The Shrink Program

Chapter 114

"Hey, Peri?" I asked quietly, not wanting to draw the attention of the other people in the room.

Especially Nigel.

Instead of looking at Peri as I spoke, I let my eyes naturally fall on a green pot plant in the corner of the room."This Link thing of yours. Is it what you were referring to when you said that Alex and Alan were the prototypes for you and Winkle?"

At the question Peri shifted, leaning back against the desk casually as the other supervisors continued to organise themselves. Garmen was almost at the door by now and seemed to be getting steadier as he went.

"Yes, of course." Peri quietly confirmed with a faint smile. "Surely you've seen some signs of the link in the twins as well?"

Well... It would explain why Alex tended to go all super ninja assassin whenever Alan was put in danger.

"Yeah." I admitted, feeling my stomach twist uncomfortably, but unsure why exactly. It was only as Peri turned to call out to Reece, and my own head twisted almost compulsively, that I realised that I was staring at the pot plant with unnerving intensity.

Startled, tore my gaze away, glaring down at my hands irritably as I tried to figure out why I had been staring at the green fern-like it was a leprechaun carrying a bouquet of shamrocks...

Slowly, my eyes shifted to stare at My Supervisor.

"Peri...? Does Mr...Green...." I nodded my head over to My Supervisor. "Know about Alex and Alan Floid. They are sort of famous here right...?"

"Of course!" Peri sent me a surprised smiled. "Not only that, but he was also the one who handled their case ten years ago. Was even their legal guardian for a year actually."

That uncomfortable feeling in my stomach suddenly started to feel like knives playing around inside me.

"They were part of the shrink Program...?!" I said faintly, my head whirling with questions.

Such as, if he had been their guardian for a year, why did Mr Green and Alex act like complete strangers when they had met at the school?

"Well, not really. It's just after what happened with their mother and the experiments, they needed someone to help them get their lives back on track."

Why hadn't Mr Green recognised Jack? Even if it was just the name, there should have been some sort of recollection... But his face had shown only confusion.

"But... Then why did he...? Wait. Ten years ago?" I twisted on Peri's shoulder to stare at him in the face. "Mr Supervisor couldn't be older than his mid-twenties! How could he have been Alex and Alan's guardian?! "

Peri suddenly shut his mouth. Firmly. The panicked look in his eyes, making it obvious that the Supervisor had just blundered into some sort of information time bomb.

"Did you say, Alex and Alan? As in the Floid twins?" Artemis looked over at me his expression puzzled. "You know them?"

I sent him a look, trying to contain my ever-growing panic as the pieces started to fall into place. "Yea. Alex is my classmate."

"He is!?" Nigel shot me a started look. "But..."

"What?" I asked flatly, too anxious to be diplomatic or even polite about it.

"I just thought.... since Alan is in my class... That they were both in my year...."

Like a ship hit by a cannonball, my heart began to sink.

"Well, it's not like Alex actually goes to class." I reasoned. Even as the water lapped at my ankles, I didn't want to admit that we were going down."He was probably kept down a year..."

"Love." Artemis interrupted gently, watching me with dread-filled eyes.

"Alan and Alexander Floid were already the King and Queen of the hill when I entered the school."

No.

That couldn't be right.

If Artemis hadn't been sent to the shrinking program, he would have graduated by now. They couldn't have been at the school that long, no matter how many classes Alex skipped...They didn't look old enough to be over nineteen...

But I had never noticed any changes.

Had never tried to compare the Alex I knew today with the one I had met over two years ago.

Alex never goes to class, never has his picture taken.

I didn't know how or when they had become the king and queen of the Hill. Had never wanted to pry.

I never asked.

They had just... always been there...

Watching over the Hill.

"Maddison," Artemis said quietly, drawing my silent, wide-eyed gaze. The entire room was quiet, every single Supervisor frozen as if waiting for the inevitable.

"If... A queen bee has a blueprint of a hive, and she instructs her Bees to constantly maintain and repair the Hive to reflect that image... Would the Hive ever change?"

Artemis lowered his gaze as if not wanting to see my expression as he asked his last question.

"Would the hive ever Age?"

I stared at Artemis, feeling my hands tremble as the obvious answer left my lips.

"No."

The sharp sound of glass cracking was the only warning we had before the wall of glass behind us shattered inward.