The Nancy Experiment

by McKenna, Tess

  “UAhh!” I wail. My body cringes until the pain subdues. But Jericho is right there again, reaching for me. The fire in me burns hotter and hotter.

  “No!” Nate yells at Jericho’s back.

  He yanks Jericho away from me just as a beam of golden power shoots from my burning eyes. I hear the two punching and blocking, slamming into the walls, and wind swirls around them. CRASH! BANG! SMASH!

  “Run, Annika!” Nate shouts.

  Dazed, I stumble to my feet and stagger back toward the light as fast as I can. I make it back to Abraham when I hear a resounding thud. I don’t look back. I keep running straight, seeing a window at the end of the narrow hall.

  Two hands hook my shoulders and throw me back to the ground. My head hits the wall on my way down, and I land on my side. Another spasm of stabbing, burning pain slices up my back, and I howl again. The hands clutch my arm and jerk me back to my feet then push me against the wall.

  I open my weary eyes and see a pair of crazed, gray eyes piercing mine, just inches from me. His body presses against mine, pinning me against the wall with my back digging into the cold, hard boards and my feet dangling over the floor. He clenches both my wrists above my head with only one of his hands. The other holds a jagged shard of broken glass or metal at my side. His breath is hot and heavy against my skin, and I can feel his chest rise and fall with each full, shaking breath.

  “Let go, you monster!” I yell. I squirm and struggle, but he pushes more and tightens his grip on my wrists. I cringe.

  “You… you… they won’t let you get away. They’ll find you, you… you ba―ahH!!” I cry as he digs his fist into my side instead of his blade, causing my back to spasm again.

  He leans his face toward mine, his forehead touching the side of mine, his lips centimeters from my ear.

  “No,” he whispers. His breaths are loud and heavy. “You’re the one that got away.”

  Crash. The fire inside me dies a little. I can say nothing and have no power to fight back. Jericho leans even closer, his nose against my nose and his lips hanging close to mine, hungry and unsure. I’m frozen, unable to lean further back into the wall.

  Suddenly, the weight restraining me tears away when a powerful mass barrels into Jericho with a large gust of wind. My feet land on the floor, and by body crumples down. To my left toward the window, I know Nate has tackled Jericho, freeing me, and now someone crawls toward me.

  “Annika,” the soft voice says. Nate is there, next to me, and gently places his hand on my back. His hand is weak and heavy but still, unlike my trembling back.

  CRASH! The window shatters, and we watch helplessly as Jericho slides through the window and is gone. Nothing is left but a few pieces of shattered glass lying on the floor. I sigh, half in pain and half in relief, and Nate pulls me toward him. His arms embrace me securely against his chest, not too tight but just strong enough that I feel safe. The weight of my body leans into his chest, and I rest my head against his shoulder. My body shivers out of control, and my breaths come uneven, choppy. Nate is solid and soft, although he too breaths deeply.

  “It’s okay… it’s okay… you’re okay,” he whispers.

  Another stabbing volt races up my back, and my body quails in agony. Nate’s arms hug me closer and steady me until the sting ends. That’s when a parade of footsteps rushes down a nearby hallway coming toward us. The light of a flashlight hits us, but neither Nate nor I move. We stay exactly how we are as they approach and call our names.

  “Nate, Annika…” Marissa says. Her voice, though with definite tones of alarm and anxiety, has a sincere, soothing sound.

  No one else says a word, but I can hear the others discovering Abraham and Lazzer’s bodies, both unconscious and beaten, the overwhelming distress crying out in the disturbed silence.

  “Shh, shhh. It’s okay… you’re okay,” Nate continues to whisper.

  No one else can hear him. His voice is like a song of the breeze: here, beautiful and tangible, then gone. Gone, out the window of Kenyon and back into the busy streets of Cleveland. But the music still plays, wrapping its arms around me and singing a sweet elegy.

  XXIII: Becoming Human

  Tuesday, April 1, 2065; 12:28 p.m.

