I managed too easily to return to my room, that night. The girl at the desk was absent when I went through the foyer; the laser X was still turned off (I restarted it after I went past it again); nobody caught me as I moved through those hallways. Perhaps I should have been uneasy about it, but I felt only grateful. I slipped back into my bed and tried to sleep, but all I did was drift in and out of cat naps for the remainder of the night, my adrenaline riding high from all that had happened and thoughts of what Slim might be able to do for me.

Wakefulness came with a soft, birdsong-y alarm. The lights had risen to a golden glow, and the other girls were rousing themselves. I could only assume it was morning, as there was no natural light, here, and when the television turned on, a clock in the corner confirmed that it was eight AM. While the others brushed teeth and dressed, I tried to ask them questions about their day, what the schedule was, but they didn't feel inclined to talk much. I did find that apparently, unlike dinner, breakfast and lunch were in a cafeteria of sorts, and although I didn't really feel like being around other people, I did realize that every opportunity to leave the room was an opportunity to find out more about Henry. So I was disappointed when Pilar came in, gave some instructions about the day to the girls, and then told me I was to stay in the room the whole time. She said someone would bring me food; I could watch the television.

I didn't fight with her. I had to lay low until that night. As she left, I wondered where Pilar had been amongst all those people last night. I hadn't seen her, which had been lucky. Maybe she'd been in the locker room, or in the other rooms. Maybe she'd taken someone up on their offer.

Ugh. I didn't want to think about that. I couldn't imagine living like they were living. I supposed that not everyone would've been the same. There were probably people who just wanted to actually hang out and then go to bed. But the whole vibe of the place had been off, and if what Slim had said was accurate (and I was sure it was), all those people had basically become hostage to whatever drug the Circuit was giving them. The girl at the desk--her exploding-head gesture when she'd mentioned missing her raion made sense, now. If they didn't get their drug, they probably had withdrawal symptoms. The Circuit didn't tell them what they were taking when they were younger, so by the time they moved up, they were already well addicted. I wondered, too, at what Slim had said about the Circuit not allowing the recruits to end up in prison. That red-haired woman had said their recruits never went to Oliphant. So if they didn't go to prison and they didn't go to Oliphant, where did these people go when they screwed up? Because there was no way they did everything perfectly. Something Mr. Mallinkrodt had said rang in my ears: "Consider this your only second chance." Were all positions terminated, when they messed up? I had a sickening feeling I knew the answer.

But I wouldn't fall prey to this Circuit, and I couldn't let Henry, either. We were obviously involved with it in some way--they'd placed us in Oliphant and were for some reason trying to manipulate us now. But I was suspicious about whether we'd actually been recruits at the Circuit, prior to losing our memories. It was all so confusing.

I just wanted Henry with me; he'd be able to figure it out. I was no good at thinking this way, at putting puzzles together. And I wasn't sure I had the stamina to keep going if too much held me back.

Pilar's word was good--someone came with a breakfast tray for me. But I wasn't hungry, and I didn't eat it. In fact, I sat in that room for about an hour, bored to tears, anxiety about that night clawing at my insides. I wasn't sure I could pass a whole day in there without losing it. But then there came a knock on the door. It couldn't have been Pilar or someone collecting my tray; they didn't knock. They just barged in without warning. And this knock sounded furtive, as if someone were not too sure they'd picked the right door.

Curious, I rose and went to it, opened it, and gasped. It was Mac—the kid that had been in the truck when Henry had stolen it, who'd gone to the gas station with us and been so excited about his Snickers . . . who we'd left in a really terrible part of San Judo. I was stunned. Mac was eight . . . eight! He was way too young to be in this horrible place. "What are you doing here?" I asked, surveying his standard jumpsuit.

The kid blinked at me, the grin disappearing from his face for half a second. "Those girls told me you were here, someone named Nadia, they said. I thought they were joking!"

He was so casual and smiling that I couldn't help letting my anger show. "You shouldn't be in a place like this."

"What are you, my mom?" He scowled once he realized I wasn't particularly happy to see him. "You're here, too."

"Get in." I pulled him through the door, shutting it behind him. "How did you end up at this place?"

Mac shrugged. He walked a ways into the room and looked around. "I don't think I'm supposed to be in here."

"Mac, tell me what happened to you."

