Jinxed

by Amy McCulloch

  >>What happened? Where am I?

  We’re inside Moncha HQ, and you’re in the baku circle, ready to enter the arena for the final Baku Battle. Don’t you remember? They made us put black marks on you when we entered the building.

  >>No. Let’s get out of here.

  Jinx, it’s okay. We have to do this one final Baku Battle and then we never have to do this again. If you don’t want to fight, I won’t make you.

  ‘Miss Chu?’ says Mr Baird, one eyebrow raised. ‘Back to your station, please.’

  I take a step back to my paper sign.

  >>Don’t leave me here, says Jinx.

  Just this battle.

  >>And then we can go?

  I promise.

  It’s the first time I’ve heard him panic. Maybe even afraid. I don’t understand, and it’s making me even more nervous than I was before.

  ‘Fighters, this way,’ says Mr Baird.

  There are choruses of ‘Good luck’ directed at the fighters by the other teams, but no one to cheer me on. I grit my teeth, determined to make quick work of this – so that I can get back to Jinx and find out what’s wrong. We’re led into another room filled with glass cylinders: the elevators that will lift us up into the arena. My cylinder is sandwiched in between Dorian and Tobias – an uncomfortable place to be.

  ‘All right, battlers. There are five hundred points up for grabs here – meaning a win here for any of you would put you in with a chance at the grand prize: the summer internship right here at Moncha HQ, in a department of your choosing. The last baku standing – or any bakus on the field after thirty minutes – will be declared the winner, with other teams given the opportunity to repair their bakus before tomorrow morning. But if you pull your baku before thirty minutes are up, then you will not be eligible for points. Does everyone understand?’

  We nod.

  ‘As Ms Fiore said: May the best baku win.’ For a moment, Mr Baird sounds sad, losing his normal cool, and he presses his fingers against his eyebrows. I take a step forward out of the cylinder, but the glass slams shut around me and Mr Baird leaves the room.

  Now, the chat starts.

  Dorian snaps his fingers at me. Reluctantly, I turn my head in his direction. His thick black hair is gelled into place so that it creates a perfect crest of a wave on his forehead. ‘Good luck, newbie. You’re going to need it.’

  My throat is so dry, I don’t respond. Instead, I turn to the other side, where a few feet away is Tobias. His fingers are balled into tight fists at his side. He must sense me looking, as he turns his head my way, his eyes dark. He says nothing.

  But I don’t have time to think about it. The elevator shakes, and I’m lifted up into the arena. I can barely hear myself think over the roar of the crowd – all of the students from Profectus, and lots of Moncha employees too. I blink several times, trying to take in the sheer size of this arena, which must be double that of the one at Profectus. Huge spotlights shine down on us, so bright they’re almost blinding. I lift my hand to shield my eyes until they can adjust.

  To my left is Dorian and his wolf.

  To my right is Tobias and his eagle.

  But in front of me, there’s nothing. Jinx isn’t there.

  He’s gone.

  THE OTHER BAKUS LEAP INTO ACTION around me. But it barely lasts a moment before a whistle blows, and everything comes to a grinding halt.

  The teacher who blows the whistle isn’t Mr Baird, but Dr Grant. ‘BATTLERS, HALT!’ she cries out to us. The other participants look at each other in confusion, their bakus frozen in place, while the crowd’s mood shifts from frenzied to annoyed.

  Tobias is first to realize the problem. ‘Where’s Jinx, Lacey?’ he calls out to me from his spot.

  The place where Jinx is supposed to be is empty. My heartbeat pounds in my ears. ‘I . . . I don’t know.’

  Dr Grant’s voice rises above the crowd. ‘Miss Chu, your baku needs to be in play, or else we will have to suspend the entire tournament. All bakus must be present and accounted for, and all teams must have at least one baku in the arena.’ I don’t know where Jinx is.

  I don’t know what could have happened to him. And where’s Mr Baird? This was a mistake. I should never have left Jinx alone. Panic rises in my chest, but I also see an opportunity. ‘Disqualify me, then,’ I say quickly. My eyes scan the crowd and I see Jake’s face fall at my words, then cloud over with annoyance. I’m going to lose yet another friend, but in this moment, I don’t care. ‘I forfeit my points and my place in the competition. The other teams can battle for the internship.’ I hate how squeaky and desperate my voice sounds, but I’ve seen a way to end this agony and I’m going to take it.

