Hayley bobs her head, surveying the room. “Yeah, I took care of the flames, and they got the kids settled in guest headquarters. It’s actually amazing. That damn biobomb tore through the walls but caused absolutely no damage to any organic material. Of course, if we hadn’t done the drills, the falling walls and beds could have killed someone, but we’re Social Welfare. Safety is what we do best.” She makes a very serious face, but a quick smile betrays that she’s joking, and Merrin gives a short laugh.
“But that really is incredible.” A wistful look crosses Merrin’s eyes. “I mean, the Biotech Hub — they’re geniuses there. They really can do anything.” Her fingers flex against the strap of her bag, and I cup her knee with my hand. Her shoulders rise and fall with a heavy sigh when our eyes meet.
A rhythmic clicking noise echoes through the room. President Masters and a woman wearing a suit and spiky heels walk over. I’m on my feet first, quickly followed by Merrin and Hayley.
Masters’ gaze travels between the three of us and smiles. “I see Miss Ortiz has found you two. I must say, if someone had told me yesterday I would be welcoming three phenoms to CSH, I wouldn’t have believed them for a second.” He gestures to the woman beside him. “This is Emily Thomas, the Director of Housing for this Hub. She’ll take you to the dormitory wing and show you your rooms. I’ve asked my assistant to give all of you a direct line to me for your first days here. It is of utmost importance to me — to all of us at CSH — that you are comfortable and happy.”
“Thank you.” Merrin’s smile is genuine. I have to force mine.
“They told me your arrival was…unplanned.” Emily eyes us all, no doubt evaluating our clothes. “Since Miss Grey and Miss Ortiz have arrived concurrently and we only have one free women’s room, they’ll be staying together. I hope that’s all right, girls.”
“We’re just grateful for the room, honestly,” Merrin says.
“Mr. VanDyne — ”
“Elias.” I interrupt. “You can call me Elias.” Her eyebrows rise, and she looks taken aback at my outburst. I swallow my overreaction and smile, trying to break the sudden tension. “Mr. VanDyne is what people call my dad.”
“Well,” she says smoothly, “you’ll be in your own room since there are an odd number of young men here at the moment.”
We walk down a long hallway with short carpet and the same warm white walls that seem to line the rest of this Hub. More cheesy paintings in gold frames decorate the space — so many of them in the glowing, rich tones of sunset. It feels like it’s trying so hard to be comfortable, to be normal.
“This will be your room, ladies.” Not one, but two security panels hang on the wall to the right of the door.
“Retina and handprint?” Hayley asks.
Emily nods. “Our residents, and especially our students, are our greatest assets. If anyone were to break into this Hub — not that that has ever happened or that we expect it to — the multilayered security would protect our students and let us stop the intruders immediately.” She speaks at the panels. “Program new room residents, please, Kara.”
As Merrin and Hayley take turns pressing their hands to the lower panel, I realize that Kara is this Hub’s security system. My mind flashes back to a memory of joking with Rosie, our AI system back home, about how she put too much garlic in the pizza, and I feel another pang of homesickness. The girls lean forward one after the other, opening their eyes wide for the sweeping red light that shoots from the top panel.
Emily smiles as she pushes down the door handle and motions the girls inside. “Now your basic biostats will be in the system.”
Merrin lets her fingers drift away from mine, shooting a glance over her shoulder. “Take your time and then find me again, okay?”
I nod, peering into the room while the door is wide open. The room looks like a normal girls’ bedroom — almost as big as the one Nora and Lia shared back home. It looks like, at least for now, we’ll be fine here. The door shuts, and Emily starts walking again, motioning for me to follow.
“All the rooms are the same.” Emily smiles, jerks her head down the hallway. “Follow me.”
“Is there a holoscreen anywhere around here? I’m hoping to catch the news.”
Emily cocks her head at me. “I could order one for your room if you wish. Most of the students prefer to check the feed on their tabletops or their cuffs.”
