Tested
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PENGUIN YOUNG READERS LICENSES
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Published by Penguin Young Readers Licenses, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
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Ebook ISBN 9780593223116
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CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
About the Author
CHAPTER 1
Cisco almost dropped his Froyo as he looked up at the enormous and intimidating machine. “You guys are climbing into that thing? For real?”
“Cisco has a point,” Frostee added. “This machine is pretty teched-out and all, but the force from being spun that fast in a circle?”
“Right?” Cisco agreed. “You’ll be so dizzy, you’ll be turned inside out!”
Tony appraised the giant machine and the pod that was attached to it. He couldn’t help agreeing with his friends—it didn’t exactly look like it would be fun. The rocket-shaped pod was bolted to an arm that was attached to an enormous centrifuge—a machine designed to spin and spin.
A machine that he was supposed to sit inside.
Basically, it was a machine designed to make you want to hurl your guts out.
“Come on!” Echo Pearl teased. “We’ve driven off of cliffs. This is totally safe! We’ll be fine!” She glanced at the machine. “But you go first.”
Ms. Nowhere was looming behind the pair, though she was mostly typing away in some private conversation. Still, she managed to respond with her usual charm. “It’s a two-seater,” she said. “And you’re both getting in it. Together.”
Echo’s wide smile faded. “Then I find this situation entirely less amusing,” the young artist answered.
Tony continued to glance suspiciously at the exceedingly dangerous-looking pod. “We’ve totally proven ourselves over and over again, right? We’ve never really failed a mission . . .”
Ms. Nowhere scoffed. “What about that one in San Diego? During Comic-Con? All you had to do was monitor the sale of that experimental fuel filter. Instead . . .”
Tony managed to look hurt. “Totally not our fault!” he argued. “There were other factors!”
Echo nodded. “There was no way we could know that the submarine was controlled by robots.”
“Or that the warehouse was going to be filled with rare movie props,” Tony agreed.
“Why would you even put the smuggler ship from Outspaced 4 in a warehouse?” Frostee added, a rising tone of incredulity in his voice. “It belongs in a museum!”
Cisco raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know, man. Outspaced 4 was not the best in the franchise. Too much of a political agenda.”
Layla, who had been otherwise quiet, suddenly looked at her friend. “Oh, don’t you start with me, Cisco!” She glared at him. “That movie redefined pop culture!”
“Enough!” Ms. Nowhere roared, stepping between the two teenagers. “It’s not up to you to judge the merits of the test. It’s up to you to take it!”
“They don’t have to take it,” Tony objected, pointing at Frostee, Cisco, and Layla.
Nowhere rolled her eyes. “Their skills have been tested in a dozen different ways. You’re all under examination all the time. That’s the way this stuff works when you’re a teenager working under adult supervision, okay?”
Both Echo and Tony shifted uncomfortably.
“Your confidence is so incredibly reassuring,” Ms. Nowhere said, clearly exasperated. “Cisco, Frostee, Layla, please exit. You can watch the test from the safety of the observation deck.”
Before any of them could object, she raised her hand and waved them away.
“Okay,” Layla said, giving Tony’s shoulder a quick squeeze and throwing a reassuring look at Echo. “You both are going to do great. I’m sure of it.”
Frostee shook his head. “I’m way less sure of it. But whatever. Hey, Cisco, let’s go get some waffles!”
As the three teenagers exited the testing chambers, a stranger walked into the room—a tall man with a white lab coat and thick-framed glasses. “Meet Dr. David Rowan,” Ms. Nowhere said. “David is the head engineer and software designer for this testing facility, and he will be monitoring your results.”
“Hello, young people,” Dr. Rowan said. “Are you ready to begin? My machine will test your limits in ways you cannot even imagine. It’ll be fun.”
Tony shrugged. “Well, it’s totally safe no matter what, right? I mean, we drive cars in the real world. I think we can handle it. It’s basically like a theme park ride.”
“Perhaps. The controls are fairly self-explanatory,” the engineer said with a thin smile. “For a driver of your caliber, I’m sure it should be simple.”
“Pff!” Tony replied. “Totally, I’m sure.”
With that, Ms. Nowhere and Dr. Rowan walked out of the room, and Echo and Tony were left to climb into the strange pod. Inside was a steel cage for reinforcement, and two heavy-looking leather seats with padded harnesses in place. The console was made up of a variety of levers, buttons, and switches. More notably, there were two steering wheels.
The pair strapped themselves in. A moment later, the pod automatically closed itself. In the distance, Tony and Echo both could hear a faint humming, the sound of a very large and very powerful engine warming up.
The voice of David Rowan boomed through the pod’s speaker system. “Everything is ready. The test will begin in ten seconds. I suggest you try to relax. It might get . . . uncomfortable.”
