by Lisa McMann
“Just don’t mess around with any more science experiments,” warned Maytée.
“I won’t.”
“I think we’ll all be more careful,” said Mrs. Wilde, resting a gentle hand on Maytée’s forearm. “Kelly and Mac, you’re both welcome to come over, too,” said Charlie’s mom.
“Sure,” said Mac.
“I have other plans, thank you,” said Kelly. Her warmth from when she was helping Maria had faded, and she was back to being icy again. “In fact,” she said, looking away, “I need to go now. See you tomorrow, everybody.” She picked up her backpack.
“Do you want a ride?” asked Maria’s mom.
“No, thanks, I’m good,” said Kelly, smiling politely.
The group said their good-byes and Kelly jogged toward her home alone. Maria’s parents and stepbrothers went to their car, and Mrs. Wilde walked over to hers with Andy, Charlie, Maria, and Mac following.
Once inside the car, with the doors closed, Maria let out a huge sigh of relief. “Good grief,” she moaned, flopping back against the seat. “That was a disaster!”
“What triggered it?” asked Mac. “I saw you fly through the air.”
“Me too,” said Andy. “You looked cool.”
“I was just playing hard. The other team came at me. I tried to get around them and just sort of leaped into the air and kept going and going until I landed flat on my back. It was insane. I didn’t realize what had happened at first.”
“But you gave the device back,” said Mac. “I don’t get how this could happen without it. Unless . . .”
Charlie cringed. “Don’t say it. There’s no way it changed her permanently.” The thought was unfathomable. “We’re going to fix this, Maria. Mom, did you call Dr. Sharma?”
“Yes, once the game resumed. She wants to take a look at Maria, so we’re heading downtown to the home base they’re setting up.”
“Do you think they’ll be able to find Dad? It’s a big building.”
“I hope so. I’m sure they’ll tell us more once we get there.”
“What about food?” asked Andy.
“Dr. Sharma’s picking up dinner for everybody.”
“Good,” said Charlie. “I’m starving.” She glanced at Maria, who was quieter than usual. A tear slid out of her eye. Charlie squeezed her hand. “It’s going to be okay,” she told her. But even Charlie was beginning to doubt it. How awful it must feel for Maria to not know if or when she was going to change again.
Maria stared ahead, unseeing. “I’m a monster,” she whispered. “I’m like one of them—those awful hybrid soldiers.”
Mrs. Wilde parked behind the building in a small lot and checked her text messages from Dr. Sharma for the directions to the correct office. They went inside and up to the sixth floor. Then they counted the doors to the right one and stopped in front of it.
“‘Water and Sewage Treatment Complaints Office’?” said Maria, reading the fading stenciled sign on the door.
Mrs. Wilde looked mystified, but she tried the door and it opened.
Immediately in front of them was a receptionist’s counter. On it was a small sign next to a bell, inviting customers to ring for service. Next to the bell was a small decorative vase with clear and black stones in it, a few pens, and a clipboard with a waiting list. A few names were written on the list and crossed out. Behind the receptionist work area was a full wall with a door off to the left.
“Are you sure this is it?” Charlie whispered.
“Ms. Sabbith said this office was used for something else until recently,” said Mrs. Wilde under her breath. “I’m sure this is the right place.”
Mac went up to the counter and dinged the bell. They all waited.
A few moments later Dr. Sharma opened the door. “You found us. Come on in.”
Curious, the party followed her back behind the counter and through the door. “Ms. Sabbith rigged the door to lock automatically when it closes,” Dr. Sharma explained, “so remember that when you come and go. We should keep it closed for everyone’s safety in case we get discovered and need to hide inside. I’ll give you a key to it, Diana. If someone rings the bell when you’re back here in the surveillance area, use caution in deciding whether to open it and let them in.”
“We’re going to need to hide?” said Andy uncertainly.
Mrs. Wilde glanced at him and rested her hand on his shoulder. “Probably not, buddy. It’s just in case.”
Dr. Sharma closed the door firmly and they heard a loud click of the lock.
