“These items contain wireless sensors,” Lucy explained. “They allow the computer to read and track your body movements, so you can fight virtual opponents once I switch the holograms on.”
“Holograms?” she thought to herself. “Really?” Although, then again, she guessed it didn’t sound so far-fetched. She could ski, play tennis and kill zombies on her Wii back home, so this was merely a few steps up from that.
Lucy sat down at a computer desk in the corner. Suddenly, the whole room transformed into a derelict-looking street.
“So what am I doing here?” Scarlett asked. “I can’t train, I don’t even know what my powers are.”
“I know that,” Dylan said. “I just want to get you familiar with the machine first. The sensors measure how you fight and react physically, not your powers after all.”
“I’m scared,” she said, only half-jokingly.
“Don’t be. Remember, it’s just a computer game and we’re on team-player mode, which means I’m right here with you. Neelam, can you link us up?”
“Sure,” she replied in their heads.
“OK,” Dylan said, also telepathically. Man, was she ever going to get used to that? “If you have any problems, just shout through Neelam and I’ll hear you. Lucy’s in the loop too, so she can shut the computer down if anything goes wrong.”
“Wrong, what could go wrong?” Scarlett wondered.
“Right let’s go,” Dylan said before she could protest.
She peered down the street. No action as yet.
“Don’t just stand there, Scarlett. We have to go find the bad guys.”
“Can’t we just hide?”
“No! Come on.”
She followed Dylan to the end of the road and round a corner, where someone threw a barrel at her. She jumped, but not quite high enough to leap over it. It didn’t hurt though because it rolled through her leg.
“Oh, it really is just a hologram,” she thought.
“What do you mean just?” Now Lucy was in her head. “The programme is on easy mode for your benefit, that’s why you didn’t get hurt just then. This is a highly complex invention.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I was just pleased it didn’t hurt me.”
“Whatever,” Lucy snapped. The game crackled slightly, which Scarlett assumed was caused by Lucy’s temper. “They might not hurt you, but the computer still marks down your performance, so you’d better up your game.”
“Girls!” Dylan said. “Lucy, don’t be so sensitive.”
Dylan took Scarlett’s hand and led her into a building.
“Watch out to your left in a second,” he whispered.
Sure enough, a woman jumped out and launched a spinning kick at Scarlett. Remembering her self-defence lessons, she grabbed her leg with one hand, while blocking her arm with the other. But her attacker wasn’t ready to give up; she flipped back to pull free and lunged forward with another punch. Scarlett fired a perfect spinning kick of her own and hit her firmly on the temple. Smash. Her opponent was out cold.
Scarlett looked at Dylan, who was standing there speechless. “You defended yourself brilliantly there. You were amazing!”
Scarlett beamed with pride as Dylan gave her a hug. The game crackled for a second time and she wondered if it was Lucy’s temper again.
“Right, let’s keep going, there are plenty of critters in these here mean streets,” Dylan said.
Scarlett followed him out of the building and back onto the road, where three pretty grim-looking guys with baseball bats were waiting for them.
“You take that one, I’ll fight these two,” Dylan said.
“OK, just one, no problem,” Scarlett thought. She ran at the guy, ready to defend, but suddenly he split into three men. Three much bigger men. “Holy mackerel. The game just got a lot harder than I expected.”
One grabbed Scarlett and she managed to get herself free, but the odds were stacked against her. The men had now circled her – two behind and one in front. The guy before her picked up a barrel and threw it at her. She lifted her arms to shield her face and the barrel shot right back at him.
“That barrel just flew when I raised my arms,” Scarlett thought. “Did I do that?”
She looked down at her hands and remembered being attacked by Toshiko the other day, and how flailing her arm had caused a chunk of metal to soar through the air. Was this her power? Some kind of telekinesis?
