Chapter 13 Research

After my quick initiation, we were now flying over Phoenix Arizona. I was amazed at the tall buildings; I have never seen a skyscraper before.

"Hey look!" Angel pointed to a curved silver building just below us. "That's the Burton Barr Library. I saw pictures of it once it looks really cool inside."

"Hey, I saw that too. It was rated top 9 on the Travel Channel for most outrageous bathrooms," commented Gazzy.

"Sounds awesome!" He and Iggy slapped mid-air high fives. I was amazed at how practiced they were at flying. They could fly so close to each other without getting their wings tangled.

"Can we go Max please?" Angel begged.

"Alright" Max sighed giving in.

As we came closer we could a see a twisted arrow sign that pointed to the library. We stopped nearby and hid behind a wall before we covered our wings and went inside.

The place was huge! The building was five floors and accommodated with glass windows and a stainless steel staircase that led to a loft above us. You could see people chatting and having a good time at the coffee shop above us.

"Wow! This place is huge!" Nudge exclaimed reading my mind.

Rows and rows of tables spread out in front of in the vast space and the area was line with thousands of books.

Max pointed to the ground. "Everyone meet back here in 30 minutes." She narrowed her eyes at Iggy and Gazzy "and behave your selves."

They both saluted jokingly. "Roger that Max," they said in unison.

Angel and Gazzy ran over to the glass elevator immediately pressing buttons to make it come down. I shook my head; I don't know why that would interest them. They can actually fly.

Iggy and Nudge walked off to the books and Max and Fang went upstairs to the coffee shop. I had my eyes set on the dozens and dozens of computers. Maybe I could find some information on the lab I was kept in for so long.

I walked over to a vacant computer and immediately began searching for articles on illegal animal testing, and recombinant DNA studies. Thankfully, most of the articles were in German so I could read them at least.

I sifted through the articles. '200 Dead in Lab Explosion' France Challenges EU Animal Testing Ban' 'Lab Shut Down for Illegal Animal Testing'

I sighed none of these articles were useful. I searched for a list of large labs involving human embryo research and three pages showed up on the screen consisting of over a hundred labs.

'That's more than there should be. Especially, considering it's a fairly new science. I wonder how many of them are decoys.'

I scrolled through the list until I found a name that sounded familiar. Malticorp, I had overheard some scientists talking about it before.

I clicked on the link and a page with a government logo popped up. I couldn't read it but I assumed it said 'Government Top Secret Keep Out,' just another secret to add to their collection.

I continued to scroll through the list until I found another familiar name, Itex. I clicked on the link and this time a page opened with an informational page all about it. Except for the illegal stuff of course.

It said that they were the leading producer of many products from baby bottles to hypodermic needles (no surprise there). They also have a research lab funded by the military for projects such as killer robots and invisibility. I wonder if we're part of that project too.

I searched for Itex and soon discovered 'The Institute for Higher Living'. Suspicious? According, to blogs and forums people were suspecting illegal animal testing going on there and it contained much of Itex's research and documents.

That's all I needed to hear.

I walked up the stairs to find Max. She was sitting at a table nearest the door. She had head in her hands from a headache probably. Fang was sitting across from her.

"Max." She turned slowly. "Come with me." I looked at Fang "You too."

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"But New York is so big it could take days to find Itex." Nudge exclaimed.

Everyone gathered around me to stare at the screen. I had shown them the article on Itex, not that they could read it, but I explained what it said.

They were curious of my ability to read German at first, but the possibility of there being documents on their parents over rides the fact.

Fang crossed his arms stared intently. "Even if we did go to there, it will probably be swarming with Erasers!"

"Not necessarily, if New York is as big as you say it is then it is probably not as heavily guarded." I pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Fang inquired.

"Think about it, if you were to see a heavily guarded building wouldn't you be curious about it? Mystery and rumors works the same way for haunted houses. If you were to see a rusty old abandoned building no rumors or anything special as far as you could see, you wouldn't think twice about looking inside, and no one knows what it looks like."

Iggy thought about it and smiled, "You have a point there, but they also make the biggest explosions."

Max rubbed her temples. "Please tell me you don't plan to blow up New York?"

Fang turned his attention away from me. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked Max with concern.

"I'm fine it's just a headache as usual."

A woman, who looked to be about my age walked by. She didn't look like a librarian but she had a nametag with the library's decal on it. "Can I help you with anything?" she asked.

"No we're fine." I went back to searching.

"All right, she handed me a flyer with a picture of a bunch of kids in a reading circle. You should come sometime she motioned to Angel and Gasman."

"Thanks," said Max. The woman nodded and walked away. I looked at the flyer and gave it to the kids who weren't really interested.

"How are we supposed to find the place if we don't know what looks like?" Iggy wondered.

I shook my head. "Look for a unsuspecting place?" That was the main problem with the situation the Institute could be anything.

All of a sudden the screen flashed a map of New York City appeared and coordinates were typed. I looked around no had their hands on the keyboard. The map zoomed in on a street address.

Everyone stared speechless at what just happened. Except for Iggy. "Huh? Did I miss something?"

Nudge pointed at the screen. "I think the location of the Institute just appeared."

I nodded. "I think so too."