Mirror Mirror

by Barry Hutchison

  CHAPTER 13

  REX LED DAN through the double doors of the Petting Zoo. Dan seemed to have returned to normal, but Rex wasn’t taking any chances. He kept his distance, well outside of the mirror-man’s reach.

  ‘I really can’t apologise enough,’ Dan said. ‘I don’t know what came over me. It was totally out of character.’

  ‘Yeah, so you’ve said,’ Rex nodded. ‘I’m sure it was nothing, but just in case, I want you to hang around here until I can get the doc to come check on you. You freaked out pretty majorly back there.’

  Dan nodded, sadly. ‘I did, didn’t I?’ He glanced around the Petting Zoo. ‘What if the creatures attack?’

  Rex shrugged. ‘Cure them. Drain their nanites. You seem to be pretty good at that.’

  Without another word, he stepped through the door and it swished closed, leaving Dan Nice all alone in the Petting Zoo.

  Rex got in the elevator and pressed the button for his floor. With any luck, Dr Holiday was still with Seal. He could tell her about Dan Nice, then head next door to bed. His head still felt woozy, and his body was still weakened. A rest, he guessed, would be just what the doctor would order.

  The elevator didn’t reach his floor. It stopped several floors below. The door swished open to reveal Agent Six standing there.

  ‘Welcome back,’ Six said. ‘You look terrible. Come with me.’

  Reluctantly, Rex followed Six out into a control room. Banks of video screens lined the walls. Servers and routers and other bits of computer equipment stood in racks between the monitors.

  On the largest screen, at the far end of the room, a ghostly white face looked down. White Knight was the leader of Providence, and the only living thing on the planet not to be infected with nanites. He lived inside a sealed room, so the microscopic machines couldn’t infiltrate his body. He was strict, stern and – Rex often thought – just a little creepy.

  ‘Welcome back,’ White Knight said.

  ‘Yeah,’ Rex muttered. ‘Six said that already. Can we get this over with? I’m kinda beat.’

  ‘Quite,’ White Knight said. ‘We’re worried about these … newcomers,’ he said. ‘What happened on the mission today?’

  ‘We got there, Dan saw his reflection, Dan went crazy, Dan ran away,’ Rex explained. ‘That’s pretty much it.’

  ‘The Evo,’ White Knight began. ‘You did cure the Evo, yes?’

  Rex breathed on his fingernails and polished them against his shirt. ‘I can’t believe you’re even asking me that question. Of course I cured the Evo. Piece of cake.’

  ‘Two Agents came off the Keep on stretchers,’ Six said. ‘Why?’

  ‘Yeah, Dan kinda freaked out again,’ Rex said. ‘I let him absorb a few of my nanites and –’

  ‘You let him absorb your nanites?’ Six growled. ‘Why would you do that?’

  ‘Because he looked sick, and you told me he was my responsibility,’ Rex protested. ‘I was worried he might die or something, and then you’d kill me.’

  ‘What happened, exactly?’ Six asked.

  ‘He wouldn’t let go,’ Rex told them, ‘just kept absorbing more and more. The Agents tried to stop him, but they didn’t get very far. I had to pull out the Smackhands in the end just to get him to let go. After that, he calmed down, but I’ve put him in the Petting Zoo for now. Thought it’d keep him out of trouble.’

  Six nodded. ‘Good thinking.’

  ‘Hey, did you just pay me a compliment?’ Rex smirked.

  ‘Don’t get used to it.’

  ‘I won’t,’ Rex said. ‘Can I go rest up now? Are we done here?’

  ‘Thank you, Rex, you’re free to go,’ White Knight said. ‘Six and I will discuss what’s to be done with Mr Nice.’

  Rex nodded. ‘Have fun with that,’ he said, then he made his way back to the elevator and stepped inside. He jabbed the button for his floor and the lift trundled upwards until …

  PING!

  The lift doors opened and Rex stepped out onto his corridor. It was only a few metres to Seal’s room from where he was standing. The door was open, so he crept along and listened to the voices coming from within the room.

  ‘OMG, your coat is to die for. You’ve got the whole, like, nerdy science-geek look totally nailed down. No offence. I totally meant that in a good way.’

  ‘None taken.’ That was Dr Holiday’s voice, Rex realised. ‘I’m glad you like my coat. Would you like to try it on?’