  First person

  I must be missing something. I have thirty sheets of paper here― maps I drew of Dr. Nancy’s factory, a list of as many names of the hunting crew that I remember, a list of the ECs (the children he experimented on), timelines of where I was the past twenty two months (in code names, of course) and where I encountered the hunting crew, sequences of training and tactics the hunting crew uses, and backgrounds of the members, the locations, the machines… But there’s got to be something I’m missing. The papers blanket the table in the Metanites’ base like a tablecloth with red yarn connecting people to places and machines and secrets.

  Maybe that’s important: Bruce was one of the ones allowed to consult with Dr. Nancy’s electrical supplier. That unmatchable electrical power was used in most of his machines, and in the one he used to… in the machine I first remember, that incredible power was invaluable. But Bruce? Bruce wasn’t important at that time, and he was never bright― still isn’t. But somehow he proved crucial to Dr. Nancy’s efforts to get that potent electricity. I connect the two pages with a strand of red, complicating the red web even further. No, I’m still missing something.

  The mole― where’s the mole in all this? I look at where the evidence points… and it all points to me. No surprise some of the Metanites think I’m the mole, with all this evidence, I’m starting to wonder if I’m the one who’s been clueing-in the hunting crew all this time. Could they be using me to get what they can from the Metanites? Dr. Nancy must know that Moton is hot on his trail; could I be the one he’s using to get close to Moton without me even recognizing it? This is why I should leave. If leaving is even possible, I would. But Nate, Zoë, and the others watch me like a hawk; I don’t think I can go to the bathroom without six pairs of eyes watching me walk into the bathroom and seven pairs of eyes glued to the door when I come out.

  Maybe the mole isn’t me. It could be any of them, really. Marissa was always there when the hunting crew found me, but her eyes… her eyes when Eva held that knife to her throat… and Marissa has always been so supportive and always wanted me to stay in Kenyon. Zoë has always been welcoming to me, and that’s precisely why she’s suspicious. I don’t think she fully comprehends the kind of person Basia Nancy is, because if she does, she wouldn’t want me around, like Kono. Honestly, Kono is the last person I suspect to be the mole. Maybe she’s relaying the information to the hunting crew so they could find me and kill me, but something tells me that if she wanted me dead, she would do it herself. Kiaria’s ability to read minds is remarkable; that’s a lot of power, a dangerous amount of power if she’s the mole. Xander has a temper and doesn’t seem to get along with the other Metanites as well as the rest of them get along with each other. That sets him out as an outsider… that, and he’s friends with Thunder. Ugh. Abe is feeling better after the Jericho incident― bad concussion― but just as he surprised me with his skills in hand-to-hand combat, he could surprise everyone and be the mole. Izzi I don’t know much about, except that she’s from the UK, came to the Metanites three years ago, and is joined at the hip with Kono. She keeps to herself, most of the time, and she and Kono are always whispering back and forth and glancing toward me… that’s the kind of person to watch out for. Lazzer has always kept his distance from me. Clearly, he’s not a fan of me, but he’s Nate’s best friend, and Nate… Nate can’t be the mole. Neither can Elijah. Ever since the argument after the art museum disaster when I woke up and accused Nate of being the mole, I don’t know.

  They’re two of the most likely candidates, a voice in my head says.

  I know, but I don’t think either of them could be the mole. They’re so loyal to their friends and what the Metanites stand for that it’s hard to think they could betray that.

  You don’t
think they’re the mole, or you don’t want them to be the mole.

  “Annika,” someone calls to me.

  What about Nickel? Nickel is so charming and kind, but even he wasn’t thrilled about me staying in Kenyon after the art museum incident. Then again, being so charming and kind, no one would suspect him of being the mole, and he seems rather weak at heart, sensitive, despite his obvious strength. I don’t know where he spends most of his time when he’s not with the Metanites, so he has the time to pull it off.

  “Annika,” the person says again.

  My eyes shoot up for a spilt second so I can see that Zoë is standing over the papers to my right where I drew maps and maps of Dr. Nancy’s laboratory and then some.

