A young man and woman peer down at us from the top of the stairs. “Hologram,” the man scoffs. “She thinks it’s a hologram.” The young man is Asian and very pale. A deep, jagged scar frames his left temple.
“Technically, it is a hologram,” the woman says and elbows him. Petite, she’s also young, maybe nineteen. Long, jet-black hair cascades over her shoulders and highlights her russet skin.
Despite their calm demeanors, I’m still freaked out from the ninja attack. “What the hell was that? Who are you people?” I take a sideways glance at Ogre to check for damage.
“That,” the young man announces, “is Ninja Warrior Attack Simulation Number Four courtesy of Max Middleton.” Then he turns to his companion and frowns. “That doesn’t sound right, does it?”
She shakes her head. “No, Max. Keep working on it.”
They linger on the raised level, peering down at us. “I’m Cassie, “she says. “I suppose you’re wondering what just happened—”
“Yeah, you could say that.” I place my hands on my hips and try to slow my racing pulse.
Max says, “I created a simulation. It’s what I do.” He grins and can barely contain his excitement.
“What do you mean, ‘you created a simulation’?” I see no signs of a processor or holographic projection device. New tech?
“It’s partly hologram and force fields. I can hold it for short periods of time until there’s…a blip.” He fidgets, squeezing his thumb and fingers together. “There’s always a flaw, but I’m working on it, and one of these days I’m going to make it perfect.” He stares into empty space, lost in thought.
Cassie shifts her feet, her eyes scanning the far corners of the room and the warehouse entrance. “There’s no time. Tell us who you are. Why are you here?”
“And is that a real robot?” Max asks.
“I’m Ida and this is Ogre—an android. We come from Spark City.”
Cassie’s eyes widen. “Spark City? How did you make it out alive? How did you make it all the way here?”
“You must’ve heard a lot of bad things about Spark City, but I can tell you, it’s changing for the better,” I say.
Cassie shakes her head. “We’d love to hear about it sometime, but right now, we really have to get going. It’s not safe here—above ground.”
“Where are you from?” I ask.
“Terranus,” says Cassie. “Also a city.”
“Where is that? I’ve never heard of it.”
“It’s not far, actually,” offers Max.
But Cassie tugs on his shoulder. “We have to go.” Then she peers down. “This is a really bad place for you to end up. Get out now.” The pair turn and trek away from us.
“Wait,” I call out. “Do you know a man named Philip Kenmore?”
She slows her pace. “Yes.”
A shiver travels from my neck down into my arms. I race up the stairs, following the pair onto the catwalk.
Cassie glances back, about to speak again, when a shout erupts from just outside the side entrance. Banging and clattering against metal announces the arrival of people storming into the warehouse.
I glance at Max and Cassie with questioning eyes, wondering if this is another simulation.
“This time, it’s not me,” he says quickly.
“You shouldn’t have been here. Be careful of them,” Cassie warns me as they reach the far side of the warehouse a few feet away. Max ducks out of an open window onto scaffolding. Cassie drops a small black bag onto the ground at her feet then follows him.
I hesitate, glancing down at the intruders flooding the warehouse floor below. They are masked and carry bats and katanas, and several have handguns. Ogre remains still as they surround the android, weapons raised.
My throat constricts as I realize my only clue to Kenmore is escaping. I close the distance to the window, about to follow, but suddenly a brick wall materializes, and I collide with it. Staggering back, I’m dazed and grab onto the rusty railing to regain my balance. Then the wall flickers as if projected on a digiscreen. One of Max’s blips.
A voice shouts at me from below, “Stop where you are.” I glance down at the barrel of a rifle and raise my arms in surrender.
Sixteen
My pulse races, and my forehead aches from colliding with Max’s force-field simulated wall.
From the warehouse floor below, a masked man with a rifle orders me to pick up Cassie’s bag and come down. The other intruders surround Ogre, training their weapons on it, poised to strike. We’re outnumbered. At least a dozen figures flank us, and I bet there are more outside on watch. Ogre could take on that many men but won’t risk me getting shot.
