by Bobbie Peers
“I . . . ,” William began.
“What?” Goffman asked.
“Well, I was just wondering . . . Did you find out anything more about that pyramid?”
“Not much,” Goffman said, and kept walking. “We need some more time to study it.”
“What do you think it is?” William continued.
“I don’t know. It could be anything.”
Goffman’s answers sounded rehearsed and flat. Like he had prepared for William’s questions.
“And what about the Orbulator Agent?” William knew that the name would catch Goffman off guard and get some kind of real, unrehearsed reaction from him.
Goffman stopped, turned around slowly, and looked sternly at William. His eyes were dark and angry, but then his face broke out in a huge grin.
“So, you’ve heard of him? Strange. I thought—” Goffman stopped himself, then smiled even more broadly and ruffled William’s hair. “The Orbulator Agent is just an old myth. No one believes he actually exists. You shouldn’t listen to all the gossip here at the Institute. People have no idea what they’re talking about.”
“But isn’t there an old parchment that says that—” William began, but Goffman cut him short.
“There’s no Orbulator Agent—do you hear me?” He turned and proceeded out of the building.
William understood that he wouldn’t get any more answers from Goffman and decided to back off. He had to figure out where the pyramid was being kept, and then he had to steal it back. The Orbulator Agent had given it to him for a reason.
Outside, William’s parents were waiting by the car. William stopped when he caught sight of his father. He wasn’t wearing his exoskeleton anymore. He was standing there in a new suit, grinning from ear to ear. This was the first time in years that William had seen his father standing up without any form of visible assistive device.
“What do you think?” His dad held out his arms to show off his new suit. But William knew that what he was really showing off was that he could stand up entirely on his own.
“This is a tremendous advance,” Goffman said, pointing to William’s father.
His father unbuttoned his shirt to reveal what was underneath the suit. It gleamed gray.
“He’s wearing a completely new type of ultrasuit,” Goffman explained. “It functions as an exoskeleton. Electrical impulses multiply the existing muscular strength of the person wearing it.”
His father buttoned the shirt again and grinned at William.
“It’s really cool, don’t you think?” he said.
William nodded. He’d never seen his father look so pleased.
“Time to go,” William’s mother said, opening the car door. She glanced at William.
“This is what we’ve always dreamed of,” his father said. “Being able to return to England to visit friends and family. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
“We’re going to visit your father’s brother in Wales. We haven’t seen him since we moved to Norway.” Mother smiled at William. “Your father just talked to him on the phone. He can’t wait to see you.”
There was a short silence. And William just stood there for a little while looking at his parents. He was unsure of what to do next. Did they want him to go with them? He glanced up at Goffman but got nothing from his expressionless face.
“I’m—going with you?” he stammered, turning to look at his parents.
“Well, of course,” his father blurted out. Like anything else was a complete impossibility. “Goffman didn’t tell you?”
William shook his head.
“We all think this is for the best,” Goffman said. “It’s not safe for you here right now. Taking a little trip with your parents is the best you can do. Let that big brain of yours have a well-deserved rest.” Goffman ruffled William’s hair with his bony fingers again.
“Well, we’d better get going,” his mother said. “I don’t like driving in the dark.” She motioned for William to get in the car. Then she got in behind the wheel.
Reluctantly William made his way over to the car, opened the door, and climbed into the backseat. He looked out at Goffman, who just stood there. William thought he saw a glint of a smirk on his lips.
William’s father sat down in front.
His mother started the car, and they began to drive.
“It’s probably best this way,” she said. “So many strange things are happening at the Institute. We’ll go spend some time with the family. You can relax. Save up your strength.”
The engine roared as she placed her foot on the accelerator, and William was pushed into his seat. He could hear how the gravel shot out from under the rear tires. He looked back at Goffman, who still stood there. Like he wanted to make sure that William really did leave. Confused, William scratched his forehead. Why was Goffman sending him away? And why had he taken the strange pyramid from him when the postman had specifically said that it was for William’s eyes only? Something wasn’t right.
The car stopped in front of the big wrought-iron gates that marked the boundary of the Institute’s property. The two gates slowly slid open, and the car kept going.
William put his hands in his lap, thinking like crazy. He needed to get the pyramid back. There must be a good reason why the strange man had given it to him. William needed to return to the Institute.
William thrust his hand into his pants pocket and pulled out the folded metallic headband that Benjamin had given him.
“Stop the car!” he said.
12
William ran down the road.
It had been surprisingly easy to convince his parents to let him out. True, he had flagrantly lied and told them he would follow them shortly in one of the Institute’s private planes, but they’d believed him because he’d said that he had to go get Grandpa’s backup, and it would take a little time to get it restarted. That part actually wasn’t a lie, but the rest of it wasn’t so easy.
