imperfect i-1

by Tina Chan

  He had cleaned up a bit since she last saw him. At least his plaid shirt didn’t have any mysterious stains on it this time. His hair, however, was as untamed as ever.

  “Stevey has visitors!” he slurred happily.

  He stumbled toward them in an alarming manner. Kristi suspected he had been drinking from his uncoordinated walk. Her suspicions were confirmed when he came closer and the odor of alcohol wafted off him.

  “We should probably sober him up a bit,” she said. “I highly doubt he’s in any condition to answer any questions we have for him.”

  Stevey tripped over a rock and stayed on the ground. He attempted to push himself up, but must have decided the effort was too much because he hazily looked at Kristi through bloodshot eyes.

  “Troop, can you help me carry Stevey inside his cabin?” Kristi asked.

  “Sure.”

  Troop grabbed Stevey from underneath one armpit and Kristi the other. Together, they half carried, half hauled Stevey inside. Meanwhile, Chelsa got a fire going in the fireplace and turned on the dim lights. Finn held the door open for Troop and Kristi dragging Stevey up the ramshackle stairs and onto the threadbare couch.

  “How much did you drink?” Kristi demanded.

  “Stevey didn’t drink,” he garbled.

  He had hardly finished his sentence when he spewed up some vomit. Luckily, Chelsa was prepared for this and had a bucket on hand. Stevey let out a groan and lay back down. Threads of spittle trailed down his cheeks.

  “Finn, can you go find if there’s a first aid kit somewhere? There might be some detoxification pills,” Chelsa said.

  “Onto it.”

  “You better hope Dr. Hanson isn’t watching this,” Kristi said, forgetting Stevey probably didn’t know there were cameras installed in his cabin for his own safety.

  Stevey let out a giggle, “Dr. Hanson doesn’t know. Dr. Hanson doesn’t know many things. You don’t know many things. Did you know cats sleep for two thirds of the day? Did you know 98% of your body’s atoms are replaced annually? Did you—” His stream of facts was cut off as he heaved up another bout of vomit.

  Kristi opened some of the windows to get rid of the revolting smell and tried to coax the ceiling fan to life in vain.

  “Found some detoxification pills,” Finn said, holdinga small white container.

  Troop took the container from Finn and read the label. “These expired last year. Do you think we should still use them?”

  “Normally, I would say no,” Chelsa said. “But I think we can make an exception in this case. We’re rather short on time and the faster Stevey flushes the alcohol out of his body the faster we can be on our way.”

  Troop unscrewed the cap and dumped a small, red pill into his palm and knelt down beside Stevey’s head. “Stevey, can you do us a favor and swallow this? You’ll feel much better later on if you do.”

  Stevey squinted at the detoxification pill. Then he threw up some more, causing Troop to jump back and Chelsa to leap forward with the bucket.

  “Promise Stevey will feel better?” he asked.

  “Promise,” Troop said. Then under his breath he mumbled, “Though you probably won’t feel so great when all that liquor is leaving your body at once.”

  “Give me the pill,” Stevey ordered. He held out his hand for the pill. Troop gave it to him and Stevey swallowed the pill dry.

  Within five minutes, Stevey was chucking up like heck. Stevey must’ve drunk a huge amount of alcohol at the rate he was retching. Finn managed to get the ancient fan working reluctantly; unfortunately, the fan did little to disperse the smell of puke. The smell turned Kristi’s stomach into a queasy mess and she feared she would start barfing herself if she didn’t get out of here soon.

  “Excuse me,” Kristi said, pushing past Chelsa and Troop. “I think I’ll go outside for some fresh air, if you don’t mind.”

  “Go on,” Troop said. “If anyone else wants to go outside, feel free to. I think I have this situation under control.”

  Ghost padded after Kristi outside. She could only imagine how awful the stench must have been for Ghost, whose nose was hundreds of times more sensitive than hers.

  The sky grew dark within minutes and Kristi had a feeling they wouldn’t be getting any answers from Stevey that day. The questions would have to wait until the next day. She set up the tent something she was proud she could now accomplish) and waited for everyone else to come out.

