A/N - We had a brain wave and thought of a change of plot, but this means for the first time ever we need to revise the text. SORRY. The new stuff is in bold.
Looking around I found mom's purse near the door in the place where she always left it. Next to it was an envelope. Mum would sometimes put things she had to remember next to her purse so she would be reminded again. The envelope was lilac color, I picked it up and saw my name on the front. Weird. Guessing it was a card she had got me, I opened it.
"Kaitlyn This morning was our last kiss goodbye. I will never forget it. You have been so very strong, but I know you can be stronger. You have been so determined but you know you have to be unshakeable. You know you have my love, but now you need to know my love for you will never never falter. I only want you to promise me one thing. I want you to do whatever you need to survive. Time is short. All I know is I am sure we will meet again, one day. Never let that thought leave your mind, as it will not leave mine, do this and you know everything will be alright.
Mom."
Once, before the virus, Mom had written notes for me . If anything told me she had a cure, I was reading it. I had changed into the sophisticated dress Alexander had got me and flung on the high heels and made myself to look as much like the fake Kaitlyn Edan as possible. This way I could travel invisibly. Looking at Mom's note I tried to look as un-weepy as possible before the taxi arrived. I told the taxi driver to go to Mom's lab. If she was anywhere with Homeland defense it would be there. I could think having found a cure Homeland defense would take her there instantly and then get take her somewhere to be mass produced. If Eve had been cured she would have taken her but why not fetch me? I could think of one hundred excuses but nothing felt true and each one made things feel weirder.
****
I arrived at Mom's lab and got out of the taxi. I even paid with my RFID implant. I thought I could give Alexander the money back for a taxi fare. Alexander - if every there was a human equivalent of an earworm and used chewing gum he was it. Why did I feel like I wanted to run to him and be the first to share the knowledge that my mom had found a cure? I wasn't even sure he genuinely liked me. I had to dug a deep moat around myself and I knew he should stay out. It wasn't him it was a matter of survival. I focused on the problem at hand, Mom's lab.
I thought I would find the lab in full swing. If they had found a cure they would be working round-the-clock to confirm it and ship the knowledge of how to make this stuff off to some government factory that would make industrial quantities of it. You can imagine how strange it was as the taxi approached that the building looks like the lights all turned off. I had been to the laboratory a couple of times on those take your daughter to work days, this was weird.
The laboratory was strangely quiet. As I approached that wasn't even a security guard there to stop me coming in. I had expected trucks and buses instead there is nothing. Walking into the entrance there was something. Rubbish paper, test tubes, the main door had been opened with a crowbar. As I walked into the laboratories some of the lights still worked but many have been damaged. I looked around the place. It has been trashed just like mom's house. As I moved from laboratory to laboratory the place of been ransacked. As far as I could tell homeland defense had been through here like a May tornado. It was clear stuff had not been removed, this is not relocation this was a deliberate wrecking of the laboratory. Why would anybody wreck a laboratory which could have found a cure for the virus?
I heard a noise foot steps.
"Hello" I said expecting to see someone "I'm Kaitlyn Lewis. I'm looking for my Mom Kerry Lewis."
There was no response. I walked into a darker part of the laboratory. Using Alexander's phone's torchlight I started to look for my mother's laboratory. This didn't feel right. Part of me wanted to rush out but the rest of me knew that out side the lab I had nothing. No mom and No sister.
"Hello" I said again looking around.
There was no sound.
Continued to look around. This place was emptier and then a NetFlicks schedule. Cursing my own lack of nerve I made my way towards my mother's laboratory.
When I got to the glass door of the Laboratory my mom use I noticed the glasses covered in black.
I reached out my hand.
"Don't go in there," said a voice behind me and I jumped.
Turning around I found that TDM it Was standing close behind me.
"Ahr," I said then I called myself together. "sorry you scared me."
"We should get out of here," said TDM.
"Who are you and why do you keep telling me not to be places?" I said.
