Unleashed

by Amy McCulloch

  ‘LACEY, LET’S GO, NOW!’ SAYS Zora, dragging my arm.

  We spin on our heels and run, causing havoc as we topple over benches and chairs in our wake. No one pursues us, but we run as if we’re being chased by the fiercest of security bakus.

  Once we’re outside and clear of the BRIGHTSPRK building, we slow our pace – but only barely. ‘I have to get home!’ says Zora, striding down the sidewalk. ‘I have to warn my family.’

  ‘Of course! But we have to warn everyone,’ I say, hurrying to catch up with her. ‘Will Linus still let you send out a message without connecting to your leash?’

  She slows down. ‘It’s worth a try.’

  I unzip my pocket, carefully keeping my hand around Linus’s small dormouse frame the whole time, making sure he doesn’t leap towards Zora’s leash. I pass him over to her, and Zora holds him with equal caution.

  ‘Let’s do it. We need to get on the St Agnes message board and warn everyone at school.’

  Zora nods. ‘It’ll sound better if it comes from me – no offence. You’re still seen as a Profectus student.’

  ‘None taken.’

  There are no cabs on the street at all and we don’t want to take the subway and risk losing signal. Zora uses Linus to hail a ride-sharing driverless car instead.

  ‘Mom isn’t messaging me back,’ says Zora, her voice trembling with worry.

  ‘He won’t get away with this,’ I say, my fingers curled up so tightly in my fist, I might draw blood.

  No wonder Eric allowed us to leave with Mr Baird. He was never worried that BRIGHTSPRK would be the ones to stop us. We should have gone straight to the authorities. Maybe bigger than the police. To . . . the federal government, or somewhere that isn’t yet under Moncha’s control, where there’s still hope that they have their own minds.

  My stomach churns. I have a feeling that’s not the end of it either. If he’s thought of how to stop his rival corporations, and how to control the city’s power, he may already have thought how to stop the government too.

  The driverless car pulls up, and we hop in – grateful for both the warmth and the way we’re able to speed through the empty streets of the city. I’d forgotten it was Christmas Eve. Most people would be at home, with their families. Updating . . .

  When the car pulls up to our condo building, Zora rushes to the elevator, with me following swiftly behind.

  ‘Miss Chu, Miss Layeni, Merry Christmas,’ says Darwin, our building’s porter, cheerfully oblivious to our panicked state.

  I divert my run to his desk – he has a level 2 baku, a ferret. ‘Darwin, tell me you haven’t updated Treasure yet.’

  ‘Why, of course I did! Just a few moments ago. It’s the best decision I’ve made this year.’ He grins widely at Zora and me. It’s like he doesn’t even register our bright red faces and wild, windswept hair, let alone the panic and worry in our eyes.

  I groan loudly, and Zora is mashing the elevator call button, now even more desperate to see her family. Finally, there’s a ding as the elevator arrives, and we rush inside.

  ‘Let me know how they are,’ I say, when it reaches Zora’s floor.

  She grabs my hand and blocks the elevator door from closing with her foot. ‘I know this is hard. I know it seems like the complete end of the road, and that Eric has anticipated our every move. But we can’t be the only people in the world who feel like the update is wrong. We’ll find supporters. We’ll tackle this together. I just have to check on my family first.’

  ‘Of course,’ I say. ‘Go!’

  I slump against the handrail as the doors slide shut again.

  Going to see Mom now, knowing that she is already under Moncha control, wanting to tell her about finding out where Dad is after all these years and yet knowing that she won’t understand what that means . . . it will feel like my heart is breaking over and over again.

  THE ARMY

  I NEEDN’T HAVE WORRIED SO much. Despite my dread, when I let myself into the apartment, there’s no one there. Mom must be working.

  This is possibly the worst Christmas Eve in living history. I plop down on one of the stools in our kitchen, leaning my head against the counter, too tired to even think about making myself anything to eat.

  Then, I hear a quiet tapping. I leap to my feet and rush to the window. I throw it open as fast as I can. Jinx squeezes in through the frame. ‘You made it! You’re okay!’

