Page 27 of Jinxed

But they don’t have bakus, so as fast as BRIGHTCities are popping up, Monchavilles are taking over. And I can’timagine Tobias being happy about giving up Aero. Another incentive for him to win.

The simultaneous grimace bonds Ashley and me. ‘Good luck at detention,’ she says. ‘Hope Mr Baird’s not too hard on you. See you around, teammate!’

‘See you,’ I reply. I’m left all alone in the classroom, in no hurry to find out what sort of detention Mr Baird has in store for me. I want Jinx to send Zora a messageabout the Baku Battles and what’s happened, but then I remember the Profectus rules – plus, to prevent secrets (and distractions), external communication coverage is disabled within these walls. In an emergency, there are codes that can be used to override the signal blackout, but if they are used in vain then there are even worse punishments that can be doled out than just a black mark.

I finallycan’t put it off any longer.

Time to find out what detention is like at Profectus.

ISTAND UP JUST AS THE DOOR TO THE classroom opens. Mr Baird’s head pops around the door. ‘Miss Chu? You’re late.’

Crap. I’ve already got on his bad side once today; I can’t afford to again. Jinx’shackles rise as the teacher’s owl flies overhead and Mr Baird looks down at him, frowning. I beg Jinx to stop behaving so weirdly, fidgeting with the leash at my ear, and kind of to my surprise he stops and jumps up into my arms. Instinctively my arms close around his surprisingly soft metallic body, and I brush down his back with my fingers, feeling my heart rate and breath return to normal ashe softly purrs.

‘What version of a cat baku is that? I’m not sure I’ve seen...’ he reaches out to touch Jinx’s fur, but Jinx leaps back out of my arms and darts away down the hallway.

I shrug and laugh it off. ‘No, he’s not a new version. Totally standard level 3 house cat baku,’ I say.

I’m not sure he believes me, if the quivering frownline between his eyebrows is anything to go by. ‘Well,a place on the teamanddetention on your first day. You’re gaining yourself quite a reputation at the school already.’

My throat feels like it’s constricting.

‘Detention is going to be a bit different today. I have a task for you.’

Obediently, I follow – breathing a small sigh of relief as we turn round the corner and Jinx is there, waiting in a doorway, his eyes bright and alert. Mr Bairddoesn’t pay him any particular attention once he trots at my heel, behaving for all the world like an ordinary baku.Please stay that way, I think.

>>Not a chance.

I grimace.

Just as Jinx trots at my heel, I trot at Mr Baird’s, following him three levels down a wide staircase at the very back of the school. I’m glad that Jinx’s inbuilt GPS will be keeping tabs on all these routes, mapping thelabyrinth of hallways. There’s absolutely no way that I would be able to remember where to go without him. My brain might be perfect for solving engineering puzzles, but when it comes to a sense of direction? Yeah, not my forte. Reading books that involved kids heading out into the wilderness with only an analogue compass and a paper map used to bring me out in hives.

The owl baku goes aheadof us, opening each door as we pass through. ‘You won’t be able to get through here without a teacher or senior student,’ says Mr Baird. ‘So there’s no point in trying. The security is inbuilt into our bakus, state-of-the-art. You won’t be able to practise in secret,’ he says, his eyes shining. ‘But what you can do is clean this up.’

With a brush of his wing (likely embedded with some sort ofcode), the owl opens the last door – and I realize that I’ve been led straight down into the arena beneath the gymnasium. It looks different down here in the dark. Smaller. Creepier. It’s also an absolute mess: there are bits of metal and plastic everywhere, bolts and wires pulled from the battling bakus strewn across the surface. There are marks from the rubber soles of the bakus, as they ran aroundduring the battle. I can almost trace the choreography of the fights, based solely on the wreckage. Jinx paces over to where the wolf was brought down, sniffing tentatively at a piece of scrap metal on the ground.

Mr Baird coughs, and I look up. ‘Well, can you help?’ he asks.

‘What do you want me to do?’

‘Get all of this tidied up. There’s a recycling bin for all the spare materials just outsidehere, and you’ll find cleaning supplies in this closet. When you’re done, leave the room and it will lock automatically behind you.’

‘Profectus detention is intense,’ I say.

His eyes sparkle with amusement – I’m glad I’m able to make him laugh rather than grimace this time. ‘If you can get this done in time, you might just be able to make the end of your meeting.’ He pauses in the doorway. Hiseyes flick from me to Jinx, and I can see he wants to say something more.

‘I got it, Mr Baird. You can count on me.’ I show my eagerness by grabbing a broom from the closet, and start sweeping up the arena. I hear the soft swoosh of the doors, and I’m left in peace.

>>Thank Moncha he’s gone! Now we can have some real fun.

‘Jinx, seriously – I don’t even clean up my room. You think cleaningthis up is going to be fun?’

>>We can find all sorts of goodies in here I bet. Like, look at this.His paw brushes up against a smashed-up printed circuit board – if one of the bakus is missing that, they’re going to be seriously screwed.

I lean down to pick it up. Jinx is right – thisisinteresting, and I could definitely put it to use in my lab at home. I drop it into my backpack. Once weget on a roll, sweeping up and examining the wreckage for useful things, it becomes much more fun. A bit like panning for gold. Besides, I’m able to get a much better sense of the arena. The floor seems to be made of a smooth substance that doesn’t scratch despite the metallic claws and talons of the creatures. Then there are the five rings set out at intervals around the arena – where Tobias, Gemmaand the others were standing. I guess in order to make it fair – and safe – they keep the players in one place.

Finally, once everything is about as tidy as I can stand to make it, I put away the brooms, mops and cleaning supplies and let my curiosity take over. I take a stand in one of the circles, planting my feet on top of two tiny silver dots, which I presume are place markers. I just wantto feel what it’s like to be one of the battlers – if just for a moment.

But, as I’m quickly learning, nothing at Profectus is there by accident.

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