“So it’s a ghost?” Rick asked as David slowly nudged them over to the right.
“Ghost? You could call it that. But it’s not dead. In fact, It probably never died. That’s the type of crap Tacarria does. They told us it was alive. I’ve dealt with it before while looking for you two. All it does is clean up random stuff.”
“Clean up? What type of ghost cleans up things?” asked Henric. They moved slowly and quietly to the right as the ghost approached them. The scratch marks on the wall and broken glass disappeared as it walked towards the elevator, almost soundless except for it's shallow, heavy breathing. They finally realized the ghost wasn’t coming after them, it was going after the dead clone. When it reached the elevator they were about twenty feet away, but instead of running, they watched. They watched as the ghost kneeled down and picked up the clone’s body, they watched as the blood rose off the ground and flew into the ghost. When it stood up it turned to look at them and the body in its arms began to glow. Seconds later and it vanished, leaving behind only the bracelet, which clanged as it hit the floor.
“Shows over, let’s go.” said David, who was now in front. “That’s all it does as long as no one bothers it.”
They didn’t hesitate a second time. They made their way down the hall to section D, bypassing other clones running from all directions. One dropped to the ground in front of them, and everyone but Henric jumped over him. Another clone tried to wrestle the gun away from Rick, but David surprisingly swung and knocked him out.
“Thanks, that was close. You okay too, kid?” They looked back and saw Henric several feet away, looking at a clone’s body.
“He’s still breathing. We can help him!”Henric replied to them.
“Are you stupid?” the clone himself rasped. He lifted up his wrist, showing the bracelet. It was blinking 00:00:00. “My times up kid.”
“I can help him die faster,” said Rick, pointing his gun at the clone. Henric shielded him.
“NO! What’s your problem?!”
“He’s not a person he’s number. Just dna and code, no originality. He looks just like the one I shot at the elevator.”
“Well what about me?” Henric asked. Rick stared at him for a moment before raising the gun, aiming at Henric’s forehead.
“You’re no different.”
“FREEZE!” someone behind Henric shouted. A soldier in dark blue gear shone light on the four of them.
“Drop the weapon!” he shouted again.
“Wait hold on! I’m from Bickerstaff too.” Instead of pulling out an ID or badge, he pushed deeply into his left palm and held it up. There was a blue light blinking under his skin. This seemed to calm the soldier. He lowered his gun and observed each of them. He noticed the dying clone on the ground and shot him in the head, much to Henric’s dismay.
“No!” he screamed. The soldier noticed the bracelet on Henric’s wrist and trained his gun on him.
“Tell me what’s going on.” the soldier told David.
“I’m David Jones. Early recon. I was sent by Bickerstaff to oversee the scientists personally. After everything went to shit, One of the scientists sent me after his two kids. That’s why we’re here.”
“Why does this one have a clone bracelet then?”he motioned to Henric.
“Because the scientist made him personally, I was there! He didn’t even have that bracelet until half an hour ago. He took it from the gallery in the museum.” David wiped sweat from his forehead.
“What reason would I have to lie?”
The soldier thought about it for a moment before finally putting down his gun. He walked up to both David and Rick and shook their hands.
“I’m Colter. Colter Harnett.”
“David Jones.”
“Rick. Henric McCathey. He’s me.” Rick pointed at Henric, who glared at the soldier.
“That must be wild, huh?” asked the soldier. “Having a clone of yourself?”
“It probably would have been, if I wasn’t in a coma when he was created.” said Rick. “My dad tried to replace me and left me to die, so I’m not really fond of clones anymore. Loved him when I was his age though.”
Rick stared at Henric so intently he thought he was about to get shot on the spot.
“Come on,” Rick finally broke his penance stare and lead the way down another hallway. “We gotta get the hell out of here.”
“Amen to that.” said Colter. “But this ain’t the way out.”
“You’re coming along?” David asked Colter.
“I’m not trying to get murdered by one of those Tacarria things. They sent us here with no other directions than shoot to kill. All of you seem to know the layout, so I’ll just be extra protection for now, until we make it out of here.”
“So you don’t have to report back to Bickerstaff?” David asked him.
Colter shook his head.”I don’t think they expect us to survive anyway.”
Rick snapped his fingers to get their attention.
“We’re headed to my dad’s office first. My mother is...gone, and I need a way out. I need to support myself. I don’t have any other relatives in the U.S.”
“But Dad’s alive. He can take care of us.”
“I guess you forgot what I said earlier.” Rick told Henric.
They reached the office and saw that it had been completely broken open, the whole door knob was broken off.
“Jesus. Who did this?” David asked.
“I did.” Henric replied.
Everyone entered and Colter stood guard at the door. Rick tried to check the desk drawers when Henric stopped him.
“I already checked, I didn't find anything.”
