Clothes definitely. She opened her drawers; uniforms. All skirts, a few pairs of slacks for when it got cold. Blouses in immaculate white. Vests. Nothing to run away in.
She looked in her trunk. There wasn’t much in there, and she hoped she could find what she was looking for.
There, in the back. Jeans. Three pairs, for when they went into town, which was rarely. Shirts that were more fashionable. She pulled all the jeans out, and most of the shirts and placed them in a backpack. Then, she emptied the contents of a couple of other drawers into it, placed her wallet inside, and looked at her computer desk.
There were at least a dozen things that she wanted to bring, but most of them were too big to fit or to be easily carried. There was her laptop, though; that could go. And so could her adapter; she was rather proud of that. It was a mixture between a blue box and a modem that could hook up to the handset of a telephone, along with some neat little tricks that no one but Sian knew about. It was good for free hookups, even from pay phones, and, fortunately, very portable.
It didn’t look like much, covered in loose wires and electrical tape, but it could get great connections. It was going.
She grabbed a few random disks, including the log of the first time she got into Rabbit. If she needed to break in on another computer, she’d need the record of entering in order to connect without hacking through again. She started up the connection on her computer again and made sure it was shielded. Then, she turned off the monitor.
As long as no one unplugged the computer, she’d be able to access anything on it; Rabbit allowed you to be in two places at once. If someone did unplug it, then nothing was lost. And, yet she felt that she was forgetting something. . .
She ran into the bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush, some toothpaste, and shampoo from inside the cabinet, then looked in a drawer for a brush. None; she’d have to make due without one. She shut the drawer and turned to face the bathroom door.
“Missing something?” Alex stood in the doorway, holding up the brush.
“Uh. . .hi. . .thanks.” Sian reached for it. “You didn’t have to-”
Alex held the brush up out of her reach. “I didn’t. You have to earn this. So. . .where are you going?”
“. . .out.”
“Nuh-uh. You’ve gotta do better than that.”
“I don’t know where. I’m going to meet someone outside. In about fifteen minutes. I don’t want to be late.”
“Then you’d better explain fast.”
Sian sighed, then chose her words carefully. She should have told Zazz half-an-hour.
“Something’s going on. On the outside. I’m going to find out what.”
“I thought your parents were off in New Zealand. Or wherever.”
“They are. . .it’s not with my parents, exactly.”
“Who, then?”
“. . .a guy.”
“A guy? Who? You are so-”
“A guy online, Alex, not a guy from Portisfield.”
“Oh my God. Is that the same guy-?”
“Yes. But not for that. Listen,” she said to her dismayed face, “something’s going on out there. They’re killing people. It’s weird. I've gotta go.”
“You’re going to where the action is?”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“Then I'm coming with.”
“No way.”
“Why not?” Alex scowled. “I’m better at this stuff than you are.”
“They’re killing people on Rabbit.”
“On wh- oh. That Internet crap you use. Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said they can’t find out where you were.
“They found out where Kurt- that’s the guy who set it up- was. And they killed him.”
"Bull.”
“I’m serious. And he’s in New York City. There are others, too.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know who.” Sian picked up her bag. “Listen, I can go without my brush.”
“Not if you’re meeting a guy.”
Sian cracked a smile. “Watch me.” She started forcing her way through the bathroom door, and nearly fell over when Alex stepped out of the way.
“All right; here’s your damn brush.”
“Thanks” She stuck it in her bag. “Cover me?”
“No way; I can't think of a good enough story.”
Sian sighed. “Fine. Just say you don’t know then. And if anyone comes. . .unplug the computer. All the wires.”
“Won’t that mess it up.” “Yes. I’m leaving the connection on so I can get the stuff once I find another computer. But if anyone-”
“Yeah, yeah. Unplug it. Got you.”
“Unplug everything.”
“I know!”
“Fine, then. Bye.”
Alex hesitated, then called after her. “Be careful.”
“I know.”
“You get the chance to kick anyone’s ass, call me.”
“I will. Take care.”
“You take care.”
Alex looked at the door as it shut.
“Damn. Now who am I going to practice with?”