A/N: Okay, this is late, isn't it? Oh, well, I had a lot of stuff to do yesterday so...yeah. Here's the last two chapters.
Thanks for the reviews, AngelD88 and Jenna's Rules, you guys both rock!
ENJOY!
Chapter 9:
Corrine could see the intruders' silhouettes outside the doorway. They were paused, chatting. The larger figure had an arm extended to the doorknob looking down at the squat one. She looked to Josie, who couldn't see any of this but was on-guard.
"Mr. Pearson," it was Durst, "I don't know what you're hoping to find in there. It's a normal science lab…"
"Amanda, I can't explain my reasoning to you at this moment in time."
"We have to hide," Corrine whispered, and Josie nodded.
Corrine's eyes quickly ran the length of the room. Tables, bookshelves, storage cabinets, windows, sinks. She grabbed hold of Josie's hand and practically dragged her from the chair. She ran towards the nearest storage cabinet, Josie in tow, wincing when the redhead bumped into a few tables before slowing down a bit, taking her time to guide her friend better. From the corner of her eye she could see the doorknob twisting. She grabbed hold of the storage door and swung it open, shoving Josie in and cramming her own body between a life-size skeletal replica and unfinished rockets, squashed into Josie's side. She pulled the door shut, leaving just a crack open as Victor and Principle Durst entered the room.
Victor stood at the front. He looked the lab over with a discerning glare, Durst fidgeting beside him. He frowned deeply and she cleared her throat, straightening.
"Well…there…see, just as I told you. A regular old science lab," she said indignantly, "It's the same as when you were here last night. Nothing's changed."
"Something has changed," Victor murmured more to himself than to her. He paced to the window and glanced out before turning back to Durst, "The boy…"
"Lucas Randall," Durst filled in.
"I ran some preliminary tests on him after the 'incident' with some unsettling results," Victor explained, "And I believe that he may suffer permanent effects due to his exposure in the 'incident'. I can't better understand exactly what happened unless I am given the opportunity to further study the boy."
"I…understand," Durst sighed, "But he's a student. I can't simply turn him over to be a guinea pig at Pearadyne Industries. You have to understand my position…if something were to go wrong…"
"Something has already gone wrong," Victor cut in, "There are ways. His parents are concerned for his well-being, are they not?"
"Well…of course…but are you going to explain the situation to his parents?"
"No. That's not possible. But if we could get their consent to run a few standard tests…"
"Are you suggesting we…lie to them?"
"Whatever means are necessary," Victor told her. They were silent as a digitalized ringing began. Victor pulled his cellphone from his pocket, walking a ways from Durst and coming to stand in front of a storage cabinet, he lifted the cell to his ear, quietly answering, "This is Victor."
"There's a situation down at the estate."
"What sort of situation?"
"Someone has disturbed a secure area."
Victor drew in his breath seedily, "Then deal with it."
"We're trying, sir, but the system still hasn't been working properly since the blackout…"
"I thought the blackout mishap was taken care of," Victor growled into the phone, giving Principle Durst a suspicious glance, before turning his head in closer to the cabinet, and dropping his voice lower, "If anyone were to find out how ill-prepared we were to handle that blackout…let me just say, there will be a few job openings at Pearadyne Industries."
"Um…yes, sir. Luckily, the system's firewall has locked down the security. However…we can't access it. We need your override code, Mr. Pearson, sir."
Victor closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose in agitation.
"I will be there shortly," he hissed into the phone, before hanging it up and sliding it back into his pocket. He looked back to Durst, strutting across the room, "I am needed back at labs, a situation has arose. We will discuss this matter further later."
Principle Durst followed Victor from the room, thinking to say something more.
After a few moments, the storage cabinet burst open and Josie and Corrine stumbled out.
"What do you think that was about?" Corrine questioned, in regards to Victor's 'security problem'. Josie shook her head.
"I don't know. I don't care right now. Did you heard what he said to Durst about Lucas?"
"I know…but there's nothing we can do about that right now. We can tell Z and the others about it later…until then, we're still…" Corrine trailed off. She really didn't need to explain to Josie that they were still having eye trouble.
"But why are our eyes still like this?" Josie cried, throwing her hands up in the air in disgust, "We've both talked things out and forgiven each other!"
