The moment after I kissed Kayla like there would be no tomorrow, I remembered the next day was our natural history exam! There was definitely a tomorrow, but I helped her get in a crash study session on the flight back to Coastal City. We both aced our exams on that fateful Monday, even though we were rubbing our eyes and yawning from sleep deprivation. I had to explain away my broken nose and battered face, but when I told my teacher I had visited Colorado over the weekend, he replied by saying, "Skiing can be quite the adventure. Watch out for those trees next time." I bobbed my head and followed Kayla out of the classroom.

Of course, my grandparents think I just had a long weekend with my dad, spending quality time together. Yeah, right? They weren't happy I went skiing in Colorado, but anyway.

Kayla got to explain everything to her mom, and with her father safe again, she had his story to back her up.

Life is back to normal. Sort of.

The next Saturday morning after my grandpa dropped me off at the curb, I stop by Lattes for three coffees, the place where my weird weekend began. I make my way over a few blocks to the Blumenbach Natural History Museum where I promised Kayla we'd visit the mammoth exhibit. I know it's a bit late to help with the exam, but a promise is a promise.

She waits for me at the bottom of the steps leading up to the front entrance. I hold her coffee with the Lattes swirling logo on the side of the cup and hand it to her. She tucks a few strands of flaxen hair behind her ear and smiles. My dad will meet us here any minute. He said he had something he needed to tell me, and since Kayla and I planned on visiting the museum, he thought it was as good a place as any.

But he's not here yet...

"I really like the way you look with your glasses on," I say for starters.

Kayla's smile deepens.

"But I just want to try something without you wearing them." Slowly, I reach up and remove her black-rimmed frames. Then I place my fingers under her jawline. With my thumb touching the bottom of her cheek, I lean in and kiss her. After a nice, long moment, I pull away. "That's what I thought."

"What?"

"It doesn't matter. Glasses or no glasses, your kiss is just as good." I swallow a lump of warm tension. "Lately, it's the only thing that makes me fall back into my old nervous habit." I swallow again. "There, see."

"I do."

I give Kayla her glasses and she puts them back on. "So," she says, "where's your dad?"

"Right here," a voice says.

My dad waves, walking up behind Kayla on the sidewalk. Before he says another word, I hand him his coffee, and he thanks me.

Judging by the way his eyes dart about, I ask, "Something wrong?"

"Well, as you know, yesterday, I had a CT Scan of my brain to check for abnormalities."

"I was there," I say. "The results came back fine."

"Yes, but there was something else. I thought it was disturbing enough that I hesitated telling you about it."

"You mean you didn't tell me about it?"

My dad sips from his coffee. Swallows. "They found a foreign object under the skin at the base of my skull, under the hairline."

I blink. "What was it?"

"I don't know. They won't tell me. Maybe the doctors don't know either? Maybe they were under orders, if they found anything suspicious, not to reveal it? All I know is they found a foreign object, and they removed it. I asked the FBI agent in charge of The Collective investigation, and all he said was something about it being related to a potential national security threat, since the incident that started in Coastal City and ended up in Colorado, involved me. Against my will, I might add."

Air puffs from my lips. "That's jacked up."

"Very," Kayla adds.

"So, because of what that means," my dad says, "I need to disappear for a while."

"What?" My eyes fly up to meet his. "You can't."

"Yes, I can, Aiden."

"But you just..." I glance at Kayla and then look away.

"I have to leave. As long as I'm anywhere near you, I'll be a danger to you and anyone close to you." My dad looks at Kayla. "Listen. Zero will still come after me, no matter what she said. I believe she's the one who put the foreign object in my head. Probably as a failsafe. I don't know. Likely, she has something in mind—" He throws a hand to his temple in obvious pain.

"Are you okay?"

His grimace fades quickly. "Yeah, yes. I don't know where that came from, but it's gone now."

"Maybe you should have another CT Scan," Kayla says. "Maybe they missed something? There may be side effects from being under the influence of a Mind Bender."

"That might be a good idea, Kayla," he replies.

"So, when are you leaving?" I ask.

My dad frowns. "I hate to say this, but I think now is the best time."

"Right now?"

"I'm sorry, Aiden, but it's for the best."

"Will you keep in touch?"

"I've got your new number saved in my contacts. So, yes, I'll check in on you from time to time."

