Charlotte Powers 1: Power Down (14 page)

xx48.12.01 / 02:29 / Thursday

I think I'm okay here. I'm in the hills outside the school, as far as the forest actually, quite near to where I first arrived. There are patrols, but I don't think they come into this hilly area, there are too many gullies and patches of erosion, it's not safe for their four-wheeled motorbike things.

I'm writing this partially because I'm not sure if ... I'm not sure what's going to happen. I'm not sure what's HAPPENING, come to that. I can't access the greater net, but there's a data repository on one of the local nets. I have no idea how safe it is, they might even control that, whoever 'they' are, but it's better than nothing. After I finish writing this I'm uploading the whole journal, locked with my family's encryption key. Even if the bad guys manage to find my journal file, they'll never be able to open it—Daniel invented the encryption, he's told me more times than I want to remember that it'd take the combined power of all the computers in the entire world more than a year to crack it. More importantly, if my family manage to track me here and access the local nets then they'll find my personal Opal code and know the file is mine. If something happens to me, at least they'll be able to read this journal. They'll know everything I know. With that said, I REALLY hope this isn't my last entry.

Okay. Where to start. Probably back in the toilet stall, it feels like a REALLY long time since I was there. While I was writing the last entry I got a weird feeling, like something bad was about to happen. I was about to get out of the bathroom when right on cue Veronica Flux appeared along with about a dozen students. Not her old cronies, either. These were all big guys from the sports clubs.

"How nice," she said. "Our nosy little sewer rat, cornered at last."

I WAS cornered, well and truly. She and her controlled students blocked the only exit from the toilets, apart from a tiny window in the far wall—and there were four really big guys between me and that, even.

"Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you," Veronica said. "We're VERY interested in you. There are some questions we're DYING to ask you. Where DID you come from?"

I said nothing. Or at least I WANTED to say nothing. But I felt that familiar twinge inside me and that tiresome curse rose up and made me say:

"From far away."

Veronica smiled, like she'd just won. "I almost can't believe this is your 'power'," she said, "but I suppose I should ask to make sure. Do you ALWAYS have to tell the truth?"

How did she know that? How did she know about my curse? But of course I DO have to tell the truth, I couldn't lie when faced with a direct question, so I couldn't help but say:

"Yes."

She LOVED that. So did her thugs.

"That's really wonderful, I'm going to have fun with you, I can see," she said. "What should I ask? Did you REALLY like Ray? Did you think he REALLY liked you?"

"Yes," I said, through gritted teeth. She laughed.

"Oh, you poor naive little girl. Your little 'breakup' with him was amusing, were you scared?"

I've never
hated
my curse before. I've been annoyed by it, I've wished I didn't have it, but in that toilet being questioned by that awful girl, I loathed this awful curse to the very depths of my being.

"Yes," I said. Apparently that wasn't ADEQUATE for the curse, though, apparently it wasn't TRUTHFUL enough, because I could feel it squirming inside me and forcing me to say more: "I was more scared than I've ever been."

"Haha! Goodness, you ARE fun, a scared little girl playing games she knows NOTHING about. How about this, then. Are you a virgin?"

"Yes," I said. I actually didn't mind so much answering this one. She seemed to think it was funny, though.

"But I bet you think about sex ALL the time."

"No, I don't," I said. Why would I? "Why, do you?"

That annoyed her, which made me feel just a little better.

"Fine, let's get serious," she said. "What are you doing here?"

"Hiding," I said, through gritted teeth. She clicked her tongue.

"I meant 'why did you come here, to this school?'."

"To be ordinary," I said. She clicked her tongue again.

"Are you spying on us? Trying to find out what we're doing here?"

"Yes," I said. She smiled a little at that.

"Good," she said. "Now we're getting somewhere. What do you know already? Have you told anyone else?"

"No," I said, which apparently was okay with my curse. Not with her, though.

"Answer properly!" she said.

"I am answering properly," I said.

"No, you're not! Or does it have to be a direct question?"

"Most of the time," I said. She tutted.

"Do you know about segregation?" she asked. "Do you know what it is?"

"It's a kind of separation," I said. "Splitting a group into smaller groups—"

"I didn't want the definition!" she spat. "But I suppose that means you don't know ... do you?"

"I don't know," I said. She sighed.

"I suppose it won't make much difference even if I ask you this, but do you know what we're planning to do tonight at the gym?"

I kind of frowned. "Play ... rugby?"

She smiled at that. "I suppose I should get this one out of the way as well, do you know about Alice?"

"No," I said. Who—or what—is Alice?

"Good," she said. "You really don't know anything about ANYTHING, do you?"

I really tried not to answer this one, but I couldn't lie.

"No, I don't," I said. She REALLY laughed at that.

