Bot Wars, Line Zero

by J. V. Kade

  Vee leans between the front seats to help. “Just put the mask on, lining it up with your eyes and mouth. It’ll do the rest.”

  Sure enough, as soon as it’s in place, the thing suctions to LT’s face. Next, the wig goes on and when LT turns to me, all my nerves fizzle out and I burst into laughter. So does Lox.

  “What is the matter?” LT asks, which makes me laugh harder.

  “Your hair is huge!” I say. “You look like a poodle!”

  Ratch shakes his head.

  “Shut up, you two.” Vee thumps Lox on the arm. “We have a mission! Stop acting like a bunch of nutters.”

  My laughter dies away and I’m serious in an instant. “Okay, so Vee, LT, and I will make our way to City Hall.” I swallow back the lump bobbing in my throat, hoping that Ratch doesn’t say he wants to come too. He doesn’t, so I surge on. “Lox and Ratch, you’ll wait a block away, on the other side of the diner.”

  “Got it,” Lox says. “Don’t get your face melted off.” He twists back around.

  “Vee, we should leave our Links in the car.” LT was able to trace my Link when he located us in Texas. I don’t want to risk the same thing here. We put our Links in the center console.

  “Last chance, FishKid,” Vee says. “We doing this?”

  I look out the window at Brack, at the only place I’ve ever known. Po and I walked this way every time we came to the Heart Office. Dad used to take me to the little vid shop on the corner across the street. If we had enough money, he’d buy me a new map pack for the vid game Trane Maze. But this isn’t home anymore. It can’t be home if none of my family is safe here.

  I want to go back to Bot Territory more than anything, and I want to take Po with me.

  “We’re doing this,” I say, and step out of the vehicle.

  THIRTY-FOUR

  WE SNEAK AROUND to a side entrance, hoping to bypass the people who might be hanging around out front. As I stick Tellie’s temp Net-tag in the ID reader, footsteps shuffle up behind us.

  I whirl around. There’s a dude with a lumpy nose jumping around on the balls of his feet, shaking out his hands like he’s getting ready for a sprint. A taller dude in a trench coat stands behind him.

  Adrenaline spikes through my veins.

  “What are you doing?” Vee says.

  It’s Lox and Ratch in disguise. The breath I was holding bursts out in a puff. “Lox! Geez!”

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “You’re supposed to wait in the car.”

  He hops around some more. “I parked and we sat there for a long time—”

  “And we decided,” Ratch fills in, sunglasses hiding his band of orange eyes, “that perhaps it would be best if we stuck together. You might need a distraction, which I would be more than willing to provide.”

  “Only if it is needed,” LT adds. “You must assure me you will not deliberately make a scene.”

  Ratch tilts his head. “You have my word.”

  The ID reader beeps and I pull out the Net-tag. The lock clicks and the door rushes open. Now or never.

  We enter into a long hallway and directly in front of us are narrow stairs hidden behind a curve in the wall. We go there, hurrying across the hall before anyone has the chance to get a good look at us.

  Even though I’ve changed a jet ton since I was last here, the building still smells the same. Like leather shoes and lemons. It still feels the same too, like there are cameras watching our every move.

  I’m not sure if that’s true here, in the stairwell. I look at the corners up near the ceiling and find them empty. That doesn’t mean anything, though. Cameras could be embedded in the wall and I’d never see them.

  I’m the first to make it to the second floor, where another ID reader waits for us next to a thick steel door. I push the fake blond hair out of my eyes so I can see better.

  Please let this work.

  The others group behind me. I can hear their breath, the whir of LT’s and Ratch’s internal mechanisms. I readjust the backpack on my shoulder, where all our gear is stored, and stick the Net-tag in the little black slot.

  My teeth grit. My muscles tighten. I’m ready to run if an alarm goes off.

  But the red light blinks to green, the door unlocks, and we’re in.

  We enter single-file into another hallway. It splits off from here, like an L.

