by Lisa McMann
“What?” Charlie cried. “Where is he?”
“A last-minute camping trip up north with Juan. They’re going up to Flagstaff to get out of the heat and do some hiking.”
“That’s cool, I guess,” said Charlie, but she was disappointed. She actually missed her annoying younger brother. It was a strange feeling. “I’m going to stash my junk and then I’ll tell you all about our trip.”
“Great. How does pasta for dinner sound?”
“Amazing,” said Charlie. “I’m starving.”
“I was about to make a huge pot of it anyway for the lab crew.”
“Oh good—I wanted to talk to them too. If we all eat together I only have to tell the story once.” Charlie grabbed her bag and raced up the stairs, with Jessie pounding up the steps alongside her. It was almost like the dog didn’t want to let Charlie out of her sight again.
Charlie put her dirty clothes in the laundry bin and got cleaned up for dinner, her stomach growling. They’d stopped for lunch on the way home, but maybe Mom was right about Charlie growing—because she was hungry enough to eat her own fist right now. She paused on that thought. If she ate her fist, would her starfish ability make it grow back? She laughed and decided not to tell Mac she’d considered it, even jokingly, because he’d probably beg her to go through with it.
At dinner Charlie was the focus of the rapt attention of five doctors. She filled them in on the strange incident at SeaWorld with the soldiers in the jellyfish aquarium and what they’d heard about the girl in the shark tank, explaining that Gray and his team were probably trying to gather DNA.
“From what we overheard,” Charlie told them, “I don’t think either of the attempts were successful at SeaWorld. And I don’t know if any of them will be able to go back inside that park now, especially if they’re wearing the bodysuits, after what happened two days in a row. Security will stop them for sure.”
Dr. Quinn Sharma tapped her forefinger against her lips. “Shark?” she mused. “And jellyfish? Interesting. Sharp teeth and more poison, like that rattlesnake-wolf soldier—what was his name again?”
“Fang,” said Dr. Jakande.
“Right,” said Dr. Sharma. “Do you think those kinds of abilities are what Gray is after?”
“Could be,” said Dr. Goldstein. He sat slightly bent in his chair, for he was still not completely well after his traumatic ordeal, having been captured by Dr. Gray’s soldiers and starved and mistreated for more than a month. “Should we be concerned that they are water animals?”
Charlie’s dad lifted his gaze. “What do you mean, Jack?”
“I’m just not sure what those choices of animals indicate. The machine he forced us to create wasn’t meant for water distribution.”
“Maybe it was totally destroyed in the fight and he had to change methods,” said Mr. Wilde, though he appeared dubious. “But I don’t think it necessarily means anything. I chose a starfish for its healing ability. The fact that the starfish is found in water didn’t factor in. Dr. Gray might be at SeaWorld, but that doesn’t mean he’s investing in water-related abilities, per se.”
“Kelly has all water animal abilities too,” Charlie reminded them.
Dr. Sharma nodded. “But she can use two of the three on land.”
“Right,” said Mr. Wilde. “And like Quinn said, what comes to mind with a shark is its teeth, and a jellyfish, its poisonous sting.”
“Even Morph’s crab claw is something Victor chose because of its incredible punching ability,” said Dr. Jakande. “Not because he wanted a water compatible hybrid.”
“Excellent points, everyone,” said Jack. “You’re right. I’m overthinking things.”
Mrs. Wilde tapped her lips. “It’s interesting getting this peek into what they might have been up to all this time. I’ll let Erica know that they seem to be stationed in San Diego. Maybe she can start fresh tracking them down.” She pulled out her phone and started texting.
Dr. Sharma remained thoughtful but quiet. Then she turned to Nubia. “This discussion gives me an idea. You haven’t decided on a second wereanimal for Maria yet, have you?”
Charlie sat up, wondering if Maria would have a chance to suggest animals for herself.
“Not yet,” said Dr. Jakande. “I’ll be diving into that soon. Fixing the Mark Two and trying to figure out my own personal DNA reversal situation has put me behind schedule, I’m afraid. But our other enhancements are built and should soon be ready to be installed in the devices—the GPS and emergency features. Erica’s still finalizing things with that.”
