7
Transfer Complete
“You still have it, right?” Jennifer asked as they walked away from the security checkpoint, up past the little deli-come-newsstand.
“Let’s get out of sight and I’ll show you,” Bugs said.
They turned a corner near the Water Department where there was a set of double doors that led into the stairwell. The handle had a place to insert a key card along the top.
“Watch this,” he said, shoving his arm in his pocket up to his elbow.
“Like, what the heck are you doing?” Jennifer asked, looking away from the boy fumbling through his pants.
“Getting this,” Bugs said, pulling out the key card. He held out the pocket itself, showing Jennifer the large hole in the bottom.
“These runners are pretty old,” he said. “When I reached back in to empty them I used the edge of the card to pop some of the stitches, then I dropped it right in.”
“Wouldn’t it fall through though?” she asked.
“Nope,” he said. “These pants have a mesh lining that sewn to the bottom. The legs are basically huge pockets.”
“Here, I’ll fix them for you,” Jennifer said. She tapped he index finger on the outstretched fabric. The two sides of the holes began to close, fibers sliding over fibers, until the two sides fused together in the middle.
“So that’s your deal? You’re a super tailor or something?” Bugs said.
“It’s, like, a little more complicated. Anyway, at least I’ve got a power,” she said.
“It’s not like I don’t want one.”
Jennifer leaned in, whispering into his ear. “You want to know how to get one?”
“Duh,” he said.
“Fail this mission. That’s all you have to do. Then they’ll take you downstairs. You’ll get a power. Could be a good one. Could be bad. Like, real bad. Like cruel to keep you alive bad. Whatever it is they’ll catalog it, then they’ll throw you in a cell. Once you’re there you’re, like, there. All alone with your fancy new power.”
“Uh, think I’ll pass.” He swiped the card, the door buzzed, and they entered the stairwell.
The two teenagers ran up the stairs until they reached the fourth floor. Jennifer held her hand out, motioning for Bugs to stay on the landing. She crept up the four remaining stairs.
There was a door with a small glass window, which according to Cindy led into the waiting room of the mayor’s office. Jennifer flattened herself against the wall, moving low to stay out of view of the window.
She stood up then looked through the window. Chester, the mayor’s personal assistant, stood in the corner of the room changing out the ribbon on a large powder blue typewriter.
“What’s going on?” Bugs whispered from the landing.
Chester turned his head toward the door. Jennifer dropped straight to the ground, banging her knee off the concrete floor as she did. A squeak started in her throat, but before it could escape she clamped her hand over her mouth.
Bugs, taking the hint, ran down a flight of stairs. Chester’s face appeared in the window. Jennifer crouched under it for silent seconds, her heart pounding in her ears. She wasn’t sure if he could see her, but she knew she didn’t want him too.
The latch on the door clicked. Jennifer scuttled into the corner as it opened.
Chester looked out into the stairwell then over the edge to the floor below. Satisfied, he stepped back into the room and let the door close behind him.
Jennifer left, running down until she found Bugs waiting on the second floor landing.
“Are you, like, an airhead or something?” she asked, making sure to keep her voice low. “Do you want them to catch us? Take it from me. You don’t.”
“You know, I’m not so sure this whole story adds up,” Bugs said. “How could they keep a bunch of kids here without anybody finding out? And Mayor Lane’s launched a freaking manhunt for Dogboy. Doesn’t seem like he’d care if he was already handing out powers like treats on Halloween.”
“I don’t care what you believe, but if you do something like that again you’re on your own. Now how are we going to get him out of there?” she said.
“We could pull the fire alarm. Should clear them out for a few minutes at least. Think you’ll have enough time to use your thing?” he said.
“Yeah, but we’d need someplace to hide. Wait. I saw a ladder upstairs. It looked like it went to the roof. It went up into the ceiling anyway. We could pull the alarm then hide up there until everybody’s gone.”
“Sounds like a plan. You head up the ladder and I’ll follow after I pull the alarm,” he said.
“Wait. You really do want them to catch you, don’t you? You’re going to send me up there so I don’t try to stop you.”
“You kidding me? Whatever’s going on here it screwed all of you guys up real bad. No thanks. I’m trying to help. Honest.”
“You’d better be,” she said.
