Secret Super (Book 1)

26. Imposter

The line shuffled forward. Staring blankly ahead, Zadia took another step forward.

The white lab coat hung loose around her shoulders, bunched up at her wrists, but anyone who was looking at her wouldn't be able to tell. In fact they wouldn't see a teenage supervillain at all. They would see Raina 993, an unassuming lab tech at the Superhero LabCorp, waiting in line to be bio-scanned before entering her place of work.

Zadia did not intend to ask Ezra how he'd acquired the uniform. Or the nametag. Or the DNA samples. As far as she knew, the real Raina could be unconscious and stuffed into a closet somewhere.

The line kept moving forward, and Zadia walked with it, hoping her face didn't betray the anxiety chewing through her intestines. Every face around her was lifeless and blank, and Zadia tried to imitate them, but her heart was pounding in her chest. She blinked rapidly, eyes dry from wearing contact lenses. She wasn't used to using contacts, and they were irritating her eyes.

Instead, as she waited, she ran through the plan in her head again, reciting every detail. The instructions had been burned into her brain: All Zadia needed to do was follow them.

She had to do this mission alone because no one else could get into the building. The superheroes super-proofed their building. Anyone invisible, like Ezra, would be immediately detected. Zadia would be detected too, but she had a few minutes before that happened. And in those few minutes, she had to get in and get out with the chemicals. If it was even possible.

"Relax, kid," Kian said through the earpiece, as if she knew what Zadia had been thinking about. "This is gonna work."

It had better, Zadia thought.

Finally the line took her to the biometric scanner. Taking a deep breath, feeling the energy drain out of her with every second that she kept her illusions in place, she stepped up to the scanner. 

Following the lead of the person in line in front of her, she stared directly into the iris scanner. For a single, torturous second, nothing happened. Thoughts raced through her head. This was a bad idea. Such a bad idea. I'm trying not to get caught by superheroes and just walked directly into their lair. Stupid, stupid, stupid . . .

Then the scanner flashed green. The gate slid open. Biting her lip to suppress a smile, Zadia stepped forward.

* * * * *

She was supposed to be keeping her head down, but Zadia couldn't help sneaking glances as she walked through the facility. What could the superheroes possibly need a special research facility for?

It didn't matter, she reminded herself. She was here for the chemicals, and nothing else.

"Turn left here," Kian said into her ear. Zadia swerved left.

". . . Nope. Had the map backwards. Turn right."

She sighed and turned the opposite way.

There was a certain thrill in walking amongst so many people and all of them thinking she was someone else. Hiding in plain sight. Kian kept feeding directions in her ear, and she tried to look like she was walking with purpose, occasionally returning nods to other people in lab coats walking around. One man made eye contact with her and moved towards her but she hurriedly ducked away.

She made her way through the narrow hallways flooded in harsh fluorescent light. This whole place was so sterile, bare. Something about it made her hair stand on end. Her heart was beating so fast she could mostly ignore the fatigue tugging at her chest.

"This door," Kian said. "To your left."

Zadia stepped up to the iris scanner. It flashed green and the doors slid open. Offhand, she noticed a big red button to the right of the door- what was that for?