Clone Earth: MELVIN

Chapter Three: ARI

Out of breath Ari panted as she rounded the corner. The last boy had left for the afternoon lecture, the door secured behind him, leaving the corridor abandoned for approximately five minutes. Her calculations were usually accurate; however, Ari could never account for the inconsistencies of human beings. Compared to computers they weren't programmed right. Which meant an adult might pass by unexpectedly at anytime. In other words, she needed to be swift.

Running her hand over the doors keypad, Ari typed in 77926 -

ERROR

She sighed heavily and tapped her fingers against the faded white wall as she ran the familiar calculation through her memory. The third week of the eight month, which means the program isolates the third and fourth numbers in the sequence, multiplies them together, and gives the replacements. Then it adds the new number to the first two numbers, which gives their replacements, and the last number is always plus one ... she punched in the new sequence, 95187.

With its usual 'shhhh', the door slid open.

"Stupid program," Ari mumbled, hurrying down the new corridor. "They're so concerned with security but will they let me rewrite it? Nooo-"

She cut off her mumbling to peek through an open door. Completely blacked out from the lack of lights she could faintly see the darker outlines of the bedposts and closet. Satisfied, she entered the empty room and closed the manual door behind her.

The room lights flickered on at the closing of the door, however her heart jumped into her throat as she caught sight of a blurred figured resting lazily on the far bed. Ari's back pressed into the cool metal door waiting for her eyes to adjust to the light. After a moment, the patchy blur stabilized into her long, skinny, unmoving older brother's duffel bag. It wasn't packed full, resulting in odd shapes and bulges. Anyone could have mistaken it for a person.

Shuffling through his belongings Ari noted she had been correct, he had just as much sentimental attachment as she had to the thing they'd been issued on this hunk of metal. The one and only thing that mattered to him lay on the bed beside his duffel bag.

Picking up his personal computer she quickly entered his passcode and began shuffling through his recent files. Each file consisted of the usual political and human rights research. He had tried to explain all his exciting finds, such as how planet laws differ from those on space stations and nomadic transports, but Ari never cared to listen.

A few detailed files did catch her eye on health and healing. It seemed he'd been doing more research on his ability but with their limited resources on the station, he hadn't gotten very far.

Glancing at the countdown clock on the systems main page Ari calculated she wouldn't have enough time to get to the Communications Hub. The Hub was part of the stations main community, not connected to the school or orphanage, which put it on the far end of the Station.

It was the place with the strongest outsourced signal. Though at this time it was occupied by various programmers and maintenance prepping the station for departure. So, though the signal would be weaker, she had plenty of time to access her outside resources through to the Hub remotely.

Which could be tricky, due to the person who was over authorization.

Typing quickly, Ari grinned as the rough image of the Hub manager appeared across her screen. "Hello Margiene."

The old woman leaned close to the screen, clearly struggling to focus on Ari's relayed image through the thick lens of her spectacles. "Miss Kana, last I heard you have been denied outside transmission."