  Ten, fifteen, then twenty minutes passed and Kristi decided she was too tired to stay up any longer; before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

  chapter thirty-three

  [ Troop ]

  Some sort of creature snuffling outside the tent woke Troop up. He peeked outside and spotted a deer bounding out of sight. Kristi, Finn and Chelsa were still fast asleep; Ghost raised his head and met Troop’s eyes.

  “I won’t wake them up,” he whispered. Then he felt foolish for talking to a cat.

  Ghost twitched his whiskers and lay back down, deeming him unworthy of his attention. Troop crawled outside and started preparing some breakfast foods, waiting for the others to wake up. The smell of hot chocolate must’ve been pretty delicious since Finn and Chelsa emerged from the tent in a few minutes.

  “Kristi still sleeping?” Troop asked.

  “Yeah,” said Chelsa. “She’s so tired I wouldn’t be surprised if she slept through a devil-dog attack.”

  “I would not!” came Kristi’s voice from inside the tent.

  Troop grinned to himself, imagining her forehead creased with indignation.

  “How was Stevey doing after I left?” Kristi joined them outside, her hair slightly tousled and looking sleepy.

  “Better,” he said. “He purged heavily for a good fifteen minutes. We got him cleaned up a bit and left him sleeping on the couch.”

  The sound of a body falling onto a hard surface interrupted their conversation. Troop looked up in time to see Stevey picking himself up from the front steps of his cabin.

  “Good morning, Stevey,” Troop said.

  “Good morning,” Stevey replied, massaging his temples. “Stevey made a bad mistake yesterday.”

  “What did you think you were doing, polishing off seven bottles of beer?” Finn asked.

  “How did you know about Stevey’s secret?” Stevey’s eyes widened in surprise.

  “We found empty bottles near your cabin.”

  “Are you feeling better?” Chelsa asked.

  “Yes. Do you have food?”

  Chelsa handed Stevey a slice of bread and some hot chocolate. Stevey wolfed down the food and let out a belch. After draining the last dregs of hot chocolate, he asked, “Why are you here?” Stevey handed the empty cup back to Chelsa and scanned their faces. “I remember you and you,” he said, pointing to Chelsa and Kristi. “You guys are bad. You make Stevey say things Stevey cannot say.”

  Troop noticed Kristi cringe.

  She leaned over and whispered to him, “Stevey’s memory is better than I anticipated. Hopefully he won’t hold a grudge against Chelsa and me; however, if necessary Chelsa and I will leave if Stevey refuses to answer any questions in our presence.”

  “Stevey doesn’t know you and you.” Stevey pointed to Troop and Finn.

  They briefly introduced themselves to Stevey then got down to business.

  “So Stevey, I heard you’re very smart,” Finn said, trying to ease Stevey into a talkative mood.

  Stevey nodded enthusiastically. “Oh yes, Stevey knows tons! Did you know that a tarantula can survive without food for over a year? Did you know manatees have vocal chords that give them the ability to speak the human language? Did you know that elephants can’t jump? Did you know the last wild elephant died fourteen years ago?”

  They allowed Stevey to ramble on a bit more before attempting to steer him back on track to the list of questions they had in store for him.

  “You sure know a lot,” Kristi said.

  Stevey smugly nodded in agreement.

>   “I heard you were a scientist,” Troop said. “Is that true?”

  Once again, Stevey nodded. “Stevey was a scientist. Stevey was a brilliant scientist who discovered many things. Stevey was the first person to successfully create a touch recorder.”

  “What company did you work for?”

  “Stevey worked for Universal Science until the United Regions government recruited Stevey…” Stevey trailed off, lost in thought.

  “And?” Chelsa prompted him.

  “Stevey liked working for the government sponsored organization; there were always a lot of points to be spent on new machines. But later on, Stevey didn’t like working there anymore.”

  “Is there any reason why?” Finn asked. “What made you dislike your job?”

