Code Flicker Retro Media 1 Marlin Seigman Copyright © 2020 Marlin Seigman All rights reserved The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher. For Wendy, Conrad, Noah, and Finn. Contents Title Page Copyright Dedication Preface Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Epilogue Afterword Acknowledgement About The Author Preface Thank you for giving my book a try. I hope you enjoy it. If you do, please leave a review. You can also go to my website to found out how to get a free fiction. www.marlinseigman.com Prologue Three Years Ago “Are you sure this is going to work?” Jacob smiled. “Relax. I know what I’m doing. And it worked in Maun, didn’t it?” Xia shifted in her seat. “That was different. There are more eyes and ears here. We’re still in the corporate zone. They monitor just about everything.” “You worry too much.” “We’ve been full corporate for less than six months, and I don’t want to just throw that away. Besides, there’s a difference between worrying and being cautious. ” “True,” Jacob said, “but there’s also a difference between being overly cautious and being smart. And I’ve been smart. No one knows we’ve been writing this code. The scramblers I got from Gomez are top of the line,” he gestured to the six devices stationed around the room, each on a tripod standing roughly five feet tall. “I have them set to scramble any signal not coming from my code deck. I can’t even use the room’s AI while the scramblers are on.” Xia still looked doubtful. “Plus, I’ve already tried it once,” Jacob added with a slight smile. Xia stood and raised her hands in disbelief. “What were you thinking? We hadn’t run the final simulation. There could have been a glitch we didn’t catch. Christ Jacob, you might be the smartest person I know, but you can be such a dumbass sometimes.” Jacob watched as Xia paced from one side of the small apartment to the other. She always paced when she was nervous or when she was working out a code problem. She took her nic-stem from her pocket and took a drag, something else she did when she was nervous or working out a problem. “You really should quit the nicotine,” Jacob said. “I will when you do.” She tossed the nic-stem to him. He caught it and took a long drag. “So,” Xia said, stopping in the middle of the room, “how was the code?” “Better than expected,” he said through an exhale of vapor. She relaxed. “But,” he continued, “if you don’t want to throw away the corporate life, maybe you should forget about it.” “Oh no, you don’t get it to yourself. I helped create this code, and I want to enjoy it just as much as you do, you greedy bastard.” “No need to get personal.” Xia laughed and sat back down. “Well, how was it?” “Remember the first time you tried an opioid code?” “Yes.” “It’s that good.” “It’s never that good.” “It’s that good.” He could see she still didn’t believe him. “I guess you’ll have to see for yourself,” he said. He reached into his pocket and took out his code deck, a matte black device slightly smaller than his hand. He turned on the input panel and brought the deck to life. A small display projected above the input panel, showing lines of code. Xia held out her arm, exposing the electronic QR code tattoo just above her wrist. Jacob waved the code deck over her forearm, scanning the tattoo and connecting the deck to the subdermal chip implanted near the base of her skull. With a flick of his finger, he sent the code to Xia’s chip. Almost instantly, a change came over her. She looked at peace and relaxed, yet still totally aware. She rubbed her lips together, then said, “It’s that good.” Jacob laughed. He rolled up his sleeve and scanned his tattoo. “Yes, it is,” he said after sending the code to his chip. Two hours later, Xia paced again. “That wasn’t enough time,” she said. “Well, we do have to work tomorrow. If I’d programmed the high for any longer, you wouldn’t be sharp in the morning.” Xia turned and gave him a smile. “I hate it when you’re right.” “It must be horrible to go around with such hate all of the time,” he said. “Just shut up and toss me the nic-stem.” Jacob got up, tossed the nic-stem to her, and went into the kitchen to get a beer. “You want one?” “No. I’ve got some good code for sleep meds. If I mix drinking with code this late, I definitely won’t be getting to work on time.” “Nothing a little amphetamine code in the morning won’t cure,” Jacob said, opening his beer. Xia shook her head. “You keep burning the candle at both ends, and you’ll burn out,” she said. “Nobody uses candles anymore,” Jacob said. “They’re a fire hazard. But,” he said walking to the main scrambler and turning it off, “I’ll get the room to project some for you. Room,” he addressed the room’s AI, “project 100 burning candles, please.” Images of candles filled the room. “Jackass,” Xia said. Jacob, bathed in the light of the candles, laughed, then took a drink. “Well,” Xia said, gathering her things, “I should get going. I still have to respond to my parent’s message from this afternoon.” “Tell them I’m taking good care of you,” Jacob said, opening the door for Xia. “I will, and I will
