I whisper a “Good night” to Mom, who raises her head, smiles, and says “Good night” back. Her eyes drift back down to the TV, and I’m dismissed.

Feeling despondent, I head to my room. I sit cross-legged on my bed, take a deep breath, and take Slick out of my pocket.

>>Don’t forget about the update.

There’s no sign of him buzzing around like a mad beetle. He’s back to acting like a normal baku.

“Fine,” I say, gritting my teeth at his incessant reminders. “After I hear from Tobias. Can you project the video stream as wide as possible?”

Slick moves so he’s on the edge of the bed, then he starts the livestream. In one corner, I see the faces of Ashley, Kai, and River, who are also watching. They wave to me, but no one says a word. Tobias is streaming secretly, so we don’t want to make any noise to give him away.

Tobias is walking down a nondescript hallway. I don’t immediately recognize where he is in Moncha HQ, but I can only assume he’s following my instructions.

“How was it you know about this place?” I hear a voice ask. Aero’s camera pivots in the voice’s direction, and I see a tall black man with short-cropped hair, graying at the temples. I recognize him from the photos I’ve seen in Tobias’s home. It’s his dad.

“Oh…I heard about it at school.”

“So you thought you’d come down here at eight o’clock on a school night?”

I don’t have to wonder how Tobias is going to explain his strange request. His dad keeps on talking. “I’m glad you’re showing an interest, son, but the simple fact is, you’re too late.”

They approach a door I recognize. Through that door is the weird street where I found Monica. I hold my breath, edging closer to the livestream, so that I’m almost sitting inside it.

His dad opens the door. Aero flies through—but all his camera shows is a completely blank space. It looks like a giant aircraft hangar, huge and echoing and empty. “I told you,” says his dad. “We pulled this whole place down a month ago. We’re replacing it with something even better, but that’s classified.” He winks at his son.

My shoulders slump. The street with all the houses is gone. And if Monica was being held there against her will, she’s not there now.

Our only lead disappears in an instant. Of course Eric was going to be many steps ahead of me—he’s the head of a multinational tech corporation, and I’m just a kid.

The transmission ends with Toby’s final words: “Sorry, Lacey.”

In case I’d forgotten, Slick lights up with commands for me.

>>Don’t forget to update!