Sneaking into the Institute would be hard. A camera mounted on top of the gate at the Institute was panning back and forth. William knew it would be impossible to get in without being filmed, and the guard bots had probably already been informed that William Wenton wasn’t supposed to be staying there. He had to use the hologram mask Benjamin had given him. And find Iscia. He couldn’t do this alone, but he had a plan.
William put the metal headband on his head and pushed the button. A gleam of light shot out in front of his eyes. Otherwise, he didn’t notice much of anything. He touched his face but felt only his own skin. Was the hologram mask not working?
He spotted a puddle a little way away, walked to it, and checked his reflection. He jumped when he saw the face staring back up at him from the dark water. It was an old man with wrinkly skin, a big mustache, and white hair. He looked like Albert Einstein. It was ridiculous. William couldn’t walk around with an old man’s head on a young boy’s body. His cover would be blown right away.
He pushed the button on the back of the headband again. And with that, his face changed, becoming a woman’s. He tried again. His faced morphed yet again. This time it was a boy with red hair and freckles looking back up at him. Perfect, he thought.
Suddenly he heard the rumble of an engine. William turned and spotted a bus coming toward him. He ran to hide behind a bush.
The brakes whined as the bus slowed down, pulled over by the gate, and stopped. William peeked out. A group of kids his own age peered through the windows curiously. More candidates on their way into the Institute.
Before William realized what he was doing, he was running, hunched over, toward the bus. He got there right as it began to move. He jumped up onto the bumper and hung on tight. The bus drove in the gate and bumped along the gravel drive. William was sure he would be discovered—or flung off.
But when the bus stopped in front of the main entrance, he hopped down and hid behind it.
The bus doors opened, and the kids poured out. Soon the area was buzzing with excited voices. Will
iam peeked around the corner. He counted fourteen children and one adult.
Emerging from his hiding spot, William snuck over to the group and joined them, tagging along at the very back.
“Is everyone here?” asked the lady standing at the front.
Everyone in the group nodded.
The lady was wearing a purple suit jacket with the Institute’s emblem. William had seen her before and was quite sure that she knew who he was. But for the time being, he was safe behind his hologram mask.
“Follow me,” the woman said before turning toward the building and climbing the stairs.
It felt very strange to enter the Institute this way, as if this were his first visit. William looked at the others. Their eyes were wide with excitement. If only they knew all the things that were going on here.
“Welcome to the Institute for Post-Human Research,” the woman said, flinging her arms wide as they entered the massive lobby.
A gasp ran through the group, then became part of the buzz of human voices and robots that filled the space. Men and women in white coats moved quickly across the room engaged in animated discussions with one another. A group of young candidates displayed their orbs, and a vacuum bot tried to maneuver through the crowd of people and robots to do its job.
“This is where I leave you,” the lady continued. “And one of our most trusted field assistants, Iscia, will take over. She’ll show you around.”
William’s heart skipped a beat as Iscia came toward them.
“Welcome!” she said, smiling.
• • •
The new candidates followed Iscia through the large hall.
William was still at the very back of the group.
The candidates had looked around wide-eyed as Iscia showed them the main building and the park behind it, and now they were on their way up the escalators. William looked back down at the lobby and spotted a group of guard bots pushing their way through the crowd. Had his presence been discovered?
“This way,” Iscia said when they reached the top of the escalator.
The little group followed her over to the Crypto Portal display. She stopped and turned around to face them. William glanced down at the lobby again. The guard bots were stopping random people and identifying them with forehead scanners.
William knew it was only a question of time before the guard bots reached the group he’d entered with, and then it was only a matter of seconds before they discovered him.
“Are you coming?” he heard Iscia call.
She was eyeing William impatiently.
“I can’t begin until everyone is ready,” she said. “Hurry up.”
Iscia turned around to face the Crypto Portal display. She stared at the glass case. It was almost as if she didn’t want to tell them what was in there.
“You weren’t on the bus,” a voice next to William said.
“Huh?” he said, turning around in fear. A young girl was looking at him, her head cocked to the side. His heart started beating faster. Was the game over?
“You didn’t come on the bus with the rest of us,” the girl said. “Did you lose your group?”
William glanced over at Iscia, but she didn’t seem to have heard what the girl had said.
“Yes,” he whispered. “I missed the last tour, so I had to come on this one.”
“Oh, right,” the girl said, nodding like she accepted his explanation.
“Forehead scan,” a monotone voice said from behind them.
William turned around. Three guard bots were rolling toward them. The one in the middle was holding a forehead scanner. The other two were armed with passivators.
13
William had to think fast. The guard bot with the forehead scanner stopped in front of the girl who had just spoken to him.
The girl looked around in confusion. She caught William’s eye.
William fought his urge to run for it. He had to remain calm. If he was discovered, the game would be up, and he could forget all about getting the pyramid back.
“Lean forward,” he said. “They just want to scan your forehead to find out who you are.”
