‘I’m not sure this is actually the most scientifically accurate test we could be doing,’ Ade says.

‘Ade’s right,’ Chets pipes up. ‘We should find a better way.’ 221

‘We don’t have time to come up with anything more scientifically accurate right now,’ I say. ‘And you have nothing to lose by giving it a try.’

‘Five it, Ade,’ Kat says, putting her hand up.

‘Double five,’ I say, putting mine up too.

Ade huffs and rolls her eyes. ‘Fine.’ She slaps both our hands a bit harder than is comfortable, if I’m honest. Then she walks over to Karim, who puts his hand up like he’s sticking his head in a T-Rex’s mouth. She fives him, then finally walks over to Mak and smacks his hand without making eye contact.

‘Can everybody confirm that I don’t have bristly insect hands?’ She glares at us. We all nod. And that just leaves Chets. My heart sinks at the thought that he might be a sporeling, but then I think about how different he was when he turned at Crater Lake. If he’s been spored this time, he’s got much better at pretending. Which hurts more for some reason.

‘This is a waste of time, Lance.’ Chets backs up a couple of steps. And that makes me even more suspicious.

‘Like I said to Ade, you have nothing to lose. We’ve all done it.’ 222

‘You know, it’s possible that your mum just has something wrong with her hands.’ He takes another step back and glances to his left and his right. ‘You said she has weird side effects to her medications sometimes. Or she could have burnt them when she glitched with the kettle a couple of nights ago.’

‘Maybe,’ I say, stepping towards him. ‘But it does add up – the way her skin stuck to my coat when she held my arm, and the noises I heard as she crawled across the ceiling. It makes sense that the surface of her hands has changed.’

‘Come on, man.’ Mak steps forward, too, his hand up and waiting. ‘Just do it.’

‘You’d be able to tell if I was a sporeling,’ Chets says. ‘I’d be acting out of sorts, like your mum.’

‘I was there when my mum first activated,’ I say, trying not to let a tear sneak into my eye cos I don’t want to cry right now. ‘And she was super weird. But as time went on, she sort-of got better at being like her old self. It’s like she was learning.’

‘Like new shoes,’ Kat says. ‘When you first put your feet in them, they’re stiff and they hurt and they feel like they were made for someone else. 223But then when you’ve walked around in them for a bit, they kind of mould to your feet and become part of you.’

‘Yes, exactly like that, Kat! Great analogy.’

‘Thanks,’ she smiles.