‘But, Father, I thought I was meant to be learning?’
Duncan stops, looking up, and says, ‘And you are learning. Speak to the scientists, learn from them. Instruct them on what you think the kingdom needs in this time of turmoil.’
‘Yes, Father.’ The word father feels like a bad taste I am trying to spit out.
I angrily watch him descend the staircase. My eyes widen as I see him and the sentinels continue past the lobby down the stairs. I hadn’t noticed when we entered the stairwell that the stairs kept going down. I lean over the rail, watching them disappear onto the floor beneath the lobby. That level isn’t listed. What would need to be hidden underground?
The Chamber must be down there. Jay is down there and something about him has made Duncan’s eyes light up.
I meander between the workbenches, not wanting to talk to anyone, worried about Jay. Harries positions himself by the far door. As I pass the bench with the electrical board, the confused scientist turns the board over.
Bennet still holds the toy gun, flipping it over and over. Darcy is jotting onto a pad while mumbling to himself. Every few words he stops to scratch his wrist.
‘I liked it.’
My voice startles them. Bennet drops the toy gun and Darcy’s hand slips, drawing a line up the middle of the paper. They both look at me like I’m some mythical creature.
‘Your “laser tag”. I liked it.’
Still nothing from either of them. Bennet’s mouth hangs open, like a baby expecting food.
‘What would you call the game?’
Bennet chirps up. ‘We had a few names, Your Highness. Laser Battle. Or Team Shootout.’
‘Interesting. I think the young people of the kingdom would like it, too. If I were a child, I would play.’
‘That’s the best part – you don’t have to be a kid to play, Your Highness!’ Bennet’s enthusiasm brings a smile to my face, taking my mind off Jay.
‘Please don’t call me “Your Highness” when no one else is around.’ Perhaps it is foolishness, but something about the twins cheers me. ‘Perhaps one day when I’m queen, I’ll have you produce your game for the children. And adults, of course.’ Even though I know I will never be queen, the look of joy on the young men’s faces is satisfying.
‘Oh that’d be magnificent! Maybe you could even talk to the king about letting us develop prototypes. If he sees kids playing with it, he’ll change his mind.’
‘Ignore my brother, Your Highness, he tends to get overexcited when he’s had too much sugar.’
‘Don’t we all?’ I indicate the papers that clutter the bench. ‘Are these some of your ideas?’ I ask, looking at a set of peculiar drawings.
‘We don’t end up making most of them but whenever we get an idea, we have to draw it.’
‘And how did you learn to make all this . . . stuff?’
‘Our parents were inventors, mashing together items they found.’
‘Being part of a creative family must have been fun for you growing up.’
‘Oh yes. Especially since we were quite excitable and difficult.’
‘We still are, Darce.’
‘You are, Benny. I’m the normal twin.’
‘I’m a twin.’ The words slip from my mouth. The young men stare at me like I’m mad. ‘I mean, I, ah, wish I were a twin.’
‘Trust me, you don’t wish that.’ Although Darcy’s voice is serious, I see playfulness in his eyes.
‘Hey! What’s wrong with having me as a twin?’ Bennet demands.
‘Where do I start?’
Bennet picks up the toy gun and starts firing the laser light into Darcy’s eye, making ‘pew, pew’ sounds with each shot.
‘Argh, cacking stop it, Benny!’
Bennet stops, grinning.
‘See what I mean?’ Darcy says.
‘What can you two tell me about this place?’
‘What do you want to know?’
I try to be as nonchalant as possible. ‘I don’t know. What happens on the other floors?’
Bennet slides his chair closer. ‘Mythical and mysterious things happen. Some say there are ghosts in the basement.’
I know he is joking but it provides me with the avenue I want. ‘What is in the basement?’
‘Dunno. We’ve never been allowed down there.’
Darcy says, ‘A sentinel guards the entrance.’
‘And we wouldn’t get past him. We barely have the clearance to visit the higher floors.’
