Simulated a calculated n.., p.1
Simulated: A Calculated Novel, page 1
Advance Praise for Simulated
“Calculated was so incredible that I didn’t think it was possible for the sequel to one-up it, and yet here we are. Simulated has all the mission impossible action you could hope for, paired with a love triangle that rivals the intensity of Twilight’s. Be prepared to choose sides and hold on tight. You’re in for one wild ride.” — Chelsea Bobulski, author of THE WOOD and REMEMBER ME
"Full of global intrigue and the thrilling adventure of an action movie, Simulated transported me to the lush setting of North Africa as I cheered for an utterly unique heroine fighting for good and finding her place in the world. Action-packed and captivating - I couldn’t put it down." —Becky Dean, forthcoming author of LOVE AND OTHER GREAT EXPECTATIONS, 2022, Delacorte/Penguin Random House
“Brilliantly crafted, this technological thriller delivers punch after punch of heart-pounding action. The fearless heroine and two equally intriguing love interests had me flying through the pages. I’m in love with this series!” —Lorie Langdon, author of the Disney Villains Happily Never After Series
“With thrilling adventure and cunning suspense, Simulated is the most riveting sequel I’ve ever read—a masterpiece destined for the stars!” —Ellen McGinty, author of THE WATER CHILD
Praise for Calculated
“A high-stakes YA tale of betrayal, revenge, and numbers... An enjoyable thriller with an intriguing, relatable protagonist.” — Kirkus Reviews
“An intense and wonderfully complex thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat and turning pages!” – Jessica Day George, NYT bestselling author of SILVER IN THE BLOOD and the TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES series
“I can’t think of a word good enough to describe this book. Masterful? Gripping? Addictive? Powerful? Perfect? Calculated is all of these things, and yet the words don’t feel big enough, or strong enough, to encompass all that is contained within these pages. It is a thrill ride from start to finish, with so many twists and turns, you wonder how it could ever be wrapped up, only to have your mind blown at the end and your heart aching for the next chapter. Don’t let another minute go by without reading this book.” — Chelsea Bobulski, author of THE WOOD and REMEMBER ME
“Calculated is smart with plenty of page-turning action, and a brave heroine who is deeply relatable. The timely subject matter is heart-wrenching even as it inspires us to use our gifts to make a difference in the world. Twisty and original, this story will keep readers guessing and hoping to its pulse-pounding end!” – Lorie Langdon, best-selling author of DOON and OLIVIA TWIST
“A cunning story of strategy destined to keep readers chasing resolution from Seattle to Shanghai.” – Jennifer Jenkins, co-founder of Teen Author Boot Camp and author of the NAMELESS series and TEEN WRITER’S GUIDE
“Calculated is an intelligent thrill ride! In Jo Rivers, author Nova McBee has given readers a heroine who is mathematically gifted beyond what most can imagine, and somehow immensely relatable, even as her greatest skills are exploited by international criminals. Sleek and sophisticated, with dark secrets at every turn, Calculated is impossible to put down.” – Shannon Dittemore, author of WINTER, WHITE AND WICKED
"Fast-paced and suspenseful. A thrilling debut!" – Stephanie Morrill, author of WITHIN THESE LINES and THE LOST GIRL OF ASTOR STREET
“Calculated is a fast-paced and thrilling story that will keep you reading long into the night. Its twists and turns will take you from Shanghai's glittering high rises to underground prisons and the plights faced by the characters who feel achingly real. An action-packed adventure with heart.” – Judy Lin, author of the forthcoming A MAGIC STEEPED IN POISON
“In this gripping thriller, McBee balances high-stakes, page-turning action with a powerful exploration of revenge, justice, forgiveness, and love, as well as an inspiring heroine readers won’t soon forget.” – Kimberly Gabriel, award-winning author of EVERY STOLEN BREATH
“Nova McBee’s Calculated and its heroine, [Jo] catapult readers through the highs and lows of the pits of despair and pinnacles of power without sacrificing warmth and authenticity. The book’s cinematic imagery entices and immerses the reader in deceit and corruption so suffocatingly thick that only a tenacious fight for justice and freedom can satisfy. What a ride! Don’t miss out.” — Wayne Lo, illustrator of the Star Wars CLONE WARS graphic novel series
“I was fortunate to read an early version of Calculated, and I can’t recommend it enough. The pacing is excellent, the characters jump off the page, and the story grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go until the very end. Add this one to your must-read list. You won’t be disappointed.” – Ernie Chiara, Literary Agent Assistant at Fuse Literary, PitchWars Mentor
Simulated
A Calculated Novel
Nova McBee
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, publications, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
SIMULATED. Copyright © 2021 by Nova McBee.