  “Which way?” I whisper.

  LT says, “Po is still being held on the fourth floor.”

  “Do we go straight, or right?”

  “Straight.”

  We nearly run down the hall. LT guides us, telling us when to turn. We pass a supply closet, a line of offices, and a closed cafeteria. We turn the last corner and I see the next ID reader, the next locked door.

  But then it’s opening and someone is stepping out and we’re going to be caught.

  I stop. Lox slams into me. Vee slams into Lox.

  We need a place to hide.

  There’s a watercooler right behind me. I go there and fill a paper cup with water. The others follow my lead, grouping around like we’re all so choppin’ thirsty.

  The cup trembles in my hand. The water sloshes around inside. I squeeze my eyes shut as the person passes us, carrying on a conversation with someone on his Link.

  The door glides closed and I rush forward, sticking a foot in the way, catching it at the last second.

  Lox crushes his empty cup in his hand and tosses it in the garbage. “We are like ninjas, bolt sniffer!”

  “Shhh!” I say as he pushes past me into the next stairwell.

  “If he gets us arrested,” Vee says once we’re on the other side of the checkpoint, “I’ll kill him.”

  Lox turns just enough to grin. “Is that code for ‘kissing’?”

  Vee grits her teeth.

  “I think she likes me.” Lox nudges me with an elbow. “Huh? Huh? She likes me.”

  I ignore him and hurry after Vee. We’re so close, I can taste it.

  We come to the next ID checkpoint and I slip the Net-tag inside. The light doesn’t turn green. The reader makes an annnnt sound and I know right away what that means. We don’t have clearance for this floor.

  “What now?” Vee says. “Should we—”

  She goes zip-quiet when voices reach us from the next hall over. And not just any voice. Beard Hopper’s voice.

  “Chop!” Lox squeals. “Go! Go!”

  We backtrack, scrambling for a second like we’re a bunch of bumper cars. I turn about three circles before I know which way I’m going.

  “This way, come,” LT says, and leads us to a janitor’s closet.

  We cram inside, pushing the brooms and vacuums and dusters out of our faces. It’s dark and stuffy and hot in an instant. Only a sliver of light glows from the crack beneath the door. Vee moves to get comfortable and jabs me in the ribs. I bite back a cry.

  The footsteps in the hallway get closer. The voices are clearer than they were a second ago. I can hear everything Beard says even over the ramming of my heart against my rib cage.

  “I’m not interested in your opinion,” Beard argues. Her high heels clip-clop over the floor. “These people are not innocent if they support trafficking between the UD and Bot Territory. They must be taught a lesson.”

  “We have to think about the consequences of our actions,” a man says. That’s Mr. Rix! “And the thousands of lives we harm by attacking.”

  Next to me, Ratch goes rigidly still. His eye band brightens.

  Is Beard talking about the attack on Old New York?

  Their voices fade away. I want to know more. I need to know more.

  For a second, I think about chasing after them, slinking along the hallway, but I’d be caught for sure.

  And the
n it hits me. The worm device! The little worm Dekker gave me can lock on to people. I drop my bag to the floor, pushing away a mop bucket to make room. I fetch the worm and move to open the door, when Vee grabs my wrist.

  “What are you doing?” she says.

  “That information could be important,” I whisper. She holds on for another millisecond and then nods. I crack open the door. With the worm device in hand, I point it at Beard. A laser light appears on her navy blue skirt suit. I press the button twice. The legs appear. I crouch and set it on the floor. It instantly camouflages itself and I lose sight of it.

  I slip back inside the closet. “I think it worked.”

  “So now what?” Vee says.

  “We don’t need a Net-tag to gain access to the fourth floor,” Ratch says. “LT and I are strong enough to arm our way through the doors.”

  “No,” LT says. “There would not be enough time to reach Po before we would alert the guards to our presence. That would put the kids at risk.”