I like these young men. They’re so comfortable with each other and easy to talk to. Over the years, it’s been hard finding people that act normal around me. Most people refrain from speaking their minds for fear of offending me. Except Tahan, of course. I smile to myself as I think of the young men and Tahan in the same room. Duncan would be horrified.
Darcy’s voice interrupts my thoughts. ‘Why are you so interested in the facility?’
‘I am meant to be learning from my father, but as you two can see, the learning has stopped.’
‘You can learn plenty from us!’
‘Is that so?’
The brothers look at each other and back to me, nodding as they say together, ‘Definitely.’
‘What do you know about the disabling serum?’
They share another look before Bennet leans in close. ‘For as long as we’ve been here, the Level Six scientists have been trying to come up with something that deactivates the Manipulators’ Abilities – without success. We noticed yesterday that some of the Level Six scientists were acting way too excited for some reason.’
Bennet nods at his brother to continue, scratching his wrist.
Darcy straightens, excited. ‘I was leaving early to check on Mum and suddenly about a dozen sentinels entered the lobby, which is strange because usually only two sentinels are posted down there. The only person not in a crimson coat was right in the middle.’
I feel my heart racing and try to compose myself. ‘Did you see who it was?’
‘I was pushed to the side when they entered so I couldn’t see properly.’
Jay is here. He has to be. Having an actual Variant to experiment on must have given the scientists the breakthrough they needed; something in Jay has helped them. I wonder if that is how all the advances in the disabling serum have been achieved – kidnapping Variants and experimenting on them until they die.
Freeing Jay is paramount. Not only do we need to get him back, we need to stop them discovering anything else.
‘What else?’ I ask urgently.
Darcy becomes cautious at my eagerness. ‘We’re not really meant to talk about the other departments . . .’
‘We can talk about something else.’ As easy-going as the young men are, I don’t want to risk them becoming suspicious of me. And I like them, so I don’t want to get them in trouble. ‘You mentioned your mother. Is she an inventor here, too?’
Bennet shakes his head. ‘She stays home most days, she doesn’t like to venture beyond our pink picket fence.’
‘Pink picket fence?’
‘Yeah. It’s bad enough living in the North-west Quarter, let alone with a fence that makes us stand out.’
‘Couldn’t you paint the fence?’
‘We would but Mum loves that cack fence.’
‘We’ve tried convincing her that it has to go but she’s stubborn, especially in her crazed state,’ Darcy says.
‘Crazed state?’ I say, confused.
Darcy’s voice drops. ‘Yeah, she’s gone a bit loopy in her old age.’
‘A bit loopy? Darce, she’s full-blown wired to crazy! The other day she came at me with the wooden spoon, yelling something about me taking her away and testing her. She is completely aboard the crazy wagon.’
‘Why don’t you take her to the medical ward?’
‘Ha! The old lady won’t even take a step beyond that picket fence, let alone to the medical ward. She thinks we’d leave her there and then they’d get her.’
‘Who are
“they”?’
‘We don’t know. She believes people are out to get her and she has to keep the truth hidden.’
‘What truth?’ I know that some people lose their wits when they get older but the mention of testing sets off alarm bells.
‘The truth is that our mother, the great Dawn Grayson, has completely lost her marbles.’
Something about the last name Grayson sounds familiar, but I don’t know why. As I fruitlessly scan my memory, Duncan and his entourage emerge from the stairwell. His face is pleasantly blank but he rubs his scar, a telltale sign that he is agitated. He approaches, looking intently at me.
I attempt a sweet, innocent look. ‘Is anything wrong, Father?’
He regards me silently for a few moments. ‘There has been a minor hiccup with the progression of the serum. We will have to increase the experiments.’ He quickly looks over at the twins. ‘Do you two have work to do?’
Bennet slips from his stool while Darcy shuffles some papers. ‘Yes, Your Majesty, right away.’
‘Come, Althea, we are leaving,’ Duncan says.
