HTH

Chapter Seventeen

Australian Consulate, New York City, 2021

"Is he still breathing?" Vanessa asked, getting up quickly and moving towards Jay.

"Yeah I am," Jay responded. "Just exhausted, but still alive." He tried to sit up. "We...*grunt*...have to get out of here. Dian will probably send someone to check if I'm actually dead. We need to move."

Vanessa and Ty lifted Jay up and helped walk him out the back door, Gabby running off to go find Amber.

---

The army officer was talking to someone in the Australian Army when he saw them.

The kids. And they're leaving.

"Excuse me, Colonel McLane," he said as he started to walk towards the kids. He tried to weave his way through the massive crowd of people, but he was starting to lose them. They ducked out a back door into the dark night.

---

Dian came back into the control room. "Is he dead?" he asked the technician, looking up at his screen.

"I'm not sure. The chip isn't recording any signs of life, so one would presume he's dead."

Dian turned to the technician. "We can't presume anything here. We can't risk anything going wrong. Make sure our man goes over to confirm that he died."

He left the room and was approached by Doctor Baker. "Mr. Nyugen, we have all the code necessary for the prototype. It's ready now."

Dian nodded. "Show me."

---

Vanessa, Jay, and Ty were almost to the cab when they heard a metal click and stopped.

"You're coming with me. All of you."

Vanessa slowly turned to see another large man with a gun, the now-familar NyuTech logo on a badge on his blazer. She tried to look over his shoulder for Gabby and Amber. He noticed, and turned around. Vanessa took this moment and lunged for the gun. She tore it out of his hand and turned the gun back on him.

Gabby ran up, with Amber trailing behind her.

"Who is this guy?" Gabby asked.

"One of Dian's thugs. Probably was sent to see if Jay really died." Vanessa responded, not taking her eyes off Jack.

"Oh, ok. Hold on," Gabby responded, turning to face Jack. He made eye contact for just a second, but that was all that Gabby needed. Her eyes began to swirl pink again, and Jack stared right into them. Gabby held her gaze for a few seconds before her eyes returned to normal. Jack still stood there, mesmerized.

"What did you do to him?" Amber asked.

"I convinced him he saw Jay's dead body being taken away by police, and that he never saw us. I also forced him to stand there for 20 seconds, so let's go before he snaps back to reality."

They all got into the cab and sped off back towards the hotel. Jack stood there for a moment, a little dazed and confused. Then he started to make his way back to his car.

---

Lance emerged slowly from behind one of the hedges on the Consulate grounds. He had no idea what he had just seen, but he knew that this HTH thing was far from over. He was back in New York, and he had some...powerful friends. And somehow the tech giant Dian Nyugen was involved.

His phone started to ring, and he answered. "Kara, what is it?"

"NY security camera network just picked up HTH on facial recognition. He's at---"

"---The Australian Consulate."

Stunned silence from the other end. "...yes. How did you know?"

"I'll explain later. Gotta go."

---

The army officer had seen it all go down, but didn't intervene. He had a responsibility to his superiors and to his country, but he now knew he wasn't going to be able to take them in by himself.

These kids are a lot more powerful than I expected.

He started to head back to his car; the event was almost over anyway. A shame he couldn't talk to that Colonel McLane more. But he had to report back on the unsuccessful mission. He would inform the Director that he was unable to capture the children and that he would need backup. This country needed those kids, and the Director was willing to do anything to get them.

---

END OF PART TWO

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