Imperfect

by Tina Chan

  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 train-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.”

  “So they’re basically like contact lens cameras?” Kristi clarified.

  “Right on. If you wear them while checking out New Genes Lab, you can record a lot of visual information you would normally forget. They can make a huge difference between a successful break-in and a failure.” Jane pressed a case into Troop and Kristi’s hand each.

  “Thanks,” they replied in unison.

  “That’s what I’m here for,” she said. “To make sure everything goes smoothly.”

  Troop went to the bathroom with Kristi to put in the contact lens. The wiring and cameras in the lens were so microscopic Kristi wouldn’t have noticed them at all if she hadn’t known they were there.

  She blinked her watering eyes a few times. She had just inserted a contact-cam into her right eye and it felt a bit awkward. Once Kristi got used to the feeling of having a contact on her right eye, she attempted to put in her left one.

  “Darn it,” Kristi said after three fruitless tries.

  “Here, let me try. I already got both of my lenses on.” Troop carefully took the contact lens she was having trouble with from the tip of her fingertip.

  “Don’t blink,” he said. As he said the word, he delicately placed the contact onto her left eye with lightning quick speed.

  “Hey!” Kristi said in surprise.

  She blinked as soon as the contact-cam was securely in her eye to mitigate the discomfort.

  “You’re welcome,” Troop said.

  “You startled me. But thanks.”

  “Should we bring anything with us aside from our slates?”

  “I don’t think so. The less we have to carry the better.”

  Kristi exited the bathroom and told Chelsa and Finn, “We’re leaving now. See you later.”

  They nodded to show they heard.

  New Genes Lab was an imposing building located near the edge of the city. A meticulously mowed lawn surrounded the entire perimeter of the building, prev
enting any chance of being able to sneak inside the lab without being taped by the surveillance cameras that dotted around the property.

  Troop and Kristi strolled along the sidewalk passing in front of New Genes Lab, not daring to move any closer to the building for fear of attracting the wrong type of attention.

  “Did you get a good look at the cameras?” Kristi asked Troop under her breath. “Perhaps the Filches can figure out the best way to evade the them if they know the cameras’ model.”

  Troop followed her words and focused his gaze on the closest camera to them, which was only fifty feet away. They circled the property, taking note of the number of windows, stairs, entrances and anything else of interest.

  New Genes Lab was a five-story, square-shaped building constructed of steel and black tinted windows. Overall, it looked very much like a black cube crouching in the middle of a vividly green patch of green surrounded by a seven-foot high chain linked fence. Even just thinking about how they were going to enter the lab made Kristi’s head hurt.

  “Maybe there’s another way to solve the case without trespassing into the lab,” she said.

  “If there’s another way to solve the case, we obviously aren’t aware of it.” Troop shaded his eyes from the glare reflecting off the glossy building. “So far, breaking and entering is the best lead we have to follow. If Stevey used to work at this lab and something traumatic involving the Accidents happened here causing him to go crazy, our best starting point would be here.”

  “Yeah, but if this place made Stevey go whacko, what do you think it will do to us?”

  “It can’t be that bad,” Troop said, sounding like he was both trying to reassure himself and Kristi at the same time.

  “Is it just me, or has that red solar-car been following us for the past few minutes?” She threw a glance to her right. Yep, the solar-car was still there, with its blacked-out windows all rolled up.

  Troop eyeballed the car. “I think so. I’m going to take that as a sign to go.”

  They finished circling the lab and walked back onto the main road.

  “Do you want to grab some dinner?” Troop asked.

  “Do we have enough time?”

  “Yeah. There’s still over an hour before curfew.”

  “Okay then. That sandwich shop seems like a nice place.” Kristi pointed to Solomon’s Sandwich and sent Chelsa a quick instafication notifying her that they would be back in about an hour.

  A little bell tinkled, announcing their arrival to the waitress who was chatting with her friend. She stood up and came to them.

  “How many?”

  “Two,” Troop said.

  “This way.”

  The waitress led them to a booth and flicked on the smart-glass imbedded into the table, displaying the menu.