I hold up my bare wrist. “Flying didn’t agree with our cuffs.”
Her eyebrows push up. “I see. I guess we’ll have to take care of that too then.”
When we get to my room, I go through the same security process Merrin and Hayley did and smile my thanks at Emily as I shoulder my way inside. It really is identical to Merrin’s room. The beds have at least six pillows and a down comforter, and my muscles scream to relax and collapse on one of them. But I know if I did, I’d probably never get up,.
Before anything, I scan the room to catalogue everything. Very spy-like. The thought that I could actually belong at Clandestine Services makes me smile just a bit.
All I’ve ever wanted is to find someplace where no one gave a shit about Supers or what I could or couldn’t do. But I’m realizing that’s probably because I always figured I was useless. That’s what everyone always told me — school, my dad, the Hub. I was only ever a test subject, but with Merrin — especially the day we left Superior — I could do stuff. I was impressive.
And if Masters isn’t just making things up, maybe I could develop my powers. Maybe this slight air-pushing thing could be something I could strengthen on my own, without vials and injections and electrodes. Combined with the indestructibility from my sisters, I could maybe, just maybe, do really incredible things.
Starting with using those powers to find them.
I walk over to the desk and let the tips of my fingers glide over its smooth black surface.
“Welcome to the Clandestine Services Hub, Elias VanDyne.” The voice is relaxed, female, and obviously robotic. “What can I do for you?”
“Well…is there a schedule? Or something?” Back at home, Rosie didn’t talk to us unless we talked to her first. Mom thought that was polite; maybe this Hub thinks it’s better customer service to have the room talk first. My eyes dart to the ceiling and see another black panel up there. It must be a camera. Clandestine Services wouldn’t let anything go unnoticed.
“My system shows your schedule through the end of today, Elias. Would you like to see it?”
Damn. They already have a schedule for us? We flew in past the end of the business day. “Yes, please.”
Two lines of stark white text run across the tabletop. 7:00: Dinner. 8:00: Debrief.
“What does ‘debrief’ mean, uh… What’s your name?”
The table warmly replies, “I am K.A.R.A. Knowledge And Reconnaissance Assistant.”
“Ah. Okay, Kara. What does ‘debrief’ mean?”
The line rushes to the top of the screen, and beneath it is a list.
Personnel: President Masters
Location: Records Collection Facility
A map of the whole building etches itself in glowing blue beneath the words.
“That’s all the information I have, Mr. VanDyne. I can transfer a copy of the map to your cuff or — ”
“Oh, my cuff broke. But thanks.”
“Would you like me to order you a new one?”
“Uh…Emily said she’d take care of it.”
I head over to the nightstand between the two beds — full-sized, not twin-sized, and piled high with blankets and more pillows than I could ever need — and pull open the drawers one by one. They’re empty.
“Can I help you find anything, Mr. VanDyne?”
I flinch at that name again and stride over to the opposite wall where a square metal door is installed about four feet from the floor.
I run my fingers along its border. “What’s this?”
“That’s P.A.T. Pneumatic Air Transport. She’ll deliver your meals, if you�
�d like, and take care of your soiled garments.”
“Speaking of that, is there…”
“A change of clothes? Certainly. There is Hub-standard apparel for students, which you’ll find in the closet opposite the bathroom.”
There’s a small, narrow door to the right of the entrance, and sure enough, a short-sleeved shirt and pants hang inside. They look a lot like the uniforms from Social Welfare, but they’re a stone gray color instead of black.
“What about street clothes?”
“Are you planning on leaving our Hub any time soon?”
“No, just…wondered whether there was anything different. That’s all.” I let the closet door fall shut and turn slowly to talk to…the room, I guess.
Is Kara reading my mind? I wonder just how much my biostats figure into the security in this room. If she can detect my anxiousness, she must be some seriously advanced AI. I’d always thought Mom was working on the newest tech out there.
But there’s no way she can detect how anxious I am. I have to be imagining things.
“Will that be all, Mr. VanDyne?”