Turning to me, he cocked his head back a bit and sniffed. "Real nice guy brought me here. He said a kid like me shouldn't have to be on the streets. Said I could get everything I want down here; all I've got to do is go to real easy school and sometimes work a little. I don't have to pay for anything! He said I never have to have parents or people bossing me. And I also get to have fun!"

"You haven't been taking those pills--those vitamins, have you?"

"I love those vitamins."

"No! Mac, listen to me. Those are--" I paused mid-sentence. There had to be cameras in this room, and while I cared a little about Mac, I cared more about meeting up with Slim later. I couldn't jeopardize my chances. "They don't taste good."

"They taste fine to me."

"Ok. Well, whatever. Then I'll see you around." I suddenly felt an urge to get rid of him. I didn't want to fall into some sort of risky conversation. Even allowing him in the room was probably some sort of rule breach. I started to shove him toward the door, but he fought me off.

"Hang on!" He flattened his feet and straightened his legs, making it difficult for me to move him. "I have some stuff to tell you!"

"Tell me later."

"It's about you and the one mean kid!"

Henry? Really? I stopped trying to maneuver him. How could he have information about Henry? And did it matter, how? "Come here, then." I led him into the bathroom, right into to shower stall, and gently closed the frosted glass door. If there was any privacy in this place, it had to be in the shower. "What is it? And keep it down, ok?"

"Well," Mac began after scrunching up his features and surveying our surroundings as if I were crazy, "I heard something. I heard somebody talking."

"Who? About what?"

"Damn! Chill. Don't push somebody who's got something to say or he might decide he doesn't want to say it any more."

I wanted to grab and shake him for being so flippant, but I held back. I needed to know what he had to say.

"It was this guy in the cafeteria. See, I snuck in to get some food, because I was hungry. And there were these two guys standing there talking—you know where you get your ketchup?"

I nodded impatiently but literally had no idea what he was talking about.

"Well, when I was almost coming out, these guys were standing right at the exit, and I didn't want to get in trouble so I hid real fast under the counter, you know. And then I just wanted them to leave, and I wasn't going to listen, but I heard them say something about Henry – the one mean kid. You know what they were saying? They were talking about how he was back. One guy said something about how maybe they should watch out, cause if they don't, he would find out more than they wanted him to. And the other guy said that even if Henry found out, they could just get rid of him for good. And that made me start freaking out, you know? Cause maybe I'm only eight, but I know what people mean when they say that. And then the other dude said, 'It isn't Henry worrying me. It's that girl he came with that bothers me. She's not fitting back in. She needs to be out of here. There's no way she can stay, especially if she finds out where they're keeping him.'"

He paused, and I stood there, amazed. How had he been able to overhear so much? The security in this place must have been far more lax than I realized, if both Mac and I had been able to wander around without being caught. "Well? Did you hear where they're keeping him?"

"Yeah! Behind the offices. You know those weird TV screens or whatever they are. Behind there."

"TV screens? The illusions," I said quietly, thinking of jellyfish and deer.

"Yeah, those weird ones. I saw one when they first brought me in yesterday. It had fish on it."

I almost sobbed with joy. On impulse, I grabbed the kid and hugged him tight. "You've helped me so much! Thank you, Mac!"

"You better swear not to tell anybody I told you!" he warned. "I don't need anybody talking about getting rid of me."

With multiple promises of sworn secrecy, I managed to get Mac to the door and back out into the hallway. Then I stood, back against the wall, and took several deep breaths. Henry! Behind those ridiculous screens! He was there! At least, he could be there. I was faced with a choice: wait until night and meet with Slim, who'd promised me some sort of vague help, or try to find Henry myself. What had Slim meant, anyway? What sort of help had he been offering? He hadn't elaborated. He might not have meant reuniting me with Henry; he could've just meant helping me get out, myself. And did I really want to have to find that Bodie character again, to try to get my ration from him? Even if I did go into the offices to look for Henry, and I failed, I could always go back to my room and try to meet Slim the next night . . .

It was settled, then. I'd try to find Henry behind those offices. I hadn't thought much about those illusion screens, but obviously something was behind them.

That night, I pulled the same tricks I'd pulled the night before: I pretended to take my pill; I pretended to fall asleep; I used my newfound talent to open doors. And, just as easily as the previous night, I moved through the hallways with zero interruptions. The offices were between the dormitory rooms and the entryway, before the guarded hall leading to the over-age area, and it was only when I reached them that I realized I didn't know which to enter. As I stood in front of those doors, staring at the keypads outside them, I wondered why I hadn't thought of this before, especially as I'd had all day. There were probably ten of them, and I had no idea which to go into. I couldn't even remember the ones I'd been in. None of them had any markings at all. But I had to choose, and I figured one was as good as any, so I picked a random office and let myself in.

