You and Megabyte creep along the complex's long corridors. Have you ever noticed how all institutions have identical corridors? You can be in a prison or a school, a sports centre or a hospital and you'll always find the same long, featureless corridor, it's walls painted a dull off-white. You notice it now. This could be a secret base but it could equally be a university research centre as it claimed. You just don't know what to think any more.
[Kevin's this way!] Megabyte says in your head and you're still startled by the feel of another mind in yours. You find, though, that the ability to answer the same way is entirely instinctive.
[Are you sure?]
[Positive, I can feel him. Whatever these waistcoat things do it's enough to stop him teleporting or talking at a distance but close by? Well, very little can keep two TP's apart!]
The corridor is deserted - it must be well away from the central control of this place but even so you can feel your nerves standing on edge as you and Megabyte creep along it. You grit your teeth as you feel the telepathic pressure headache returning and from time to time Megabyte glances at you as if he can feel it too and is worried by it.
He stops outside a door that's outwardly no different to the rest but even you can feel a familiar presence beside it.
[Watch.] Megabyte tells you as he rolls back his sleeves with a flourish like a magician. His hand begins to glow red as he lays it over the door lock and then with a crackle of electrical sparks the lock fuses and the door opens. You follow Megabyte into the room as he fuses the CCTV camera with a look and then you look around to see Kevin.
He looks much the same as when you last saw him in the park. A little more disheveled, perhaps, and with a small bump on the top of his head where he was struck. He's wearing the bulky waistcoat that you saw the men in suits force onto him and that's the first thing Megabyte deals with, using his electrical gifts to safely disconnect the telepathic damping device.
Kevin's face lights with delight as he sees his friend and then turns to determination as he sees you. The smaller boy shrugs the waistcoat from his shoulders and it's hard to decide whether you or Megabyte is more surprised when Kevin wraps the waistcoat around you.
"Reactivate it." He tells Megabyte, when you struggle your arms into the holes, just to free their motion.
"Are you serious?" Megabyte exclaims and for a moment you're in complete agreement with the red haired American. Then you realise that he actually meant the question to be answered.
"Completely." Kevin's voice is firm. "I've spoken to Dr Thomas, who runs this place. I wouldn't believe everything he says but he did convince me about one thing. Jay's power is dangerously unstable because of the machine they have here which drains our powers. I don't know what's happened since I last saw him but he still hasn't broken out properly and until we help him through every stage of that and train him to shield properly he's still at risk of burning out completely. His psionic power is building up and he doesn't know how to focus it yet. The waistcoat will channel that energy out harmlessly. Trust me, Megabyte, I have a feeling about this."
"And I've learnt not to ignore your feelings, Kev." Megabyte sighs. He turns to you. "Sorry, Kid." He says as he reactivates the waistcoat.
You don't know quite how to take all this but you don't get much of a chance to decide. As the waistcoat begins to heat up, your headache is once again beginning to subside but your growing awareness of the others is shut off as if a door has slammed between you.
Megabyte goes to the door and looks from side to side to check that no one is coming towards you.
"We ought to get out of here." He says. He nods towards you. "We can worry about you and that thing when we get back to the Island. First though we've got to find Adam. He's about here somewhere."
His eyes defocus and you notice that Kevin too looks distracted. Then both of them open their eyes wide in sudden alarm.
"Adam!" The name forms on both their lips as they vanish in twin columns of swirling electricity.
You wait for a few seconds but they're obviously busy and with this waistcoat on you can't feel a thing about where they might be. One thing's for sure: you can't stay around here. Whoever was watching the video feed from Kevin's room must be on their way by now. Nervously you head out through the door and a little further up the corridor. Unexpectedly you reach a T-junction and a quick glance shows you that the corridors are both still empty.
The corridor to the right seems to stretch into the distance but on your left the hallway ends with a large, reinforced door. Behind it you can hear a faint humming sound although what it could be you have no idea.
So you're faced with a dilemma. You don't have any good reason to go one way or the other except that you know you have to keep moving.
Do you:
a) Go through the door to your left?
b) Turn right?
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