Free Justice by Jeffrey Salane Page A

Maze.’
    ‘I’m not talking about the Maze,’ said M. ‘I’m talking about our suits. While you guys were still in there, I ran a quick recon, but Vivian was able to track me down. Not only that, she used the suit against me, just like we thought they would. She completely shut me down with the touch of a button.’
    ‘Geez,’ said Merlyn. ‘Keyshawn certainly didn’t intend for the suits to be used that way.’
    ‘Didn’t he, Merlyn?’ asked M. ‘Listen, yes, Keyshawn is a brainiac, but you need to pull him down off whatever pedestal you’ve put him on, because he’s not on our side – the same as all these cadets around us now that have an urge to arrest us. We need to outsmart his design or else we’re walking around in handcuffs for the rest of our lives.’
    ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ said Merlyn reluctantly. ‘I took a closer look at my suit last night. This stuff is beyond my expertise, to be honest. It’s less of a computer and more like a spaceship.’
    ‘Merlyn, I have faith in you,’ said M. ‘Even spaceships run on computer programs, right? And you’ve never met a computer program you couldn’t hack. I guarantee there’s a back door for you to exploit somewhere. Keep looking.’ She gazed around the cafeteria at the silent eaters, almost taking their bites in unison. ‘Before we end up like them.’
    As breakfast ended, the students placed their empty trays on a conveyor belt and left the cafeteria as spotless as it had been before they arrived. The Lawless crew stayed seated and waited for their summons to Keyshawn’s lab, which didn’t happen until every last Fulbright had exited. We’re on display , thought M. They want us to be seen, to prove that the Lawless School is nothing but a bunch of kids. To prove that the Lawless School can be tamed.
    When they finally reached Keyshawn’s lab, Cal was already there, but Keyshawn was missing. Cal answered M’s curious look by motioning to the door across from the Maze entrance. It was halfway open and M could hear Keyshawn muttering to himself on the other side.
    ‘I don’t think we’re doing the Maze today,’ said Cal. ‘He’s been in that room since I got here and he’s showing no signs of coming up for air.’
    A poor choice of words , thought M. ‘So, seriously, why did it take you all so long to get out of that Maze?’
    ‘The better question is why did it not take you so long?’ quipped Jules, whose ego was obviously bruised.
    ‘Jules is just mad because she actually didn’t finish the course,’ said Cal.
    ‘You didn’t?’ M was dumbfounded. For Jules to not finish a physical task was just plain unthinkable.
    ‘Ex-tract-ed,’ said Cal, slowly stressing each syllable of the word, which must have felt like the twisting of a knife in Jules’s back. ‘She had to be extracted from the Maze after a panic attack.’
    ‘Seriously, M, how’d you do it?’ continued Jules, paying no attention to Cal’s comments.
    ‘I wish I knew,’ said M. ‘I followed a random path that popped into my head. Just sort of pretended I was in my basement back home. I mean, it was a place I never really went, but for some reason, it made sense … up to a point.’
    ‘What do you mean, up to a point ?’ Merlyn chimed in.
    ‘I mean,’ recalled M, ‘the layout seemed familiar to me, but it led to a dead end. I couldn’t go any farther. Then the walls closed in around me, so I broke through the floor.’
    ‘Sounds like dumb luck to me,’ said Jules with a hint of relief in her voice. ‘Like, if we did it again, you’d probably be as lost as we were.’
    ‘I’m not so sure,’ admitted M.
    ‘But you’re not going to find out today,’ announced Keyshawn, who had silently slipped back into the lab. ‘No, today we have a group project for you. I wouldn’t want to rush back into anything too stressful too soon.’ His eyes flicked over to Jules. ‘Follow me.’
    Keyshawn walked through the mysterious third door in his