No time to pause, bad dudes number two and three were running at Scarlett. Spotting another barrel, she motioned her arm at it and thought the words “lift up”. It hovered up in the air. She thrust her arm and threw it at number two. Strike! She couldn’t believe that worked, she really did have special powers. Now she just needed to use them to take out burly guy number three.
She looked around. There were no more barrels, so she couldn’t try that trick again. Maybe she could throw him at something instead. “Lift, lifffffft,” she thought. Wow, this guy was huge, trying to move him was giving her a killer headache. “Come on, Scarlett, you can do it,” she muttered.
Fighting through the pain barrier, she lifted him and threw him straight at a wall. “Bam!” The big lump slid down to the floor. “I’ve done it!” she thought with glee. “I’ve got them all.” Scarlett turned to look at Dylan, hoping for praise, but then she realised the two men after him had multiplied too and now four guys were pounding him.
“Get off!” she shouted, waving her arm again. Two of them went flying through the air, leaving Dylan with just two guys to contend with. She watched as he lifted the water from a nearby puddle, wrapped it round them as though it was a piece of string, then froze it.
“That should hold them,” he said.
“A bit of ice?”
“It’s very strong!”
“I’ll take your word for it on that one,” she laughed.
“Thanks for your help Scarlett.”
She smiled. “I used my powers!”
“I saw. That’s enough now though. Game over. Lucy, shut us off, and can I have a word?”
The street disappeared and Scarlett found herself stood back in the white room once more. She watched as Dylan walked over to a sheepish-looking Lucy.
“Why did you turn the game up to level six?”
“I didn’t…” she stammered.
“Don’t lie!” he yelled. He was really angry.
Neelam tried to jump in the middle of them.
“Maybe it was a mistake.”
“It was not a mistake! She did it on purpose because she was jealous of Scarlett doing well.” He turned to Lucy. “Isn’t that true? You’ve always had a complex about her being better than you and you got jealous when she kicked that girl’s butt, so you thought you’d turn the level higher to show her up. Am I right?” Dylan’s eyes were flashing with fury again.
An angry-looking Lucy sat there in silence.
“At least what Lucy did made Scarlett rediscover her power,” Neelam reasoned.
“That’s not the point. She could have been hurt and we were supposed to be taking things slowly with her. I thought you agreed with me on that one.”
“I did…” Neelam said.
“Then stop making excuses for this spoilt little brat.” Dylan stopped for breath and paced around. “I’m sorry, Lucy,” he finally said. “I think you’re very talented and a fantastic asset to the group, but you have got to learn to be a team player and control your emotions. We can’t risk having a slip-up in a real battle because of you. I will not tolerate a repeat of today’s behaviour. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I’m sorry,” Lucy said. She was on the verge of tears.
“I’m sorry too,” Dylan said, softening his tone. “I hate having to turn all leader like this. Hopefully, one day you’ll realise it was for your own good.”
Dylan turned to the rest of them.
“Let’s get back to training. Jay you’re next. Scarlett, you can take a break. I think you’ve earned it. Keep your headband on
so you can watch us training, but hand the pads to Jay.”
She pulled off her funny sensors and handed them over, then took a seat at the side of the room. She tried to catch Dylan’s eye, but there was no use. It was like he was a different person right now. He was so distanced and focussed like a warrior.
“Is this what he’s always like around everyone else?” she wondered. Was she just lucky to see the more sensitive side of him? She took a seat with Neelam, who was also wearing a headband, and watched as Lucy transformed the room into the street outside.
“Will they be fighting too?” she whispered to Neelam.
“No they’re racing. The circuit is from here to Westminster. Once there, they must break in, get a briefcase and return. First one back wins.”
“But surely Jay will beat Dylan hands down, he can run at the speed of light.”
“300 miles per hour,” Neelam corrected her. “Watch and see.”
“Ready, set, go!” Lucy yelled.
Sure enough, Jay set off first and had weaved his way through the side streets and to the main road in a flash. Then she watched in amazement as Dylan jumped into the air and flew.