My dad hugs me, but it feels more ridged and forced than the one he gave me near the tunnel entrance in Colorado.

With that, he turns, leaving Kayla and me behind. He struts to a rental car at the curb, opens the door, pauses a moment to glare at me, and then gets in and drives away. I can't help but think there was something cold about the way he hugged me and the way he looked at me before he left. Right after he had the sudden...

"You ready to go inside and check out the mammoth exhibit?" Kayla says.

As I hesitate with my mouth parted, wondering, she takes my hand and leads me up the steps, probably to take my mind off my dad. Inside the museum, we stroll around the wooly mammoth skeleton, which is mounted on top of a three-foot-tall display base. Higher on the base, the ancient creature appears larger than life. Instead of natural history, we talk about the night at Lattes, before everything went wrong. We chat about studying for the exam on the flight back home, and we discuss what's ahead of us. We also talk about the private project Kayla's dad had been working on during his late nights at city hall.

"That's right," Kayla says. "My father was planning a political campaign. A run for President."

I offer her a half grin. "That's fire."

"It is amazing. Shocking, actually. But don't worry, I'm not going to D.C., I'm staying right here."

"But won't you have to move with them? If your dad wins the election?"

She shakes her head. "My mom told me she'd hire someone to live with me while they're in D.C. Maybe have my aunt come stay with me? I'm not sure at this point. She won't uproot me since I've lived here my entire life."

As I take her hands in mine and face her, feeling an intimate moment coming on, a voice interrupts us. I turn and see a man standing behind me. I narrow my eyes at him, not only because he spoiled our moment, but also because he looks like an FBI agent on official business.

"Aiden Quick?" the man says. His dark hair tufts up in a slight wave in the front. He removes a pair of wire-rimmed glasses, tucks them in his shirt pocket under his gray suit. He clutches an eight by eleven envelope under his arm. "Is there somewhere we can talk in private? The young lady too."

The man definitely has a government air about him, so I have a feeling I can't refuse. "Sure, there's a break room off the main hall."

We set off in silence. The entire thirty second walk, I'm thinking, what is this all about?

After the man closes the break room door and locks it behind him, Kayla and I sit on the sofa. He sits across from us in a chair with a coffee table between us.

The man glances around the room. "This appears to be a safe place to do this."

"Are you FBI?" I ask, thinking I should've asked that question earlier.

"No." He reaches inside his jacket and returns his glasses to his face.

"Why did you lock the door?" Kayla asks.

"Because I can't risk someone barging in on us." The man doesn't relax, but leans forward with his elbows on his knees. "What I'm about to tell you, all of it, is top secret and cannot leave this room. Do you understand?"

Kayla and I nod.

He slaps the big envelope down on the coffee table and gestures toward it. "Inside are photos, birth certificates, DNA tests, etcetera, etcetera. You can rifle through it while I talk. I'll explain everything."

I pick up the envelope and open it. "Go on..."

As Kayla and I sift through the contents, the man continues. "You can call me Max." He nudges his glasses up on his nose. "I'm the point man for a top-secret venture called The Initiative. Our mission is to bring down the assassin organization that you're familiar with, known as The Collective. As you're aware, their goals have shifted to more than just murder. Their goal is to control minds, everyone's mind."

"Everyone's?" I reply.

"Everyone's."

I suspected something similar to this, but not on such a grand scale. I look at a picture of a tiny object. Flash the photo at Max. "What's this?"

"That, my friend, is the foreign object that doctors removed from your dad's head."

"He told me about it before he left."

"Left? He needs to be in custody. It's not safe for him to be free."

"That would've been nice to know before he skipped town." I glare at Max. "What's the foreign object?"

"It's a microchip that blocks the Mind Bender signal to his brain. Similar to the device you briefed the FBI on that your dad created. But this one is small enough to implant under the skin."

"Why would Zero do that? Put something in my dad's head to block their signal?"

"In order to block it temporarily." Max's lips straighten. "She was going to doublecross you back in Colorado. She showed you your dad, set free and in his right mind, only to ensnare you. Once she had you, she was going to recapture your dad and remove the chip so she could regain control of his mind. She wanted you and your dad."

"I knew it was too good to be—wait a second—the doctors removed the chip. That means..."

"Zero can regain control of your dad's mind."

"When we were talking earlier, he had a sudden headache."