The girl gulped and did as William had said. She leaned forward and squeezed her eyes shut.
“It doesn’t hurt,” William said.
The guard bot placed the scanner to the girl’s forehead. The light blinked red a couple of times before changing to green.
“Cleared,” the guard bot said, and turned toward a tall, thin boy. “Forehead scan.”
The boy placed his hands behind his back and obediently leaned his upper body forward.
William snuck a peek at Iscia, who was still standing by the display case. He backed his way into the group and waved discreetly, but she didn’t see him. She was staring at the tall boy. The forehead scanner lit up in green.
“Cleared,” the guard bot pronounced.
William waved more enthusiastically to catch her attention. “Psst,” he whispered.
But Iscia still hadn’t noticed him. William kept going. Soon he was halfway to her.
“Iscia,” he whispered.
Finally she glanced at him.
“You can’t leave the group,” she whispered. “You risk being passivized.”
Of course she didn’t recognize him. She just saw an unfamiliar red-haired boy.
But William couldn’t give up. He snuck a peek over at the guard bots. They were still busy scanning the rest of the group.
“It’s me,” William whispered, coming to a stop right next to her.
“Me?” Iscia said. “What are you talking about? Get back there before we both end up passivized.”
“It’s me!” he whispered again. “William.”
“William?” She looked at him as if he were completely crazy.
“William Wenton,” he said, leaning toward her.
“Huh?”
“The guards can’t find out that it’s me,” William said. “I’m wearing a hologram mask. You have to help me. I’ll explain later.”
She still didn’t seem to have any idea what he meant.
He was going to have to show her.
William raised one hand and found the button on the back of the metal headband. A quick flash of light shot in front of his face. Iscia’s eyes widened. William leaned to the side and looked at his reflection in the glass display case. He had Albert Einstein’s head again.
But now it appeared that Iscia understood.
“William?” she whispered, casting a rapid, terrified glace at the guard bots. “Are you the one they’re looking for?”
“Goffman thinks that I left with my parents. But I came back.” William pushed the button twice more and turned into the red-haired boy again, just in the nick of time.
“You there,” the guard bot said.
The guard bot with the forehead scanner approached him. “Forehead scan,” it said.
William peeked at Iscia.
“Run,” she whispered.
“Huh?” William said.
“Run,” she repeated. “I’ll stall them.” And in a quick motion she hit the alarm button next to the glass display case. Metal walls shot up out of the floor to surround the orb, the picture of William, and Cornelia’s hand.
An alarm started howling. The guard bot with the forehead scanner stopped abruptly, peering into the display case. The other two did the same thing.
“We have to meet somehow,” William whispered. “I have a lot to tell you.” He turned and ran as fast as he could.
14
William sat alone at the far end of the grounds. The cybernetic garden had been shut down a long time ago. Most of the cages were empty now, but there were still mechanical plants in a few of them. He peered up at the cage beside him. In it was a carnivorous plant, its head drooping. Iron teeth that were as sharp as awls stuck out of its mouth. Luckily, it was deactivated now.
He couldn’t believe that this was the only place he felt remotely safe. But right now he needed somewhere to be alo
ne and think. He needed a plan. How was he going to find the pyramid? And how would he find Benjamin? Somehow William just knew that the curious disappearance and return of Cornelia’s hand had something to do with all of this.
William jumped when he heard a low clank. Someone was entering the garden. William withdrew, making his way farther toward the back, pressing himself against the cold sprinkler closet there. Was it a guard bot? Had he been discovered? It was too dark for him to be able to see who or what it was, but its eyes glowed a dim red, so it had to be a robot. William glimpsed it again. This wasn’t any old robot—it was the argu-bot itself! It stopped on the grassy lawn, then started moving again.
William followed it with his eyes.
Was it safe for him to come out?
He took a few faltering steps.
The argu-bot stopped when it spotted William. It stood there for a while, startled. William remembered that he still had the hologram mask on. He touched the button on the back of his head. There was a zap and a quick flash in front of his face.
The argu-bot’s face lit up in recognition.
“It is you,” it said, wheeling toward him. When it was a few yards away, it stopped, staring penetratingly at William.
The argu-bot touched its ear. “I found him,” it whispered.
Then it gestured to William and said, “You need to come with me. It isn’t safe here.”
William was taken aback and didn’t move.
“Have you been passivized or something?” the argu-bot said. “Hurry up. The others are waiting.”
“Who is?” William asked.
“Benjamin and the others,” the argu-bot said. “No time for arguing now. I’ll be happy to accommodate you on that later.” The tall robot turned and started rolling away, back toward the front. “If you stay in here, you’ll be passivator food. It’s only a matter of time before the guard bots find you. And that would be a situation I couldn’t argue you out of.”
“How did you find me?” William asked as he ran across the lawn toward the main Institute building.
