Ataxia

fourteen

Sander

2065

My leather shoes clomped down the fluorescent-lit hallways, looking for an exit. I knew this day would come eventually. The day I finally took Gale's advice and betrayed my best friend, Danique. While I went on to finish school, he went on a different path that eventually led him to be the greatest experimental scientist on the planet. I had no idea how, but he had proved me wrong by surviving without the agency. The huge question was: how?

Gale was right, though. She was right about him changing in the last couple of years. In fact, I barely recognized him as my friend anymore. He still looked the same, rat's nest-like hair and coffee-colored eyes, but the way he saw the world and his convictions were completely different from when we were sixteen, or six, or four. Of course I knew my best friend would change a lot in nine years, but this? Where was that little Danique?

Sweet little Johnny that cried when he lost his allowance to the laundry being washed.

Sweet little Johnny with that huge, toothy smile on his face.

Sweet little Johnny that would comfort me with his quirky jokes that made absolutely no sense.

Sweet little Johnny that had disappeared.

But I couldn't linger on the past now. Right now, I was being hunted down and I needed to get out in one piece. My eyes darted around, trying to spot an escape route. When I saw my lab room, I took my keys from my lanyard in my jean pockets and unlocked the door, rushing inside and relocking it. Nobody would come in, unless they had a key to my room. I was so stupid! I should've chosen a safer place to hide.

In my room there were no windows, so no way of escaping when I was cornered. But things like my wallet and ID and driver's license were here. Those might be important in the future, if I had one and wasn't killed. I groaned, I was so dead.

Kock. Knock.

I looked up to his door slowly, knowing there were people behind it. I snatched my pocket knife in my backpack (which wasn't allowed here but I was never caught), which wasn't very useful in this kind of situation, but they were pretty much the only weapon I could use to defend myself. The door flew open and guards and subjects and experiments burst into the room like a bunch of wild critters. A guard with a blindfold over his face shot me with what looked like a large clear orb about the size of a basketball. I tried to dodge to avoid it, but I was surrounded so close in I could barely move. The orb collapsed against my body and exploded like a paint ball into a giant sticky net that immobilized me to the wall. Spider-tape. President Icarus Meyer banned it once he came into power, he didn't like the way people were using it, so the government took it back to be remade and then sent back to the public. Looks like they missed some.

At last, but certainly not least, my traitorous best friend, Danique, floated into the door, looking very satisfied with himself. "You're so predictable, Sander," he said as if it was a compliment, striding up to me. Of course it wasn't. "You should really try switching up your escape routes. Your room was the first place that comes to mind for you to hide in. You should try the janitor's closet next time, if there is a next time."

"Radcliffe!" I said, remembering not to call him Danique. He forbade me from calling him his real name in order to hide his identity. I tried to wriggle free but I knew it was useless but at least I could try. "Let me go!"

"Let me think, no. You betrayed me, especially from quitting. And I thought we were friends. And also, who's to say you won't be doing the same thing Abigale did? You both might have been conspiring to kill me." What the heck was he talking about?

"Don't you dare bring her into this!" I shouted with rage. Radcliffe pushed a button on my emotions that was definitely a no-no. "She's innocent and you murdered her for no absolute reason." I seethed, tears flooding my eyes. Jeez, don't cry in front of your peers, Sander! "Gale was the best woman that anyone could ask for, and you took her away from me! How could you do that to me? I thought you were my friend."

The room was silent except for my heavy breathing. "And now I'm going to take your job away, too. And your life if you don't agree to my terms." He said casually with a shrug.

"No, I won't accept anything you offer to me. All you are is lies and deception."

"Stop insulting me, Sander." He said reassuringly. "Calm down, all I'm saying is that I can offer you two choices. I'll let you live." He picked up my pocket knife on the floor, twirling it around his fingers with such precision. "Or I'll get my hands dirty. Your choice."

I stared at the pocket knife for a long time, thinking of an answer. I knew Radcliffe wouldn't hesitate to kill me, considering how mad he was. So in order to live, I had to play by the rules. "Fine. What are your terms for letting me live?"

He grinned knowingly, slipping the pocket knife back into his pocket. "Very simple. I need you to run an errand for an old friend and bring this child to me, Zoe-Astra Greene." He showed me a picture of the girl he was speaking of. It was a school picture and she was wearing a school uniform of a button-up blue shirt.

"You want me to capture a child? Are you crazy?" I replied, sounding surprised. This level of psychoticness was not good. "Never mind, you are crazy. But imagine how much havoc and pain that would cause for her parents. We will return her, right?"

"After some time," he replied coolly. Highly doubt it. "She lives in Jackson, Wyoming and lives with her mother, Lily Greene. Her father's whereabouts are unknown. She goes to Clinton Elementary. Find her. Bring her to me." There was a long pause. "Do you understand, Sander?"

"I won't do it. Kidnapping a child is not what I'm paid for."

Radcliffe sighed as if he was sad. "I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, you know."

"Fine," I said angrily. "I'll get the girl."