“Sir, we have completed the testing phase and have determined that it is a success. This new and improved drug can lower myostatin levels on regular dosage. Therefore, our subjects will now have a more imposing presence than ever before. Not only that, but we will also be able to read and control thoughts effectively. This drug even acts more quickly than its predecessor, ‘Project XII.’ ”

“Good; then we won’t be needing the teenagers anymore. Have the effects worn off completely?”

“Yes, we are positive that is has.”

The two men walked towards the laboratory—the same laboratory where the trio was being held. Just as the men entered the laboratory, Johnny awoke with a puzzled expression on his face. He looked around trying to figure out where he was.

“Oh, I see that you’ve finally come to, Mr. Johnny.”

“Who, err…who are you?” Johnny asked.

“Oh you don’t remember, do you?”

The man turned and walked towards a scientist sitting at a desk and began talking to him rapidly. Meanwhile, Shawn and Katie began to awake with a similar confused expression on their faces. They looked around the laboratory trying to refresh their memories.
“Anyone remember how we got here?” Shawn questioned.

“No, all I remember is that we were trying to fight off a robot. I’m not sure what happened after that.” Johnny answered.

After chatting amongst themselves for awhile, the gaps in their memories started to get filled.

Suddenly, they realized that they were in grave danger. The other men who were in the room then weren’t around anymore. This was probably the only chance they had of escaping. They were strapped tightly to what looked to them like dentist chairs. They struggled to figure out how to break through the metal cuffs that bound their limbs to the chairs. After a few minutes of pointless pondering, their defeat seemed inevitable. Just when they thought things couldn’t be any worse, the same man who spoke to them several times before walked through the door.

“I’m so glad to see that you’ll are up and talking so joyfully.” He said, giving them a sinister smile.

“So what, are you going to kill us now? Or why don’t you just tell one of your robots to do it?” Shawn retorted.

“His temper seems to be getting the better of him,” Johnny thought, “it might be best to stay silent.”

The man cackled loudly. “Is that what you think? Oh, my. What stupid children! I honestly can’t believe that you haven’t figured it out yet!” After a moment’s pause, he continued, “You’re curious? Alright, I’ll tell you. Stupidly enough, none of you realized that we would be watching all seaports and private airports from which any boats and helicopters can sail to or land on this island. After all, we can’t risk tourists discovering our nefarious activities. And so when one of our lookout men, who was stationed at the marina—yes, the same marina from which you three had stolen the boat spotted you, he knew you three were up to no good. And of course, who wouldn’t recognize the famous teen detective, Johnny!”

Shawn and Katie stared at Johnny in bewilderment. “What is he talking about?” they asked.

“Poor Johnny, have I let the cat out of the bag?” the man said with a smug smile.

Johnny ignored them; he had to keep the man talking until he could figure out how to escape. “What did your lookout man do after he saw us?”

The man, eager to talk, continued, “He was given orders to follow you and to report back to us. When he realized that you were heading for the island, we ordered him to drug the lot of you; and not with any ordinary drug. Using the drug called ‘Project XII’, we were able to read some of your brainwaves. You see, brainwaves change according to what we’re doing and what we’re feeling. For example, whenever we could read Delta brainwaves, we knew you were asleep; like that time on the cruiser. Of course, this drug was just in its experimental stage and that’s the reason why you saw the robots; but in reality they were just hallucinations.”

“Okay, that makes sense. But you still haven’t told us who you are.” Johnny commented.

“I guess it doesn’t matter if you know my name now, since you’ll are going to be dead soon anyway. You can call me Dr. Kurtis, and I run this place.”

A memory tugged at Kurtis’ mind causing him to glance at his watch. “Look at the time; I’ve got a meeting to get to. I suppose this is where we say goodbye.” He walked through the door and turned to a man standing outside. “Kill them,” Kurtis ordered. Two men entered the room, one carrying a syringe in his right hand. Just as he was about to inject Johnny, the other man struck him over his head.