  ‘Can I? That would be totally awesome!’ Seal yelped. She was definitely sounding more like her old self, Rex thought. That was good news. Probably.

  There was silence for a few seconds, while Dr Holiday took off her lab coat and Seal slipped it on. The quiet was shattered by Seal’s squeal of delight. ‘It’s, like, a perfect fit,’ Seal cried. ‘OMG, how do I look? I bet I look awesome. Do I look awesome? Tell me I look awesome!’

  ‘You look awesome,’ Holiday said. ‘There’s a mirror over there. Take a look for yourself.’

  Silence filled the room again. It lasted for several seconds.

  ‘No, thanks,’ Seal said, eventually.

  ‘What? Why not?’ Holiday laughed. ‘What’s the point in trying on clothes if you don’t get to see what they look like? Just take a look.’

  ‘N-no,’ Seal said. Rex recognised the tone in her voice. It was the same tone he had heard in Dan’s voice, just before he’d flipped out and gone racing off across Chicago.

  ‘Just take a look,’ Holiday urged. ‘It suits you.’

  ‘Uh, Doc,’ said Rex, stepping around the corner. Both women turned to look at him, startled by his sudden appearance. ‘I’m really not sure that’s such a good idea.’

  CHAPTER 14

  DR HOLIDAY CROSSED TO THE DOOR. ‘Hey, this is girl-talk time,’ she said, half-joking, half-stern. ‘No boys allowed.’

  Rex opened his mouth to explain, but Holiday hit the controls and the door closed between them, leaving Rex talking to solid metal.

  He pressed his ear against the door, trying to listen for any clue as to what was happening inside. Dr Holiday’s voice was muffled by the metal, but he could just make out what she was saying.

  ‘See what I mean? It really suits you.’

  There was a pause, during which Rex heard nothing but his own breath wheezing in and out. When Holiday finally spoke again, her voice was edged with panic. ‘Seal? Seal, what’s wrong? What’s happening to your arms?’

  A shriek of rage ripped out from within the room. Rex stepped back, just as two indents bent the metal of the door.

  ‘Seal, calm down!’ Holiday cried, before her voice was drowned out by the smashing of glass.

  Rex had heard enough. Metallic feet grew from the end of his legs. He raised one Punk Buster and slammed it against the door. The metal crumpled inwards and Rex moved to enter the room.

  A flailing shape exploded from inside and hit him hard on the chest. Seal thrashed and gnashed her teeth at him. Rex staggered as a powerful blow caught him across the cheek. Another hit him a half-second later, then another and another.

  Rex put away the Punk Busters and brought out the Smackhands. He blocked Seal’s attacks, caught her around the waist, then hurled her against the wall.

  She hit the wall hard, but it didn’t seem to slow her down. Twisting, she screeched angrily at Rex. Rex barely had time to realise the girl’s slender arms had become thick and muscular, before she hurled herself at him again, battering against him with her freakishly large fists.

  ‘What’s with you guys and your mood swings?’ Rex asked, as he batted Seal backwards along the corridor. She landed on all fours, poised like a sprinter at the start of a race. Rex braced himself as she launched forward, racing along the corridor towards him.

  Just before she reached him, Rex swung with a metal fist. A swirling red circle appeared directly between them and Seal vanished inside it.

  A moment later, Rex was thrown off balance, when Seal smashed into him from behind. He pulled in the Smackhands and ro
lled awkwardly when he hit the ground.

  Rex turned to Holiday as she emerged from Seal’s room. ‘I didn’t know she could make portals,’ he said. ‘Did you know she could make portals?’

  Holiday shook her head. ‘No, I didn’t.’

  ‘That’s OK, then,’ Rex said, relieved. ‘I’d really hate to have been the only one who hadn’t figured it out.’

  Breach swung wildly with all four fists, driving them hard into Skalamander’s stomach. The big lizard was taken by surprise. He bent double, winded by the sudden blow.

  ‘Now what?’ Van Kleiss said. He strode over to Breach, only for her to turn on him, her fists raised.

  This surprised Van Kleiss. He hesitated, not sure how to deal with a Breach who was willing to stand up to him. He didn’t take long to find his footing again.

  ‘Stand down, Breach,’ he told her. ‘Or else you’ll see first hand what my claw and I are capable of.’

  WHUM!

  Breach swung with both right arms. Van Kleiss ducked the more powerful punch, but was caught a glancing blow by the weaker lower arm.