“He can fly?” she asked Neelam.
“Well yeah, he can control water and 60 per cent of the human body is water, so that means he can lift himself too,” she explained. “It’s an extension of his power that he’s recently learned, that’s why he’s so keen to practise it in here.”
“Why didn’t he throw those guys off when he was fighting with me then? Surely he can lift other people too.”
“Despite his shouting at Lucy, I think Dylan wanted you to use your powers and find your own inner strength. He does that with all of us.”
“It must be hard to hold back, to find that balance,” she mused.
“He’s a good leader, I’ll give him that.”
They both watched as Jay ran through Archway and Camden towards the city. Dylan had caught him up and was flying just over him. It was neck and neck as they headed through Soho. Soon they were both racing down Whitehall and Jay reached the Houses of Parliament first. He stood outside as some MPs left the building, then zoomed in before the door closed. Clever.
Dylan, however, flew over the top of Parliament and whizzed straight in through an open window, making it to the room with the briefcase in first. He flew out and headed back. Seconds later, Jay whizzed into the room and grabbed an identical briefcase before setting back the way he came.
After five minutes, Dylan landed back in the room as Jay was running up the street.
“Good game,” Jay said sportingly, shaking his team mate’s hand.
“It was close,” Dylan said humbly.”
“No, you did well, that new power of yours is pretty nifty.”
“Yeah well, I’m shattered. I’m still not used to it. I think I need a lie down after that,” he laughed.
“Surely not, a brave leader like you could do that all over again.”
“Lucy and Neelam, you up for some training?” Dylan asked.
“Not today,” Neelam said. “Time is getting on. I thought we should go investigate what the other kids were up to fighting the police yesterday. You coming?
“OK, good idea,” Dylan agreed.
“Can I come?” Scarlett asked, obviously eager for some action.
“No,” Dylan said. “Not yet.”
Her face fell. Didn’t they trust her?
“You’ll be helping if you stay. It could be handy to have you here at base in case we need you,” he said, obviously to make Scarlett feel a bit less useless.
“OK,” she said reluctantly.
She followed the group up the stairs and watched them race out the door. While she was keen to be involved, part of her was glad to have some time to herself. She needed to relax after that workout and she was hungry, so she wandered to the kitchen to make a sandwich. As she started to slice the bread, she suddenly wondered if she’d be able to do it all with her mind. It would be good practise.
She mind-lifted the knife and slowly cut two slices of bread, a little thickly maybe, but hey she did it. Then she mind-flung the fridge door open, and hovered the butter towards herself. She thought the cutlery drawer open, levitated a knife over… spread the butter… and dropped the knife. “Whoa, this is tricky”. She grabbed some Parma ham and cheese from the fridge by hand and finished the sandwich the old-fashioned way – she didn’t want to risk ruining her food after all.
Once finished, Scarlett headed through to the sitting room to watch some TV – it was so nice to put her feet up and zone out. She never thought that sitting down to watch mindless rubbish would feel like such a luxury.
Chapter 8
Scarlett woke up with a jolt as she heard the front door bang and the sound of noisy chatter coming through the hallway. She looked at the clock. It was 8pm. She’d been asleep for hours. Again. And yet she was still unbelievably tired. Recent events had definitely taken their toll on her.
“Hi Scarlett,” Lucy called. “Good day?”
“Erm, yeah,” she felt a bit too embarrassed to admit she’d slept through most of it. “How did your investigations go?”
“Don’t ask.” Lucy said as she picked up a magazine and left the room. Scarlett listened as the tempestuous blonde stomped off up the stairs.
Jay, Dylan and Neelam walked into the room.
“Didn’t it go well?” she asked.
“It didn’t really go at all,” Dylan explained. “We’ve searched everywhere for them, almost got caught by the police ourselves and all for nothing.”
“It was a waste of time,” Jay muttered.
“It was not a waste of time,” Neelam insisted.