Pulling down his doctor’s mask, he spoke, “Hello there! You all ready to get out of here?”

“Why you’re agent—”

“That’s right,” the agent said with a broad smile, “Did you really think the agency would allow one of their youngest agents to infiltrate such a deadly operation like this on their own?”

He removed a key from the unconscious man’s pocket and inserted it into the sides of each of the three chairs, causing the metal cuffs binding the trio to pop open. The trio stood up and rubbed their wrists’.

“Johnny, you still have some explaining to do. But right now, we really need to be getting out of here.” Katie said.

The agent ordered the trio to place the man in a chair and to fasten the cuffs. He exited the room and re-entered the room a moment later. He was dragging a man toward the chairs. Then, he lifted him up, placed him in a chair and fastened the cuffs.

“Why that’s Dr. Kurtis! What happened to him?” Katie inquired.

The agent reached into Kurtis’ coat and removed a green keycard. “This is what we need to get out of here. But first, we need to recover some samples of their drugs; ‘Project XII and XIII’.” He said.

They began to search the room simultaneously as Katie began to gag the two men strapped to the chairs. Several minutes later, their search was complete; but they had come up empty-handed.

“There’s a pharmaceutical room about 200 metres away in which they stash samples of their drugs. Why don’t I get some from there while you three wait here?” the agent said.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we came as well? Otherwise we would be wasting precious time on your way back.” Shawn said.

“You do have a point. But it would be quite a hassle if you three came along. I’ve been working undercover here for three months now. Ergo, they won’t suspect my walking around.” The agent replied. Without waiting for a reply, the agent took off.

Shawn and Katie glared at Johnny. As Shawn realized that Johnny seemed mystified as to why they were glaring at him, he spoke; “Come on then, spill the beans!”

“Look guys, this really isn’t the time or place. Why don’t we all go for a cup of coffee after we get out of here? If we get out of here, that is.” Reluctantly, they agreed.

Meanwhile, the agent had arrived at the pharmaceutical room. Turning the knob, he stepped in.

“Why what are you doing here, Dr. Kristof? You shouldn’t have taken the trouble of coming all the way down here.”

“Oh what’s the trouble Jean? Atleast I get to visit a pretty pharmacist like you!” the agent replied.

Jean blushed. “So what do you need doctor? Maybe I could fetch it for you.”

“That’s quite alright Jean. I know where the antibiotics are kept, so there’s no need to trouble yourself.” The agent covered; he wasn’t really looking for any antibiotics.

Acting like he was, he walked in the direction of the antibiotics’ shelf. He picked up a few medicinal capsules and stole a quick peek at Jean. She was engrossed in the weekly newspaper. The agent walked towards another shelf and pocketed a few samples of the two drugs known as Project XII and Project XIII.

“Alright Jean, that will be all.” The agent said, laying the medicinal capsules on her desk.

She opened her desk drawer and rummaged inside for several moments. “I really ought to sort these drawers out one day.” She commented; grinning. She placed a blue-coloured register on the table and flipped it open.

“She has to make a note of what and how many medicines I’m taking,” he observed, “Good thing I pocketed Project XII and XIII earlier.”

Several moments later, he arrived back at the room where the trio was waiting for him.

“It’s about time Gordon!” Johnny exclaimed, relieved that they could finally escape. They made their way through the laboratory. Right when they were about to exit the primary laboratory; the main research wing of the entire humongous laboratory, a security guard walked passed. Suspicious of the three youngsters, he turned around for another glance. “Who are these three youngsters doctor Kri—Johnny and his buddies!”

As the guard reached for his radio, Johnny sprinted towards him at lightning speed. The guard’s arm reacted to Johnny’s sudden move and climbed into the air. Johnny never saw it coming; he was knocked out by the guard’s powerful right fist.

