The living room was attached to a kitchen and a small dining room. A hallway on the left led to a bedroom. Maya drew her knife, moved cautiously to the open doorway, and peered inside. A night table. Dresser. Bed. And there was Alice Chen with her black braids lying like two strands of rope on a pillow.
“I’m here,” Maya whispered. “I’ve come for you…”
Alice opened her eyes and sat up in bed. “Don’t come in the room, Maya! An alarm will go off!”
Maya stood a short distance from the doorway and saw that cameras had been mounted in each corner of the room. The four cameras clicked and whirred, following every movement of the child’s body.
“Take off your nightgown and put on your street clothes,” Maya said. “I’ll count to three and then you’ll run out of the room. We’ll be halfway down the stairs before they respond to the alarm.”
“No. I can’t do that. The machine is watching me.” Alice pushed back the quilt, revealing a thick plastic shackle fastened around her ankle. “They call this a ‘Freedom Bracelet.’ If I leave the room, I get a big shock.”
“Okay. I understand. Get dressed and I’ll figure out a plan.”
The cameras panned back and forth as Alice jumped out of bed and hurried over to the dresser. Returning to the living room, Maya took out her sword and the combat shotgun. How do we get out of there? she wondered. And what would happen if we just ran out of the apartment? We can’t return to the underground river-the water level is too high for a child.
Rummaging through the kitchen, she found a coffee mug in the cupboard and filled it with water. Then she boiled the water in a microwave oven and used a dish towel to carry the hot cup down the hallway.
Alice had pulled on jeans and a sweatshirt. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, tying her shoes. “What are we going to do, Maya?”
“Stay there. Don’t move. We need to find out what kinds of cameras are watching you. Machines can be very clever and very foolish at the same time.”
Maya tossed the cup into the room and it rolled across the carpet. Instantly, the surveillance cameras detected the object, panning back and forth and making little whirring sounds as if they were talking to each other.
“See how the cameras follow the cup?” Maya said. “They’re infrared devices, focusing on your body heat. The computer program attached the cameras is making sure that one warm object-about your size-is the room at all times.”
“Then you better leave me here. Boone said the guards will hurt anyone who enters the building.”
“You met Nathan Boone?”
Alice shook her head. “A man named Clarence brings my food. Once he handed me a cell phone and said that Boone wanted to talk to me. Boone no longer controls the guards in this building. He said he’ll try to help me when he comes back to London.”
“He’s lying.” Maya watched as the four cameras turned away from the cup and focused on Alice. “Are there extra clothes in the closet?”
“Clarence bought some stuff at a department store.”
“Go to the closet. Put a few sweaters on the same hanger, then place it in the shower and turn on the water as hot as you can.”
“Okay.”
“When the clothes are soaked with water, come out of the bathroom holding them close to your body.”
“I understand. Then the cameras will focus on the warm clothes and not on me.”
“I hope so…”
Alice hung two sweaters and a wool skirt on a hanger and hurried into the bathroom. Maya heard water surge through the pipes as the shower started running. A few minutes later, Alice came back out holding the wet clothes.
“Now what?”
Maya held up the bolt cutters. “Place the hanger on that gooseneck lamp over there, then immediately come through the doorway. Are you ready?”
“I’m okay. Let’s try it.” Alice hung the clothes on the lamp and was out the door in three steps. Moving quickly, Maya cut the ‘Freedom Bracelet’ off with the bolt cutters and tossed the shackle back into the room. The cameras had been agitated-whirring back and forth-but now all four of them were focused on the wet clothes.
Alice stared at the shackle lying on the carpet a few feet away from her. “Would that really hurt me?”
“Yes.”
“Very much?”
“Don’t think about it anymore.”
Alice embraced Maya, holding her tightly. “I thought you might come. I made a lot of special wishes.” She let go and stepped away. “I’m sorry, Maya. I know you don’t like to be touched.”
“Just this once.” Maya extended her arms, and the girl hugged her again. “We need to be careful, Alice. It might be difficult to get out of this building.”
“All the security guards have guns. I’ve seen them.”
“Yes, I know. So when I touch your shoulder like this…” Maya squeezed Alice ’s shoulder, “… then I want you to close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s what my father did when I was a little girl and he didn’t want me to see bad things.”
“I’m getting older.”
“I know you are. But just do this for me. We’re going to leave this room, go down the staircase and-”