I shake my head. “You can call me Elias. Hey, are those cameras on all the time?”
“The cameras can be activated from a remote location, but your camera is not currently active.”
“No automatic settings?”
“It will automatically scan your typical movements and body rhythms, image-free, for a day. After that, anything out of the ordinary that could indicate unusual activity will activate it.”
“So I can take a shower without it activating?”
“Yes, Elias. Bathroom privacy is always afforded unless there are extreme circumstances.”
“What counts as an ‘extreme circumstance?’”
“Not very many things, Elias. You’ll find the bathroom just to the left of the door.”
Relief sweeps over me. If I can’t take a piss here without anyone watching, or possibly watching, that would’ve been a definite red flag for me. Thinking about anyone watching Merrin use the bathroom is even worse.
“Thanks, Kara.”
“It’s my pleasure, Elias. In the future, all you have to do is say my name, and I’ll be at your service.”
Something about this robot’s voice makes me think that the human model for it was way too enthusiastic about using the words “pleasure” and “at your service.”
The bathroom is just as luxurious as the bedroom; fluffy, white towels hang on the wall, and a bathtub with air jets sits in the corner. But right now, I want to feel water pounding all the dirt away from my skin. Thank God the shower head has massaging jets. Our trip here was only the third time Merrin and I have gone supersonic, and even though nothing will ever compare to the pain after the first time we flew together, the familiar ache is settling under my skin.
I pull my shirt off over my head and push my pants down, letting them crumple in a heap around my ankles. I steal a glance at the camera panel on the ceiling. There are no signs of life to it, and for now, I decide to trust Kara that it’s not on. I fold the clothes over on themselves, lean down, and quickly stuff them in the space between one of the beds and the wall.
It can’t hurt to have an extra set of the invincible clothes stashed somewhere, just in case.
Under the stream of hot water, I let my shoulders really relax for the first time in two days. Since I left home to go to Biotech. Only three days. It seems impossible that so much has happened, that my entire life has changed in that short of a time.
The water scorches my skin, and I feel the tension, as well as the dirt, washing away. After standing under the hot stream for a few minutes, I grab a washcloth and attack the grime that feels like it’s embedded into my neck, then use it to scrub shampoo into my scalp, inching it along the hairline. My fingers tangle in my hair that’s gotten a little too long, flopping onto my forehead and curling around my ears. Maybe I can get a haircut here somewhere.
Every stretch and twist highlights the pain that comes with acquiring new abilities, especially in my core muscles. I had gotten so thin after all the tests they’d been doing on me, all the needles they’d stuck into my veins and shocks they’d forced into my body. I glance down at my stomach now, and it’s not as bad as I thought it was. My ribs don’t stick out as much as I remember, and the chest muscles I’d worked so hard to build at the beginning of basketball season are more rounded than I thought they were. I can even see the shadow of defined abs.
I think back to the last time I remember looking at myself like this. The Biotech officials said I had to have my shirt off so that the sensors would work properly. They said they were just taking my biostats, that the IV port was just a precaution today. Whatever they injected worked too quickly for me to fight back. Suddenly, the steam from the shower is way too dense around me, and breathing isn’t as easy as it was when I first got in. The water pounding on my neck is more oppression than relief. I wrench the shower head off and fling the curtain open, breathing in the cooler, thinner air deeply while I dry my feet on the rug.
I stare at the mist eddying around the bathroom. I have a debriefing in an hour and a half. Whatever the hell that means. I’ll show up, but I’d better get the chance to do some debriefing of Masters, too. I want to know what he thinks is so damn fascinating about Merrin and me, and I want to hear what he plans to do about it. I want to know why he thinks we should stay. But most of all, I want to know how he can help lead me to Nora and Lia and rescue them.
I finish drying off and toss my towel on the floor. Then I stoop to pick it back up. I wipe down the damp counter with it, before folding it neatly and hanging it over the bar. I don’t want housekeeping seeing any more of my room than they absolutely need to.
