Tina Chan - imperfect

They got off the train, keeping their heads down and struggling not to get separated from each other while being swept along with the crowd getting off the air train. Klisbury reminded Kristi of her hometown; it was smaller than Oppidum, but still a respectable sized city.

“What do you say we do next?” Finn asked.

“Dr. Hanson sent me a list of Revealer addresses in Klisbury,” Kristi said. “I think we should first find a safe house. He recommended staying at the Filches while we’re here.”

They emerged out of the train station and regrouped themselves. The crowd thinned out once outside and they were able to find a secluded spot to talk without being overheard by any curious ears.

“Who are the Filches?” Chelsa asked.

“A couple that lives only ten blocks from the train-station. They have been part of the Revealers for over ten years and have offered to let us stay at their place while we’re in Klisbury,” Kristi said, remembering the information Dr. Hanson had sent her while she was on the train.

“The Filches.” Troop obtained a thoughtful expression. “That name sounds recognizable. I believe they’re a pair of talented hackers that often help my mom get undisclosed information for her cases.”

“We’ll probably find their talents handy then,” Finn said. “Let’s start walking.”

The Filches lived at a modest brick apartment in an older section of Klisbury. The building seemed weatherworn and tired, but overall had a neat appearance. Jane Filch welcomed her last minute visitors without even batting an eye to the leopard that accompanied them.

The room they were in upon entering the Filches’ home was comfortably furnished with two sofas, a plush rug and a couple cots folded up in the corner. It seemed so normal for two supposedly rebel hackers. There were no walls covered with monitors or desks buried beneath mountains of electronic hardware; there were no visible sensors or cameras.

“Thanks for taking us in,” Finn said.

“No problem. My husband, Nick, will be back soon. He has to wrap up some work at his office,” Jane said.

“Is there anything we should know?” Chelsa asked.

“Not much except curfew at Klisbury is nine in the evening to five in the morning sharp. If you need anything, just let me know.”

It was a bit before six, so there was a decent amount of time to spend.

“I’m going to take a look at New Genes Lab,” Kristi said. “Does anyone want to come?”

“I will.” Troop stood up. “It’ll be good to take a look at the lab before breaking in. When do we plan on entering the lab anyways?”

“The sooner the better. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow.”

“I think only Troop and you should go scout out the lab,” Chelsa said. “The more people you have the more attention you’re going to attract.”

Jane, who had left the room moments ago, stuck her head back in.

“Sorry, but I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation. If you’re planning on breaking into New Genes Lab, you might find these handy.” She held out two small containers filled with a liquid. “They’re contact-cams. Newly developed Revealer gadgets that allow you to secretly video tape everything you see.”

“So they’re basically like contact lens cameras?” Kristi clarified.

“Right on. If you wear them while checking out New Genes Lab, you can record a lot of visual information you would normally forget. They can make a huge difference between a successful break-in and a failure.” Jane pressed a case into Troop and Kristi’s hand each.

“Thanks,” they replied in unison.

“That’s what I’m here for,” she said. “To make sure everything goes smoothly.”

Troop went to the bathroom with Kristi to put in the contact lens. The wiring and cameras in the lens were so microscopic Kristi wouldn’t have noticed them at all if she hadn’t known they were there.

She blinked her watering eyes a few times. She had just inserted a contact-cam into her right eye and it felt a bit awkward. Once Kristi got used to the feeling of having a contact on her right eye, she attempted to put in her left one.

“Darn it,” Kristi said after three fruitless tries.

“Here, let me try. I already got both of my lenses on.” Troop carefully took the contact lens she was having trouble with from the tip of her fingertip.

“Don’t blink,” he said. As he said the word, he delicately placed the contact onto her left eye with lightning quick speed.

“Hey!” Kristi said in surprise.

She blinked as soon as the contact-cam was securely in her eye to mitigate the discomfort.

“You’re welcome,” Troop said.

“You startled me. But thanks.”

“Should we bring anything with us aside from our slates?”

“I don’t think so. The less we have to carry the better.”

Kristi exited the bathroom and told Chelsa and Finn, “We’re leaving now. See you later.”

They nodded to show they heard.

New Genes Lab was an imposing building located near the edge of the city. A meticulously mowed lawn surrounded the entire perimeter of the building, preventing any chance of being able to sneak inside the lab without being taped by the surveillance cameras that dotted around the property.

Troop and Kristi strolled along the sidewalk passing in front of New Genes Lab, not daring to move any closer to the building for fear of attracting the wrong type of attention.

“Did you get a good look at the cameras?” Kristi asked Troop under her breath. “Perhaps the Filches can figure out the best way to evade the them if they know the cameras’ model.”

Troop followed her words and focused his gaze on the closest camera to them, which was only fifty feet away. They circled the property, taking note of the number of windows, stairs, entrances and anything else of interest.

New Genes Lab was a five-story, square-shaped building constructed of steel and black tinted windows. Overall, it looked very much like a black cube crouching in the middle of a vividly green patch of green surrounded by a seven-foot high chain linked fence. Even just thinking about how they were going to enter the lab made Kristi’s head hurt.

“Maybe there’s another way to solve the case without trespassing into the lab,” she said.

“If there’s another way to solve the case, we obviously aren’t aware of it.” Troop shaded his eyes from the glare reflecting off the glossy building. “So far, breaking and entering is the best lead we have to follow. If Stevey used to work at this lab and something traumatic involving the Accidents happened here causing him to go crazy, our best starting point would be here.”

“Yeah, but if this place made Stevey go whacko, what do you think it will do to us?”

“It can’t be that bad,” Troop said, sounding like he was both trying to reassure himself and Kristi at the same time.

“Is it just me, or has that red solar-car been following us for the past few minutes?” She threw a glance to her right. Yep, the solar-car was still there, with its blacked-out windows all rolled up.

Troop eyeballed the car. “I think so. I’m going to take that as a sign to go.”

They finished circling the lab and walked back onto the main road.

“Do you want to grab some dinner?” Troop asked.

“Do we have enough time?”

“Yeah. There’s still over an hour before curfew.”

“Okay then. That sandwich shop seems like a nice place.” Kristi pointed to Solomon’s Sandwich and sent Chelsa a quick instafication notifying her that they would be back in about an hour.

A little bell tinkled, announcing their arrival to the waitress who was chatting with her friend. She stood up and came to them.

“How many?”