Paolo Bacigalupi - The Doubt Factory

Alix squinted through the smeared windows as a guy in a white Animal Control suit dashed across campus holding a rat high.

2.0 had sure done a number on Seitz.

Jonah had described the details that he’d gleaned with the relish of a fanboy. It was just the kind of thing the poor kid went to bed fantasizing about. A way to get back at Seitz. But this was beyond even Jonah’s fevered imagination: an elaborate network of trip wires that the SWAT people had triggered when they’d come into the school, arrays of electric pumps and toy water guns all synchronized by Wi-Fi repeaters, all of them placed just so to display 2.0’s tag to the world… and then, of course, the rats. Thousands and thousands of rats.

But the most amazing thing about the prank was that there was no evidence of how it had been accomplished. None of the security cams had a bit of footage. Not a single witness. It was as if the entire elaborate setup had been teleported into the science building. Alix sighed as she stared out through the red-smeared window, watching students as they hurried across the quad to their own classes.

There was a life out there, but she couldn’t quite reach it. Instead, she was stuck in here with the paint and the industrial solvents and Death Barbie, all thanks to the cleverness of 2.0.

When Alix saw Jonah after school, he looked even more miserable than Alix felt, and it almost cheered her up. He was being trailed by a mountainous guy who was twice his size, a huge steroid-infused creature whom Jonah had nicknamed Hulk but who was actually named Gunter.

“Don’t be fooled by the ’roids. He’s fast,” Jonah groused. “I tried to ditch twice. He caught me both times.”

That, Alix could at least laugh at. Other kids were coming out of school and heading for their cars or getting picked up by parents and nannies. They were all giving them weird looks. Alix with Death Barbie, Jonah with Hulk.

Sophie and Derek came over. “We’re going to go get coffee….” They trailed off, looking at the security detail.

Before Alix could answer them, Lisa said, “You’ve got an appointment at home, Alix.”

Alix glared at Lisa. “Can I check in at least? Maybe change plans? Would that be okay with you?”

“Of course, Alix.”

The phone at home rang and rang. Alix tried her mom’s cell, but, of course, it went to voice mail. As usual . Alix racked her brain as she smiled at Lisa. She pretended to dial another number and pressed the phone to her ear.

“Hi, Dad? Yeah. I was going to grab a coffee with Sophie before I come home. Is that okay?” she said to the ringing phone on the other end. “Cool! Thanks!” She ended the fake call.

“We’re good,” she said to Sophie. “Let’s go.”

Lisa was just looking at her, a small, knowing smile on her face as she shook her head. “I’m sorry, Alix—unless I can talk to your father, we’re going to have to go home now.” Even as she spoke, a car slid up to the curb, a black Mercedes with a driver who had undoubtedly been vetted by Williams & Crowe.

Lisa went and opened the door. She waited expectantly, her smile chilly, knowing that Alix had faked the call, not bothering to hide that she knew.

Alix sighed, defeated. “I guess I can’t.”

“Wow,” Sophie said.

“Tell me about it.”

Alix let herself be stuffed into the car with Jonah. She waved ironically at Sophie and Derek as the car pulled away from the curb, but Sophie had already turned away to talk to Cynthia, who was coming down the steps. All three headed off toward the student parking lot.

Alix wistfully watched them recede.

“Seat belts,” Lisa said.

Alix sighed. It was like having Mom with her all the time.

I’m in hell , she thought. I’m in pure, living hell .

JONAH STARED OUT THE CARwindow, gazing longingly at the streets of Haverport as they slid by. Alix found herself feeling sorry for him. When the doctors described Jonah, they started with words like “active” and “impulse control” and ended with words like ADHD and Adderall.

Jonah had been thrilled at the Adderall proposal. He’d been planning on selling it to juniors and seniors who were cramming for SATs and Advanced Placement tests, but then Dad had vetoed the idea of drugging him. And it really was hard to tell how much help the kid needed. Between his jokes, hyperactivity, and the compulsive urge to go AWOL from Seitz, something was clearly amiss, but it was hard to tell if it was something wrong with the way Jonah’s brain was wired or if the real problem was that Mom and Dad were trying to jam him into a life where he simply refused to fit. Sometimes Alix suspected that the kid was smarter than all of them and that his reckless persona was just an act designed to get him out of Seitz once and for all.

Jonah caught Alix looking at him. “What?”

Alix smiled. “Nothing.”

He was a pain in the neck, but she liked him. Lately she’d been realizing that not everyone ended up liking their sibs. Sometimes they just weren’t made to get along. Sophie hated her older sister, Simone. But Alix liked Jonah. Even if he was always one step away from turning fugitive on her.

As she settled back in the car, her phone buzzed. She dug it out of her purse.

Cynthia, texting: SAW YOU GET PICKED UP.

Alix felt secretly pleased that even when Cynthia was busy, she still was looking out for Alix.

I’M IN HELL, Alix texted back.

TOO BAD. I’M DRINKING COFFEE WITH SOPHIE AND DEREK. SHE’S TELLING ME ABOUT ALEC. TOTAL TRAINWRECK!!!!

UPDATE ME.

HE’S A WEEEEET KISSER.

EW!

“Who are you texting with?” Jonah asked.

“Cynthia.”

“She’s cute,” Jonah said. “I saw her in a bikini at the pool.”

Alix rolled her eyes at him. “Dream on. She’s so out of your league.”

CAN YOU COME OUT?

CAN’T. STUCK WITH DEATH BARBIE AND MY BRO.

:( WE’LL FIGURE SOMETHING OUT.

That was Cynthia. Always looking out for her friends. It was the opposite of the mean-girl garbage that some girls played at. Cynthia paid attention to people. It sometimes made Alix feel like she wasn’t the best friend in the world, but Cynthia didn’t seem to care. Cynthia did nice things for people and then went on and didn’t worry about whether there was payback. Alix had once called her Zen nice, and Cynthia’s only comment had been that Zen wasn’t Chinese; it was Japanese.

Cynthia texted again, ANY MORE FROM YOUR BOYFRIEND?

???, Alix texted back.

STALKER MAN!

HA!

“What?” Jonah leaned over, trying to see, but Alix jerked her cell out of sight as she texted.

WISH I WAS THERE.

THERE’S A RAVE NEXT SATURDAY.

RUB IT IN, WHY DON’T YOU?

LOL. NOT WHAT I MEANT. WE’LL BUST YOU OUT. GIRL GOTS TO HAVE FUN.

Alix smiled secretly. The car pulled up to the curb. Hulk and Death Barbie climbed out and opened the doors for her and Jonah.

The house looked pretty much the same as it always had. The Williams & Crowe surveillance van was still parked across the street, but other than that, the security people had faded into the background. For all she knew, they had snipers in the trees. Inside the house, there were a few workmen from an electronic-security firm rewiring the house for another layer of protection.

“What’s all this?” Alix asked as she threw her satchel onto the counter. The activity was like an ants’ nest. Her father was in the middle of it with George Saamsi. George grinned at her.