"Cammie?" I whispered. "What's up?"

"I recognize those guys… They were in a folder in my mom's office. What was that folder for?" She muttered, to herself. Or, I hoped she was talking to herself, because I sure didn't know.

"Nevermind, it's not important right now." She said finally. "We'll get their prints as soon as they leave, and then run them with the other ones."

I nodded and we sat quietly, waiting for them both to disappear. On Cammie's nod, we stood up and started dusting for prints. From the window, I could see the two run across the lawn, trading stealth for speed. Cammie came up beside me and told me that the security guards were waiting for them. I laughed, glad that they weren't our problem anymore. We spent about five minutes getting any prints that were there, and then cleaning up. We decided not to tell anyone what we were doing, but at that moment Bex and Liz ran down the stairs. With a glance, Cammie and I agreed to fill them in on what was happening.

"Hey girls. Come with us, okay?" Cammie said. They nodded, and followed us downstairs and toward the lab.

***

I had told the teacher debriefing me everything, including Bex and Liz's reactions (which, by the way, was Bex getting mad at herself for sleeping through it, and Liz praising herself for sleeping through it, and then asking if she could run tests on any DNA we had collected. We let her, but Cammie insisted that Liz show me what she was doing. I think I learned more than I had the whole last semester I had spent at my old school). Cammie had too, and we met up with Bex and Liz for lunch. They agreed that it was amazing, and Zach gave us a tour of the school (well, a tour of the parts of the school we hadn't already seen). After about an hour, we passed a vending machine and I pulled a dollar out of my pocket.

"What should I get?" I asked the girls, grinning. Cammie leaned over my shoulder and Liz and Bex came on either side of me.

"Go for D16." Liz suggested. I noticed that it was a 20 ounce bottle of Sprite, so I shrugged and put my dollar in the slot. As I pressed the keys, Cammie looked at Liz.

"Why D16?" she asked.

"It's logical. The D is higher up, which would be harder to reach from the ground, like if someone was hurt, and it's by the glass, not by the edge, so you can't use the edge to pull yourself up. Then in sixteen, the one and six aren't right next to each other. I'm guessing that stairs will come down, where ordering something like F9 will open a secret hallway right next to the machine, so you could crawl or slide yourself into it and be safe."

I pushed the six and my soda fell down. I reached in to get it, and my change fell into the little slot. I didn't reach for it right away, but waited to see if a staircase would come down. When it didn't, I shrugged and reached in to get my change. Twenty five cents, I thought. Why would they give me a quarter back? It says it costs a dollar. I heard a scratching sound from behind me, and spun around. The door that had been on the other side of the hall was moving up, and was quickly replaced by a staircase. I looked at Liz, who smiled.

"Cool," she said. "It worked."

"Why didn't it come down right away?" Cammie muttered.

"Wait," I said, thinking. "I pressed D16, the soda fell. I reached in to get the soda, the change fell. The staircase didn't show up until I had gotten my change." I stopped, not knowing exactly where I was going with it. Fortunately, Liz did.

"Right. You can't just order something and leave it. You actually have to go through the motions and make it look natural. And…" she bent down and pushed on the change slot. "It checks your fingerprint." She stood up. "That's why you have to get both the soda and your change, and that's why it says it costs a dollar, but gives you a quarter back."

"Not everyone would know that it gave you change back. They'd get the soda, and walk off." I added.

"Exactly," Bex said. "But then anyone could come, get the change, and open a passageway."

"Nope," Zach said, entering the conversation for the first time. "The big slot reads fingerprints too. They two readings have to match the one that pushed the buttons. Also, some of the passages read your fingerprints as you enter them, and close behind you. Val, let everyone go up that staircase before you."

I nodded, and the girls and Zach started up the stairs. "What now?" I called to my brother.

"You can come up."

I nodded, even though he couldn't see me, and started up. I heard the scratching noise again, and saw the door starting back down. I ducked my head and hurried up the stairs.

"Cool, huh?" Zach asked once I reached the landing.

"Very." I looked around. "Um, where are we?"

"Currently? In a hallway." Zach said.

"Coming up next on duh." I rolled my eyes. "Where are we going?"

"To the roof."

"Okay… That wasn't the answer I was expecting." I said, looking back at Cammie. She shrugged. I did too, and then followed my brother.

A/N: Sorry. I have no excuse for taking so long. Okay, actually I do. But I don't think it's a very good one. Um, but yeah. I wrote the ending for this story today. That basically seals the promise that I'll finish it. Usually my problem is not wanting to end it. But the ending is written. Now I just have to get there. I'm guessing that this story will be about 30 chapters long, maybe less.

I have two announcements: 1) To the people that want me to switch to Cammie's point of view – This is Val's story, not Cammie's. So the story will stay in Val's P.O.V. Maybe I'll write the next story from Cammie's eyes.

2) To those that want a good Cammie/Zach fic, ie no fighting – what's the fun in that?! I can say right now that they will get in a fight. Don't hate me, it has to happen. I'll take care of them, okay? Don't worry.

3 you all, Cass.