  “It was wrong,” Stevey said forcefully. “The government used science in a bad way. They wanted to improve things that shouldn’t be improved.”

  Troop furrowed his brows. “How is improving something bad?”

  Stevey pierced him with an intense stare. “The price outweighed the reward in Stevey’s job.”

  Troop felt like the answer they were looking for was so close he could snatch it out of thin air.

  “Did your job have any involvement with Accidents?” he gently asked, not wanting to bring up bad memories to Stevey.

  “My work was involved with many things.” Stevey abruptly stopped referring to himself in third person.

  “Look,” Kristi said. “We’re trying to solve a mystery my parents left behind. They suspect that the government has a darker motive for confiscating Accidents.”

  “Kyle and Shelly were on the right track.” Stevey picked at his fingernails.

  “So are you confirming what they suspected?”

  “Yes. However, if I were you, I would drop the case and try to live as normally as possible. If the government catches even the slightest whiff that you are looking into the disappearance of Accidents, your life will become miserable,” Stevey warned.

  “Thanks for the advice, but I feel like I can never rest at ease without completing the cases my parents left behind for me.”

  Stevey shrugged. “Do what you want, but don’t blame me for the consequences.”

  “Do you know why the government is abolishing the Accidents?” Finn asked.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Chelsa said. “The government doesn’t want a bunch of genetically inferior kids corrupting the Perfect kids.”

  “Fair enough,” Finn replied. “But what does the government do to the Accidents then? Surely they don’t kill them…do they?”

  “No, the government doesn’t kill the Accidents,” Stevey said.

  “Then what do they do with them?”

  Stevey didn’t reply right away. When he spoke again, his tone was of a child’s. “Stevey is tired. Stevey is going to take a nap.”

  Bi-polar personality much? Troop thought, watching Stevey drop the empty thermos onto the ground and stagger towards his shack.

  “Perhaps we should go.” Chelsa dusted some dirt off her pants.

  “Alright,” Troop said. “But I want to ask Stevey one more question. I have a feeling something important happened at the last lab Stevey worked at.”

  He left the others collapsing the tent and extinguishing the fire.

  “Stevey!” Troop called out to the man’s back.

  Stevey paused at the doorway. “Yeah?”

  “What was the last place you worked at?”

  “New Genes Lab. Now can Stevey take a nap?”

  “Yeah, sure. Thanks.”

  Troop helped clean up their mess and looked up New Genes Lab on his electro-slate; it was located in Klisbury, East Region, which wasn’t too far away from here. If they could catch an air-train to Klisbury, they would be able to find the lab today. He voiced this idea out loud.

  “How much are the train tickets though?” Chelsa said.

  “A bit over forty points per person. We have enough points to purchase tickets for everyone, but there is considerable risk for using the public transportation.”

  “I’ll run the risk,” Kristi said. “Is everyone okay with that?” No one answered. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She proceeded to buy tickets via her electro-slate.

  Troop wondered if he would regret suggesting that they take the air-train.

  chapter thirty-four

  [ Kristi ]

  Chelsa’s electro-slate announced she had an instafication. They were on the air-train bound for Klisbury. Their segment of the train was unoccupied, save Chelsa, Troop, Finn, Ghost and Kristi.

  Chelsa let out a groan as she read her instafication. “It’s Zala. She wants another update. She also says that if I don’t turn over you guys to her people within three days, the government will start an aggressive search.”

  “If everything goes according to plan, all of this will be over in three days,” Troop said.

  “What are you referring to when you say ‘all of this’?” Finn asked, tickling Ghost with the end of one of his crutches.

  “Completing the case and hopefully falling off the government’s radar.”

  Kristi barely concealed her sound of amusement with a cough. “Do you seriously believe we will finish both the Disappearance Case and Individualism Case in three days?”

  “Miracles do happen,” Troop said.

  “And pigs fly.”

  There was a soft knock on the compartment window. Someone slid open the door and poked her head inside.

  “Do you mind if my fiancé and I sit here?” the woman asked. “The other compartments are either full or too noisy for me.”

