The Shrink Program

Chapter 148

The cheerful Floid brother nodded sombrely.

"I'm afraid so."

After a long moment of letting the realisation sink in, I shrugged.

"... I could live with that."

A soft weight pressed against my back and I looked over my shoulder to see Alex poking at me with a peeved look on his face.

"And why exactly am I the one getting left behind?"

After my heart settled from the surprising touch, I gave Alex my most nonchalant shrug.

"....you and Alan are pretty much the same... If you really think about it, we'd only need one of you, right?"

Alex blinked at me, the anger not registering as if he couldn't believe that I had just said that.

A little ways behind us, Apollo snickered, spurning Alex to send him a threatening look over his shoulder.

I used the distraction, turning back to look at the Hill.

Artemis had noticed.

Which meant that pretty much everyone one must have noticed, but knew better than to ask.

"....Even if that were true, I can't believe you would pick Alan over me." Alex muttered moodily behind me.

"If I'm going to play survivor on a deserted Island Alex, I need someone I don't mind sacrificing to the volcano God..." My mouth continued to move on autopilot.

"Not seeing how this is shutting up and saving the world. " Apollo muttered as Alan began to squawk indignantly.

"Don't be rude Polly." I heard Artemis chide, and spun around just in time to see Apollo swing a clawing hand at his older brother, like a cat lashing out in righteous fury.

Artemis avoided the blow by simply stepping out of arms reach, smiling apologetically at Apollo's reproachful glare.

My lips twitched.

Polly?

"We need to establish communication before we go in," Vain commented to the Floid brother holding his arm.

"Why? Of course, the link is working. Why wouldn't it be?" Alan replied dismissively.

"You're willing to risk our lives on Why wouldn't it be?"

"... Yes. "

" Alan. "

"Fine." Alan used their looped arms to pull Vain into a stop, leaning forward to examine me closely.

"What," I demanded flatly, in no mood for whatever the hell they were talking about.

"We believe that you still have PeriWinkle's Nano Technology inside you. " He announced bluntly.

I stiffened.

"They are still using it to track us?" I guessed, only to have Alan twitch.

Guilty.

"That. Also, there is a high possibility that Peri is using it to... Ah, synchronise with your brain signals."

"Meaning... "

"That he is receiving phantom sensations from your mind."

"Which means...."

"He can hear, see and feel everything that you do. "

"So basically... "

"You and Peri are sharing a brain right now."

Sharing a brain. The exact words I had used to describe the way Winkle and Peri could sense what the other was feeling.

Which meant...

No.

He had...

No.

Witnessed...

Everything.

NO.

"...Are you sure?"

I mean, what are the odds?

"It explains why he didn't show up with Winkle at the party Maddison," Alan explained apologetically.

Right...

"Maybe he's taking a sick day?" I reasoned desperately.

"Did you experience any nausea or head pain when you first woke up? Only to have it eventually stabilised and go away."

"...it could be a coincidence."

Wordlessly, Alan pulled out his phone and typed out a number before holding it out for me to see.

"This is a private number on which we can be contacted. "

Please don't ring. Please don't ring. Please, please, please...

"Idiot! Why are you giving him my number...!" Alex was just stepping forward to snatch the phone out of his brother's hand...

When cheerful music began to play.

Maybe it's a telemarketer...

"You changed the ring tone again!" Alex hissed at his brother angrily.

"As I have already explained to you, Alexander, 1934 is a predictable password."

"Shut up. It's the only one I can remember... !"

"Just answer the phone Floid. " Vain remarked, his tone patient but his words far from it.

Sending his brother one last death glare, Alex reached into his shirt for an inside pocket.

He answered the call, immediately switching the phone to speaker.

The voice that came from the line was sheepishly cheerful.

And painfully familiar.

"Your ring tone is the Super Mario bro's theme?"