they go blind and start bouncing off the walls!â
I remembered Ms. Yu and Assistant Principal Titlebaum. âWould enough of it kill them?â I asked.
The Brain Factory went quiet. Finally Sharyn said somberly, âWe ainât got a way to kill a Corpse, Willâ¦at least not yet. Saltwater slows them down, but it donât do nothing permanent.â
âThey usually recover within a few minutes,â added Steve.
I looked from one to the other. âButâback on Market Street, Sharyn, you chopped the arms off of one of them with that sword on your back.â
âVader,â she said, reaching up and patting the hilt.
âWhateverâthatâs got to do some damage! Donât tell me the arms just grow back!â
âThey donât,â said Steve. âBut that Corpse will just Transfer.â
âTransfer?â
âYou havenât been to First Stop,â he said.
Sharyn and I said âNoâ together, although I still didnât get what this First Stop thing was.
Steve nodded. âThen Iâll give you the short version. Corpses arenât dead human beings. Theyâre invaders who take possession of cadavers, the fresher the better, and animate them somehow. The bodies are like vehicles to themâways to get around in our world. They keep each one for a while, until it starts really falling apart. Then they just Transfer to another one. The body you describedâarmlessâwill be pretty useless to that particular Corpse. So heâll Transfer.â
âProbably already has,â said Sharyn.
âOh,â I said. âBut what about the body heâs in? I mean, why donât people see the arms that Sharyn chopped off?â
Steve explained, âThe Corpses have a way of blocking what people see. But youâll learn more about that at First Stop.â
âYou mean itâs part of their Masks,â I said. âHelene told me about Masks. She even showed me how to spot a Corpseâs Mask by holding my eyes just right.â
Steve nodded. âSame technique for seeing an autostereogram. Itâs part of the First Stop training.â
âYeah,â Sharyn added. âBut itâs good to know you got the knack for it down already. Thatâll speed things up for you.â
Great, I thought bitterly.
Steve said, âYou know, I remember giving your father a Magic Eye poster that Iâd designed and printed out. This was a while back, when we were just beginning to understand the Corpses. He was the only adult that we know of to ever have the Sightâbut he had some trouble spotting a Mask. I thought practice with it might help. Then of course heâ¦â His words trailed off. When his eyes regained focus, he found Sharyn and me staring at him.
âSorry,â he muttered.
âForget it,â said Sharyn. âRed, donât you sweat none of that for now. Come on, Iâll show you the dorms.â
I frowned at them both, my mind spinning with questions. Where had these invaders come from? How had my dad found out about them? Why had he been the only adult who could See them?
And why hadnât I known about any of this?
That was the question that hurt.
Suddenly I didnât feel like asking it. I didnât feel like asking anything.
I turned to follow Sharyn.
âWait a second,â Steve said. âBefore you go, help me test something.â
Sharyn groaned again. âThe last time you conned me into playing lab rat, my skin turned green for a week!â
âThis isnât like that. Iâve been working on a new saltwater delivery system. Tomâs worried that pistols draw too much attention for Schoolers. He asked me to come up with something lessâconspicuous. Besides, I donât want you anyway. My prototype is for somebody a littleâwell, smaller. Bill here will do.â
âWill,â I corrected impatiently.
âRight. Sorry. Come
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