Unleashed

by Amy McCulloch

  ‘Come on, the quicker we move . . .’ Tobias drops my hand, his jaw tight from the confrontation. He steps out of the shadows and strides down the path, not hiding at all any longer. Kai and I jog to catch up with him. We end up jogging all the way to what we hope is Monica’s house, heedless of any alarm that might be raised.

  Even close up, it’s breathtakingly beautiful – much more so than the others we’ve seen, which are more typical, neat clapboard style. The dark painted logs gleam in the sunlight and there are hanging planters overflowing with colourful flowers. There are two huge bay windows in the front, although they’re currently shuttered – strange for this time of day. There’s nothing to indicate that it’s occupied. But according to Aero’s data, there’s someone inside.

  ‘Ready?’ Tobias asks, as we climb the stairs to the front door. Kai tries to peer through the shutters, but he shrugs. Nothing there. I nod.

  Tobias reaches out and jiggles the handle on the door, but it doesn’t budge.

  ‘Locked,’ he says, with an exasperated sigh.

  ‘Maybe we can break a window?’ suggests Kai.

  But I’ve noticed something else. There might be a handle, but there’s no keyhole. I place my hand on the door itself, and give it a hard push.

  It swings open. It wasn’t locked after all.

  And I gasp.

  Because there she is. Standing in the hallway of the cottage as if she’s been expecting us.

  Tobias sighs with relief. I look up at him and his whole face lights up, as does mine. I’m so grateful to see her alive, and apparently healthy. She even still has her signature haircut, that triangular fringe. She’s wearing a beige uniform of long, loose trousers and a flowy top, almost like hospital scrubs. And with his long arms draped loosely around her neck, connected to her leash, is the same sloth baku I remember from underneath Moncha HQ.

  ‘Hello, can I help you?’ says Monica Chan, not an ounce of recognition on her face.

  Kai, Tobias and I all stare at her, and I’ve never been more grateful to have them by my side. If I was alone, I’d be terrified. But they don’t look terrified – they look . . . awestruck. I think they would drop down to their knees and bow to her, if they weren’t so shocked at the fact we’ve actually found her.

  Then I realize: it’s the first time they’ve met her, this woman who has been at the centre of our lives. Jinx curls around my ankles, staring at Monica too.

  I know they’re all waiting for me to speak. I’m the one who’s met her before, after all. ‘Monica, do you know who I am?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so. Have we met before? Should I know you? I’m really sorry; my memory is terrible these days. But I assume you’ve come here to join our wonderful community? You’re just in time.’

  I swallow, my mouth suddenly feeling very dry. ‘Just in time for what?’

  ‘WHY, IT’S ALMOST TIME FOR our annual celebration!’ she says, a grin splitting her face in two.

  I sneak a sideways glance at Tobias and Kai. Kai’s mouth is wide open. Tobias is cooler, but I swear I see a bead of sweat drip down his temple.

  ‘Monica . . .’ I say, and her head turns to me so slowly, she almost doesn’t seem human. It nearly makes me forget the second half of my question. For a second, I wonder if Eric Smith’s plans have taken a step further, and Monica is now totally automaton. What would that mean for her? For the company?

  But then she looks at me and I know that she’s real. She’s just locked up in a different way. Her free will has been taken away. She’s been updated.

  What if it can’t be reversed? says a tiny voice in my head. What will that mean for her? And Mom? Will they be updated for ever, losing more and more of themselves . . .

  I can feel the panic rising in my chest, but I try and push it down. I can’t worry about that now. One thing at a time.

  ‘Do you recognize Jinx?’ I ask. I gesture to the cat baku at my feet, and he leaps up into my arms.

  Her gaze follows Jinx, but all she says is, ‘Who’s Jinx?’

  I can sense Jinx’s disappointment that Monica doesn’t recognize him. I wonder what it must be like to feel abandoned by your creator like that.

  But no. She didn’t abandon him. She tried to save him. That’s why I have Jinx in the first place. She knew the danger he was in – and that she was in – and she chose to try to get him outside, where he might have the chance to survive, rather than be destroyed at the hands of Eric Smith.

  Now, we need to do the same for her.