They went back upstairs. Jennifer climbed the ladder, up through the circular hole in the ceiling, and on until she reached the top. She found a small hatch at the top, but a padlock prevented her from opening it.
Bugs grabbed the white handle on the red alarm box. He took a deep breath then pulled it down.
A dark mist sprayed from a pinhole in the center of the box, staining his hand black. A loud RRRRHHHHGGGG echoed through the stairwell.
No time to fret about his hand, Bugs jumped onto the ladder and climbed up, disappearing into the ceiling.
Chester burst through the door, pulling Mayor Lane behind him.
“The lower floors are secure?” Mayor Lane asked.
“Yes, sir,” Chester said, “locked down, and I’ve already called the fire chief to let him know we’ve cleared it.”
“Excellent. I hope this is quick. We’re expecting a visit from you-know-who sometime this afternoon. I’d hate for him to travel all this way to find the office empty.”
“I don’t think we have anything to worry about. I’m sure it’s a false alarm,” Chester said, leading the mayor downstairs.
When they left Bugs dropped back down the ladder, followed a moment later by Jennifer. He swiped the keycard, opened the door, then entered the empty waiting room.
Jennifer sat at Chester’s desk, flipping the power switch on his monitor. It made a sound like static as it flipped on to reveal the desktop.
“Radical,” she said. “He didn’t even lock it. This is going to be easy. You watch the stairwell. Time for this girl to have some fun.”
She stuck the thumb drive into the small black computer sitting next to the monitor on the desk. A window popped up on the screen, listing all of the files on the drive. She right-clicked the ‘temp’ folder, then selected ‘Copy’ from the menu.
Jennifer drilled down through subdirectories on the computer’s hard drive until she found SYSTEM several levels deep. She pasted the folder, copying it onto the drive.
“I’ll add a few lines to this config file then change a registry entry and we’re out of here,” she said.
“Don’t worry,” Bugs said, “we’ve got plenty of time. They haven’t even shut off the—” The RRRRHHHHGGGGing stopped.
“Fire alarm,” he said.
“Done,” Jennifer said as she pulled the thumb drive back out. She pushed the power button for a few seconds, spinning the fans down and shutting off the computer. “When he turns this puppy back we’ll have, like, full access to the system.”
Voices from the stairwell.
“Hide,” Bugs said, jumping behind a large easy chair.
Jennifer crawled under the desk. Chester and Mayor Lane, each clutching a coffee from the deli downstairs, came through the door.
“See? Here we are. Back in plenty of time,” Chester said.
“Indeed,” Mayor Lane said. “Come back to my office for a moment, would you? I have some documents I need you to address.”
“Of course, sir,” Chester said, following the mayor through the door.
Bugs popped his head out from behind the chair, looking around to make sure they were alone.
“Psst. They’re gone. Let’s get out of this dump,” he said.
Jennifer climbed out from her hiding spot, brushing some crumbs off her knees. “I don’t think he’s cleaned up under there since they built the place.”
Together, they headed toward the stairwell door.
“Where do you two think you’re going?” said a voice from behind.
They stopped, turning around to see Chester holding a stack of papers. He glared at the two teens.
“Uh… sorry,” Jennifer said. “We’re looking for where they keep the blueprints. Are those blueprints?” she asked, pointing at the documents in Chester’s hand.
“You’re in the wrong place,” he said. “You’re looking for the second floor, and don’t use the stairwell. It’s for emergencies. We don’t need kids playing around in there. Take the elevator instead.”
“Got it, sir. Thank you, sir,” Bugs said.
He grabbed Jennifer’s hand then pulled her toward the elevator. He hit the down button. They stood there waiting for the doors to open.
“Girl,” Chester said, “what’s your name?”
“Louise. Louise Ciccone,” she said, careful not to make eye contact.
“Well, Louise, I don’t know where you are getting your wigs but I’d start looking for a new place,” Chester said, plucking the blond mop off her head.
“Hey, give it back,” she said.
“Trust me, I’m doing you a favor.” He tossed the wig in the waste bin by his desk.
“Cindy’s going to love that,” Bugs said, mashing the button again. The elevator doors popped open. They jumped in. Jennifer waved at Chester as the doors shut behind them.
“You know, you aren’t as wimpy as you look on TV,” Jennifer said.
“Shut it, Louise,” Bugs replied.
The doors opened and they headed out through the lobby.
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