I pull the new Hub uniform on and lace up the pair of perfectly matching, perfectly sized running shoes waiting in the closet. I stand there for a moment, moving from foot to foot, testing how they feel. If I didn’t know better, I’d think they were made especially for me.
Kara’s voice comes over the speaker, and I jump. “Elias, it’s twenty five minutes to seven. Do you need assistance locating the dining commons?”
Just as I’m about to tell her no, thanks, I’ll be fine, she interrupts herself. “Elias, you have a visitor. Would you like me to tell them you’re available?”
Where I come from, people just knock, but okay. “Sure, go ahead.”
“Thank you, Elias. Your visitor is waiting for you at the door.”
It must be Merrin. Something about finally being clean and wearing fresh clothes and knowing Merrin’s still close makes all the difference in the world.
NINE
When I open the door out into the hallway, I catch one glimpse of long, glowing, orange hair before the girl it belongs to flings herself into my arms and buries her face in my neck.
“Oh my God.” A familiar throaty voice vibrates against my neck. “Oh my God, you two actually did make it.” Leni squeezes me, and by now I’ve finally gotten my arms around her waist, so I squeeze her back, lifting her off the ground a little. My heart is so huge at the sight of her when she pulls back — eyes bright green, a million-watt smile, face sprayed with golden freckles even though Nebraska hadn’t seen good sun for months before we left.
I laugh as I grab the bottom of her long, straight hair, tugging it a little. “I had no idea you were here!”
She laughs, too, holding me at arm’s length like my mom or my sisters would. “We realized pretty quickly that running around the country to keep the Biotech Hub off our backs wasn’t going to work. So we got here this morning. Daniel took some convincing, but I won in the end. We rented a car, ditched it after a few hundred miles, then did it all over again — twice. Figured it was the safest bet for dodging any reconnaissance the Biotech Hub had out there.”
“I can’t believe you’re actually here.” My words rush out in a mixture of excitement and relief, and I hug her again, her five-foot-nine frame almost as tall as mine. This girl has been my b
est friend since before I can remember; next to my sisters and parents, I’ve known her longer than anyone on Earth. And even though I know Leni and Daniel can take care of themselves with their blowtorching abilities and all, I was definitely freaked for them.
Not to mention she was one of the people who helped save my ass from wasting away at Biotech.
“Where’s Daniel?” I say, finally letting her go.
“Oh, he’s getting cleaned up and settled. Looks like you already did.” She peers around my shoulder into my room. “No roommate, huh? Or is Mer somewhere in there?”
I playfully punch her on the shoulder, and she reaches up to muss my hair. “She’s rooming with Hayley. We picked her up at Social Welfare. But I wish.”
She laughs. “I know you do.”
God, my heart feels light. If I can’t have my sisters here, Leni’s the next best thing.
“So you guys seriously had no trouble finding your way here?” I say as we head down the hall, arms still slung around each other.
Leni slants me one of her mischievous smiles. “It’s not like Clandestine Services is on the map or anything, so we had to do some work. Daniel has extended family who works out here, I guess, so he called them from a couple of old landline phones and torched the data boxes after. I hope that at least messed up some of the signals. But honestly, I don’t really think anyone was following us. I’m not sure if Biotech just didn’t have enough data on us to care, or it really hadn’t occurred to them that we were capable of covering our tracks.” She smirks at that. “More likely, they thought I was such a lost cause with my One that they had no idea Daniel and I could blow our way out of there, and by the time we did, it was too late to figure out how they would hunt us.” She pauses, fixes me with one of her clear gazes. “What I really think is that they’re just too busy trying to find you two.”
I nod but don’t answer. At this point, I don’t have an idea what to say. But Leni doesn’t seem to mind; she keeps rattling away.
“So did you guys get the same semiautomatic rifle reception we did when you arrived here? As much as it freaked me out, I was glad to see that no one’s getting in here that Clandestine Services doesn’t want.”
Two Page 8
