Elite (Citizen Saga, Book 1) by Nicola Claire Page B

said aloud.
    "Twenty-one, fifteen," came Shiloh's offline voice. No Honourable this or have-you-been-a-model-Citizen that. Just the joys of an automated household organiser without the Wánměi doctrine. If only all Shiloh units were the same.
    I stretched my neck and sat up as I mentally thanked my father for the gift of this particular Shiloh.
    "Any visitors?" I asked as I unwrapped my ankle and gingerly tested my weight.
    "No visitors. No calls," Shiloh replied succinctly.
    I re-wrapped my leg and started toward my bedroom, desperately wanting out of the k 'ri k'ri and into my normal clothes. It was all well and good to play dress-up, but I was an Anglisc descendant, not D'awan . I wanted back in my own cultural uniform for tonight's escapades.
    "Run system check," I instructed as I pulled black fitted trousers and a black shirt out of my closet, followed by a black jacket with multiple pockets and hidden hiding places to stash everything I'd need.
    "Checking," Shiloh confirmed.
    I took a quick shower as she determined if we'd been hacked or pinged by the Overseers. Carried out my usual bathroom routine and then dressed. By the time I was grabbing a bite to eat from the kitchen, Shiloh had completed her checks. A Shiloh unit is not a simple programme, but a conglomerate of several incredibly technical ones. Checks usually take from five minutes to half an hour depending on how many add-ons your Shiloh has.
    Mine is special. My father made her that way.
    "Check complete," Shiloh announced as I finished my reheated noodles. I washed it away with water and walked over to Shiloh's vid-screen in the kitchen, just about spitting the mouthful back out again.
    There'd been pings all right. And an attempted hack. One was the official Overseers' ping at the beginning of a cycle, to determine your unit was online and functioning correctly. That is, uploading data to the Wánměi system, spying like the good little robot Shiloh normally is. I'd expected that one, and I was relieved there hadn't been another ping from the Overseers since then, because it meant Selena Carstairs was clean, despite my multiple errors last night.
    I breathed a sigh of relief even as I looked at the further four pings from a Wánměi Internet Protocol Address and their hack attempt in the middle of it. If it was Overseer or Cardinal originated then I would have expected drones on my doorstep when I got home. I'd been here for hours, even managing to catch up on sleep. So my guess, it was Citizen based. But who?
    I wondered if Harjeet had checked up on me, but some of the pings had occurred before I even went to Little D'awa . So that didn't fit. Then who?
    I pulled the business card Harjeet had given me out of one of my jacket pockets and ran my finger over the name and phone number. I hadn't written the address down, I didn't need to. It was easy enough to remember, even if Hillsborough wasn't a suburb I traversed often. But for anyone to attempt to hack a Shiloh they'd have to be experienced tech whizzes. Like the name on this card. And there weren't that many tech whizzes in Wánměi, this guy was in a select group, narrowing the field.
    There was no way to be certain, but my gut was telling me this was all connected. The first ping happened not long after Wántel. I could only assume it had something to do with the black clad men who'd been after the file as well. They'd iRec'd me. Not been able to find me as Lena Carr, but maybe used an offline iRec version that ID'd me as Selena Carstairs. Then tried to hack my home.
    I let an aggravated breath of air out and shook my head. Feeling bizarrely honoured. This was almost as engaging as breaking into a high security building.
    With a wicked curve to my lips I said, "Shiloh, ping them back."

Chapter 11
Everyone Held Their Breaths
Trent
    "Fuck. She's pinged us," Si said, breaking into the quiet of the room. "How the hell did she do that?"
    "How the hell do you do that?" Kevin said from his usual spot at the