  >>Of course I’m okay. Did you think they could catch me?

  A swell of emotion overwhelms me at the sight of him, and tears pour down my cheeks. Jinx is okay. At least one thing we did today has gone right.

  ‘Have you heard what Eric Smith did?’

  >>He’s pushed out the update to all level 1s and 2s.

  ‘We couldn’t stop him, Jinx.’

  >>You did your best, Lacey.

  Jinx curls his tail, projecting what seems like a hundred different screens in front of me, each showing a different news outlet reporting on the update. The news is overwhelmingly positive, Eric’s smiling face front and centre. Jinx pushes the positive ones to the back and shows me a few dissenters, who are questioning Monica’s absence and are sceptical about the changes to the terms and conditions.

  >>Look, there’s still something we can do. We can get in touch with these journalists, tell them the truth, try to stop it. We should run away from here tomorrow, set a base somewhere, from a different city. Maybe if the city won’t listen, then the country’s government will? You can’t give up, Lacey.

  I wipe the projections away. ‘Anything we do will be for nothing if we can’t reverse the update. And we don’t have Monica to ask.’

  Slick pipes up from my pocket. >>You have a message from Zora.

  I scramble to take him out of my pocket, and he projects the message to me: MY PARENTS UPDATED, is all that it says.

  The weight of today comes crashing down on me. I’ve never felt so helpless in my entire life. There’s no one to ask for help. The people who were supposed to care – our parents, teachers, the rival firms, the government . . . they’re already under Eric’s influence.

  Even Tobias went behind my back, wanting his family’s approval. Kai, Ashley, River – this isn’t really their fight. They couldn’t risk losing their bakus, and in a way I understand that. Their bakus are their companions. They’re too high level to be subject to the update.

  Only Zora is with me.

  And I worry it might not be enough.

  I push Jinx away, turning my face from his. It’s only a matter of time now before he is destroyed too. I can’t save him.

  I can’t save myself.

  I can’t save Monica.

  I can’t save my mom. My dad. Zora’s family.

  And I certainly can’t save the world.

  Slick quivers on the countertop. Maybe I should just leash him. Allow the update to go through. Then everything would be fine. I wouldn’t feel this pain, this anxiety and uncertainty. One tiny push of a button and it would all go away for ever. I could be content. I would forget this whole messed-up situation.

  But I know I will never do that. I feel it growing, a seed burrowed deep into the bottom of my skull. If it means never having a baku again – then so be it. But I won’t let myself become a mindless drone of the Moncha Corporation. The new Moncha Corporation.

  For once, I don’t want to be Monica Chan. I don’t want to follow in the footsteps of my father.

  I just want to be me. On my own path.

  But walking that path is going to have to wait until tomorrow.

  Today, I just want to burrow deep down into my duvet and forget that the whole world exists.

  Especially to forget that tomorrow is Christmas Day.

  I wake up in the early hours of the morning to a jangling at the front door. I leave my room to see Mom walking in. She’s wearing a little Santa hat, and Petal is playing Christmas tunes over her speaker. She’s humming gently to herself.

  She looks like she’s about to head strai
ght to her bedroom, but I cough as she passes me by.

  Mom’s eyes widen in surprise but then she smiles. ‘Merry Christmas, baby girl!’ Mom says. ‘You’re here!’

  I rush over and wrap my arms around her so tight, she expels her breath in a small ‘oof’. I bury my face into her fuzzy Christmas jumper. ‘I found Dad,’ I whisper into the fabric.

  There’s a jolt as she pushes me away – and the gesture fills me with hope. As if I’ve shocked her out of the update, reached some part of her that’s buried deep. But Petal comes and settles on her shoulder, alarmed at the sharp spike of her heart rate.

  Just as quickly, that spark is gone. Her next words are said in a deadpan tone, so different from her happy, chirpy Christmas ‘good morning’ a few minutes ago. ‘That’s not possible, Lacey. Your father is gone.’

  I search her eyes for any hint of recognition, but there’s no point. ‘Mom, I know it’s Christmas but I left your present down in the basement. Do you mind if I go and get it?’