Slowly, I retrieve Cassie’s bag. It’s not heavy, and something clinks inside, like metal on metal. Why did she drop it and how did the masked man know it was there?
I know these are real people, not a simulation, when I descend the stairs and one of them kicks me behind the knees, forcing me to hit the ground.
“Hands behind your back,” a voice commands. “Drop the bag.”
Wincing, I lay it on the ground in front of me. The man who kicked me snaps metal cuffs on my wrists.
A tall figure in brown camouflage pants and a charcoal sweatshirt with a drawn hood marches over. An ornate Mardi Gras-style emerald-green mask shields his face. He points at Ogre. “What the hell is this thing?”
“It’s okay,” I say. “It’s an android. My companion. It’s harmless. It won’t hurt your people unless you try to hurt me.”
Everyone else waits in deference to Mardi Gras guy, the obvious leader of the group. He paces the length of floor in front of me. “Tell it to kneel beside you.”
I glance at Ogre. The android slowly lumbers over to rest beside me, and they also cuff the machine’s wrists, not realizing Ogre could easily break free.
“Get the bag,” the leader says to another person wearing a gorilla mask. He picks it up and hands it to the leader who doesn’t bother looking inside. Why would Cassie warn me to be careful of these people yet leave something for them to find? Something they already knew about?
The leader faces me. “Are you from Terranus?” That’s when I realize the voice, though deep, is feminine.
My voice quivers, “No, I’m looking for a medical lab called Frontier. That’s why I’m here.”
The leader flinches. It’s barely noticeable. “Who are you?” she asks, “Why were you here with those two?”
My skin tingles. “Does the lab exist? Do you know it?”
“Frontier…” says the leader. “Never heard of it. The lab I’m referring to is in the underground city called Terranus.”
The same city Cassie mentioned. Could that be where Kenmore is? Is that why she said she knew him?
“I’m looking for the man in charge of the lab. Dr. Phillip Kenmore,” I say.
“Why?”
“He has committed crimes and needs to be punished. I want to make sure there’s justice for what he’s done.”
She chortles. The others glance at each other for reassurance, then start to laugh too.
“I don’t understand what’s so funny,” says Ogre, but a man behind him strikes him on the back of the visor with the handle of his bat.
Angry, I struggle to my feet, about to launch myself at the assailant, but I’m grabbed from behind and shoved rudely back onto my knees.
The leader sobers. “You want to bring justice to Dr. Kenmore? Are you kidding me? Who the hell do you think are?”
She steps toward me and leans in close, studying my face. I gaze into jade-flecked brown eyes lurking beneath the dazzling mask. “Do you have any idea who you’re messing with?” she says.
I raise my chin. “Do you know where Kenmore is? I can reward you. Make it worth your while.”
“Who are you?”
“My name’s Ida. This is Ogre, my android companion. We traveled from Spark City to find Kenmore. He’s wanted by the government in Spark City for his crimes.” That’s not ex
actly true, but I want him, and since I brought down two prior governments in Spark City, I’m taking liberties.
“Is that so? Do you have a warrant?”
She’s calling my bluff. Is she protecting him for some reason? “Like I said, I can offer a very handsome reward. Name a price.”
“What’s your name again?”
“Ida. Ida Sarek.”
The leader edges closer and crouches before me. She pulls back her hood and pushes the mask up over her forehead. “Do you recognize me?”
It takes me a second to register her face.
Joanie.
She’s alive and standing in front of me. I can’t believe this is happening. She’s grown taller, and her features have sharpened over the years. Her wild, curly mane has tumbled free from the mask and her skin is still a creamy taupe.
She blinks and nods but doesn’t offer a smile.
“Joanie? Is that really you?” I struggle for words because nothing can express the mixture of joy and wonder and relief at seeing her. My eyes water, and my throat tightens.
But she stares at me, stone-faced, betraying no emotion, then turns and paces toward the wall, her back to me. “Well, Ida,” she says, “It’s been a long time…”
“I have a million questions for you. I don’t even know where to begin—”
“So, you finally decided to come looking,” she interrupts. Her tone is flat. Icy.