  “Then what do you suggest?” Ratch says. “Ask someone nicely if we can borrow their Net-tag? I’m sure that will go over well. Perhaps we can ask Sandra Hopper.”

  LT’s expression tightens into pure robot annoyance. He starts to say something, but I cut him off.

  “No, wait, Ratch has a point.” Ratch looks down at me. “The only way we’re getting to the next level is with a Net-tag. At least if we make it to the third floor, we’re one step closer to Po. If we have to smash through a door once we’re there, well, then, I guess we have to smash through a door. We might be able to make it at that point. Don’t you think, LT?”

  He sighs. “It would still be risky—”

  “But not impossible?”

  “No.”

  “Then it’s settled.”

  Vee says, “So how are we getting to the third floor?”

  “Leave that to me,” I say, and dart out of the closet before anyone can stop me.

  THIRTY-FIVE

  THE ONLY THING running through my head as I hurry down the hallway is chop chop chop chop what am I doing I am so jet smoked.

  I take the same turns we made to get to the third-floor checkpoint and then burst from the stairwell onto the main floor. My shoes squeak on the freshly polished marble as I cross through the lobby, trying real hard not to look at the two guards stationed at the main, grand staircase or the slick glasses covering their eyes.

  And because I’m trying to act normal, I thump the shoulder of the statue of President Callo as I pass him on my way to the Heart Office.

  Wish me luck, Callo.

  When I round into the office, I stop for a second to catch my breath. Tanith looks up. “Good morning. How can I help you?”

  I swallow. Breathe deep. “Umm . . . I ah . . .”

  She rises from her chair. Her dark wavy hair is pulled back in a ponytail and it swings behind her. “Yes?”

  The fact that she doesn’t recognize me says how good my mask is. “Do you have a tabpad?”

  She frowns, but nods and slides a tabpad onto the counter. I pull its pen from the holder on the side and write I’m Trout St. Kroix. I slide it around so she can see.

  When she reads my sloppy handwriting on the screen, she looks up, eyes wide, lips parted like she wants to say something but doesn’t know what.

  Please don’t gear out, I think.

  She clears the pad’s screen and leans closer, her ponytail curling around her neck. “What are you doing here?”

  “Please help me,” I whisper. “I need your Net-tag. Please.”

  Her eyes pinch at the corners. She knows what I mean to do with the tag without explaining.

  “I don’t have access that high.”

  My shoulders sink. I should have known. She’s just a clerk. Not a high-level congressman.

  We are jammed.

  I purse my lips, give her one quick nod, and turn to the door. Po isn’t getting out of here. And my dad is going to turn himself in. I couldn’t save them.

  “Wait,” Tanith calls. I stop in the doorway. “I’ll be right back.”

  She disappears down a hallway to her left. “Mrs. Dawson?” she says to someone I can’t see. “Can I borrow your Net-tag for a minute? I went into the supply closet for some bar codes and left my tag in there.”

  A woman chuckles. “It’s embarrassing how often I lock my tag in weird, inconspicuous places. Here.”

  “Thanks.” Tanith rounds the corner out of the hallway and gestures to me to follow her. We leave the Heart Office. I follow her down the hall and into an empty conference room. “No cameras in here,” she says, then thrusts the borrowed Net-tag into my hands.

  The picture on the card is of an older woman with poofy gray hair and thin, bright red lips. Edith Dawson, I read. She must be some higher-up employee. “Mrs. Dawson will know the tag is missing when you come back without it,” I say.

  Tanith shakes her head. “I’ll give her my tag for now, just so she thinks I returned it. She’s not very observant. She’ll never know. At least, not until you’re long gone.”

  “But . . .” I look down at the tag, at the one thing that’ll get me to my brother, and I can’t help but think about what’ll happen to Tanith if I use it. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

  “I don’t want you to lose your brother,” she counters. She hunches over so we’re staring each other straight in the face. Her breath smells like sweet tea. “Sometimes, the right thing looks an awful lot like the wrong thing. And in this case, I know it’s right. I don’t care what comes because of it. Let me deal with the consequences.”

