Elusion(56)

“Are you afraid to go to Elusion now?” the reporter asks.

Elusion? Afraid?

I step forward, getting a little closer.

“Me?” He grins as he points his thumbs toward the chest of his down-filled black vest. “No way.”


“So you wouldn’t hesitate to go there again, even knowing that Anthony Caldwell may have been in Elusion when he lost brain function?”

Zoe leans forward, whispering in my ear, “Anthony is Principal Caldwell’s son! He and I went to preschool together, but then he moved away with his mom years ago.”

I hold up my hand, motioning for Zoe to be silent.

“Nah,” the boy says. “Elusion is awesome. That kid probably just screwed something up.”

“Like disabling the safety settings on an Equip?” the reporter asks.

“Wait, you can do that?” he asks with interest.

The reporter turns back toward the camera, as the boys begin shoving one another, desperately trying to stay in the shot.

“Tragedy hits close to home as the students at Hills Sector High attempt to come to grips with the fact that their principal’s teenage son, Anthony, was found unconscious in Miami yesterday, and an anonymous source close to the scene says that a possible connection to Elusion is suspected,” she says, tucking her hair behind her left ear with a leather gloved hand. “Attempts to contact Orexis and senior product designer Patrick Simmons about whether they believe CIT rushed their approval of Elusion, or whether Equips can be tampered with, have been unsuccessful. But we will continue to bring you breaking news as the story develops.”

Zoe looks at me, alarmed. “Does Patrick know about this?”

I don’t answer Zoe or tell her that Josh attempted to warn Patrick about this last night. Instead I move toward a reporter in a black vinyl jacket, listening closely as she presses on her earbud, standing in front of the gray cement wall of the building.

She holds her oversize tab in front of her face, saying, “That’s right, Owen. An unnamed source is confirming young Caldwell was found with distinct visor marks.” I walk behind her, looking at the photo that now fills her tab. I don’t get a great look, but I can see it’s of Caldwell’s forehead, the Equip marks clearly visible.

It’s the same picture that was sent to Josh.

“Unfortunately,” the reporter says ominously, “we may need to wait until Anthony Caldwell wakes up for definite confirmation on the Equip connection.”

Suddenly, Zoe is bathed in a pool of light that casts shadows on her mocha skin.

“And how do you feel about all this, young lady?” says a tall, athletic man in a cashmere overcoat, pointing his tab toward her.

“What?” Zoe asks. I’ve never seen her exude anything but confidence; however, she wasn’t expecting to be ambushed by the media. She nervously takes off her Florapetro glasses as she swallows, looking directly into the screen.

“Are you an E-fiend? Do you want to stay inside Elusion so badly that you’ll do anything to make that happen?”

“No” is Zoe’s simple reply.

“Ever been invited to an Elusion party in a warehouse?”

“An Elusion party?” Zoe asks, confused.

“Does this room look familiar?” The man shows her a picture he has blown up on his oversize tab.

“No, I’ve never seen this place before,” Zoe says.

But the photo looks more than familiar to me.

A dark, barren room with tools scattered across the tops of makeshift worktables, dirty mattresses, and piles of computer hardware fragments. MealFreeze containers, IV bags, and pill bottles litter the floor. The only thing missing from the picture is the number 5020 spray-painted on the wall, but there’s still no mistaking it.

It’s the warehouse where Josh took me. The “E-fiend” hangout.

The room where he last saw Nora.

Suddenly I know who the unnamed source is, and I’m wondering how long I have before the information on the QuTap is released too.

One thing is certain—I have been played.

Without saying good-bye to Zoe, I’m off and running, and no one can stop me.


The first thing I do once I’m inside Building A is send a message to Josh.

Regan: Where r u? Need to talk ASAP.

No response.

Ignoring the warning bell, I dart toward the south side of the school, where the seniors have a huge block of lockers, my bag weighing me down but not deterring me one bit. I turn the corner and spot him waiting for the elevator less than twenty feet away.

“Josh!” I call out, but he doesn’t hear me above the overwhelming chatter of our classmates, who are relentlessly gossiping about Anthony and Mr. Caldwell. He disappears inside an elevator, typing on his tab. Almost simultaneously, my phone buzzes with a message from him.

Josh: Chem lab. Tlk l8r.

He’s avoiding me.

What the hell is wrong with him? I thought we were a team, and now I find out he’s gone to the media without me? Is this all because of last night? I know there was tension between us right before he left my house, but in light of everything that’s going on, how could he be holding that against me? Or has he found out something else that’s spurred him to act sooner rather than later? Even if that’s the reason, why didn’t he at least give me a heads-up first?