Free Android Paradox by Michael La Ronn Page A

no message. They decrypted the existing code, embedded the condor logo, scrambled everything, and then installed another firewall on top of it. I’m impressed that they decrypted our code, but less impressed that they didn’t do anything more exciting.”
    “That explains the firewall,” Fahrens said. “But how did Brockway go rogue? Was it a virus?”
    “No. No virus except—”
    Dr. Brockway manipulated a digital screen and zoomed in on the burning condor. He touched the door and it lit up, ringed with golden light. He entered a command and touched the door again. The burning condor froze, then exploded. The screen went hazy and disconnected, but Dr. Brockway remained in the virtual world, controlling the environment with his lens.  
    “I want that screen re-established!” Fahrens cried. Several engineers swarmed the table and tried to figure out how to get it back online. “Doctor, what do you see?”
    Dr. Brockway contorted his face in disgust. “My God, but it doesn’t make sense!”
    “What doesn’t make sense?” Fahrens asked.  
    X jumped down from the table and approached the doctor.  
    “How is this possible?” Dr. Brockway asked.
    “Dr. Brockway, give me a verbal report of what you see,” Fahrens said. “I need an answer, NOW!”
    The doctor took off his headset. “It’s a hacker, alright.”
    “Who?” Fahrens asked.
    Dr. Brockway looked at the black box again. He picked it up, studying it. “She—”
    BOOM!
    The box exploded, sending everyone running for cover. The sprinkler system activated as the room filled with smoke and fire. X and Shortcut put out the fire with fire extinguishers, and when the smoke and foam cleared, they surveyed the damage.  
    Moans and cries of pain filled the room. Dr. Brockway lay on the floor in a bloody mess. Etched in the ground around him was the logo of the burning condor.  
    “Good Lord,” Fahrens said, coughing. “We have no idea what he saw.”
    Shortcut ran to the digital screen hovering over Dr. Brockway and, after a few attempts, re-established the connection and brought up an image of the virtual room, which was also smoldering. He couldn’t rewind to the footage Dr. Brockway had seen, but he pulled up a screen full of diagnostic code. “Sir, that black box wasn’t programmed to explode.”
    “What are you talking about?” Fahrens asked, wiping blood from his face.
    “It wasn’t programmed. Someone detonated it. Just now. And whoever they are, they weren’t careful.” He pulled up a map of the city and pointed to a blinking red dot. “The hacker is there.”
    “That’s the shopping district,” X said. His eyes glowed red and he activated his guns. “He’s mine.”
    “Agreed,” Fahrens said. “Get out of here and find him. I want that hacker alive.”

Chapter 8

    X and Shortcut rode hover cycles to a shopping mall that took up several city blocks. Surrounded by skyscrapers, it was the largest shopping mall on the continent. It rose seven stories into the air, white and resplendent in the afternoon sun. Digital banners hung from the walls, advertising gadgets and androids, and commercials flickered on screens placed at intervals in the parking lot. Jazzy music played from speakers under streetlights, and crowds of people passed in and out of the mall’s gigantic doors with shopping bags and android assistants following them, talking and laughing and watching movies on their digital lenses.  
    As X and Shortcut crossed a long bridge over a man-made lake near the entrance, they smelled enhanced aromas of food—doughnuts, cookies, stir-fry. The smells were designed to entice new customers to visit one of the seven food courts advertised along the bridge.
    “He’s still here,” Shortcut said, checking his lens. “Still in the same spot.”
    “I’ll go find him,” X said.
    “I’m coming with you,” Shortcut said. “Since we’re dealing with a human this time, I might have an advantage.”
    “It’s going to be