Echo tensed. Tony looked over at her and smiled warmly. He put his hands on the steering wheel. “Don’t worry,” he said. “We got this thing under—”
But before he could finish his sentence, the massive engine engaged, and the pod began to spin. Two point three seconds later, the pod was whizzing around and around the gigantic room at over four hundred miles per hour, and Tony and Echo began to black out.
CHAPTER 2
Tony felt himself beginning to black out. The pod was spinning impossibly fast. He tried to grab his steering wheel, but it yanked out of his grasp. He glanced over. “Echo?” he managed through gritted teeth. “You okay? I think you gotta turn your wheel when I turn mine.”
“Blurg,” Echo managed to say. “Guh,” she added, for clarity’s sake.
“Okay,” Tony sa
id as the pod whipped around the massive centrifuge. “We’re supposed to do what with this now?”
The light on the dashboard in front of Tony conveniently blinked blue.
“Okay,” Tony muttered. “Okay, so I press this and . . .”
Tony pressed the button and immediately wished that he hadn’t. The entire pod rotated upside down. Then it began to bounce.
“Dr. Rowan, this is not fun!” Tony heard himself shout.
“Just part of the test,” Rowan said through the intercom, with a low chuckle. “All you have to do is try to maintain your concentration. Focus.”
“Please . . . shut it down,” Echo mumbled.
“No!” Tony called as a surge of adrenaline shot through him. “We can do this. Echo, you with me?”
Echo managed a slight shake of her head. “Nope,” she said quietly. “Too much spinning.”
Tony looked at the control panel. Every light was blinking. Everything was spinning. He felt beyond dizzy.
“So we have to pilot . . . drive . . . steer this stupid pod. And it’s a two-person control system.” Tony eyed the steering wheels. There was no way he could operate both at the same time. That was the trick! That was why the test was so difficult. It took two people operating in perfect synchronicity. “So improvise,” Tony managed to say to himself.
With a quick twist, Tony yanked at his belt buckle. The leather belt came free under the heavy seat straps easily enough. Reaching over, Tony looped Echo’s steering wheel, twisting it in the process. Then he threaded the belt through a gap in his own steering wheel.
With a deft twist of his wrist, he pulled the belt tight and spun his wheel. Echo’s wheel spun in sync. Suddenly, the pod started to stabilize.
Echo struggled to speak. “What?” she mumbled. “You got it?”
“Not quite yet!” Tony shouted.
He noticed the buttons on both consoles were flashing in sequence. The sequence was the same on both consoles.
“Echo!” he yelled. “You need to hit the buttons.”
“Okay,” she said, still struggling. “Pressing red.”
“Now blue,” Tony yelled.
“And yellow,” Echo added.
“What are you doing?” David Rowan yelled through the intercom. “You aren’t supposed to be able to do that!”
“Green!” Tony and Echo both yelled, slamming the last button in the sequence at the same time.
A loud horn sounded in the distance, and the pod slowed to a halt. It opened with a hiss, and the security harness straps automatically released.
Dr. Rowan stormed down the stairs, sweat on his forehead.
“Cheaters!” the engineer yelled. “You cheated! There is no way you could have overcome the disabling effects. My machine is better than any driver!”
Ms. Nowhere followed closely behind. “Rowan! This is completely inappropriate!”
“But they had to have cheated!”
“I’m as surprised as you,” Nowhere interjected dryly. “But the test is a challenge of endurance and innovation. How they pass isn’t an issue.”
Dr. Rowan frowned. Tony and Echo were both out of the pod now, though neither was feeling particularly steady on their feet.
“But—” Rowan started.
“No,” Ms. Nowhere mused. “I found this very illuminating. David, put together a full report of the process they used to shut the machine down.”
The engineer threw one last look of anger at Tony, then stormed off.
“So, did we pass?” Tony asked Ms. Nowhere. “I mean, we did it! We took control of the thing and we passed, right?”
Ms. Nowhere tapped her foot. “I’m not unimpressed with your performance, Tony. Head to the debriefing chambers and we will discuss your results.”
“Awesome!” Tony said, smiling. “You hear that, Echo? We did great! Come on, let’s go chill.”
Tony headed for the door, with a wide smile on his face, but Ms. Nowhere reached out and placed a hand on Echo’s shoulder, stopping the young girl from following her friend.
“One moment, Echo,” Ms. Nowhere started to say.
“You don’t need to say it,” Echo murmured. “I know . . . I wasn’t good enough.”
And with that, Echo followed Tony out the door.
CHAPTER 3
“You see that?” a voice whispered. “They both responded so differently. Is that—”
“It’s within the predictive norms. The test’s reactions are always different, based on the individual. But the metrics of the results remain consistent.”
