Page 71 of Jinxed

‘We don’t have long,’ I say. ‘Carter told his dad to get on a jet.’

‘He’s in Singapore, according to latest news reports,’ says River, scanning some information on the back of his new frog baku. ‘If he literally got on a superjet an hour ago, he could be backin Toronto in six hours.’

‘So that’s how long we have to figure out how to break and enter into Eric Smith’s private wing at Moncha HQ, find Jinx, steal him back from Carter and get out of there without getting caught?’ says Tobias.

‘That about sums it up,’ I say.

He sighs heavily. ‘Well, you don’t make things easy for us. And then what happens when you get Jinx? Carter’s not going to go downwithout a fight, and if Eric Smith wants it back...’

‘Yeah,’ says Kai. ‘You know, even though we all “buy” a baku, they technically still belong to Moncha Corp? It’s buried deep in the ts & cs. No one ever reads those things, but I do. And if you found yours, you’ll have even less claim to him than normal.’

‘That can’t be true!’ scoffs Ashley, hugging Jupiter tight to her chest.

‘It is.So if Eric wants Jinx back, he can just take him from you. You’ll need an additional plan.’

I nod. ‘I’ve thought of that. I’ll get in touch with Mr Baird.’

‘But he’s just been fired!’ says Tobias. ‘I heard it’s because he’s a corporate traitor. That he works for BRIGHTSPRK or something.’

‘Well... that’s true,’ I say. I figure now that he’s been fired, I don’t need to worry about keepinghis secret any more.

There are gasps all around the locker.

‘But he’s going to help me. He said he’ll protect me and Jinx. He can arrange for us to get picked up once we get Jinx back. And then I’m going to find Monica Chan and tell her what her partner is up to. She’ll put a stop to his plans once and for all, I know it.’

‘Dude, you have to tell us what is going on with Jinx,’ says River.

‘Does he have some sort of new technology?’ asks Tobias.

He’s real,is what I want to say. But the words balance on the tip of my tongue without slipping out. It’s too crazy, I can’t say it out loud. I know I need to give them something though. ‘It’s buried in his code. Something that Moncha doesn’t want to get out.’

‘Ooh, ooh, is it mind control?’ asks River. ‘That’s what all the conspiracyposters on Reddit say is the next step for exploiting baku owners.’

‘What? No!’ I say, although I suppose telepathic communication isn’tthatfar off.

‘Huh, like some sort of proprietary software or something?’ muses Tobias.

I nod. ‘Yeah, more like that.’

‘Well, I guess it doesn’t matter. Let’s prepare a strategy,’ he says, rubbing his hands together.

‘This is Carter we’re talking about.Not some sort of mastermind villain. We’ll be able to take him down easily,’ says Kai.

‘But we’re running out of time,’ Tobias says, looking down at his watch.

‘I’ll call Mr Baird,’ I say. I pull out the business card from my pocket, then I dig out an ancient rotary phone from one of the boxes in my locker. The others look at it like it’s some kind of alien device.

‘People used to talk to eachother using that?’ asks Ashley, wrinkling her nose.

‘Apparently.’

‘Gross. How did you even know if someone was being sincere if you couldn’t see their face?’

I shrug. ‘Like I know. But I don’t think I should use a Moncha Corp baku to call someone at BRIGHTSPRK.’

‘This is like a Bond movie!’ exclaims River.

I dial the number, waiting for it to ring out. ‘Hello?’ says the voice on the otherend.

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