"Hurry up, guys!" Uncle Taner called as the six children struggled to keep up with his large strides in the forest. "That won't keep her down for long."
"I'm trying!" Ivy panted, barely avoiding a root in the ground.
"Can we slow down a little bit?" Oak said, ducking under a low tree branch.
"And get caught by her again?" Uncle Taner scoffed. "Keep it up, guys, we're almost there."
Soon enough, the group broke into a small clearing, where Uncle Taner's familiar car awaited them. They bounded into the vehicle and Uncle Taner frantically typed on the holoscreen. "We might have enough time to swing by my main lab if I use your account, Ivy," he said, typing on the screen and swiping through what looked like a map. He rubbed a chin, lost in thought. "Then I have a place downtown that I could hide you at while we try to figure out our next steps. I don't think that she'll bother us again if she doesn't see you with me..."
With a tap of a button, the car raised itself and began its speedy travel to Uncle Taner's lab. The seven let out a collective sigh of relief.
"That was close," Carbon said.
Ivy nodded, looking out of the window and trying to see if there were any cyber motorbikes following them. She soon gave up, finding the blurry mess of colors to be dizzying.
Ivy's attention flitted back to the fluorescent lightbulb still in her hands. She peered closer at the metal encasement and flicked the knob back and forth. "What are you gonna do about this bulb, Uncle Taner?" Ivy asked.
"I have a better diagnostic system built into my lab at home," Uncle Taner replied, distractedly swiping through a set of screens in front of himself. "We can probably see what's wrong with it there. We were going to leave anyways before our favorite little agent decided to pay us a visit."
"I thought you said you didn't want to fry your other lab?" Ivy said.
"Don't have much of a choice now," he replied, throwing up his hands in defeat.
"A whole lot of running for a little bulb," Syndria sighed.
"No one asked you to join," Uncle Taner shot back.
She pouted.
"I for one don't think it's very much of a bother," Oak smugly said, much to Syndria's annoyance.
"Well, Oak, maybe because some of us know how to better spend our time!"
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Oak said, jumping to his feet.
Uncle Taner lifted his head, as if he were about to intervene, but then paused. "Oh?" he said as a green screen popped in front of his other screens, covering them. He glanced at Oak. "Say Oak—why is your mother calling?"
Oak turned to Uncle Taner, his face confused. "I dunno," he said with a shrug. "I told her I'd be working on that project with you?"
Uncle Taner sighed, then picked up the call. "Ledaia, my favorite and only sister!" he cheerfully said, "What's causing you to so kindly call me this afternoon?"
<<Taner,>> a sharp woman's voice could be heard. <<Where are you?>>
"O-on the road," he said, unusually unnerved. "Why?"
<<Interesting. Can you explain to me then why you're on the country's Most Wanted list right now?>>
"...What?"
<<I just opened my news holoscreen to see your face plastered everywhere as a fugitive for the kidnapping of a girl? What is all this?>>
"Are..." Uncle Taner started, his eyes wide. He paused to gulp, then glanced at Ivy. "Are you sure it's me?"
<<Do you think I'd mix up my own brother with a stranger?>> she snapped. <<Taner, you better not be getting Oak mixed up in any of this, or so help me—>>
"Hey, I'm not hearing you," he said, wildly typing on a screen next to the call's panel.
"On a scale of one to ten," Carbon whispered to Oak, "how much trouble do you think we're in right now?"
"Can you repeat that?" Uncle Taner said, still typing on the secondary screen. From her angle, Ivy spotted a picture of his face filling the screen. Uncle Taner froze, then slowly sunk his head into his hands.
"An eleven," Oak whispered back, slowly sitting back down.