Rick reached under the drawer and pressed a button, revealing a secret compartment. Lifting it, they found a folder, a bunch of keys on a key ring, and a fat black circular object.
“What is that? asked Henric.
“It's a fob.” Rick replied, tossing it to him. “A little remote me and Dad made that can be programmed to control any car. Well, not any car, just newer models that come with their own fobs already. It also has an ir blaster that can turn on tv’s. I created it when I was fourteen.”
Henric gazed at the chunky little object in his hand. The plastic was uneven and warped, it looked like a melted chew toy.
“How did you make it?” Henric asked him.
Rick didn’t take his eyes off the folder, but he reached for the fob.
“I wanted to prove to dad I could work alongside him, so I said I’d do it all on my own. I took my mom’s grill lighter and melted my legos together and broke some of his old key fobs to frankenstein my own. It worked, suffice to say, with a little programming from my laptop.”
“What’s in the folder?” asked David, reaching for it. Rick slapped his hand away and handed the folder to Henric.
“Intel on aliens? Man made Dragons? Flying horses?”
“No, but I’m sure they would have worked on all of those if they had enough time. This is just copies of my personal information. My social security, insurance, dental records. My birth certificate, you know, shit that proves I’m alive, and that he shouldn’t exist.”
Henric looked up at Rick but he had already stood up and started typing on the computer.
“His password is madison? All lowercase?” asked David.
“Yep. These scientists are smart, but often simple. Their too forgetful for complicated passwords, that’s why they have so many biometrics.”
“So what are we waiting on now? You got your files.” said Colter at the door.
“My Dad, that’s who.” Rick opened up an application on the homepage and a red Lavaunzier logo filled the screen with a loading bar at the bottom. Once it filled up the screen switched to a white background with a model of a mermaid on the right and a literal wall of text on the left. Random things were highlighted but it was still difficult to read.
“God, how can you look at that for so long? I’m getting a headache and I’m behind you.”
“It�
�s an emergency upload of all his information, all his data. It’s stored here. It isn’t just computer files, it includes information inside his own head. You know how you have that Bickerstaff tracker in your hand, David?”
“Yeah.”
“The Lavaunzier scientists have something even more complex . It acts as a failsafe in case the scientists die in the middle of their work, or get captured and interrogated. It also lets us know where they are located, so we are going to find him.”
They waited as the screen loaded, the whirring sound of the computer fan filling the room. Everyone jumped as some slammed against the door, begging to be let in.
“Come on please! It’s taking everyone!”
“Let him in. We need to know what he’s talking about.” said Rick quietly, eyes glued to the screen.
“But it’s a clone.” said Colter, preparing to shoot.
“Oh no, come on man! Please?!” the clone cried.
“Let him in!” Henric demanded, walking over to stop Colter.
“Fine.” Colter backed away and the clone fell into room, crawling away from the door. He wore red shorts and was just as soaked as the others. His left arm looked shrunken, and was much skinnier than the right.
“Close it,” he rasped. “Close it. CLOSE IT!”
“It’s broken. That’s why I’m standing guard.” Colter responded. “What did you mean by it’s taking everyone?”
“I-it. The… little..thing in the…” The clone struggled to catch his breath.
“Spit it out.” Colter demanded. “It’s the only reason you aren’t dead yet.”
“He could be expiring,” David commented. “Like the other one.”
“No.” said the clone, raising his right wrist. “I’ve got three more hours.”
David lifted Henric’s wrist and looked at it. He dropped it and looked at the clone in confusion. “You said that like that’s plenty of time.”
“What is it?!” Colter shouted, pointing his gun at the clone again. “I won’t ask another time.”
The clone stood up slow, raising his arms.
“It’s blue and it glows. It looks like a child, a boy. When something gets near it, it disappears. Everything that gets near it ends up warped, and that’s when it’s calm. When it’s pissed off… it goes ballistic.”
“Sounds like the ghost guy from Tacarria. We’ve dealt with it before.” David replied.
“But he said it was a child.” said Henric. “We saw an old guy.”
“If they are the same,” said the clone. “We’re in trouble.”
“What the hell?” Rick exclaimed. Everyone looked over to see a layout of the lab on the screen with a blinking red dot in the center.
“What is it Rick?” Henric asked him. “Where’s dad?”
“He’s in the shore room. That’s where they released the human mermaids into the water.”
16
“Why would he be there, after all this time? I’ve been looking everywhere for him.”
“But you haven’t been able to go everywhere, you haven’t had access to everywhere. Luckily for us, there’s a shortcut to the shore room behind the mermaid exhibit. We need to get there.”
“No, we need to get out of here before we get killed.” said David. Colter nodded in agreement.
“Finding your dad isn’t a priority..”