“Excellent progress. And you, Jack?” asked Dr. Sharma.
“I’ve got some ideas, but I’m still open to suggestions.” Dr. Goldstein glanced at Charlie. “Have you spoken to Maria and Mac?”
Dr. Wilde looked at Charlie too. “Yes—have you and your friends come up with anything, Charlie? I meant what I said about wanting your input before I decide on your ability.”
Charlie felt her face grow warm. “We spent some time talking at the zoos and aquariums,” she hedged. It felt odd to be included in such important considerations, and she was suddenly shy to tell them about the specific animals they discussed—what if the scientists thought they were bad ideas?
“We’d love your thoughts,” said Dr. Jakande, turning to Charlie. “All of you kids. It would be nice to have a bit of help there so I can focus on the other pressing matters. We still have a lot to do.”
“Same here,” said Dr. Goldstein. “I’ve been rebuilding the graphics for the Mark Three since that never got finished the first time around. I’m ready to install it, but I haven’t had much time to spend researching animals.”
Charlie grew a bit more confident. “We’d love to help if you really think we can. We’re meeting up tomorrow, and”—she grinned, slightly embarrassed—“okay, to be totally honest, we did a lot of research when we were out there.”
“Good!” said Dr. Sharma. “After all, you’ll be the ones using the abilities. They should be ones that speak to you. Ones you feel comfortable with.”
“I agree,” said Dr. Goldstein. “I want to hear from Mac before I make any decisions. You can tell him I said so.”
Dr. Jakande and Dr. Wilde nodded.
“I will.” Charlie’s heart soared. She could hardly wait to tell the others.
While the scientists chatted about scientific formulas, Charlie finished eating, then texted Maria and Mac: “Be here tomorrow morning as early as you can. The scientists said we can definitely help pick our new abilities … They want our expert advice!”
CHAPTER 8
Decisions, Decisions
Maria and Mac showed up the next morning armed with phones and tablets. “My stepdad said I could borrow his iPad for the day,” Maria announced, holding it up. “First time! I think he missed me while I was away because he was being super nice.”
“Sweet,” said Charlie. “And I have my laptop. We can do some more research this morning. The docs want to see us later this afternoon to update us on the bracelets and talk about the upgrades. Ms. Sabbith flew in late last night with some materials. Oh, and Dr. G. is ready to install some of the new safety and communication stuff in your device, Mac. He asked if you could bring it to him in the lab-den so he can get right to work.”
“Cool,” said Mac. He typed in the code and sprung the latch on his Mark Three, then disappeared down the hallway.
“Meet us in my room,” Charlie called after him. She and Maria went upstairs to Charlie’s bedroom. Charlie swiftly straightened the bedcovers. She grabbed her laptop from the side table and hopped on the bed. Maria climbed up too. A moment later Mac came in and pulled Charlie’s desk chair over. He tossed his shoes off and used the bed as a footstool.
“Okay,” said Charlie, excited to get started. “First question: Mac, do you think we even need to search for new options for you?”
“Why wouldn’t we?” Mac seemed offended by the thought.
“Well, I just mean you’ve sor
t of already found a good one, right?”
Mac squinted. “You mean that basilisk lizard?”
“Exactly. It seems perfect for you. You love it. You know everything about it. And it can even freaking run on water, which is a very useful feature that nobody else has. What’s not to love about that?”
“Okay, yeah,” said Mac thoughtfully. “But what if Dr. Goldstein thinks it’s … I don’t know. Not tough enough. What if there’s something better? We should at least spend a little more time looking. Just in case. We want the best thing, right?”
Charlie and Maria knew full well that Mac just loved researching animal facts. They also knew that the basilisk lizard was perfect for him and could be a great alternative armor for his device. But they looked at one another and shrugged. “Sure,” Charlie said. “But let’s start with Maria, since we don’t have any ideas for her yet. Remember, we need to hurry. Now that we know Dr. Gray and the soldiers are out there gathering DNA samples as we speak, every day means he’s closer to ruining the world.”
