by Tina Chan
“Are you kids lost?” a bellhop asked with an air of aloofness. “Perhaps you arrived at the wrong address. The Regional Inn is across the street from the Rex Hotel. Oh, and we only allow domestic droid-animals inside the hotel,” he added, spotting Ghost by Chelsa’s heels.
It is a sad thing when a bellhop is better dressed than you at the hotel you are staying at, thought Kristi.
“No, we’re at the right address,” Chelsa replied. “And I’ll assure you my leopard is very well behaved.”
The bellhop sniffed and said, “Very well.” He spun on his heels and click-clacked away.
“Chelsa, why in the world did you reserve us a room at the Rex Hotel?” Kristi asked. “We’re not going to be able to pay for it. There’s less than one hundred points on your account.”
“I didn’t make the reservations,” she said.
“Then who did?”
Chelsa shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that there was an instafication sent to my electro-slate asking me to confirm our stay at the Rex Hotel. Everything has already been paid for.”
“Doesn’t that seem a bit suspicious?” said Kristi. “We might be walking straight into a trap.”
“There’s not much of a choice left,” Chelsa replied. “Curfew’s already in act and we can’t leave this place now. Might as well spend the night here.”
“Yeah, but don’t you think we should at least make a reservation for a different room in case the reservation that someone else gave us is a trap?”
“Like you said before, we don’t have enough points for a room here.”
“You should’ve thought about this before telling Jaiden and me to meet you here.” Kristi felt annoyed Chelsa hadn’t thought through the risks of accepting a stay at a first-class hotel from a stranger. Her jaw tightened slightly and her back stiffened.
Chelsa started to form a reply. “Kristi—”
“Stop arguing,” Jaiden interjected. “Chelsa, I would really appreciate it if you told Kristi and I if something like this happens again in the future. Kristi, Chelsa’s right; we’re just going to have to stay here for the night and hope everything’s going to go smoothly.”
The girls shut up and followed Jaiden to the reception desk. A steward fiddling with his ruby studded watch looked at them apprehensively as they made their way over. He, like most of the other people in the hotel’s grand lobby, seemed less than pleased to have a rag-tag trio of teenagers tramping around in a world-class hotel.
“How may I help you?” The steward’s nose wrinkled, reminding Kristi of Speaker Quincy when he spoke to her. The steward also had the same condescending tone as the bellhop.
“We need a room here for the night,” Jaiden said.
“You do realize the cheapest rooms at the Rex Hotel cost four hundred and seventy-five points, right?” the steward said.
“Oh, we already have reservations,” Chelsa said.
“Reservation number?”
“1047.”
“Name?”
“Chelsa Bright.”
The steward opened a drawer and took out a laminated card.
“This card has all the information you need for hotel services. It also doubles as a key to your suite. There are two ways you can unlock the door to your suite: by sliding this card through the card reader or by scanning the barcode sent to you via instafication for the room confirmation. There’s a one hundred point fine for losing this card.” He handed the card to Chelsa.
“Friendly people, eh?” Jaiden commented, walking away from the steward.
“I’m sure we’ll be treated better once we’ve cleaned up a bit,” Chelsa said.
“Assuming we’re not walking into a deathtrap,” Kristi muttered.
“Just drop it!” Jaiden threw his hands up in exasperation. “If we’re walking into a trap, then at least we’re not completely oblivious to it. If there is no trap, then so be it.”
Kristi realized she wasn’t making things easier by arguing and tersely apologized to Chelsa. “I guess I’m just stressed out.”
“I think we all are,” Jaiden huffed to himself.
“We’re on floor twelve,” Chelsa said. “Let’s go find the elevator. Here, why don’t you hold onto the card?” She passed the room card to Kristi.
The electric-magnet-powered elevators were located at the back of the lobby. Kristi slid the card through the card reader and the elevator door hissed open, revealing the largest elevator she had ever seen. It could easily hold fifty people. The marble floor glistened and the window that looked out to the streets of Charleston was so clear she could’ve sworn the back of the elevator was open; Kristi wouldn’t have been surprised if she walked right through the window and into thin air.
