Human Error

BOOK 1 // SIX: An Improbable Encounter

I would like to apologise for this chapter being up a day late. It was ready to go yesterday, but Wattpad picked a really inconvenient time to do 2+ hour maintenance. I feel like I've broken my updating streak, even if it was only by a few hours.

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            "You've got to be joking."

My gaze flickered between both parents, searching for any trace of a joke in either stony face. But there was nothing. Behind the kitchen countertop, it couldn't have been plainer that my mum and dad were not messing around.

"You're serious?" I tried, the tail end of my voice rising in disbelief. "In what world could you possibly think this might be a good idea?"

"Astrid," my father said quietly. "Believe me, I don't. But we don't have a choice."

"Of course we have a choice. Just call in and say we've all come down with a stomach bug. They won't question that. If anything, it'll make the story more believable, won't it?"

It was a good enough plan for me, but my dad shared none of the same confidence. "We can't risk anything that might look suspicious," he said. "We have to go."

At a loss, I looked to my mother, but her solemn look was no improvement on Dad's. It was a lost cause before I even got the words out. "Mum? Back me up here. Surely you can't think it's wise for the three of us to go strolling into the government-sponsored BioNeutral launch party?"

She had one hand on his arm, gripping so tightly her nails ran the risk of digging into his skin. "Your father's been personally invited," she said, like they hadn't already told me this five minutes ago. "The company's had close government connections ever since they struck the clean-up deal in the first place. It's going to look more suspicious if we start making excuses."

"But it's BioNeutral," I said, wondering if they were even realising it. "Didn't you see them on TV last week? Their entire purpose is to weed out people like me. To even think of wandering into their first event – it'll be like handing myself in at the first opportunity!"

"They've no reason to suspect anything." Dad spoke in the kind of reassuring tone that, five years ago, might've felt comforting. But too much had happened since then, and I'd learned the hard way that my parents were not the highest authority to be trusted. "Investigations have gone no further than Eva Kelly. If BioPlus play their cards right – which they will – there won't be any reason to suspect she was anything but an anomaly. The whole organisation's a publicity stunt to keep tensions under control."

"But how can you know for certain?"

"Trust me, Astrid." When his dark-eyed gaze met mine, I wondered if he knew how hard I would be to convince. "You think I'd send my own daughter walking blindly into something that could be dangerous?"

I stared back at him, not saying a word. The answer in my head wasn't exactly what he was insinuating, and it was too risky to do anything but bite my tongue. At least it was good practice for the future.

"If you stick with us," my mother piped up, as I noticed her grip on Dad's arm tighten even more, "you have no reason to worry."

Of course I did. If anything, I had all the reason in the world.

But, like with everything else, I no longer had a choice.

***

The place was packed. And I was nervous.