  “Sure.” Troop gestured to the seven empty seats left.

  “Thanks.”

  The woman, who looked to be in her late twenties scooted into the seat across from Kristi; a man followed her. Both of them took out an electro-slate and started typing away.

  The woman’s toes tapped in time to the music that was being softly played over the speakers. Kristi guessed they were college graduates from the looks of their age and dress.

  “The guy looks vaguely familiar,” Troop whispered into her ear. His breath tickled the nape of her neck, provoking goose bumps.

  “Where do you think you’ve seen him before?”

  “I don’t know. Give me a second and I’ll think of it.”

  Finn overheard heard them whispering and offered his thoughts. “Maybe he’s a member of the Revealers and you saw him at Verus Real Estate.”

  “Maybe,” Troop said.

  Kristi pulled away from Troop and studied the man. The guy did seem old enough to hold a job as an assistant at Verus Real Estate. He had dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes and a quirk to his mouth as if he was skeptical of everything. The guy lifted his head up and Kristi hastily looked away, not wanting to appear like a creeper.

  She leaned her head against the window and watched the outside world fly by. The countryside gave way to small towns, which gave way to cities. At long last, the air-train slowed down and eventually pulled into a station with a smooth halt.

  “All passengers bound for Klisbury should depart now,” an automated voice announced through the speakers located in the train compartment.

  They got off the train, keeping their heads down and struggling not to get separated from each other while being swept along with the crowd getting off the air train. Klisbury reminded Kristi of her hometown; it was smaller than Oppidum, but still a respectable sized city.

  “What do you say we do next?” Finn asked.

  “Dr. Hanson sent me a list of Revealer addresses in Klisbury,” Kristi said. “I think we should first find a safe house. He recommended staying at the Filches while we’re here.”

  They emerged out of the train station and regrouped themselves. The crowd thinned out once outside and they were able to find a secluded spot to talk without being overheard by any curious ears.

  “Who are the Filches?” Chelsa asked.

  “A couple that lives only ten blocks from the tra
in-station. They have been part of the Revealers for over ten years and have offered to let us stay at their place while we’re in Klisbury,” Kristi said, remembering the information Dr. Hanson had sent her while she was on the train.

  “The Filches.” Troop obtained a thoughtful expression. “That name sounds recognizable. I believe they’re a pair of talented hackers that often help my mom get undisclosed information for her cases.”

  “We’ll probably find their talents handy then,” Finn said. “Let’s start walking.”

  The Filches lived at a modest brick apartment in an older section of Klisbury. The building seemed weatherworn and tired, but overall had a neat appearance. Jane Filch welcomed her last minute visitors without even batting an eye to the leopard that accompanied them.

  The room they were in upon entering the Filches’ home was comfortably furnished with two sofas, a plush rug and a couple cots folded up in the corner. It seemed so normal for two supposedly rebel hackers. There were no walls covered with monitors or desks buried beneath mountains of electronic hardware; there were no visible sensors or cameras.

  “Thanks for taking us in,” Finn said.

  “No problem. My husband, Nick, will be back soon. He has to wrap up some work at his office,” Jane said.

  “Is there anything we should know?” Chelsa asked.

  “Not much except curfew at Klisbury is nine in the evening to five in the morning sharp. If you need anything, just let me know.”

  It was a bit before six, so there was a decent amount of time to spend.

  “I’m going to take a look at New Genes Lab,” Kristi said. “Does anyone want to come?”

  “I will.” Troop stood up. “It’ll be good to take a look at the lab before breaking in. When do we plan on entering the lab anyways?”

  “The sooner the better. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow.”

  “I think only Troop and you should go scout out the lab,” Chelsa said. “The more people you have the more attention you’re going to attract.”

  Jane, who had left the room moments ago, stuck her head back in.

  “Sorry, but I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation. If you’re planning on breaking into New Genes Lab, you might find these handy.” She held out two small containers filled with a liquid. “They’re contact-cams. Newly developed Revealer gadgets that allow you to secretly video tape everything you see.”