The pulsing light of the city threw neon colored beams onto her awe-struck face. Kristi’s eyes enlarged at the spectacular cityscape before her.
“Please enter desired floor into keypad,” an automated voice instructed.
Jaiden entered “12” into the keypad and the elevator ascended so swiftly and smoothly Kristi would not have known they left the ground floor had the voice not announced “Floor 12.” The doors slid open with a soft sigh and the three of them stepped into a wide hallway carpeted with plush velvet.
“Well, we’re still alive,” Jaiden said a few hours later. “And there doesn’t seem to be a trap.”
“I suppose,” Kristi said.
She was in a good mood after exploring their suite. It was the most luxurious suite that existed on the face of the Earth. It was comprised of a kitchen, a living room, four separate bedrooms (each equally and excessively furnished) and two master bathrooms. All the furniture and technology offered were state-of-the-art quality.
“I wonder who made this reservation for us. He or she must be very well off points-wise,” Kristi said.
“Let’s not worry about that.” Chelsa kicked her legs back on the couch. “And just enjoy this stroke of luck.”
“What should we do? Watch the news? Play a card game? Visit the bowling alley? Try out room service?” Jaiden ticked off each activity with his fingers.
“How about we watch a movie?” Chelsa suggested.
“You brought a movie?”
Chelsa grinned slyly. “I have a couple of illegal DVDs I like to keep around all the time. Have you heard of the Titanic?”
“Isn’t that a ship that sank on April 14, 1912?”
“Yes it is, Mr. Know-it-all,” Chelsa teased him.
Jaiden put up his hands in mock defeat. “I can’t help it if I memorize everything I learn in school.”
“What you probably don’t know,” Chelsa said, “is that the ‘Titanic’ is also a movie.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“Duh. That’s because the government banned it.”
Chelsa walked over to her backpack slung haphazardly over a kitchen chair—it was the bag Jaiden had managed to save from their bandit encounter—and took out a DVD case. She flourished the DVD and said, “Prepare to be wowed by this film. It’s amazing. I swear, you haven’t lived yet if you haven’t watched this.”
Kristi wrapped a fleece blanket around her shoulders and settled into the couch in front of the smart-screen. “That’s one of the few things I’ve done before you have,” she said with a slight smirk.
Chelsa slid the DVD into the player and dimmed the lights.
“Are you sure this is the right address?” Kristi asked.
They stood in front of an imposing skyscraper made out of steel and fiberglass. All of the windows were tinted black and a plaque that read “Verus Real Estate” hung over the revolving door entrance.
“This is the place,” Jaiden confirmed. “Let’s go inside. No point in standing out here.”
Maybe the interior will look more like what I would expect of a spy headquarters, she thought.
The three of them, plus Ghost, entered through the main entrance. Contrary to Kristi’s prediction, the inside of Verus Real Estate looked like the t
ypical real estate office. Staff in pressed suits bustled about, sorting files, sending instafications or negotiating deals with potential customers.
“Let’s go ask the receptionist for more information,” Kristi said.
They approached the least busy receptionist. The young woman in her mid-twenties looked up from the electro-note she was writing and said, “Yes?”
“Is this the headquarters?” Kristi asked, cutting straight to the chase.
“Yes, this is the headquarters for Verus Real Estate. Are you interested in selling, buying or leasing real estate?”
“The other headquarters. You know what I’m talking about.”
The receptionist frowned a bit. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Kristi didn’t believe her. The receptionist had paused a second and glanced to her right before replying, which usually indicated the person was lying.
“Maybe Dr. Hanson gave us a fake address,” Jaiden whispered into her ear.
She ignored him and pressed on. “We have important information the Revealers might be interested in.”
The receptionist looked taken a-back for a millisecond before dismissing the notion that three teenagers could possibly have any useful information.
