Disclaimer: James Patterson owns Maximum Ride. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter 25

"I'm not even going to ask how you did that." Iggy declared as I pointed out the door. Everyone oriented themselves so they could watch as I grasped the slightly slimy handle and pulled.

It was locked, of course but thanks to my privacy violating strawberry blond friend we were able to open it. I couldn't even begin to count the number of times I'd caught Iggy violating my privacy with his lock picking techniques. The first time it had happened was when we were seven and he picked the lock on my diary. I'd found him acting out my private thoughts before my giggling little sister. I'd hit him upside the head and stuffed a dirty sock in his mouth for it. It hadn't stopped him from doing it in the future, it had just forced him to become more creative. That experience had, however, put me off of diary keeping for life.

"Twenty-five seconds, I think that's a personal best." I informed Iggy as he stowed his lock picking kit back in his bag.

"Naw, I've done better. Like that time when we were fifteen and you wouldn't let me in your room so I—"

"Enough!" I interrupted, ignoring Nudges giggles and Iggy's smirk. I didn't need a reminder of the incident responsible for the chain lock that I'd installed on the inside of my bedroom door. "Let's get going."

The door swung open with a teeth grating shriek revealing a dark, endless staircase ahead of us. Going down of course.

"Yeah, this is what we need," Fang muttered. "A staircase going down to the Dark Place."

"You first Max." Iggy said, ever the gentleman.

I pushed forward despite my fear for what we might find at the bottom and started descending the stairs.

"So," I heard Fang whisper to Iggy. "What happened when you guys were fifteen?"

"Tell him and you die," I hissed into the darkness.

A few moments of silence, then "Sorry man, but she scares me more than you do."

The stairs ended after about forty feet. I was beginning to wonder how far below the streets of New York we were. In front of me stood another door. This one was made of a thick wood and, lo and behold, was unlocked. I guess they figured the only people who got this far were meant to be here. They obviously underestimated the willpower of a pissed off Maximum Martinez and her motley crew.

The tension in the air mounted as I twisted the knob, fully expecting a swarm of mutant dog-things to burst out and maul me. Instead the door opened to a small room the size of a walk in closet. Cool air washed over me, a great relief from the stench of the sewers above, as motion censored lights flickered to life. The room ended in another door.

"This is beginning to feel like one of those Chinese Doll's. Open one and there's another one waiting." Iggy commented. "First the subway, then the sewer, then the door, then the last door, and now this door. How many more are there?"

"Well that's the funny thing about the Chinese Dolls, Iggy." I informed him as I strode forward to the other door. "It has to end somewhere."

And then I opened the last door.

…..

"Um….wow." Nudge breathed as she took in the sight before her. "How is all of this down here?"

That was a good question. I'm not sure why I was stunned by the sight before me. Honestly, after the School nothing should have surprised me when it came to the scientists ability to make the seemingly impossible possible. But this did.

The room was almost an exact replica of the School. Sterile white surfaces, cool air thick with the smell of disinfectant, rows and rows of computers, some taller than me, dry erase boards littered with diagrams and formulas.

It was empty.

I guess even evil geniuses go home for dinner. There was no need for nighttime security down here below the sewers. Most people weren't stupid enough to come searching down here. The only thing I was worried about running into was the dog things. I could practically feel their presence somewhere in the facility, however the room in front of us was empty of any experiments.

With silent footsteps we made our way through the rows of computers. All of their screens were dark aside from one at the far corner whose screen glowed blue.

"Nudge," I whispered as I pointed to it. "You're up."

With a nod she slipped into the rolling chair that went to the computer terminal and started typing. Fang and I both leaned over her shoulders as we watched her type in seemingly random numbers and letters.

"Impressive," Fang whispered as the computers lock screen dissolved into the default background of the desktop, a picture of two children smiling at the camera. Apparently the man—as I could tell by the Bud-Light advertisement and Sports Illustrated magazine tucked into the top drawer—was a proud father. The image on the screen completely contradicted my idea of a mad scientists personality. They were supposed to have pictures of tortured animals as their background, not a happy family.

