Kade immediately activates his Panic App and lets out a pissed sigh, "Orrr man, Troy and Kelly always do this ‘cell disengaged.’ How often do we have to tell them that we can never, ever be complacent," he says, shaking his head in frustration.
Maria’s face is burdened with guilt, "I'm so sorry guys. They totally fooled me; I mean their résumé’s and medical skills ticked all the boxes and they sure didn't look like teenage twins, they looked like mature independent women..."
I cut in, "Maria, we know how deceptive The Twins are, you don’t need to explain. And no ones blaming you," I say, in an attempt to stop her tremble turning to tears.
Kade reiterates, "Tan's right, we don't blame, we act – and right now we gotta keep calm and act swiftly."
The experiences that Kade and I have shared have taught us to control our panic and act clearly and with rationale, "Right – Maria, you stay here and report back anything that we need to know," I say.
Kade reaches into his pocket and hands her a DD (Disabling Device.) Kade’s developed these small weapons while we've been here. They’re lightweight shooters that administer a disabling dose of sedative, far more effective than tasers, "This is to protect yourself if you need to. Use it like a regular pistol, but aim for the butt or the belly," he says, giving her a quick demo.
He grabs my hand and we begin to sprint, "We're going back to the facility, our hunt for them starts there," he shouts back at Maria, who’s looking at her D.Device, bewilderingly.
......
Kade's mom (in her holographic) form is, as always: cool, calm and collected, "They left about an hour ago, said they were going to the residential site to see the baby, before going to the entrance site to meet yourselves and Maria. I shouted after them to take their cells, but you know them two, always too eager to get out," she says, looking over at Kelvin, still immersed in playing Plague Inc.
Kade ponders, "An hour ago, they can't have got far from the residential site in that time," says kade, checking their cells, on charge on the kitchen top. "Lets go, Tan, we gotta snatch em back, quick." He turns to his mom, "Monitor their cells in case they try to make contact.”
As we rush for the door I hear the hum of our security system engage. The sound reassures me, I know we will always be safe in our facility. Outside of it, our safety is never assured.
…
In the eight weeks we’ve been here I’ve discovered how huge this place is. During my gender reassignment I was confined to the entrance site. The residential site is where the wealthy transplant patients were sent to recuperate in extreme luxury. It’s all been planned and developed with secrecy at its core.
The state of the art facilities are connected by narrow roads that cut through the dense woodland. As I navigate this terrain in our 4X4 I reassure Kade, “We can do this. We’ll rescue Kelly, Troy and baby Belinda and get rid of The Twins. We’ve succeeded before and we’ll succeed again. Except this time we’ll make sure we incarcerate The Twins. We can only rest assured when those two are under lock and key,” I say, with a confident voice.
Kade, is as always, appreciative of my support, “That’s the attitude, Tan – STOP!” His sudden holler makes me bang the brakes, forcing us both against our straps.
“What is it?” I ask, when I recover from the severe strap bite.
Kade is leaning forward; peering intently at the road just toward our right hand side, “Look, there on the ground by that tree,” he says.
