"Okay, break it down for me," Vanessa said, leaning against her workbench. She tapped a glowing stylus against her chin, her face showing a mix of curiosity and doubt. "You want to build a ghost."
Jonah paced in front of her, the frantic energy of his new idea practically buzzing around him. "Basically, yeah. Not a real ghost, but a Progeny that acts like one. It needs two main things."
He held up one finger. "First, it has to be able to phase through stuff. Walls, floors, locked doors… all of it. The word for it is 'intangibility'."
He held up a second finger. "Secondly, it needs to be able to touch their computers and read what's on them. A 'data-interfacing' ability. It needs to be my eyes and ears inside their network."
Vanessa's frowned. "So you want a ghost that can hack." She let out a low whistle. "You don't ask for much, do you?"
"It's the only way," Jonah insisted. "We can't fight them head-on. We have to be smarter."