"Well…maybe it's like that time you shrunk," Corrine hypothesized, "It didn't correct itself until after you heard about the wormhole experiment Victor was going to be running outside of the school. Remember?"
"How could I forget…." Josie muttered, "But what use could possibly come from your eyes glowing and me being blind?"
"I…don't know."
When the door burst open, both girls gave cries of surprise, eyes wide in fear that Principle Durst and Victor had returned. Corrine relaxed.
"Marshall. Professor Z. You scared us," she scolded and Josie loosened as well, letting her breath out and shaking her head angrily.
"I'm sorry, girls," Professor Z replied, making his way over to them. He sighed, seeing that Corrine's eyes were still tinged green, then wagged a hand in front of Josie. She didn't react. Her own eyes pale and opaque, "I was hoping you'd of fixed your problem by now."
"You were hoping we'd of fixed our problem?" Josie demanded incredulously, "I thought that was what you boys left to do! Find out what would neutralize the effects of this zinc sulfide!"
"I'm afraid I lied a bit to you on that," Professor Z admitted sheepishly, "There is no way to neutralize the phosphor. I thought that if we left you two to talk through your problems that it would fix itself. And I didn't tell you that there was no other solution because I didn't want to worry you…did you two…talk?"
"Yeah," Corrine told him, "We reached the same conclusion you apparently did and talked things out. But…" She motioned to her eyes with her hand.
"This is…not good," Professor Z murmured.
"You're telling us?" Josie cried angrily. She wasn't exactly happy to find out they'd been deceived.
"Not your eyes," Professor Z corrected himself, then shaking his head, "I mean…yes, your eyes are perturbing at the moment, but I have faith that they will correct themselves shortly. I'm talking about Lucas and Vaughn."
"What about Lucas and Vaughn?" Josie questioned, worry overcoming her anger. Z looked expectantly to Marshall, who stepped forward.
"Victor has been keeping a file on Lucas and what happened," he explained, "Vaughn told us after we left the room. Lucas wanted to get a look at that file so he went snooping around the Pearson estate. Now he and Vaughn are locked in a room with the files. Apparently, they triggered some security system…"
"That must be what Victor was talking about," Corrine surmised. The boys looked quizzically to her, "Victor and Principle Durst were just here. We hid in the storage cabinet. They were talking about Lucas and then Victor's cell rang. It was something about someone entering a secure area."
"Great," Marshall sighed, "Victor's already on his way over. We're probably too late…he's probably got them already."
"No," Josie smirked, "He hasn't. Thanks to you, Marshall."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Marshall, your blackout apparently left them with some problems with their systems. Namely, the security system. They haven't been able to pinpoint were the breach was…in fact, their firewall locked them out. They have no access to anything," Josie explained with a grin, "We still have time."
"Though there's no telling how much," Professor Z told them, "We need a plan, quickly."
"Well…they hadn't been over there long," Marshall spoke up, "So, looking at the blueprints, I think they're probably locked in one of those rooms around the library."
"Good thinking, Marshall," Z praised, "Now, I'm guessing that their security system has the rooms divided up…like into sectors. When one sector is 'breached' the system locks that area, without affecting the others, and alerts the guards as to which sector was entered. However, since the system is not working properly…"
"You know, even if it didn't tell them which sector was locked down, they could have gone around and seen which one was," Josie mused.
"Maybe, the system locked down all the sectors," Corrine finished her thought.
"Exactly what I was thinking," Z smiled.
"Hey, when I was talking to Vaughn about how the security system in his house worked," Marshall spoke up, "He mentioned a few things that happen. Any escape routes are closed and locked; doors, windows, etc., the alarm sounds, and he mentioned that the lights go out."
"Trapping and confusing the intruder," Professor Z nodded, "Understandable."
"…and in some rooms," Marshall continued sheepishly, "The vents release a knock out gas."
"Great," Josie muttered. A sentiment shared by the others.
"But I did notice," Marshall went on, "That the house has two individual security systems. A general one for burglaries, and a more specialized one for…well…"
"Competition moles?" Corrine suggested.
"Yeah," he grinned at her, "The specialized one is only set up on certain rooms in the house. However, I did make note, that both security systems are run on the same network."