Although I want to stay and find out as much about the facility as possible, I know that protesting will increase Duncan’s irritation. I give a quick wave to the brothers and dutifully follow.
As we walk into the lobby, I glance down the stairs. A lone sentinel stands guard, but he faces inwards, not looking at the stairwell. Jay is trapped somewhere below. If only I had that telepathic Ability that Eli mentioned.
According to the transceiver conversation I overheard, Mr Corbin returned to the city today. I wonder if his assessment of Jay is the reason for Duncan’s irritable mood. Poor Jay. I’ve only been around Mr Corbin for a few moments and that was long enough. I shudder at the thought of being examined and tested by him. But I have hope – and a plan. A plan that involves a pink picket fence.
After being escorted back to Casteel, I rush up the stairs two at a time, eager to reunite with Eli. As I scamper up the last few steps, I almost run into Jeresh.
‘Jeresh!’ I say with a fright. ‘What are you doing up here?’
‘We were just inspecting your chamber and your parlour, Your Highness, to ensure they were safe upon your return.’ A sentinel emerges from my room.
This is distressing. ‘Why?’
‘It’s just a safety precaution, Your Highness.’
‘What has happened that you’re introducing new “safety precautions”?’ I ask defensively, thinking of Eli hiding in my room.
‘After the kidnap attempt, Your Highness, security protocols have been reviewed. To ensure the safety of the royal bloodline, your chambers will be searched daily at random times.’
‘As you can see, Jeresh, my bloodline is completely safe in this well-guarded hallway in the most guarded building in the Kingdom of Cardiff.’
‘Yes, Your Highness.’
I put my hands to my hips, trying to hide my shaking arms. ‘Is it safe or must I flee the building in terror?’
Jeresh looks at the other sentinel, who nods. Jeresh smiles at me. ‘No need to flee, Your Highness.’ They both leave without another word.
I wait until I no longer hear their footsteps on the stairs before rushing into my room.
I close the door behind me and whisper, ‘Eli, are you here?’
No response. My stomach sinks. Something’s happened to him.
‘Eli?’
Still nothing. I do the only other thing I can think of and knock twice on the door.
Eli’s head pops out from underneath my bed. ‘See, I knew the knock-code was a winning idea!’ He notices the confused look on my face. ‘I Vaulted from the wardrobe to here.’
Eli scuttles out from underneath the bed as I walk over to him. ‘Spotless under there. Your servants are doing a top-notch job.’
‘I know where Jay is being held, and I have a plan to get him out.’
Eli takes a seat at the dining table and I join him, outlining what has happened at the Jasper Facility and my theory that the Chamber is located in the mysterious basement.
‘But how do you know Jay is there?’ Eli asks.
‘I don’t. But it’s our only lead. Darcy overheard a couple of scientists talking about great progress with the disabling serum.’
‘Who’s Darcy?’ Eli pulls a deck of cards from his pocket and starts shuffling.
‘One of the engineer twins. Their last name is so familiar to me, but I don’t know why. I figured it could only be my old memories trying to surface. Do you know it? Grayson?’
Eli stops shuffling, startled. ‘Yes, we knew the family. The other twin’s called Bennet, right? Their parents left Concord when we were five. We never knew what happened to them. What in pex are they doing living in the kingdom?’
‘I don’t think the brothers know who they really are though.’ Like Eli, my hands need something to do so I flick through the pages of the history book I’ve been reading during breakfast, unconcerned with its fragility in the face of my current problems.
‘You think their memories were wiped, like yours?’
I shake my head. ‘They would’ve only been a couple of years older than us when they left Concord; I think they just don’t remember. Why wouldn’t their mother tell them what they really are?’
‘It’s too dangerous. They’re living inside the kingdom, Thee. If they experiment with their Abilities and get caught, who knows what would happen to them?’
‘Probably the same thing that is happening to Jay right now.’
‘This isn’t good.’ He runs a hand through his shaggy hair. ‘No Variant who we suspect has been captured by the kingdom has ever returned. They could be doing anything to Jay: blood transfusions with Naturals, Token skin grafts, brain biopsy – anything.’
