CHAPTER FOUR- The Mistake
Chase sighed as he looked at the closed library door. He knew things weren't all right between him and Bree. They hadn't been all right for a long time now. And this development with Douglas added another layer to the drama.
He had wanted to tell her that Douglas had contacted him. It had been on the tip of his tongue. He could tell his whole family what was going on, and maybe they could work out a plan to capture him together, as a team.
Just as he was about to tell her, her remembered their conversation earlier in the day.
"Have you been spying on us?"
"I heard you talking to your brother on the phone. And yeah, I may have 'accidently overheard' a few things that happened at home."
Douglas had been watching them. Listening to them. And he could be listening right now. Not only would he tip Douglas off by talking to his family, he might put them in danger as well.
So he had blamed his exit from dinner on stress from the fight. He was pretty sure Bree hadn't bought it, and that she was still upset with him, but at least he had bought himself some time.
Chase wasn't naïve enough to think that Douglas truly wanted to help him and give him more abilities without expecting something in return. Contacting him, and going with him, would be pretty dangerous. Still, he was tired of Douglas's lingering presence in all of their lives. Chase knew they were being watched, and he knew Douglas would come back at some time. They all knew it. It added a layer of stress and tension that was wearing on all of them.
They needed to be rid of "Uncle Dougie," once and for all.
And now, he had the opportunity to get the upper hand. He would have to be quick, and he would have to be smart. But if he could get close to Douglas, Chase was certain he could capture him before he could do further harm to their family.
I can do this. By myself. I'll take him down, and he won't be able to bother us anymore. And they will see that I'm just as strong as they are.
Chase pulled the piece of paper with Douglas's number on it out from under the folder where he had hidden it. He stared at it for a while.
I'll have to get close to Douglas to do this.
My family will think I betrayed them.
He pulled out his phone and set it next to the paper.
They're already mad at me because of the mission. This will make it worse. But I'm sick of them picking on me and blaming me for everything.
He picked up the phone.
I won't be betraying them. I'll be saving them. I can do this. I'll show all of them.
Carefully, Chase punched in the numbers. Then he waited.
Nothing happened.
He waited two, three, then five minutes.
Still nothing.
Chase glared at the phone. What kind of game was Douglas playing with him? What if he had inadvertently given him the upper hand by revealing his cell phone number?
Just as he was about to give up and go back downstairs, his phone beeped, notifying him of a new text message from an unlisted number. It was brief and to the point. One word.
TOMORROW.
Keeping his secret for the rest of the evening proved to be harder than Chase thought it would be.
Not long after Bree left the library, Adam had shown up with an "apology" of his own.
"I'm sorry I left you at school," he had said. "You're just so tiny, I didn't see you standing there!"
Chase had rolled his eyes. "Really, Adam? If this is your idea of apologizing, you're really, really bad at it."
"OK, OK. I'm sorry I made you walk home. Now will you stop pouting up here like a little girl and come downstairs for some video games? I need an easy opponent."
Chase had grudgingly accepted the apology and the offer. Normally, video games would be a good distraction. But several times while they were playing, he noticed Bree still eyeing him suspiciously. He quickly let Adam win and moved down to the lab. For the rest of the evening, Chase kept himself busy by doing routine tasks on his laptop like updating the operating systems and defragging the hard drive. Neither Bree nor Adam were interested in that kind of thing, so they left him alone after that.
Several times, he almost told them what was going on. But the idea of Douglas overhearing any plans they might make stopped him. Plus, he didn't want to put Adam and Bree in danger.
I can do this. I can do this. I just need to gain his trust long enough to get the bionic upgrades. Then I can overpower him and bring him back to Mr. Davenport.
He changed into his pajamas and slipped into his capsule early, pretending to be asleep by the time his siblings came to bed.
That night, he dreamed of the avalanche again. He had dreamed of it many times since it happened. Of being cold, and trapped, and of no one coming to help him.
This time, he dreamed he was in his capsule. Snow swirled all around outside. Although the snow couldn't touch him, the cold still came through the capsule walls, chilling him. He tried to open the door but found it locked. He couldn't open it, and he couldn't break through the walls, either.
Outside, he could see his brother and sister, looking for him. He tried to call out to them, but they couldn't hear him over the wind. Just as they were almost close enough to touch the capsule, Douglas appeared, staring at them and grinning evilly.
In his dream, Chase heard Bree scream. He jerked awake, heart pounding and palms sweaty.
He looked at his siblings, but they were still asleep. Their alarm wouldn't go off for another hour, but he went ahead and got up anyway.