By this time agent Gordon had analyzed the situation and had rushed towards his to-be opponent. “What on earth are you doing doctor Kristof?” the guard questioned. Gordon remained silent but motioned for Shawn to tackle the guard from behind. Although Gordon tried to move his hands as little as he could, his hand signals weren’t discreet enough. The guard had sensed their plan and turned his head around to find Shawn charging towards him. Gordon’s flawed actions had ultimately worked in his favour. He kicked the guard’s solar plexus, sending him sprawling to the ground in agony. Shawn stooped over and boxed him with his fist, causing him to lose consciousness.

“That was a close one. We’ll never make it out of here at this rate.” Katie said.

“Look, I’ll grab a few nurses’ outfits for you three to use as disguises and meanwhile you try to revive Johnny. Then hide the guard’s body in that room we encountered awhile ago.” Gordon said, pointing to a room that stood a few feet behind them.

Katie and Shawn had decided that Katie would stay with Johnny and would try to revive him whilst Shawn walked towards the door and peered through the keyhole. The room was completely empty—to their luck, except for half a dozen containers of chemical cleansers. By the time Shawn had hid the guard’s body in the room, Johnny had come to. Gordon could be seen from a distance now; and it seemed like he was walking towards them at a brisk pace.

“It’s good to see you back on your feet Johnny. How do you feel now?” Gordon said.

“Better, thanks. I see that you’ve got the nurses’ outfits. Boy, I never thought I’d be putting scrubs on.”

As soon as they had changed into their disguises, they made their way through the final door of that wing. Time was not on their side, and they knew that all three of the men that they had kayoed earlier could awaken at any time and could sound the alarm. They had to escape as soon as possible.

Gordon led the way pass the final door of the wing and through another room. They walked towards the elevator and waited for it to arrive.

After it had arrived, Gordon used the green keycard in order to operate the elevator.

As they boarded the elevator, Gordon informed them that they were three levels below ground. He also told them that they wouldn’t be able to take the elevator all the way to the ground floor and that they would only be able to travel one level above.

After the elevator had stopped on the floor above, they got out. Instantly, the trio recognized their surroundings. They were on the same floor that they were exploring through earlier. After the foursome had taken a few steps forward, Johnny suddenly realized that the three teenagers weren’t wearing their backpacks anymore.

Gordon told them that it was too precarious to turn back and that they shouldn’t take unnecessary risks. But after several moments of skillful persuasion, Johnny had finally convinced his superior of the importance of their backpacks. Gordon then understood that the evidence that lay within each of the bags were vital to the closure of the illegal laboratory.

“Okay, even if we were to go back for the bags, how do you expect to find it?” Gordon inquired.

“Simple, all we need is this,” Johnny replied, removing a tracking device from his pocket. “I had turned this on just after our little encounter with that imaginary robot. I sort of figured we might end up in some kind of mess.” He explained.

Johnny handed the electronic device to Gordon, who was to retrieve the bags. Gordon made his way back to the lower level.

Meanwhile the trio, disguised in nurses’ outfits had no trouble of making their way undetected back to one of the many operation theatres. The trio had decided that it was the perfect place to kill time, especially since they all fit right in. They knew they were safe, especially since that floor was one of the least crowded floors in the entire laboratory. All they had to do now was wait and hope that Gordon could retrieve the bags without facing any difficulties.

Gordon walked through the passageway, thinking about the fight that had occurred earlier. He walked up to the room to check if the guard was still unconscious, and luckily enough, he still was. He glanced at the electronic device. It told him that he was about 250 metres away from the backpacks. Following the signal, he soon walked passed a familiar room. He realized that it was the same room where the three youngsters were being held prisoner not too long ago. He opened the door and peered in.

The men were gone!

“This is horrifying,” he thought, “I might be caught and killed if they raise the alarm. I’ll have to return without the backpacks.”

He spun around, only to find a guard standing right in front of him!

“Doctor Kristof, have I been looking all over for you! You need to come with me, now!”