  My lower lip trembles in a dumb, happy way. I bite it. “Thank you,” I finally say. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”

  She winks. “I think I can guess.”

  I start for the door. “Oh, Trout?” she says, and I pause.

  “Yeah?”

  “Rise from the heap.”

  My mouth drops open. Tanith smiles and waves me on. “Now go save your brother.”

  • • •

  Somehow I manage to cross the lobby without barfing or totally gearing out. I make it up the stairwell, through the second-floor checkpoint, down one, two, then three hallways. Sweat collects at the back of my neck and my skin itches beneath the mask. I scrunch up my nose. The mask sags around my eyes.

  No. No. No. Don’t fall off.

  I’m almost there.

  I cut around the next corner.

  And that’s when I run into Beard.

  Seriously run into her.

  I bounce back with an umph. “Excuse me,” she hisses.

  “Umm . . . s-s-sorry.”

  She tugs on the hem of her suit coat to straighten it. “Watch where you’re going. Are you—” She draws back, her thin eyebrows sinking in a frown. “You’re just a child. What are you doing on the second floor?”

  Sweat pools beneath my nose. The mask droops from my chin.

  “I’m . . . ah . . . looking for my dad. He works here. I got something really important to tell him. About my . . . um . . . mom. She’s sick and I can’t get him on his Link and so I thought I’d come looking for him. He’s probably busy and that’s why he’s not answering. I mean, of course he’s busy. He works in City Hall!” I trail off with a short laugh.

  Beard narrows her eyes. “Who’s your father?”

  Oh jam.

  I make something up. “Steve Monnnnkerrrrly?”

  “Steve Monkerly,” Beard repeats.

  “Yeah. That’s him.”

  My skin is as slick as butter and the mask peels away from my forehead. I have to get out of here fast.

  “His office is right down there.” I point over Beard’s shoulder. “I’ll just go see if he’s—”

  “N
o.” Beard grabs hold of my shirt and yanks me in the opposite direction. “You can wait in the lobby and we’ll have him paged.”

  “But he’s right down there. It’s no big deal!”

  “Unauthorized visitors are not allowed on the second floor. How you managed to make it up here is beyond me. Perhaps I need to have a conversation with the guards—”

  It’s now or never, Trout!

  I duck down, hunching my shoulders, and twist as I stagger back. Beard tightens her grip, so I twist again and shimmy away, right out of my T-shirt.

  Beard stands there, frozen, looking from me to my shirt clutched in her hand, then back at me. My mask pulls away from my cheeks, then my eyes, then droops off my forehead like a soggy pancake.

  “What in the—” Beard says.

  “Chop,” I breathe.

  “Guards!” she shouts.

  I barrel down the hallway, cut left down another. “LT!” I scream. “LT!” I don’t know where I’m going. I don’t know which door they’re hiding behind.

  I take another corner. LT and Ratch race toward me. “Beard!” I shout. “She’s coming!”

  Her heels clop behind me. I skid past the robots as they remove their masks and clothes. LT doesn’t question the reason why I’m shirtless, but he tosses me his anyway.

  “Good God,” Beard says when she sees what LT and Ratch are beneath their disguises.

  LT doesn’t take his eyes off Beard as he says, “Trout, run.”

  So I do.

  THIRTY-SIX

  LOX AND VEE meet me in the hallway. My backpack is slung over Vee’s shoulder.

  “Where are the bots?” Vee asks as I race past. “What happened?”

  “Beard happened.”

  We pile up at the next checkpoint. I insert the tag into the reader. The light slides to green and the lock clicks open. We take the stairs past the third floor, and up to the fourth. Without LT to guide us, we have no idea where we’re going, but I figure Po’s probably being guarded, so I keep my eyes open for anyone positioned outside a door like a sentinel.

  It doesn’t take long to find the room.