When they turned around, they found themselves in the surveillance area. Ms. Sabbith, unloading thin TV monitors encased in bubble wrap from a box, waved in greeting. The place was slightly chaotic, with partitions and office furniture and electronics strewn everywhere, but there were a few cleared tables and chairs set up.
Dr. Sharma and Ms. Sabbith took a dinner break with the others, and everyone ate quickly as Mrs. Wilde caught them up on what had happened at the soccer game.
Maria kept staring off into space, looking sad, and didn’t eat much. Charlie lost her appetite halfway through, and even Mac set his fork down when he saw how upset his friend was. Andy finished off Charlie’s food in addition to his own.
Later Dr. Sharma beckoned Maria over to a desk. Mrs. Wilde joined them. The two devices the agents had collected rested in front of them. Charlie hovered nearby, listening.
Maria looked imploringly at Dr. Sharma. “Why did this happen when I wasn’t wearing the bracelet?”
Dr. Sharma glanced at Mrs. Wilde, then looked solemnly at Maria. She pursed her lips, then picked up the Mark Two and turned it slowly in her hand. “I don’t know for sure because I didn’t work on this device. But my guess is that the bracelet permanently changed your DNA. It’s similar to Dr. Gray’s Mark One, except his soldiers’ physical bodies don’t change back like yours does. The Mark Two must be different in that it responds to your body’s signals—you look like your regular self when everything is fine, but when you sense danger, your body automatically changes to give you the abilities and features of your corresponding animal.”
Maria didn’t say anything.
Dr. Sharma went on. “Like Gray’s soldiers, you don’t have to keep wearing the device for basic monkey abilities to kick in. Nubia might have embedded other components in it that could enhance the wearer’s skills, I don’t know. It’s got some buttons, so I assume there’s a reason for them.”
“But . . . wait,” said Maria. “Go back to what you said about the DNA thing. What do you mean, ‘permanently’? Like permanently permanent? Do you mean you can’t fix me?”
“I’m not sure yet,” admitted Dr. Sharma. “I believe I can. But I’ll have to do some research to see if there’s a way to reverse the effects or possibly make a new device with your original DNA that will return you to your old self.”
Maria and Mrs. Wilde stared. “How long will something like that take?” asked Mrs. Wilde.
“Again, I’m not sure. It’ll definitely help if I can locate Nubia. Still no luck there.” Dr. Sharma’s face clouded. “And I’ve been trying to reach Jack, but he’s not responding to my calls or emails. I’m worried that Victor has gotten him, too, since he managed to get Jack’s device.”
“You said Jack was going to Peru to do research, right?” asked Mrs. Wilde. “Maybe he’s in a remote area and doesn’t have a signal.”
“Perhaps. But I fear the worst. Anyway, I’m going to work on your case right now, Maria, while Erica sets up the equipment. I hope to have some answers for you soon.”
Mac looked over at Maria, horrified. “You’re like the Hulk,” he whispered.
Maria buried her face in her hands. “Only not nearly that cool.”
Dr. Sharma gave her a sympathetic smile. “Perhaps Nubia didn’t intend for the actual physical traits to accompany the animal’s special ability. Unfortunately, she didn’t get far enough in the process to eliminate that problem. Maybe she was on the verge of it, though—don’
t give up hope. Try not to get into situations where you’ll feel trapped or scared or overly excited. If you can stay relatively calm, it might never happen again.”
Charlie and Maria stared at each other in horror, no doubt thinking the same thing. What about soccer? What about just being a sixth grader and living a normal life?
“It’s a terrible way to live, though,” murmured Charlie’s mother. She gave Maria’s arm a reassuring squeeze. “Once we have Charles back, I’m sure he can help Quinn work on this. Don’t worry.”
“Yeah,” said Andy, who’d crept up to listen in, “my dad can do pretty much anything.”
“Please don’t tell my parents about this,” said Maria. “They’ll freak.”
Dr. Sharma looked solemn. “If we reach the point where we have to tell them, I’ll take responsibility. And we’ll take care of you and your family. You will have our full support. For now, though, I prefer they didn’t know about this either.”
