A hologram of Marlena’s peaceful face filled the screen monitor. Beeping noises from her life support echoed off the metal shell.
Foucault chose not to notice the subtle sub-dermal flashing lights on the bottom of her forearm. He knew what they were.
Louis must not know.
The Hacker Twins:
Aldo and Waldo
Their malformed vocal chords reminded Foucault of metal scraping concrete. Thick sunglasses covered half of their small rodent faces.
They were buried in a heavy wool blanket. A stainless-steel cord connected their heads and reflected the antique street lights over a nearby bridge.
Randall Faircloth
It was his father Sigmund’s idea to link he and Marlena, his childhood virtual playmate, together forever with minute subcutaneous chips implanted on the inside of their wrists.
Their interface was driven by their hormone and stress levels – adrenaline and cortisol triggers.
Creating a bond that neither of them wanted.
Sarvapelli Foucault
Foucault could hear the Hacker’s laughter echo back from the alleyway. Tonight was not supposed to be the night. And this was not supposed to be the place. In any case, Marlena was their target and he must capture his prey as Louis’ directed.
KING LOUIS XIV
Out of thin air, King Louis was in front of Marlena, his huge face only six inches from hers.
“Ah, my dearest, Awake at last! I trust your trip to Versailles was uneventful.”
“Your joking,” she sneered back at him.