Artificial Absolutes (Jane Colt Book 1) by Mary Fan

you know so much about the dorm? The conduits and whatnot?”
    Devin looked out at the round form of Kydera Minor, their world’s sister planet, which glowed blue-green above the city’s brightly colored nightscape.
    “Nothing I knew was a secret. Any of it can be found in the civil engineering section of a public library.” He paused. When he continued, it was in the same artificial manner Jane had watched him use during work presentations. “I used to have an interest in the construction and internal layouts of urban buildings. They may look different on the outside, but most share the same features. I assumed the dormitory was like any number of other structures built around the same time by the same company. It’s practically common knowledge.”
    Weird. Devin had dabbled in many esoteric subjects—Fringe justice, interstellar flight, Net activism—but buildings seemed absurdly different from the rest. “C’mon, bro. What’re you hiding? Dad said you used to… um… get in trouble. Were you really a thief?”
    He turned away. “It’s all in the past. Please, Jane. I… I don’t want to talk about it.”
    Jane was accustomed to her brother’s moodiness, but his current distress was different. There was something deeply sad about his tone—whatever he was thinking about caused him profound pain.
    She nodded. “Okay.”
    Okay. It’s okay. Devin said he’d handle it and he will. Everything’s gonna be fine. I just have to get through today.
    Jane brought her attention back to the office and noticed something unusual. Her coworkers twittered like schoolgirls spreading rumors. She stood but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “What’s happening?”
    A nearby woman answered, “They’ve locked down the upper levels. No one knows why.”
    A team of Quasar’s gray- and violet-clad security personnel burst into the office area. The building’s intercom emitted a loud beep , causing the chatter to desist.
    “Attention: all Quasar employees. There has been a security breach. Please remain at your desks until further notice.”
    Jane sat down, her previous agitation displaced by an intense craving for knowledge. She wasn’t too worried, and neither, it seemed, were the others. Such alerts were rare but no cause for alarm. The past few times had been due to sensitive documents being accessed without permission. Maybe the Collective hacked us and is forcing us to give money to poor people.
    Jane smirked. That would be hilarious. The company would probably have the internal defenses shoot their own central computer rather than let that happen.
    Run-app, copy-paste…
    “Jane Colt?”
    A laser gun hung from a reflective black belt. Jane looked up to see a harshly buttoned black jacket. Two uniformed members of the Kydera City Police Department towered over her with stern, no-nonsense expressions.
    “Yeah?” What did I do?
    The closer one, who had steel-gray hair and even steelier gray eyes, responded, “We’re here about your brother.”
    “Devin? Why?”
    The second officer, whose rusty-iron hair framed severe features, motioned for her to stand. “I think you should come with us.”
    But… But why?
    Jane nervously followed the two officers. She sensed her coworkers staring as the officers escorted her into an empty office.
    The iron-haired officer shut the door and gestured at a chair. “Please, Miss Colt, you should sit down for this.”
    Jane complied. “What’s going on?”
    “I’m afraid we have some bad news.” The officer spoke in a sharp, matter-of-fact tone. “About fifteen minutes ago, your brother shot your father in the head point-blank. He managed to elude Quasar’s security, and we are currently conducting a manhunt for him.”
    Jane stared. The words didn’t register. They were too bizarre to be real. She refused to react.
    The steely-eyed officer put his hands on the armrests of her chair and leaned toward her face. “Do you know where he might have gone?”
    Behind