"Right," Nudge said as she clicked a bunch of buttons and pulled up what looked like a search engine though I hadn't seen her click the internet button. "All we need to do is type in what we're looking for and it will automatically search everything that this computer has stored on it and everything it has access too based on this persons security clearance." She turned to look at me. "What do you want me to type in?"

My throat instantly went dry and it took me two tries to finally get the words out.

"Batchelder. Jeb and Anne Batchelder."

Nudges fingers seemed to blur over the keyboard as she typed and suddenly dozens of new windows were popping up.

"All of this?" I choked out, my grip on the computer desks edge tightening until the tips of my fingers went white. "All of this has to do with…with my parents?" There was so much information! At the School we'd gotten virtually nothing in connection to them whether that was because we didn't have Nudge's skills or because they hadn't had anything on them I didn't know. "Wh-where do we start?"

"Well from what I see most of these documents say Jeb and Anne Batchelder because they were the lead researchers on the experiments in question. A few of these are orders they've given too. Seems like they're pretty high up in this…organization."

"Does any of it say where they are? Are they here in New York? Or are they at some other facility?" I demanded in rapid fire, my breathing coming notably faster.

"Alright," Nudge said a few clicks later. "It says here that the last time the Batchelder's were at this facility was over a year ago," I felt my throat tighten, "but it says that they've been continuing their work at the Florida facility."

"Are you sure?" I demanded, pushing my face closer to the screen so I could read what she was reading.

"Yeah, right here…" she pointed to the line she was reading from. "It says that they are currently working on a top level security experiment in their Florida facility. It even has a link to type of chat room set up within the organization that keeps all people who have access to it updated. Anne Batchelder last updated her experiments progress two days ago."

Hmm, evil scientists with Facebook. Who would have guessed?

"This chat room, how do people get on to it?" I asked as I scanned the website. If the police had this then they'd have the names of most of the people doing the illegal genetic testing, not to mention some pretty incriminating evidence.

"They have to have access to a computer with a secure link that's probably built into the computer itself. In terms of what you're thinking, we'd have to get the police here."

"So do it." I said.

"What?" Both she and Fang turned to stare at me.

"You heard me. You and Iggy stay here in New York while Fang and I go to Florida. That way you can bring them down here, they can get their evidence, and meet us in Florida to get my parents. Case closed."

"It's not that simple Max—" Nudge started.

"What's not simple? Look at this chat page! It has hundreds of scientists discussing different experiments. They're all over the world! Look," I thrust my finger at the computer screen. "This one's from Australia, and this ones from England. Oh, and all of these scientists are from Germany. This operation is huge. The authorities need this information ASAP. Imagine what kind of damage those scientists can do in just a short period of time."

"We broke in here! Anything we tell them isn't exactly usable evidence." She argued.

I smirked and the words fell from my lips before my brain even had time to process them.

"The way I see it, we didn't break in. My parents are some of the head honchos for this organization. So their daughter decided to bring some friends to the work place? It's not breaking in, especially because this facility is built on the city's property. And the door to the lab wasn't even locked. Print off everything you just pulled up on my parents, all of it, and wait here for the FBI guys from Montana. When they get here bring them down. They'll be able to see this place first hand and you can get them on to the chat room. Even the FBI can figure out where to go from there."

"I don't know how you do it." Fang murmured. "You're either one of the most twisted people I know, or the smartest." I flushed with resilient pride.

"But why do you have to go to Florida? Can't you just stay here and wait with us?" Nudge demanded.

"No. I have to find my parents. I want to hear what they have to say for themselves before the police get to them. And to do that I need to get to them before the police get here. As soon as the police get to the Institute they'll know about it and they'll be on the run. I need to stop that."

"But—"

"Uh, guys?" Iggy—who had given up joining us at the computer in favor of snooping around—interrupted our conversation. His tone of voice had us all on edge before he'd even finished talking. "We have a problem."

Oh boy, what do you think Iggy found?

I'm so excited today! I went to one of my best friends signings! She's officially committed to playing soccer for a college team! I'm so proud of her. :) Needless to say it's put me in a good mood and is possibly responsible for this update. :)

So. Have any of you guys ever played with those Chinese puzzle dolls? They can be very annoying at times. I know how Iggy feels. :(

Thank you all for the fantastic reviews! Read and Review!

Peace!