"What's a government agent doing at our house?" Syndria said, her eyes fixed on the motorcycle and eyebrows furrowed into a frown.
"And did they get inside? I don't see anyone from the front window..." Kronalia said, her leg bouncing up and down and her arms tightly crossed.
"They must've heard about our cybervist attack," Oak said.
"...or Ivy's health bar," Augaley said with a grimace. "Remember how it beeped when it was first set up on Ivy earlier? That had happened in Syndria's bedroom, so they probably got tipped off by the error message. It's never done that for any of us before."
"Either way, we cannot be caught with Ivy here!" Carbon said, looking between Ivy and the home. "Is there anywhere that we can hide her instead of your place, Kronalia and Syndria?"
"U-um I can't seem to think of anything at the moment!" Syndria said, biting her lips.
"I knew it! The agent's gonna catch us here with Ivy," Oak groaned, leaning a head against the taxi's window. "Didn't I say we'd end up in big trouble? How did I end up in this mess with all of you?"
"I don't know," Syndria testily said. "You tagged along with us since we took Ivy to our house."
"The first thing we need to do," Oak said, ignoring her statement, "is figure out how to keep Ivy hidden from the agent. Then we can figure out how to hurry up and get her back to her time before we get caught. Our entire plan could go up in sparks if we get in trouble before we can even get started."
"Oh, look!" Syndria gasped. "They've turned on the lights in my room."
"Lemme see," Kronalia said, standing and leaning over Syndria's shoulder. "Is that the agent there?"
"Where, I don't see anyone!"
"No, I see her." Kronalia abruptly sat down, crouching from the window. " And I think she saw me. The agent just looked out the window."
"If she saw us," Carbon said, looking frantically around, "then she may come out to investigate, and then she'd find Ivy, and then—"
"Does anyone have a good hiding spot for Ivy?" Oak muttered, burying his face into his hands.
"Anywhere I think of is in our house," Syndria groaned. "And if we leave, it might look suspicious..."
"Why not?" Kronalia said. "I doubt they'd think an impromptu trip to the food district would be suspicious."
Just then, a small holographic screen popped in front of Syndria. "Oh...it's Mom," she groaned. "Give me a nanosec to answer this." She tapped a button on the menu. "Yeah, Mom?" she said.
<<Syndria?>> a woman's voice, similar sounding to Syndria and Kronalia's, said. <<Where are you? I thought you were home with your friends?>>
"Oh, yeah!" she cheerfully said. "I was, but then we went to the library."
<<Oh, are you the black vehicle outside?>>
Syndria desperately looked at the others for an answer. Kronalia grimaced and shrugged, Carbon looked at Oak and Augaley, and Augaley quickly shook her head. Oak slowly raised his head from his hands and looked at Syndria. "Yes," he mouthed.
"Y-yeah, we just pulled up," Syndria said. She gulped. "Why?"
There was silence for a few seconds. <<There's a government official here, and she was checking on a possible health issue here. Was everything ok?>>
"Oh, that!" Syndria said, laughing. "Augaley and I were trying out shoes and didn't realize that it would cause an error in the system."
<<Don't you know to only wear your own issued clothing?>> her mother sighed. <<Alright, I'll have to fill out some paperwork with the agent now, hurry up and get inside. We'll be in the living space.>>
"Yeah, we're coming, bye," Syndria said, quickly ending the conversation. "Phew!" she said. "That's good news, isn't it guys? That official was just checking on our welfare."
"So nothing about the cybervists, then?" Carbon said in confusion.
"They definitely weren't here for the cybervists..." Syndria said. "At least Ivy's safe though! You heard my mom—I don't think she was here for her, specifically."
She was met by a heavy silence. Ivy shifted uncomfortably, staring at Syndria's bedroom window. The light shut off in the room.
"Syndria, think about this," Oak finally said. "Have you ever once had a welfare check from a government official to your home?"
"...No."
"Has anyone else ever gotten one?"
Oak was met by silent headshakes.
"Don't any of you think that it just might be more than a coincidence that on the same day that we open a portal and get attacked by cybervists, a government official just happens to make a welfare check?"
"...The chances of that are very improbable," Carbon finally said.
