26.
Teleporting is the best—and worst—way to travel. The best part is the speed. You simply say where you want to go and your molecules evaporate, fly across space, and reassemble there. In a few seconds, any distance can be covered.
The bad thing is the reorganization of your particles. It isn’t exactly painful, but it takes several seconds for your body to start functioning again.
Sometimes my lungs scream for air, and sometimes I can’t see. Sometimes both. Everyone experiences different symptoms, so you should experiment with a partner until you know what yours are.
“Time,” I said as soon as I could draw breath.
“Six forty-two,” the walls said. I sucked at the air and kept my eyes closed until the bright lights in the room infused my eyelids.
My skin crawled with the intensity of the tech. I nodded off the walls and the buzz faded to a tolerable level. I had no idea where I was, because the same white walls and gray-painted cement surrounded me. Several doors led off into dark hallways. Two closed doors had nameplates pasted on the walls next to them.
The first one read: DR. ELLIANNA KREMPT, GREENIE LEVEL 9. The Hawk. I wondered what kind of doctor she was. I tried opening the door, but it didn’t budge. Hey, I’m not above breaking and entering, but I didn’t have time.
The second nameplate said CAMERON BLAUS, GREENIE LEVEL 10. Baldie. The trust that had blossomed for him withered, even if he had said he’d worked for years to be in his position.
The Hawk, a doctor, and a Greenie. Baldie, a level ten Greenie. That sure didn’t seem to benefit me.
I surveyed the rest of the lab. Besides a wall of p-screens, counters glinted with silver tech instruments. It certainly felt like the Goodgrounds, and the middle Greenie’s words came back to me. You’re not to come back. Ever.
If I got caught here, I’d be in some real trouble. Some control-others-or-else kind of trouble.
Maybe I was still in the Badlands, still in the facility. After all, that place had some high-class tech.
I stepped to a window set into the wall next to the offices. My breath caught and I ducked. The neighboring room was the lab where I’d been tagged. Great—I was back in the Goodgrounds.
I pressed my back into the wall and brought my knees to my chest. Several deep breaths later, a whirring sound filled the lab as a cover descended over the window. All it took was a simple thought.
With the room secure, I stood. I spied a stack of phones and picked one up. A soft moan escaped my lips. The techtricity vibrated through my whole body. The phone had voice recording capabilities, a camera for still shots and video, lie detector software, iris recognizer options, surveillance security features, bar code scanners, and a GPS.
And a distance taser.
It was a weapon.
I flipped it over. The same insignia as on Baldie’s teleporter ring—one swirling eight on top and one on the bottom—twisted on the back.
A thief since age twelve, I slipped the phone in my pocket.
On the next counter, small cylinders filled two white trays. I picked one up and turned it over. Tiny bumps dotted the bottom, meant to be stabbed into the skin.
Yikes, another weapon. The same double figure eight wound around the cylinders. I recognized the symbol as two square knots, one tied over the other. Water girls know all about knots.
A handful of bio-cylinders went in my pocket. After that I didn’t stop to examine the tech items. I just took as much as the cargo pockets in my jeans would hold.
While I was pilfering through a bin on the far side of the room, a teleporter ring slipped through my fingers. “Come on.” I dug deeper, but it slid into the mishmash of tech items.
My eyes watered with the intensity of a fresh wave of techtricity. I spun and faced the terminals. Blue lights flashed along the top of one. Crouching down behind the counter, I waited.
But not alone.
Oh, no. Dad’s voice roared into my head, filling it until I couldn’t think my own thoughts.
Choose wisely. There’s more at stake here than just you. The Association needs you. I can protect you, V.
I bit down hard, tasting blood. I hated to admit it, but he’d said exactly what I hoped he would. Because I certainly needed his protection about now.