Tapping her chin thoughtfully, she turned to Ms. Sabbith. “I’ve already got a few ideas on how to try to change Maria’s DNA back to what it was before. But I’m going to need some lab instruments. And . . . some very specific materials. High-clearance stuff that an ordinary civilian can’t exactly order online, if you know what I mean.”
Ms. Sabbith looked sidelong at Dr. Sharma. “Would it be stuff that Talos Global happens to have back in Chicago?”
“You read my mind.”
Ms. Sabbith grinned. “You can count on me. I’ll go back and try to snag whatever you need.”
“Great. I’ll do some research and build a list of supplies over the next day or two,” Dr. Sharma said. “That’ll give you time to set up the cameras and teach me how to control them before you go.”
Mac and Charlie exchanged an intrigued glance. Cameras?
“It won’t take long,” said Ms. Sabbith. She turned to Maria. “Dr. Sharma’s a great scientist. She’s going to fix you. Believe it.”
Maria looked relieved. “Good. Thanks.”
Ms. Sabbith went back to her work, and Dr. Sharma opened her briefcase and began to study some files, apparently refamiliarizing herself with the work she and the other biologists had done ten years before. At the sight of the files Charlie was reminded of the envelope, and the access code she’d found after lunch. She could finally deactivate Defense Mode and try out Battle Mode.
“Hey, Dr. Sharma,” said Charlie, spying her backpack and going over to it, “I’ve got that Talos Global envelope for you. Maybe the Project Chimera papers have a clue that will help you know how to get Maria back to normal.” She opened the flap.
“Oh yes!” exclaimed Dr. Sharma, turning to look at her. “I’m glad you brought it. There might be some important information in there.”
Charlie rummaged through her backpack. She moved a few books and homework folders around, and then frowned. “Where is it? I put it in here after lunch, didn’t I?”
Mac and Maria shrugged. “You were holding it in your hand when we split up after lunch,” said Mac.
“I put it away right after that,” said Charlie. “I’m sure of it.”
“Did you take it out again to get the access code?” asked Mac.
“No,” said Charlie. “I didn’t have a chance to. And I forgot about it once Maria’s problem started.” She pulled everything out of the backpack, but came up empty-handed and frustrated. “I could have sworn I put it in here as I was walking to class with Kelly. But maybe I pulled it out to make room for something else and accidentally left it somewhere.” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t be that careless with something so important.”
“Then where did it go?” asked Mac.
Charlie was truly puzzled. “Andy, you didn’t touch it, did you?”
“Nope. What is it?”
“A manila envelope that says ‘Talos Global’ on the outside. It had some really important papers and a Project Chimera file in it, with information about all the devices. Where the heck . . . ?”
“What’s manila?” asked Andy.
“It’s like yellowy-tan. . . .” She trailed off, looked totally bewildered, then searched through everything again, even though it was obvious the envelope wasn’t there. Finally she gave up. “Maybe it’s in my locker,” she said, feeling helpless and unsettled. She repacked her things, mentally going through her afternoon, trying to remember the last time she saw it. “I’ll go to school early tomorrow and look for it.”
“When you find it, let me know right away,” said Dr. Sharma, looking concerned. “Potentially for Maria’s sake, of course, but also because we don’t want anyone reading what’s in there.”
Near the windows that overlooked the bank building, Ms. Sabbith set a briefcase on the table and opened it. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Maria looking melancholy and Charlie looking frazzled. “Come on over here,” she said to the kids. “Let me show you what we’re doing.”
Charlie, Mac, Maria, and Andy obeyed and watched curiously as Ms. Sabbith pulled some tiny wrapped items from the briefcase. The kids grew even more curious when they realized what she was unpacking. It was a set of insects. Real ones, or so they appeared, and actual size.
“They’re synthetic,” said Ms. Sabbith. There was a dragonfly, a brown roach, a small spider, and a ladybug.
“What are these for?” asked Maria. She scrunched up her nose at the roach.
“You’ll see.” Ms. Sabbith picked up her cell phone, opened an app, and pressed a few buttons. The roach skittered over the table toward the children.