‘Whatever it is that they’re doing, it’s working. Duncan said great progress has been made with the disabling serum. They didn’t get as far as originally thought but any progress is bad news for the Variants or for Jay personally.’
‘This really isn’t good,’ Eli says, dejected.
I nod. ‘We have to find a way to get you inside the Chamber so you can Vault to safety with Jay.’
‘And how do you propose I do that? I can’t just waltz into this facility and ask to be taken to the Chamber.’
‘My plan, remember?’ I wink. ‘The Grayson brothers were saying how their mother is paranoid now, always talking about being taken away and tested. She obviously knows what would happen if it’s discovered she’s a Variant. If we can speak to her, maybe she can convince her boys to help us break in – and out – of the Jasper Institute. Maybe their Abilities could help, too.’
‘Wait, how do you know they have Abilities if they don’t even know?’
‘They have Abilities, they just don’t know it. I saw both of the brothers scratching their wrists like I used to before I knew about my Token. They’re using their Abilities without knowing it. Clearly, they’re not reaching the threshold that would evoke their Tokens though.’
‘What did you say they did again?’
‘They’re engineers, on the Applied Science level.’
‘They must have Electric Ignition, like their mum.’
‘Pardon?’
‘I’d say they’re absorbing the electrical energy from the objects around them, which is why their Tokens would be itching.’
So that’s why the other scientist’s electrical board exploded!
‘That could be a useful Ability to have around when we rescue Jay.’
‘Hold up, Thee. They don’t even know they have Abilities yet. They won’t be able to control them, just like you can’t.’
‘But I can!’ Eli’s eyebrows rise in surprise. ‘I learnt by watching Jay use his Ability. I still need to practise, but I’m getting there. I even froze Duncan so I could look at his files. I found one labelled “Heir”.’
I unhook the tapestry satchel from my shoulder, remove the ‘Heir’ folder and the documents I took from the delegates’ filing cab
inets and spread the sheets of paper over the table.
‘I’m the Heir, Eli! This file is about me.’
I eagerly read the letter I didn’t get a chance to finish, Eli reading over my shoulder.
Duncan,
Progress on the Heir is moving slowly but steadily. The cloaking elixir is successfully submerging her memories but it will take time for her to forget her past entirely, perhaps six months or so. Every few days fragments resurface, mostly relating to her family. I have my best scientist working on making the elixir more effective for longer periods. I am confident that soon the elixir will only need to be administered daily, instead of on the hour.
‘Hmm, how do you think they give you the elixir?’ Eli asks.
‘I think it’s the “medicine” for my “seizures”,’ I say bitterly. ‘Lucy used to give it to me every day. It’s a brownish syrup she used to mix in with water. But it made me so vague and dopey I refused to take it and Dr Kelvin said I was much better and could take it only once a week.’
Eli looks at my face, which I can feel is twisted up in anger. ‘But of course they had to give it to you every day, or your memories would come back.’
‘They lied to me. Maybe all those years of Lucy fetching me food was just so Duncan could ensure I took the elixir without knowing I was taking it.’
‘So how come you remember me?’
‘I think just meeting you and Jay again has helped my memories surface, but surely consuming the elixir daily would counter those memories, make it harder to remember? After all, the elixir suppressed my memories in the first place.’
‘I’d think so. It sounds pretty powerful.’
My mind rolls back through what I’ve eaten since the parade. What is different, what haven’t I eaten?
I hit upon it. ‘The cocoa!’
‘What?’ Eli asks.
‘The elixir must be in my morning cocoa. Even on the morning of the parade I forgot about my cocoa and it went cold. I haven’t had it since then. And Lucy is so insistent I drink it up every morning.’ Lucy . . . Anger and sadness clutch at my heart. Lucy has been my constant companion for five years. Has Lucy been drugging me, betraying me? ‘Let’s keep reading,’ I say morosely.
Time Catcher Page 14