The rest of the day was almost normal. They all went to school and went to their classes as usual. But Chase found it hard to concentrate, as he was constantly wondering how Douglas would contact him. What if he came busting through the front door with a tank or something?
In the end, the contact was quiet and simple. Just after lunch, as he was heading to economics class, his phone beeped, signaling a new text message.
OUTSIDE
Chase looked around. The halls were crowded with students making their way to class. No one was really paying attention to him. Chase hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder, put his head down, and casually walked out the front door.
The same car Douglas had been in yesterday was parked in the front of the lot, waiting for him. Chase took a deep breath, then strolled over and opened the door.
Douglas grinned at him. "Glad you could make it. Let's go for a ride."
Chase did not smile back.
Leo entered his geometry class with a frown. Why did his least favorite class have to come right after lunch? The boring topic combined with his full belly made staying awake nearly impossible.
He set his books down on his usual desk with a sigh. Why couldn't school just end after lunch? He could go home, take a nap, goof off for a while…anything but sit through a lecture on right angles and isosceles triangles.
Leo looked wistfully out the window.
He was just in time to see his brother climb into a strange car, which pulled away as soon as he shut the door.
Leo blinked a few times, but the vision still held. He felt his stomach jump nervously. Did that just happen? Did Chase really just leave school with a stranger?
Class had not technically started yet. Leo jumped up and dashed out into the hall before Mr. Bryant could start his lesson.
He was pulling out his cell phone to call home when he heard the familiar screech of Principal Perry shouting his name. "DOOLEY! Where do you think you're going?"
Leo skidded to a stop and began to stutter. "Well, that is, um…I really need to make a call. Like, now."
Principal Perry laughed as if this was the funniest joke she had ever heard. "Being late for class AND using a cell phone during school hours? Dooley, you crack me up sometimes. Come on, hand it over."
"But it's an emergency. For real!"
"Yeah, sure. That's what they all say. Now, give me the phone. If you're lucky, I'll give it back after your detention today."
"Detention?!" Leo glanced towards the door desperately. "But I really need to get home today!"
Principal Perry snatched the phone from his hand. "No, you really need to get to class before you get detention for the rest of the week! Now, shoo!"
Leo sighed in exasperation and trudged back to class in defeat. He knew he wouldn't hear a word Mr. Bryant was saying, or anything that was said in any of his other classes, either.
Chase was in trouble.
Their destination was not what Chase had been expecting.
The drive was fairly short. After about forty-five minutes, Douglas pulled up in front of a non-descript house out in the empty desert surrounding the city. The house looked completely normal, although a bit out of place in the barren landscape.
Chase squinted as he stepped out of the car into the bright sunlight and surveyed the house. "This is it?"
"Well, what did you expect? A big flashing "secret lair" sign?"
Chase rolled his eyes. He honestly hadn't known what to expect, but this cozy cottage out in the desert certainly wasn't it. "Your old lab got destroyed. I figured you were on the run."
"You think I don't have more than one lab? Always have a back-up plan, Chase. Or two or three. I have several hideouts in various locations."
It was unnerving to think that Douglas had been so close by all this time. How many times had he watched them come and go from school? How many times had he parked near their house to spy on them?
Chase hung back as Douglas unlocked the front door of the house. Douglas turned back towards him after he pushed the door open. "You coming?"
"Um, yeah. I guess."
"Relax, Chase," Douglas said with a smile as he ushered him into the house. "You're free to leave any time you want. Just say the word and I'll take you back home. But I bet you want to see my lab first. It's almost as nice as Donnie's."
Chase followed him through the house, which was furnished with simple, functional furniture and decorated in neutral colors. It looked like a normal home, except that it was almost too perfect. Nothing seemed out of place, and there were no signs that anyone actually lived there.
At the far end of the kitchen, Douglas opened another door and lead Chase down a staircase into a basement. At the bottom of the stairs, Chase stopped and stared, impressed. The basement was one big room, furnished with computers, tools, radars, tv screens, and instrument panels. Chase recognized some of the same equipment that Mr. Davenport had in his own lab. Other pieces were foreign to him. At the back of the room stood a capsule just like Marcus's. Chase glanced around nervously, half expecting another android teenager to appear to finish him off.
"Well? What do you think?" Douglas asked.
"Not bad," Chase admitted. He walked over to the main control panel and ran his finger along the side of it. "And you can upgrade my chip and give me new abilities with this stuff?"
"That's the plan," Douglas said. "First, I need to do a scan of your bionic systems. See what changes Donald has made over the years." He joined Chase at the instrument panel. "You just need to stand over there and let the scanner check you out. It won't take long."
