Page 33 of Jinxed

Carter rolls his eyes. ‘Seriously? Come on, Hunter, let’s finish this baku off.’

The roar in the room rises to a frenzied level, students shouting and jeering both competitors equally. There’s dismaythat Ashley is continuing, and a loud chorus of people telling her to give up.

Hunter stalks around the circle, surprisingly graceful for a machine that looks like a boar. My mind drifts off as I imagine what sort of person would voluntarily choose a baku shaped like that, and I almost miss the key moment when he goes in for the kill.

Because when it happens, it’s rapid and brutal. Hunter stillhas full freedom of movement, his head swaying with the weight of his tusks, his legs nimble, whereas every command Ashley sends to Jupiter takes a few seconds too long to reach him – a vital receiver must be damaged, and so she can’t respond quick enough. When the blow comes, it ravishes Jupiter. The boar’s tusks rip through the already exposed electrics of the dog baku’s central core, rippingthrough the ‘brain’, which – just like in Jinx’s schematics – is located in her stomach.

‘Good luck fixingthispiece of junk,’ Carter shouts. And, as if to make his point even stronger, Hunter shakes his head and – with a second to spare – sends the two halves of the robotic spaniel spinning across the arena and colliding with opposite sides of the wall.

Down in her circle, Ashley cries out.I feel every ounce of her pain. The thought of something like that happening to Jinx...

I take him up in my arms and squeeze him against my chest. He’s not a robot to me. He’s my companion.

The whistle sounds, signalling the end of the battle. Mr Baird stands up in the centre of the arena. ‘The winner of the first round of Baku Battles is Carter and his baku, Hunter. Gemma’s team are awardedone hundred points.’

He turns to the team box. ‘Other teams, you have until the first assembly bell tomorrow to attempt to fix your eliminated bakus, in order to split the winning round total of one hundred points with Team Gemma. If the baku isn’t at least 90% functional, however, your loss this round will be confirmed.’ Even he sounds dubious at the prospect of any of the bakus rising to fightagain.

Ashley’s face looks distraught, clutching the remains of Jupiter.

Tobias looks sick, seeing his strategy fail and the points slip away.

It’s not the end yet. If we can fix Ashley’s baku, we can get the team back on track. But even with Profectus’s state-of-the-art facilities, I know there’s one place that will give us a better shot – and we can work there all through the night.

I justhave to convince the team to trust me.

‘THIS IS PERFECT,’ SAYS KAI, AND I SMILE. I wonder if he’s finally warming to me – even though I have no idea what I did to get on his bad side to begin with. But then he sneers at the entrance tomy building. ‘No one is going to spy on us in this crappy place. People actuallylivehere?’

‘I do,’ I say through gritted teeth. I bristle. It’s not that bad. It might be a bit boring and functional – an uninspired condo block of concrete and tinted glass, but it’s not dirty or falling down.

‘Kai, that’s enough,’ says Tobias.

‘What?’ He shrugs. ‘I was trying to say it’s a good thing for ourteam. You can bet Team Gemma aren’t working somewhere so...’

The elevator doors ping, and he doesn’t finish his sentence.

Ashley shivers. Since Jupiter’s battle, she’s seemed like a shell of her former, bubbly self.

Watching the four of them step into the elevator to the basement, I can’t believe I’ve brought them here. To my sanctuary. My companioneering haven.

Mom is delighted I’m bringingback friends from school. I haven’t the heart to tell her that this isn’t exactly the start of a busy social life for me.

It’s an emergency.

Jupiter is in pieces. Ashley carries the remains in her arms, her cheeks damp with tears. The absolute annihilation she experienced in her Baku Battle would have been enough to scar me for life – I have no idea how she’s even standing upright.

And whatmakes it even worse is that Carter is the cause. He and that awful boar of his, that snuffling, snarling beast. I’ve never wanted a baku to be put in its place before, but I’d like to see that thing put down. I am willing to do anything to make sure thatCarterisn’t a reason that his team ends up on top. He hasn’t won yet.

>>Yeah right, as if it isn’t the physiological changes in your body I witness when in close proximity to Tobias Washington that aren’t the real reason you keep allowing him to use your skills - and your private lab.

I cringe. Jinx knows too much for his own good. And he seems to be getting smarter. Just last night, I was working on my French homework when I started hearing his voice in my head, translating for me. I had to tell him to stop – if the Academy foundout, I’d be expelled for cheating for sure. Bakus aren’t supposed to do anything like that unless specifically commanded. I add it to the list of things I need to check in Jinx’s code – if my other work ever lets up and I have a spare moment to squeeze it in.

I worry every day about slipping up and revealing that Jinx is no ordinary baku. But so far, the team haven’t seemed to notice that Jinxis any different. And that’s how I want it to stay.

With five people and five bakus crammed into the tiny storage locker, space is tight. River leaps up on to the desk with his oversized frog baku mimicking him by sitting with his knees up. He’s like a contortionist, able to squeeze himself into the most unlikely places – as if he’s more comfortable being uncomfortable. I don’t know what thatsays about him.

Tobias leads Ashley in, and sits her down on my chair.

‘So, what are we doing here?’ Kai asks, his hands on his hips. Oka, his husky baku, paces underfoot. Kai tries to take up the biggest amount of space in the room, his chest puffed out like a frigatebird from the Galapagos.

---