"But we all heard the call, Oak," Syndria said with a shrug, "It was the error message that Ivy's health bar made when she had put on those shoes. The agent's probably just gonna go with the story I told Mom."
"And she'll probably check records in The System and see that the error message didn't come from your health bar," Oak said, sighing irritably. "I don't know about the cybervist attack, but she's definitely gonna come back for Ivy," he said, "And we're going to get Ivy safely hidden before she does."
Syndria opened her mouth as if to say something, but then stiffly nodded. "You have a point, Oak," she said. Syndria turned to look out of the window. "but the agent heard the call. She's expecting us to come inside any nanosecond, and I don't see how we can hide Ivy from her between the time we leave the car and go inside."
"Actually, I might have an option," Augaley said, looking out the window. "We won't have to leave here, and I think we'll be able to get to it before anyone gets outside."
"What do you mean... might?" Ivy asked apprehensively.
" Well," Augaley slowly said, "It's something at my home. I'm thinking since our homes are so similar, they may have it, especially considering how much larger their place is to mine."
"We don't have many options right now," Oak sighed. "Do you think the agent will catch us if we leave the car?"
"The light's off in my room," Syndria said, peering out from the taxi window. " And Mom said they'll be in our living space, which is at the back of the house. So, no."
"Perfect. Are we ready?"
"Yes," Ivy said, "but what about my stuff?"
"I'll grab it for you once we get inside and the agent leaves," Syndria said, pressing a button and causing the door to slide open. "Let's hurry before they finish filling out that report!"
The five piled out of the car and scurried behind a tree that obscured the view of the home from where they stood, allowing Augaley to step forward and lead the way.
****
"Are you sure this is the way, Augaley?" Kronalia said, peering over the steep drop of her home's metal base.
"Yes," she replied, slowly walking along the edge and running her hand along an invisible wall. "This entire base is protected by a force field, but if you find the right spot..."
She stuck out her hand.
It passed through the air.
"Here it is!" she said with a satisfied smile. "Now," Augaley dropped to her knees and reached below. "There are some maintenance ladders down this way... Here!"
She grabbed onto something and deftly dropped below. "Augaley!" Oak exclaimed, running to the edge. The others followed him closely, flanking either side of him.
"What? It's safe down here," she replied.
Ivy peered over the edge. There was a small platform below, which wrapped around the base of the home. Augaley comfortably rested a shoulder against a railing. "Come on, guys!"
Oak hesitated but then glanced out at the numerous cars zipping about in the distance. He kneeled and made the climb down. "That platform better hold all of our weight," he growled.
Ivy watched as each person climbed down. She looked at the open air below the platform, willing herself to ignore how long of a drop it would be if she were to miss the ladder somehow. You can do this, Ivy, she said to herself, tensing her shoulders.Cautiously, Ivy dropped to her knees and scooted backward, carefully placing each foot onto a rung. She let out a small breath of relief as her feet solidly planted on the metal grating.
"This looks like it," Augaley said, coming to a stop at the front of the line.
"Like what?" Oak said, leaning forward to have a better look at what she was looking at. Ivy leaned on the railing to get a better look past the others.
On the wall was a nondescript door, almost hidden against the smooth metal panel of the base's walls. "Now if I can find the notch for the opening..." Augaley said, patting along the edges of the panel.
Ivy watched as Augaley's hand seemed to catch onto something. Augaley grinned. "There!" she said, pulling at the panel.
The panel quietly slid open and revealed a tangled network of cables and lights. The ceilings softly glowed with bright light.
"Welcome to the maintenance room!" Augaley said as they piled into the room.
"How'd you find this place, Augaley?" Oak said, looking around the space.
She shrugged. "I was walking around my yard and found it one day. Like I said, I figured Syndria and Kronalia might have one on their yard too."
"I'd be down here all the time if I knew this was here!" Syndria said in amazement. "Do you know what kind of study space I could make here?"
"This space will do great, thanks Augaley," Oak said with a nod of approval. "You're going to have to wait until we come back later," he said, turning to Ivy.
"Wait, where's everyone going?" Ivy asked in alarm.
"Agent, remember?" Kronalia said.
"I don't know how long that agent may take," Syndira added, "and I think we may need some time to figure out how we're getting you home."
"Oh," Ivy said, her shoulders slumping.