All rights reserved.
For information, address Wolfpack Publishing,
5130 S. Fort Apache Road 215-380 Las Vegas, NV 89148
wisewolfbooks.com
Cover design by Cherie Chapman
ISBNS 978-1-953944-53-5 (ebook)
978-1-953944-06-1 (paperback)
978-1-953944-12-2 (hardcover)
First Edition: May 2021
Contents
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Epilogue
Watch For: Activated (Calculated Book 3)
Join the Wise Wolf Books Mailing List
Simulated Discussion Questions
Acknowledgments
About the Author
To Olivia for traveling to the farthest lands with me.
&
To the untamed, the rough, and those in chaos—there is calculated beauty in you.
fractal |ˈfraktəl| Mathematics
noun
an infinite pattern or design found in nature, in dynamic systems, in chaos, and in what appears rough or random; broken, fractured part of the whole.
“Fractals are just another way of seeing infinity.”
Benoit Mandelbrot
“A thumbprint in the stars, a pattern in the trees, order in the ocean waves.
There’s always a path through the chaos…just look up.”
N.J.A.
Simulated
Prologue
My goal today: don’t drown.
It shouldn’t be too hard. I’ll just be scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef in the Coral Sea…above ground…fully clothed…in a dry, dark room at Prodigy Stealth Solution’s headquarters in Seattle.
When Ms. Taylor, the PSS director, told me she had a way to get my gift back, virtual simulations where ‘staying alive’ was a main factor wasn’t what I had in mind. But the numbers buried in my brain respond to it. Maybe I have a secret death wish lurking deep in my subconscious, or it’s simply a survival thing. Either way, I’m here, willing to do anything to jumpstart my numbers again.
“Get comfortable, Josephine,” Ms. Taylor says in her stern, calm voice. “We’ll have you connected to our neural simulators in just a minute and everything about this exercise will feel real.”
I settle into a chair, the only piece of furniture in the middle of the room. Under the smooth material, the odd seat is made of soft gel. As I settle into it, the gel molds to cushion my body. A seatbelt, which is made of the same material, loops across my chest and my waist, gently securing me in place. I barely notice it. Already I feel weight
Ms. Taylor’s assistants attach small sensors to my fingers and temples as I listen closely to her instructions.
“As with all of your simulations, the room itself will shift depending on the exercise. Last time, the wind pressed against you as you jumped from the plane. Today, you’ll feel the pressure of being underwater. You’ll be a mile offshore and about 100 feet deep. You’ll be given certain challenges to overcome and choices to make. Do you remember the system?”
“I remember.” I glance around the room covered in large screens, all loaded with my memories and programs made for me. “You’ll give me only 30% of the information and equipment that I’ll need for the goal.”
“Correct. You must locate the sunken ship, grab the gold coin in the inner cabin and reach the surface on your own. Theoretically, the dormant part of your mind will wake up to the challenge. It’ll assemble all the pieces of the puzzle and be reactivated. We are made to survive. This is a private exercise, but do we have your permission to record the results?” Ms. T asks me this every time. The tone in her voice comforts me.
I nod.
“Although this phase is the gentlest of the three simulations we designed for you, it may still trigger areas of your trauma.” This is the part where Ms. T demands I look her in the eye. Her unwavering black eyes are steely and full of fire. This woman is a powerhouse. She’s worked with countless prodigies, helping them hone their gifts to solve some of the world’s most challenging problems, and she just keeps pushing boundaries. I swear Ms. T could have put King in his place with one stare. But underneath her stern features, a motherly heart beats; at least towards me. “Now, if you want to proceed, please say ‘I agree’ as your verbal signature.”
“I agree.”