  ‘Not at all, honey.’ Her bright, chirpy tone is back. ‘And then Petal has given me a great recipe that I can try, sent to me this morning by the Moncha chefs! You’re going to love it.’

  I smile weakly. ‘Sounds good.’

  She walks past me, shutting herself in her room. Jinx slinks out of my bedroom, curling himself around my feet. >>To the basement?

  I nod. I think about checking in on Zora, but then she hasn’t checked on me either – maybe she wants to be left alone, after the update to her family.

  The locker is happily un-Christmassy. I pull the sleeves of my hoodie down over my hands, trying to keep myself warm in the chilly basement. I shouldn’t be down here. I should be upstairs, in my warm condo, helping my mom make Christmas cookies and watching our favourite movies on television.

  I walk through the basement to see if Paul is there. I want to talk to him, to fill him in on everything that went down at Lake Baku. But his locker is empty, the cage dark. I slump my shoulders, disappointed that he didn’t stick around to hear from me. But then again, Christmas is the one time that he spends with his family from out of province. Can I blame him if he wants to be with family right now?

  Jinx tries to slip into the locker behind me. I look down at him, blocking his path through.

  They’re coming for you, you know. He won’t stop. There’s no reason for you to stay with me. You proved you could blend in with the real stray cats and avoid getting caught. Even though saying it breaks my heart, I keep going, attempting to harden my thoughts so he can’t read my real feelings. You should just go.

  He looks up at me and blinks, not saying anything.

  GO!

  Footsteps sound in the darkness and my breath hitches – no one should be around here at this time. It’s early Christmas morning. They’ve come for him, even sooner than I could have predicted.

  ‘Slick,’ I whisper, patting my pocket. ‘Turn on the light.’

  The light in my locker flickers on with a reluctant hiss – even it doesn’t want to be disturbed this early. When my eyes adjust to the light, I see a tall, skinny figure with a pale face, clutching something close to his chest.

  Carter.

  Jinx! I scream inside my head. Jinx darts in between my legs, and I slam the locker door shut, fumbling with the lock.

  When it’s firmly closed, I swallow, putting one hand out to grip the edge of the locker doorframe to steady me. ‘What are you doing here?’

  He shrugs. He looks different to normal . . . smaller, or something. He’s hunched over, his jacket pulled tight across his body. I don’t trust him.

  ‘It wasn’t hard. When you didn’t show up at the convention, I knew you were back in the city. And I know this is where you used to fix Team Tobias’s bakus . . . Figured it was as good a place to start as any.’

  ‘What do you want? Aren’t you supposed to be with your dad? Shouldn’t you be revelling in the fact that the update went out?’

  ‘Look, Lacey . . .’

  ‘You and your father have taken everything from me!’ I shake the cage door, filled with rage. ‘You can’t have Jinx too. Leave us alone.’ I feel bolder than I have in days. Stronger too.

  ‘Your dad wasn’t the only one trapped at Lake Baku,’ he shouts through the mesh grating as I spin around, turning my back.

  I ignore him as tears spring up into my eyes. I don’t want to speak to him about my dad. Rage burns in my mouth like acid, but I don’t give him the pleasure of turning around. My fingernails dig into the palms of my hands. How dare he. After what his dad did. How dare, how dare, how dare . . .

  ‘My mom was there too.’

  His words stop me in my tracks. At first, I don’t turn around. I listen. I wait for the sound of his heavy breaths to change into vicious laughter. I expect him to say ‘JOKING – loser’ and then throw something at my head. That would be my typical interaction with Carter.

  But nothing in his tone of voice sounds like a joke.

  Jinx? Do you believe him? Jinx doesn’t answer. He’s hidden himself in the shadows and this is one situation where my baku can’t help me. Do I trust Carter or not?

  I swallow and spin around on my heels, slowly. To my surprise, Carter’s eyes are glassy with the sheen of tears. His jaw is set, like he isn’t sure if he should trust me either.

  ‘What did you say?’ I need to hear him say it again. I need to watch him as he talks, to search his face for any signs of imminent betrayal, or joking.

  ‘My mom was at Lake Baku too.’

