Her gaze follows Jinx, but all she says is, “Who is Jinx?”

I can sense Jinx’s disappointment that Monica doesn’t recognize him. I wonder what it must be like to feel abandoned by your creator like that.

But no. She didn’t abandon him. She tried to save him. That’s why I have Jinx in the first place. She knew the danger he was in—and she was in—and she chose to try to get him outside, where he might have the chance to survive, rather than be destroyed at the hands of Eric Smith.

Now, we need to do the same for her.

Kai echoes my thoughts. “C’mon. We’ve found her now. We have to get her out of here.”

Tobias speaks up, because I seem to have lost my words. “Ms. Chan, I’m afraid that we can’t stay for any celebration. But if you don’t mind, can you come with us? You’re the only one who can really help us.”

“Oh, I don’t know…” says Monica. Her sloth’s black-as-night eyes watch us with suspicion. “I think I’d better stay put. It’s not quite time for us to be outside yet. The others will wonder why I arrived so early.”

“I don’t like the sound of this ‘annual celebration,’” says Kai in a low voice.

“Me, either,” I say. “Have you checked in with Ashley? Maybe we should send her a message to let her know we’ve found Monica.” I waggle my eyebrows in Oka’s direction. If something bad is about to go down, someone on the outside needs to know.

“Good idea,” says Kai. He leans down to Oka’s side and records a message for Ashley. Then, for good measure (and something I’ve never seen from Kai) he takes out a pen from his pocket and writes down a note on actual paper. “We can’t be too careful,” he says. “What if all the data gets erased?”

“Genius!” I exclaim.

He grins at me, then sends Oka on his way.

I exchange a look with Tobias, and together he and Kai step toward Monica. She stares at us placidly, that same serene smile on her face. That creepy serene smile.

They gently take her by the arms and lead her out.

“No, I can’t leave yet,” she says as she approaches the threshold of the door.

Did you see that? I ask Jinx.

>>I did.

His voice is solemn.

The sloth had tugged on Monica’s leash as the two boys were moving. He’s the reason that Monica’s come to a stop—why she fears crossing the threshold of the door. The sloth is preventing her from leaving.

We have to find a way to disable her baku.

>>I’ll handle it.

In a flash, Jinx leaps up and onto Monica’s free shoulder, taking a swipe at her baku.