As I sign the agreement with my voice, my heart starts to pound a bit faster. I never really know what I’m agreeing to. Last month, I nearly froze to death in arctic temperatures trying to find my way back to base camp on Everest. Another time, I came seconds away from plummeting to the ground while skydiving over Abu Dhabi in a sandstorm because I couldn’t open my parachute. Most recently, I skidded down a mountainside cliff in Peru on a high-powered motorcycle—just to mention a few close-calls. Although, my gift hasn’t “woken up” yet in those dangerous moments, it’s flickered. Not for more than a few seconds at a time, but even that small taste fuels my desperate hunger to try again.
Each week I’m thrust into a new series of complex challenges with tech they’ve designed specifically from the broken pieces of my life.
There are three phases to my sims. Phase one is called: Before Trauma—it’s the time before I lost my mom, when life was simple; Phase two is called: Facing Trauma—in these sims I am in China where I lost my gift; Phase three is called: Adventure—these are new challenges to jump-start my gift. All the sims are connected to neural pathways of my brain that shut down after my experiences in China. They also draw on recreated memories and visuals taken from those periods in my life. It’s strange experiencing my life in 4-D.
But I’m impatient to get my gift back. Operating without it has made me feel like a small child trying to drive a car—I have to stretch and strain to reach the gas pedal, and I can barely see over the steering wheel, whereas my old life felt like driving a Ferrari on the autobahn.
“This exercise is 30 minutes long. We’ll be monitoring your neural activity but the content of what you experience inside the simulation will be private. If you need out, press this red button.” She taps the button on the side of the chair.
“I understand.”
“Alright,” she says, slipping a light helmet over my head, and gloves on my hands. “Have fun down there. Let your mind do the work. I’ll see you at the meeting point.”
And just like that, I sink into the clear, blue water.
The sea is warm—somehow I feel it, smell it. The water is a translucent, electric blue. My first emotion is happiness. There is nothing to fear…yet. I stay near the surface. I’m thrilled to be out of my father’s house. He’s been so protective since I came home that this…feels like freedom. At the same time, unpleasant memories of water during my time in China float endlessly in the back of my mind—Lev attacking me at the pool, Celia’s command that I die by drowning, King shoving me underwater for terrifying minutes at a time. But that’s all behind me, I tell myself. So after the pressure settles in my ears, I dive deeper.
My diving suit is black and tight. The mask on my face and mouth press against my temples and forehead, connecting securely to my air tanks. My ears echo with the sound of my own breathing. This is the most realistic simulated experience I’ve had yet. Even the hair on my head feels weightless, floating around me. I marvel for a moment. It’s not real, but with each minute, my brain insists otherwise.
The sim doesn’t provide a map, but the ship is easy to see. I need to go down further. Thirty more feet? Fifty? I hate that I don’t know, hate that I can’t estimate more accurately.
When I look up, the surface feels miles away and I shiver even inside my suit.
My neural pathways have come alive now. The sim is making me believe I really am underwater, away from shore, breathing through a tank of air. I don’t know how to use the equipment. I’m not supposed to. The pressure against my body is heavy, constricting. I tell myself it’s not real, once, twice, three times. But slowly, my brain is absorbed into the false reality.
As I swim along, clear miles of sea stretch out before me. There are no other divers. Just me and the great big ocean. And fish. They swim past me, flashing vibrant colors of red and yellow and cobalt blue. I’m in awe of my surroundings. I want to follow the stony coral reef out farther, forget about the exercise and just enjoy myself. But I know, eventually, something will go wrong. That’s when my gift kicks in—the moment I need it.
The sunken ship is now just a dolphin-dive away. I kick my flippers aiming toward it and easily locate the cabin. It’s dark inside. I turn on my underwater light. Eerie particles of dust and algae float across my vision as I squeeze through a narrow opening into the cabin. Fish dart to and fro and I want to get out quickly. On a rotting table sits a gold coin. I grab it as instructed and swim out. At the cabin door, my headlamp dies. Everything is gray now. It’s still light enough to see, but the sun is setting above me.
A spark of numbers whips past me. It’s only a few seconds but an underwater map appears in my head. I know clearly where I am—off the coast of Queensland Australia, not far from where we caught Madame. My mind calculates the distance from where I am to the shore. With it comes a realization. I am alone.