  Kai echoes my thoughts. ‘C’mon. We’ve found her now. We have to get her out of here.’

  Tobias speaks up, because I seem to have lost my words. ‘Ms Chan, I’m afraid that we can’t stay for any celebration. But if you don’t mind, can you come with us? We really need your help and we think that you’re the only one who can help us.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know . . .’ says Monica. Her sloth’s black-as-night eyes watch us with suspicion. ‘I think I’d better stay put. It’s not quite time for us to be outside yet. The others will wonder why I arrived so early.’

  ‘I don’t like the sound of this “annual celebration”,’ says Kai in a low voice.

  ‘Me neither,’ I say. ‘Have you checked in with Ashley? Maybe we should send her a message to let her know we’ve found Monica.’ I waggle my eyebrows in Oka’s direction. If something bad is going to go down, someone needs to know on the outside.

  ‘Good idea,’ says Kai. He leans down to Oka’s side, and records a message for Ashley. Then, for good measure (and something I’ve never seen from Kai) he takes out a pen from his pocket and writes down a note on actual paper. ‘We can’t be too careful,’ he says. ‘What if all the data gets erased?’

  ‘Genius!’ I exclaim.

  He grins at me, then sends Oka on his way.

  I exchange a look with Tobias, and together he and Kai step towards Monica. She stares at us placidly, that same serene smile on her face. That creepy, serene smile.

  They gently take her by the arms and lead her out.

  ‘No, I can’t leave yet,’ she says as she approaches the threshold of the door.

  Did you see that? I ask Jinx.

  >>I did. His voice is solemn.

  The sloth had tugged on Monica’s leash as the two boys were moving. He’s the reason that Monica’s come to a stop – why she fears crossing the threshold of the door. The sloth is preventing her from leaving.

  We have to find a way to disable her baku.

  >>I’ll handle it. In a flash, Jinx leaps up and on to Monica’s free shoulder, taking a swipe at her baku.

  What happens next is less expected. The sloth swipes back, attacking Jinx with extendable hooked claws.

  I yelp, but Jinx darts out of the way just in time. His electronic fur stands on end, and he hisses with anger.

  ‘Aero, help Jinx,’ says Tobias.

  Like the team that I know they are, the two bakus work together, perfectly synchronized. Outside of the battle arena, Aero isn’t free to attack the sloth directly, so instead Tobias instructs him to flap his wings violently in his direction, creating enough of a distraction to the sloth to cause him to lose focus on Jinx.

  Jinx doesn’t have the same restrictions as Aero. He uses the momentum shift caused by the distraction to push the sloth completely off balance. Although the sloth has long limbs, he’s not able to right himself quickly enough to stop his leash detaching from Monica’s ear.

  Monica doesn’t move, allowing the action to unfold all around her, until the sloth falls – when she automatically reaches out to catch him.

  The boys step forward then, grabbing Monica beneath her arms.

  Jinx settles on Monica’s shoulder in the sloth’s place, and although it sends a stab of jealousy to my heart, he looks as if he’s about to leash up to her.

  But then he pulls back.

  >>Stop that sloth!

  I run around the boys, darting towards the sloth, preventing his attempt to lunge forward towards Monica.
I don’t want to grab him directly in case he turns those claws on me, so instead I grab hold of the carpet he is standing on. I drag it back so that he slides into the other room, and I slam the door over the loud baku howls of alarm. How very un-sloth-like.

  Also, not very ‘content’.

  Maybe Eric Smith’s code isn’t perfect after all.

  With the sloth safely out of commission, we quick-time it to the front door.

  All in, it’s taken us about an hour.

  So far, so good. We should make it back in time to stop the convention after all.

  We head down the path leading through the village, Aero flying ahead of us. I’m next, then Monica, then the boys. Jinx is still balancing on Monica’s shoulder, and now that she’s not connected to her baku, Monica seems happier to follow us. My mind races to figure out the next step of the plan. We had been so focused on finding Monica, we hadn’t really given enough thought to the logistics of what we should do once we had her.