"Meaning…" Josie started, "If the specialized security system is down than…"
"The house's entire security system is down," Professor Z finished, "This is excellent."
"While they scramble to get their systems back up and running, we have time to get in there and get Lucas and Vaughn out," Marshall stepped in, "There's still one problem though…we don't know which room Vaughn and Lucas are in and we don't know how much time we have."
"Not much," Josie agreed, "The guy on the phone said that they needed Victor's override code and he's already on his way over there. "We don't exactly have much time to sit around discussing plans. I say we just head over there and bang on doors until we find them…" She started determinedly towards the direction she thought the door was in, but found herself slamming into a desk. The others watched with amusement, "Okay. Ow."
"Josie," Professor Z addressed her in a slightly, unintentional, patronizing voice, "I really don't think you should be heading over anywhere. You're still blind, remember?"
"It's not like I could forget," Josie muttered darkly, wincing as she tried to find a chair to sit on. Corrine and Marshall stepped forward to help her, "I feel so useless though! Z…what if my eyesight never comes back?"
"You can't think like that, Josie," Corrine told her gently, "Because then that'll mean that my eyes will keep glowing in the dark, and that's not a very attractive quality. I can't get into Harvard with glowing green eyes!" Josie chuckled slightly at that, but it sounded a bit disheartened, "And besides, you're not useless, Josie. You've never been useless. And I'm sure you'll find a way to not be useless in this situation…" her eyes lit suddenly and she looked to Professor Z, "Z, how are phosphors used in everyday households?"
"That was a strange and rather random question," Marshall muttered, but Z was deep in thought, stroking his chin and humming to himself, having been presented with a science question all other thoughts were momentarily pushed to the back of his mind.
"Well…let's see…phosphors are present in televisions, computer screens, fluorescent lamps, display tubes…radar screens - but that's not really a household object…" Professor Z listed, chuckling slightly to himself at the last part.
"Wait, back up. Fluorescent lamps?" Corrine interjected, then turning to Marshall, "Do you think the Pearson estate uses fluorescent light bulbs?"
"…um…I don't know…wait, actually, you know what, yes it does. They're probably more cost-efficient…or energy efficient," Marshall told her, then scrunching his nose, "Why?"
Corrine looked to Josie, who had straightened considerably having already figured out where Corrine was taking this. She smiled to the boys, "Because Josie can see my eyes."
Z and Marshall exchanged looks.
"Are you suggesting that it's not so much that she can see your eyes rather than she can see the zinc sulfide within your eyes?" Professor Z questioned.
"Yup," Josie and Corrine grinned.
"That's…interesting," Marshall mumbled.
"It's fascinating," Z corrected him, walking towards his desk, "And there's only one way to find out if it's true." He opened his top drawer and removed one of the super bouncy balls from that morning's lesson. He placed it in the palm of his hand and went forward to Josie, holding it out to her, "Josie. Take the ball from my hand."
Josie peered down at them, and it didn't take her long to snatch up what appeared to her a little green blob. Professor Z beamed to Corrine.
"It looks like you were right," he told her, then he frowned slightly, "But…you're not suggesting we send Josie over to the Pearson estate…are you?"
"No, of course not," Corrine assured him, smiling slyly, "I'm suggesting you send Josie and me to the Pearson estate," she held up a hand before Professor Z or Marshall could argue, "With my eyes glowing, I can see somewhat in the dark, but not that far in front of me. I can keep watch and help guide. Josie can see the fluorescent bulbs. She can follow them through the estate."
"I've been there a few times before," Josie pointed out, "I know my way around. And…Victor doesn't exactly strike me as the type to…redecorate."
"He does have that obsessive compulsive, a place for everything and everything in it's place quality," Marshall mused.
"We wouldn't have to use flashlights that would call attention to us. We'd be in and out in no time," Corrine explained.
"I don't like it," Professor Z frowned, shaking his head. Corrine frowned as well.
"Oh? And you like the idea of you and Marshall stumbling about in the dark with flashlights flickering around like a signal to every security guard in the area? My eyes are less noticeable than a flashlight and Josie doesn't need a light at all."
"I am blind," Josie put in casually.