  Biowulf was on the girl in a heartbeat, holding her with his deadly claws, pinning her to the ground beneath the weight of his metallic body. ‘What are you doing?’ he snarled. ‘Stop fighting before I beat the fight out of you for good.’

  KA-RUNCH!

  One of Breach’s arms tore free and drove a bone-shattering uppercut into Biowulf’s bottom jaw. The Evo was sent sprawling backwards and Breach sprang to her feet.

  She looked around at the rest of The Pack, her eyes wide and staring behind her curtain of hair. The others hung back, none of them particularly keen on making the first move.

  Breach turned in a slow circle, watching them all, ready to lash out. It wasn’t until she caught sight of one of the mirrors that she stopped turning. As her eyes met those of her reflection, the rage inside her swelled. She lunged wildly for the mirror and threw her fists against the glass, shattering it into slivers.

  With one hand she snatched up the wooden frame and hurled it at the next mirror. It punched through the reflective surface, smashing it instantly.

  Breach spun around and saw that she was surrounded by hundreds of the mirrors – thousands, maybe. A voice in her head whispered to her.

  Smash them, it told her. Smash them all!

  Seal’s fists slammed down on the floor where Rex had been just a half-second before. ‘Smash you!’ she growled. ‘Smash you all!’

  ‘You know,’ said Rex, rolling to safety, ‘I, like, totally prefer the old Seal.’

  With a roar, the girl made to run at him, but Dr Holiday stepped into her path. With a jerk of one arm, Holiday stabbed a hypodermic needle into Seal’s neck. The girl gave a low growl, which quickly became a groan. With a thud she toppled backwards onto the floor and lay there, snoring softly.

  ‘Thanks, Doc,’ Rex said. They looked down at the sleeping Seal as they got their breath back. ‘Glad that’s over. I’ve had enough excitement for one day.’

  ‘Rex,’ a voice hissed in his ear. He recognised it as Six straight away. ‘We’ve got a problem. Dan Nice has broken out of the Petting Zoo. He’s on a rampage through the lower floors, smashing every reflective surface he comes across.’

  ‘Let me guess, you need someone to come down there and kick his butt?’ Rex sighed.

  ‘No, I can handle him,’ Six said. ‘I need you to help Noah.’

  ‘Noah?’ Rex frowned. ‘What’s up with Noah?’

  ‘He’s at the front door,’ Six explained. ‘Looks like he’s having some kind of animal trouble.’

  CHAPTER 15

  NOAH HELD UP TWO BOXES, both made of a clear plastic material. Inside one, Biowoof hurled himself against the walls, barking and yelping and baring his jagged teeth in anger.

  Inside the other, Rex saw nothing.

  ‘Uh, aren’t you missing something?’ he asked, pointing to the empty box.

  ‘No, Mandy’s in there,’ Noah said. ‘But she keeps going completely invisible on me.’

  Rex leaned in and peered into the box. ‘You sure?’ he asked. ‘It looks pretty empty to me.’

  Noah gave the box a shake. Something clunked noisily around inside it. Just for a moment, Rex thought he saw a shape flickering inside the box. It was big – much bigger than Mandy had been yesterday.

  ‘Whoa, she’s grown,’ Rex said.

  ‘Tell me about it,’ Noah groaned. He looked completely exhausted. ‘It took me two hours to cram her in that box. Meanwhile, I’ve got Biowoof trying to chew through the plastic and howling like a werewolf at the top of his voice the whole time.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I’m telling you, Rex, this being a pet owner is a big responsibility. I don’t know if I’m cut out for it.’

  ‘It’s not your fault,’ Rex assured him. ‘The rest of the Mirror Pack are acting kinda nuts, too. The doc’s got Seal knocked out and strapped to a table up in the lab, and Six is trying to beat some sense into Dan Nice downstairs somewhere.’ He gave his friend an encouraging smile. ‘Compared to the job we’ve been doing, I’d say you’ve looked after these guys pretty well.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Noah replied. ‘But we can’t keep them locked up forever, can we?’

  Rex shook his head. ‘No.’

  ‘So, what do we do?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Rex admitted. He started to walk towards the elevator. ‘But I know someone who does.’

  Van Kleiss and Biowulf stood watching on as Breach smashed mirror after mirror in her wild rage.

  ‘Want me to stop her?’ Biowulf asked. He was still hurting from the uppercut he’d received earlier, and was looking forward to taking his revenge on the four-armed girl.

