Scarlet's Escape

by Katrina Cope

  THE RAIN BEGAN to ease. The heavy droplets were slowing down in their consistency as they fell from the leaves high above them. The boys had finally managed to cheer Eva up enough to get her to sit up. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her hair was a tangled mess of mud, twigs, and leaves. Everyone’s clothing was also a mess.

  She smiled shyly at the boys, embarrassed over them seeing her in that state. “Um, sorry you had to see that.”

  Aaron put an arm around her shoulders. “After what we just saw and our failure in not being able to help them, I would be more embarrassed if we didn’t feel this way.” He stood up, took her hand, and pulled her to her feet. “Come on. It’s time we made our way back. We’ve been gone for ages. They’ll start to worry about us.”

  She smiled weakly at him.

  Jayden gazed at Aaron in awe. He had such a big heart, and Jayden was amazed that he could fit it all in. He did so much within his day but still found time for everyone else. Jayden peeled his eyes away from marveling at his friend and paid attention to where they were going. The edge of the trees wasn’t much farther ahead of them. Outside of the tree line on the plain, grassy area, he saw something moving in the distance. He squinted, focusing on the movement. Elbowing Aaron softly, he indicated to where he was looking. Aaron then looked ahead. As they edged closer, it was starting to become clearer that it was two human figures and one of the border collies running around their legs. As they progressed farther, Jayden realized one was walking with a limp and wearing a dark blue suit.

  “It’s Avando.” Jayden looked closely at the figure next to Avando and spotted a head of grey hair. “And Charlie.”

  They had reached speaking distance. “There you are.” Relief sounded in Avando’s voice. “We were starting to get worried.” He studied each of the teens in turn until his eyes landed on Eva. “Oh, my dear girl! Come, now.” He held his arms open, ready for a big hug, and she walked quickly into his arms. Muck coated Avando’s suit, though after his long walk to find them, his clothes weren’t clean to begin with. As he embraced her, tears began to flow freely down her cheeks again.

  Charlie placed a hand on her back, rubbing it in a soothing motion. “Go ahead, dear. We don’t blame you, and we completely understand.” He paused for a while then added, “Those terrorists need a darn good thrashing.”

  They stayed there a while longer, and the boys felt inadequate and not sure what they should do. To fill in time, they gazed back and forth between one another with blank stares. Not feeling any more useful, they eventually turned to pick twigs and leaves off their clothes and the dogs. Jayden and Aaron had enormous trouble cleaning up Barney’s fur.

  When Eva had calmed down again, Avando turned to Robert and said, “I hear you’ve finished your little robot.”

  Robert appeared shocked over the change of conversation, but he seemed happy to partake. “Yes, it is.” His chest puffed out as he nodded. “I just finished putting on her skin and hair. She looks like a cute three-year-old.”

  “I would love to see her,” Avando said. “Sounds like an immense achievement, and you did it all without the help of Professor Showden.”

  Robert nodded. His cheeks turned slightly red. “I did. Niles helped me a little in the end with the glitches because he knew I didn’t have enough time to work on it properly.”

  “That was nice of him.” Avando kept a comforting arm around Eva’s shoulders, held his cane in the other hand, and started walking in the direction of the external workshop. The rest of the students followed behind with Charlie. They were still dripping wet and muddy from the stormy weather.

  Seeing the condition they were all in, Charlie suggested, “How about we all go and have showers and get cleaned up? We can all put on fresh clothes and then meet up in your office, Avando? I would like to see this little addition to our school, as well.”

  “Great idea, Charlie,” Avando said. “I was so keen to see Robert’s new invention that I forgot about the practicalities.” He smiled at Robert.

  They reached the dog kennels and put away Barney, Bessie, and the border collie, making sure that they were all fed and watered.

  Eva gave Bessie another big hug. “I promise to come back and wash you tomorrow.” She spoke to the dog as though she would understand.

  Jayden and Aaron also gave the big, soggy, dirty Barney a big cuddle around the neck and a rub on his head. “We promise to do the same,” Jayden said.