"Likely Zero retaking possession of her most prized agent."

"So, my dad is still under the influence of a Mind Bender?"

"I'm afraid so." Max shifts in the chair. "Headaches are a side effect. It happens when a Mind Bender attempts to take control of the mind. Like in your case, but your dad created that nifty device, which can also cause headaches."

I study another photo, an image of my mom lying on the exam table of a morgue. "Why would you show me a picture of my mom's body?"

"Because that's not your mom."

My jaw drops. "What?"

Max grins from ear to ear. "That, my friend, is your aunt."

"Huh?"

"That's right. Let me explain. The birth certificates are that of twins. Your mom and your Aunt Ava."

Kayla and I scan the documents, passing them back and forth.

"The DNA results show that there was a switcheroo."

I glance up.

"When your dad, Agent 1, somehow broke free from an early version of the Mind Bender, he went after Zero but never discovered the truth. Because your dad was getting too close, the person who is truly behind The Collective, the person who controls Zero..."

"So, Zero is under mind control too?"

"Yes."

"I suspected that because of how callous she was toward me at the warehouse."

Max clasps his hands together, leaning in closer, so much so that he hovers over the coffee table. "Aiden, listen to me. The actual leader of The Collective had the first Zero killed, which was your aunt, and then swapped her for your mom. The woman that died that night in your house was not your mom. It was your aunt." He edges back a bit in the chair. "Actually, an assassin killed her somewhere else and then planted her in your house. Then, they abducted your mom, and put her under the control of a Mind Bender. The backstory of your aunt's life was then downloaded into her brain." He snorts. "So, now your mom thinks she's your aunt." He wags his head. "Now that I think about it, that's really messed up."

"My mom's not dead?" I ask, my gaze wandering. I don't know whether to be happy or scarred for life.

"No, Aiden, your mom is not dead. Your mom is Zero. The DNA results prove it."

I sit back hard on the sofa. Kayla touches my hand.

"And since you and Kayla have been deeper than anyone into the inner workings of The Collective, except your dad, The Initiative wants the both of you to work for us."

"Wait, what?"

"We need your help to bring down The Collective. But while we work toward that goal, we'll be doing everything we can to save the lives they want to take." Max stands. "So, are you in?"

"I'm only sixteen."

Max shifts his head from side to side, appearing antsy. "Well, yeah, a small technicality we'll have to work around. I think I can pull a few strings, get some people to look the other way. After all, the world hangs in the balance."

"What about school?" Kayla asks.

"We'll work around it."

"Do we have a choice?" I ask.

"Not really, if you want to save your mom and dad from the person who is the ultimate power behind The Collective."

I nod. Kayla flashes her eyes at me, and nods too, with tight lips.

"Great." Max claps his hands. "We're a team. And since I'm the leader, we need a computer specialist. Someone who can coordinate our escapades and hack into private systems when needed. Provide communication support, etcetera, etcetera. He's pretty good at breaking bones, too."

Max paces over to the door and opens it. And in walks Agent 24. The wounds on the side of his head and under his eye have scabbed over and his complexion looks healthier.

"He's a computer specialist?" I ask.

"A very good one," Max replies. "After his stint in the Marines, he went to college for computer programming. He worked for a prominent firm in San Diego until the day he became one of Zero's agents."

"This day is full of surprises." I stuff the photos and documents back into the envelope and hand it to Max. "You're right, I don't have a choice, but Kayla does." I peer at her, waiting for her reply.

"If you're in, I'm in."

"That settles it," Max says.

I guess it does.

As we file out of the break room and head back out onto the main hall of the museum, I can't help but think to myself, I can't believe I now work for a top-secret mission force called The Initiative. I shake my head in wonder as we pass by the mammoth exhibit. Guess I truly am Agent 23. The more I tell myself that, the more I like the way it sounds.

I am Agent 23.

Of course, that's the perfect moment for the museum curator to come prancing down the hall, heading straight toward me. "Mr. Quick," she says as she passes by, "don't forget your shift tonight. You have a ton of categorizing to do."

"How could I forget?" I reply as I take Kayla by the hand and follow Max and Agent 24 out into the bright sunlight. Only now, I have to figure out a way to bring down The Collective and the shadowy figure behind the organization.

Oh, and let's not forget, stop my mom and dad from taking over the world.

THE END

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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