  ‘Yeah, let her quit!’ says Gemma from her teambox, gleeful in witnessing what she thinks might end up being my downfall. I wince at the word ‘quit’, but it’s true – I want out. I want out and to go back to being the freshman, a teammate, the mechanic behind the scenes. Not a captain.

  And I want to find Jinx.

  Then I want to go home and explain everything to Mom and Zora. They will help me figure out a solution.

  Dr Grant shakes her head. ‘There won’t be any quitting. The rules are clear. Captains must participate once they’ve signed up. The battle will resume tomorrow. If your baku does not appear again, then the punishment will be a week-long suspension from school – and we will be forced to review your place at Profectus.’

  Tears prick my eyes. Suspension, and possible expulsion.

  But it’s not the dread of being kicked out of school that’s worrying me. Where are you, Jinx?

  I scan the remaining players, all glaring at me – except Tobias, who refuses to make eye contact – but I can barely see straight. The floor beneath my feet vibrates, and one by one we’re taken back down into the holding pit. The groans and boos from the crowd – who were expecting an exciting battle – follow me down. I think I even get hit with someone’s balled up popcorn wrapper.

  My mind is racing too fast to care. What has happened to Jinx? I hope that he’s run off and hidden somewhere. But my gut is telling me that something else has happened.

  As soon as my feet touch the ground, Tobias shoulders past me. ‘Great, now we have to do this whole charade over again. Come on, Aero,’ he mutters to his baku. ‘Let’s go train. Might as well do something productive out of this wasted evening.’

  ‘Thanks, Lacey,’ says Gemma, who bursts into the team room to meet Kayla, sarcasm dripping off her every word. ‘Why are you just trying to drag out the inevitable? You’re going to lose, that little machine you love so much is going to get destroyed, and that’s it. Game over.’

  ‘There’s more to life than just Baku Battles, Gemma,’ I snap back.

  She stares at me, then shakes her head. ‘You had so much potential. I thought you were going to be one of the good ones, one of the ones who didn’t get swept away by sentimentality. Looks like you’re the same as everyone else.’

  She and Kayla leave the room, and I’m alone.

  Jinx?

  There’s no response. Nothing from him whatsoever. I touch the spot on the stand where I last placed Jinx. There are no clues as to where he might have gone.

  The panic that I had been suppressing rises now. I’d been relying on the fact that this is something Jinx sometimes does. He runs away. He disappears on me. But he always comes back.

  What if this time he doesn’t?

  What if now you are alone?

  That can’t be the case.

  There’s only one thing that could have happened. He’s been taken.

  I run from the room, straight into the back of Dr Grant. ‘Where is Mr Baird?’ I ask.

  She frowns and clucks her tongue against the roof of her mouth. ‘He’s been fired.’

  The colour drains from my face. ‘What?’

  ‘Just a few moments before the battles began. I sent him away to pack his things and leave. Now, Miss Chu – I’m very disappointed in . . .’

  ‘S
orry, Dr Grant, I have to go. Need to find my baku before tomorrow, you understand.’

  Normally I would be cringing inside at being so rude to the Profectus Principal, but I don’t have a moment to waste. I bolt from the competitors’ room.

  ‘Miss Chu? Miss Chu!’ Her voice calls out to my back, but I don’t stop.

  I run up the stairs two at a time, using the momentum of my sprint to swing around the banisters and launch myself forwards even faster. I reach the beautiful atrium again but I can’t even take in what I’m seeing. My thoughts are focused on a single goal. I need to catch up to Mr Baird.

  I dash around the outside of the building to the car park. I spot Mr Baird getting into his car and manage to reach him just in time.

  ‘Where is he?’ I slam my hand on the roof of his car, then peer in the back windows, trying to see if Jinx is hidden there. All Mr Baird would need is a black mark and he could smuggle Jinx out of Moncha HQ, no problem.

  He certainly looks shifty as he rolls down the window. ‘Where is who? What are you even doing here?’

  ‘What are you talking about? Where is Jinx? You took him before the battle, I know you did.’