  All I know is that we can’t let Eric Smith capture her again. I turn around to face Tobias. ‘Tobias, once we’re out of the dome, can you get a car ready for me? Zora and I will take Monica back to the authorities in the city and ask her how to reverse the update. Once we’re safely far away from here, you and the rest of the team can stop the convention.’

  We’re almost at the end of the path, just passing the convenience store. We’re almost at the path that will lead up towards the door in the dome. We’re so close . . .

  There’s an explosion . . . of confetti all around me.

  Dozens of people – all with sloth bakus leashed around their necks – emerge from the houses. ‘Welcome to our annual celebration!’ one of them says.

  ‘We hope you can join us,’ says another, his hair swept into a perfect sideways parting.

  Tobias and Kai are struck still with shock at the sight of all the people who are surrounding us. But none of them look surprised or alarmed to see us, considering that we’re intruders from the outside world. They look perfectly serene, dressed in the same beige outfit that Monica is wearing.

  It’s like a cult.

  A Moncha cult.

  ‘I’m sorry, but we can’t,’ says Tobias, keeping his cool as always. ‘We have to go. We’ll, uh, be sure to come back another time.’

  ‘Oh, I understand. Hopefully we’ll see you again soon.’ And to our amazement, the man steps aside. So do all of the people, giving us a clear pathway out of the village. We hustle through them, trying not to make eye contact.

  And then I make eye contact.

  ‘Uh, Lacey?’ Tobias stops and turns around when he notices that I’m no longer with them. In fact, I’m stood stock-still in the middle of the crowd. ‘Come on, we’ve got to go.’

  ‘What’s her problem?’ hisses Kai.

  I swallow, completely unable to move. It’s like I’ve been paralysed – my body feels like it’s been dipped in ice. My hands are numb. My feet are numb. My brain is numb.

  Finally, I manage to find the energy to lick my lips. It brings enough moisture to my dry mouth to spit out some words. ‘I . . . I think this is my dad.’

  I’M VAGUELY AWARE THAT TOBIAS and Kai are shouting – at me, at each other – I can’t quite tell. It’s like I’ve descended into a trance. I walk slowly towards the man in the crowd that I barely recognize. Is this my brain playing tricks on me? Some kind of wishful thinking?

  He’s a total stranger, a vague approximation of the person from the photographs I’ve seen. I try to match him up with that man. The man in the white lab coat. The man with the beautiful German Shepherd baku.

  I squint my eyes. Is this really him? Or am I just seeing what I want to see?

  But I don’t see the resemblance. I feel it. It’s a punch in the gut. It’s a pull – a fish hook that’s got me by the cheek and is luring me in with every step. That tug is deep in my belly, in my soul. The man’s eyes are artificially serene, and – most importantly – show no hint of recognition back. But I have to find out if my gut instinct is right.

  Another part of me senses Tobias walking towards me, cautiously approaching, as if I’m some sort of wild animal.

  I might go mad if he tries to stop me – lash out with my claws and hiss with my teeth and slash at him until he turns around and leaves me. I think he understands that, and that’s why he keeps his distance for now.

  ‘Jinx, do something!’ I hear Tobias say.

  >>Lacey – we have to get Monica out of here. Then we can help your mom and your dad.

  I know what Jinx is saying makes sense, but for once, I can’t listen to him. This is something that I have to find out for myself. If I don’t ask now . . . if I let myself be torn away . . . I’ll always wonder.

  ‘Excuse me, sir?’ I say, finding my voice at last.

  He looks at me, and smiles. When he does, that fish hook tugs even tighter; I almost jump forward with the force of it. But the smile is accompanied by totally blank eyes. ‘Yes?’

  ‘What’s your name?’ It comes out as barely a whisper, but it’s enough for him to hear.

  He sticks his hand out to me, totally unaware of the turmoil that is roiling through my body at that very moment. ‘My name is Albert Chu.’ He gestures to the sloth around his neck. ‘This is my baku, Lacey.’

  Now I react. Tears spring up into my eyes. ‘Your baku’s name is Lacey?’ I whisper.

  ‘Yes – isn’t it a nice name?’

  ‘That’s my name. Dad? Dad. It’s me.’