  “The shop will be closing in about forty-five minutes, alright?”

  “We’ll be quick,” Kristi promised, then slid into the booth across from Troop.

  The waitress wandered off to finish her conversation, leaving them to decide what they wanted to eat.

  An old couple sat a few tables away from Troop and Kristi. Across from the couple was a single, middle-aged man who seemed pretty engrossed with his sandwich and soup; the couple was talking to each other animatedly, so Troop and Kristi basically had the whole restaurant to themselves.

  The waitress came back to them a few minutes later once her friend left. “Have you decided what you would like?”

  Kristi motioned for Troop to order first.

  “Can I have the hummus sandwich with a side of tomato soup?”

  The waitress noted his order and turned to Kristi. She still hadn’t made up her mind about what to order, so she said, “I’ll have the same.”

  “Be back in a few minutes.” The waitress turned off the smart-glass and marched into the kitchen.

  “Any ideas on how to enter the building?” Kristi asked, wording her question carefully so not to give away what they were planning on doing in case any snooping ears were around.

  Troop’s face took on a concentrated look. He answered slowly, as if measuring each word out carefully, “Sometimes the best way to hide is in plain sight. Covers. We could use covers.”

  “That’s definitely an idea we can work off,” Kristi said. “So my next question is: when and how will we get our covers?”

  “Send an instafication to Hanson. He said he has plenty of connections and chances are he will be able to get us some covers. Also—”

  “Here are your sandwiches and soup,” the waitress interrupted Troop’s sentence.

  Kristi bit back a word of annoyance.

  The waitress set down the food and went to attend the couple that had finished their meal. The couple, well into their sixties or even seventies, floated out the sandwich shop with a light spring in their steps; arthritis and osteoporosis were symptoms of the past.

  Troop picked up where he left off, “Also, our host may be able to help us with the security problems. The cameras may be problematic.”

  “I’ll send a message to Chelsa asking if she knows anyone who can help solve our security problems.” Kristi unlocked her electro-slate with her fingerprint while Troop munched on his sandwich. After selecting Chelsa’s contact, she wrote her a quick note:

  Hey Chelsa,

  Can you ask Jane and Nick if they can penetrate New Gene Lab’s security system with their hacking skills?

  Chelsa responded within a few minutes:

  They said probably yes, provided you can provide them with the necessary information. Exactly what type of hacking do they need to do?

  Kristi replied:

  I know there are definitely cameras and ID scanners.

  Chelsa answered:

  Jane wants you send her the footage you got with the contact-cams. If you use your electro-slate and “search for nearby devices” with it, the contact-cam will appear on the list of connected devices to the slate. To access the film from the camera, type in the password 6h8*_aH. Then send me the video and I’ll show it to Jane and Nick.

  Kristi did as Chelsa instructed. After pulling up the files from the contact-cam onto her electro-slate, she selected the correct time frame of the clips and sent them to Chelsa. She glanced up from her slate in time to see the middle-aged man leave the restaurant.

  The waitress noticed him leaving without paying for his meal and called out, “Sir! You have to pay for your dinner before you leave.”

  The man ignored her and strode outside without giving a glance back. The waitress let out a huff and started after the unpaid customer.

  “Do you think we should help the waitress?” Kristi asked.

  “I don’t know. My conscience is telling me to go help her, but we should avoid attracting attention at all cost.”

  The chef from the kitchen came out to the dining area and said, “We’ll be closing up soon.” He looked around the room, searching for someone. “Where did Tallia go?”

  Kristi presumed that Tallia was the waitress. “She went to chase down a customer who left without paying.”

  The chef let out a snort of disgust. “What has society come to these—”

  Ka-BOOM!

  Something exploded in the restaurant.

  Kristi instinctively covered her head and curled up into the fetal position. Debris rained down around her and the sound of the explosion rang in her ear. Once the ringing had stopped vibrating her eardrums, she peeked at her surrounding through her fingers. Dust swirled in the air, raised by the ceiling collapsing inwards.

  She was trapped beneath the booth. Part of the wall separating the kitchen from the dining area had collapsed on top of the table where Troop and she had been sitting at.