“And the scientists are finishing up all the other modifications to the bracelets,” Maria added, “so they’ll be ready to get going on this pretty soon.”
“All right,” said Mac amicably. He thought for a minute and said sheepishly, “I really do love the basilisk.”
“We know,” said the girls together.
Charlie grinned at Mac. “Okay, let’s try to come up with some options. Then the scientists can decide if any of them will work. We don’t need final choices today.”
The other two nodded and went through the notes they’d taken from their trip. Nothing stood out. Then Mac went to his default Google search: “cool animal abilities.” He looked up and studied Maria. “So, I’m guessing since Maria’s bracelet causes her to physically change, she can only do one animal at a time. Same with mine, I’ll bet.”
“What do you mean?” asked Maria.
“Well, you can’t be two animals at once, can you? Or that could look … really weird, and the features might not work together.”
Maria frowned, as though he were insulting her, but then she tapped her chin. “I guess you’re right. So would I have to choose which animal based on what the situation is?”
“I don’t know,” said Charlie. “I hadn’t thought of that but it makes sense.”
Maria nodded. “We’ll ask Dr. Jakande later. Meanwhile, what would be a good animal that would go well with my howler monkey?”
“How about … ,” Mac began, thinking hard. Then he snorted. “A sea monkey?”
“You want me to turn into fish food?” Maria said. She threw a pillow at him, hitting him in the face. “Sure, and then I’d get eaten and you’d never see me again. Is that what you want?”
Mac pretended to consider it. “Could I still visit your family and eat their food and use the Wi-Fi?”
Maria threw a second pillow. This time Mac ducked.
Charlie stopped them. “Something that doesn’t make loud howling noises would be great,” she suggested. “No howler polar bears.”
Mac turned to Charlie, eyes wide. “Is that a thing?” he asked softly.
Charlie lifted her eyebrows mysteriously. “Look it up.”
He did. A second later he flashed Charlie a disgusted look. “It’s not a thing.”
Maria tapped her fingers on the frame of her tablet. “I know we talked about having a completely different creature from the pangolin for Mac’s second animal. And we talked about that for me, too. But our devices don’t really work the same way. I mean Mac’s body doesn’t physically change like mine does. So I’m wondering if maybe I’d want to have something closer to what I already have to make the transition easier. Like a different type of monkey. Would that make sense?”
“The changes to your body might be similar,” Mac mused. “Is that something that matters to you?”
Maria typed into her tablet. “I don’t really mind looking different anymore, as long as it’s not too weird, if that’s what you mean.”
“I meant it could be hard morphing from one animal to another if it changes your body a lot,” said Mac. He went back to studying the page he’d pulled up.
“Oh. Yeah, I guess that’s a factor. But maybe Dr. Jakande can, like, control that a little bit?” Maria typed “kinds of monkeys” into her iPad and clicked on a few entries, then stopped. “What is this … this water monkey?” She read further, her mouth agape. Then her face fell. “I don’t think it’s real. Definitely not the same as a sea monkey. A water monkey is some sort of Chinese mythological thing.” She kept reading. “Dang, though,” she muttered. “This thing totally gets who I am. All of these characteristics are, like, me.”
“Maria,” said Charlie with an edge to her voice.
“All right, all right,” said Maria. “I’m focusing. But this would be really cool, is all I’m saying.”
Charlie leaned over. “I’d stay away from any full-on water animal,” she remarked. “Mythical or not.”
Mac looked up. “Better check with Ms. Sabbith to see if mythical DNA is readily available,” he added drily. Then he tilted his head thoughtfully. “Why would you want a sea creature anyway? You probably wouldn’t be able to use it on land, you know.”
Charlie rolled her eyes. “That’s practically what I just said.”
“I didn’t hear you. I was checking out the polar bears.” He looked at Maria. “I’m just not feeling multiple monkey types for you, Maria.”
“Not enough variety,” Charlie agreed.
Maria frowned. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Maybe something a little more ferocious.”