  Do I detect something? A flicker of confusion or recognition or maybe even a flash of anger out of the person who’s trapped underneath? A million questions are running through my mind. Has he been here this whole time? Is he under the influence of the update? But how can that be possible? How long has this been going on?

  And did he volunteer for this program, knowing that he would forget about Mom and me?

  Can we reverse it?

  ‘Oh, you must have confused me with someone else. How nice that you share a name with my baku! That’s a great coincidence.’

  My mind is racing so fast, I jump when Tobias touches my arm.

  ‘Lacey – I know you think this is your dad . . .’

  ‘It is my dad.’

  ‘Right, yes, I believe you, and that is absolutely wild, but we have to go.’

  ‘You’re telling me I should just leave my dad here? To . . . whatever Eric next has planned?’

  ‘We need to get Monica out and far away from here first. That way we can stop the update from being rolled out, figure out how to reverse this thing and then we can get your dad back. Don’t you see? We have to do things one step at a time, but we won’t forget about him. Jinx will record it all. Come on.’

  ‘But . . .’

  ‘Look, Lacey. He’s been here for . . . god knows how long. He can last one more day. I promise you, we won’t let a minute longer go by than we have to before we return and get him. The minute we get back and bring Monica to my parents then everything will be right again.’

  I hesitate, chewing my lower lip. I know Tobias’s logic is sound. But I can’t tear myself away. Not now that I’ve found him.

  I didn’t even know I was looking for him, until he showed up right in front of my eyes.

  I can sense the others – not Tobias and Kai, but the rest of the creepy Moncha cult – all staring at me, those strange grins on their faces. My curiosity gets the better of me and I sneak a little sideways glance in the direction of the other inhabitants. They really do seem geared up for a celebration. One is carrying a cake, some have streamers in their hands. It looks more like a children’s birthday party than an annual celebration.

  A thought strikes me. What if this happens every day, here? Everyone loves a celebration, a piece of cake, a reason for the community to get together . . . it would fall perfectly into the ‘make people happy’ category. A birthday every day! An excuse to celebrate! I bet some people would hear that and it would put a smile on their face.

 
; ‘Lacey, please.’ There’s more than a hint of desperation in Tobias’s voice now. I have no real concept of how much time has passed, but I know that it’s ticking by.

  I run up to my dad, heedless of his reaction towards me. ‘I will be back for you, Dad.’

  Then I turn back to Tobias, catching the look of relief on his face. I’m about to smile back, to say ‘okay, let’s go,’ when my brain registers the words that he said just a moment ago.

  ‘What did you mean by, “when we bring Monica to my parents”?’ I ask, frowning.

  Tobias opens his mouth, then closes it again, clearly caught off guard. ‘Nothing, I meant when we take her to the authorities, or to BRIGHTSPRK, that’s all. Slip of the tongue, I promise.’

  ‘I wouldn’t make promises I couldn’t keep if I were you, Tobias.’

  A man exits from the closest cottage, and my heart immediately drops. He’s not wearing beige like the others, and at his feet is a black jaguar.

  It’s Nathan.

  I STUMBLE BACKWARDS UNTIL I bump into Tobias, and I grip his hand tightly. His palm is as clammy as mine is, and I think he’s trembling too.

  ‘You think I didn’t realize you all were up to something?’ Nathan asks, stalking closer with his jaguar baku at his side. ‘I knew there had to be a reason Tobias invited some pathetic level 1s and 2s to our Christmas party. I overheard a very interesting conversation between Mom and Tobias, then when you left this morning, I followed you all . . . and what do I find but you trying to kidnap the CEO of Moncha Corp?’

  ‘Nathan, please,’ I say. ‘You don’t know what Eric Smith is trying to do. He’s developed this update and if we don’t get Monica out of here . . .’

  ‘Let me stop you right there,’ he says. ‘You think I don’t know about the update? I’m Eric Smith’s personal intern. Of course I know. I know even more about this than our parents. Dad might work on the team, but he thinks we’re tweaking baku code. So naïve. When Tobias came to them about this, they had no idea what he was talking about.’ He turns to Tobias. ‘You should have come to me instead. I could have arranged for you to have a position in the inner circle too. But now, you’ve given our parents just another reason to be disappointed with you.’