Clashing Obsessions

Chapter 21 - Kalix

Maintenance tunnels. Not exactly the nicest walking route, especially when combined with the persistent feeling of, y'know, panic. Because of, y'know, the evil mad scientist trying to experiment on me.

Still, while they are dark, sketchy and... damp, for some reason, they're a way out. The only way out with no security cameras.

Speaking of, it sure is a good thing the ones in the station were disabled. I guess Dr. Blayne's team of kidnappers must've done that by accident when breaking into the station's computer system. Why did they do that, anyway? Well, whatever the reason, it meant I only had to check the cameras' status, and not turn them off myself, which would have not only taken longer but definitely raised suspicion.

Thanks to the whole criminal activity thing, I'm kind of an expert in suspicion. Either that or I just overthink everything. Either way, that came in pretty handy when my A-Maps route suddenly changed and instead of just assuming there was unexpected traffic, like a normal person, my brain just immediately went, "hey you know what it probably is? That creepy doctor you haven't been able to stop worrying about for the past 24 hours".

Turns out, I was actually right. A diagnostic scan of my phone revealed an unknown third party had been tracking my location all day.

So, that's why I'm currently walking through a maintenance tunnel I found in the station's blueprints, which I'm reading off my eyeview, while monitoring the situation with my internal computer chip — I can see the location of my phone from here on my eyeview as well, and can remotely wipe the contents when Dr. Blayne finds it. Wouldn't want to leave him any clues to my location — or secret identity, for that matter.

Oh, and as for my tracker wristband, I just disabled it. If I were to leave it in the podcar, it would look suspicious if the UNBI ever were to request the data. Just because there's a more pressing concern, doesn't mean I forget about hiding from the authorities.

I'll turn it back on when I get home, set it to loop my heart rate, and try to make it look like it just glitched.

* * *

Like usual, my mom is lying on the living room couch, staring at the TV screen on the opposite wall when I walk through the door. I honestly can't tell if she's watching it, or just... looking at it. It creeps me out sometimes. Also as per usual, I say a quick 'hey' before heading upstairs. Really, the only difference is this time, I'm not going up to do my homework, work on some scripts, and message clients on the dark web while eating a ready-meal and overthinking my life choices before going to bed at an ungodly hour.

It only takes a few minutes to pack my monitors, which fold up to a quarter of their size, and various other computer equipment and some clothes into a large backpack. I can't stay here — Dr. Blayne knows my route from school, so I can only assume he must know other information, like where I live. If he can't capture me on my way home, he might very well just come here. Instead, I'll stay at a motel or something while I sort out a more permanent solution. I don't know how long I'll have to stay there, so I packed for a week. I'll hide out, monitor the situation through the news and maybe with the help of OutlawResolve, who seems to know a lot about this. From there, I'll decide what to do next.

But, you already know what—

No! Shut up, little voice in my head! I can't think about that yet, the solution that's been popping up over and over again in my mind: leave Japan. I made my fake identity. I have the funds thanks to the anonymous client. I even have a few simple disguises so I could walk through a busy airport without looking like myself, in case those people were ever interviewed by the UNBI if my real identity's discovered. Really, the only thing left to do is buy plane tickets.