The room I entered was slightly easier on my eyes than the hallway. It, like the dormitory rooms, was lit with softer lighting. It was quite boring, though, meaning that it was identical to the other offices I'd been in, with three white walls and one weird back wall. This back wall had neither jellyfish nor deer crossing it--instead, it shimmered faintly, almost like a piece of silvery fabric hanging there and fluttering very lightly in a soft breeze. It was mesmerizing, as the other illusions had been, and for a moment, I just stood there, staring at the moving image. Even standing close to it, I couldn't tell that the rippling wall was false, and only when I put my hand out and tried to touch it was the sham revealed. My hands, both out in front of me, now, went right through that silvery screen, and suddenly, as I stepped forward, I was on the other side of it. The experience was as weird as when I'd moved through the static white at the end of the secured hallway leading to the overage area.

But this one was different, too. I didn't enter another white space. Instead, it was as if I'd walked through a waterfall into a secret cave. I couldn't see much of anything at first; it was so dark. But then I began to make out a door across from me, about twenty feet away. It had a small, greenish light above it, the only thing revealing its existence. A quick glance to my left and right told me that there were more such doors, heading off into the darkness in both directions, only their tiny green lights showing like glowworms in the black. How many offices and rooms had those shifting screens? They all must lead here. Turning, I could see the white room I'd just left; its illusion wall now looked only a sheer gray. And I noticed, too, the other gray screens to my left and right, confirming my assumption that they all led back here, to these dark, secret rooms.

This was getting ultimately more eerie, though it also better fit my expectations of what this place was. This was the darkness behind the shiny facade. This was what the Circuit was. I could absolutely imagine Henry being held prisoner behind one of these dark doors. But which one?

A sense of urgency filled me, suddenly. Why had everything been so easy? I had to start trying doors, move quickly. Something could happen at any moment.

I slid aside the first door, surprised to find no lock of any kind. What lay beyond was not what I was looking for--no trace of Henry--but it did grab my attention. It was a small room, perhaps the size of a walk-in closet, but it held something that resembled a dentist's chair, Computerized equipment was in a corner and hanging from the ceiling, and the walls contained drawers and machinery of all kinds. The picture disturbed me deeply; this was no doctor's office. It was a sinister, hidden room, and sinister, hidden things probably happened in it. But there were no people, and I couldn't dwell on what I'd found, not yet. I left that one and began trying each of the doors to the right, but I found all of them the same. So I retraced my steps and went right but found nothing in those rooms, either. There must have been twelve or thirteen in all, and each was identically set up and identically devoid of people.

Desperation set in. This couldn't be all . . . this couldn't be it. Mac could've been right; Henry might have been in one of these rooms, at one time, but he wasn't in them now. And if he had been in one . . . oh, I hated to think of what they could've done to him. Where was he?

I'd leave. I'd go back to the over-age area right now. I had plenty of time to find Slim. He could still help me; maybe he would tell me where Henry was. I didn't know. I had no other options, and I was beginning to feel like a rat in a maze in this place. Backing away from the last of the doors, I was startled by a sudden noise--it sounded like footsteps, someone trying to move away from me in a scuffling way. My heart about jumped into my throat; I swore I could feel it pulsing there. The darkness kept me from seeing anything clearly--I saw only the green glowing lights above the dark doors and, across from me, the translucent gray rectangles leading into the multiple offices. I was sure my own breath echoed against the walls and ceiling. I considered calling out, asking if anyone were there, but I decided against it, fearing I'd draw attention to myself.

They're coming, my own voice spoke in my head. My intuition? It'd sounded so real before, and it sounded real now, as if there were literally someone whispering into my ear, and yet there were some strange sing-song note in it . . . I would've wondered more had I not, at that moment, seen a very definite human shape cross over one of the rectangles of gray light from across the way.

My breath stopped; I froze.

"There she is," said a very real, very near voice, this time right behind me.

Spinning, I saw the shapes of two people, but I couldn't make out any of their features; they were backlit by the light from the room beyond, which I swore had been empty only a minute ago. Before I could run or scream or do anything at all, they'd taken hold of and dragged me backward into the room, sliding the door shut behind us.