I scramble up and onto my feet, fully expecting she’ll remove our restraints now that she knows who I am—one of her oldest friends, reunited. Next to me, one of the guards lunges forward and grips my shoulders tightly to keep me in place.
“Joanie, what gives?” I ask. “I’m on your side. Can you let us out of these cuffs?”
She doesn’t turn back. Instead she says, “Let’s go.” They march us outside, guiding us to a rickety, beat-up school bus with mustard-yellow paint peeling off its beaten, dented exterior.
They shove me into the back, onto a rusty, grimy floor. Ogre climbs in, and they push the android toward a low bench seat. We’re still cuffed, and this is getting ridiculous. How could Joanie treat me this way? Especially after all we’ve been through together. It’s not making any sense.
The vehicle lurches forward, and Joanie rides in the front passenger seat. Masks have been removed and tossed aside. The girl driving the bus has a shaved head and piercings running the length of her earlobes.
I count ten other soldiers surrounding us on the bus. They clutch their weapons, and several stare apprehensively at Ogre.
“Where are we going?” I ask one of them.
“No talking,” Joanie barks.
We travel over rough terrain until we emerge onto a highway. Potholes abound, but it’s much smoother than the dirt road. Ogre looks at me, and I tilt my head. The machine stays silent and a question mark projects across its visor.
If only I could reach my biocuff, I could check for a message from the android. After all, Ogre can simply think and use the comm device. I can’t do the same because I’m not wired into my cuff, nor do I ever want to be. Unfortunately, my comm is useless if I’m restrained.
Fidgeting, I try to tap my biocuff with a finger. Maybe I can signal Lucy for help somehow. One of our captors notices and lunges forward, grabbing my arm. But I shrug him off. “Get away from me!” First, I’m pissed that the idiot tried to get my biocuff, and second, I’m worried he’ll touch my skin by accident.
Killing a member of Joanie’s gang would be a terrible way to start off our reunion.
As it is, it’s not going well.
“Don’t touch your comm,” the soldier commands. He looks to be about nineteen with a square jaw line and dyed purple hair shaved close around his ears, longer on top. His eyes are steely gray and there’s a coldness to them.
I lean my head against a seat cushion. Then I glance at Joanie and catch her staring at me, but she turns away.
I rack my brain, wondering why Joanie’s treating me like a prisoner rather than a friend. Did I do something wrong?
We veer off the highway onto a dirt road and the bus starts bouncing and jolting everyone. Those of us in the back get shaken the worst. After fifteen minutes, I get lightheaded, and my stomach feels like a pile of rocks.
Finally, after a long time, the bus slows to a stop. Everyone stays still except for Joanie. She hops out, and after a few seconds, swings the rear door open. Daylight floods the dank inside of the rotting vehicle. “Send her out,” she says.
Crewcut guy shoves me with his boot, and I stumble off the raised ledge, landing in a patch of rusty dirt. Joanie pushes me aside and slams the door behind us. She turns to me with a furrowed brow and jabs my shoulder. “That way. Move.”
I start walking. Ahead, there’s nothing but open, dry desert as far as I can see. “Where are we going?” My heart beats in my ears. Why are Joanie and I alone? Does she want to murder me?
Following behind me, she says nothing and prods me to go faster. We trek for several minutes past shrubby bushes and spiky cacti, getting farther away from the bus. Farther away from Ogre.
“Stop,” Joanie finally declares. I halt and spin around only to find her pointing a pistol at me.
The muscles in my back, shoulders, and legs all tense. “Joanie?” My voice is shaky. “What’s going on?”
She presses her lips in a tight line. Her left hand clenches into a fist.
I hold my breath, waiting. Will she really shoot me? Is she a cold-hearted murderer? “Joanie, you’re my oldest friend,” I manage. “Aren’t you happy to see me? I don’t understand what’s happening.”
“What’s your ability?” she asks.
“What?”
“You were in the lab. Kenmore’s lab. What did he do to you?”