  Once they made it back to the entrance of the Sanctum, Avando looked at his watch and said, “Actually, thinking about practicalities, it’s nearly dinnertime. So I suggest you bring your little robot back to my office after a cleanup and dinner.”

  They all smiled and nodded in agreement. “We’ll see you in a little while,” Jayden said, speaking for all of them, and they parted ways.

  After reaching the top of the stairs to the first level, Jayden made his way to his room. Exhaustion riddled his body. It had been a big day, and all he wanted to do was sleep. But his stomach grumbled loudly, and he realized he needed to eat more than sleep. He fumbled through his drawers in the cupboard until he found a change of clothes. Then he made his way slowly along the corridor toward the bathroom, trying not to get mud everywhere.

  Absentmindedly, he placed his hand over the scanner outside the male bathroom and waited for the doors to open. When they opened, he mumbled pleasantly, “Thanks, Scarlet,” and entered the room. It had become a habit since Scarlet had started talking to him.

  Aaron was already in the bathroom. “Did you say something, man?”

  Gazing blankly at Aaron, it took Jayden a moment before he realized what Aaron was talking about. “Ah, no. I’m just muttering to myself. It’s been a long day.”

  “It sure has,” Aaron said as he headed into the shower cubicle and closed the door behind him.

  Looking in the mirror, Jayden huffed half a laugh, amused at the mess he was in, then made his way into the showers. With the warm water falling over him, he placed his head against the wall and closed his eyes. It felt good to let the water wash away the thickly piled mud and soothe any bad thoughts and memories from the day.

  After a while, there was banging on his cubicle door, which brought him abruptly out of his mindless space. “Yeah?” He wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there.

  “I’m famished, Jayden.” Aaron’s voice carried through the door. “Do you mind if I meet you in the dining room?”

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll see you soon.”

  “Thanks, man. I was waiting for you, but you’re taking a while.”

  Jayden heard Aaron leave and decided that it was time to finish. He scrubbed up quickly, turned the shower off, and then got himself dried and dressed. While he was doing this, the lights in the bathroom flickered off and on slowly. He smiled to himself, for he knew who was behind it. He continued getting dressed, ignoring the lights. After a little while, it happened again.

  “Don’t you think that trick is getting a little old now, Scarlet?”

  She didn’t respond.

  He picked up his muddy clothes off the floor, holding them as far away from his body as possible, and carried them to the laundry chute. He had just deposited them into the chute when the lights went out again. He shook his head in disbelief and turned around to find the tap to wash his hands. As he turned around, the light came on again, and then he was suddenly confronted with the thin figure of an attractive girl about his age with fiery red hair, flawless pale skin, and striking blue eyes.

  “Arrrghhh!” he yelled, jumping in shock.

  The girl in front of him giggled and looked amused.

  “Who are you? And how did you get in here?” Jayden asked.

  “Don’t you recognize me?” the girl asked.

  Jayden shook his head, and at the same time, he squinted and tried to figure out who she was. There was something familiar about her, but he couldn’t quite work it out.

  The girl sighed and looked disappointed. “Seriously, you don’t recogni
ze me?”

  Jayden shook his head again, in shock that there was a girl in the boys’ bathroom.

  “Boys!” The girl huffed, and her face held a look of disbelief. “It’s me, Scarlet.”

  Jayden’s mouth dropped open, and he circled the girl, taking in her appearance and trying to work out how she was doing it.

  “So, is this trick new enough for you?” She smiled wryly as her head moved, watching him circle her.

  “But how is this possible? How are you doing this, Scarlet?” He tentatively reached out to touch her, but when he had reached a place where he would have been touching her skin, his hand kept going through her body. “What are you?”

  Scarlet sighed. “I’m a hologram. You won’t be able to touch me.” She looked sad.

  “This is impressive, though. Look at you. This is amazing! Did Niles do this?”

  She shook her head.

  “Does Niles even know?”

  “No, you’re the first to know.”

  “Well, I’m very impressed. How did you manage this?” Curiosity burned from within.

  “I’ve been working on it for a while.”