“I’m going to have to ask you three to leave if you are not here for real estate related business.”
Kristi let out a frustrated sigh just as a woman with black hair neatly pulled into a bun caught her eyes. Maybe she could help us. The woman glanced over and made a sign telling her not to leave.
“I think I’m who you’re looking for,” the woman said from across the room.
Could this woman possibly be Tiffany?
The woman approached them.
“Sorry, I was just about to send these kids out,” the receptionist apologized to the black haired woman. “I can deal with them; I know you’re always busy with your work.”
The woman waved away the receptionist’s words and said, “It’s alright. I’m sure these kids have traveled far to come here.” She turned to them and said, “Why don’t you follow me to my office? I’m sure you have a lot of questions and in retrospect, I have a lot of questions for you as well.”
“Who are you?” Chelsa asked.
“I’m Tiffany, of course. Let’s take the elevator to my office, unless you feel like climbing sixty-seven flights of stairs. Beautiful leopard, by the way.”
Ghost purred in satisfaction.
Tiffany looked to be in her mid-thirties; however, appearances are often misleading with Perfects. There was always the possibility that scientists had tweaked with her aging genes to slow the formation of wrinkles.
The elevator dinged and opened up into a large office. The office had a wide window showing a picturesque view of Charleston. Despite the fact that there must’ve been over twenty electro-slates and computers on the five desks in the office, it was a very organized room. By the window was a coffee table with five chairs encircling it.
“Take a seat,” Tiffany said. “Drinks? I have juice, soda, water, coffee and tea.”
“No, thanks,” Kristi said.
Jaiden and Chelsa also declined a drink.
Tiffany got herself a bottle of mineral water and sat down in the chair across from them. “I assume you enjoyed your stay at the Rex Hotel?”
“It was you who made the reservation?” Chelsa said.
“Actually, it was Dr. Hanson who made your reservation. I am going to guess that you’re Kristi.” Tiffany shook her hand. “And you’re Chelsa.” She extended her slender hand towards Chelsa. “And you’re Jaiden.” Jaiden nodded.
“How did you know who we were when you saw us downstairs?” he asked.
“Dr. Hanson informed me of your arrival and provided me with pictures of all three of you. Not that I wouldn’t be able to recognize Chelsa and Kristi without the pictures Dr. Hanson gave me, despite the fact the last time I saw them was thirteen years ago.”
“Is it just me, or is this a bit confusing?” Jaiden looked around to Kristi and Chelsa.
“I suppose I should explain everything from the beginning,” Tiffany said. “Do you remember Stevey?”
“He’s kind of hard to forget,” Kristi said.
“Stevey used to work for the Revealers. He worked undercover at one of the government-funded labs for several years and provided us with invaluable information. However, a few days after a major promotion at the lab, Stevey began to go, ah, mentally unbalanced.”
“Why?”
Tiffany lowered her voice a notch, “We’re not sure. Ever since, it has become extremely difficult to communicate with him. However, we think that Stevey’s delirium is related to something that happened at the labs.” She raised her voice back to normal volume and continued on, “Dr. Hanson is Stevey’s caretaker. He checks on Stevey once a week to make sure Stevey has enough food, water and such. Well, he naturally became suspicious when Stevey started rambling on about three visitors with a leopard that seemed very interested in information about the Revealers. As a result, Dr. Hanson checked the tapes from the cameras at Stevey’s cabin to see who exactly the visitors were.”
“You have cameras installed at Stevey’s house?” Chelsa interrupted.
“To make sure Stevey doesn’t accidentally set his house on fire,” Tiffany said. “Anyways, after concluding that Stevey’s visitors were indeed who he suspected they were, Dr. Hanson sent me an instafication letting me know that you guys were searching for the Revealers’ headquarters.”
“And then Dr. Hanson recognized us at Country Inn and left us with this address,” Kristi finished.
Tiffany nodded. “Exactly. Dr. Hanson knew you were coming to Charleston, so he set up reservations at the Rex Hotel and sent me an instafication today when he spotted you three entering Verus Real Estate.”