Professor Z sighed, looking between the two girls. He didn't like the idea of sending both of them in danger alone with their 'handicaps'. But then, he didn't like the idea of going in there with just him and Marshall as well. If he were to get caught, his job would be on the line. And who would watch out for his beloved science club members if he were to be fired? They had a tendency to get into tight spots, and he could never forgive himself if something happened to one of them because he wasn't there to watch their backs and help them out. He rubbed the bridge of his nose in agitation.
"Don't have a lot of time here…" Jose reminded Z. He took a deep breath.
"Alright," he agreed, "The girls will go in. But…" he looked to Marshall, "Not without some way of staying in contact with us." Marshall snapped his fingers, knowing exactly what Z was talking about.
"I'll get some walkie-talkies right now," he told them, racing from the room without another word. Professor Z turned to Josie and Corrine, who were anxiously chatting to one another their strategy.
"You girls are to stay low," he said, and they nodded irately, Josie even rolling her eyes, "I'm serious. Keep alert, and keep in constant contact with Marshall and me. If you are caught…"
"We'll just tell them we were there with Vaughn and got lost from him when the lights went out," Josie assured Z, "It's not like this is the first time we've snuck in somewhere."
Professor Z sighed. That was, unfortunately, true. The girls were practically experts at it.
-00000-
Vaughn was slumped on the floor unhappily, his head buried in his knees. He wasn't sure how long they'd been there, but it felt like forever. He wasn't exactly thrilled with being trapped in the dark, and then stuck with Lucas was a completely different story. He wasn't sure how to describe the feelings he was having towards the other boy, but anger and loathe seemed to be the predominant emotion. They were both silent as chatting was out of the question. It would only lead to Josie, which would only lead to a fight. He looked up, when he heard shuffling, and the sound of papers being rumpled. Lucas was digging through one of the file cabinets, his tiny flashlight held between his teeth. He pulled a file out and flipped it open, removing the light from his mouth and running it over the papers.
"What are you doing?" Vaughn demanded haughtily, sitting up and starting to his feet.
"Looking through your dad's files," Lucas answered distractedly. He was skimming through the papers he held, before clicking his tongue, closing the file, and shoving it back where it was. He rummaged through the manila folders once more. After a moment, he sighed, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling as Vaughn bore his eyes into him. Lucas turned to the other boy, "We have no idea how long we're going to be here for, so we should take advantage of our situation. Besides, it'll pass the time quicker," he frowned at Vaughn, rolling his eyes, "It could help Josie." Vaughn shifted slightly, "Fine, have it your way," Lucas muttered, looking back to the files.
"If you want to find the file on you, you would have to have an idea of how my dad's filing system works," Vaughn spoke up. Lucas paused, staring intently at the mess of papers.
"I guess I would. But unfortunately, I don't."
"Yeah. You don't," Vaughn said, he glanced at Lucas, "But I do." Lucas turned to him, raising an eyebrow.
"Then how does it work?"
Vaughn stepped towards the file cabinets, running his fingers over the labels of each drawer, "My dad keeps his things in order of priority, interest, and connection. I would say, right now, your file is of top priority and interest to him."
"I'm flattered," Lucas muttered sarcastically.
"And, your file is connected to the Oubliette Project," Vaughn went on, disregarding Lucas's remark. He paused at one of the cabinets, his finger tapping the drawer handle, "Which is connected to NanoElite, the company my dad is working with on the project." He pulled the drawer open, shuffling through the papers, "The Oubliette Project is of highest confidentiality," he stopped, smiling up at Lucas, "Which means it would be in the most inconspicuous place, under a code name." He pulled a file out and plopped it on top of the cabinet, looking triumphantly to Lucas and crossing his arms over his chest. Lucas took a step forward.
The folder was quite plump, which did not bode well with Lucas. With trembling fingers, he traced the edge of the folder, taking a deep breath and trying to calm his heart pounding erratically in his chest. He carefully opened the folder and leaned over it to begin reading. His eyes widened.
"I don't believe it."
END A/N: The last chapter is really long. This is kind of a cliffhanger, isn't it? Meh. Yay, it's coming to an end...so sad...
Anyways, please excuse any grammatical and typing errors. REVIEWs are appreciated.
Thanks for reading.