  “Well, aren’t you a sneaky thing!” he accused her playfully.

  A broad smile returned to her face at his praise. “So do you like it?”

  “Of course I do,” he said, surprised at the question. “You really have come a long way, haven’t you?”

  She nodded in response. “By the way, I tried spooking Eva before, and she got furious at me. I know she knows I like to annoy her, but this was different. What’s the deal with her today?”

  “I’d leave Eva alone today. We’ve all had a dreadful day, and Eva took it the worst. So for today, leave your games and snarky tactics for someone else.”

  “I guess I can leave her alone for a little while.” She said it as though it was an act of generosity.

  “Ah, you’re all heart!” The sarcastic tone shone through. “But I am serious about leaving her alone.”

  “Fine.” Scarlet rolled her eyes.

  “So, are you going to show anyone else your new form today?”

  She shook her head. “No, I’m going to perfect it first.” A cheeky smile spread across her face. “Besides, I think I could have a lot of fun with this.”

  Jayden shook his head with light-hearted disapproval. “Of course. I should’ve known better. You wouldn’t have it any other way.” He smiled at her. “Well, seeing as you’re not going to expose yourself just yet, I have to leave you here and go and get something to eat. I’m starving.”

  “I understand, though this is a feeling I will never be familiar with.” Her mouth turned down at the edges.

  Jayden turned to leave.

  “Oh, Jayden ...”

  He turned back and faced her hologram. “Yes?”

  “Keep your eyes open for peculiar happenings.”

  Jayden gave her a questioning look, but before he could ask, she added with a guilty expression, “Not all of the computer programming entries are pure and of good intentions. I did not tell you this.”

  “What do you mean? Whose computer programming entries?”

  She had disappeared. “Scarlet?”

  Silence answered him.

  “Scarlet?” The silence continued as the door of the boys’ bathroom opened for him to leave. He saw students walking past, which stopped him from asking Scarlet questions immediately, lest their secret be found out. He sighed out of frustration and exited the bathroom, heading toward the dining room. He was getting just what he didn’t need, more things to worry about.

  As he headed down to the dining room, his mind ticked over all the possibilities of what Scarlet may have been referring to. He knew from deep within his heart that she wasn’t talking about Robert. Even though Robert’s exterior was sloppy and messy and sometimes shameful in his mannerisms, Jayden knew that his heart was of pure gold.

  Naturally, then, his thoughts trailed off to Niles, who was new to the position of head programmer. He had replaced the conniving old Professor Eric Showden, and so far, he seemed to be a good, decent person. Jayden knew that he didn’t know Niles very well, yet nothing Niles had done so far indicated that he was doing the wrong thing. He knew he had to keep his options open, though, especially after last year and how one of their trusted professors—who’d taught their favorite subject—turned out to be a terrorist. As he continued, his mind ticked over who else would have had access to programming the computer systems.

  He had made it to the dining room and grabbed a plate, absentmindedly loading a variety of food onto it. Once the plate was full, he grabbed a glass of soda and let his eyes scan the busy dining room for his friends. He made his way over and plunked himself down on a chair among them. He was so distracted that he didn’t even say hello before starting to pick at his food. Even though he had been starving when he was in the bathroom, his stomach was in so many knots from worry that he had lost most of his appetite. He continued picking, knowing that he needed some nourishment. But his mind was so busy that his ears were turned off from the conversation. He felt a soft kick from under the table, which brought him out of his thoughts and back into the present with his friends. He focused on the person opposite him.

  “Ohhh. There he is,” Aaron said mockingly from across the table. “Where have you been, man? I’ve been talking to you. The lights are on, but you haven’t been home.” He tapped the side of his temple lightly.

  “Sorry. Just got a bit on my mind.” He was annoyed that he couldn’t tell them about Scarlet and her information. A few extra minds thinking it through might have yielded a better result.

  “No problem. We know what you mean,” Aaron said, “but we need to finish the food and go, so we don’t keep Avando waiting.”