“How can… How is it possible you know—?” And then it dawns on me. God, I’m such an idiot sometimes. She must’ve been held by Kenmore too. Reed said she was captured. “You were there too, weren’t you?”
Her eyes narrow. “Your ability. Tell me or I’ll kill you.”
My breath catches in my throat. She holds the gun steadier, shifting her feet.
“I could heal with my touch. I was a medic in the military.” I pause. “But I don’t have that power anymore…”
“Why do you wear gloves?”
“My ability…changed. I can’t touch anyone. I hurt people.”
Her eyes widen. “Hurt people how?”
“If I touch someone, they have seizures…or die. That’s why I wear the gloves. Look, the best thing you can do for your people is let me and Ogre go. You don’t want us around, trust me.”
She studies me and lowers the gun a few inches. “You don’t seem like much of a threat so far,” she says as a smirk spreads from the corner of her mouth.
“Are you going to kill me?”
“You told me what I needed to know. That’s all I need. For now.”
I exhale quietly and lower my tense shoulders.
“Let’s go,” she says. And this time she holsters her weapon as we walk back to the bus.
Seventeen
This time, once I’m back on the bus, I’m given a seat. However, I’m still cuffed, and Ogre remains heavily guarded. Everyone is silent as the engine roars to life.
On the bumpy ride, I have time to ponder my circumstances. Joanie knows my ability. She knows about Kenmore’s lab and the fact he genetically altered people. Is it possible she was a victim of Kenmore’s too?
First, though, I need to find out what she plans to do with us. Will she dump us in the middle of the desert or something worse?
I try to calm my breathing and lean back against the seat. Maybe Joanie is still trying to figure out her next move.
I scan the faces of her gang. They appear to range in age from teens to mid-twenties. A mix of male and female. Leave it to Joanie to assemble a new gang here, across the continent from where she started out.
Across from me sits the youngest boy in the group. His eyes are bright brown
and striking against dark wavy hair pulled back in a low ponytail. He studies my expression, and when I meet his gaze, he doesn’t flinch or look away like the others. A thoughtful smile crosses his face.
After another ten minutes of driving, the others look tired and seem to have relaxed their cautious watch over us. At least two are dozing in their seats. If Ogre and I wanted to make a move, now would be the time. Given Ogre’s size and strength, the two of us might well overpower these teenagers, but I can’t do that to Joanie. I’m trying to earn her trust, even though she doesn’t seem willing to give it.
The boy with the ponytail reaches into his jacket pocket. He withdraws a ball the size of a plum, playing with it, spinning it in his right hand. His gaze locks on mine, and he holds out his palm, facing up, the ball poised in the center. I watch, transfixed, as the ball slowly rises, suspended in the air. I glance around nervously, but nobody else seems to notice. I lean forward, staring at the ball hanging in the air, barely believing my eyes. Is it a magic trick? It has to be.
Nearby, Ogre watches the boy, too.
“Colin, stop it!” Joanie’s voice erupts, and the ball drops onto the floor and rolls to the rear, lost in an unreachable corner.
Colin reddens and hunches his shoulders. “Sorry,” he mutters.
Joanie glares at us. The vehicle encounters a wide turn, and I glance out of the window, spying dark structures nearby.
Finally, the bus stops, and we’re escorted out. I’m led to a rickety cluster of abandoned wooden buildings. It looks like Main Street in an old Western movie. All that remains are peeling, rotting wooden slats.
“What is this place?” I ask.
“Quiet,” Joanie says as Ogre and I are led toward the largest of the buildings—a square, squat structure with a pitched roof. We step up a low flight of stairs that lead onto a raised deck. Several floorboards are completely missing, and I have to be careful where I step.
Inside a wide and dark room, Joanie points to a corner and tells Ogre to sit facing the wall. Five of her gang stand guard nearby. She points to the opposite corner and beckons me there. I lower down, crossing my legs, staring at peeling gray paint. Footsteps sound from behind, and Joanie and others shuffle out, leaving Ogre and I alone with one guard who stands on the far side of the room by the door, holding an automatic rifle.
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