Capítulo XV- El Video

     When Patience arrived at school, she expected her day to be normal. Or as normal it could get when you befriend the world's first bionic superhumans. However, she did not expect hundreds of eyes to follow her from the bus to the school's halls along with whispers:

     "Isn't she friends with them?"

     "Yeah, I see her with them all the time."

     "Do you think she knows?"

     Students huddled together in groups, glancing down at a screen. Patience furrowed her eyebrows as Principal Perry peered over a student's shoulder and she joined her. Adam, Bree, and Chase were displayed on the screen using their bionics to fix a pipeline from yesterday's mission.

     Her eyes widened hearing Bree's voice behind her back, "What's everybody lookin' at?" Everyone in the halls stepped away from the bionic siblings, afraid they'll cause them any harm.

     "A new viral video," Perry answered, "Guess what it's called? 'The World's First Bionic Humans'."

     "What?"

     Adam held onto his backpack's straps, "Wait, there are other bionic people? Then why are we working so hard?"

     "She's talking about us," Chase replied.

     "Yeah, look," Perry flipped her tablet to them, showing the video. Chase created his forcefield on the pipeline while Adam sealed it shut.

     Patience fretted, "Somebody recorded you during your mission."

     Leo added, "Your secret's out. Everybody's gonna know you're bionic."

     "Never mind that." Perry scoffed, "Now I can't blackmail Daddy Big Bucks anymore. My gravy train just ran right off the tracks!"

     Bree looked around the room. Everyone's stare held onto the group, whispering to their friends. It was much louder now that they were present in school. "Everyone's looking at us."

     Perry yelled, "Quit your staring. Scram! So they're bionic. Get to class before they mow you down with their finger missiles." The student's dispersed to their classroom after Perry's threat.

     "How could this happen? What are we gonna do?" Bree asked.

     "I don't know. We're in big trouble," said Chase.

     "Wait! I know how we can fix this! We'll convince everyone the video was made with special effects," Leo pitched in. "You know, like those fake videos Adam's always watching."

     Patience gasped, "That's a great idea. We could just tell them it was for some project."

     "So Giant Baby Eats Tokyo is fake? I should've known. Where are they gonna get a diaper that big?"

     "Well, first, we better go tell Mr. Davenport," Bree stated.

     They headed toward the school doors, but Adam spoke, "Wait, is Giant Baby Eats London fake too? Because I just sent 50 bucks to the victim's relief fund."

     Patience pushed him forward, "Unfortuenly, yes, but at least you tried to make a selfless act."

     "Eh, true. Wait, what kind of other stuff is fake?"

     Patience didn't find the time to answer all of Adam's questions. She just needed all of them to reach the top of the hill they lived in. Luckily, Adam drove them all to school this morning. The five teens exited the car and entered the mansion.

     "Mr. Davenport!"

     He and Tasha were already in the great room looking at the news. "We just heard." Douglas marched into the great room, hearing their voices.

     "What are we gonna do?" Tasha asked.

     Adam simply said, "I say we sell Chase to the circus and use the money to start our new life." Patience glanced up at Adam, furrowing her eyebrows.

     Leo stepped forward, "Big D, I know how we can spin this."

     "No, No. Were way past spinning this, Leo. That video's all over the news. Experts have verified the footage wasn't manipulated," Douglas informed. He turned on the dining room's tv to the news. The title said, Existence of Bionic Humans Confirmed. "People all over the world are freaking out."

     Adam frowned, "Oh, of course, they are. They just saw Chase in a skin-tight mission suit."

     "Douglas is right. This is way too big to spin," Mr. Davenport agreed.

     Tasha rested her hand on her hip, "I can't believe this. You guys are the biggest news story ever, and I got scooped." The five teens sent the older woman looks.

     Mr. Davenport grabbed his tablet and punched things onto the screen. "How could this happen?"

     Chase shrugged, "I don't know. I did a thermal scan on the mission site. No one was there."

     "Well, the footage from my Daven-Earth satellite says otherwise. See." He zoomed into the satellite feed, "Someone's standing right there." Patience peered over Chase's shoulder to look at the tablet. A brunette crouched behind a bush, holding up her phone. She recorded everything from the beginning. "Someone's standing right there."

     "Yeah, well, you missed a spot, and now the entire family is in danger."

     "Woah, no, hang on, Mr. Davenport," Patience followed him to the kitchen. "It was an accident, it's not like he wanted this to happen."

     "Come on, Donny. The kid made a mistake. Could've happened to anyone," Douglas defended Chase.

     Adam smacked his tongue, "Yeah, not really. He's the only one who thermal scans."