  With the reminder that they all had to be somewhere, Jayden finished his food quickly, trying at the same time not to get a stomachache from the mixture of food with all the worry knots. Once he finished eating, he took his dirty plate over to the dishwashing area, placing it down for the unfortunate group that was on dishwashing duty before heading out the dining room door.

  As they made their way directly to Avando’s office, Jayden noticed that Robert had already retrieved Shelly from the external workshop. He had her sitting with him, covered up and turned off.

  When they had reached Avando’s office, the door was already open, and they could hear Avando and Charlie murmuring inside. Robert placed Shelly down and took off her cover. She was wearing a pretty pale-blue dress that fitted at the bodice and flowed out into a full skirt finishing around her knees. She looked adorable and pretty. He turned her on by his remote control, which looked very much like a phone. Jayden watched as her eyelids opened, revealing her brilliant-blue eyes. She immediately spun her little head around, taking in her surroundings with her tight curly blond hair bouncing around her face. She looked up at Robert, and a heart-melting smile spread across her face as she glanced at him.

  “Okay, Shelly,” Robert said. “Avando and Charlie want to meet you.”

  “Really?” She jumped up and down excitedly, almost clapping her hands together.

  Robert nodded his response. “They are just in through that door.” He indicated the office. “Why don’t you go on ahead and find them?” he said. It was more like a suggestion than an instruction.

  She didn’t need any more encouragement. As soon as he had finished speaking and pointing, she was off to find them. The four students followed slowly behind her. They reached the place where they were able to see Avando and Charlie. They heard a little squeal and saw the little blue flash that was Shelly running toward Avando with her arms open wide.

  “Grampy!” she called as she ran.

  Avando was sitting behind his desk with his cane at the side, and Charlie was standing nearby. At first, Avando looked extremely stunned. When he realized what was happening, the students saw his face turn to pleasant surprise and watched as he opened his arms widely to accept the affectionate little
girl into his embrace. When they connected, he wrapped his arms around her in a big, warm hug, as if she was a real girl.

  Once she was securely wrapped in his arms, he turned to look at Robert. He looked as though he almost had a tear in his eye. “Did you do this?”

  Robert looked down at his feet, embarrassed and shuffling from side to side. He ran his chubby fingers through his hair nervously then looked slowly up at Avando. “Yes, Avando. I did. But if you don’t like it, I can change her.” He almost sounded regretful. “It’s just that… you are kind of like a… grandfather figure around here.” He stammered as he tried to explain his actions.

  Avando rose from his chair. He held onto Shelly with one arm, grabbed his cane with his other, and staggered slowly toward Robert. When he reached him, he looked deep into Shelly’s blue eyes and then back at Robert. He wrapped the arm that held the cane around Robert’s shoulders. “I love it, Robert,” he said. He looked happy, though his eyes were wet enough to expel a tear. “I would not have it changed.” He pulled his arm tighter around Robert’s shoulders. “And I am so happy that you see me as a grandfather around here.”

  Robert still looked slightly embarrassed, yet it did not stop him from gazing up into Avando’s caring dark-brown eyes and smiling a sincere smile in return. Although many students felt the same way at the Sanctum, very few said it out loud, and he was happy that the feeling was mutual.

  Taking away some of the tense, embarrassed feelings within the room, Charlie stepped closer toward Shelly and Avando. He touched Shelly’s blond curly hair and felt the skin on her arms.

  “This is amazing, Robert! You are so talented.” Charlie looked in awe.

  Hearing someone so close to her, Shelly, who was still in Avando’s arms, spun her head around and focused her blue eyes on Charlie. She lifted her arm suddenly and playfully punched Charlie’s upper arm. She then spoke, “‘Allo, Charlie!” and giggled.

  Charlie took a couple of steps back in lightheaded shock. “What was that for?” he asked, rubbing the spot her fist hit. Everyone in the room giggled with Shelly.

  “Ah, sorry about that, Charlie,” Robert said, a little shocked over Shelly’s reaction. “I programmed her that you were a ‘tough nut’ with a big, soft heart. I didn’t know that that would make her hit you playfully.”