Kai seemed relieved as he cocked his head toward a wide corridor. “So…what was wrong with her?” he said as they made their way through the majestic lobby.
“A chip,” she said. “The direct communication chip interrupted her power connection, I think. Removing it was all it took to wake her up.”
“Direct communication chip?”
Cinder scanned the people milling around them, none of whom seemed at all interested in the crown prince. Nevertheless, she lowered her voice when she answered. “Right, the D-COMM. Didn’t you install it?”
He shook his head. “No. We use D-COMMs for international conferencing, but beside that, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. Why would someone put one in an android?”
Cinder pressed her lips, thinking of the things Nainsi had been saying when she’d awoken. Nainsi had probably been relaying that same information when she’d gone unconscious, most likely over the direct communication link.
But who had received it?
“Cinder?”
She pulled on the hem of her glove. She wanted to tell him that she knew about his research, that someone else probably knew too, but she couldn’t say anything in the middle of the crowded palace corridors.
“Someone must have had access to her, right before she malfunctioned. In order to install the chip.”
“Why would anyone install her with a faulty chip in the first place?”
“I don’t think it was entirely faulty. It does seem that some data was sent over the link before Nainsi shut down.”
“What—” Kai hesitated. Cinder noticed the nervousness in his eyes, the tensing of his posture. He craned his head closer to her, barely slowing his pace. “What kind of information can be sent over direct comms?”
“Anything that can be sent over the net.”
“But if someone was accessing her remotely like that, they couldn’t…I mean, she would have to allow access to any information they received, right?”
Cinder opened her mouth, paused, closed it again. “I don’t know. I’m not sure how a direct comm would function in an android, especially one that wasn’t equipped for it in the first place. But there’s a chance that whoever put that chip in her was hoping to gather information. Possibly…specific information.”
Kai’s gaze was distant as they crossed an enclosed glass bridge into the research wing. “So how do I find out who put that chip in her, and what they learned?”
Cinder gulped. “I tried to initiate the link, but it seemed to have been disabled. I’ll keep trying, but at this point, I have no way of knowing who was on the other end. As for what they learned…”
Catching on to the hint in her tone, Kai stopped walking and turned to face her, eyes burning.
Cinder lowered her voice, speaking in a rush. “I know what it is you were looking for. I heard some of the information Nainsi had discovered.”
“I don’t even know what she discovered yet.”
She nodded. “It’s…interesting.”
His gaze brightened and he inched toward her, craning his neck. “She’s alive, isn’t she? Does Nainsi know where to find her?”
Cinder shook her head, fear clawing at her, knowing that Levana was somewhere in these very walls. “We can’t talk about this here. And Nainsi will know more than I do anyway.”
Kai frowned and stepped back, but she could see his thoughts still churning as he proceeded to the elevator bank and gave directions to the android there.
“So,” he said, folding his arms while they waited. “You’re telling me that Nainsi has some important information, but some unknown person may also have that information.”
“I’m afraid so,” said Cinder. “Also, the chip itself was unusual. It wasn’t silicon or carbon. It was like no chip I’d ever seen before.”
Kai peered at her, brows knit. “How so?”
Cinder held up her fingers as if pinching the chip between them, envisioning it. “Size and shape, it looked just like a normal chip. But it was shimmery. Like…tiny gemstones. Pearlescent, kind of.”
The color drained from Kai’s face. A second later, he shut his eyes with a grimace. “It’s Lunar.”