Mindsiege (Mindspeak #2)(71)

You can be mad later. Right now, I need you to focus. She refuses to enter The Farm. I’m going to see if she can see what you’re seeing by touching me.

I gave my head a little shake. He was right. It wasn’t like she was the only one invading my mind these days. Okay.

Jonas was standing practically on top of me when I turned. “I heard.”

Of course he heard. I’m examining the tracker inside Jonas’s head right now, I mindspoke to Jack. The inside of Jonas’s brain was lit up with firing neurons. Unlike many of the other brains I had examined, Jonas’s head was filled with red fiery neurons. His tracker was lodged at the base of his brain, much like Danielle’s. The tracker looked like a robotic spider. The prongs curved like thin, fragile legs, but I knew the device was anything but fragile.

I’m seeing what you’re seeing, Lexi. Georgia’s voice was quiet inside my head.

Do you see the thin prongs?

Yes. They look like they would break off easily.

Well, I’ve held one of these in my hand. The prongs are very strong and gripping, especially when the device is moving backwards against resistance. If we pull this device out while the prongs are extended, it will grab hold of whatever it can. Those prongs could pierce the brain or the spinal cord in a millisecond.

Georgia went silent. I still sensed Jack. Jack?

I’m here. Georgia is freaking out a little. She doesn’t want to risk Jonas’s life.

Well, it’s not up to her. And we’re not removing his right now anyway. I need her to help me remove Addison’s first.

Jonas nodded. He had already insisted that Sandra would not terminate him yet.

I’ll make sure Georgia’s ready.

Jack wasn’t coming with us into the facility. I massaged the spot on my chest where my heart beat furiously. I could do this. I just had to focus.

“I’ll be with you the entire time,” Jonas whispered. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. It will be better with fewer of us anyway. But we’ll need Briana.”

I had no idea how Jonas could sound so calm. He was at risk of dropping dead any second with a single key stroke if Sandra chose. Also, Jonas was my ticket in and my ticket out of the facility. And I wasn’t completely confident in Briana’s abilities yet. “Why do we need her?”

“She can confuse the agents. When they look at us, they’ll think they’re seeing Ty, Dia, and Lin. And with your mind-altering abilities, you can convince them that that is exactly what they’re seeing.”

I turned the ring on my right hand round and round, careful to avoid twisting the pearl. I could do this. I had to. And if Georgia and I could figure out how to get the tracker out without killing or paralyzing the hosts, we’d be able to do serious damage to at least part of the IIA’s cloning program.

“So, we’re good?” Jonas asked. I answered with a slight nod. “We can do this. Georgia can do this.” Besides you, I’d say she’s probably the most powerful of us all.

Yes, but with the most severe side effect.

~~~~~

“Last chance to turn back,” Jonas said. He, Briana, Kyle, and I stood at a back entrance to the agriscience building. “This is where I used to sneak in and out. Back when Mom…” His voice trailed off.

I touched his arm. “It’s okay. She’s the only mother you ever knew.”

“Right. You don’t really believe that it’s okay.”

No, I didn’t. I decided it was probably better if I said nothing. He probably heard my thoughts anyway, despite my attempt to pocket them.

“Anyway,” he continued. “This is where I snuck in and out of the facility back when Sandra trusted me. I was fairly certain they monitored my every move. Or they were too busy with crazy experiments that no one noticed my comings and goings.”

Briana slipped a hairband from her wrist and pulled her thick red hair into a low ponytail. “Well, here’s hoping they don’t monitor this entrance tonight.”

Kyle and I traded worried glances. I then directed my determination at Jonas, who stood directly in front of the retinal scanner. He looked at me for permission to continue.

I nodded. “Let’s do this.” He had better do it quick, before I changed my mind.

But I wouldn’t change my mind. Addison was in there somewhere, and I had to find her. And I had to locate and destroy the server controlling the trackers. Without the ability to alter the trackers, Sandra’s ability to manipulate minds would be lost, and we would have time to remove the remaining trackers.

Jonas leaned down, aligning his eyes with the scanner.

My heart sped up immediately, and my stomach began to churn.

The latch on the door clicked. Jonas wrapped his palm around the handle and pulled. Just like that, we were in.

The four of us entered a dark hallway. The lights immediately flickered on. I felt exposed by the brightness.

We were in the basement of the building. Jonas led the way. We walked wordlessly behind him, careful to make as little sound as possible. The walls of the hallways were a light gray. The doors alternated between a deep gray and navy blue. Nothing like the white hallways of The Program.

I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but I thought I smelled the scent of the gas the IIA had used to put Lin and Dia to sleep the first time I entered The Farm. Jonas, is that—