"One last question, then," she said, after she'd finished enjoying my humiliation. "Because we really haven't been able to figure this out at all. You came from nowhere, you have no reason to be here, and yet you're clearly not quite 'ordinary'. Why here? Why now? Who are you, Charlotte 'Powers'?"

Once more I felt my curse writhe inside me, and my mouth opened, and with neither control or desire I said:

"I'm a hero."

I know it was corny. I knew she'd laugh at me—all of them did, actually. But at the same time I knew it was true, that it HAD to be true, that if it wasn't true then I wouldn't have been able to say it. I'm no longer 'super'. But I am ever a hero. That's not something that can be taken away. I'm doing the right thing here. I'm fighting to stop whatever evil plans they have. I AM a hero.

"Well, then, 'hero'," Veronica said. "This has been amusing, and I'm sure we could get more out of you with further questioning. However, although we're extremely curious about you, we're not SO curious that we'd put our plans in jeopardy in order to sate that curiosity."

I might not have my powers, I might not be super-strong or super-agile or be able to phase-shift, but I still have my training. And as soon as Veronica started to bring her hand up I knew what she was doing; preparing to use a power. I didn't hesitate, I didn't stop to gawk at her to see what kind of power she had, I RAN.

Except there was nowhere to run to.

Except there was.

Heroes ALWAYS find that necessary exit.

And you know something? You don't NEED super-strength to win a fight, not when you're just fighting regular people, and especially not when they're a bunch of brainwashed goons, even if they are ridiculously bulky. I feel kind of bad about it, of course, but I didn't leave them with more than bruises and black eyes, and in return my hands are still aching, punching someone for real
hurts
. But I got through them before Veronica's flames (turns out she's a firebug) could torch me, in fact they didn't even TOUCH me, because even without super-agility I can MOVE, and I didn't need phase-shifting to get through that window—

Well, it might have helped, actually. The window was REALLY small, it's lucky I'm pretty slim, as it was I scrapped both my arms pretty badly and bumped my head hard and kind of twisted my ankle a little bit, it's okay now but at the time it HURT.

By the way, want to know how I got up to that tiny little window? I ran up the goon standing under it. Seriously, I just ran straight up him, like I was running up a wall. I never even thought of doing that in the training room! It's true what Dad always says, 'it's different in the field'.

There were more brainwashed students and staff in the school grounds, of course, but all my morning runs paid off because none of them could catch me, I wasn't even panting by the time I reached the hills, and soon after that I'd lost them in the forest. Actually it was more that they gave up, probably because they knew there were those annoying motorbike guys in the forest—except a person on foot can go where a bike can't, which is how I eventually came to be here in this gully. Opal tells me it's almost two in the morning, which means I've been running and hiding for about eight hours—and that on top of all the time I spent sneaking around the school. That can't be right, can it? I'm tired and sore but I'm not exhausted, shouldn't I be exhausted? I just feel ... I feel GREAT, I'm still breathing and I'm on to something, I know I am, I just have to keep surviving until I find out what it is.

Okay. Time to think. Which means it's time to write. Why is it so much easier to think while I'm writing? Maybe because—wait, I'm letting my thoughts wander. Focus, Charlotte! It might be easier to think while I write but it's also easier to get distracted. This is serious, here. This is real.

...

I'm drawing a blank. I can't focus. I think everything's starting to come back on me, all the exhaustion I should be feeling, I'm getting sleepy—

No, I'm NOT getting sleepy. I can't sleep! Even though those bikes can't get near this gully there could be foot patrols, or even dogs or something, I have to stay sharp. I have to ... I have to remember my training, I have to remember all the advice my parents gave me. What was it Mum said about difficult situations? Well, apart from 'try not to get into them in the first place', it was something about asking questions—yes, that was it. When you're in a difficult situation and you're feeling lost and you're not sure what to do, take a moment to stop and think.

"You just have to find the right question."

That's what she told me, many times. So what's the right question here? What am I not seeing? What am I not
asking
?

...

I don't know! Is it the psychic manipulation that's making me all fuzzy or is it just me being dense? I need C2! But if she'd come with me I couldn't have escaped the bathroom, I wouldn't have abandoned her—but maybe she's in trouble right now! Maybe she's hurt or even ... even ... I can't even write it, it's too horrible to even think about—

No, this isn't good. Getting hysterical isn't going to help me. Just questions, any questions!

'What's going on here?'

I don't know, I can't answer that. That's okay, next, next!

'Who's behind this?'

NO idea. Next!

'Why am I even here?'

That's not going to help me, self-pity never got ...

Wait a minute.

Why AM I here? Why here, where all of this is happening, as opposed to Green Grove where I was supposed to be going or, in fact, ANYWHERE else? It's like Veronica asked me; why HERE?

...

I think I need to read my first entry again, the entry I wrote the first day I arrived, because I suddenly have some really strong suspicions.

...