“Well,” said Mac. “What features do you want? Poison? Spikes? Sharp teeth or anything like that?”
Maria shrugged. “I haven’t really thought about that yet.” She paused, then said apologetically, “I just really like being able to outsmart someone and use my monkey limbs and tail to smack them in the face if I have to. But I guess I should have some sort of alternate power move.”
The three of them considered animals. After a moment Mac lifted his head. “What about that crab-claw woman—what was that all about? She could punch the stuffing out of somebody with that thing.”
“And a crab can move fast if it needs to, right?” said Charlie. “They seem pretty smart and sneaky.”
“I don’t know.” Maria looked unimpressed. “What kind of crab?”
“A ghost crab can move pretty fast,” Mac said. He looked it up and read a few things about it out loud. Then he stopped. “Nope,” he said. “It doesn’t have a supercool claw. Besides, you can already move pretty fast.”
“That’s kind of a relief,” said Maria. “I would worry about those bug-out eyes happening to me. That might be a little too weird.”
“True,” said Charlie. Something on her laptop screen caught her eye. “Wait,” she said, clicking on a link. “What about this arowana fish? It’s a real thing. Unlike the water monkey.”
“A fish?” said Maria, wrinkling up her nose. “I thought we agreed no full water animals.”
“Yeah, but this one can jump out of the water and catch bugs.”
“O-kaaay, gross. And boring.”
“But it’s really flexible. Check out the tail. I bet you could slap somebody with it.”
Maria perked up a little, so Charlie played a short video that showed the fish jumping high out of the water and grabbing a spider from a tree branch. “You’d be able to swim. And jump. And slap people.”
“Ooh,” said Maria.
“Hey,” Mac said sharply. “Remember what we just talked about five seconds ago? The limitative water principal?”
Charlie smirked. “Right. The ol’ LWP.”
“Be quiet,” said Mac, trying not to laugh. “That’s what I’m calling it.”
Maria shrugged. “You’re right,” she said. “Enough of this.” She cleared her search and started over. “Now forgetting the water stuff forever.”
Mac glanced at Charlie. “Speaking of wa
ter animals, I just realized you have an ability from a sea creature. Do you think your starfish mode allows you to breathe underwater, too?”
Charlie looked up and blinked. “I have no idea.”
“Have you been swimming since you put the bracelet on?” Maria asked.
“Not really. Just the water park at Legoland with you two, but I didn’t really spend much time underwater. I didn’t notice anything weird.” She thought for a moment. “My dad said it was the healing power of a starfish, so I don’t think there would be anything else.”
“But remember what Dr. Sharma told us after we saw Kelly talking to Mr. Anderson with that pulsing light?” said Mac.
Maria nodded. “She said it was probably hypnosis, which is an extension of the cuttlefish camouflage ability.”
“And Dr. Sharma said she hadn’t intended for that to be there,” said Charlie. “So maybe my dad didn’t plan for other abilities from these animals, but they could be there accidentally.”
“We can test it out at my house sometime,” said Mac, who had a swimming pool. “You never know.”
“Yeah,” said Maria, “but the hypnosis thing is not technically a different ability. It’s another use of the camouflage, so it makes sense that it would be there. Charlie’s starfish’s healing ability doesn’t have anything to do with breathing underwater.”
“You’re probably right.” Mac went back to his tablet.
“We could still test it out sometime, though,” said Charlie. “It’s a hundred and ten degrees outside. I know we have a lot to do here, but a swim wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, you know?”
“Yep,” said Maria. “Mac’s pool is finally just about warm enough for me to swim in it. Any water temperature below eighty-eight is too cold for this girl.”
Charlie shook her head and laughed. “You would not do well in Chicago. If Lake Michigan hits seventy we consider it warm.”
“That sounds like torture,” said Maria. She shivered.
“Maybe we should start thinking about warm-blooded animals for you, Maria,” suggested Mac, typing again.
Charlie laughed.
“No, I’m serious,” said Mac. “So Maria can handle cold situations better. A weremoose maybe? Were–arctic fox? Or … I know.” He looked up, unable to disguise the mischievous expression on his face.