  “Yeah,” I reply, scanning my work for the clue I’m missing. What if the clue is there, the factory? The mole would have to know how to contact Dr. Nancy or somebody in there… that involves some sort of electronic communication, most likely coded or signal-based. Maybe the mole posts something on Razzle, and then someone from the hunting crew interprets the message, or maybe they just email the person and then delete the history. Kiaria would be able to track it, especially with the Mind, but if she’s the mole, then she could communicate without anybody knowing what―

  “Annika,” Zoë barks.

  My head snaps up.

  “Yes,” I reply, keeping eye contact this time.

  “Hi. How are you doing?”

  “Good.”

  “Good? Really? You’re not hungry or thirsty at all?”

  “No… should I be?”

  “I don’t know, it’s twelve thirty, and your breakfast is still sitting on the chair next to you, untouched.”

  “Oh… I feel fine.”

  “Annika.”

  “Really! Look, Zoë, I’m really busy, and―”

  “― and you’ve been sitting here, like this, for four days. You need a break.”

  “No, I need to stop him.”

  “No, you really need to take a break. Today is Wednesday, making today day number four of Annika-taking-over-the-table-and-doing-God-knows-what.”

  “Zoë, this is important, more important than anything.”

  “More important than feeding yourself? Look, I know you want to find him and the mole and stop having to run for your life, but I think you’ve earned a break.”

  “I haven’t earned anything, Zoë! I have one job, and that’s to stop Dr. Nancy, no matter what I have to sacrifice, and so far, I haven’t done my job very well,” I snap.

  “No matter what you have to sacrifice, huh?” Nate says, approaching from my left. “That’s not what Marissa told me. She said you traded places with her because you wouldn’t let Eva kill her to protect whatever dirt you have on Dr. Nancy and his hooligans.”

  “That’s not what I meant when I said sacrifice,” I argue, but he was right. I was willing to throw it all away to save Marissa.

  “Annika,” Zoë says. “Take an hour to come have lunch with us. Look over there: you see Lazzer and Elijah waiting for us? We want to eat, we want you to step away from this… whatever this is and come have a good time with us.”

  “I can’t. I have to do this.”

  “Hey, we will help you when we’re all done eating lunch, but only if you come with us.”

  “Stepping away for an hour or two will be good for you, and it will force you to think about it from another perspective. Maybe a new perspective is all you need to make sense of… this,” Nate says, gesturing to the mess of papers and red string.

  “Please, Annika, I need another girl at the lunch table,” Zoë pleads.

  “Well, get Marissa,” I counter.

  “Marissa’s at lunch in the airport with her father until two, when his plane leaves for L.A.”

  “What about Kia?”

  “Kia isn’t feeling well. Stomach flu.”

  “Kono and Izzi?”

  “Already left to go to Aladdin’s for lunch. Come-on, we want you to come to lunch with us, and I need you to be there.”

  I glance over at Elijah and Lazzer, waiting at the elevator. They are talking casually, and smile when they see me watching them. I turn back to Nate and Zoë. Zoë is giving me her best puppy-dog eyes she can manage, and Nate’s smile says you-know-you-ought-to-come-to-lunch-with-us-and-you-know-you-want-to.

  “Fine,” I say, rolling my eyes. Zoë and Nate give each other a high five. “As long as you guys help me with this when lunch is over.”

  “Deal,” Nate says. Zoë echoes him.

  “So is she coming?” Elijah calls from the elevator.

  “Yeah, she’s coming!” Zoë yells back.

  “Alright! Let’s go, I’m starving,” he says. I grin and follow Zoë to the elevator.

  So up the elevator we go, and into the crowded cafeteria full of young children. I’m reminded of the ECs in the factory when I see the young ones. Maybe there’s something about the children and the orphanages they came from that could help pin-point who the mole is or how to bring down Dr. Nancy’s enterprise. Or the window right by the empty table where Zoë, Marissa, Kiaria, and I were sitting when… when Jericho broke in. Or Ms. Grenavich could be the mole. Or… or… What if someone else breaks in through the window again? Kono and most of the others are out today, so that would be really bad if someone repeats Jericho’s break-in.

  “Asian chicken wrap?” Zoë asks me, holding up a cylindrical sandwich wrapped in orange paper.

  “Sure,” I say.