“But what I don’t understand is why Maria and Don sent me to find you guys.”
“Do you mean Shelly and Kyle?” Tiffany asked.
Kristi then remembered her adoptive parents’ real names were Shelly and Kyle. “Yeah.”
“It’s because they left this behind for you.” Tiffany stood up and walked over to one of her desks. She entered a password to the padlock locking a drawer, then returned to them holding an electro-slate.
“They sent us halfway across the country for an electro-slate?” Jaiden sputtered.
“I think it’s much more than an ordinary electro-slate,” Tiffany said.
“You think?”
“Nobody except for Shelly and Kyle know what’s inside this slate.”
“Speaking of Shelly and Kyle, how did the trial go?” Kristi asked.
The sorrowful look Tiffany gave answered her question. They were dead.
Although Kristi hadn’t felt very close to Don and Maria—no, Kyle and Shelly—she couldn’t help but grieve at their deaths. After all, they had housed, clothed and fed her for thirteen years. She blinked back the tears threatening to trickle out.
Even Jaiden, who claimed he would never forgive his parents for not telling him they were spies, seemed a bit misty-eyed.
“Didn’t anyone try to crack open the electro-slate to view its content?” Kristi asked, changing the topic.
“Kyle and Shelly placed a lock on the slate. Go ahead, try to unlock the slate if you want,” Tiffany said.
Kristi powered on the slate and swiped her finger across the screen to unlock it. A message popped up:
Access Denied. Fingerprints of the Naturals required.
“Who are the Naturals?” Kristi asked.
“As you may or may not know, one of my jobs was related to Shelly and Kyle’s case. I was in charge of ensuring four chosen Accidents would survive. The government is very effective in making sure Accidents disappear,” said Tiffany.
“Why do you need four Accidents to survive?” Jaiden asked. “It seems kind of irrelevant, though I do appreciate you for making sure Chelsa and Kristi didn’t mysteriously vanish after birth.”
“I can’
t answer that question because even I don’t know the answer. All I know is that Shelly and Kyle requested there to be four Accidents, also known as the Naturals, in order to complete their assigned cases. I’m sure all of your questions will be answered once you unlock the electro-slate they left behind.”
“Do you have the address of the other two Naturals?” Chelsa asked.
“No—”
“Great,” Jaiden said. “We get to go on another wild goose chase across the country.”
“What I was going to say,” Tiffany said, “before Jaiden interrupted, was that I have the address to only one of the other Naturals. To be more specific, he’s my son.”
“Who’s your son?” Chelsa asked.
“My son is one of the Naturals,” Tiffany said. “And he happens to be in Charleston right now.” She checked her watch. “He’s still in school, but should be out in four hours or so. His name is Troop.”
“So that means once we find Troop, all we have to do is find the last Natural who is somewhere in the South Region,” Kristi said. “Then we can unlock this electro-slate and find out why the four of us were needed to survive.”
Tiffany nodded.
“Why don’t you have the address of all the Naturals if it is your responsibility to ensure their safety?” Jaiden said.
“I was keeping close tabs on them. However, funds got tight and all the members of the Revealers had to work double. It wasn’t until three years ago when the Revealers were financially more stable was I given the chance to check up on the four Naturals. Unfortunately, by that time I had lost contact with Kristi, Chelsa and Finn’s family. Finn’s the name of the fourth Natural, in case you’re wondering.”
“Do you remember the last address where Finn lived at?” Chelsa asked.
“He has probably changed addresses during the twelve years I lost contact with him,” Tiffany said. “But, I do have the name of the town where he last lived in. It’s Oppidum.”
Chelsa typed “Oppidum” into her electro-slate. “Is there any other information you can provide us about the whereabouts of Troop and Finn?”
“Troop goes to Ludus High School, which is about ten blocks from here. Regrettably, I don’t have any more information about the location of Finn.” Tiffany exhaled and took a sip from her water.