The Soulmate Curse

Ingenuity - Part 2

Zhen closed her eyes and forced herself to focus. Even if she'd changed it after that last hack that led to her arrest, the MechSoft guys knew the signature to her code. It was like she'd been speaking in a different language and accent, but it didn't matter because they had her basic voice print and there was no way to fully change that. She needed another way to get through their system without being noticed.

"I need to be invisible." Said Zhen, breaking the silence.

"I can help you do that," said Finn after thinking about it for a while. "But we'll need more."

"What else do we need? If you can make her invisible, she can just slip through unseen."

"It's like the movie Invisible Man," said Finn.

"I love the Dark Universe," said Zac. "Their franchise movies are amazing! Are you going to watch the Dracula sequel next month?"

"I'm more of a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen kind of girl," said Finn with a smile. "Alan Quatermain is my favourite hero because he's pretty much just human. But yes, I'm watching Dracula next month. Maybe we can go together."

Jesse sighed. "Guys?"

Zhen smirked. Jesse had probably heard Zac wax poetic about this more than once. Dark Universe movie fans tended to be a bit intense about their fandom. On the other hand, it was wonderful to learn about Finn's guilty pleasure. Even though her life was going to end in ruins around her in about a month, Zhen was going to take Finn to that Dracula movie. Alone. No way she was bringing Zac along with them.

"Right! Sorry," said Finn, blushing a little. Zhen felt her insides clench at that look. "The Invisible Man is invisible, but still noticeable. If he bumps into things and someone notices the discrepancy, it only takes a bucket of paint on his face to break the illusion."

"So, what else do we need?"

"We need someone visible to bump into everything," said Zhen, catching on. "That way, if they bump into the same things the invisible man mistakenly bumps into, there an explanation and a visible target to eliminate."

"We'll need an army if we're going to create a large enough distraction," said Jesse. "Our servers aren't powerful enough to create that."

Zhen and Finn turned to each other and smiled.

"Elk Grove High!" they both said at the same instant.

"As for the army, I've got just the lady," said Finn. "Mrs. Martin."

"The bot lady from camp?" Zhen wondered.

"One and the same," said Finn.

Zhen's left eyebrow shot up. "How?"

Finn shrugged. "She became part of a local coven whose members sometimes join ours during Sabbat gatherings."

The trip to Elk Grove High was tense. To get there fast, Jesse and Zac had offered up their motor bikes because it would take too long to walk to the nearest cab stop outside the Outskirts. Finn was holding on tightly to Jesse as they led the pack, much to Zhen's chagrin. Zac and the other members of the group split up, some to guard the warehouse and the others behind them on their own bikes. Zhen had politely declined riding with Zac and was instead riding with one of the girls. She was gorgeous, but she was no Finn. It was weird how Zhen could only see Finn now. No other girl did it for her these days. Not even Tisha, the only one who'd come close. It was weird and utterly frustrating.

"Zhen?" the high school night guard called out when he walked to the gate.

"Hi Art," said Zhen. She turned to Finn and smiled. "He's the reason we got away with all that sneaking around."

"Really? I thought it was all just you!" said Finn laughing. "It made you out to be such a badass!"

"Behind every badass, there's an Art," he said laughing. He looked at the small crowd. "What are you guys doing here? I don't have a group meeting on the schedule."

Zhen explained what they were here for. The Martins arrived just then. Agreeing to help, Art led them to the quantum computer, and they set themselves up. Before long, their little army was ready. Mrs. Martin, with her husband's help, unleashed her bot army while Jesse, Zac and their friends went in like giant, clumsy trolls just smashing everything around the MechSoft virtual space. The reaction was swift, with the MechSoft virtual security team working feverishly to match the assault. In the background, Finn was covering Zhen's presence with a virtual force field that kept her as invisible as possible as she dug her way deeper than she ever had into the system. They dinged a few things as they moved past the security features, but there was so much going on that they were sufficiently covered.

They eventually got to the information that they needed, finding the location coordinates for the compound where Jesse's vigilante team was being held. With everything they needed in place, Zhen and Finn were the first to leave the system, then Mrs. Martin pulled her bots away and finally, Jesse, Zac and the others were forcefully booted out. There was a beat of silence in the room, then it erupted into hollers and applause.

"I can't believe we just did that!" said Zac.

Mrs. Martin hugged both Zhen and Finn. "I'm so happy to see you two again. And to see that you're still together. How lovely."

Finn pulled away from the hug, smiling awkwardly. She pointed to Jesse. "Mr. and Mrs. M, this is Jesse, my partner."

"Lovely to meet you dear," Mrs. Martin said, letting go of Zhen and giving Jesse a big hug. "I don't know how you young people do it! Having more than one partner at a time."

"Uh..." started Zhen. Zac just laughed his head off. Finn was blushing like crazy. Jesse's face was stone.

"Don't you guys have someplace to be." said Zac, still smiling.

Zhen jumped. "We're going to miss lift-off if we don't leave now!"

"Alright, dearies," said the wonderful elderly lady. "Come visit us sometime. I'll make some cake."

Zhen was dashing out of the room, Finn's hand in hers. Finn shouted back, "See you when we get back everyone! Thank you and good luck finding them!"

Zhen had hailed a cab and it was just turning into the old school's entrance as they shot out of the door. They made it to the rocket site just as it hit six hours before lift-off. That was when every entry to the site would be closed and all the passengers on what was technically a cargo ship would start the process of getting ready.

"You're late!" said their escort as they ran past the gate just as it was sliding shut.

"Sorry!" Finn called back, following behind Zhen as they ran full tilt to the passenger prep area.