Rick pointing his gun at him scowling. “I think you’ve forgotten your place here. I am the only one here who can truly be free. All of you are being tracked, so how far do you think you’ll get? What makes you think you can walk away from this?”
“It’s just in my hand. I’ll get it out, eventually. Your dad is a scientist, he could probably get that bracelet off. What about you Colter?”
Everyone looked at Colter, who was watching Rick point his gun at David.
“Mines in my back. I don’t know where exactly, but I’ll have my wife get it out. But now I got questions. Why is the kid pointing the gun at you? I thought you were taking them to their dad?”
David stammered, trying to find an answer while Rick put his folder and fob into a satchel.
“Y’all can chit chat if you want. I gotta find my dad. This group is getting a little big, anyway. Henric let’s go.”
Henric and the clone followed suit, leaving Colter and David in the room.
“Listen, the details aren’t that necessary. We should worry about getting out alive. The older kid knows his way around, I’m not worried about him. He has his own badge for christ’s sake. I say we leave them to it, and get out before the cavalry comes and blows this place to shit, Bickerstaff agents and all.”
Colter nodded, and they shook hands. “Screw those kids.”
They headed out the door and found the kids and the clone standing perfectly still.
“What is it?”
David look past them and saw a child, younger than both Rick and his clone. He had on a cute little white lab coat, with a blue and yellow striped shirt and black pants. Glowing just like the man from before only his light was blue instead of white. The child appeared sleepy and disoriented, as if he didn’t know where he was.
“That’s him. That’s the kid.” said the clone.
Suddenly they heard rapid gunfire coming from the left hall, even the child turned to look, albeit slowly. A clone ran into view only to be instantly gunned down by his pursuer. A soldier like Colter marched forward, towering over the clone before seeing the child.
“What the hell are you? AHHH!” The soldier and clone started glowing and were lifted off the ground. The surrounding walls cracked and exploded all flying towards kid at once. A blinding light and a searing ringing sound tore through everyone’s head, causing them to drop to their knees in pain.
“WHAT IS HE DOING?!” David shouted. The light was gone, but the sound persisted. It felt like someone through a flash grenade in his face, he couldn’t see anything.
“I don’t know!” said Colter. “But I am gonna stop it.” Colter took a grenade off his belt and threw it towards the kid. Squinting, he waited till it was close enough and aimed for the grenade.
“No! What did I say?!” the clone shouted.
Colter ignored him and shot the grenade, causing a huge explosion at the end of the hall. The ringing stopped. They opened their eyes and the other clone and soldier were gone, but the kid was still there sprawled out on the floor. He wasn’t glowing anymore, but he was still in one piece, with no blood in sight. Looking at each other, they saw that everyone’s ears were bleeding. The clone also had blood pouring from his nose, but he seemed too happy to care.
“I can’t believe it. It worked!” said the clone. He put his left hand on Colter’s shoulder, which Colter shrugged off in disgust.
“What the hell happened to your arm? Did you just grow deformed like that?” Colter asked him.
“No. I was trying to help another clone escape that thing and my arm almost got caught up in its blast. I had to let him go.”
“This isn’t over.” David interrupted. “If this facility couldn’t kill those things when it was fully operational what makes you think you can kill it with a grenade?”
“He’s right. Let’s move. I’m taking the stairs down, since the elevator is broken. If yall want to get out easy, go past the kid to the main drag and ride the escalator up to the first floor.”
“The elevator took half an hour already, imagine how long the stairs are gonna take.” David told him.
“I don’t give a damn. I gotta find him.” Rick began to walk away and Henric followed.
“I’m not stepping over that thing.” said Colter, still staring at the child. “I’m sticking with the kid, for now.”
He started to walk in their direction when David grabbed his shoulder.
“Wait. Look back at it.”
A faint white glow was getting brighter, but it wasn’t emanating from the child. The old man from earlier walked in to view and picked up the child.
“There’s two of them?” sai
d Colter, horrified.
“He’s going to make him disappear.” David told Colter. “He did it earlier to a clone.”
The child glowed, brighter and brighter until finally it moved. It didn’t disappear like the clone. It moved. Apparently the older ghost was surprised too. He lowered the kid down and looked at it, but it was staring at David. Colter, and the clone.
“Shit. Hey Kid! Wait up!” Colter pushed past David and ran down the hallway as the child shrieked a horrible sound, so awful the ghost man himself covered his ears. It ran towards them while everything behind it was torn apart by an invisible force.
“WHAT IN GOD’S NAME DO THEY MAKE IN THAT LAB?!” Colter shouted. David and the clone caught up to him, and they were all running towards the stairway door. Colter turned around a few times to shoot at it, though it had no effect. David slammed the door open, and the clone bounded down the steps. Henric and Rick were barely four flights down when they looked upwards in confusion.
Glass Back Page 6
