Peeves. Mike Waes Van

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      Clarity Labs was a sprawling building. All cold, clinical, clean lines and sanitised spaces. Imagine an Apple store crossed with a crime show morgue on serious steroids. Everything was shiny. Everything was either metal or glass. And every section seemed to be on lockdown. Dad had to swipe us in with his security card every time we turned a corner. Everyone who worked there seemed to have one of two modes: forced smiles or serious scowls. Both options made me uneasy. I trailed after Lucy, who rushed after Dad down the echo chamber hallways until he suddenly disappeared into a conference room without us. The door shut with a CLICK behind him, leaving me and Lucy to wonder what the heck just happened.

      Dad must have realised this a moment later when he popped his head back out, pointing at an uncomfortable-looking metal bench. “Wait here. Do your homework. And keep an eye on her,” he said, motioning to my totally annoyed sister as if I had any control over what she does. It might have been an honest mistake, but at least this time, I was nominally in charge. Usually it worked the other way, since I was the mess and she was the one who had her poop together.

      We slumped onto the bench in the hall, which was exactly as cold and uncomfortable as it looked. For a moment, I could hear Dad talking to whoever was inside that room. “Hello, and welcome to Clarity Labs. I’m Dale Pickings, Vice President of Marketing, and I’m excited to talk to you today about Personal Vex—” Until, CLICK, the door shut and locked again.

      In an attempt to fulfil my duties as a responsible older brother, I pulled out my algebra homework and tried to do as I was told. But Lucy immediately started playing Candy Crush on her phone at full volume. Every chirp, chime and musical victory was amplified by the metal sound chamber we were trapped in. “Could you hit the mute button, please?” I asked as nicely as I could manage despite the candy-coloured music sending my nerves into overdrive.

      This was met with a scoff from Lucy and the telltale celebratory music of a level-up. “Seriously, don’t you have homework to do?” I asked, attempting to control the annoyance in my voice.

      She just smirked and rolled her eyes and said, “That’s what study hall is for.” I tried to focus on my homework again, but her Candy Crush was crushing my concentration. I could tell from the stupid smile on Lucy’s face that her goal was no longer to level-up in the game, but just to level-up my irritation. I hated that it was working, but I was determined to not let her win.

      I slammed my book shut and closed my eyes. I leaned back against the wall behind me and did … nothing. The thing about Lucy is that she wants attention. And I knew the best way to annoy her was to totally ignore her.

      And it worked. Lucy shifted so she was facing me, hoping the game noise would make me react. And although I was screaming on the inside, I refused to let her get a rise out of me. This was the sort of standoff we had at least once a day. I usually lost because … well, because I’m me. But this time I was distracted because I realised if I concentrated, I could hear Dad through the wall. “Clarity Labs is now refocusing our brand to appeal to the parents of the modern Millennial market. Chemicals are out of favour and natural remedies are trending.” I hadn’t heard him say that before. It made me think of Suzie. I pressed my ear to the wall.

      But now that I wasn’t actively agitated by her game, Lucy was getting restless. She tends to do that when no one is paying attention to her. When Dad stopped talking, I opened my eyes again – and Lucy was gone. It had only been a minute, but she’d lost her patience and taken off down the hall. The only thing that kept me calm was the fact that you can’t get anywhere in this building without a security card. She couldn’t actually leave this hallway.

      So I was stunned when I saw her swipe a card at the security pad beside the first set of doors. She paused for a moment to flip me off before disappearing. She must have stolen Dad’s security card! This wasn’t the first time she’d taken something (or “borrowed”, as she puts it) without asking. It’d been happening more and more since we moved. If something was missing, I knew who took it, and I knew it would take for ever to get it back. I gave up asking a long time ago. Usually I would just ransack her room to find it. But this was a whole new level of “borrowing”. This could get us both in real trouble.

      I knew I had to act quickly if I didn’t want Dad to find out. I looked around for help, but there was no one in the hall. My leg was shaking and my nerves were frayed and I just couldn’t be alone. Without thinking, I launched myself at the door before it shut.

      The door closed behind me with an audible CLICK that echoed down the halls of the actual labs of Clarity Labs like a warning. I was suddenly terrified that I would get caught. I had zero excuses ready. No one would buy that I just got lost. And I started to worry what sort of punishment would be handed out to underage trespassers. One side of the hallway was lined with heavy metal doors with little glass windows in them. The other side was broken up by glass-walled rooms where lab technicians went about their business on all sorts of sophisticated equipment. Even though no one seemed to notice (or care) that I was there, I crouched down out of sight anyway. I crept down the hall as slowly and soundlessly as possible until I was right under a sign reading, “Authorised Personnel Only Beyond This Point”. The big, bold, red and black letters were so aggressive I was afraid to step past it. Instead, I leaned forward and whispered urgently, “Lucy?!” Her name bounced down the echo chamber of a hallway, but I didn’t hear a response. Annoyed, I took a deep breath and stepped forward, breaking the invisible line where it was okay to be authorised or not, knowing full well this was a bad idea – an awful idea, actually – but also knowing, too, a far worse idea would be letting Lucy get in trouble the only time Dad ever told me to keep an eye on her.

      But then a click-clacking of heels coming closer stopped me dead in my tracks. With the echoes, I couldn’t tell if it was coming from ahead of me or from behind. I didn’t know what to do or where to go. Click-clack, click-clack. A closet. I spied a closet. I rattled the handle, but it buzzed to let me know it would remain locked without a security card. Click-clack, click-clack. I backed up into a nearby doorframe and froze. Trying to be invisible, but fully knowing I was so about to be busted.

      And then … just when I was sure I was about to be headed to jail or reform school, a hand reached out and grabbed me and yanked me into the room on the other side of the door. I nearly screamed but Lucy clamped a hand over my mouth and gently closed the door until it was open just a crack so she could keep an eye out.

      We both listened as the click-clacking came closer, and I peeked over her shoulder as a power-suited executive and an older man in a rumpled white lab coat came into view. “Ms Salt … Ms Salt, a moment please!” I’d later find out that this was Dr Hugo Zanker, the lead research scientist at Clarity Labs. He was an unpredictable man with perpetually bloodshot eyes and a twitchy demeanour. “We need to start human trials!” he said with a desperate gleam in his eye.

      The power suit turned sharply. It was Pauline Salt, CEO of Clarity Labs. I recognised her from her portrait in the front lobby. Her dark, angular face contrasted sharply with a pristinely tailored suit that was the same colour as her last name. “Dr Zanker, the future of Clarity Labs depends on me to make all the right decisions at all the right times. If we rush towards human trials, the FDA might start questioning the origin of Project PVZ.”

      “But the rats are inconclusive,” Dr Zanker pleaded. “How will I know if I’ve made the proper alterations to the formula without human—”

      Ms Salt silenced him with a finger. Zanker was desperate to argue, but Ms Salt was having none of it. Everything about СКАЧАТЬ