     Patience whispered, "Not helping."

     "So What's our next move?" questioned Leo.

     "Give Tasha Davenport an exclusive interview?" Mr. Davenport gave Tasha a look. "It's my job to ask."

     "Don't worry guys, I've prepared for this." Mr. Davenport explained, "I've got a safe house at a secure location, you three will hide there. It's got food, capsules, everything you'll need for a year's worth of survival."

     Bree and Patience said in unison, "A year?"

     "Well, 343 days. After that, play rock-paper-scissors and eat the loser." He tossed his tablet on the couch. "In the meantime, I'm gonna hold a press conference, and prove to the world you're not dangerous. When they're ready to accept you, you'll come home. Any questions?"

     Adam smiled, "Yeah, I finally decided to whiten my teeth. Wait, that's not a question. So, yeah, no questions."

     "Everybody get your stuff, we leave in five minutes."

     Patience let her legs take her wherever. Patience had multiple fears and Adam, Bree, and Chase leaving was one of her top ten. This is exactly what she told Tasha not so long ago when they ran off. Patience did not want to say goodbye to them again.

     The first time was already hard enough, but she knew what she was getting into if they had to leave. Which they were. The next time she'll see them again could be in a year or four or ten. Though Patience wasn't exactly in the jolliest mood, she knew she had to help them pack in leave for their safety.

     Patience passed through the lab doors. Leo was at his mission specialist desk, packing things in a box. At the same time, Chase walked in through the other side with a backpack in his hand. A saddened smile curled on their lips, meeting each other's gaze.

     "I don't get it. I know I scanned the mission site," Chase set his bag on the desk. "How did I not notice that girl?"

     Patience put a comforting hand on Chase's arm, "Chase, everyone makes mistakes. It's okay if you missed a spot. Don't let what Mr. Davenport said get to you. The girl posting the video was out of our control."

     "But he's right, I got us into this mess. You know what? I'm gonna check my chip log." Leo moved aside to let Chase do his thing. He crouched down, typing into the console.

     Carrying a box, Douglas entered the lab, "Guys, hurry up. See, this is why I should have raised you. Then you'd know how to abandon a building."

     Chase reviewed the footage. He pointed at the screen, "Aha, look."

     Chase's thermal scan did scan the area the girl hid. He played it at the same time as Mr. Davenport's satellite scanned the area. The girl was nowhere in sight on Chase's log. Leo faced the monitor, "Chase is right. He did do a thermal scan at the mission site."

     Chase clapped, "Yes! I knew it! Still perfect!" he pointed at himself, excited.

     Patience's eyebrows knitted together, smiling at him. She turned back to the monitor on the wall, "If the timestamps match, how come she isn't showing up on your log but is on Mr. Davenport's satellite."

     Chase crossed his arms, "That's impossible. Something weird is going on. I'm gonna go tell Mr. Davenport."

     "Good idea. But leave out the part about being perfect. It just makes people wanna punch you in the face," Douglas closed his fist, lightly punching the air. Chase held a blank stare, leaving the lab.

     Douglas, Leo, and Patience continued to pack their belongings. The monitor on the wall rapidly beeped, signaling the power had shut down in the house. Patience's eye narrowed at the security footage upstairs.

     S.W.A.T agents stormed into the great room, lighting their flashlights at Adam, Bree, and Chase, shouting, "Go! Go! Go!" They threw smoke to blind Adam, Bree, and Chase's vision. The three huddled together before the agents pinned them against the ground.

     The power turned back on. One of the agents spoke into his watch. Adam then grabbed his hand and spoke into the watch. Their conversations were inaudible. Two agents gripped onto Mr. Davenport and Tasha forcing them downstairs. A whole S.W.A.T team gathered around the Davenports.

     Leo turned to Douglas and Patience, "We have to help them."

     Patience quavered, "How? That's an armed force against three unarmed civilians."

     "The only way we can help them is if we don't get captured," Douglas stated. A whirring came from the elevator, Douglas switched to the surveillance camera inside it. "Look." A swarm of agents occupied the elevator.

     "They're coming in the elevator," Leo grabbed Patience's hand and pulled her to the tunnel.

     Heavy footsteps echoed the tunnels. Patience's eyes widened, "They're everywhere. We're surrounded."

     Douglas pointed at the duo, "You want me to blow up the lab again? I'm good at it!"

     Patience pled, "Please, no. Those were the most uncomfortable moments of my life."

     Leo suggested, "Let's make that plan b."

     Patience asked, "What's plan a?"

     "This," he pushed a button on his tablet. The floor below them opened up and the three screamed falling into one of the compartmentalized units in the lab.