Always more lies. Two had done something great, something that excited Veronica. Something that
he
could never do.
He had made Two so that the clone would pretend to be him. Now the only thing that would hold anyone’s attention was pretending to be Two.
Veronica’s eyes were shining; he had to
keep
them shining, even if it did mean using Two for his own personal gain. “It was … kind of unplanned. I’m not sure whether I’ll really be pursuing the Hollywood thing, but I’m keeping my options open.”
“That’s great,” Veronica said. “I’ll have to … ooh, hang on a second.”
She whipped around toward one of the restaurant’s many TVs, which had just started playing the music video for the latest Kevin Keels hit, “Gift-Wrapped Heart (Please Don’t Tear the Paper).” Fisher sank a little farther into his seat.
He dug into the middle of a mountain of Monarch-sizedstar fries, and something brushed his finger. He thought maybe a napkin had mistakenly been put on the plate, but when he moved a few fries aside, he realized it was a note. He fought back his instinctive reaction with an enormous effort and went on eating, on autopilot, the brief message burned into his mind.
CHAPTER 8
All the studying and learning on earth won’t stop the surge of instinct that pops up when you realize you’re being hunted. Of course this doesn’t mean you’ll be able to run any faster.
—Fisher Bas, Personal Notes
Wham. Wham. Wham. WHAM. WHAM
.
Amanda opened her hotel room door to Fisher’s frantic knocking.
“Fisher? What’s going on?”
“Someone is on to me,” Fisher whispered. “I got a note. Someone knows about Two.”
“Who do you think it could be?” she said, looking over her shoulder to make sure her roommate was still in the shower.
“I’m not sure, but …” He gulped, and leaned even closer to Amanda. “I’m pretty sure we’re being followed.”
“Followed?” Amanda parroted, her familiar steely frown returning. “Is there something you haven’t told me?”
Fisher put his forehead in his hand, sighing through clenched teeth. “The government agency my mother wasworking for shut down the AGH project and confiscated all samples. They know some AGH is missing, and I think they suspect I took it.”
“And it didn’t occur to you to tell me this
particular
part of the story?” she said.
“I didn’t find out until we’d already made our plan. And I didn’t think I was even a suspect until today. Besides, I didn’t want to get
you
into trouble, on top of everything else.”
Amanda exhaled. “Well,” she said, “the only thing for us to do is stick to the plan. Go to the meeting with GG McGee, try and find Two from there, and get to him as fast as we can. I trust you’ll figure out a way to deal with the spies by the time we do. You escaped from TechX. How hard can dealing with a couple of government agents be?”
“Right,” Fisher said, picturing himself handcuffed to a steel chair in a windowless room.
When he returned to his room, the TV was on, and Warren, his roommate, was sitting on his bed, bouncing slightly.
“What’s on?” Fisher said. He wanted desperately to distract himself from his growing sense of peril.
“It’s a preview of
Sci-Fi: Survivor
!” Warren said cheerfully. “They’re talking about the maze, and the challenges contestants will have to face.”
The camera was sweeping dramatically over a somewhat cartoonish landscape. There were prehistoric-looking jungles of plastic and gauzy foam, with narrow walkways stretched across bubbling water that was probably about the temperature of a comfortable hot tub. Animatronic dinosaurs plodded clumsily around, swinging rubbery claws and tails. Other parts of the maze were more futuristic and were populated by shining robots that shot foam darts from rotating barrels in their chests.
“Looks fun,” said Fisher, smiling weakly. He would almost rather be chased by
real
dinosaurs than be in
he
could never do.
He had made Two so that the clone would pretend to be him. Now the only thing that would hold anyone’s attention was pretending to be Two.
Veronica’s eyes were shining; he had to
keep
them shining, even if it did mean using Two for his own personal gain. “It was … kind of unplanned. I’m not sure whether I’ll really be pursuing the Hollywood thing, but I’m keeping my options open.”
“That’s great,” Veronica said. “I’ll have to … ooh, hang on a second.”
She whipped around toward one of the restaurant’s many TVs, which had just started playing the music video for the latest Kevin Keels hit, “Gift-Wrapped Heart (Please Don’t Tear the Paper).” Fisher sank a little farther into his seat.
He dug into the middle of a mountain of Monarch-sizedstar fries, and something brushed his finger. He thought maybe a napkin had mistakenly been put on the plate, but when he moved a few fries aside, he realized it was a note. He fought back his instinctive reaction with an enormous effort and went on eating, on autopilot, the brief message burned into his mind.
CHAPTER 8
All the studying and learning on earth won’t stop the surge of instinct that pops up when you realize you’re being hunted. Of course this doesn’t mean you’ll be able to run any faster.
—Fisher Bas, Personal Notes
Wham. Wham. Wham. WHAM. WHAM
.
Amanda opened her hotel room door to Fisher’s frantic knocking.
“Fisher? What’s going on?”
“Someone is on to me,” Fisher whispered. “I got a note. Someone knows about Two.”
“Who do you think it could be?” she said, looking over her shoulder to make sure her roommate was still in the shower.
“I’m not sure, but …” He gulped, and leaned even closer to Amanda. “I’m pretty sure we’re being followed.”
“Followed?” Amanda parroted, her familiar steely frown returning. “Is there something you haven’t told me?”
Fisher put his forehead in his hand, sighing through clenched teeth. “The government agency my mother wasworking for shut down the AGH project and confiscated all samples. They know some AGH is missing, and I think they suspect I took it.”
“And it didn’t occur to you to tell me this
particular
part of the story?” she said.
“I didn’t find out until we’d already made our plan. And I didn’t think I was even a suspect until today. Besides, I didn’t want to get
you
into trouble, on top of everything else.”
Amanda exhaled. “Well,” she said, “the only thing for us to do is stick to the plan. Go to the meeting with GG McGee, try and find Two from there, and get to him as fast as we can. I trust you’ll figure out a way to deal with the spies by the time we do. You escaped from TechX. How hard can dealing with a couple of government agents be?”
“Right,” Fisher said, picturing himself handcuffed to a steel chair in a windowless room.
When he returned to his room, the TV was on, and Warren, his roommate, was sitting on his bed, bouncing slightly.
“What’s on?” Fisher said. He wanted desperately to distract himself from his growing sense of peril.
“It’s a preview of
Sci-Fi: Survivor
!” Warren said cheerfully. “They’re talking about the maze, and the challenges contestants will have to face.”
The camera was sweeping dramatically over a somewhat cartoonish landscape. There were prehistoric-looking jungles of plastic and gauzy foam, with narrow walkways stretched across bubbling water that was probably about the temperature of a comfortable hot tub. Animatronic dinosaurs plodded clumsily around, swinging rubbery claws and tails. Other parts of the maze were more futuristic and were populated by shining robots that shot foam darts from rotating barrels in their chests.
“Looks fun,” said Fisher, smiling weakly. He would almost rather be chased by
real
dinosaurs than be in
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