Glitches (Book 1)

Chapter 35: Justin

Team Codie had already won its game against the Cookies, and we had just defeated the Sloppies yesterday. Just win the game next week against the Speedies, and we'd be in the championship. Not that anyone ever doubted we would be, we were the Codies! 

However, there was something in the back of my mind that told me the only reason we'd won the Sloppie game was because Claire wasn't there. When I'd visited her at the hospital, she seemed so sure of herself, like she didn't care very much that she wouldn't be at the game. She had confidence in her team, and from what I could gather from their performance yesterday, they had more confidence in themselves than ever before. 

Claire had made a big difference in her division, just like I'd expected. She wasn't just going to let Amanda bully her, she was going to fight back by taking her terrible situation and making the best of it. That would become a very inspiring story...if  her division getting better wasn't a threat to mine's supremacy.

And then there was the mystery of Vince and whether he was dead or not (which he most probably was.) Somehow, I felt this was all connected. That there was something going on here that I didn't know about, that no one knew about but Amanda. 

My usual bench in the back of the lush Codie gardens felt cold and lonely without Vince, and its faults, well, everything's faults really, stuck out more without the company of a friend to distract me. The cracks in the pavement, the chipped paint of the bench, the one wilted rose... I counted what felt like dozens more before I tired of it and pulled out my division-issue Code hacked iPad.

I quickly figured out I couldn't access FaceTime, iMessage, the internet, or anything else that could connect me to the world outside. I could download pretty much any apps that weren't texting apps or browsers (WGO offered all paid apps for free, which was pretty awesome), but that was pretty much it. Amanda had tech usage under tight control. 

In the middle of a game of Don't Touch the Spikes, an alert flashed on my screen. 

Report to 51st floor of Government Building A at once. Your device is constantly monitored. Any attempt to remove it from your person or otherwise circumvent this summons is punishable. 

I snorted when I saw the message. A summons to the 51st floor? But that was just a bunch of storage rooms and the Government Building custodians' break room... The last floor on Government Building A that was actually important was 50, where Amanda's office was. What did they want to do with me on the 51st, lock me in a broom closet?

Grudgingly, I tucked the iPad back into my Team Codie satchel and walked along a sidewalk toward the ominous, black Government Buildings. 

The taller one on the right, Government Building A, was where the officials of WGO conducted their business, and Government Building B was where they and their regs lived. 

"State your business," said a bored looking Government reg in the white button down shirt and black slacks typical of regs of their division. 

"I received a summons, to the 51st floor," I said, holding out my iPad to show him the alert which was still flashing on my screen. 

"Gimme that!" He hissed, snatching the iPad from my hands and peering down at the alert, his professional demeanor instantly disappearing. "The 51st floor you say..." he trailed off, shaking his head. 

"I know, it's strange," I shrugged. "They say there's nothing up there." 

"Oh, there's something up there alright," he laughed dryly. "Better say your last words, kid. I've been the guard at this building for seven years now, and I've only seen two people summoned to the 51st in my whole career. Their names were Kim Erickson and Drew Laras. Neither of them came back down alive." 

"No..." I shook my head, trying to repress my gruesome thoughts. "That can't be, maybe they just work there now, maybe they-"

"Justin, in both cases, the regs brought white sacks out of the buildings. When I asked, they said it was trash, but the Sloppies take out the trash on Wednesdays and Fridays. Both you and I know what was in those long, heavy white sacks." 

"That's just...eww! That's wrong in so many ways, like who even-" 

"Does that?" The guard offered with a tired smile. "Our amazing President." 

"Is there a way to, you know, escape?" I asked. "San Francisco is a pretty big city, I could probably blend in with the crowd well enough to get away." And then I could go back home and tell everyone about WGO! I could get Amanda arrested for kidnapping and murder! 

Except they would all think my long period of 'captivity' had taken its toll on my sanity and throw me in some mental institution. 

"Probably," the guard looked around. "Try the west wall of the invisibility shield. It's the closest and least guarded. I doubt any of them would stop you, fellow regs, you know. Well, unless they're not in control..." 

"What do you mean by not in-"

"This," the guard grinned evilly, leaping out of his booth with inhuman agility and leaping onto me, pulling me to the ground. I flailed uselessly, completely taken by surprise. 

Before I knew it, we was dragging me to the door. "Now, be a good little boy and go up the the 51st floor, Justin," said the guard. Except it wasn't the guard. The person pinning me to the door was clearly the nice reg from earlier, but his voice...was Amanda's. It was funny, cool, and freaky all at the same time. 

"What? Amanda? How did you?" 

"I'm so much more powerful than any of you puny little beings could even comprehend," she laughed. "And my mistress is ten times more so." 

"But how? And who is your-"

"Come on up, Justin, and I'll tell you. You're smart, you know there's more to this organization than meets the eye. I'll tell you everything you want to know and more, just come," she said in a singsong voice. 

I looked around. Amanda had made it abundantly clear that there was no chance for escape. And if I was going to die up there... at least I would die knowing what the heck was going on at WGO. Taking a deep breath and steeling myself, I pushed open the door to the Government Building. I felt the security guard's possessed eyes on the back of my neck, watching my every move.