into place, a second before there was pounding on the door.
“What the hell?” That was Grassi’s angry voice, signaling that they were locked inside. For now.
I didn’t know how long it would take Grassi to reverse the lockdown. Minutes at most, I figured. That gave us just enough time to get back up to our dorm rooms unnoticed.
Only if Grassi didn’t call security first.
Up ahead, the others were just reaching the dorms. Samuel ushered Hunter and Abby inside, but waited for me, gesturing frantically with his hand.
Hurry.
I sprinted until the cold air blew back my hood. I snatched it back with one hand, without decreasing my speed.
When I was a few feet away, I waved Samuel on, catching the door when he complied.
“Faster,” I told Samuel. We all needed to be back in our rooms and our beds. I rushed inside behind him, then reconnected the alarm to the system.
Abby was still in the stairwell. I grabbed her hand and pulled her up behind me. When we reached the hall, we speed-walked toward our rooms.
I tore open Hannah’s door, dumping my shoes in her closet. My change into pajamas was performed in record time, and then I went right for the bed, throwing back the covers and climbing in. My heart continued its racing beat for another ten seconds while I waited. And listened. I had no idea how Grassi would proceed from here. Would there be a check on all the students? Would they suspect students, or would they think it was an outside job? Would Grassi call the police? No, not unless he wanted to expose his secret project.
My heart continued its frantic beat but the pace gradually slowed as the minutes ticked by. That was when I could finally start to make sense of what I saw.
No wonder the grant students were tired. No wonder they were taking drugs. They worked all day and trained all night in a terrifying virtual reality, directed by an adult who was supposed to be their teacher. Their friend. All trust had to be ruined by now, as he put them through dangerous simulations and monitored their progress by embedding chips in their bodies.
Why these kids? Why Grassi? Why Sarah?
Those questions still plagued me. But I did have one answer, or the beginning of an answer.
Holland had lured these exceptional students to Montford with the Watson Grants. But their scholarships came with a steep price. Along with regular classes, they had to go through high-tech military training, and why was that? It had to be because he was molding the grant kids into some kind of new and deadly soldier.
What war would they be fighting? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. But we’d have to find the answers before we left this campus. It was the only way to save this group of kids. We owed that much to Sarah.
You safe?
I texted Hunter, Abby, and Samuel.
The responses blipped in, one after another:
All clear, from Abby
10-4, from Hunter
If I don’t die from this agonizing side cramp, then yes, from Samuel. But that was way too close for comfort.
That was scary, from Abby. Are you going to tell us what the hell was going on back there?
For an instant, confusion clouded my brain. Then I realized. She couldn’t see—not the way I could. None of them had the luxury of my android sensors.
I told them what I’d witnessed. I told them what I’d made of it.
For several seconds, there were no responses. I wondered if the texting app had malfunctioned. As I prepared to run a check, Samuel replied.
As horrifying as that is, at least it makes sense. I was starting to wonder if they were all on a bad mushroom trip.
They would wait to hear from me before they did anything else.
My next step was to check in with Lucas, and I was surprised when a second voice joined our conversation.
It’s Daniel. Lucas is letting me use his audio connection. We’re both listening in. Tell us what happened.
I started with our close call with Grassi, and Daniel responded.
Is there any chance he saw you?
He may have seen the bottoms of my legs and shoes. I ditched the shoes. The jeans could have belonged to anyone.
Daniel muttered a curse.
You know this means heightened security. I think we need to pull you out.
I hesitated, but only for a second.
No. We’ll just have to be extra cautious. We only have a day left at Montford. Even if they could track something down that led