  “Troop! Can you hear me?” Kristi yelled.

  She broke off, coughing violently. The dust coated her lungs like a swarm of fire ants.

  As the dust grew thicker, Kristi realized she wasn’t breathing in dust; she was breathing in smoke. The building w
as on fire.

  “Kristi!” She heard Troop call her name. “I can’t find you! Are you still at the table we were sitting at?”

  “Yeah,” she replied. “I couldn’t get out of the booth fast enough before the wall crumpled over it.”

  The air around her grew thicker and hotter. Desperately, she searched for some passage out of her confinements. There was a tiny gap near the ground; at most, it was only a foot wide.

  Kristi pressed the back of her hands against the wall; it was hot, signaling the fire was very close by.

  “Can you get out of the restaurant?” Kristi asked Troop, who was on the other side of the wall.

  “I think so.” His voice sounded dry and croaky from the smoke. “There’s a path to the door, but the fire’s going to burn through the path soon.”

  “Get out of the building now. And call the fire crew if they haven’t already been called.”

  “Are you able to get out?” Troop asked.

  Kristi’s eyes watered from the smoke; her nose burned from the acrid smell of things on fire. Sweat dripped down her back and glistened on her forehead; the temperature rose intensely. She went into panic mode. I’m going to die! I don’t want to be burned to death. Or maybe I’ll suffocate in this blanket of smoke. I don’t want to die—I’m only sixteen.

  “Kristi, are you all right?” Troop’s voice brought her back to reality.

  “Yeah.” The tone of her voice said otherwise.

  Something thumped on the wall barricading her from the rest of the restaurant. The walls shook a bit and plaster pieces sprinkled down.

  “Troop, get yourself out of here,” Kristi said in her most authoritative voice. “You’re not much good dead.”

  She wiped a bead of sweat off her brows and sucked in some air through pursed lips, trying not to inhale too much smoke. Then she kicked at the gap near the floor, hoping to widen it somehow.

  “Kristi, try to break down the wall from the inside and I’ll work on it from the outside,” Troop said.

  “I thought I told you to get out!”

  “Shut up and listen to me. If we don’t work together, neither of us will get out alive. Do you see any weak spots in the wall?”

  “There’s a small opening near the ground and—” A coughing fit overcame her.

  “Alright,” Troop said.

  Both of them worked simultaneously at chipping away the plaster wall around Kristi’s only escape route. She kicked, pounded and clawed at the wall. No matter how fast or hard they tore at the wall, it seemed like the gap was only widening a few millimeters at a time.

  Her oxygen deprived muscles screamed at her to stop working and just give up. Her eyes and nose felt like they were on fire; her vision started to blur, strength beginning to wane.

  “Hang in there.” Troop sounded tired and spent.

  A minute later, the gap had widened to about a foot and a half. Kristi could see Troop’s hands working, furiously hacking away at the wall.

  “I think I can fit through,” Kristi croaked, her throat parched.

  Flames licked at the backside of Troop and Kristi could see sweat pouring down his neck. She thrust her upper body through the space and squirmed her way through. The hardwood floor was covered with hot ashes and cinder, singeing her cheeks as she slid out from beneath the table.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “Come on, let’s run for the back door.”

  Kristi followed Troop through the flaming restaurant, dancing over smoldering pieces of furniture and dodging ceiling chunks that were falling from above. The front of the restaurant was completely engulfed in flames. The back of the restaurant was rapidly being eaten away by the never-satisfied inferno.

  The glass door leading to the outside world never looked so significant. Kristi put all her focus on getting to the exit she didn’t notice when a ceiling beam dropped down with a THUD! She leapt backwards in surprise. Had she taken one more step forward, she would’ve been dead and burnt crispy.

  With a five-foot high wall of flames cutting her off from freedom, Kristi was out of ideas on what to do. Behind her was an impenetrable blockade of fire. Yellow and black spots danced in the corner of Kristi’s vision. She felt her body start to shut itself down. The smoke, the heat, the stress and the lack of clean air were taking its toll.

  chapter thirty-five

  [ Troop ]