INTERWOVEN ADVENTURES | Circadian Earth: Book 1

Chapter 12

Layla sat down on a bench, out of breath. She knew Azaleah and Wren would be mad that she took Josie somewhere without letting them know. And after having to talk to Izzy, she couldn't be bothered with more interaction, especially if it was guaranteed to be negative. Opening her laptop, she looked at the progress of her ongoing project.

Once again, she was testing her ability to bypass security systems, and once again, it was on Pronio. Pronio was a city to the north, although nowhere near as far north as Azledo. The city, known to be pretty much exclusively inhabited by robots, was situated on a different island that sat between the main one and the one Azledo was on, in a desert. How two neighbouring islands had complete opposite climates was anyone's guess; it was a strange world. Nevertheless, hacking into Pronio's security systems was a challenge, especially given how little was known about the city. Few Trialians who went there ever returned, and the population there was rumoured to be more than a little unwelcoming to all except fellow robots.

Layla, however, wanted to learn more. Sure, she cared a lot more about the software than the robots themselves, but she still found the whole thing interesting. She had attempted many times to get into it's systems, but had not yet succeeded.

She continued with the methods she knew best, typing out various commands. As expected, several errors flashed on her screen. Oftentimes during other projects, Layla would get error codes, which she'd use to help bypass the systems. It was strange how susceptible the most well-protected systems were to giving out their own keys.

But not this one. No error codes. No descriptions. Layla had nothing.

She smiled. A challenge was a challenge, and she liked that. This was her passion. She continued typing, relentless in her attempts to find her way around the system. After all, nobody was there to stop her...

"Your efforts continue to be admirable."

Layla instinctively closed her laptop, turning to face whoever it was who had interrupted her work. As she did so, she noticed that she'd spent a lot longer on her attempts than she'd thought, and it was already getting dark.

"There's no need to hide the screen. You've been so caught up in your attempts, that you failed to notice me at all. I've been here for over an hour."

"That's great," Layla grumbled, not wanting to talk to the robot who was stood in front of her. "Can you go away?"

"It isn't a matter of whether I can go away, but a matter of whether I want to... and of whether you truly want me to. And I don't think you do."

"Well, I do," Layla snapped back. "I've got enough on my plate, what with my older sister and mother mad at me."

"For what? For taking your younger sister to get your Nasric repaired?"

Layla stopped, stunned. "How?"

"Allow me to introduce myself," the robot said, holding out a clawed hand. "My name is Amelix."

"I don't care."

Amelix followed Layla as she began walking away. "I've known about you for some time. I know what you've been doing."

"Great, so you've been tracking me by my attempts to bypass systems. Whatever. I only do it to test my software skills. I never change anything, I just get in and out without leaving a trace."

"Except that you do leave a trace, a big one. It's curious how whenever you attempt to compromise the security of a other system, the system that gets compromised the most is your own."

Layla turned to face Amelix, irritated. "What is it that you want?"

"You."

"Be specific."

"I want you to help me. Like you, I am on a mission, although my mission is far larger than yours."

"I don't even want to know what your mission is. I simply don't care."

"Your passion would be a great asset. You could do whatever you wanted."

This almost caught the fennec's interest. Almost. "And if I were to accept?"

"You come with me to my home, and you join my team."

Layla shook her head. "I can't do that without my family. I can't leave them."

"As if you truly care."

"I do!"

Amelix laughed. "Do you really? You have two sisters and a mother. One sister constantly wants your attention while you try to work on your projects. The others want you to give her all of your attention while they focus on themselves. Do you think they care about your own projects?"

"They would care more about the fact that you hacked my laptop and learned all this about them," Layla growled.

"Hypocrisy is a wonderful thing, isn't it? Need I remind you of how you managed to call Izzy?"

Layla realised what Amelix was talking about. "Alright. Continue..."

"Your family. They are actively against your hobby."

"I..." Layla sighed. "Yeah. I think they are. They're worried it'll backfire on me, and get me into trouble."

"Sounds like they're more worried it'll backfire on themselves. But then there's me. I know how your hobby can result in you achieving greatness. You'd be respected by the entirety of the Bitobian archipelago."

"And what would I need to do?"

"It's simple. You come with me and do as I say. And if you do, I'm not going to be anywhere near as strict as your mother was."

"What other benefits do I get?"

"I can help you achieve your goal of accessing every single system there is. Every device, every company, every database... More of Nasrica than you've ever seen. And perhaps even further. Even Pronio can be at your fingertips. Everything you want, I can assist you with."

Layla perked up. "You can get me access to Pronio's systems?"

"And so much more," Amelix replied. "You don't need your family. They need you, but won't give you your due respect."

"You want me to ditch them," Layla guessed.

"I actually think YOU want you to ditch them."

Layla nodded. This was the opportunity she needed. Sure, there were times she got along with Josie, but they were mainly focused around Seven. Now that Seven was alive, Josie would stop talking to Layla about her as much. Amelix was right. Her family really did need her, and would only give her any sort of respect whenever she was needed. But she certainly didn't need them.

"One last question."

"And that is?"

Layla looked at Amelix with a slight smile. "How do we get there?"

Amelix activated a mini rocket booster in each of her wings, allowing her to levitate. "Grab on. And don't drop your laptop, as you'll still be needing that in the future."