  ‘Not yet,’ said Van Kleiss. They had searched hundreds of the mirrors for a way out, and now it was becoming difficult to keep track of which ones they had searched. ‘Skalamander,’ he said. ‘Give Breach a helping hand. Destroy the mirrors. All of them.’

  Dr Holiday slid another needle into Seal’s arm and pushed down the plunger. A blue liquid swirled into the sleeping girl’s veins.

  ‘I hope you know what you’re doing,’ Holiday said.

  ‘Doc, I always know what I’m doing,’ Rex told her. She fixed him with a withering stare. ‘OK, I occasionally know what I’m doing.’

  ‘Well, I hope this is one of those occasions, Rex,’ Holiday said. ‘She’s waking up.’

  Rex and Noah looked down in time to see Seal’s eyelids flutter open. They had covered every reflective surface before Holiday had given the injection, in the hope that it would stop her freaking out again.

  ‘Wh-where am I?’ Seal asked.

  ‘You’re having a lie-down,’ Holiday said, softly.

  ‘You kinda lost your mind for a while there,’ Rex said, not quite so delicately. ‘Smashed a mirror, smashed a metal door, tried to beat me to death. Ring any bells?’

  Seal shook her head. ‘OMG,’ she said, hoarsely. ‘I don’t remember any of it.’

  ‘Something’s happening to you, and to the others, too,’ Rex told her. ‘It’s like you’re losing control and becoming … evil. I have to figure out how to stop it.’

  ‘You can’t,’ Seal said. ‘Not here.’

  ‘Not here? Where, then?’

  Seal looked away. ‘I can feel it, you know? Inside me. This … this anger. It’s like there’s a darkness in my head that’s trying to take control. When I saw my reflection, it became too strong. It took over.’

  ‘How can we stop it?’ Rex asked. ‘How can we make you better?’

  ‘You can’t stop it. You can’t make us better,’ Seal told him. Her voice was hoarse, like she’d start crying at any moment. ‘You can only send us back.’

  ‘How can we send you back?’ Rex asked.

  ‘The Hall of Mirrors,’ Seal whispered. ‘You have to take us to the Hall of Mirrors.’

  Rex wasn’t so sure about that. ‘I don’t know,’ he frowned. ‘Both you and Dan Nice freaked out majorly the last time you saw m
irrors. Going to a hall of them sounds like a bad idea.’

  ‘It’s the only way,’ the girl whimpered. ‘Dan Nice lied. Our world is nothing like this one. It’s dark and it’s scary, but at least there we’re ourselves.

  ‘This world is twisting us, turning us into something we’re not,’ she explained. Her fingers opened and Rex placed his hand in hers. ‘You have to take us back to the Hall of Mirrors, Rex. You have to send us home!’

  CHAPTER 16

  THE PROVIDENCE TANK trundled through the fairground, sending people running for cover in all directions. Armed Agents jogged alongside the vehicle, barking orders for everyone to keep back.

  Evening was drawing in over the fun fair, and the sky was a dark, ominous shade of grey. The light of a full moon tried to force its way through the clouds, but failed miserably.

  Inside the tank, Rex and Noah sat with the Mirror Pack. Seal and Dan Nice were sitting silently, not quite their old selves, but not trying to kill anyone, either. Biowoof was scraping at the clear walls of his box, but his barking and snarling had stopped for the moment. Mandy was still invisible, so what she was doing was a mystery to all of them.

  The tank rumbled to a halt and the driver shouted back from up front. ‘We’re here.’

  ‘OK,’ said Rex, unclipping his safety harness. ‘I guess this is it.’

  He and Noah stood up. Noah carried both boxes while Rex led Seal and Dan Nice out through the tank’s side door. An icy wind blew past them as they stepped up to the entrance of the Hall of Mirrors.

  ‘This seemed more fun last time,’ Noah muttered.

  Rex nodded in agreement. ‘Yeah, it’s kinda lost that party atmosphere, hasn’t it?’

  ‘Let’s get this over with,’ Dan Nice said, abruptly. He stepped through the doors and into the mirror house. Seal hesitated, wringing her hands together nervously. Eventually, though, she summoned all her courage and went inside.

  ‘Uh, do you mind if I stay out here?’ Noah asked. ‘It’s been a stressful day and I don’t know if my nerves can handle any more weirdness right now.’