  ‘Take Jinx? What? He’s missing?’

  ‘Of course he’s missing, otherwise I’d be battling at Moncha HQ – you know that full well. No one else would steal Jinx. You as good as told me you wanted him. Give him back now, or else . . .’

  ‘Or else you’ll do something even worse than get me fired from my job? I was trying to protect you. But you’re too blinded by loyalty to Moncha Corp to understand.’

  I take a step back, panic and anger over Jinx’s disappearance warring with the shock of what Mr Baird is saying. ‘Get you fired? I didn’t do anything! I haven’t told anyone about you. And you repaid me by stealing Jinx. I told you he’s a normal baku.’

  He stares at me, his eyes scanning my face. Slowly, the outrage that had been etched on his face drops. ‘You didn’t tell anyone?’

  ‘No!’ I repeat.

  After a moment, he says: ‘I believe you. And I didn’t take Jinx.’

  ‘Oh.’ I slump down against the car door, tears spilling out on to my cheeks. Anger had been keeping me upright, but now I feel as though I’m going to collapse under the worry. ‘Then – who did?’

  He shakes his head. ‘You said he was taken just before the battle?’

  I nod. ‘The last time I saw him, I was placing him on the stand. But he never showed up in the arena.’

  ‘So Moncha have taken him,’ says Mr Baird, his voice tight.

  He’s voiced my worst fear out loud, but I still shake my head. ‘You don’t know that. It could have been . . .’

  Mr Baird looks at me with pity in his eyes. ‘It’s a shame. I think he was a marvel. Maybe I should have been stronger with my actions . . . prevented you from bringing him straight to Moncha HQ. But you convinced me that he was normal. Now you have to accept that he is gone. If Moncha have their hands on him, they will have destroyed him. Here.’ He hands me over an old-fashioned business card, since I don’t have a baku for him to send his contact details directly to. ‘If Moncha isn’t for you . . . maybe you’ll consider BRIGHTSPRK.’

  I take the card with trembling fingers and step back as he rolls up the window and the car drives away. My head hangs low.

  ‘You just have to accept now that he is gone.’ Mr Baird’s words ring in my ears.

  But I won’t accept it. Not yet. Not until I have proof that Jinx is really gone. I won’t give up on him.

  I WANT TO MESSAGE ZORA, BUT WITHOUT A baku I’m cut off from communication. I also have no money on me – no way to pay for public transport up to St Agnes. I’m so reliant on Jinx for practical things as well as for companionship.

  I’ve never felt so alone. I have no choice but to walk, conscious that every minute that goes by without Jinx is an opportunity for someone to destroy him.

  It takes me almost an hour, and when I arrive at St Agnes, I’m red-faced and breathless. I walk straight through the front doors as if I belong, thankful now that I didn’t have to wear my Profectus Academy uniform to Moncha HQ. I have no idea where in the school Zora is, so for a moment, I’m at a loss. But there’s one place inside the school where I know I can at least send her a message.

  I make a beeline up to the library, where I know there is a bank of old desktop computers gathering dust. I duck past the librarian – trying to be inconspicuous – and take a seat at the nearest computer. I clear a thick layer of grime just to be able to see the keys. The machine boots up incredibly slowly, but eventually it sputters to life. I stare at the screen for a few seconds. I’ve almost forgotten how to use an old operating system, but I find my way to an old messaging program.

  I type in Zora’s ‘number’ (it’s really Linus’s unique identity code) and start typing.

  L: Are you there? It’s me, Lacey.

  L: SOS.

  Within a few seconds, I get a reply – and I breathe a sigh of relief for the fact that Zora constantly monitors her inbox.

  Z: Everything OK? SOS?

  L: Jinx is gone. I think someone stole him.

  Z: ???!!!???

  Z: How are we messaging right now??

  L: I’m on an old computer in the St Agnes library.

  Z: WHAT?! I’ll be there. Wait for me.

  True to her word, within a minute, I hear the clomp of Zora’s boots on the linoleum floor.

  ‘Jinx is missing,’ I say again, once she catches up to me.

  Zora gets down to business straight away, pulling over one of the wheeled office chairs to sit in front of the screen with me. ‘Let’s check his last GPS location. You can do it through the old Moncha database.’

