Address for Revealers’ Headquarters:
213 Nova Street
Charleston, West Region
Burn this when you’re done reading this
“Jaiden, Chelsa! I think you should come and see this.” She clenched the paper so tight she was afraid she might accidentally rip it.
“What is it?” Chelsa asked, coming over to read the message over Kristi’s shoulders with Jaiden right behind.
“Do you think the address is legit?” Jaiden wondered.
“Well, Dr. Hanson did know our names,” Kristi pointed out. “And visiting 213 Nova Street is worth a try, since we’re already going to Charleston.”
Chelsa entered the address onto the electro-slate and said, “Who has the lighter?”
Jaiden found a lighter from his backpack and handed it to Chelsa. She lit the paper aflame and brushed the ashes out the window.
Everyone grabbed their respective backpacks and headed out.
A speck appeared on the horizon and Kristi pointed it out, “Is that Charleston?”
“Yeah,” said Chelsa. “Come on, we only have forty minutes before curfew.”
Their backpacks were considerably lighter than they used to be, the result of camping overnight for the past five days in a row. At most, they could last another two days with the food left.
“Why do you think Don and Maria want us to locate the Revealers?” Kristi asked to no one in particular after making sure there were no potential eavesdroppers around.
“Maybe they left something for you and Jaiden in the possession of the Revealers,” Chelsa said. “Jaiden, what do you think?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
The smudge that was Charleston continued to grow. Soon, individual skyscrapers, bridges and other architectural landmarks could be distinguished against the horizon. Charleston was one of the biggest cities in the United Regions with a population of almost 2 million. It was also one of the most technologically advanced cities.
Over 700 miles of air-train tracks ran throughout the city. Many famous companies, such as Megatronics, Instafood, Green Furniture and Urban Clothes, all have headquarters in Charleston. It was both a gift and curse that Charleston was so massive; on the bright side, Jaiden and Kristi would be able to blend into the city easier with so many people around. However, on the flip side, there was a greater chance that someone would recognize them.
“Welcome to Charleston!” Chelsa declared, the welcome gate to Charleston looming ahead. She checked the time and said, “Hurry—only ten minutes until curfew.”
The gate would be lowered once curfew time arrived and they would be locked out of the city. With this threat hanging over their heads, Jaiden, Kristi and Chelsa urged the horses into a gallop and hoped they wouldn’t run out of power before reaching Charleston. The horses needed to be recharged as soon as possible.
“Gate closing in five minutes,” a gate guard announced over the speakers. “All citizens must be inside a building in five minutes.”
“I only have 1% charge left,” Chelsa said.
Kristi checked Mist’s charge: 1.5% remaining.
“Three minutes until the gate is closed,” the speakers blared.
Kristi was so close to the gate she could make out the facial features of the gate guard. He was young, like he had just graduated from college. His uniform, which was tailored to fit him perfectly, boasted him of a rank one law enforcer.
Mist barreled through the gate just as the gate started to crank down. Jaiden and Chelsa pulled in after her.
“ID?” the gate guard inquired. Although he was a low ranking enforcer, he spoke as if he was the captain.
“ID?” Chelsa said. “I didn’t know you needed an ID to enter a city.”
“Charleston is an important city,” the guard replied. “ID verification allows us to keep the city safe from terrorists and other dangers to the public.”
Kristi shot Chelsa a worried glance. She didn’t look anything like Kelly Harrison’s picture on her ID card, especially since she dyed her hair. Jaiden, who didn’t resemble Zach Wares much in the first place, now looked completely different from Zach’s picture on the card after his hair cut and dye.
Chelsa petted Ghost and whispered something into his ears while she pretended to locate her electro-slate from her backpack. She swiped the slate to show the guard her ID. The guard grunted and allowed her to pass.
“Your IDs?” he said to Jaiden and Kristi.
Ghost unexpectedly leapt down from Chelsa’s horse and onto the guard. Jaiden and Kristi both realized Ghost was distracting the guard to let them pass through into the city.
“Get your droid-cat off of me!” the guard barked, clumsily locating his gun—he was clearly inexperienced.
Ghost was offended by being called a “droid-cat” and snarled.
Kristi ignored the gate guard’s plight and galloped Mist right by him with Jaiden hot on her heels.
“Meet me at the Rex Hotel—there’s a reservation for us there,” Chelsa said to Kristi when she rode past her. Chelsa thrust the electro-slate into Kristi’s arms.
“I will shoot your droid-pet in ten seconds!” the guard yelled, prompting Chelsa to finally call off Ghost.
Kristi slowed down Mist enough so that she could type the directions of the Rex Hotel into the electro-slate.
“This way,” she said to Jaiden, taking lead.
Kristi checked the time. Two minutes until curfew. Fortunately, the Rex Hotel wasn’t too far away and they found it within a minute.
The Rex Hotel was magnificent. That was the only word that popped into Kristi’s mind when she saw the castle-like building. Even the word “magnificent” didn’t do the extravagant hotel justice. Everything about the hotel—from its gilded arches, stained-glass dome to the marble bricked walkway—screamed rich! She wondered if Chelsa was crazy for choosing the Rex Hotel to spend the night. Five hundred points would probably get them a broom closet in such a pretentious hotel as this.
There was a stable-hand ready to take the droid-horses into the stable located behind the hotel. Jaiden and Kristi entered the hotel lobby, feeling sorely out of place among the richly dressed people. Grave looking businessmen in fine suits strolled around the grand lobby, discussing trades and oversea commerce with their peers. Many adults cast them disdainful looks. It couldn’t have been more obvious they didn’t belong in this lavish world.
“There you are,” Chelsa said. She ambled through the massive, gold-gilded double doors of the hotel just as the city clock bonged to announce the curfew was in act.
“Are you kids lost?” a bellhop asked with an air of aloofness. “Perhaps you arrived at the wrong address. The Regional Inn is across the street from the Rex Hotel. Oh, and we only allow domestic droid-animals inside the hotel,” he added, spotting Ghost by Chelsa’s heels.
It is a sad thing when a bellhop is better dressed than you at the hotel you are staying at, thought Kristi.
“No, we’re at the right address,” Chelsa replied. “And I’ll assure you my leopard is very well behaved.”
The bellhop sniffed and said, “Very well.” He spun on his heels and click-clacked away.
“Chelsa, why in the world did you reserve us a room at the Rex Hotel?” Kristi asked. “We’re not going to be able to pay for it. There’s less than one hundred points on your account.”
“I didn’t make the reservations,” she said.