Chase looked at Douglas nervously.
"I'll show you exactly what program I'm running. See?" Douglas motioned to the monitor above the control panel. "Just a simple scan. Nothing more."
Chase examined the read-out. It looked just like the scans Mr. Davenport ran periodically on him and his siblings. "OK. Where do I stand?"
"Right there." Douglas pointed to a spot three feet in front of the panel. Chase complied, and Douglas entered a sequence on the instrument panel. A metal arm with a light on the end of it came out of the side of the panel and began moving up and down, scanning him with a beam of red light.
"Hmmm…" Douglas mumbled. "Donald has made some changes. And I see you unlocked some of your hidden abilities." He looked up at Chase and grinned. "How do you like the molecular kinesis?"
Chase smiled in spite of himself. "It is pretty fun."
"Comes in handy, doesn't it? That one was all my idea. Donnie didn't even think it was possible!" The monitor beeped, signaling the end of the scan.
"So," Chase asked, "are we starting with super strength or super speed?"
"Why not both?" Douglas replied. "Your chip already has room for those capabilities. I just need to upgrade it." He motioned for Chase to come around to his side of the instrument panel and pointed to a USB drive. "Just plug yourself in there and the program will download into your system. Should only take about fifteen minutes or so."
Chase obediently slid the USB in his finger into the drive. Fifteen minutes, and Adam will never be able to toss me across the room again. Fifteen minutes, and I'll be faster than Bree. They will have to respect me as mission leader after that.
Fifteen minutes felt like a long time. Douglas watched the progress on the monitor and made occasional adjustments on the keypad. Finally the machine chirped out a beep, indicating the upgrade was complete.
Chase pulled his finger out of the drive. He didn't feel any different. He looked up at Douglas, who was watching him closely.
"Aren't you going to try it out?" He pointed to a barrel sitting in the corner. "That barrel weighs 200 pounds. Try to pick it up."
Chase bent his knees, wrapped his arms around the barrel, and lifted with his legs, just like he had always seen Adam do. The barrel went flying up, over his head and across the room, landing just in front of the instrument panel.
Douglas laughed after the barrel came to rest against the console. "Takes a little getting used to, doesn't it?"
Chase was stunned. Not only had he lifted 200 pounds, he had lifted it easily! "I thought it would be harder than that. No wonder Adam throws me across the room so often. That was fun!"
"And now, you can get back at him."
"That's not why I'm doing this," Chase said quickly. "I just…want to be a better mission leader."
Douglas rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right." He pressed a few more buttons on the instrument panel, which chirped again in response. "Speaking of Adam, don't you think it's time you got back home? School is out. They're probably wondering where you are." He motioned to the backpack that Chase had left sitting by the stairs. "Don't forget your books."
Chase tensed. This was the crucial part of his plan. He had to bring Douglas back home with him before his uncle could do anything to hurt him. Of course, with this new super strength, that shouldn't be a problem.
Deliberately, Chase crossed the room towards where his uncle was standing. "I thought maybe you would like to come with me."
Douglas smiled. "I don't think that's going to happen." He keyed in another sequence, and suddenly Chase's body stopped in mid-stride. Every muscle, every nerve, every part of his body froze, as if it no longer knew how to respond. Or as if it were waiting for instructions from someone or something else.
Chase tried to speak, but even his mouth seemed to be frozen. He could only stare at Douglas, who was staring back at him with that same creepy, unnerving smile.
Douglas hit a key, and Chase's body came back to life. He stumbled forward and caught himself before falling down completely. "What….what was that?"
"Just trying out my Triton ap."
Chase stared in horror at his uncle.
"But…you said…"
"That I destroyed it? Do you really think I wouldn't keep a back-up copy? I just needed to get one of you here, so I could install it on your system. I know what you were thinking, Chase. You would get your bionic upgrades and then overpower me. Well, that's not happening. I'm your creator, and the creator always has to stay one step ahead of the creation."
His adrenaline was rising, making his bionic abilities kick in to high gear. Chase turned to run, knowing that it was time to abort the plan and super-speed back home. But before he could take a step, his body froze again. Douglas was typing more, inputting more commands.
And Chase's body was responding to them.
Douglas finished his typing and walked with slow, deliberate strides over to where Chase was frozen. "You're going to speed yourself back home and install this program on Adam and Bree's chips. Then, all three of you will come back here. Forget Donald, forget your life in Mission Creek, forget being a hero. You are mine again, and from now on, you work for me."
Chase could not move. Could not speak. Could not protest.
He could only stand there, frozen, realizing that he had made a terrible, terrible mistake.
END CHAPTER