The Super Jerk Trilogy (Now 3-in-1)

7. Money Power Glory

{Sarah}

After a good nights' sleep in an actual hotel, with a hot shower and change of clothes added on, we wake feeling pretty refreshed. We don't address the HECKL thing until after breakfast, when we're the last ones in the breakfast room. It's probably a good idea too – I don't think any of us trusts anyone, especially with what we're about to do.

   "So you guys ready to do this?" Kaelie asks, running a hand through her hair and then winding her fingers in it. Her knuckles are white, which means she's just as nervous as we are.

   "Ready as we'll ever be for something like this, I guess," I say when Trevor only looks up for a second and then away. "Hey, there's something I meant to tell you. When we were leaving, Zach told me...they take blood when you go in."

   "Dammit." Kaelie pounds the table. "So they'll know we're super right away?"

   I shrug. "He said that his dad would see everyone who walks in as a potential test subject, super or not."

   "Okay. Okay." Kaelie runs both hands over her face. "Then we're just going to have to wing it."

   "Good to know we're going in there without an actual plan," Trevor says, trying to inject a bit of humor into the situation. But this time, it falls flat. That's Trevor though – whenever he gets into a tough situation, or one that's possibly life-threatening, he defends himself with sarcasm or humor. Much like me. But I'm too nervous to try that right now.

   The drive over there is one of the longest, even though it can't have taken more than forty-five minutes. We all see it at the same time, a cluster of square white buildings, made out of glass and metal. The sign out near the street says, in big brushed-metal letters, HECKL LABS. So we're in the right place.

   "So," Kaelie says, once Trevor's pulled into an empty parking space and turned off the engine. "Ready to go?"

   "Let's just get it over with," he says. "Sooner we get in there, the sooner we can leave."

   We approach the main building, taking a wide paved walkway. Right in front of the building is a circular pool, with three square columns with water running down their sides. Each one is carved with a word. Stronger. Faster. Super.

   "Did you see...?" I start, but they both nod, eyes glued to the fountain.

   "God, I hope I'm not going to regret this," Kaelie says.

   The lobby is even more imposing than the outside. Three of the walls are entirely glass, and in the center is a circular desk with one guy sitting at it, typing rapidly into one of the largest computer monitors I've ever seen. He looks so tiny compared to the high ceiling, held up by impossibly thin columns that seem to stretch for miles above us. If there was a way they wanted us to feel small, they'd definitely accomplished it.

   "Name and business?" he says without looking up as we approach.

   "We're here to see the mayor," I say quickly.

   "Great. He'll see you as soon as you give me a name." He hits the Enter key and finally turns from the computer. "Look at you three. You're just kids."

   "Yeah. The mayor can see just kids, can't he?" Kaelie says, and even though there's a hard edge to her voice, I can hear the fear underneath it.

   "Then you can tell him Sarah Campbell's here to see him, and that I know his son," I say, when the guy opens his mouth to answer. "Zachary, right?"

   That seems to stop him. It makes me wonder briefly if someone else has used that excuse already and didn't manage to make it past this point. He huffs out an impatient breath and pushes back from the desk, rummaging in a drawer we can't see.