"I'll be back in a few minutes with your stuff," Syndria said as they walked towards the door. "Do you want a snack or something while you wait on us?"
"No, thanks," Ivy said, scoping the room.
"Great," Syndria said. " I'll just get your stuff, and join the others. We should be back this evening."
"No, tonight," Oak corrected. "I have to get some help, and I don't think I'll be able to bring them here any earlier than after dinner."
"Well, why can't we come here before you?" Syndria said. "This is our house after all."
"The less traffic we have coming back and forth through here, the better."
"He has a point," Carbon said. "The more times we come down here, the higher we raise our probability of being caught."
"Maybe just drop off Ivy's things instead?"
"Oh..." Syndria said with a frown. "Okay, I'll be quick with your stuff," she said, rushing ahead of the others.
"Wait for me to open the door first, Syndria!" Augaley said, pushing the door open for Syndria to run past. She turned to the others. "Let's go!"
"We'll see you later, Ivy!" Kronalia said as she flashed a smile.
Ivy stood in silence, trying to figure out how to spend her time.
She paced around the room. "There isn't really much in here, huh?" she said to herself.
The door slid open again.
"Ivy!" Syndria breathlessly said.
"Yeah, here!" Ivy replied, rushing to the door. She quickly took the bag and bulb from Syndria. "Did the agent catch you?"
"Nope!" she said with a grin. "She's already left." Syndria turned and stepped onto the platform again. "I'll be back with the others later. Bye!"
"Oh...bye," Ivy said, trying to mask her disappointment.
Syndria seemed to not have noticed Ivy's crestfallen face, for she slid the door shut and pounded down the metal walkway. Ivy slowly walked to a wall and set her bag and lightbulb down. She looked around the space again.
The room felt uncomfortably silent in the absence of the group. Ivy sighed, plopping to the ground and leaning against a wall. "I wonder if this is all really a dream?" she muttered to herself.
She was having a hard time believing this rhetoric anymore, however. It feels too...real, she thought, picking the fluorescent lightbulb up from where it had been leaning against the bag and rolling it in her hands. She frowned and set the bulb aside, pulling the bag to herself and leaning onto it. "I guess I can take a nap," she said. Maybe I'll wake up to reality then, she thought as she closed her eyes.
Ivy stretched out, trying her best to find a comfortable position, but found the hard metal floors to be unforgiving. "They couldn't have offered a blanket or something?" she muttered, attempting to fluff the contents of her bag into a makeshift pillow. She took out the shoes from the bag and placed them to the side. Maybe that'll help.
It didn't help.
"Ugh!" she groaned in frustration, flipping from her side to her back, accidentally kicking the lightbulb in the process. "Oh no!" she gasped.
Ivy sat up in time to see the lightbulb careen across the room and roll to a stop at the base of a large metal box in the center of the room. "Oh, good," she whispered. At least it didn't break, she thought as she stood and trotted to the bulb. She picked it up, resting a hand on the box for support. "Now," she said, straightening, "I guess I still have some time to nap."
As Ivy turned to go back to her bag, the lights in the room wildly flickered. She froze. "Uhh...hello?" she called out.
No response.
She backed closer to the box. The flickering intensified, and a high-pitched scree started to sound in the room.
"Okay...that didn't seem to be good..." she said, her heart racing. "S-stop that!" she yelled to the lights, waving the fluorescent lightbulb in the air.
The flickering lessened but remained. Ivy slowed the waving. "Wait a moment..."
She slowly waved. As her hand with the lightbulb got closer to the box, the flickering sped up, but when she moved her hand away, it slowed. Ivy looked at the box, then the bulb in her hands.
She backed away from the box, eyes on the lights. The lights returned to normal. "...Huh," she said. "Is it this bulb?"
Ivy approached the box and placed the lightbulb onto the box. The flickering resumed.
"Interesting..." she said, moving the lightbulb away once again. "I wonder what else you can do?" she said to the bulb.
Ivy stifled a yawn. "Whatever it is," she said, "It better help me get some energy or something." How long have I been in this world anyways? she thought. It feels like it's been hours. She pouted and returned to the bag, this time placing the lightbulb near the bag, out of reach of her arms and legs. And I don't even have a phone to check the time, she thought in disappointment. At least I don't have to go to school...