TDM smiled, it was the rich casual smile, inviting like standing next to a warm open fire on a cold winters day.
"My name is Sam," said TDM. "I saw homeland defense, wrecking this place. They have left so I guess they had set fire to something."
"okay Sam, look I think I would know if this place is on fire or not." I said
When I got to the glass door of the Laboratory my mom use I noticed the glasses covered in black. Slowly I pushed the door open and for a second couldn't see anything. Then a wall of bitter acrid smoke hit my face. Not only was there smoke I could also feel the heat. The laboratory was on fire! Smoke billowed out clearing the lab before me I noticed a Bunsen burner left running at full blast. Instinctively I pulled the door shut and while I did I noticed I was standing in the shallow puddle of water. At least I thought it was water. No from the smell it was some chemical. Just then the glass of the door cracked then from under the door flames began to emerge.
"Shit the place is on fire!" I said.
The whole place was going to burst into flames. This was so not good.
"Run" said TDM/Sam.
I made for the entrance as fast as my shoes would let me run. As I did laboratory after the laboratory either side of me caught fire. I rushed through the doors around to a car in the parking lot. I hid behind it well I heard window after window falling like crystals after being blown out. Out of breath, coughing I ran from car to car for cover. I kept ducking and diving until I thought I was far after way.
I stopped for a second and I looked in my handbag. I could see the testable still intact. As far as I knew I had the only cure left. Those guys from homeland defense were trying to stop cure's being found. Where had they taken my mother?
I stood behind a car watching the fire. Black Smoke poured out of the windows.
"Wow, homeland defence," I said to Sam "Game over man. Game over".
I look at him. "What were you doing here?"
"I was near by and I saw all the home land defense trucks turn up. They hurled everybody out of the lab. I was just wondering what to do when you turned up in that taxi and walk straight into this place."
I looked at Sam "OK Hi. I'm Kaitlyn. " Â I said.
It seemed odd that he happened to be standing around my Mom's lab. It was hardly a tourist attraction.
Part of me was stunned, the other part vaguely understood I have to get this cure to the maze and ultimately to my father. I don't think I could trust homeland defense anymore. They had ransacked laboratory and left it burning to cover up the existence of a cure. That still didn't make any sense. You would think living in a world of idiots I would be used that by now but for some strange reason,it  always seem new.
"and you're possessed," said Sam/TDM.
"What makes you say that?" I said while trying to think of something stupid to say.
"I know you are possessed because I am possessed too," said Sam/TDM.
Suddenly everything came into place.
"have been following me ever since the arrest of Mr Wallace." I said.
"Yeh, the old man was my contact. I'm looking for the labyrinth" said Sam.
This is kind of made sense about everything. Like the way, he had been hanging outside the library.
"So why did you wait until now to tell me?" I said.
Sam looked uncomfortable. "I wasn't sure if you were a homeland defense spy or not. You were also hanging out with that Alexander strong guy. I wasn't sure if a rich guy like him was working for homeland defense or not. "
"Don't worry Alex is okay?" I said.
The heat from the fire I could feel my face was cooling down. I was expecting to see fire engines but nothing had yet appeared not even a faint siren sound in the distance. I started to think about what to do next I could use Alexander's credit card hiding out somewhere that figure things out.
Before I could do anymore I suddenly felt a bag being pulled over my head. My arm is been held and then being pushed into handcuffs. Within seconds IÂ had been pushed into the floor of a van I was being driven away at speed.
***
A/N We had to celebrate Billionaire's possession getting to #36 in the charts. So we did it the only way we could by writing another chapter. RK is moving house soon so it's unlikely we will be able to do another chapter before Thursday (Thursday is sacrosanct chapter day BTW). Few will know better than us that this chart position is the result of you choosing to spend your precious reading  time with us. We thank you for every second of it.  RK+Reb.
When looking for a picture of a Laboratory we kept finding evil labs. It's pretty well equipped. Is there like an evil science funding body? Â They must have a lot of money.