  She puts the sandwich on a tray for me, and we move down the aisle of Asian cuisine to the fruit station, where I pick up a red apple and some napkins. When we’re both finished, we leave the food area and walk toward the empty table by the window. A hollow feeling pulls my stomach, and I don’t think it’s from hunger. I sit down next to Zoë so that I can look out the window from my left and see the rest of the cafeteria from my right. I start to unwrap my sandwich, and hunger finally trumps my anxiety.

  “Tastes good,” Elijah says, placing his tray next to Zoë, who sits with her back to the window.

  Elijah already has ketchup on the side of his face from the French fries he stuffed into his mouth. Lazzer and Nate join us, pulling up an extra chair, and everyone quietly eats. I shouldn’t say quietly, because the Metanites and the word “quietly” should never exist in the same sentence, but for the moment no one talks.

  “So that basketball game last night…” Lazzer says.

  “Ugh, Terrible!” Elijah exclaims. Nate, too, rolls his eyes and drops his sandwich on his plate.

  “I can’t believe they blew that lead. That was ridiculous,” Nate complains.

  “I have never seen a more pathetic display of defense in my entire life. It was like, ‘oh, here’s the ball, Haines. Go dribble around me and make another freakin’ lay-up!’” Lazzer says.

  “You see,” Zoë turns to me. “This is why I need another girl with me, because everything turns into basketball.”

  “What are they talking about?” I ask.

  “The Cleveland Cavaliers. Who else would blow a twenty-point lead in the fourth quarter to lose to the Rockets? No one! Maybe the Knicks, but of course we would,” Elijah says.

  “You should have seen Abe,” Nate says, laughing.

  “Oh man… Abe was pissed-off,” Lazzer says, laughing as well. “I thought he was going to throw something.”

  “He did.”

  “What? What did he throw?”

  “His Gomount jersey. He took it off and threw it down the hall.”

  “Haaha, of course he did.”

  “What was wrong with Abe?” I ask, expecting that Abraham placed a bet on the game with Nickel or somebody.

  “He’s a Clevelander. His whole family lives on the east side and has lived there for—God, I don’t know, a long time,” Zoë says. “That’s why he picks on Eli. Eli’s from the west side.”

  “And proud of it,” Elijah says, taking a large bite of his hamburger.

  “You know people from East Cleveland
do not care about the whole east-versus-west thing, only west-siders and Abe, and Abe only cares because he likes to tease you about it,” Zoë says. Elijah shakes his head and takes another obnoxious bite from his burger. Zoë turns away. “Ugh, men.”

  “Weren’t you watching the game, Zoë?”

  “No, Lazzer, I was working, like Annika, trying to break into Dr. Nancy’s hospital records at the University hospitals with Kia.”

  “You find anything?” Nate asks.

  “Nothing,” she replies. “So Annika, if you don’t mind me asking, when was the last time you saw Dr. Nancy?”

  “You mean before we ran into him here?” I ask.

  “Yeah, sorry about that, by the way.”

  “No worries. Last time I saw him… it was when I broke into his factory to steal the documents.”

  “You know where the factory is?”

  “Yeah, I just don’t know how to get into it anymore. I’m pretty sure they sealed-off the entrance I used.”

  “Hmm,” Nate says.

  I could imagine the wheels turning in his head, but he doesn’t say anything more. Behind him, I could see a swarm of young boys and girls coming toward our table wearing mischievous smiles. Zoë and Elijah see them coming too, and their faces light up.

  “Nate, Lazz,” Zoë says.

  “Hmm?” Lazzer replies, stuffing a strawberry in his mouth.

  “You have visitors.”

  The two turn in unison and see the kids jogging toward them. When the group of youngsters makes it to the table, they form a crowded semicircle around our table and smile at all of us. They are adorable. They remind me of the ECs at Christmas, when they would all run to Jericho and me with some funny gift behind their backs… but that was a long time ago. I don’t think the ECs even celebrate Christmas anymore.

  “Whoa, hi guys!” Nate says. The children smile ear to ear and giggle.

  “What is up?” Lazzer asks, his voice like a TV host’s.