  ‘For how long?’

  He shrugs. ‘Years. I didn’t know. When I was eleven, she just up and left . . . I never got a straight answer from Dad about where she’d gone.’

  A frown flicks its way across my face. All this time, Carter had been going through the same thing as me. All those times he’d niggled at me about my dad’s absence, as if it was my fault.

  He knew exactly what buttons to press – because his own were being pushed at the same time.

  ‘But . . . that doesn’t make sense. I thought the whole reason you got your boar baku was because of your mom.’

  He nods. ‘It was. Hunter has been with me for a lot longer than anyone knows. Mom picked him out for me when I was just a kid.’

  ‘But you’re not allowed a baku until—’

  Carter rolls his eyes. ‘Right. But remember who you’re talking to for a second, will you, Lacey?’

  His tone instantly annoys me, but then I realize: he’s right. Of course his family could bend the rules. They made the rules. ‘Anyway, when I was at St Agnes, Dad made me swap for a dog baku, so that I didn’t appear too different from anyone else. But once I got into Profectus, I demanded to have Hunter back. After all, he’s the only thing I had left of my mom.’

  ‘How you convinced your mother to buy you that thing . . .’

  Eric had said that to Carter on my first day at Profectus, after his speech to the entire school in the arena. I remember being shocked that he’d been so rude to his son; I’d almost felt sorry for Carter in that moment.

  ‘Your mom bought it for you . . . and then she disappeared?’

  ‘Yes. I only found out where she’d really gone just after you did,’ he continues. ‘They’re not at Lake Baku any more, though. Dad had to move all the “volunteers” from Lake Baku to the downtown HQ last night until he can figure out somewhere else to keep them.’ He looks down at the ground, and grips the bundle tighter to his chest. My eyes flicker down towards it, wondering what he could be concealing. ‘After she left, all I ever wanted to do was prove myself to my dad. To be good enough. To be worthy of his attention – and more than that. His confidence. I wanted him to tell me what was going on at Moncha, to let me in on his plans. But he never did, until today. And now look at me. About to betray him. I guess he was right. I wasn’t ready to be a part of his team, after all.’

  ‘Wait . . . what?’

  ‘I know, right. Finally something we can agree on. No one should have their future t
aken away from them, Lacey. The update – it’s not right. So . . . I want to help you bring down my dad.’

  ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘I am. And I know how I can prove it to you.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘Will you let me in so I can show you?’

  It could still be a trap, of course. He could be a much better actor than I give him credit for, just pretending that his mom is wrapped up in this whole thing. But then I think about whether I want to take that risk. Jinx can protect himself; I know that. This is someone asking for help. And I want to be the type of person who will give it to them.

  ‘Okay,’ I say. I step forward and undo the chain to my engineering cave.

  He steps in swiftly, barging past me, and for a moment my heart hitches in my chest. What if he’s about to destroy everything?

  But instead he puts the bundle down on my work surface and unwraps the dark grey blanket, revealing a rumpled form of a broken boar baku.

  My hand flies to my mouth and I have a sharp intake of breath. It’s Hunter, but almost irrevocably destroyed. That’s why he looked so different – he didn’t have his baku at his feet. I didn’t notice in all the intensity of my rage. Now, my focus is on the baku, and I rush forward, trying to assess the damage. It’s bad. He looks as if he’s been rolled over by a truck.

  ‘What happened?’ I ask. If there’s one thing that I’ve never had to wonder about with Carter, it’s his devotion to his baku. He wouldn’t have let this happen out of choice.

  ‘This is what my dad does when I decide to disagree with him.’

  ‘Eric did this?’

  Carter nods.

  I whistle through my teeth.

  ‘Do you think you can fix him?’ The hope in Carter’s voice almost breaks my heart.

  ‘We can definitely try.’ My brain is immediately putting a plan into action. I pick up a pair of oversize tweezers from my toolbox and start by separating out some of the broken pieces that need to be thrown away, from what I think can be salvaged. I know that I have some of the shiny red metal wiring that matches in one of my containers, but if we want to get him absolutely back to perfect then we may have to scavenge for some new parts.