The Body Electric - Special Edition by Beth Revis

okay, right?”
    She laughs—nervously, still worried about my obvious distress. “Yeah, of course I am. What happened? Is it your mother?”
    I shake my head, swallowing down the fear and sorrow that had risen inside me. I give her a watery smile. “I was just… someone lied to me,” I say. “I’m sorry to bug you.”
    Akilah grins at me. “No worries,” she says. She leans forward, reaching for something I can’t see.
    “Akilah?” I ask, my voice hollow.
    She freezes and leans slowly back, focusing her attention on me. “Yes?”
    “Where’s your necklace?”
    She stares at me, confused.
    I reach up, tugging the silver chain of my fortune cookie locket out, swinging the charm toward her. “Where’s yours?” I demand.
    Akilah touches her neck, but there’s nothing there but the collar of her shirt. “I… um…” Her mind’s racing, as if she has no idea what I’m talking about. I narrow my eyes at her. That necklace was the symbol of our friendship. She got special permission from her commanding officer to wear it under her uniform because she didn’t want to take it off, ever. And she didn’t even notice it was gone?
    “I didn’t want to worry you,” Akilah says in a rush, as if she’s reading lines from a play. “It broke, but it should be fixed soon, and—”
    “I have to go.” I sever the connection without another goodbye.
    My mind’s reeling. My best friend would never just forget about our necklaces. Inside the fortune cookie locket is a small digi strip, one we made together. We both swore to never take it off.
    It makes no sense that she doesn’t have it. But it also make no sense that she died, and came back as the kind of person who’d throw away the locket as if it means nothing.
    “Jack?” I call, striding across the room. “This was not ‘answers.’ You need to start speaking, now .”
    I throw open the door to the room he said he’d wait for me in.
    It’s empty.
    “Son of a—” I mutter.
    The window’s open, a warm breeze blowing. I race to it. It’s low and easy for me to hoist myself over the ledge and drop down on the street on the other side. I gaze around, trying to find Jack, but he’s long gone.
     

twenty-one
     
    Great. I had one lead—one person directly connected to the terrorist attacks PA Young warned me were imminent. One. And instead of calling the police the second I saw him, I let myself be distracted by his lies and fall into a confusing world where nothing makes sense.
    I need answers.
    Jack’s idea of answers just led me to more questions. I can’t ask Mom; I can’t risk triggering an attack or making her upset. Ms. White knows as much as I do.
    I need answers from the person pulling the strings.
     
     
    A giant fountain rises up in the center of the plaza in front of Triumph Towers. Everything here—except the glittering steel-and-glass towers—is made of gray granite and marble imported from Italy—a stark contrast to the dusty brown limestone that nearly every other building in Malta is made of. And the water here, rather than the blue of the Mediterranean, is golden like honey. I’m not sure if the water’s been dyed, or if it’s just a clever trick of the light, reflecting the bronze base of the fountain up through the water.
    I tilt my head back, scanning the roof of the tallest tower, wondering briefly if PA Young is up there, looking down at all of us.
    If anyone can tell me what’s going on, it’s her. I’m just not sure how much I trust her. Jack’s digi strip was convincing—maybe there is something going on in that so-called Laboratory Facilities. And that’s government run—which means PA Young isn’t telling me everything.
    But… how do you stride into the most secure building in the world and demand answers from the woman who runs the largest global government in history?
    Auto-taxis from Mdina and Rabat crowd the corners of the streets, but no vehicles are allowed directly in front of the plaza—safety