“Yuck!” said Andy, jumping backward.
“Disgusting!” said Mac. He cringed, but cautiously moved closer to see how they worked. “Cool technology inside gross bugs,” he moaned. “I’m so conflicted.”
Ms. Sabbith laughed and instructed the kids to watch a large monitor on a table nearby, then she moved the roach around. She made it run to the edge of the table and lean over, then turned its head from side to side. On the screen was a moving picture of the inside of the room.
“It’s a camera?” asked Charlie. “Are these the ones Dr. Sharma mentioned?”
“Yes. They’re drones—well, technically, only the ones that fly are called drones. But they’re all decoys that’ll help us spy on Dr. Gray. The roach and dragonfly are big enough to hold microphones as well as cameras.” She pulled something else much bigger out of the case. It was a beautiful red cardinal. Ms. Sabbith messed around with her phone some more, and soon the cardinal’s eyes opened. It hopped so convincingly that, for a moment, Charlie thought it had to be real. Then it took off and flew around the room. The computer monitor showed everything the cardinal could see.
“Wow!” said Mac. “It looks like an actual bird!”
“These little guys are going to help us a lot.” She looked at some plastic crates on the ground that held more screens. “Do any of you know how to set up a monitor?”
“I do.” Mac was eager to have his hands on such quality merchandise. He and the others helped set up the equipment, and soon there was an insect’s view on each screen. Ms. Sabbith messed around with her phone app and began switching camera views and monitors, trying each one out on the big screen, so they could have a closer look at whichever drone’s camera they needed. Then she set up a laptop computer on a table and switched to using that to control the drones and monitors.
“Why are you doing both?” asked Mac.
“I want the phone set up in case we need to go mobile without looking suspicious,” said Ms. Sabbith. “Also to use as a backup. But mainly we’ll work from the laptop. We’ll mount the monitors on the wall later and connect the sound to come through my computer speakers.”
“Increíble,” said Maria under her breath, forgetting about her personal problems for the moment. “But how are you going to get the cameras over there?”
“I’ll show you in a bit,” Ms. Sabbith said. She checked her watch and went to the window. It was getting dark outside. Then she pulled a thin, portable window shade
from a duffel bag on the floor, unrolled it, and attached it to one of the windows. It was see-through from their side. Ms. Sabbith pointed to the ninth floor, where the soldiers had said they’d be. There were lights on in some of the rooms, though the shades were still drawn. “Now you can stand in front of this window and look outside without anyone being able to see you. That’ll do until we can get something more permanent. But finding Dr. Wilde takes priority at the moment.”
Ms. Sabbith donned a baseball cap and sunglasses. She picked up her cell phone, the roach, and the spider. “Quinn, I’m heading over to get the non-flyers planted where we need them.”
Dr. Sharma glanced up at her, then nodded and went back to her research.
The kids crowded in front of the screened window, and soon they could see Ms. Sabbith crossing the street below. She went into the back entrance of the bank building, where Charlie had seen the soldiers unloading equipment the previous day. From their location on the sixth floor of this building, they couldn’t see anything inside the main floor of the bank building. But it didn’t take long for Ms. Sabbith to come striding back outside. A few minutes later she returned to home base.
“Let’s turn these on,” Ms. Sabbith said. She pushed a few buttons on the computer and two of the monitors lit up. She moved the roach cam to the big screen. “The main floor was empty, so it was no problem to plant both insects in the elevator. I sent them up to the ninth floor. I’m going to leave the spider in the elevator for now so we can see who’s coming and going. But the roach is heading out into the hallway. Let’s have a look around.”
Their view on the roach screen was of a long corridor with a few doorways. There were some soldiers standing and talking at the far end. Ms. Sabbith made the roach skitter down one side, staying close to the wall. When it came to a door, she guided it underneath. It was dark and quiet. They couldn’t make out much on the screen.
“I think I’ll just park you here out of the way for now until I get these others set up,” Ms. Sabbith murmured as she worked. She glanced out the window and up at the ninth floor across the street. It was nearly dark out now. A few lights burned in the windows. “Time for the flyers.”