The patrolling bike guy asked me if I'd just arrived. But there aren't any roads around here, just the one that leads to town and further into the forest, and beyond that there's only more forest and then mountains. There's no way to get to this forest aside from the road leading to town.

Except by teleporting.

He knew. He KNEW I'd teleported here, except he thought I was part of this whole thing, he referred to me as a 'late-comer'. Whoever's behind this is bringing people here via teleporter. Somehow their teleporter must have intercepted Daniel's teleporter and dumped me here. Maybe that's what took my powers, being switched from one teleporter to another. Oh my goodness it's like Daniel said, he said that my 'phase shadow' would be split from my body, is that what happened? Maybe my phase shadow or whatever ended up in Green Grove along with my powers, and I ended up here! Is that possible? It seems plausible, right? In that case there might be a way to shove my powers back into me, I bet Daniel could do it, he's a genius, he's probably already got a 'phase shadow detector' that can find my shadow and a 'shadow stitcher' to give me my powers back! I have hope again, hope that I'll get my powers back!

But that doesn't help me now. Well, it kind of does, I feel like I just got a huge boost of energy just realising that, but I still have to think about what's happening now, not in the future with a possible reuniting with my powers, but NOW.

Teleporters. Daniel said that the military has teleporters that work on anyone, not just phase-shifters, is this a military thing? But no, I can't think like that, if the military has that kind of teleporter then other people could have them too. To be specific,
supervillains
could have them.

The patrol guy mentioned 'the head', he couldn't be referring to the head of the student council, could he? Teamwork Guy? No, surely not. There must be another 'head', maybe the supervillain behind all this—yes, of course, not 'the head' but 'The Head', that's a PERFECT supervillain name! He must have psychic powers and he must have found a way to broadcast them! Maybe that was the guy I heard back at the school, he certainly SOUNDED very supervillainish, that other guy must have been his minion. This is all falling into place so perfectly now, this is great!

Okay, though, calm down Charlotte. Even if that's true, knowing it doesn't help me now. What WILL help me? I should read more carefully, everything I wrote when I first came here, maybe it'll help me remember something important.

...

'Just turn right when you reach the road'.

But what if I turned
left
? Where would THAT direction take me?

I think I've found the right question to ask.

Thanks, Mum.

xx48.12.01 / 12:25 / Still Thursday

I'm exhausted but exhilarated at the same time, it's such a weird feeling, almost like nausea but a
good
kind of nausea.

Most important and exciting thing first: there's a HUGE facility hidden in this forest. Well I guess TECHNICALLY it's not 'hidden', maybe 'secluded' would be a better term for it. It's at the end of the road, unbelievably close to the clearing where I arrived, just around ten minutes walk I'm guessing. I've been sitting here in a tree on a kind of rise in the forest for the last few hours, resting and observing. There are patrols here, but apparently they've never heard of looking up, and none of them have come near my tree anyway. Mostly they stay near the facility, or further out in the forest. I'm sleepy, but at the same time TOTALLY pumped up. The excitement of anticipation fills me, because I'm going to infiltrate that facility. It has to be the evil headquarters for everything that's going on here. The answers I need are inside, and all I have to do is go grab them.

Before that, though, I need a plan. I have to be realistic about this; I am a single unpowered girl, and although I've recently discovered that I'm neither slow nor weak, I still can't expect to just walk into that place without getting discovered and captured and then ... well, it's best not to think about that sort of thing. Fighting isn't an option either. I've seen eleven guards and they all have guns.

I should write this down, anyway, I'm still auto-uploading all my journal entries to the local repository. A description of the facility might be useful, and it's good to get a solid visualisation of the place.

It's big. Flat, but wide. Mostly white, some black, no obvious external windows. The trees around the facility grow higher than the roof, because it's in a slight 'dip' in the land, the surrounding forest rather hilly. There are also trees growing on the roof, carefully groomed to match the height of the trees surrounding. From the air, it wouldn't be noticed. That has to be deliberate. Someone wants to keep this place hidden. There's some kind of dome on the roof, in the middle, I think it's the kind that hides and protects a transmitting tower. If there is a transmitting tower under there it's really small, it can't be more than ten metres high even if it starts at ground level. There are several dozen trucks parked outside the facility, all of them painted forest green, all of them with the sleek blue corporate logo for "NeoTerra Corporation" on the side.

NeoTerra. That sounds familiar, don't they make food? Replicated food? Yes, yes of course, "Eaten today? Thank NeoTerra Corporation!", what are they doing here, hiding in this forest, brainwashing the students of a local school? And why keep the corporate branding, isn't that a little obvious? Unless NeoTerra is just doing the catering for this facility—no, don't be ridiculous Charlotte. Maybe it was too much trouble to get the trucks repainted. Maybe they just didn't think anyone would find them here. In any case, it doesn't matter. All I have to think about

[ENTRY TIMED OUT]