“So it seems,” replies Paul. “And since bakus are so prevalent, it will be very hard to stop him without Monica’s cooperation.”

I screw up my nose. “This is like super-villain-level disgusting.”

“Agreed!” says Zora, emphatically.

“So why do you think she’s at this Lake Baku place?” I ask Paul. “What is it exactly?”

“Lake Baku is Moncha’s top secret baku test center. Access was restricted to a very limited group of employees. Even as a board member, I couldn’t find out exactly where it was. That was until I saw that Moncha Corp had made a huge purchase of land. I think Monica took inspiration from other business leaders in the past for that, like Walt Disney, who bought hundreds of acres of land in Florida to have plenty of room to build his theme parks but also to keep advertisers and other rival businesses away. Once I saw that invoice for the land, I started asking questions about it. I heard the name Lake Baku, started putting two and two together…

“Then I was pushed out of the board before I could investigate any further. Demoted. They used my injury as an excuse,” he gestures toward his missing lower arm, his sleeve pinned up over the elbow. “But I know it was because I got too curious. Some people were sent to live up there—to run the experiments and test the bakus. People who were never heard from again.”

My heart stops. “Do you think my dad could have been one of those people?” It comes out as barely a whisper.

Paul turns to me, his eyebrows knitted together in a frown. “Oh Lacey, it’s been a very long time since I worked at Moncha. But I did know your father. He was a great engineer, and I was as surprised as anyone when he disappeared. All I know is Lake Baku would be the perfect place to hide someone like Monica from public view.”

I blink, finding it hard to process information. I’ve always been good at compartmentalizing—something I’ve learned from the laser-like focus I’ve acquired from spending so long as a companioneer. Jinx leaps up onto my shoulders and nuzzles my neck, calming me. Instinctively, I bury my hands in his electronic fur. My dad…Jinx…

>>It’s going to be okay. But we need to focus on Monica.

Jinx is right. Getting Monica back is the best chance I have of reversing the update to Mom’s brain. I take several deep breaths, then stare around at the people in my locker—the team of teens and one old man who are thinking about how to find the founder of one of the biggest tech companies in North America.

“Wait, I know where that is!” says Tobias, breaking the stunned silence brought on by Paul’s appearance and revelation.

Paul raises a single bushy eyebrow. “You do?”