Free The Adjusters by Andrew Taylor

scariest thing was? I could tell she actually believed the crap she was saying.”
    Christian nodded. “Malcorp putting words into her mouth. We think that’s how Mallory works it. Picks parents with some hard-line ideas about raising their kids in the first place and
exploits them.”
    “ Exploits them? ” Henry said.
    “You know,” Christian continued, “plays on all their natural fears that the big bad world is going to turn them into drug addicts or criminals the moment they’re out of
their sight. Mallory tells these parents he can make their kids perfect, upstanding citizens or something. Everyone’s happy.”
    “Look,” Henry said, “I know you want to believe that there’s some conspiracy going on here, but the truth of the matter is that Gabrielle Henson is a kid who got her
heart broke and went off the rails…”
    Fox snatched up the photograph of her and Gabrielle and thrust it into Henry’s hands.
    “We’ve been friends since kindergarten,” she said, her face flushed with passion. “Since long before this town had even heard of Malcorp. And I’m telling you that
Gabrielle Henson does not have mental problems. And she is not into drugs.” Her voice choked and she fought to keep talking. “She’s my friend.”
    Henry looked down at the photograph in his hand. The two girls certainly looked normal enough. Happy. They were several years younger in the picture and he noticed for the first time that
it had been taken in the cafe downstairs. In the background the tables were filled with customers. Henry looked up at Fox. She was glaring, as if daring him to argue with her. It was hard to
reconcile this spiky character with the younger girl in the photo.
    “I’m sorry your friend has problems, whatever they are,” he said gently, handing the picture back. “But I’m sure you’ll see she’s okay now she’s
back with her family…”
    Fox frowned at him. “Gabrielle isn’t back with her family. I went round her place earlier today and she isn’t there.”
    “Well, maybe they’re keeping her at the medical centre for observation…”
    Christian removed an item from his pocket and held it up. “What do you say we find out about that? Tonight.”
    Henry saw he was holding a Malcorp key card.
    “This will get us into the Malcorp medical centre,” Christian explained. “Swiped it from my dad a few weeks ago. He thought he’d lost it. It’s time someone found
out what’s really going on in there.”
    Henry held up his hands. Suddenly everything was moving too fast. “Now hold on…”
    Fox moved closer to him. “Gabrielle’s somewhere in that centre. If we could just talk to her for a while, we could find out why she ran away. I need to know why she didn’t come
to me when she escaped the first time.”
    Henry held her gaze. “I’ve been to the medical centre and it’s just a clinic. There’s nothing going on. And if the students at Malcorp are a little strange… Well,
it’s just because they’re the kids of pushy parents. You know, high achiever types.”
    “You don’t believe that,” Christian said. “I heard about the pool. Blake and his friends just walked away when that kid was drowning, right?”
    Henry glanced at him. “They just didn’t have life-saving training, that’s all.”
    “They didn’t have the programming! They’re…” He struggled to find the words. “Replacements! Robots! They don’t do anything they’re not ordered to
do!”
    Henry sighed and walked to the door. He’d heard enough. He couldn’t believe they’d almost got him believing their insane ideas.
    “I’m going home,” he said.
    “But we’ve got more to show you!” Christian said.
    He made to follow Henry, but Fox threw out a hand. “Let him go. He’ll be one of them as well in a week or so. For all we know, he already is.”
    For some reason, these last words cut Henry and he paused as he opened the door. Then, with a shake of his head, he flew out and down the