf.

  Alpha said, “Jackie Cooper, I am sure incident R64 was difficult for you to experience.”

  “You can say that again, Alpha.” Beatrice offered an airy laugh to break the tension.

  The drone let out a stilted digital chuckle.

  I tried to reciprocate, but the awful squeak that came from my mouth made things worse. My cheeks flushed as I toyed with a bandage around my dirty fingernail.

  “Thank you for your service under pressure,” Alpha said.

  “It’s my pleasure to serve Life Rite. And you, of course, Miss Claudi.”

  She gave a tight-lipped smile. Her skin glowed with an impenetrable youth. She didn’t look a day over thirty, but had access to liquid gold Life Rite.

  Although I was only seventeen, my face bore the weary marks of time.

  Alpha continued. “Jackie Cooper, what happens at Life Rite is confidential. You know that because you signed a non-disclosure agreement on your first day of employment. Do you remember?”

  I signed a thick stack of papers before they let me into the complex. I had to agree if I wanted the job, so I didn’t waste time reading it.

  “Of course. I remember and comply.”

  “Excellent.” Alpha clicked its eyelids several times. Blinking. Watching. Recording.

  “I have registered your response.”

  Beatrice smiled, showcasing her straight white teeth. I’d need a million dollars to get my smile to glow like hers.

  She addressed her drone. “Thank you, Alpha. I’ll take it from here.”

  She said to me, “Jackie, I know you would never tell a soul about what happened in the lab, but Alpha had to get the legal covered. You were the only nonessential employee to witness the event.”

  Being called nonessential was a gut punch. Might as well call me a Duster.

  “I understand and comply.” I kept my gaze fixed on the floor.

  Pops trained me well.

  “Tell me. Where are you from, Jackie?” Beatrice narrowed her eyes, examining me.

  “I’m from Twin Flames. Born and raised.”

  “You have very distinctive hair. That red streak is… unique.”

  Her attention made me shiver.

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  I ran my fingers through the splash of red in my ink-dark hair. It might look cool if I could afford shampoo.

  Beatrice tucked her shiny platinum hair behind her ear. “I don’t have to do this, but I’d like to offer you a bonus payment for your excellent response time today.”

  “A bonus payment?” I fought the corners of my lips from curling. Would witnessing that horrific event make me a Flyer?

  “That’s right. A performance bonus. Here at Life Rite, we value our staff. You’re very important to Life Rite, Jackie.”

  A chill ran down my spine. “That’s very generous of you, Mrs. Claudi. It’s my pleasure to serve you, and I intend to work here for the rest of my days.”

  “May you live a long life, Jackie Cooper. Either way, the bonus is yours if you continue to report on-time for duty. Like none of this ever happened.”

  “Of course, ma’am. It’s my pleasure.”

  Beatrice stood and rested her manicured nails against the mahogany desk.

  My cue to leave. I bolted to my feet and got the hell out of there. Almost home free.

  “Jackie?” Beatrice called.

  I turned to face her. Confident I had said and done everything correctly, I made eye contact.

  She had deep brown eyes, just like mine.

  “Alpha will take care of the bonus payment. Keep up the good work, and remember, everything that happens here is confidential.”

  “Yes, of course.” I bowed to pay my respects and left.

  Alpha followed.

  Beatrice’s eyes bore into my back, sizing me up on my way out. Would a pathetic Climber like me with worn-out shoes and a threadbare jumpsuit keep her rebirthing treatment a secret?

  As her office door closed, Alpha explained the rules of the hush money. “If you report for duty on time tomorrow, there will be a bonus payment of $100,000 applied to your DNA Identifier within thirty business days.”

  “A hundred grand? That’s it? Before the Merger Wars, that used to mean rich. Now it means slightly less doomed.”

  That wouldn’t change my life. I guess Flyers stay that way by keeping all their cash.

  “Get back to work, Jackie Cooper.” Alpha zipped away with an air of importance. Its clicking reminded me I was still on Life Rite’s time.

  I nervously ran my fingers through the red streak in my hair. It made me memorable, an easy target. I was no longer anonymous.

  I tried to still my beating heart as I walked back to the lab to get my cart.

  An armed guard protected the steel doors.

  I touched my pointer finger to the DNA Identifier scanner, but the reader flashed red.

  “I need to get into the lab. My cleaning cart is inside,” I told the guard.

  “This zone is restricted. Get outta here.” He motioned for me to leave.

  “But my supplies,” I pressed.

  “Report to your direct supervisor for instructions. Comply, or I’ll remove you from the premises.”

  “I comply.” I raised my hands in surrender and backed away slowly.

  I walked down the hall and hit the elevator button, headed to the dingy basement referred to as the dungeon.

  At least I avoided cleaning Feraz’s insides splattered across the lab.

  Did he die and rebirth, or was it… a simulation somehow? If the rebirth was real, was Feraz still human, or was he… something else?

  My mind reeled, struggling to process what I saw.

  Why didn’t Beatrice mark me Incapable? Why offer a bonus, however small? As long as I told no one, I would be safe. Right?

  The elevator doors opened, revealing a sizable man with pale skin, a hooked nose, and a pistol tucked inside his suit.

  My throat went dry. “I’ll get the next one.”

  He held the elevator door open with his arm, showing off his gun. “Get on.”

  “No thanks.”

  “I insist,” he said through gritted teeth.

  I stepped into the elevator with trepidation.

  A surveillance camera watched us from the corner of the ceiling.

  “What floor?” he asked.

  “The dungeon.”

  He pressed the button for me, but chose no other floor for himself.

  The elevator plummeted, cables groaning, floor after floor vanishing into a blur.

  The hair on my neck stood. Dread pooled in my stomach.

  I heard whispers that Life Rite had hired hitmen. One glance at this guy, and I knew the rumors were true. Beatrice had me in her crosshairs, and the elevator dropped quicker than the seconds I had left to live.