“You’re certain? This needs to be a fair assessment or it’s meaningless.”
“One hundred percent. If the reaction was identical, that would be a much larger concern. The nature of this . . .” The man speaking took a moment and adjusted a dial on a large computer console. In response, a series of lights fluctuated. Satisfied, he continued. “The point is, the story that unfolds for each subject is driven by the subconscious of the individual. Just wait, you’ll see.”
“And they are completely locked in their hypnotic states?”
“That’s what the pod really does. They think they’ve already completed the test, but they’ll keep spinning for as long as we need them to. They will see and feel everything as if they were somewhere else. And we can monitor that reaction.”
Ms. Nowhere nodded. “Okay, then, Dr. Rowan. Let’s continue.”
CHAPTER 4
Tony felt on top of the world. He had aced the test, apparently breaking all the records of endurance as he did so. Then he had gorged himself at the ice-cream bar, spent a couple of hours playing video games, and even read the newest issue of his favorite comic book, Gamma Blast Three. It was a pretty great day.
And then the power went out.
Which was a weird thing to happen in the lair of a government shadow operation.
Tony poked his head out of the rec room. It was quiet. Where had everyone gone? He tapped his spy watch. “Hey, Layla? Echo?” Nothing. Just static. “Ms. Nowhere?” he tried. Still nothing.
And then the static broke, and a deep voice hissed at him through his spy watch. “No one is here to help you, Tony. No way for you to cheat, either.”
Tony blinked. “Rowan? Dr. Rowan, right?” The lights flickered. The hallway of the facility was empty. “Hey, Dr. Rowan. What’s going on?”
At the end of the hallway, a monitor switched on, and it broadcast the very angry face of Dr. Rowan.
“That test was my life’s work. It was everything to me. I built a machine that was unbeatable.”
“I mean, you really didn’t,” Tony replied.
“You cheated! The test was supposed to be defeated by two people, working in tandem, as a team. You bypassed that with your little belt trick!”
The monitor started moving. Tony squinted. It was attached to . . .
“A robot?” Tony said, taking a step backward. “Is that a robot?”
“No, Tony Toretto,” Rowan said, his voice filled with menace. “It’s your doom.”
CHAPTER 5
Echo slammed on the pedal of her car as she sped toward the beach. The sleek electric hot rod hugged the road tightly, speeding around each corner with a smooth pull, even at a high speed. The g-force of the turns was nothing. She did this stuff every day! Why had it been so hard on the crazy, topsy-turvy pod? And why had it been so much easier for Tony?
Echo’s thoughts were derailed as another car—a heavy-looking muscle car polished to an almost mirrorlike state of perfection—roared past her. It was a modern classic style, a wide-framed beast of a car with a custom plate that read T0B1A5. Exactly the kind of distraction Echo needed.
Echo smiled to herself. This was going to be too easy. She angled her foot slightly, and with an electric whine, her car surged up next to the powerful-looking muscle car.
“Sweet ride!” the smiling youth yelled over the roar of his engine. “Up for a challenge?”
Echo almost laughed. Her car was a hyperfueled custom job engineered by the best mechanics working for Ms. Nowhere. Then she looked at the muscle car again. It had a semitransparent hood, with an array of spinning lights whirling underneath. The wheels had spinners, with another spinner built inside. Everything about the hot rod screamed custom job. Maybe it wouldn’t be such an easy race after all. Or maybe that was her lack of confidence, whispering in her ear.
“I guess you’re Tobias?” Echo said, based on his license plate.
“You got that right. And I’ve got more heat on this block than you’ve got in that toy you’re wheeling in.”
Echo let the electric engine of her car roar. “Okay, then, Tobias, let’s see what you got!”
The light turned green, and both cars screeched down the road, leaving streaks of black rubber behind them. The two cars sped down the unusually empty beachside highway.
The boy was a skilled driver; that much was obvious. And his car was impressive. But this shouldn’t have even been a contest. Echo had proven herself as a driver over and over—and not in some stupid pod test. She had raced real cars against real racers. Driving was an art form, and Echo was the artist.
A hairpin turn was approaching, and Echo’s car hugged the road as always, but she felt her foot easing up on the pedal. Her skin flushed with anxiety. “Weird,” she muttered to herself.
She still felt dizzy. The next thing she knew, everything went black. And her car began to spin . . . and spin . . . and spin . . .
CHAPTER 6
Tony narrowly dodged a laser beam from David Rowan’s killer robot. It was a clunky silver machine, with two arms and two legs, and a gigantic monitor strapped to its chest. On the monitor was the face of Dr. Rowan.