“Whatever, I’m going upstairs.”
Scarlett, who was still lying on the sofa, pulled her legs in to make room for Neelam to sit down, but she took one of the chairs instead. Noticing the space, Dylan sat down in it.
“How was your day?” he asked.
“Oh, pretty uneventful really.”
Neelam was flicking through the channels.
“There’s nothing on,” she moaned. “Fancy watching a movie?”
Scarlett wanted to talk to her two friends about their day. She was keen to know exactly what had happened and learn more about her powers, but it was clear they wanted to rest and, to be honest, so did she.
“OK,” she said. “A film sounds good to me.”
“Dylan?”
“Yeah, why not.” He looked really tired.
“It’s a chick flick,” Neelam teased as she opened the DVD case.
“My favourite!” he said with a forced, weary laugh.
They all watched in silence as some girl in an amazing dress started scurrying around the screen cracking jokes. Scarlett didn’t have a clue how it ended though because her eyes started to grow heavy halfway through and she found herself drifting back to sleep.
“Morning!” Jay yelled way too loudly.
“What? Where am I? When am I?” Scarlett opened her eyes to see Jay laughing at her. She realised she had fallen asleep on the sofa again and even had a blanket over her.
“Don’t you like your bed?”
“Yeah, I… I must have fallen asleep down here. The last thing I remember, I was watching a film with Neelam and Dylan.” She looked down at the blanket, wondering where it had come from.
“Hi,” Dylan said as he entered the room. He was up and fully dressed. “Did you sleep OK?”
“Yeah, I must have dozed off down here.”
“You did, we both did. I woke up about 2am and didn’t want to disturb you, so I fetched a blanket to keep you warm.”
Oh, now it all made sense.
“I hope that’s OK? “
“Yes, of course. It was thoughtful, thank you,” she stammered. For some reason, she felt a little embarrassed at the thought of having napped together with Dylan even if it was accidental and just for a few hours.
“Don’t mention it,” he smiled.
&nb
sp; “Scarlett!” Lucy exclaimed. “Here you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Hey, did you sleep on the sofa?”
“I fell asleep…” she explained yet again. “What’s up?”
“Neelam and I are going to have a girly day off for once.”
Dylan scowled a bit, but Lucy gave him a defiant look.
“Oh Dylan, we’re getting nowhere. We’re stuck playing a waiting game to see what Goulden or Sasha and co’s next moves are before we can act. We have no idea what any of them are up to...”
“They’re always up to something,” Dylan said, interrupting.
Lucy sighed.
“Well right now, they’re not, so give us a few hours off. If anything happens, call Neelam and we’ll be right back. We’re only popping into town to have some lunch and window shop. We’re allowed to have a life sometimes, it makes us more effective workers.”
Scarlett had to laugh at that last comment.
Dylan sighed defeatedly.
“So, are you coming Scarlett?”
She didn’t want to defy Dylan, but she also wanted to please the girls. It would be nice to spend the day with them.
“OK.”
“Cool, we’re leaving in an hour. See you down here then,” Lucy said, then she whizzed off.
“I’d better get ready,” Scarlett said to the boys. “Is that OK?”
“Yeah, of course,” Dylan said even though he didn’t look too impressed. “Jay and I will see to things here. Please get in touch if anything happens though.”
“Sure,” she agreed, skipping off upstairs to get showered and ready.
Seventy minutes later, Scarlett, Lucy and Neelam were sitting on a tube into central London.
“These things are even worse than I remember,” Scarlett said. “I can’t believe it cost £20 for a single journey. This world is so much more expensive than mine.”
“Prices have gone up lots over the last three or four years,” Neelam explained.
“Since Goulden came into power?” she asked.
“Yeah. He printed billions to clear the government debt you see, thinking it would make voters like him, then he kept printing money every time he wanted to fund a project…”
“And to line his own pockets…” Lucy cut in.
Out Of Time Page 7