  I smack my palm to my forehead. Why didn’t I think of that? I type in the address for Moncha Corp database, then I stare at the log-in screen. I haven’t had to use my old log-in and password in years. I set it up when I got my first cell phone, at ten years old. Finally, from somewhere deep in my memory banks, I dredge up the password.

  Then I scream in frustration. There’s a second layer of security. How did people used to do it back in the day? Remember the random combination of letters and numbers, of mother’s maiden names and first streets and pet names, whether something is in upper or lower case, whether it contains numbers or symbols or letters or some combination of everything. Eventually, however, I remember what my ten-year-old’s answer to ‘what’s your favourite movie’ is, and I crack my way in to my old Moncha homepage.

  The layout of the page is so clunky, it makes me cringe to think that this was once the norm. I type Jinx’s unique identity code into the section which would show his last recorded GPS location.

  Of course. Of course, it says Moncha HQ. Why did I expect anything different? According to the computer, Jinx should have been exactly where I left him: in the arena.

  ‘Have you reported it to the police?’ Zora asks.

  ‘Not yet . . .’

  I log out of my Moncha account and turn off the computer. Linus races down Zora’s arm. ‘Here, use Linus to make the call.’

  I nod. ‘Linus, call Moncha’s stolen baku line.’

  There’s a brief pause as Linus connects.

  ‘Moncha guard. How can we help?’

  ‘My name is Lacey Chu and I need to report my baku as stolen.’

  ‘Baku unique identity code please.’

  ‘J1NX89.’

  There’s a silence that feels a moment too long. ‘I’m afraid we have no baku registered to you under that number.’

  ‘J1NX89,’ I repeat. ‘I’m a student at Profectus school . . .’

  Zora raises one of her eyebrows at me.

  ‘There’s no baku registered to you at all, Miss Chu.’

  ‘What? That’s not possible. You can look at my records—’

  ‘I have to warn you that we take prank calls very seriously. This is going down as a warning on the record of Miss Zora Layeni and her baku Linus354. Goodbye.’

 
Linus switches off the call and crawls back up Zora’s arm, as we stare at each other in disbelief. ‘Not registered?’ Zora’s eyes open wide.

  ‘They’ve wiped Jinx from the database,’ I say, frozen with shock.

  ‘That means Moncha Corp know he’s the rogue baku,’ says Zora, biting her lower lip.

  I nod, tears welling up in my eyes. ‘Zora . . . they’re going to destroy him.’

  She leans forward and grabs my hand. ‘What are we going to do?’ asks Zora.

  I blink, squeezing her fingers back tightly. Never have I been so grateful to hear the word ‘we’ in my life. ‘I need help. I need someone with at least a level 3 baku.’

  Zora breathes out heavily, clutching level 2 Linus to her chest. ‘What are you thinking?’

  ‘I think . . . I think I need my teammates back.’

  ZORA PROMISES TO MEET ME AFTER school, and in the meantime calls me a car to take me to where I think my old teammates will be. We hug each other tightly before leaving.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ she tells me. ‘We’ll get him back.’

  The drive over to Companioneers Crescent disappears in a flash, and the car pulls up at the edge of the recreation ground.

  I can see Team Tobias wrapped up in their brightly coloured coats, huddling up for a strategy session with red cups of coffee – or hot chocolate in Ashley’s case – steaming at their sides. I snuggle down into the collar of my down jacket, but then force myself to lift my head up high as I approach.

  It’s Tobias who sees me first. He scrambles to his feet and the others follow, taking a defensive stance behind him.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ he demands. ‘Come to cheat some more?’

  The insinuation stings, but I don’t let it get to me.

  ‘Please, guys . . . I need your help. Jinx is gone. They’re saying he never existed. But I think he might still be at Moncha HQ somewhere.’

  ‘Wait a second. You want us to help you?’ says Tobias, his hands on his hips. ‘You have some nerve, Lacey. You led us all on, letting us think you were a part of our team when really you were a wild card all along.’ He shakes his head. ‘You know what? If I was someone else – like maybe Gemma – I could be impressed by your ruthlessness. It’s impressive. But I didn’t think you had it in you. So no, don’t come crawling back here for help now.’